Beginning in 1897, New York businessman George Gustav Heye amassed a huge collection of Indian artifacts. To display his collection, he finances the construction of the Museum of the American Indian. He hires professional anthropological scholars to care for and document the objects in the museum. The museum is so small that it can display only about 5 percent of Heye’s vast holdings.
United States v. Nice supports government restrictions on Indian citizens.
In the case of United States v. Nice, a white man is charged with selling alcohol to an Indian man, a violation of a federal law prohibiting the sale of liquor in Indian country (see entry for JULY 23, 1892). He argues that the sale was lawful because the Indian was given an allotment and, with it, U. S. citizenship.
In its decision in the case, the Supreme Court states that “citizenship is not incompatible with. . . continued guardianship.” The decision, therefore, limits the meaning of citizenship for tribe members. In the words of the court, citizenship could “be conferred without completely emancipating the Indians” from government regulations made for their “protection.”
April
Carlos Montezuma begins publishing Wassaja.
One of the leading Indian intellectuals of his day, Yavapai Indian Carlos Montezuma writes and publishes a newsletter, Wassaja, to voice his opinions on how Indian policy should be reformed. The publication’s title is the name by which he was known as a boy before he was kidnapped by Akimel O’odham (Pima) Indians, who then sold him to a white guardian for $30.
Many of Montezuma’s articles in Wassaja focus on the failings of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In his opinion, the agency’s policies had been so detrimental to the welfare of Indians that it should be disbanded. He also reports on the activities of the Society of American Indians, a pan-Indian political organization of educated Native Americans he helped to found (see entry for OCTOBER 12, 1911). Montezuma will continue to write the influential newsletter until 1922, the year before his death.
“The Indian Bureau system is wrong. The only way to adjust the wrong is to abolish it, and the only reform is to let my people go. After freeing the Indian from the shackles of government supervision, what is the Indian going to do: Leave that with the Indian, and it is none of your business.” —journalist Carlos Montezuma, speaking at the 1915 Society of American Indians Conference
An illustration from Carlos Montezuma’s newsletter Wassaja. Displaying Montezuma’s contempt for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the cartoon shows him leading a group of Indians in hammering down the door of the Indian Office (a popular name for the BIA) with a battering ram labeled “Freedom’s Signal for the Indian.”
Photo Courtesy of the Newberry Library)
Native Americans celebrate Indian Day.
The Society ofAmerican Indians, the leading Indian civil rights group in the United States (see entry for OCTOBER 12, 1911), declares May 13 to be “Indian Day.” In addition to celebrating the achievements of Native Americans, the holiday is meant to bring awareness of the poverty and social problems plaguing Indian groups.
June
The Allied Tribes of British Columbia is formed.
At a conference in Vancouver organized by Squa-mish Andrew Paull and Haida Peter Kelly, the Allied Tribes of British Columbia is founded by representatives from Indian groups across the province. One of Canada’s first multitribal Indian activist groups, the Allied Tribes dedicates itself to pursuing Indian land claims in British Columbia. When in 1927 a parliamentary committee denies the Indians’ claims, the organization will fall into disarray.
World History
