Indian Termination Policy

Indian Termination Policy: 1953

In 1943, the Senate conducted a survey of reservations. They determined that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was responsible for the poverty and poor living conditions that Indigenous peoples experienced on reservations. In 1953, Arthur Watkins spearheaded a policy that would end poverty on reservations by terminating them and forcing Indigenous peoples to move to the inner cities.

Watkins, and many white Americans, believed that Indigenous peoples wanted to assimilate with the rest of America. They deemed that assimilation would be better for them and by doing so, they would be able to live happier and healthier lives. The catch was that Indigenous peoples were not involved in the discussion of these policies that would entirely change their world.

Fig 1: The 1943 survey of Indigenous reservations found that many Indigenous peoples were living in poverty, which was determined to be the BIA's responsibility. The evidence from the survey was used to justify the Indian Termination Policy, which had ulterior motives of forced assimilation and the deliberate dissolution of Indigenous nations' culture.

Congress could end treaties and terminate Indigenous nations because of the Commerce Cause in the United States Constitution. Then in 1903, the Supreme Court reiterated this power in the Lone Wolf Versus Hitchcock case. The Supreme court ruled that Congress could end treaties with Indigenous peoples. This was all the justification that Congress needed to pass the Indian Termination Policy in 1953.

Indian Termination Policy Definition

This policy was approved by Congress and terminated specific Indigenous peoples' nations. By terminating these nations, the government no longer had to provide healthcare, food, or monetary payments as arranged by treaties. American land was subsequently bought by the United States government from Indigenous peoples' nations. The government refused to pay the money right away and instead decided to pay it gradually over time. By terminating the Indigenous nations, the government found a way to no longer make payments towards those purchases.

House Concurrent Resolution 108

The House Concurrent Resolution 108 was also passed in 1953. The Senate ruled that the upkeep of Indigenous peoples' towns was the responsibility of the state. States resented this because reservations didn't bring in much tax revenue, and the state didn't want to make up for that by providing them with money. Indigenous peoples were upset because they didn't agree with this. They didn't want the state government to dictate what they did and didn't do within the towns.

Indian Termination and Relocation Policy

The land that the terminated reservations were on automatically went to the government. Some of it was given back to the Indigenous people, while others were not given back their land. Instead, they were given a monetary payment, determined by the United States government, then they had to leave. Let's look at this from the perspective of the indigenous people. They were forced to sell their lands and their homes, and told how much they would receive for it.

Fig 2: Indigenous people were forced to leave their homes. Above is an indigenous boy within his home.

The 1966 Indian Relocation Act allowed the BIA to pay Indigenous peoples to move from reservations to inner cities. The Indigenous people were trained in skilled professions and then put to work in factories. During the transitional period, Indigenous people could live in temporary housing provided by the government. The true goal behind this act was to quicken assimilation.

When Indigenous people moved to the city, they were cut off from their reservations, culture, and elders. Without the elders, they lost contact with the teachers of their history. Children whose parents moved were raised away from their nations. The Act intended them to lose contact with their culture.

Effects of the Indian Termination Policy

While each Indigenous nation's struggle resulting from the Indian Termination Policy was different, they shared similarities. No nation benefitted from termination. 109 nations were dissolved, 2,500,000 acres of Indigenous land was confiscated by the government, and 12,000 Indigenous people lost their affiliation with their Indigenous nation.

Fig 3: The Indian Termination Act attempted to separate indigenous people from their elders and customs. The above image is of a Native American woman in ceremonial dress.

Indigenous people who lived comfortable lives were left impoverished while conditions on poor reservations worsened. They were either forced or paid to move to the inner cities, where they lost their connection to their Indigenous heritage. Children who grew up in the cities were meant to lose even more of that connection.

But that isn't what happened to the children. Instead, they grew up during the Civil Rights era right beside African Americans and Latinos. From activists of color, Indigenous peoples learned how to organize and advocate for their rights. This led to the Red Power Movement and the occupation of Alcatraz.

Indigenous Peoples and the Indian Termination Policy

The Indian Termination Policy was meant to force assimilation on Indigenous peoples. It separated them from their families, their cultures, and their languages. However, Indigenous people continued to survive, such as the Menominee, who were terminated as a nation, but managed to regain their status. The Indian Termination Policy didn't succeed in accelerating the rate of assimilation nor erasing all Indigenous cultures. Today, there are 574 federally recognized Indigenous nations in the United States and even more unrecognized tribes.