Resolute, Unified, Relentless

Hats of Our Fathers by James Day of Bay Mills Community College

Early in 1947, the Senate Committee on Civil Service summoned the commissioner of Indian affairs to present a plan to drastically reduce the size and expenditures of his bureau. During World War II, the Indian Office had already seen its finances cut considerably and its ability to offer services reduced to the bare minimum. But now, with the Indian New Deal all but a dead letter, antagonists in Congress hoped to deliver a fatal blow and hand over Indian affairs to the states.

Acting Commissioner William Zimmerman quickly pieced together a plan and on February 6 appeared before the perceptibly hostile committee. His proposal, as he saw it, was a compromise. He argued that federally recognized tribes could be divided into three categories: those ready for an immediate end of all services, those that would need up to 10 years to prepare for an end of services, and tribes that would require services indefi­nitely. The committee was most interested in the first category and so Zimmerman furnished a list, and shortly thereafter Congress set about devising what would become known as the Termination policy. Just like that, the very fate of Native nations hung in the balance.

Had Zimmerman’s plan been implemented just a few years earlier it’s quite possible you would not be reading this article. Because if Termination had succeeded, in all likelihood there would be no tribal colleges and perhaps only a handful of federally recognized tribes, if any. But in the waning years of World War II, a cadre of visionary Native leaders had the wisdom to recognize that things were changing and through unity they could advocate effectively for tribal interests and Native people.

D’Arcy McNickle (Salish-Kootenai), Archie Phinney (Nez Perce), Ruth Muscrat Bronson (Cherokee), and Charles Heacock (Sicangu Lakota) had all served in the Indian Office during the New Deal, bringing a new Native approach to Indian affairs. In 1940, they attended an inter­national conference in Patzcuaro, Mexico, that assembled Indigenous peoples from all over the Americas. The meeting also served as a springboard for discussions on estab­lishing a new intertribal organization in the United States.

Theretofore, only a few intertribal or pan-Indian organizations had operated nationally. In the early decades of the 20th century, the Society of American Indians (SAI) advocated for citizenship, but also for industrial education and even assimilation. Accomplishing its foremost goal, passage of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, SAI succumbed to factionalized infighting and faded away. Another pan-Indian organization, the American Indian Federation (AIF), consisted largely of wealthy businessmen who favored allotment and saw the Indian New Deal and its support of tribal land holdings and cultural preservation as an insidious form of communism that was driving Native people “back to the blanket.” Once AIF’s ties to the fascist Silver Shirts of America became known, the organization came under scrutiny and didn’t last through World War II.

But the intertribal organization that McNickle, Phinney, Bronson, and Heacock envisioned was different. It would serve as a powerful force for greater tribal sovereignty, self-determination, and treaty rights. The founders rejected assimilation, allotment, industrial edu­cation, and all the failed policies of the past, making their project the first recognizably modern intertribal organization. Today, we take their vision for granted, but on November 15, 1944, at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Denver, they initiated a revolution in Indian affairs and founded the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI).

And they did it in the nick of time. The tide of Termination and its coercive nature caught everyone off guard, especially when the Menominees and Klamaths, two tribes at the top of Zimmerman’s list, were sent to the chopping block. Salish-Kootenai and Turtle Mountain were next on the docket. Termination’s foremost champion, Senator Arthur Watkins of Utah, claimed that the policy was a step toward greater equality and freedom from federal control—“THESE PEOPLE SHALL BE FREE!” he boomed before Congress. Such calls found receptive listeners, as it seemed to signal an end of the pater­nalistic BIA that had earned the moniker “Bossing Indians Around.”

The founders of the NCAI, however, saw through the hollow, even manipulative rhetoric and recognized that forced Termination was an existential threat to Native nations everywhere. Shortly after the passage of House Concurrent Resolution 108, which codified Termination, NCAI met in Phoenix where they came to grips with the peril of their situation and resolved to move cautiously, yet deliberately. San Carlos Apache tribal chairman Clarence Wesley put it best: “The path we choose today is the road of tomorrow from which there is no turning.”

NCAI leaders were resolute, meticulous, and they left no stone unturned. They launched a voter registration drive titled “Register, Inform Yourself, and Vote.” They hired a public relations specialist who organized a widespread media campaign that led to news sto­ries in papers and broadcasts across the nation. They reached out and gained support from as many quarters as possible, including from unlikely allies like the American Legion, the Boy Scouts of America, Daughters of the American Revolution, and the National Council of Churches. They filled to capacity hearing rooms as Termination bills were considered, often forcing the committee to move to larger halls. They issued a Declaration of Indian Rights using the patriotic language of democracy and self-determination and arguing that the federal government should do the American thing: let tribes vote on whether or not to accept Termination.

And then all that work paid off—one by one Termination bills failed. Finally, in 1956, Secretary of Interior Fred S. Seaton announced that no tribe would be terminated without their expressed consent.

Over the past ten months, we have faced a level of uncertainty not seen since that bygone era. Longtime TCU leader Jim Shanley noted recently that in all his years working with every administration from Nixon to Reagan to Bush, he never witnessed anything like what is transpiring today. But we should also remember that in 1953, the NCAI was in its infancy and the only intertribal organization in the entire country—and they prevailed. Today, there are countless inter­tribal organizations and they are battle ready.

The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) has been advocating successfully for TCUs for over 50 years and is working overtime as you read this. In the feature article, “The Power of Advocacy,” government affairs team members Danelle Springer and Morah O’Brien walk us through their daily work—how they interface with Congress and the administration, develop an appropriations strategy, testify at committee and subcommittee meetings, empower students to tell their stories on Capitol Hill, and take myriad other steps to ensure that TCUs remain robust and supported.

AIHEC’s sister organization, the American Indian College Fund, also advocates for tribal colleges, but utilizes different channels and takes its own unique approach. College Fund president Cheryl Crazy Bull and communications director Dina Horwedel explain how the organization forms coalitions with donors and other non­profits to provide the resources and backing that TCU students need. An integral part in this strategy is the College Fund’s Student Ambassador Program, which showcases how tribal colleges open doors, change lives, and uplift communities. Find out more in the feature article, “Advocacy Created Tribal Colleges, Advocacy Will Save Tribal Colleges.”

The epic battle against forced Termination remains one of the most pivotal chapters in modern American Indian history. Although we often frame that era as a time of great darkness, it is also a tremendously inspirational story that illuminates how against-all-odds victories can be won through unity, determination, and advocacy. And today, right now, the Tribal College Movement has tireless champions who will see us through the current storm.

Bradley Shreve, PhD, is the editor of Tribal College Journal.

REFERENCES

Cowger, T.W. (1999). The National Congress of American Indians: The Founding Years. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Iverson, P. (1998). “We Are Still Here”: American Indians in the Twentieth Century. Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, Inc.

Shreve, B. (Interviewer). (2025, April 25). Jim Shanley on Trump 2.0 [Audio Podcast Episode]. In Current Reflections, Tribal College: Journal of American Indian Higher Education. Retrieved from https://tribalcollegejournal.org/jim-shanley-on-trump-2-0/.