The position of NAs deteriorated in the period after the Second world War. There were two major elements to this decline:
- The policy of termination (eliminated the tribal structure, any remaining treaty rights were disregarded, and NAs were instead treated as independent and self-supporting)
- The movement of many NAs to urban areas.
It might be expected that a move to urban areas would bring NAs all the benefits of American life, but this was not the case:
For some the experience was traumatic as they were forced to leave reservations and relocate, but even for those who went voluntarily the experience was usually far from positive.
Negatives:
- Many NAs had no concept of Americanised objects such as traffic lights, phones etc. Especially elderly NAs who had lived on a reservation their entire life, the experience was jarring.
- It is estimated that 50% returned to their reservations.
- The difficulty of finding jobs was reflected in an unemployment rate of up to 18% in 1960.
- Life expectancy in 1960 was at 44 years. Some 20 years below the national average.
- It is estimated that in 1960 c. 25% were ‘poor’ and the accommodation they lived in was unable to support any extended family.
Therefore, many elderly people were forced to return to their former reservations where they found that conditions had declined even further.
Conditions on reservations:
- Declined because of a lack of federal interest, and funding of projects under the New Deal ended. Therefore, conditions were worse than in the cities.
‘The important role of federal expenditure on reservations and reductions in real federal budget expenditures on Indian programs and components of the social safety net contributed to the sharp increase in Indian poverty and degradation of conditions on reservations.’
Positives:
Those who did stay in cities often grouped together in ghettos and, unintentionally, this had an impact on helping to preserve their culture as they fought to preserve their heritage.
- The grouping of NAs from hundreds of tribes in one area meant that ideas were spread.
- In a city they could be influenced by a climate of protest and unite to fight for NA sovereignty and improvement of conditions.
- Importantly, pressure groups could also be formed, this development considerably impacting progress made in gaining their rights in the last part of the period from 1969-92.
Therefore it could be argued that although the period witnessed a decline in the position of NAs, with nothing achieved in advancing their rights, it instead created the perfect conditions from which they could emerge and protest, bringing an end to the policy of assimilation.
