Above: John Collier at Zion National Park. Collier was head of the U.S. Office of Indian Affairs (today, the Bureau of Indian Affairs) from 1933 to 1945. This photo is from the January - February 1945 edition of Indians at Work, a newsletter of the Office of Indian Affairs.
A chronicle of the Indian New Deal
The Indians at Work newsletter ran from 1933 to 1945, the same years that John Collier was commissioner of the U.S. Office of Indian Affairs. It is an amazing source of information for those wanting to know more about American Indians during the New Deal; more specifically, American Indians during the "Indian New Deal." Over the coming months I'll be highlighting interesting stories, photos, and artwork from Indians at Work - stories about the Indian Division of the Civilian Conservation Corps; PWA and WPA public works on Indian land; political developments of the Indian Reorganization Act; artwork facilitated by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board; and more.
Indians at Work ended with a special memorial issue, Indians in the War, highlighting the sacrifice that American Indian tribes made during World War II. It also ended, ostensibly, because of a paper shortage. But paper shortages are temporary. The reason Indians at Work permanently ended probably had more to do with congressional and public indifference to the well-being of American Indians (in his resignation letter, Collier alluded to growing congressional apathy). After the New Deal, and especially after 1980, Americans increasingly rejected the general welfare... let alone the welfare of those on reservations. Many American Indian communities have long suffered from poverty, unemployment, and suicide; and Congress and the general public don't seem overly concerned about it (see, e.g., "Serious issues plague Native American communities," KTTC (NBC affiliate, Minnesota and Iowa), November 23, 2021).
In a contrast to modern disregard, and in reply to John Collier's resignation letter (January 1945), FDR highlighted the New Deal's approach to Native American issues:
"During the last twelve years, more than ever before, we have tried to impress upon the Indians that we are indeed Christians; that we not only avow but practice the qualities of freedom and liberty and opportunity that are explicit in our institutions. We have come to treat the Indian as a human being, as one who possesses the dignity and commands the respect of fellow human beings. In encouraging him to pursue his own life and revive and continue his own culture, we have added to his worth and dignity. We have protected the Indian in his property rights while enlarging them. We have opened the window of his mind to the extent that we have had money with which to do it. We have improved his medical service, we have enlarged his intellectual program. We have protected him in his religion and we have added greatly to his political stature. All of these things have been done under your leadership because of your wisdom and courage... [I] hope that, in the future as in the past... you will continue to achieve lasting benefits for the descendants of those misunderstood and misused human beings who originally possessed this great land of ours and who were displaced involuntarily, all too often with a selfish disregard of their right to live their own lives in their own way." (From Indians at Work, January - February, 1945.)
Some of FDR's words might sound paternalistic by today's standards; but considering pre-New Deal cruelty towards American Indians, and post-New Deal indifference, they sure sound good to me.
Above: The cover for the September 15, 1933 edition of Indians at Work. In the graphic, we see "Indian Emergency Conservation Work." This was an early name for the Civilian Conservation Corps - Indian Division. The CCC would prove to be one the most important and beneficial New Deal programs for American Indians. Image courtesy of Hathitrust.
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