Rebirth of the Blackfeet Nation, 1912-1954
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Rebirth of the Blackfeet Nation, 1912-1954
University of Nebraska Press, c2001
Available at 2 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
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  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [329]-336) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Drawing on interviews, democratic theory, and extensive archival research, Paul C. Rosier tells the story of the Blackfeet Nation during the first half of the twentieth century. At the turn of the century, the Blackfeet, like many Native groups, were suffering from the cultural and economic effects of land loss, poverty, forced education at federal boarding schools, and overt political control by the federal government. By mid-century, however, the Blackfeet Nation had undergone a rapid and complex political and economic transformation. The Blackfeet embraced and largely benefited from the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, which promoted tribal sovereignty and administration and halted land loss. The Blackfeet Tribal Business Council became a powerful force both on and off the reservation, and a class system emerged, consisting of wealthy Blackfeet ranchers and oil lessees, the very poor, and a middle class whose fortunes were tied to government and tribal credit programs for livestock, farm, and rehabilitation loans. How and why did these changes happen?
Focusing on the internal political, economic, and ethnic forces shaping the Blackfeet Nation - and incorporating Blackfeet voices throughout - Rosier shows how these transformations were not imposed on the Blackfeet but were the result of their continuing efforts to create a community of their own making and to reorganize relations with outsiders on their own terms. In particular, Rosier questions prevailing assumptions about the Indian Reorganization Act and its effects on tribal sovereignty. He argues that the IRA provided useful tools for democratic political reform and for enhancing tribal sovereignty during the "termination" period of the 1950s. This book illuminates two key periods in modern Indian-white relations and broadens our understanding of the meaning of democracy in America. Paul C. Rosier is an adjunct professor of history at Villanova University.
Table of Contents
- Contents: List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Map of the Blackfeet Reservation Introduction1 Part 1. 1912-1934 1. "The Old System Is No Success": The Formation of the Modern Blackfeet Reservation, 1912-1929 2. "Give Us a Fair and New Deal": 1929-1934 Part 2. 1934-1952 3. On the Road to Self-Government: The Incorporation of the Blackfeet Tribe of Indians, 1934-1935 4. Feeding the "Second Buffalo" and Themselves: The Contours of the Blackfeet Economy, 1934-1940 5. "Reconciling the Old Men to the New Way": Income Distribution in an Infant Democracy, 1940-1945 6. "We Have a Way to Make Citizens of Them": The Politics of Blackfeet Self-Termination, 1945-1952 Conclusion: The Roots of Blackfeet Self-Determination Notes Bibliography Index
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