The National Congress of American Indian (NCAI), founded in 1944, is the oldest nation-wide American Indian advocacy organization in the United States. The NCAI records document the organization's work, particularly that of its office in Washington, DC, and the wide variety of issues faced by American Indians in the twentieth century. The collection is located in the Cultural Resource Center of the National Museum of the American Indian.
Scope and Contents:
The records of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) reflect the operations of its Washington, DC, headquarters and, in particular, the activities and responsibilities of its executive director. The papers primarily cover the period 1943 to 1990, although some documents pre-dating NCAI are present. The bulk of the material relates to legislation, lobbying, and NCAI's interactions with various governmental bodies. A large segment also concerns the annual conventions and executive council and executive committee meetings. Finally, the records also document the operations of the NCAI, including personnel, financial, and fundraising material. Materials found throughout the collection include letters, memoranda, handwritten notes, speeches, press releases, newspaper clippings, publications, minutes of meetings, transcripts, reports, agenda, programs, financial records, legislative materials, photographs, and sound recordings.
Arrangement:
The National Congress of American Indians records are arranged in 21 series:
Series 1 -- : NCAI Conventions and Mid-Year Conferences
Series 2 -- : Executive Council and Executive Committee Files
Subseries 4.1: Individual Tribes, Bands and Reservations
Subseries 4.2: Intertribal Organizations
Subseries 4.3: Special Issues
Subseries 4.4: Miscellaneous Tribal Files
Series 5 -- : Records of Indian Interest Organizations
Subseries 5.1: Other Indian Organizations
Subseries 5.2: Non-Indian Support Groups
Subseries 5.3: General Indian Interest Groups
Series 6 -- : NCAI Committees and Special Issue Files
Subseries 6.1: Alaskan Natives
Subseries 6.2: Policy Conference
Subseries 6.3: Religious Freedom and Related Cultural Concerns
Subseries 6.4: Hunting and Fishing Rights
Subseries 6.5: Natural Resources and Indian Water Rights
Subseries 6.6: Nuclear Waste
Subseries 6.7: Solar Bank
Subseries 6.8: AIMS [American Indian Media Surveillance] Committee
Subseries 6.9: HCR 108 and Federal Termination Policies
Subseries 6.10: Emergency Conference of 1954
Subseries 6.11: Jurisdiction --NCAI Commission and Federal Legislation
Subseries 6.12: Law Enforcement
Subseries 6.13: Litigation Committee
Subseries 6.14: Annual Litigation Conference
Subseries 6.15: Trail of Broken Treaties Impact Survey Team
Subseries 6.16: Block Grants
Subseries 6.17: Health and Welfare
Subseries 6.18: Self-Determination and Education
Subseries 6.19: National Conference on Federal Recognition
Subseries 6.20: Economic and Reservation Development
Series -- 7: United Effort Trust (UET)
Subseries 7.1: NCAI and NTCA Joint Committee
Subseries 7.2: Issues
Subseries 7.3: Legislation
Subseries 7.4: News Releases
Subseries 7.5: Indian Organizations
Subseries 7.6: Inter-Tribal Organizations
Subseries 7.7: Non-Indian Organizations
Subseries 7.8: Tribes
Series 8 -- : Attorneys and Legal Interest Groups
Subseries 8.1: Attorneys
Subseries 8.2: Legal Interest Groups
Subseries 8.3: Legal Services
Series 9 -- : Federal Indian Policy and Legislation Files
Subseries 9.1: American Indian Policy Review Task Force
Series 10 -- : Bureau of Indian Affairs
Series 11 -- : State and Local Government Organizations
Series 12 -- : Census
Series 13 -- : General Alpha-Subject Files
Series 14 -- : Records of Charles E. "Chuck" Trimble
Series 15 -- : Records of Suzan S. Harjo
Subseries 15.1: Indian Claims: Eastern Land Claims
Subseries 15.2: Indian Claims: Statute of Limitations
Subseries 15.3: Conference on -- The Indian Reorganization Act - An Assessment and Prospectus Fifty Years Later
Subseries 15.4: Inter-American Indian Institute (IAII)
Subseries 15.5: Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA)
Subseries 15.6: Institute of the American West (IAW)
Subseries 15.7: Common Cause
Subseries 15.8: Office Files
Series 16 -- : Fund Raising
Subseries 16.1: Gifts, Bequests, and Contributions
Subseries 16.2: Foundations
Subseries 16.3: General --Arrow and NCAI Fund
Series 17 -- : Business and Financial Records Files
Subseries 17.1: Personnel
Series 18 -- : "Give-Away" Files
Series 19 -- : Publications
Subseries 19.1: -- News/Sentinels -- and -- Sentinel Bulletin
Subseries 19.2: Other Publications
Series 20 -- : Photographs
Series 21 -- : Audio and Film Recordings
Biographical / Historical:
The National Congress of America Indians, which describes itself as the oldest and largest American Indian and Alaskan Native organization in the United States, was founded on November 16, 1944, in Denver, CO. NCAI was intended to serve as a link between individual tribal councils and the United States government, by defining and helping to crystallize Indian thought on the administration of Indian affairs. The Congress also aimed to educate the general public about Indians, preserve Indian cultural values, protect treaty rights with the United States, and promote Indian welfare.
At the first convention, delegates representing fifty tribes ratified the constitution and by-laws, drafted resolutions determining the direction of NCAI policy, and elected the organizations' first officers, with Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Napoleon B. Johnson (Cherokee) as president. The officers, as well as eight elected council members, formed the Executive Council. The Council chose the Executive Director; Ruth Muskrat Bronson (Cherokee) was the organization's first director, from 1944-1948. "Persons of Indian blood" could join the organization either as individuals or as groups. In 1955, however, the constitution was revised to restrict group membership to recognized tribes, committees, or bands, and to make the Executive Council chosen by tribal representatives. These changes gave control of the organization to governing bodies of organized tribes, rather than individuals. A further amendment that year created a five-member Executive Committee, headed by the president, which had all the powers of the Executive Council between council meetings.
Conventions have been held annually in the fall since the formation of the NCAI in 1944. Since 1977, mid-year conferences have been held in May or June of each year, to allow more frequent and thorough discussion of issues. The resolutions passed at these conventions are the basis for all policy of the Executive Committee and Executive Director between meetings. The conventions are also used for informational sessions and meetings of standing and special committees of NCAI. One or two-day workshops may also be held on special topics or Congressional issues of particular concern.
NCAI created a tax-exempt arm in 1949 to accept charitable contributions and apply for grants, the NCAI Fund, which soon changed its name to ARROW, Inc. By 1957, however, ARROW had split off to become an independent organization, and NCAI started a new arm, again called the NCAI Fund. In the coming decades, the NCAI Fund would obtain grants from sources including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Veteran Affairs, Indian Health Service, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Ford Foundation, humanities councils and others, which they used for conferences, workshops, publications, and other projects.
In its early years, NCAI fought for the recognition of land claims of Alaska natives, the enfranchisement of Arizona and New Mexico Indians, the equitable settlement of tribal land claims, and the right of Indians to select their own attorneys. The NCAI lobbied vigorously for an Indian Claims Commission Bill, which became law in August 1946. NCAI's lobbying efforts on behalf of this act set the pattern for the organization's future role in legislative matters: keeping member tribes abreast of proposed legislation and ascertaining their views, and maintaining a presence in Congress through lobbying and testimony.
Beginning in 1954, the threat of termination pushed NCAI into a period of increased activity. Although some tribes were ready to terminate their relationship with the federal government, much of Indian Country felt threatened by the government's new stated policy. NCAI therefore organized an Emergency Conference of American Indians for February 1954 to protest this new termination policy. An agreement was forged at the conference between the NCAI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to work together toward slowly liquidating the BIA. The termination period of the 1950s and 1960s, while challenging, saw NCAI increase in confidence and political acumen.
During the 1960s, a number of other activist Indian groups sprang up and began to dilute the singular influence which NCAI had commanded. Newer, more militant groups often considered themselves at odds with NCAI, which was increasingly perceived as conservative. As the number of Indian advocacy groups grew in the 1960s and 1970s, however, NCAI actively partnered with other organizations, particularly the National Tribal Chairmen's Association (NTCA) and Native American Rights Fund (NARF), on a variety of projects.
Charles E. "Chuck" Trimble (Oglala Dakota) served as Executive Director of NCAI in 1972 until 1977, when he resigned to lead the United Effort Trust, a project designed to fight white backlash to Indian rights. NCAI spent most of the next two years trying to find another permanent director. In 1979, Ronald P. Andrade (Luiseno-Diegueno) joined NCAI and unfortunately found a group that was demoralized and underfunded. He was able to return the organization to good health but left in 1982. Si Whitman (Nez Perce), his successor, remained at NCAI for less than a year.
Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne-Creek) became director of NCAI on May 1, 1984. Prior to taking this postions, she had served as Congressional Liaison for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior during the Carter administration and as legislative liaison for the Native American Rights Fund, as well as working for NCAI during the mid-1970s. Harjo was also an active and published poet, as well as a frequent speaker at events around the country. The National Congress of American Indians was particularly active on Capitol Hill while Harjo was director, advocating for government-to-government status, the Tribal Government Tax Status Act of 1983, repatriation legislation, and economic development programs, among other issues. Harjo was herself very involved in the establishment of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC.
The NCAI Fund was very successful in receiving grants during this period, although they were chronically short of operating funds. Some of their most active projects during this period were the Indian and Native Veterans Outreach Program (INVOP), Inter-generational Health Promotion and Education Program (IHPEP), Environmental Handbook and related educational seminars, Solar Bank, nuclear waste disposal and transportation information sessions, and voter registration.
For years, NCAI's operating expenses had been funded by the Ford Foundation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). In 1985, the director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, opposing the use of Federal monies to support outside organizations, began to block the payment for services due to the NCAI. This created a financial crisis from which the NCAI did not recover during Harjo's tenure, and it became the major issue for which she was not rehired in October 1989.
Following the 1989 Annual Convention, Wayne Ducheneaux (Cheyenne River Sioux) became President of NCAI and A. Gay Kingman (Cheyenne River Sioux) was appointed Executive Director. Their first efforts were focused on recovering the financial well-being of the organization, which meant that less attention was devoted to issues in Congress. One of the successful projects NCAI pursued during the next two years was organization and presentation of the Indian pre-conference of the White House Conference on Library and Information Science, which was held in early 1991.
The National Congress of American Indians is still active today, continuing its work of lobbying, support for tribal governments, and advocacy for American Indian issues.
Related Materials:
Other collections at the NMAI Archives Center that include information on the National Congress of American Indians include:
Arrow, Inc., and the American Indian Tribal Court Judges records, 1949-1999 (NMAI.MS.013)
James E. Curry papers, 1935-1955 (NMAI.MS.015)
National Tribal Chairmen's Association records, 1971-1978 (NMAI.MS.014)
Helen L. Peterson papers, 1944-1992 (NMAI.MS.016)
Reuben Snake papers, 1971-1996 (NMAI.MS.012)
Provenance:
The National Congress of American Indians designated the National Anthropological Archives (NAA) as its official repository in 1976. This collection was received by NAA in four accessions between 1976 and 1991. It was transferred from NAA to the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center in 2006.
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.
Topic:
Indians of North America -- Government relations -- 1934- Search this
Indians of North America -- Politics and government Search this
Indians of North America -- Social conditions -- 20th century Search this
Indians of North America -- Legal status, laws, etc. Search this
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Collection Title, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
The Peratrovich family papers include correspondence, personal papers, and newsclippings related to civil rights work done by Elizabeth and Roy Peratrovich in Alaska in the mid-twentieth century.
Scope and Contents:
The Peratrovich family papers include correspondence, personal papers, and newsclippings related to civil rights work done by Elizabeth and Roy Peratrovich, Sr. in Alaska circa 1940-1960. Particular materials include draft legislation related to the 1945 Alaska anti-discrimination law providing for equal accommodation privileges to all citizens, the 1988 establishment of Elizabeth Wanamaker Peratrovich Day (February 16) in Alaska, and activities by Elizabeth and Roy on behalf of the Alaska Native Sisterhood and Alaska Native Brotherhood organizations. In addition to manuscript materials, two CDs of audio recordings include radio interviews about the life and work of Elizabeth. Most of the photographic materials in this collection are photocopies made by Roy Peratrovich, Sr.
Arrangement:
The materials in this collection were removed from three-ring binders and placed in 7 folders. Original order was maintained.
Biographical / Historical:
Elizabeth Wanamaker Peratrovich (1911-1958) and her husband Roy Peratrovich, Sr. (1908-1989), both members of the Tlingit Nation, were prominent civil rights activists in Alaska. They worked on behalf of Alaska Natives, advocating for equality of all citizens, regardless of race. Both were influential in this work, with Elizabeth being credited with the passage of the 1945 Anti-Discrimination Act, and later honored posthumously by the Alaska Legislature when February 16 was established as Elizabeth Peratrovich Day. Both Elizabeth and Roy additionally served as leaders of the Alaska Native Sisterhood and Alaska Native Brotherhood, promoting Native rights and culture. After Elizabeth's death in 1958, Roy continued his and his wife's advocacy for Alaska Natives, as he worked with the Bureau of Indian Affairs for 38 years, eventually becoming superintendent of the BIA office in Anchorage.
Related Materials:
A similar manuscript holding, absent the two CDs of audio recordings, is held at the Alaska State Library Historical Collections in Juneau, Alaska, as MS 129: Peratrovich Family Papers.
Separated Materials:
A bust of Elizabeth Peratrovich, made of cast bronze on a walnut wood base, sculpted by her son Roy Peratrovich, Jr., was gifted to the NMAI along with the Peratrovich family papers. The bust of Elizabeth Peratrovich was assigned object number 25/5195, and is housed with the NMAI Object Collections.
A bust of Roy Peratrovich, made of cast bronze on a walnut wood base with plaque reading "Roy Peratrovich ANB Grand President Emeritus," sculpted by his son Roy Peratrovich, Jr., was gifted to the NMAI in 2003. The bust of Roy Peratrovich was assigned object number 26/1569, and is housed next to the bust of his wife in the NMAI Object Collections.
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Roy Peratrovich, Jr., in 2001.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives 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:
Permission to publish or broadcast materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Topic:
Race discrimination -- Law and legislation Search this
Alaska Natives -- Civil rights -- History -- 20th century Search this
Indians of North America -- Civil rights Search this
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Peratrovich family papers, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
The Teriananda Papers, located in the Cultural Resource Center of the National Museum of the American Indian, contain writings authored by Teriananda, as well as various position papers, news articles, flyers, correspondence, and group newsletters that represent the political activities she participated in on behalf of Native American and other indigenous peoples.
Scope and Contents:
This collection, from the 1970s to the 1990s, is comprised of published and unpublished writings by Teriananda, as well as letters, reports, newspaper and magazine articles, group newsletters, flyers and announcements of political events, and news releases. The issues represented here, including support work for "The Longest Walk," the campaign for justice for Leonard Peltier, and the Big Mountain relocation are indicative of the concerns in parts of Indian country in the United States and elsewhere during these decades.
Arrangement:
The Teriananda papers are arranged into two series:
Series I: Writings (1978-1991)
Series II: Political Activities (undated; 1972-1996)
Biographical / Historical:
Teriananda was born in Manhattan in 1947, where she grew up and has continued to live throughout her adult life. Teriananda's father, born in Brooklyn, became a financial officer and independent scholar, her mother, born in British Guiana (now Guyana), was a classical pianist who immigrated to the United States and later became an editorial assistant, working part-time during Teriananda's childhood. Her parents instilled in Teriananda a belief that she was "a citizen of the world." She studied ballet as a youngster, and, as a teenager, immersed herself in the artistic and intellectual milieu of the Lower East Side and Greenwich Village. An improperly diagnosed back injury while she was a senior in high school resulted in severe back problems in the 1970s that have persisted throughout her life.
Teriananda became interested in indigenous struggles in the 1970s following a "back crisis" that almost took her life yet proved to be psychically transformative. In seeking to know who she was, she realized she needed to know where she was, and this led her to ask who the original inhabitants of the continent were. She soon became involved in activist struggles for indigenous rights, and worked with a number of Native American groups during the 1970s and 1980s, including, among other things, the International Treaty Council's attempts to found the U.N.'s permanent Working Group on Indigenous People, support for Yvonne Wanrow and Leonard Peltier, the issue of uranium contamination from mining on Native American land, and the problem of the Joint Land Use Area near Big Mountain on the Hopi and Navajo reservations.
Teriananda also worked on issues surrounding the AIDS crisis after the death of several friends from this disease. She had become familiar with the possibilities of natural medicines, partly through contact with traditional Native teachers, and she became active promoting the benefits of nutritional, herbal and other natural therapies to sufferers of AIDS. As Teriananda's own health issues persisted and worsened, she turned to Tibetan Buddhism, and has devoted herself to artistic pursuits influenced by this spiritual path, although she has worked artistically since the early 1970s, when she stopped dancing. Although she has cut back on her activism, due to health problems and family demands, Teriananda remains a committed political activist who stays informed of current issues and is determined to pass on the heritage of struggles for peace and justice to the next generation.
Provenance:
Donated to the National Museum of the American Indian Archives by Teriananda in March 2003
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 materials from the collection must be requested from the NMAI Archivist. The Archives has no information on the status of literary rights for the work of others found in these papers; researchers are responsible for determining any question of copyright.
Topic:
Indians of North America -- Civil rights Search this
Indians of North America -- Relocation Search this
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Teriananda papers, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
The National Congress of America Indians (NCAI), which describes itself as the oldest and largest American Indian and Alaskan Native organization in the United States, was founded on November 16, 1944, in Denver, CO and is still active today. NCAI was founded to serve as a link between individual tribal councils and the United States government but also aimed to educate the general public about Indians, preserve Indian cultural values, protect treaty rights with the United States, and promote Indian welfare. This collection of National Congress of America Indians Audio and Film Recordings contains materials created by and for NCAI to maintain a record of organizational proceedings and events between 1952 and 1997. Recorded in various formats, the bulk of this collection is on 1/4" open reel to reel tapes and sound cassettes. The events represented in this collection include annual and mid-year conventions, executive council meetings, congressional hearings, intertribal institutes and a variety of workshops and meetings regarding economic, civil and educational issues facing indian country.
Scope and Contents:
This collection of National Congress of America Indians Audio and Film Recordings contains materials created by and for NCAI to maintain a record of organizational proceedings and events between 1952 and 1997. Recorded in various formats, the bulk of this collection is on 1/4" open reel to reel tapes and sound cassettes. The collection also contains smaller numbers of EIAJ open reel videotapes, U-Matic, VHS and Hi-8 videocassettes and well as dictaphone belts and audio cartridges. The first series in this collection contains audio recordings from NCAI annual and mid-year convetions held in different locations all over the United States. The second series includes events hosted by NCAI or attended by NCAI representatives. These include executive council meetings, congressional hearings, intertribal institutes and a variety of workshops and meetings regarding economic, civil and educational issues facing indian country. Several larger events include the Arizona Intertribal Institute (1955), The National Indian Policy Conference (1974), LEAA Conference (1978), Environmental Protection Hearings and Seminars (1988) and the Senate Indian Affairs Special Investigations Subcommittee meetings (1989). A conference held in 1993 also documents the early history of NCAI with speakers such as Helen Peterson, John Rainer and Erma Hicks Walz.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into three series and chronologically within each series. Series 1: Annual and Mid-Year Conventions, 1953-1989, Series 2: Chronological Events, 1952-1997, and Series 3: Commercial Audio/Video, 1972-1989.
Biographical / Historical:
The National Congress of America Indians, which describes itself as the oldest and largest American Indian and Alaskan Native organization in the United States, was founded on November 16, 1944, in Denver, CO. NCAI was intended to serve as a link between individual tribal councils and the United States government, by defining and helping to crystallize Indian thought on the administration of Indian affairs. The Congress also aimed to educate the general public about Indians, preserve Indian cultural values, protect treaty rights with the United States, and promote Indian welfare.
At the first convention, delegates representing fifty tribes ratified the constitution and by-laws, drafted resolutions determining the direction of NCAI policy, and elected the organizations' first officers, with Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Napoleon B. Johnson (Cherokee) as president. The officers, as well as eight elected council members, formed the Executive Council. The Council chose the Executive Director; Ruth Muskrat Bronson (Cherokee) was the organization's first director, from 1944-1948. "Persons of Indian blood" could join the organization either as individuals or as groups. In 1955, however, the constitution was revised to restrict group membership to recognized tribes, committees, or bands, and to make the Executive Council chosen by tribal representatives. These changes gave control of the organization to governing bodies of organized tribes, rather than individuals. A further amendment that year created a five-member Executive Committee, headed by the president, which had all the powers of the Executive Council between council meetings.
Conventions have been held annually in the fall since the formation of the NCAI in 1944. Since 1977, mid-year conferences have been held in May or June of each year, to allow more frequent and thorough discussion of issues. The resolutions passed at these conventions are the basis for all policy of the Executive Committee and Executive Director between meetings. The conventions are also used for informational sessions and meetings of standing and special committees of NCAI. One or two-day workshops may also be held on special topics or Congressional issues of particular concern.
NCAI created a tax-exempt arm in 1949 to accept charitable contributions and apply for grants, the NCAI Fund, which soon changed its name to ARROW, Inc. By 1957, however, ARROW had split off to become an independent organization, and NCAI started a new arm, again called the NCAI Fund. In the coming decades, the NCAI Fund would obtain grants from sources including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Veteran Affairs, Indian Health Service, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Ford Foundation, humanities councils and others, which they used for conferences, workshops, publications, and other projects.
In its early years, NCAI fought for the recognition of land claims of Alaska natives, the enfranchisement of Arizona and New Mexico Indians, the equitable settlement of tribal land claims, and the right of Indians to select their own attorneys. The NCAI lobbied vigorously for an Indian Claims Commission Bill, which became law in August 1946. NCAI's lobbying efforts on behalf of this act set the pattern for the organization's future role in legislative matters: keeping member tribes abreast of proposed legislation and ascertaining their views, and maintaining a presence in Congress through lobbying and testimony.
Beginning in 1954, the threat of termination pushed NCAI into a period of increased activity. Although some tribes were ready to terminate their relationship with the federal government, much of Indian Country felt threatened by the government's new stated policy. NCAI therefore organized an Emergency Conference of American Indians for February 1954 to protest this new termination policy. An agreement was forged at the conference between the NCAI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to work together toward slowly liquidating the BIA. The termination period of the 1950s and 1960s, while challenging, saw NCAI increase in confidence and political acumen.
During the 1960s, a number of other activist Indian groups sprang up and began to dilute the singular influence which NCAI had commanded. Newer, more militant groups often considered themselves at odds with NCAI, which was increasingly perceived as conservative. As the number of Indian advocacy groups grew in the 1960s and 1970s, however, NCAI actively partnered with other organizations, particularly the National Tribal Chairmen's Association (NTCA) and Native American Rights Fund (NARF), on a variety of projects.
Charles E. "Chuck" Trimble (Oglala Dakota) served as Executive Director of NCAI in 1972 until 1977, when he resigned to lead the United Effort Trust, a project designed to fight white backlash to Indian rights. NCAI spent most of the next two years trying to find another permanent director. In 1979, Ronald P. Andrade (Luiseno-Diegueno) joined NCAI and unfortunately found a group that was demoralized and underfunded. He was able to return the organization to good health but left in 1982. Si Whitman (Nez Perce), his successor, remained at NCAI for less than a year.
Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne-Creek) became director of NCAI on May 1, 1984. Prior to taking this postions, she had served as Congressional Liaison for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior during the Carter administration and as legislative liaison for the Native American Rights Fund, as well as working for NCAI during the mid-1970s. Harjo was also an active and published poet, as well as a frequent speaker at events around the country. The National Congress of American Indians was particularly active on Capitol Hill while Harjo was director, advocating for government-to-government status, the Tribal Government Tax Status Act of 1983, repatriation legislation, and economic development programs, among other issues. Harjo was herself very involved in the establishment of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC.
The NCAI Fund was very successful in receiving grants during this period, although they were chronically short of operating funds. Some of their most active projects during this period were the Indian and Native Veterans Outreach Program (INVOP), Inter-generational Health Promotion and Education Program (IHPEP), Environmental Handbook and related educational seminars, Solar Bank, nuclear waste disposal and transportation information sessions, and voter registration.
For years, NCAI's operating expenses had been funded by the Ford Foundation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). In 1985, the director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, opposing the use of Federal monies to support outside organizations, began to block the payment for services due to the NCAI. This created a financial crisis from which the NCAI did not recover during Harjo's tenure, and it became the major issue for which she was not rehired in October 1989.
Following the 1989 Annual Convention, Wayne Ducheneaux (Cheyenne River Sioux) became President of NCAI and A. Gay Kingman (Cheyenne River Sioux) was appointed Executive Director. Their first efforts were focused on recovering the financial well-being of the organization, which meant that less attention was devoted to issues in Congress. One of the successful projects NCAI pursued during the next two years was organization and presentation of the Indian pre-conference of the White House Conference on Library and Information Science, which was held in early 1991.
The National Congress of American Indians is still active today, continuing its work of lobbying, support for tribal governments, and advocacy for American Indian issues.
Related Materials:
Other collections at the NMAI Archives Center that include information on the National Congress of American Indians include:
National Congress of American Indians records,1933-1990 (NMAI.AC.010)
Arrow, Inc., and the American Indian Tribal Court Judges records, 1949-1999 (NMAI.AC.013) James E. Curry papers, 1935-1955 (NMAI.AC.015) National Tribal Chairmen's Association records, 1971-1978 (NMAI.AC.014) Helen L. Peterson papers, 1944-1992 (NMAI.AC.016) Reuben Snake papers, 1971-1996 (NMAI.AC.012)
Provenance:
The National Congress of American Indians designated the National Anthropological Archives (NAA) as its official repository in 1976. It was transferred from NAA to the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center in 2006.
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:
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.
Topic:
Indians of North America -- Civil rights Search this
Indians of North America -- Economic conditions -- 20th century Search this
Indians of North America -- Government relations Search this
Indians of North America -- Social conditions -- 20th century Search this
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); National Congress of American Indians Audio and Film Recordings, Box Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
From Wounded Knee to Checkpoint Charlie : the alliance for sovereignty between American Indians and Central Europeans in the late Cold War / György Ferenc Tóth
Symposium on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, July 10-11, 2004, Fresno, California = Simposio de los Derechos de los Pueblos Indigenas, 10-11 de julio de 2004, Fresno, California
Title:
Simposio de los Derechos de los Pueblos Indigenas, 10-11 de julio de 2004, Fresno, California
Author:
Symposium on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas (2004 : Fresno, Calif.) Search this
"I do not apologize for the length of this letter" : the Mari Sandoz letters on Native American rights, 1940-1965 / introduced and edited by Kimberli A. Lee ; foreword by John R. Wunder
