Indian termination policy
Cultural assimilation of Native Americans was not new; the assumption that indigenous people should abandon their traditional lives and become what the government considered "civilized" had been the basis of policy for centuries.
In practical terms, the policy ended the federal government's recognition of sovereignty of tribes, trusteeship over Indian reservations, and the exclusion of state law's applicability to Native persons.
[3] From the Native standpoint, a former US Senator from Colorado Ben Nighthorse Campbell, of the Northern Cheyenne, said of assimilation and termination in a speech delivered in Montana in 2007: If you can't change them, absorb them until they simply disappear into the mainstream culture....
[8] In addition to ending the tribal rights as sovereign nations, the policy terminated federal support of most of the health care and education programs, utility services, and police and fire departments available to Indians on reservations.
None of the four federally recognized tribes living in Kansas: Potawatomi, Kickapoo, Sac & Fox, and Iowa,[17] had tribal courts to deal with offenses, and state jurisdiction did not extend to Indian lands.
[23][24] Senator Arthur V. Watkins of Utah, the strongest proponent of termination, equated it with the Emancipation Proclamation, which had declared the freedom of all slaves in the territory of the Confederate States of America.
Its purpose was to settle for all time any outstanding grievances or claims the tribes might have against the U.S. for treaty breaches, unauthorized taking of land, dishonorable or unfair dealings, or inadequate compensation.
It covered all reservations lands within the state and prohibited the deprivation of hunting and fishing rights which may have been guaranteed to "any Indian tribe, band, or community, or members thereof".
The resolution called for the immediate termination of the Flathead, Klamath, Menominee, Potawatomi, and Turtle Mountain Chippewa, as well as all tribes in the states of California, New York, Florida, and Texas.
Tribal leaders played key roles in getting their cases heard by the United States Congress, through the political process, and by the Supreme Court in suits and appeals.
It further directed tribal governing bodies of the Oneidas and Stockbridge-Munsee to apply to the Secretary of the Interior for approval of fund distributions, thereby ending termination efforts for these tribes.
With regard to the Brothertown Indians, however, though the law did not specifically state they were terminated, it authorized all payments to be made directly to each enrollee with special provisions for minors to be handled by the secretary.
[66] The Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation tribal leader, Minnie Evans (Indian name: Ke-waht-no-quah Wish-Ken-O),[67] led the effort to stop termination.
[69] Tribal Council members Vestana Cadue, Oliver Kahbeah, and Ralph Simon of the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas traveled at their own expense to testify as well.
They had recently won a court case against the government over mismanagement of forestry enterprises, and Senator Watkins threatened to withhold the $8.5 million settlement unless the Menominee agreed to termination.
[41] After they were terminated, the commonly held land and money were transferred to the corporation Menominee Enterprises, Inc. (MEI), and the geographical area of the reservation was admitted to the state as a new county.
Concern about corruption within MEI, including its selling of former tribal land, led community members such as Ada Deer and James White to form a group called the Determination of Rights and Unity for Menominee Stockholders (DRUMS) in 1970.
It called for termination of federal supervision over the trust and restricted property of numerous Native American bands and small tribes, all located west of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon.
[114] In November 2002, mixed-bloods whose citizenship in the tribe had been terminated filed a civil action in the Washington DC US District Court, Felter vs. Kempthorne, to repeal the Ute Partition Act.
[76] All three Acts were substantially identical and called for the termination of federal supervision over trust lands at the end of three years by creating the means to transfer to individual members the property of the tribes.
The success of these suits and frustration with unmet promises caused Tillie Hardwick in 1979 to consult with California Indian Legal Services, who decided to make a class action case.
U.S. citizens with one-fourth (equivalent to one grandparent) or more Alaska Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut blood living when the Act was passed were considered Native American and were qualified to participate in receiving dividends from oil production.
The political climate after World War II based its ideology on building a patriotic, strong, conforming society with all ethnic groups melding together in which free democracy protected American principles of growth through one's own achievement.
The claims and large expenditures for the survey, coupled with high war debt, led the Eisenhower administration to seek ways to retrench federal budgeting and spending.
To put the period in historic context, House Concurrent Resolution 108 passed in 1953, McCarthyism was in full swing and the Communist Control Act of 1954 was designed to keep "collectivism" out of politics.
Even those who had a real understanding of Native peoples and customs, did not question that they should be terminated, but rather how quickly it should be done, how ready they were, whether Congress should immediately or gradually withdraw its trust obligations—in other words to what degree implementation would occur and when.
Emmons had lived and worked among New Mexico's Indians and while he favored termination, he was a "Protectionist", believing that with a gradual withdrawal of government assistance, Native peoples would learn to be self-sufficient.
[174] Karl E. Mundt South Dakota Republican Congressman),[172] believed that unless a permanent solution to Indian claims was offered, "detribalization" would remain out of reach and Native Americans would continue to rely on the government to do what they should be doing for themselves.
Members of DRUMS strongly protested the development of the Legend Lake project and put up their own candidates for election to Menominee Enterprises, Inc. board of directors.
Lacking the necessary funds to make repeated trips to Washington, D.C., and Tallahassee, Florida to argue their case, Osceola came up with a plan to build a rodeo arena on the Dania Reservation as a tourist attraction.
