The files are those of the Washington, D.C., office that were accumulated primarily under William Youpee. Youpee served as the first president of the association and became its executive director in 1972. There are also files accumulated by Chinzu Toda, a Bureau of Indian Affairs employee who was on loan to the National Tribal Chairmen's Association. In 1978, Kenneth E. Black became the executive director. Material created from 1978 to the end of the National Tribal Chairmen's Association are in private hands.
Scope and Contents:
The records in this collection came from several offices within the National Tribal Chairman's Association. Most of the files either came from the offices of William Youpee, Executive Director, or Chinzu Toda, who had been loaned to NTCA from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and contain material relating to the work conducted by the organization. This includes board meeting minutes and transcripts from 1971-1978, correspondence with government organizatons such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Health, Education and Welfare departments as well as correspondence with Native American tribes and organizations. Also included are administrative and personnel files which contain information on the various committee's run by NTCA, the "Tribal Chairman's Mailout" and other newsletters, as well as information on individuals and Tribal Leaders who worked with the NTCA. Documents on the NTCA'a annual conventions as well as general correspondence and chronological files are also included.
Arrangement note:
The collection was initally arranged into 24 separate series when it was accessioned at the National Anthropological Archives. NAA staff examined the records and created a folder level listing for all boxes. Using this inventory, staff identified 14 series.
1) Constitutional Convention Files
2) Meeting Minutes of the National Tribal Chairmen's Association Board
3) Resolutions Files
4) General Correspondence
5) Copies of Letters Received
6) Chronological Files
7) Correspondence with Government Departments
8) Correspondence with Indian Tribes
9) Correspondence with Indian Organizations
10) Administrative Files
11) Personnel Files
12) American Indian Movement Takeover Files
13) Backlash Files
14) Conventions Files
NMAI archive staff did not change the arrangement of this collection upon transfer.
Biographical/Historical note:
The National Tribal Chairmen's Association (NTCA) was formally created in Albuquerque July 13th, 1971. Funded in part by contracts with the Department of the Interior and in part by funds from the department of Health Education and Welfare the NTCA was composed of elected chairmen from federally recognized Indian tribes, bands and communities in the United States. The NTCA served as a voice to promote American Indian unity, observation of treaty and other rights, preservation of values, and progress in justice, social standing, education, economic well being, and political influence of all Indians of the United States. The organization no longer exists.
Provenance:
The records of the National Tribal Chairmen's Association were donated to the National Anthropological Archives in 1980 from NTCA. The records were then transferred to the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center in 2007.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadbast materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Records of the National Tribal Chairmen's Association, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
