Termination Era

 

“In Washington’s infinite wisdom, it was decided that tribes should no longer be tribes,

never mind that they had been tribes for thousands of years.”

-Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell

 

“This era marked another abrupt change in what can only be described as

a schizophrenic federal Indian policy.”

-Nez Perce Tribe

           In 1945, congressional opponents pursued endeavors to enforce assimilation of Native Americans to the white populations’ cultural practices. John Collier, who was forced to resign, emphasized cultural pluralism for American Indians. The revised approach involved termination. Terminating Indian reservations, terminating all treaty obligations, and terminating all government programs that served Indians were some of the methods of the proposed enforced assimilation. Indian cultures considered immaterial and anti-American, did not hold historical, cultural or legal ramifications for those who pursued the elimination of tribal status and involved in such status. Reservations were viewed as segregation and believed to have slowed the process of assimilation. They intended to dismantle the reservation system and utilize the natural resources located on specific reservations for private non-Indian companies, and to place the responsibility of Indian affairs on state and county governments. They wanted the federal government out of the Indian business. Termination policies ended the federally recognized status of approximately 100 tribal nations. State jurisdiction was lorded over the affected tribes. Many Native Americans suffered cultural shock when they were forced to relocate to urban slums and other areas. The termination process weakened tribal governments and had a long-lasting, damaging effect on their civil liberties.

            The motivation behind the termination tactics involved money and a sense of superiority over Native Americans. The United States faced enduring debt due to the rebuilding of war-torn countries and it did not want to be burdened with treaty rights, tribal governments, and the cost of Indian programs. Upon termination of various tribes, the reservation lands could be sold and/or be subject to local property taxes. The latter concept was highly supported by local governments who had rallied against Native Americans. After World War II, the United States faced a need for major housing expansion which involved an increased demand for natural resources, especially lumber. The tribes that resided in areas with valuable timber and mineral resources were picked to be relocated. The termination policies afforded these resources to be privatized and to be transferred from public domain to ownership by corporations to be further developed. The U.S. government struggled to fight against the cold war, against Communism and to maintain a certain way of life, an Americanized way of life. At the time, many people viewed Native Americans as if they were foreigners, aliens and tribal ownership of land was considered a form of Communism and anti-American. Native Americans received little to no support from the local governments. Others looked upon the termination policies as freeing Indians from federal control.

The first step towards termination and assimilation began with House Joint Resolution 698 in 1952 which included an examination of previous Indian affairs conduct and a list of tribes to be relocated. At first a rendered choice was given which consisted of tribes falling under basic categories of being economically self-supporting, have experienced a significant degree of acculturation and those willing to terminate governmental services. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) utilized an extensive questionnaire to evaluate each tribe. Reservation superintendents and BIA staff prepared a report of the results without Native American input (Native American Partnership, 2013).

In 1953, House Concurrent Resolution 108 called for formal termination of specific tribes which ignored that tribal people had been granted citizenship in 1924 and again in 1940 and were not wards of state governments. Again, Native Americans were not consulted on the termination process. Congress pushed for withdrawal from treaty obligations (Native American Partnership, 2013).

 

“Most of the pending legislation, if passed, would result in the end of our last holdings on this continent and destroy our dignity and distinction as the first inhabitants of this rich land.”

-National Congress of American Indians President Joe Garry (Coeur d’Alene)

 

“Either the United States government will recognize its treaty and statute obligations to the Indians… or we will continue down the bitter road toward complete destruction.”

-Apache tribal leader Clarence Wesley

 

The Menonimee Tribe in Wisconsin, terminated in 1954, became self-sufficient through their lumber business and sales enterprises which permitted them to pay for their members’ health, social welfare and education services before the termination effort. As a result of the termination effort, their economically advantaged competitors took over their timbered land holdings (Wilson, 2018).

Between 1945 and 1960 Congress terminated 113 tribes and bands which caused them to lose legal status as recognized tribes. 11,500 Native Americans lost their legal status as Indians and Native Americans lost 1.4 million acres of trust land. None of the Native Americans who were forced to lose their tribal status improved economically. Most existed in poverty. Many non-Indians profited substantially as a result of the termination process (Native American Partnership, 2013).

            In 1970, President Richard Nixon requested Congress to pass a resolution to cease the termination. He said the following.

            “Because termination is morally and legally unacceptable, because it produces bad practical results, and because the mere threat of termination tends to discourage greater self-sufficiency among Indian groups, I am asking the Congress to pass a new Concurrent Resolution which would expressly renounce, repudiate and repeal the termination policy as expressed in House Concurrent Resolution 108 of the 83^rd Congress” (Native American Partnership, 2013, para. 20).

            Since the end of the termination implementation, 78 of the 113 terminated tribes have had their tribal status reinstated by the United States government, 24 of the terminated tribes have become extinct, and ten have received state recognition but not federal recognition, and 31 ended up being landless (Native American Partnership, 2013).

            Many relocated Native Americans suffered from identity crisis and their families and communities were torn apart. The history of the Indian people involved traditions such as story telling that could no longer exist among the relocated tribal bands. They were dispersed amongst different ethnic and racial backgrounds and emersed in mainstream gender issues in a multicultural society. They suffered from a transition from communalism to a foreign individualism. To overcome their alienation, they escaped reality through drugs and alcohol. These unfortunate people shared many other problems such as unemployment, substandard housing, and a high rate of suicide. The termination policies led to cultural adjustments, socioeconomic struggles and psychological problems (Fixico, 2000).

             The Termination Era led many Native Americans to flee from reservations to urban and rural areas. Congress, after World War II, entertained ways to save money to rebuild war ravaged countries and provide homes for the growing population during the baby boom years. Spooked by the belief that Communism could take over the United States during the Cold War, many people believed the Indian peoples’ reservations represented a form of communism. One of  main reasons Congress sought to eliminate reservations was their desire to acquire the natural resources on specific reservations. A need for timber pushed tribes such as the Menominee tribe in Wisconsin to forfeit their homeland. For many years a multitude of tribal bands fought to reinstate their tribal status while enduring alcoholism, unemployment, high suicide rates and other societal ills.     

 

Termination Policies of the 1950s into the mid-1960s 

Federal Policy seeking to further assimilate American Indian into mainstream American society.  Focus on terminating the US Government's treaty-based, trust responsibilities to Indian communities, having individuals assume all responsibilities of full citizen.  Abrogating all treaty provisions, rights and responsibilities, extinguishing any rights to land, hunting and fishing, along with health care and educational programs, and police and fire fighting services.  Would be subject to federal and state taxes.  

House Concurrent Resolution 108

House Concurrent Resolution 108 of 1953 was a formal statement by the United States Congress announcing the official federal policy of termination. 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. Termination of a tribe meant the immediate withdrawal of all federal aid, services, and protection, as well as the end of reservations. Individual members of terminated tribes were to become full United States citizens and receive the benefits and responsibilities of any other United States citizens. The resolution also called for the Interior Department to quickly find more tribes who appeared ready for termination in the near future.  

A total of 109 Indian Tribes and Bands were terminated within the United States, with approximately 1,365,00 acres of land removed from trust protection, effecting a total of 11,000 Indians or 3% of the total Indian population.

Public Law 280

Public Law 280, passed in 1953, gave State governments the power to assume jurisdiction over Indian reservations, which had previously been excluded from state jurisdiction. It immediately granted the state criminal and civil jurisdiction over Indian populations in California, Nebraska, Minnesota, Oregon, and Wisconsin. Special clauses prevented this law from being invoked on the Red Lake Reservation in Minnesota and the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon. After being admitted as a state in 1958, Alaska was added to the list of covered states where termination would be the goal. Public Law 280 also allowed any state to assume jurisdiction over Indian lands by a statute or an amendment to the state constitution. This law made both the states and Native Americans unhappy: the former because they had new responsibilities without any increase in funding to support additional staff and supplies, the latter because they were subject to new laws.

The main effect of Public Law 280 was to disrupt the special relationship between the federal government and the Indian tribes. Previously the tribes had been regulated directly by the federal government.  In Worcester v. Georgia in 1832, the Supreme Court had ruled that state laws cannot be enforced on Indian land. While this preserved a kind of sovereignty and independence for tribes on reservations, in other ways they depended on a complex bureaucracy for too many services.

Source: https://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~rfrey/329termination_.htm