National Museum of the American Indian

Records of the National Congress of American Indians, 1933-1990

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAI.AC.010
Creators:
National Congress of American Indians
Dates:
1933-1990
bulk 1944-1989
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
251 Linear feet
597 archival boxes
Repository:
The National Congress of American Indian (NCAI), founded in 1944, is the oldest nation-wide American Indian advocacy organization in the United States. The NCAI records document the organization's work, particularly that of its office in Washington, DC, and the wide variety of issues faced by American Indians in the twentieth century. The collection is located in the Cultural Resource Center of the National Museum of the American Indian.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The records of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) reflect the operations of its Washington, DC, headquarters and, in particular, the activities and responsibilities of its executive director. The papers primarily cover the period 1943 to 1990, although some documents pre-dating NCAI are present. The bulk of the material relates to legislation, lobbying, and NCAI's interactions with various governmental bodies. A large segment also concerns the annual conventions and executive council and executive committee meetings. Finally, the records also document the operations of the NCAI, including personnel, financial, and fundraising material. Materials found throughout the collection include letters, memoranda, handwritten notes, speeches, press releases, newspaper clippings, publications, minutes of meetings, transcripts, reports, agenda, programs, financial records, legislative materials, photographs, and sound recordings.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The National Congress of American Indians records are arranged in 21 series:
  • Series 1: NCAI Conventions and Mid-Year Conferences
  • Series 2: Executive Council and Executive Committee Files
  • Subseries 2.1: Executive Council
  • Subseries 2.2: Executive Committee
  • Subseries 2.3: Executive Committee: Benefit Awards
  • Series 3: Correspondence Files
  • Subseries 3.1: Name Files
  • Subseries 3.2: Chronological Files
  • Subseries 3.3: Miscellaneous Files
  • Series 4: Tribal Files
  • Subseries 4.1: Individual Tribes, Bands and Reservations
  • Subseries 4.2: Intertribal Organizations
  • Subseries 4.3: Special Issues
  • Subseries 4.4: Miscellaneous Tribal Files
  • Series 5: Records of Indian Interest Organizations
  • Subseries 5.1: Other Indian Organizations
  • Subseries 5.2: Non-Indian Support Groups
  • Subseries 5.3: General Indian Interest Groups
  • Series 6: NCAI Committees and Special Issue Files
  • Subseries 6.1: Alaskan Natives
  • Subseries 6.2: Policy Conference
  • Subseries 6.3: Religious Freedom and Related Cultural Concerns
  • Subseries 6.4: Hunting and Fishing Rights
  • Subseries 6.5: Natural Resources and Indian Water Rights
  • Subseries 6.6: Nuclear Waste
  • Subseries 6.7: Solar Bank
  • Subseries 6.8: AIMS [American Indian Media Surveillance] Committee
  • Subseries 6.9: HCR 108 and Federal Termination Policies
  • Subseries 6.10: Emergency Conference of 1954
  • Subseries 6.11: Jurisdiction --NCAI Commission and Federal Legislation
  • Subseries 6.12: Law Enforcement
  • Subseries 6.13: Litigation Committee
  • Subseries 6.14: Annual Litigation Conference
  • Subseries 6.15: Trail of Broken Treaties Impact Survey Team
  • Subseries 6.16: Block Grants
  • Subseries 6.17: Health and Welfare
  • Subseries 6.18: Self-Determination and Education
  • Subseries 6.19: National Conference on Federal Recognition
  • Subseries 6.20: Economic and Reservation Development
  • Series 7: United Effort Trust (UET)
  • Subseries 7.1: NCAI and NTCA Joint Committee
  • Subseries 7.2: Issues
  • Subseries 7.3: Legislation
  • Subseries 7.4: News Releases
  • Subseries 7.5: Indian Organizations
  • Subseries 7.6: Inter-Tribal Organizations
  • Subseries 7.7: Non-Indian Organizations
  • Subseries 7.8: Tribes
  • Series 8: Attorneys and Legal Interest Groups
  • Subseries 8.1: Attorneys
  • Subseries 8.2: Legal Interest Groups
  • Subseries 8.3: Legal Services
  • Series 9: Federal Indian Policy and Legislation Files
  • Subseries 9.1: American Indian Policy Review Task Force
  • Series 10: Bureau of Indian Affairs
  • Series 11: State and Local Government Organizations
  • Series 12: Census
  • Series 13: General Alpha-Subject Files
  • Series 14: Records of Charles E. "Chuck" Trimble
  • Series 15: Records of Suzan S. Harjo (Closed to researchers while undergoing review)
  • Subseries 15.1: Indian Claims: Eastern Land Claims (Closed to researchers while undergoing review)
  • Subseries 15.2: Indian Claims: Statute of Limitations (Closed to researchers while undergoing review)
  • Subseries 15.3: Conference on The Indian Reorganization Act - An Assessment and Prospectus Fifty Years Later (Closed to researchers while undergoing review)
  • Subseries 15.4: Inter-American Indian Institute (IAII) (Closed to researchers while undergoing review)
  • Subseries 15.5: Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) (Closed to researchers while undergoing review)
  • Subseries 15.6: Institute of the American West (IAW) (Closed to researchers while undergoing review)
  • Subseries 15.7: Common Cause (Closed to researchers while undergoing review)
  • Subseries 15.8: Office Files (Closed to researchers while undergoing review)
  • Series 16: Fund Raising
  • Subseries 16.1: Gifts, Bequests, and Contributions
  • Subseries 16.2: Foundations
  • Subseries 16.3: General --Arrow and NCAI Fund
  • Series 17: Business and Financial Records Files
  • Subseries 17.1: Personnel
  • Series 18: "Give-Away" Files
  • Series 19: Publications
  • Subseries 19.1:
    News/Sentinels
    and
    Sentinel Bulletin
  • Subseries 19.2: Other Publications
  • Series 20: Photographs
  • Series 21: Audio and Film Recordings

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
The National Congress of America Indians, which describes itself as the oldest and largest American Indian and Alaskan Native organization in the United States, was founded on November 16, 1944, in Denver, CO. NCAI was intended to serve as a link between individual tribal councils and the United States government, by defining and helping to crystallize Indian thought on the administration of Indian affairs. The Congress also aimed to educate the general public about Indians, preserve Indian cultural values, protect treaty rights with the United States, and promote Indian welfare.
At the first convention, delegates representing fifty tribes ratified the constitution and by-laws, drafted resolutions determining the direction of NCAI policy, and elected the organizations' first officers, with Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Napoleon B. Johnson (Cherokee) as president. The officers, as well as eight elected council members, formed the Executive Council. The Council chose the Executive Director; Ruth Muskrat Bronson (Cherokee) was the organization's first director, from 1944-1948. "Persons of Indian blood" could join the organization either as individuals or as groups. In 1955, however, the constitution was revised to restrict group membership to recognized tribes, committees, or bands, and to make the Executive Council chosen by tribal representatives. These changes gave control of the organization to governing bodies of organized tribes, rather than individuals. A further amendment that year created a five-member Executive Committee, headed by the president, which had all the powers of the Executive Council between council meetings.
Conventions have been held annually in the fall since the formation of the NCAI in 1944. Since 1977, mid-year conferences have been held in May or June of each year, to allow more frequent and thorough discussion of issues. The resolutions passed at these conventions are the basis for all policy of the Executive Committee and Executive Director between meetings. The conventions are also used for informational sessions and meetings of standing and special committees of NCAI. One or two-day workshops may also be held on special topics or Congressional issues of particular concern.
NCAI created a tax-exempt arm in 1949 to accept charitable contributions and apply for grants, the NCAI Fund, which soon changed its name to ARROW, Inc. By 1957, however, ARROW had split off to become an independent organization, and NCAI started a new arm, again called the NCAI Fund. In the coming decades, the NCAI Fund would obtain grants from sources including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Veteran Affairs, Indian Health Service, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Ford Foundation, humanities councils and others, which they used for conferences, workshops, publications, and other projects.
In its early years, NCAI fought for the recognition of land claims of Alaska natives, the enfranchisement of Arizona and New Mexico Indians, the equitable settlement of tribal land claims, and the right of Indians to select their own attorneys. The NCAI lobbied vigorously for an Indian Claims Commission Bill, which became law in August 1946. NCAI's lobbying efforts on behalf of this act set the pattern for the organization's future role in legislative matters: keeping member tribes abreast of proposed legislation and ascertaining their views, and maintaining a presence in Congress through lobbying and testimony.
Beginning in 1954, the threat of termination pushed NCAI into a period of increased activity. Although some tribes were ready to terminate their relationship with the federal government, much of Indian Country felt threatened by the government's new stated policy. NCAI therefore organized an Emergency Conference of American Indians for February 1954 to protest this new termination policy. An agreement was forged at the conference between the NCAI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to work together toward slowly liquidating the BIA. The termination period of the 1950s and 1960s, while challenging, saw NCAI increase in confidence and political acumen.
During the 1960s, a number of other activist Indian groups sprang up and began to dilute the singular influence which NCAI had commanded. Newer, more militant groups often considered themselves at odds with NCAI, which was increasingly perceived as conservative. As the number of Indian advocacy groups grew in the 1960s and 1970s, however, NCAI actively partnered with other organizations, particularly the National Tribal Chairmen's Association (NTCA) and Native American Rights Fund (NARF), on a variety of projects.
Charles E. "Chuck" Trimble (Oglala Dakota) served as Executive Director of NCAI in 1972 until 1977, when he resigned to lead the United Effort Trust, a project designed to fight white backlash to Indian rights. NCAI spent most of the next two years trying to find another permanent director. In 1979, Ronald P. Andrade (Luiseno-Diegueno) joined NCAI and unfortunately found a group that was demoralized and underfunded. He was able to return the organization to good health but left in 1982. Si Whitman (Nez Perce), his successor, remained at NCAI for less than a year.
Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne-Creek) became director of NCAI on May 1, 1984. Prior to taking this postions, she had served as Congressional Liaison for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior during the Carter administration and as legislative liaison for the Native American Rights Fund, as well as working for NCAI during the mid-1970s. Harjo was also an active and published poet, as well as a frequent speaker at events around the country. The National Congress of American Indians was particularly active on Capitol Hill while Harjo was director, advocating for government-to-government status, the Tribal Government Tax Status Act of 1983, repatriation legislation, and economic development programs, among other issues. Harjo was herself very involved in the establishment of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC.
The NCAI Fund was very successful in receiving grants during this period, although they were chronically short of operating funds. Some of their most active projects during this period were the Indian and Native Veterans Outreach Program (INVOP), Inter-generational Health Promotion and Education Program (IHPEP), Environmental Handbook and related educational seminars, Solar Bank, nuclear waste disposal and transportation information sessions, and voter registration.
For years, NCAI's operating expenses had been funded by the Ford Foundation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). In 1985, the director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, opposing the use of Federal monies to support outside organizations, began to block the payment for services due to the NCAI. This created a financial crisis from which the NCAI did not recover during Harjo's tenure, and it became the major issue for which she was not rehired in October 1989.
Following the 1989 Annual Convention, Wayne Ducheneaux (Cheyenne River Sioux) became President of NCAI and A. Gay Kingman (Cheyenne River Sioux) was appointed Executive Director. Their first efforts were focused on recovering the financial well-being of the organization, which meant that less attention was devoted to issues in Congress. One of the successful projects NCAI pursued during the next two years was organization and presentation of the Indian pre-conference of the White House Conference on Library and Information Science, which was held in early 1991.
The National Congress of American Indians is still active today, continuing its work of lobbying, support for tribal governments, and advocacy for American Indian issues.

Administration

Author
Elliot Williams and Rachel Menyuk
Processing Information
Processed by Janet Kennelly of NAA in 1993; additional processing by Peggy Appleman and Tina Ackley of NAA. Finding aid revised by Elliot Williams, NMAI Intern, in 2012. Photographs processed by Rachel Menyuk, NMAI Archives Technician, 2014.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The National Congress of American Indians designated the National Anthropological Archives (NAA) as its official repository in 1976. This collection was received by NAA in four accessions between 1976 and 1991. It was transferred from NAA to the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center in 2006.
Accruals
The NMAI Archive Center also holds additional accruals of the NCAI Records. The finding aid for a second accession is currently being processed. In the interim, please contact us directly for futher information; email NMAIArchives@si.edu and phone 301-238-1400.

Digital Content

More …

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Collection Title, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Conditions Governing Use
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadbast materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.

Related Materials
Other collections at the NMAI Archives Center that include information on the National Congress of American Indians include:
Arrow, Inc., and the American Indian Tribal Court Judges records, 1949-1999 (NMAI.MS.013) James E. Curry papers, 1935-1955 (NMAI.MS.015) National Tribal Chairmen's Association records, 1971-1978 (NMAI.MS.014) Helen L. Peterson papers, 1944-1992 (NMAI.MS.016) Reuben Snake papers, 1971-1996 (NMAI.MS.012)

More Information

Bibliography

Bibliography
Two histories have been written using material from the NCAI collection. They are:
Cowger, Thomas W.
The National Congress of American Indians
. Lincoln, NB: U. of Nebraska Press, 1999.
Parman, Donald L.
Indians and the American West in the Twentieth Century
. Bloomington, IN: Indian U. Press, 1994.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Indians of North America -- Government relations -- 1934- Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Politics and government Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Social conditions -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Legal status, laws, etc. Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indian termination policy Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Alaska Natives -- Land tenure Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Civil rights Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Economic conditions -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Videotapes Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Administrative records Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Radioactive wastes -- United States -- Management Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Trail of Broken Treaties, 1972 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Financial records Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Audiotapes Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Clippings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arrow, Inc. Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Peterson, Helen L. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Snake, Reuben, 1937-1993 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States. American Indian Policy Review Commission Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States. Indian Claims Commission Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Harjo, Suzan Shown Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Deloria, Vine Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tonasket, Mel Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Tribal Chairmen's Association Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Trimble, Charles E. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United Effort Trust Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Native American Rights Fund Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
McNickle, D'Arcy, 1904-1977 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Curry, James E., 1907-1972 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bronson, Ruth Muskrat Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Museum of the American Indian
4220 Silver Hill Rd
Suitland, Maryland 20746-2863
Business Number: Phone: 301.238.1400
Fax Number: Fax: 301.238.3038
nmaiarchives@si.edu