The Second World War profoundly changed the ideological climate in the United States. The onset of the Cold War in the late 1940s made most Americans worried about the power and ambitions of communism.
Collier’s policies were regarded with intense suspicion, and the IRA came to be seen as a domestic version of socialism, or even communism.
- Many conservative Congressmen had never liked it because because they believed the autonomy it granted to Native American communities gave them special privileges.
- Furthermore, Collier’s policies seemed to perpetuate the status of Native Americans as wards- who would require continued supervision and economic support from the BIA.
To conservative Congressmen, this was an expensive and unnecessary bureaucracy funded by white taxpayers.
- The IRA was also criticised by the National Council of Churches for the support it gave to Native American religions rather than Christianity.
- In January 1945, Collier, worn down by the growing hostility to his policies, resigned as Commissioner.