UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title "American Indian Freedom Controversy:" Political and Social Activism by Southern California Mission Indians, 1934-1958 Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/07k8h1xg Author Daly, Heather Marie Publication Date 2012 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles “American Indian Freedom Controversy:” Political and Social Activism by Southern California Mission Indians, 1934-1958 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Heather Marie Daly 2013 © Copyright by Heather Marie Daly 2013 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION “American Indian Freedom Controversy:” Political and Social Activism by Southern California Mission Indians, 1934-1958 by Heather Marie Daly Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Los Angeles, 2013 Professor Janice Reiff, Chair At the turn of the twentieth century, anthropologists and politicians alike predicted the extinction of American Indians. Yet, Native Americans survived, persevered, and instituted political activism concerning the United States federal Indian policies in that century. Drawing upon Bureau of Indian Affairs and State of California archival materials, oral histories, and tribal records, this dissertation addresses American Indian political movements in Southern California Mission Indian country in the years 1934-1958. This study focuses on the different factions on and off the Southern California Indian reservations and the federal Indian policies that inspired resistance within these communities. I argue that the implied passivity that the Bureau of Indian Affairs and reformers labeled California Indians was a myth. The political movements established during the first half of the twentieth century demonstrates that the Mission Indians had the required tools to maintain their ii tribal land and sovereignty. This dissertation starts with the impending implementation of the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act and covers the administration of John Collier as Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the reactions to the Indian New Deal by the Mission Indians in Southern California. The Indian Reorganization Act stimulated grassroots movements on and off Indian reservations throughout the United States. I follow the groups that flourished in California during the years between the IRA and the passage of House Concurrent Resolution 108, which allowed for the termination of federal trust protections of Indian reservations that included California’s Indian reservations. I evaluate how the shifting, yet static federal Indian policies contributed to political lobbying against the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the effective uses of media rhetoric on both sides of the issue. Finally, my study demonstrates how the actions of a few individuals in California Indian country successfully combated the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ termination legislation, tribal factionalism, and the State of California. This accomplishment eventually allowed for the establishment of lucrative Indian gaming operations in the twenty-first century in Indian country. iii The dissertation of Heather Marie Daly is approved, Duane Champagne Stephen Aron Janice Reiff, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2013 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract of Dissertation…………………………………………………………………………..ii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ vii List of Figures and Maps ............................................................................................................. viii List of Photographs ........................................................................................................................ ix Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................................................x Vita ............................................................................................................................................... xiii INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER ONE NEW FORMS OF ACTIVISM: RESPONDING TO THE INDIAN REORGANIZATION ACT................................................................................................................................................17 The California Congress ....................................................................................................30 The Elections .....................................................................................................................45 Horses to Bulldozers ..........................................................................................................56 CHAPTER TWO TERMINATION: A VIABLE OPTION .......................................................................................63 CHAPTER THREE POLICY INCLUDES PEOPLE OR DOES IT? MISSION INDIAN ACTIVISM MEETS RESISTANCE AT HOME AND IN THE HALLS OF CONGRESS .........................................102 CHAPTER FOUR THE YEAR OF DISCUSSION AND BEYOND: HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 108 AND PUBLIC LAW 280 SEEK TO ELIMINATE INDIAN RESERVATIONS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA .......................................................................................................149 CHAPTER FIVE WHAT DO WE DO NOW? THE FEDS, THE STATE, AND THE MISSION INDIANS: DIFFERENT WAYS TO COMBAT TERMINATION ..............................................................177 Tribal Representation and Hearing Testimony ................................................................183 Recommendations of the California Senate Committee ..................................................210 1957 and Beyond .............................................................................................................231 v CONCLUSION WITH A WHIMPER, NOT A BANG: VICTORY AGAINST TERMINATION AND WITH CABEZON V. THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA .............................................................247 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................260 Appendix A Document D ............................................................................................260 Appendix B Mission Indian Agency Reservation Acreage and Population ................261 Appendix C House Concurrent Resolution 108……………………………………..262 Appendix D Questionnaire Submitted to the Field Agents of the Indian Bureau by the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee—May 15, 1953..........................................................................................................263 Appendix E Chart 2: Indian Tribal Governments—Tabulation of Results of a Questionnaire Submitted to the Field Agents of the Indian Bureau by the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee—May 15, 1953 ........266 Appendix F Public Law 280 ........................................................................................270 Appendix G Senate Joint Resolution No. 4—Memorializing Congress and the President of the United States to Refrain from Terminating Federal Control and Protection of Indian Reservations ........................................275 Appendix H Questions Presented to the Federal Government from the State of California Regarding the California Indian Termination Bills ................277 Appendix I The Rancherias Visited in Preparation for Termination Under the 1958 Rancheria Act..................................................................................281 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................283 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Mission Indian Tribal Leadership in 1934 .............................................................44 Table 2. Mission Indian Agency IRA Election Results…………………………………...62 Table 3. Group 1 of John Collier’s Withdrawal Recommendations: Predominantly Acculturated Population.........................................................................................82 Table 4. Group 2 of John Collier’s Withdrawal Recommendations: Semi-Acculturated Population ..............................................................................................................83 Table 5. Group 3 of John Collier’s Withdrawal Recommendations: Predominantly Indian Population ...................................................................................................84 Table 6. William Zimmerman’s Withdrawal Recommendations ........................................85 Table 7. Estimated Taxes Levied on Indian Trust Land in California by Counties, Assuming Such Land to Be Accessible ...............................................................218 Table 8. Evolution of Termination of Federal Trust Status ...............................................243 vii LIST OF FIGURES AND MAPS Figure 1. Cartoon from the Indianapolis Star, “1957—And Still Here!” ........................232 Map 1. Map of Mission Indian Reservations in Southern California ..............................17 Map 2. Agua Caliente (Palm Springs) Checkerboard (Allotted) Indian Reservation ...199 viii LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS Photograph 1. Cutting the road on the Santa Ysabel Indian Reservation with horses and Plow (c. 1937) .....................................................................................................56