When the U.S. government ended its relationship with dozens of Native American tribes and bands between 1953 and 1966, it was engaging in a massive social experiment. Congress enacted the program, known as termination, in the name of “freeing” the Indians from government restrictions and improving their quality of life. However, removing the federal status of more than nine dozen tribes across the country plunged many of their nearly 13,000 members into deeper levels of poverty and eroded the tribal people’s sense of Native identity. Beginning in 1973 and extending over a twenty-year period, the terminated tribes, one by one, persuaded Congress to restore their ties to the federal government. Nonetheless, so much damage had been done that even today the restored tribes struggle to overcome the problems created by those terminations a half century ago.
Roberta Ulrich provides a concise overview of all the terminations and restorations of Native American tribes from 1953 to 2006 and explores the enduring policy implications for Native peoples. This is the first book to consider all the terminations and restorations in the twentieth century as part of continuing policy while detailing some of the individual tribal differences. Drawing from Congressional records, interviews with tribal members, and other primary sources, Ulrich delves into the causes and effects of termination and restoration from both sides.
ISBN-13: 9780803233645
Media Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Nebraska
Publication Date: 12-01-2010
Pages: 334
Product Dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.10(d)
Roberta Ulrich is a retired newspaper reporter. She is the author of Empty Nets: Indians, Dams, and the Columbia River.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Prologue: The Experiment
Part One - Breaking the Ties
1. Policy: Kill the Indians
2. Menominees: Ambush
3. Klamaths: Disaster
4. Western Oregon: Invisible
5. Alabama-Coushattas of Texas and Catawbas of South Carolina: Entangled
6. Utah Paiute Bands: Helpless
7. California: Scattered
8. Oklahoma Tribes and Ponca of Nebraska: Afterthoughts
Part Two: The Way Back
9. Menominees: Pioneers
10. Siletz: Fish
11. Oklahoma and Utah: Flood
12. Cow Creeks and Grand Rondes: Communities
13. Klamaths: Troubles
14. Coos and Coquilles: Cooperating
15. Alabama-Coushattas and California: Legalities
16. Catawbas and Poncas: Last
17. Epilogue: Results
Appendix: Terminated Tribes and Restoration
Notes
Bibliography
Index
