Termination Flashcards
1
Q
Why did American government pursue termination?
A
- American government perspective: Tribes granted cultural rights, attempts to assimilate had failed, Natives still lived in squalor with a suicide rate 7x the national average and high sexual/domestic abuse, in the West less than 10% of the population in tribes had GEDs. Conversely the US economy was exploding.
2
Q
What was the main goal of termination?
A
Entire reservations were terminated and welfare cut to make Indians self-sufficient and go to the cities for employment. They would absorb American values and quality of life would improve.
3
Q
What was lost during termination?
A
- 1953-64 over 109 tribes terminated.
- 2.5 million acres were returned to the federal government and tribes lost recognition.
4
Q
When was termination abolished?
A
- 1968 – Termination abolished due to the fact it violated civil rights and failed. Over 1 million stayed behind in reservations and were starving with no healthcare or employment – the old and sick were left behind. Richard Nixon recognised its limits.
5
Q
Why was urbanisation pursued ?
A
- After war reservations were impoverished and those who served in the military were useless there, while returning veterans in cities made it hard for Natives to work in factories. In 1948 the Bureau of Indian Affairs set up job placement centres in western cities such as LA and Denver.
6
Q
What was the Indian Claims Commission?
A
- Indian Claims Commission – 1946-78 – made due to NCAI pressure alongside recognition of war effort. 370 petitions filed as soon as possible. In some cases such as the Sioux Indians claim to the Black Hills of Dakota, financial compensation was eventually offered but this was rejected. The ICC was a continuation of assimilation.
7
Q
Why were reservations under threat?
A
- After 1953 more interest in mining and timber companies. Federal control of the Bureau of Indian Affairs was to be established, ending Natives being wards of the state with treaty rights and tribes, and making them independent.
8
Q
What acts encouraged Native American employment in cities?
A
- A Voluntary Relocation Program was set up to move Indians from reservations with jobs and living expenses covered until they found secure income. This appealed to the young and was followed by the 1956 Indian Vocational Training Act to improve employment prospects with training.
9
Q
What did Nixon commit to?
A
- By 1968 Indians had highest illiteracy, disease, and unemployment rates. In March 1968 Lyndon B Johnson made a speech named ‘The Forgotten Americans,’ to propose self-help and respect, with a National Council on Indian Opportunity to administer an educational program for children and homes with proper sanitation and legal aid.
10
Q
How did some benefit from urbanisation?
A
- By 1960 60,000 Natives had left reservations. For some it was forced and traumatic, with white hostility received. Some entered the urban middle class and Native American women married white men, alongside finding better opportunities in the clerical sector. After 1968 Indians benefitted from affirmative action.
11
Q
What were consequences on reservations?
A
- Levels of unemployment hit 18% and life expectancy was as low as 44 years for Indians compared to 64 years for white citizens. Tribes in Wisconsin and Oregon lost 500,000 acres for timber.
12
Q
What were consequences in cities?
A
- Those who moved to cities had a cultural shock, 40-70% returned to reservations due to language barrier and lack of culture.
- Ghettoes formed in the cities where Indians could practise their culture and traditions together and in 1961 the National Indian Youth Council formed, organising a sit in in 1968 after Washington DC ruled against protecting fishing rights, alongside fighting against Indian lands being exploited for resources.
