How One U.S. President Became a Native Advocate

Old tribal leaders will sometimes volunteer that the best time for Indian governments was during the Nixon administration. Richard M. Nixon, in his July 1970 address to Congress, asked Congress to honor Indian treaties, strengthen tribal governments, allow tribes to subcontract federal programs, and invite tribal communities to engage in decision making over their own futures. Nixon’s policy change toward tribal self-determination was a landmark initiative in Indian policy, and has characterized federal policy ever since.

Many observers find Nixon’s support of Indian self-determination puzzling. Nixon ran a very centralized White House administration, where few staffers were privy to Nixon’s policy decisions. Nixon’s interests and rationale for supporting Indian policy were not clear to his staff. Nevertheless, scholars speculate that Nixon was influenced by activism among minority groups, Alcatraz and Red Power, his Indian Coach Wallace Newman, and his Quaker background.

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