armed services. Their female relatives, however, par-
ticipate in the biannual ceremonies by performing
the Scalp Dance, a ritual that welcomes warriors
back into the community after they return from
battle.
Thirty-six California Indian groups agree to
Termination.
With the passage of the Rancheria Act, the Indians
living on 41 small California reservations known as
rancherias are targeted for Termination (see entry
for AUGUST 1, 1953). The act provides that ran-
cheria residents must vote on whether or not to be
terminated. To persuade the Indians to accept Ter-
mination, federal officials visit the rancherias and
promote the policy, often with exaggerated claims
of its benefits. Largely because of their efforts, 36
groups vote in favor of Termination. In the years
to come, their loss of Indian status will irrevocably
damage their social and cultural unity. In addition,
it will cause more than 5,000 acres of Indian lands
to pass into non-Indian hands.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs promotes
Indian adoptions.
In cooperation with the Child Welfare League of
America, the Bureau of Indian Affairs launches a
campaign to encourage white families to adopt
Indian children. During the next 10 years, the
agency will place in non-Indian homes approxi-
mately 400 children, sometimes without their
relatives’ consent or full understanding of legal
adoption.
The Navajo (Dineh) and Hopi are given
permission to sue one another.
For the first time in American history, two Indian
groups—the Navajo (Dineh) and the Hopi—ask
Congress for permission to sue one another in fed-
eral court. The dispute between the tribes revolves
around an area of land on the Hopi Indian Reserva-
tion that is occupied by Navajo families (see entry
for DECEMBER 16, 1882). Congress approves their
request and assigns the case, Healing v. Jones (see
entry for 1962), to a three-judge district court.
January 18The Lumbee Indians break up a Ku Klux
Klan rally.
To intimidate the Lumbee of Robeson County in
North Carolina, the Ku Klux Klan schedule a night-
time rally in a field on Lumbee lands. The rally is
likely a response to rumors of a romantic relation-
ship between an Indian woman and a white man,
which the KKK perceives as a threat to the informal
segregation of Robeson County’s Indian, white, and
African-American populations.
As some 75 Klansmen gather, they are ap-
proached by more than 300 Lumbee, some armed
with rifles. One Lumbee shoots out a lightbulb
strung over the field, prompting others to fire
their guns in the air. Outnumbered and terrified,
the Klansmen frantically flee the scene, as Indi-
ans try to shoot out the tires of their cars. No one
is injured in the melee, although two members
of the Klan are later prosecuted for inciting a
riot. Their action is reported throughout the
nation, and the Lumbee are hailed in Indian
Country for their successful resistance against rac-
ist oppressors.1959Williams v. Lee prohibits state courts
from hearing civil cases originating on
reservations.
A white general-store owner sold goods on credit
to a Navajo (Dineh) man. When the Navajo did
not pay the bill, the store owner successfully sued
him in Arizona state court. The Navajo man
appeals the decision in Williams v. Lee to the U.S.
Supreme Court, before which he argues that an
Arizona court could not settle the case, because
the general store is located on the Navajo Indian
Reservation. The Supreme Court agrees and
reverses the state court’s ruling, explaining that a
state has no power to regulate transactions occurring
on reservation land.