1 April 15th, 1934
Walking through the halls of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, I repeat my points under my breath. Talking to John Collier is always intimidating — he is a leading social scientist, appointed by the new President Roosevelt last year to spearhead the new shift in Indian policy.2I applied to work under him immediately.
Finding the door marked “Collier: Commissioner,” I knock softly and enter. Collier is a middle-aged man, bordering on older; I heard that he turned fifty this year.3 His desk is tidy as ever, its shiny wood covered only by an organized stack of papers and the single letter he’s writing. He glances up when I enter, adjusts his glasses on his ears, and gives a faint smile of recognition. He looks tired.
I admire the man for his motives. Collier once told me about the moment that changed his life — when he saw the people of Taos Pueblo performing their Red Deer Dance. I’ve never seen world desperately needs.4 Finally, someone who acknowledges our brutal history. We recite brief small-talk until he asks why I’ve come. Clearing my throat, I say: “Sir, I’d like to discuss the implementation of the Indian Reorganization Act.”
“The IRA?” He sighs. “What about it?”
This piece of legislation is Collier’s flagship pursuit. Its seeks to redefine the US government’s relationship with tribes through actions like ending allotment, funding students, integrating local governments and economic corporations, and training some members to eventually work for the Bureau.5 Congress is still fighting over the specifics, but the tribes themselves will eventually need to ratify it — Collier and I spent last month traveling to ten conferences across the country and trying to earn their support.6
“I just returned from talking with the Navajo leaders,” I say. “They’re still unhappy about the stock reduction program implemented last year. Their herds will be halved over the next decade, as you know, to protect the Boulder Dam project…”7
“What does this have to do with the IRA?”
Almost as an apology, I continue, “The IRA needs to be more regionally focused. Remember that speech you gave the Navajo in Fort Defiance? They’re planning to reject the bill. They don’t trust the government, and they need their land and herds returned more than anything else.”8
Collier looks at me quizzically. He slides his letter to the side. “You know we’re not going to get any work done if we don’t pass broad legislation. I won’t have this seat forever, especially if the president doesn’t win the next election. We have two more years…”
“Not getting work done is one thing. Actively harming people is another.” His eyebrows raise like shields.
“The Indian people need these changes now,” he says “especially in the shadow of the recession. Henry Roe Cloud of the Ho-Chunk helped write the legislation…”9 “I know,” I try to interject.
“…Not just that, but he’s also Yale graduate. I trust his judgement — he knows what his people need. He’s traveled to the tribes as well; there are many to reach, but he’s doing what he can. In the Anadarko congress, he said that Indians ‘will be burning again and become bright and brighter because of the scheme of this bill.’”10 His eyes glaze over as if he’s seeing something far off. He looks younger for a moment.
But how could Henry know the needs of the Navajo better than they do? I think. The tribes don’t even live in the same biomes.
“Some of the tribes feel like they don’t have a say,” I press on. I can see him getting more frustrated, but for the moment I don’t care. I joined this department to help people; surely Collier understands that. “They’ll fear that treaty benefits will be withheld if they don’t agree to your propositions. I met an employee at the Pine Ridge reservation who told me exactly that — he’s planning to insinuate the tribe will lose government support if they don’t agree. And we at least need special provisions to ensure tribes have control over ratification. You know how bureaucracies are: local staff members might prioritize results and misrepresent ballots to get your initiative passed. If the tribes themselves haven’t agreed…”11
“Goddamm it!” Collier bursts, forcing himself up, hands pressed on the table. My lips lock. I suddenly notice the sweat stains leaking through his shirt.
“Look, my goal is to protect these people,” he says. “I think I’ve made that clear. We’ve committed despicable acts for generations, do you agree? Nobody believes that more than I — I’ve published on their cultural superiority, for Christ’s sake.12 But sometimes people don’t know what’s best for themselves. This is complicated, between agencies and land control and Congress grasping funds…it’s my job to help them regrow in the best way I know how. If you don’t wish to help, then work in someone else’s department.”
We stare at each other for a moment, both breathing hard. He’s given so many speeches, so many declarations of the belief in true cultural community, of the power of real cultural institutions to establish identity. I wonder for the first time: were those for the Indians, or for himself?
The moment passes, and I remember my family. My wife, daughter. I can’t give up this job — they’re my biggest stake in this. Besides, it’s better to work from the inside. Some Indians on the reservations would agree. Others would call me selfish. Collier retakes his seat. He looks embarrassed. I say nothing.
“Do you wish to propose any other changes to the IRA?” he asks.
“No,” I respond.
I walk out the door, and my mind spirals towards new methods to convince the Navajo to change their minds.
1 Wikimedia Commons, 25 June 2017, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Collier.png. Image in Public Domain
2 Calloway, Colin G. First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History. Fifth edition, pp 436-443, Bedford/St. Martin’s, A Macmillan Education Imprint, 2016.
3 Wikimedia
4 Schwartz, E. A. “Red Atlantis Revisited: Community and Culture in the Writings of John Collier.” American Indian Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 4, 1994, pp. 507–31. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1185395.
5 Calloway, 440
6 Cloud, Henry Roe. “As One Indian To Another.” Say We Are Nations: Documents Of Politics And Protest In Indigenous America Since 1887, The University of North Carolina Press, 2015, pp. 59–63.
7 Calloway, 443
8 Sandoval, Albert, et al. “If We Have The Land, We Have Everything.” Say We Are Nations: Documents Of Politics And Protest In Indigenous America Since 1887, The University of North Carolina Press, 2015, pp. 70-74.
9 Cloud, 59
10 Cloud, 63
11 Biolsi, Thomas. “‘Indian Self-Government’ as a Technique of Domination.” American Indian Quarterly, vol. 15, no. 1, 1991, p. 23. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.2307/1185207.
12 Schwartz, 509
Works Cited
Biolsi, Thomas. “‘Indian Self-Government’ as a Technique of Domination.” American Indian Quarterly, vol. 15, no. 1, 1991, p. 23. DOI.org (Crossref),
https://doi.org/10.2307/1185207.
Calloway, Colin G. First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History. Fifth edition, Bedford/St. Martin’s, A Macmillan Education Imprint, 2016.
Cloud, Henry Roe. “As One Indian To Another.” Say We Are Nations: Documents Of Politics And Protest In Indigenous America Since 1887, The University of North Carolina Press, 2015, pp. 59–63.
Sandoval, Albert, et al. “If We Have The Land, We Have Everything.” Say We Are Nations: Documents Of Politics And Protest In Indigenous America Since 1887, The University of North Carolina Press, 2015, pp. 70-74.
Schwartz, E. A. “Red Atlantis Revisited: Community and Culture in the Writings of John Collier.” American Indian Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 4, 1994, pp. 507–31. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1185395.
Wikimedia Commons, 25 June 2017,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Collier.png. Image in Public Domain Zimmer, Eric Steven. “Building the Red Earth Nation: The Civilian Conservation Corps—Indian Division on the Meskwaki Settlement.” Native American and Indigenous Studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2015, p. 106. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.5749/natiindistudj.2.2.0106.
