Indian New Deal, Tribal Termination, and Urban Relocation 1934-1967

Findings from the 1928 Meriam Report usher in reforms during a period known as the Indian New Deal (1934-1949). In 1934, Congress passes the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA), a reform...Read More

1934

Investigation of the Canton Insane Asylum

Canton closes due to abuse of patients and deplorable conditions. The Office of Indian Affairs...Read More

Traumatic Event
1934

Congress passes Indian Reorganization Act

The Meriam Report provides impetus for the development of the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA), also...Read More

Settler Colonial Policy
1936

Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936

Also known as the Thomas-Rogers Act, it extends the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act to tribes...Read More

Settler Colonial Policy
1938

U.S. government takes control over mineral development on Indian lands

The Indian Lands Mining Act gives the Secretary of the Interior broad powers over mineral...Read More

Settler Colonial Policy
1941-1945

World War II draft

All Native men are required to register for the World War II draft, despite the...Read More

Settler Colonial Policy
1942

Aleut Alaska Natives put in internment camps

More than 880 Aleuts and their families are forcibly relocated and transported to internment camps...Read More

Settler Colonial Policy
1942

Native lands used for nuclear tests, battery ranges

More than 900,000 acres of Alaska Native lands and more than 16 Indian reservations are...Read More

Traumatic Event
1944-1986

Radiation exposure

Mining companies blast four million tons of uranium out of Navajo land. The federal government...Read More

Traumatic Event
1946

Atomic bomb testing begins on Bikini Atoll in Marshall Islands

The U.S. drops several atomic bombs on the Marshall Islands, devastating the environment and endangering...Read More

Traumatic Event
1947

Salmon sites and traditional lands are destroyed by dams

Dams on the Columbia, Snake, and Missouri Rivers wipe out salmon fishing sites and flood...Read More

Traumatic Event
1948

Arizona Indians are granted right to vote in state elections

Native Resistance
1949

Hoover Commission recommends terminating tribes, promoting urbanization

The Hoover Commission recommends that Natives be rapidly assimilated and integrated into mainstream society by...Read More

Traumatic Event
1950

Former head of Japanese internment camps appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs

Dillon Meyer is an avid supporter of termination of tribes and the federal trust relationship.

Traumatic Event
1950

Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Nations openly revive the Sun Dance

Native Resistance
1950

Navajo Hopi Rehabilitation Act is approved

This act is the first test case for implementing the Hoover Commission’s recommendations for urbanization...Read More

Settler Colonial Policy
1951

Uranium is discovered on the Dine’ reservation

Once uranium is found in Dine’ territory, many Dine’ men are put to work in...Read More

Traumatic Event
1953-1962

Termination becomes official policy

Congress begins a 13-year period of terminating Native tribes, through which tribes are disbanded and...Read More

Settler Colonial Policy
1954

Termination Acts are designed to accelerate termination of a number of tribes

Congress passes legislation for termination of a number of tribes, including the Fort Peck, Lower...Read More

Settler Colonial Policy
1954

Menominee Termination Act

The Menominee, who had won an $8.5 million claims settlement, are blocked by Congress from...Read More

Settler Colonial Policy
1954

Castle Bravo, 15-megaton hydrogen bomb blast, is detonated over Bikini Atoll

The bomb is the largest U.S. test ever, 1,300 times more destructive than the bombs...Read More

Traumatic Event
1955

Democrats regain seats in House and Senate and slow down termination process

Settler Colonial Policy Native Resistance
1956

Indian Relocation Act passes, launching the urban relocation process

The Act, also known as Public Law 959 or the Adult Vocational Training Program, is...Read More

Settler Colonial Policy
1956-1957

Medical experimentation on Alaska Natives

From 1956 to 1957, the U.S. Air Force’s Arctic Aeromedical Laboratory conducts a study on...Read More

Traumatic Event
1957

Tuscarora, Seneca, and Mohawk women resist New York Power Authority and soil testing on their lands

Native women lie down in the roads to nonviolently resist intrusion by state and survey...Read More

Native Resistance
1957

Seneca traditional lands protected by treaty are flooded by Kinzua Dam

The Seneca opposed the building of a dam that ends up flooding traditional homelands. Forced...Read More

Traumatic Event
1958

Lumbee drive off KKK

Hooded Klansmen who come to Lumbee territory to intimidate and harass Lumbee for protesting the...Read More

Native Resistance
1958

Nuclear testing continues on Native lands in the Marshall Islands

From 1946 to 1958, the United States conducts 67 tests in the Marshall Islands. If...Read More

Traumatic Event
1958

Miccosukee and Six Nations request admittance to United Nations

Delegation of Miccosukee of Florida and Haudenosaunee Six Nations go to Cuba and ask Fidel...Read More

Native Resistance
1958

Miccosukee of Florida refuse Army Corps of Engineers Everglades project to redirect river running through the Everglades

Native Resistance
1958

Forty-eight rancherias are forced to terminate as federally recognized tribes

With termination, the Bureau of Indian Affairs withdraws economic, vocational, education, and water and sanitation...Read More

Traumatic Event

Select Era:

Tribal Independence Era

Epidemics, Slavery, Massacres, and Indigenous Resistance

Invasion from All Directions—Stolen Lands, Stolen Peoples

Strategic Alliances and Trail of Broken Treaties

Sovereign Nation Era Ends

Indian Removal Era Begins

Reservation Era Begins

Boarding School and Land Allotment Eras

Indian New Deal, Tribal Termination, and Urban Relocation

Indian Self-Determination and Self-Governance Era

Investigation of the Canton Insane Asylum

Congress passes Indian Reorganization Act

Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936

U.S. government takes control over mineral development on Indian lands

World War II draft

Aleut Alaska Natives put in internment camps

Native lands used for nuclear tests, battery ranges

Radiation exposure

Atomic bomb testing begins on Bikini Atoll in Marshall Islands

Salmon sites and traditional lands are destroyed by dams

Arizona Indians are granted right to vote in state elections

Hoover Commission recommends terminating tribes, promoting urbanization

Former head of Japanese internment camps appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs

Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Nations openly revive the Sun Dance

Navajo Hopi Rehabilitation Act is approved

Uranium is discovered on the Dine’ reservation

Termination becomes official policy

Termination Acts are designed to accelerate termination of a number of tribes

Menominee Termination Act

Castle Bravo, 15-megaton hydrogen bomb blast, is detonated over Bikini Atoll

Democrats regain seats in House and Senate and slow down termination process

Indian Relocation Act passes, launching the urban relocation process

Medical experimentation on Alaska Natives

Tuscarora, Seneca, and Mohawk women resist New York Power Authority and soil testing on their lands

Seneca traditional lands protected by treaty are flooded by Kinzua Dam

Lumbee drive off KKK

Nuclear testing continues on Native lands in the Marshall Islands

Miccosukee and Six Nations request admittance to United Nations

Miccosukee of Florida refuse Army Corps of Engineers Everglades project to redirect river running through the Everglades

Forty-eight rancherias are forced to terminate as federally recognized tribes

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