Indian Self-Determination Act

J. Michael Olivero

The Indian Self-Determination Act can be seen in historical context as a recent policy perspective by the U.S. government among several shifting policies on what to do about Indians. The U.S. government has approached the issue of Indians in several manners, including extermination, allotment and assimilation, the New Deal, termination of tribal status, and self-determination. Extermination involved the denial of Native American culture, subsistence, and land rights. The allotment and assimilation approach was a policy of placing Indians on reservations and gave individual Indians parcels of land in an effort to transition them into independent farmers. The New Deal began a reversal of previous allotment and assimilation policies and sought to give Indians some role in managing their own affairs. With termination, the U.S. government sought to eliminate all federal responsibility over Indian affairs and to terminate tribal status. Finally, self-determination sought to foster autonomy and community for Native American ...

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