Existing comment:
A return to tribal autonomy
When the Wheeler-Howard Act, also known as the Indian Reorganization Act, passed on June 18, 1934, it brought an immediate end to the nearly 50-year Federal Indian policy of allotment. That policy enabled the government to open "excess" Indian land to non-Indian settlement, effectively destroying tribal communities. The Wheeler-Howard Act replaced the allotment policy with a new policy that encouraged the revival of tribal governments and traditional Native American culture.
The legislation gave tribes the choice to vote whether or not they wished to organize under the Wheeler-Howard Act. Despite its good intentions, the act marked just a small step in the long path toward Native American self-determination -- the practice of self-government and control over their own affairs. In the decades since, tribes have continued to encounter obstacles, but the Wheeler-Howard Act is credited with laying the foundation for the revival of many tribal governments and a return to greater tribal autonomy. |