Native American Self-determination - Origin of The Concept of Self-determination - Self-determination: After 1960

Self-determination: After 1960

Self-determination was not official US policy until 1970, when Richard Nixon addressed the issue in his July 8 congressional "Message from the President of the United States Transmitting Recommendations for Indian Policy." His purpose was to indicate a change from the former policies on US/Indian relations.

"It is long past time that the Indian policies of the Federal government began to recognize and build upon the capacities and insights of the Indian people. Both as a matter of Justice and as a matter of enlightened social policy, we must begin to act on the basis of what the Indians themselves have long been telling us. The time has come to break decisively with the past and to create the conditions for a new era in which the Indian future is determined by Indian acts and Indian decisions."

Congress passed the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975. It enabled the government to make direct contracts with the Indian tribes just as it does with the states, for implementation of programs and distribution of funds. Rather than the BIA administering programs directly, the government would contract with tribes to manage health care, for instance, or educational benefits.

In 1968, Congress had passed the Indian Civil Rights Act, after recognizing the policies of Indian termination as a failure during the 1960s. American Indians had persisted in keeping their cultures and religions alive, and the government recognized that the goal of assimilation was the wrong one. The bill was to ensure provision of the Bill of Rights to the tribal peoples. In the following years, Congress passed additional legislation to carry out Nixon's programs to develop a stronger trust relationship between the federal government and the tribes, and to allow the tribes to manage their own affairs.

Examples are the Indian Financing Act of 1974 and the Self-Determination and Education Act of 1975. The Indian Child Welfare Act "... recognized tribal courts as the primary and ultimate forum for welfare and custody cases concerning native children."By promising to look after the tribes' children, the ICWA contributed to the economic and cultural welfare of each tribe's future. The American Indian Religious Freedom Act "...recognized the integrity of native cultures." It ended the persecution of American Indians for such practices as the use of peyote in religion.

Since 1980, administrations have issued Presidential Memoranda on Indian affairs to indicate direction for increased tribal sovereignty. A 1994 Presidential Memorandum issued by Bill Clinton changed the way the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development supported housing programs. The Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 consolidated grant programs for housing funding into a single block grant specifically available to recognized governments of American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Read more about this topic:  Native American Self-determination, Origin of The Concept of Self-determination