Outline of Indian Affairs (page 3)

5. Indian Reorganization and Preservation (1934 - 1953)
1. Indian Reorganization Act or Wheeler-Howard Act of 1934
1. Express purpose was "to rehabilitate the Indian's economic life and to give him a chance to develop the initiative destroyed by a century of oppression and paternalism." (Pevar 6)
3. Based on the assumption that Indians should be allowed to exist.
4. Sought to protect remaining tribal lands.
5. Permitted tribes to re-establish legal structures.
6. Established a $10 million credit fund for loans to tribes.
7. Established Indian preference in hiring employees within the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
8. Established tribal self-government, but still subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.
1. Unsuccessful, on the whole.
2. Required tribes to adopt a federalist system (executive, legislative, judicial).
3. Unsuited for most tribes.
2. Ended Allotment
3. Restored tribal ownership of "surplus" lands not already owned by third parties (non-Indians).
4. Obtained land and water rights for tribes.
5. Created new reservations and increased existing reservations.
6. Established federal funds for healthcare, irrigation, roads, homes, and community schools.
7. By 1953 Indian land had increased by two million acres.

1. a. House Concurrent Resolution 108 sought to end all federal aid to tribes "at the earliest possible time." (Pevar 7)
1. Terminated assistance to over 100 tribes.
2. Ordered their governments disbanded.
3. Tribes subject to state laws.
4. Ordered private ownership of tribal lands or sold.
5. Done "to 'free' Indians from domination by the Bureau of Indian Affairs." (Canby, Jr. 26).
6. The result was economic collapse.
7. Two largest tribes that were "terminated" were the Oregon Klamaths and the Wisconsin Menominees.
2. Congress' Indian "Relocation" program gave grants to some Indians who would leave the reservation and move to an urban center.
3. Public Law 280 allowed for state jurisdiction over criminal and civil affairs on Indian reservations.
4. All resolutions, acts, and laws were passed without tribal consent.

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