The “Indian New Deal”
John Collier, Commissioner of
Indian Affairs

by
Louisa Atencio

 

         

John Collier was assigned as Commissioner of Indian Affairs and served for 12 years, from 1933-1945.  One of John Collier's first moves to reform the Bureau of Indian Affairs was to move the native American from "ward" status to self sufficient citizens.  Under John Colliers recommendation President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved the inclusion of Native Americans in the Civilian Conservation Corps. (A program developed by the government to give people jobs during the depression)
   
The accepted attitude of the that era was one of forced assimilation, and according to James Crawford’s article, Seven Hypotheses on Language Loss:  Causes and Cures, “Lt. Richard Henry Pratt’s educational strategy was “Kill the Indian…and save the man”(Pratt, 1973)[1892])…By insulating children from any kind of Indian influence, Pratt believed they could be indoctrinated with the same culture, values, and language as white Anglo children…English-only policy [would work]…if they are removed from their communities, kept at a remote boarding school for several years, and punished for speaking anything but English.”  Children were taken from their parents and submersed in English education, the English language, and the English society.  
   
Children were punished for speaking their native language so they learned to speak English in order to be accepted in English society, but they were never really accepted by the English society.  When these children returned to their communities they felt like foreigners there as well, they experienced a disequilibrium of not really knowing where they belonged.(Suina)   John Collier  recognized the emotional turmoil children were experiencing as a result of living in government boarding schools and being torn from their communities.  

John Collier was convinced that Indian education should be conducted with the values of the Indian culture in mind and that children should be educated in local community day schools and that government boarding schools should be eliminated.  Collier was considered a friend to the Indian he respected their culture, language, and religion.  In an Annual Report, John Collier states that “it is desirable that the Indian be bilingual, fluent and literate in the English language, and fluent in their vital, beautiful, and efficient native languages.  The Indian arts [were] to be prized, nourished and honored.” I believe that John Collier was insightful enough to know that the Native American would flourish with bilingual education programs and the support of the family and community.  (Tyler)  Despite his policy changes some BIA schools failed to stop interfering with them, and some BIA schools continued with the English only policy. (Crawford) 

 

"The new commissioner [did authorize] some experiments with bilingual instruction among the Navajo and other tribes.  But these faltered for a lack of teachers who were proficient n the native language (i.e., Indian teachers).”(Szasz, 1977, Crawford 1996)  I also believe that his efforts faltered because of policy interference from BIA school officials whose philosophies were different from John Colliers.

    During World War II, Americanism philosophies were instilled in reaction to communism.  Funding for Indian reservations, which are a communal society by nature, were cut.  Without funding schools were dilapidated and closed.  A 1944 report recommended that students should again attend off reservation boarding schools.(Box)  By 1945 John Collier resigned as commissioner of Indian Affairs.

 

Box, Eddie, Southern Ute, 1988
    http://aiefprograms.org/history_facts/history.html#1930

Crawford, James.  Seven Hypotheses on Language Loss:  Causes and Cures
    http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/miscpubs/stabilize/ii-policy/hypotheses.htm

Suina, Joseph H.  And Then I Went to School, University of New Mexico

Tyler, Lyman S.  A History of India Policy.  Washington:  U.S. Department of the  
    Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1973