P
City. The institute’s goal is to negotiate formal
agreements with the nations of the Pan American
Union, in which each nation promises to estab-
lish a National Indian Institute to aid its native
population.
Represented by Commissioner of Indian Af-
fairs John C. Collier, the United States is initially
enthusiastic about establishing the U.S. Indian
Institute, as a means of improving relations with
Latin America. After the end of World War II,
however, Congress will sharply cut funding to the
organization.
June
The Sun Dance is revived among the Crow.
Seeking a way to preserve Indian traditions in the
modern era, a Crow man named William Big Day
travels to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming
to participate in the Shoshone’s annual Sun Dance.
After receiving instruction from a Shoshone
religious leader in how to stage the ceremony, Big
Day performs a Shoshone version of the Sun Dance
on the Crow’s Montana reservation, an event that
will lead to the revival of the dance among his own
people.
1942Felix S. Cohen’s Handbook of Federal Indian
Law is published.
Written by Felix S. Cohen, a lawyer with the De-
partment of the Interior, The Handbook of Federal
Indian Law provides a long-needed comprehensive
resource on the history of Indian law. Included
in this monumental work are the texts of treaties,
laws, executive orders, court cases, court rulings,
and other documents from the first encounters
between Indians and non-Indians to the pres-
ent. In the decades to come, the Handbook will
provide many activists—both Indian and non-
Indian—with historical and legal information
needed to challenge federal Indian policies and
their administration.
“One who attempts to survey
the legal problems raised by In-
dian treaties must at the outset
dispose of the objection that
such treaties are somehow of
inferior validity or are of purely
antiquarian interest.... Such an
assumption is unfounded....
That treaties with Indian tribes
are of the same dignity as trea-
ties with foreign nations is a
view which has been repeat-
edly confirmed by the federal
courts and never successfully
challenged.”
—from Felix S. Cohen’s
Handbook of Federal Indian LawTulee v. Washington limits state regulation
of Indian fishing.
In Tulee v. Washington, the state of Washington sues
Tulee, a Yakama man, for fishing outside of the
Yakima (later Yakama) Reservation without a fish-
ing license. Tulee argues in his defense that as an
Indian, he is not subject to state law. He is convicted
in state court, but the Supreme Court overturns the
verdict. The case will be cited as a precedent in later
suits involving Indian fishing and hunting rights.The Lakota Sioux at Standing Rock revive
the Sun Dance.
For the first time in 50 years, the Lakota Sioux of
the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North
Dakota hold a Sun Dance. This ceremony was tra-
ditionally performed to enhance the spiritual health
and strength of the dancers and their families. At
Standing Rock, participants pray for an Allied
victory in World War II and for the safe return of
the more than 2,000 Lakota Sioux serving in the
armed forces.