The New Deal (1930-1939)

Question 1

How did President Franklin D. Roosevelt deal with the depression

Answer 1

• Put forward his ‘New Deal’ policy
• Designed to counter the Great Depression
  after the Wall Street Crash of October 1929
• After the panic of the crash and a period of
  poverty, unemployment, deflation, failing
  business and lost fortunes, FDR responded
  with a package for recovery
• Relief, recovery and reform
• Started an era of increased regulation by
  the government, and also the rise of power
  of labour unions

Question 2

Did FDRs ‘New Deal’ policies support the NAI?

Answer 2

NO:

Native Americans were at the bottom of the support pile – and even in much of the historical discussion of the New Deal, the “minorities” section discusses mainly women and black people.

Question 3

How did Colliers appointment as Commissioner for Indian Affairs in 1933 impact NAI

Answer 3

• Collier made a commitment that New Deal reforms
  would include American Indians
• He sought to rejuvenate Indian cultures and traditions
• He also sought to give tribes both legal and
  organisational capabilities to pursue economic
  development while maintaining their individual
  cultures
• The seeming failure of individualism and capitalism
  made some more sympathetic towards the communal
  tradition of Indian culture
• Collier established the principle of religious freedom,
  ending the compulsory attendance at Christian
  services.
• He also ended the General Allotment Act to combat
  further loss of lands. Cancelled debts that were
  charged against tribal funds, major relief to Indian
  farmers who had used the loans to conduct much
  needed irrigation systems for their fields.

Question 4

What was the 1934 Wheeler-Howard Act (Indian Reorganisation Act)

Answer 4

Legislation of the Wheeler Howard Act was proposed in 4 parts

• Recognise the tribal right of self-government and seek economic development
• Establish Congressional support for Indian culture including arts, crafts, skills and traditions
• End allotment of Indian lands, back into tribal lands
• Create a Indian court system, a court of Indian affairs, to hear cases involving the self-governing Indian communities formed under the IRA

                                         Indian view

• Not all Indians supported the proposed reforms
• Tribes who had successfully worked the allotments they
  had received in previous years were fearful of Collier’s
  proposals to combine scattered allotments back into
  communal tribal lands
• The Navajo tribe opposed the proposed soil erosion
  control measures that would lead to reductions in
  livestock.

                        Federal Government view 

• Congress found the proposed bill too radical
• Most of part two and 4 were dropped
• Importantly, however, the ending of the land allotment
  policy was included in the final bill

Question 5

What were the positive impacts of the New Deal on the NAI

Answer 5

• NAI increasingly involved in work of the Bureau of Indian
  Affairs
• NAI women gained political rights
• Stimulated a general interest in NAI arts and crafts, and
  women’s co-ops started to be able to produce them as a
  business
• Recourses from New Deal used to build schools, hospitals
  and irrigation systems to improve reservation life
• By 1938, the NAI population was increasing faster than the
  national average
• Tribal councils resumed, and tribal loyalties resurfaced

Question 6

What were the negative impacts of the New Deal on the NAI

Answer 6

• Despite these advances, the general belief of government
  was that further assimilation was the way to solve the
  problem, and that separation was a step backwards
• Accepting that allotment had caused misery, the aim was
  to find a way forward through health, well-being and
  education instead – I.e to get them to recognise the
  advantage of full assimilation
• Therefore, the commitment to assimilation did not die with
  the act
• Paternalistic attitude of government to NAI remained
• Collier mistakenly thought all Indians wanted self-
  determination at all costs
• Why? He never consulted with them nor involved them in
  his plans
• He didn’t realise that as allotment had been going for
  40 years, many were already assimilated
• Many successful farmers felt their livelihoods were under
  threat from the IRA
• They remained suspicious of government legal
  intervention and agreement