John Collier (reformer) - Commissioner of Indian Affairs (1933-1945)

Commissioner of Indian Affairs (1933-1945)

Publication of the Merriam Report in 1928 and Collier's efforts raised the visibility of American Indian issues within the federal government. As a result of the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression, economic and social conditions worsened for most Americans, including Native Americans. The administration of President Herbert Hoover reorganized the BIA and provided it with major funding increases.

At the urging of Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, who knew Collier personally, President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated John Collier as Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1933. Collier set up the Indian Civilian Conservation Corps as a branch of the CCC. The Corps provided jobs to Native Americans in soil erosion control, reforestation, range development, and other public works projects and benefited some of their reservation lands.

Collier introduced what became known as the Indian New Deal with Congress' passage of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. It was one of the most influential and lasting pieces of legislation relating to federal Indian policy. Also known as the Wheeler-Howard Act, this legislation reversed fifty years of assimilation policies by emphasizing Indian self-determination and a return of communal Indian land which was in direct contrast with the objectives of the Indian General Allotment Act of 1887. Collier was also responsible for getting the Johnson-O'Malley Act passed which allowed the Secretary of the Interior to sign contracts with state governments in an effort to share responsibility for the social and economic well-being of American Indians. While Collier emphasized and vocally expressed support for Indian self-determination, his Indian New Deal policies were often seen by American Indians as just another paternalistic program forced upon them by the federal government. He resigned as Commissioner of Indian Affairs.