Chronology of American Indian History

Montoya v. Bolack confirms the
enfranchisement of New Mexico Indians.
After narrowly losing a race for lieutenant governor
of New Mexico, Joe Montoya insists that the votes
of Navajo reservation residents should be discounted
because they do not pay state taxes or live on state
property. In the resulting court case, Montoya v.
Bolack, a New Mexico court finds against Montoya
and upholds the right of the Navajo to vote in state
elections. The decision draws on an earlier Arizona
court ruling, in Harrison v. Laveen (see entry for
1948), that similarly maintained that that state
could not deny the vote to Indian residents.

July 1

The Catawba’s tribal status
is terminated.
The United States ceases to recognize the Catawba
of North Carolina as a tribe after the members of
the Catawba Tribal Council vote nearly two to one
to accept Termination (see entry for AUGUST 1,
1953). Some who favor Termination resent their
previous status as wards of the federal government;
others want deeds to their land allotments so they
can obtain loans to improve their property. Despite
predictions that the Catawba will lose their tribal
identity after Termination, tribe members will
remain united through sharing the 630-acre state
reservation and through their strong connection to
the Mormon church (see entry for 1883). (See also
entry for NOVEMBER 29, 1993.)

August 15

Indian activists meet with President
John F. Kennedy.
Thirty-two of the delegates from the previous sum-
mer’s American Indian Chicago Conference (see
entry for JUNE 13 TO 20, 1961) travel to Washing-
ton, D.C., to meet with President John F. Kennedy,
Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, and congressio-
nal leaders to recommend changes in Indian policy.
The delegates present Kennedy with the “Decla-
ration of Indian Purpose,” a document drafted at

the Chicago conference that condemns the present

policy of terminating the government’s financial re-

sponsibilities to tribes.

October 1

The Institute of American Indian Arts

is established.

The first government-sponsored Indian art school,

the Institute of American Indian Arts opens at the

Santa Fe Indian School. Created by the Indian

Arts and Crafts Board (see entry for AUGUST 17,

1935) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the IAIA

is dedicated to teaching Indian students to appreci-

ate the artistic traditions of Native Americans and

to create innovative new work drawing upon them.

Its director is Cherokee artist Lloyd Kiva New.

The curriculum includes textiles, ceramics, sculp-

ture, painting, metals, creative writing, music, and

performance.

1963

Indian water rights are addressed in

Arizona v. California.

The Supreme Court finds in Arizona v. California

that five tribes living along the lower Colorado

River are entitled to a substantial quantity of the

river’s water for irrigation. The court determines the

Indians’ share of the water by multiplying their res-

ervations’ acreage by the amount of water needed to

make one acre farmable. This method will be used

to define tribal shares of water sources in several fu-

ture water-rights cases.

December

The American Indian Arts Center is

established.

The American Indian Arts Center opens in New

York City, to promote the aesthetic quality and ex-

cellent craftsmanship of Indian arts and crafts to

non-Indian collectors. Within a few months, the