Conference of American Indians

Conference of American Indians
Name	Conference of American Indians
Formation	1944
Type	Intertribal advocacy organization
Headquarters	Albuquerque, New Mexico
Region served	North America
Languages	English, Spanish, Navajo, Cherokee
Leader title	President
Leader name	Josephine White Eagle

Conference of American Indians

The Conference of American Indians was an intertribal advocacy coalition formed in the mid-20th century to coordinate political action among Indigenous nations in North America. Prominent at a time of federal policy shifts, the Conference brought together leaders from Pueblo, Navajo, Cherokee, Lakota, Ojibwe, Hopi, and many other nations to respond to national legislation, administrative reforms, and public opinion. It served as a forum linking tribal leaders with figures from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Office of Indian Affairs, the Department of the Interior, and allied civil rights organizations.

Background and Origins

Origins trace to post-World War II mobilization when veterans from Navajo Nation and Pueblo of Zuni returned alongside activists from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and Cherokee Nation seeking unified responses to Indian Reorganization Act reversals and Indian termination policy proposals. Influences included earlier pan-Indigenous gatherings such as the National Congress of American Indians, the Association on American Indian Affairs, and regional councils like the California Indian Conference and the Intertribal Council on Utility Policy. International currents from the United Nations and decolonization movements in India, Philippines, and Ghana provided a global context as tribal representatives engaged with diplomats from the League of Nations successor agencies and observers from Pan American Union missions.

Founding and Early Conferences

Founding meetings convened in 1944 in Albuquerque, New Mexico and later in Santa Fe and Gallup, New Mexico, drawing delegations from the Hopi Tribe, Ute Indian Tribe, White Mountain Apache Tribe, Cochiti Pueblo, Isleta Pueblo, Tohono Oʼodham Nation, and Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. Early conferences featured appearances by activists associated with John Collier's reformist circle, veterans linked to the American Legion, and scholars affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution and Bureau of Ethnology. Delegates debated resolutions referencing the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 and protested provisions of the 1946 Indian Claims Commission Act, coordinating statements with legal advisors from the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Goals, Policies, and Platform

The Conference articulated a platform advocating tribal sovereignty, protection of treaty rights, and opposition to termination statutes advanced by lawmakers in the United States Congress, including legislators tied to committees such as the House Committee on Public Lands and the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. It promoted preservation of cultural heritage linked to sites such as Pueblo Bonito and legal instruments like the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the Fort Laramie Treaty. Policy positions engaged with social programs overseen by the Social Security Administration and health initiatives run through the Indian Health Service, while also coordinating stances on natural resource matters involving the Bureau of Indian Affairs and litigation in federal courts including the United States Supreme Court.

Membership and Participating Nations

Membership encompassed a broad cross-section of Indigenous polities: Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, Zuni Pueblo, Tohono Oʼodham Nation, Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, Osage Nation, Blackfeet Nation, Crow Nation, Chippewa (Ojibwe), Seneca Nation of New York, Oneida Nation, Mohawk Nation, and nations from the Pacific Northwest such as the Tlingit and Haida. Representatives included urban Indian organizations from Indian Relocation Program sites like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City, tribal councils from Oklahoma nations such as Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and delegations from Alaska Native groups negotiating with agencies in Juneau and Anchorage.

Key Events and Campaigns

Major campaigns coordinated opposition to the Indian termination policy era bills, organized testimonies during congressional hearings in Washington, D.C., and mounted interventions in landmark cases such as conflicts over water rights tied to Arizona v. California-era litigation and claims under the Indian Claims Commission. The Conference staged public demonstrations alongside allies from the National Urban League and the Congress of Racial Equality and mounted educational exhibits at venues like the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. It also participated in cultural revival initiatives associated with the Native American Church and supported treaty reassertion movements that referenced the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) and other historical accords.

Organizational Structure and Leadership

Leadership combined tribal chiefs, business committee delegates, and urban Indian organizers. Presidents and chairs included figures from Navajo Nation leadership, elected representatives from Pueblo councils, and activists who had served in United States Armed Forces such as World War II and Korean War veterans. Advisors came from legal advocates affiliated with firms litigating before the United States Court of Claims and scholars from institutions like Harvard University, University of New Mexico, and the University of California, Berkeley. The Conference maintained committees focused on legal affairs, education liaison with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, health coordination with the Indian Health Service, and economic development partnerships with entities like the Rural Electrification Administration.

Impact and Legacy

The Conference influenced reversal of some termination measures, shaped testimony leading to later statutes such as the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act debates, and contributed to the environment that enabled the rise of organizations including the American Indian Movement and renewed activism in the Red Power era. Its archival records informed scholarship by historians at the Library of Congress and anthropologists associated with the American Anthropological Association, and its network aided later legal victories in cases like United States v. Washington and water settlements involving the Colorado River Indian Tribes. The Conference's legacy persists in contemporary intertribal coalitions, tribal college initiatives tied to Diné College and Haskell Indian Nations University, and ongoing treaty rights advocacy.

Category:Native American organizations