A century ago, in 1920, the United States was entering a short period of economic prosperity following World War I. Indian reservations, however, were areas of extreme poverty in which most of the residents were not citizens and any hope of economic development was hindered by government policies which did not allow the tribes to exploit their own natural resources. Politically, the reservations were not democracies—this form of government was not allowed—but were de facto dictatorships.
Briefly described below are some of the reservation events of 1920.
Havasupai
In Arizona, the Office of Indian Affairs attempted to have 87,000 acres withdrawn from the Tusayan National Forest for the use of the Havasupai. A bill was submitted to Congress which would grant this land to the tribe. In his book I Am The Grand Canyon: The Story of the Havasupai People, Stephen Hirst reports:
“However, even this attempt failed, and the Havasupai now found themselves finally surrounded by a land regime whose officials proved to be as hostile as ever to their attempts to use their former plateau range.”
Western Navajo
In Arizona, Western Navajo Agency Superintendent asked that the agency be renamed the Painted Desert School and Agency to avoid confusion with the other Navajo agencies. The name change would also correct the “Navajo” misnomer because the agency included Hopi and Paiute.
Hopi
Robert E. L. Daniel, superintendent of the Hopi Reservation in Arizona, accompanied with agency employees and police, all of whom were armed with revolvers and buggy whips, rounded up the residents of Hotevilla and forcefully threw them into sheep dip to cleanse them. He was reported to have complained that the only offensive part of this activity “was the revolting vituperation of the women and the obscene language of the English-speaking men.”
Crow
Congress passed the Crow Act which set up allotments on Montana’s Crow reservation, retained mineral lands as tribal property, and divided tribal assets.
In Montana, the Crow Act closed all federal schools on the reservation and placed Crow children in public schools operated under the authority of the State of Montana. In his University of Montana Doctor of Education Dissertation Language and Culture Mobilization in Public Schools on the Crow Reservation Since the Crow Act of 1920, Ben Irvin points out that the Act is designed to accomplish two federal goals:
“First, the federal government would save money; and secondarily, the assimilation process of the Crow would be expedited because in most public schools Crow children would be a minority.”
In Montana, a group of Crow leaders formed a tribal business committee which would serve as a representative body for airing community differences and forging consensus.
Skokomish
In Washington, the City of Tacoma applied to the Department of Interior to purchase a right of way through the Skokomish Reservation for power lines and service access roads in conjunction with their Cushman Hydroelectric Project. While the Department of Interior was considering this request, the City of Tacoma filed a condemnation suit in state court to acquire the land needed for the project. Included in the condemnation suit were the tribal trust lands. The City did not notify the Department of the Interior or the Bureau of Indian Affairs about this lawsuit.
Fort Sill Apache
The Fort Sill Apache Tribal Committee asked the government to fulfill the promises made to them seven years earlier when they were freed from prisoner of war status. In an open letter, the Apache, who described themselves as hardworking farmers, asked the government for the allotments and rations which were promised them.
Quechan
In California, the Colorado River shifted east exposing a large portion of rich bottom land. The eastern boundary of the Quechan reservation is defined as the river and therefore the Quechan assumed that with the shifting of the river, the boundary of the reservation had also moved. Therefore, this bottom land should belong to the tribe. Anthropologist Robert Bee, in his chapter on the Quechan in the Handbook of North American Indians, reports:
“The government waffled on the issue, and in the meantime non-Indian families moved in and established substantial farming operations.”
Graton Rancheria
In California, a 15.45 acre parcel near Graton was placed in trust as the village home for the Marshall, Bodega, Tomales, and Sebastopol tribes.
Northern Cheyenne
In Montana, the Northern Cheyenne cattle herd had decreased by 42% since the Bureau of Indian Affairs confiscated privately owned cattle in 1912 and took over management of the herd.
Fort Belknap Reservation (Gros Ventre and Assiniboine)
In Montana, the Indian agent for the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine on the Fort Belknap Reservation rented the coal mine on the reservation to a non-Indian. While Indians now had to buy coal from the mine, non-Indians were allowed free coal. In her book Breaking the Iron Bonds: Indian Control of Energy Development, Marjane Ambler reports:
“The Indian agent justified renting the coal to Damon by saying that the Indians did not know enough about Anglo practices to mine it.”
Navajo
The traditional Navajo council of elders rejected the idea of providing mining leases to a group of companies.
In New Mexico, an influenza epidemic struck the Navajo, killing about 10% of those on the reservation. Franc Johnson Newcomb, a trader on the reservation at the time, reported in her book Hosteen Klah: Navaho Medicine Man and Sand Painter:
“The first persons to die were buried in the accustomed manner, but soon death struck too fast and the living members of the family were too sick and too weak to attend to the burials.”
Navajo medicine man Hosteen Klah, who came down with the illness three months earlier, had developed an immunity and was able to treat his own clan and those who lived near him. According to Franc Johnson Newcomb:
“He was the most successful doctor of any I heard about, losing only one member of his family, that being Mrs. Jim’s baby, who was only six weeks old and who died of pneumonia.”
Southern Ute
In Colorado, the boarding school on the Southern Ute Reservation was closed.
Ute Mountain Ute
In Colorado, the Ute Mountain Hospital was opened on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation.
Yavapai
In Arizona, in order to allow non-Indians to obtain Yavapai water rights, the Bureau of Indian Affairs quietly obtained an executive order from President Woodrow Wilson which authorized the allotment of the Salt River Reservation and reclassified the Fort McDowell Reservation as grazing land.
Santa Ana Pueblo
In New Mexico, the residents of Bernalillo put forth a plan to divert water from one of Santa Ana Pueblo’s ditches into the Bernalillo Community Ditch. While the residents claimed that their plan would not interfere with Santa Ana water, the Pueblo insisted that an agreement be drawn up in which the Bernalillo Community Ditch users acknowledged Santa Ana water rights. The document also stated that these water rights did not fall under state jurisdiction.
Creek Government
In Oklahoma, tribal governments had been dissolved when Oklahoma became a state. In maintaining the legal fiction of tribal leadership, the President of the United States appointed the chiefs of the various Indian nations in Oklahoma.
In Oklahoma, Creek Principal Chief George Washington Grayson tendered his resignation to President Woodrow Wilson. He recommended that Jefferson Canard or Louis Dunzy be appointed to the position. However, his resignation was not accepted.
A short time later, George Washington Grayson died at the age of 77. His biographer, Mary Jane Warde, in her book George Washington Grayson and the Creek Nation, 1843-1920, writes:
“That many traditional Creeks came on foot and by horseback from miles away testified to their regard for Chief Grayson.”
His son, Washington Grayson, was appointed by the President as Principal Chief.
Indians 101
Twice each week Indians 101 explores various American Indian topics. More about the twentieth century from this series:
Indians 101: American Indian Religions 100 years ago, 1920
Indians 101: Tribes and Reservations in 1918
Indians 101: World War II Veterans Come Home
Indians 101: American Indians and the Korean War
Indians 101: Indians, Iwo Jima, and the American Flag
Indians 101: World War II Impacts on Indian Reservations
Indians 101: The Meriam Report
Indians 101: Suppressing Dissent on the Crow Reserevation