Bill granted Indians living under Federal tutelage the freedom to organize for purposes of local self-government and economic enterprise, etc.

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.

The Macgregor papers document the man's career very unevenly. Most of the material concerns his work with the Public Health Service and most of that concerns a study carried out in Bristol, Vermont. There are also materials concerning a survey carried out in the Great Plains and a study involving junior high school students in Prince Georges County...

The Beatrice Medicine papers, 1913-2003 (bulk 1945-2003), document the professional life of Dr. Beatrice "Bea" Medicine (1923-2005), a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, anthropologist, scholar, educator, and Native rights activist. The collection also contains material collected by or given to Medicine to further her research and activism interests. Medicine, whose Lakota name was Hinsha Waste Agli Win, or "Returns Victorious with a Red Horse Woman," focused her research on a variety of topics affecting the Native American community: 1) mental health, 2) women's issues, 3) bilingual education, 4) alcohol and drug use, 5) ethno-methodologies and research needs of Native Americans, and 6) Children and identity issues. The collection represents Medicine's work as an educator for universities and colleges in the United States and in Canada, for which she taught Native American Studies courses. Additionally, because of the large amount of research material and Medicine's correspondence with elected U.S. officials and Native American leaders, and records from Medicine's involvement in Native American organizations, the collection serves to represent issues affecting Native Americans during the second half of the 20th century, and reflects what Native American leaders and organizations did to navigate and mitigate those issues. Collection materials include correspondence; committee, conference, and teaching material; ephemera; manuscripts and poetry; maps; notes; periodicals; photographs; training material; and transcripts.

The files are those of the Washington, D.C., office that were accumulated primarily under William Youpee. Youpee served as the first president of the association and became its executive director in 1972. There are also files accumulated by Chinzu Toda, a Bureau of Indian Affairs employee who was on loan to the National Tribal Chairmen's Association. In 1978, Kenneth E. Black became the executive director. Material created from 1978 to the end of the National Tribal Chairmen's Association are in private hands.

The Helen Peterson collection includes correspondence, notes, miscellaneous administrative documents, financial records, calendars, questionnaires, notes from interviews, survey forms, copies of resolutions, proceedings, speeches, programs, press releases, printed and processed material, and many other types of documents. Mainly these relate to Petersons's career and special interests between 1953 and 1970. There are also a few documents that concern the organizations which Peterson served for periods preceding or following her periods in office. Of special interest are the materials related to the NCAI, many of which supplement the records in that organization's files. The collection also includes documents that concern a wide range of Indian interests and activities.

The records include correspondence, memoranda, announcements, publication contracts, photographs, grant information, lecture agreements, reports, brochures, research materials, resumes, and publication information for the following symposia: Kin and Communities: The Peopling of America; Constitutional Roots, Rights, and Responsibilities; ...

The Center for the Study of Man (CSM) was a bureau level division of the Smithsonian Institution. These records were maintained by the Program Coordinator, Samuel L. Stanley, and include correspondence, scholarly papers, transcripts, administrative materials, photgraphs, and audio recordings. The materials relate to conferences and programs in which CSM took part.

This accession consists of records documenting the administrative activities of the Office of International Relations and its predecessors, the Directorate of International Activities and the Office of International Activities, respectively, in regard to office budgetary matters and the coordinating of internationally-focused Smithsonian proje...