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Subseries 2: Tribal, 1852-1994

120 boxes
SOME ONLINE CONTENT
Series 2: Subject Files, Subseries 2: Tribal (1852-1994), the single largest body of material in the collection, documents the AAIA's relationship with more than 300 Native American communities and organizations from one end of the country to the other and the matters of uppermost concern to them. The AAIA's involvement in the lives of these entities varied widely in duration and intensity, sometimes precipitated by natural or man-made crises, sometimes engendered by long-term but equally invidious threats to tribal self-sufficiency. Many critical junctures in Native American history are chronicled in this subseries, from the Pueblo of Taos' struggle to recover its sacred Blue Lake to the Native Village of Point Hope's opposition to nuclear detonations; from the termination of Wisconsin's Menominee to the recognition of Florida's Miccosukee. Less prominent but, to the communities concerned, vitally important issues abound in these files, be it the location of a high school, the consolidation of two Indian agencies, the preservation of traditional fishing rights, or the encroachment of a hydroelectric project.
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Subseries 3: Legislation, 1851-1994

38 boxes
SOME ONLINE CONTENT
Series 2: Subject Files, Subseries 3: Legislation (1851-1994) consists of correspondence, articles, memoranda, and Congressional bills, resolutions, reports, and testimony relating to a wide variety of legislative and administrative issues of concern to the AAIA. These are embodied in sometimes voluminous subject files and an extensive series of memoranda containing synopses of governmental activities impinging on Native Americans. The bulk of the latter were prepared for general circulation by the AAIA's general counsel. The scope of this subseries reflects the importance the AAIA attached to effecting change in Washington, be it in a supportive or an adversarial role. Leaders of the Association such as President Oliver La Farge, General Counsel Richard Schifter, and Executive Director William Byler took an interest in everything from the implications of Alaskan statehood to the protection and repatriation of Indian remains and artifacts to the transfer of civil and criminal jurisdiction from federal to state authorities. Attention was given to measures affecting every tribe, such as the far-reaching Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, which sought to give Native Americans a meaningful say in programs intended for their benefit, as well as to localized initiatives, such as the resolution politicizing the superintendency of the Five Civilized Tribes in Oklahoma in 1935.
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Subseries 4: Legal Cases, 1934-1991

36 boxes
SOME ONLINE CONTENT
Series 2: Subject Files, Subseries 4: Legal Cases (1934-1991) consists of correspondence, briefs, pleadings, transcripts, and clippings dating largely from the 1950s to the 1980s and concerning the various legal cases in which the AAIA was interested or involved, whether through direct representation or through the filing of amicus curiae -- "friend of the court" -- briefs. The material in this subseries was generated in significant measure by staff attorney Bertram Hirsch and General Counsel Arthur Lazarus, Jr., though the activities of attorneys such as Richard Schifter, Lawrence Rappoport, and William Lamb and executive directors such as La Verne Madigan, William Byler, and Steven Unger are also documented. While some files reveal the strategy employed by the Association in selecting cases and offer insights into the tactics it pursued within and without the courtroom, others consist solely of court related documents. This subseries clearly demonstrates the shifting focus of the AAIA's legal concerns: from matters of criminal law in the 1950s and 1960s to matters of family law in the 1970s and 1980s, a practical extension of its commitment to the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. The precise success rate of the Association's legal activities cannot be readily determined given the fact that many files fail to cover cases from their initiation, through the long appellate process, to their ultimate conclusion. However, as favorable correspondence and court opinions show, the AAIA could take satisfaction in many judgements.
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Subseries 5: Programs, 1927-1994

22 boxes
SOME ONLINE CONTENT
Series 2: Subject Files, Subseries 5: Programs (1927-1994) documents a number of significant activities undertaken by the AAIA to enhance the lives of Native Americans and fulfill its mission, namely, to "sustain and perpetuate their cultures and languages; protect their sovereignty, their constitutional, legal and human rights; their natural resources; and improve their health, education, economic and community development." The programs represented in this subseries vary widely in structure and focus and attest to the Association's breadth of interest and organizational sophistication, tempered, at times, by constrained resources or human failings. While some of these programs were pursued concurrently, they also illustrate an evolution in the AAIA's agenda and environment. In the 1920s and 1930s, for example, the provision of nursing services to the Pueblo and Navajo was a major preoccupation. In the 1970s and 1980s, in contrast, maintaining the integrity of Native American families and communities through new national and local child welfare policies was a high priority.