P
launch a series of legal battles in an attempt to halt
the project.
Spring
The Indian Education Act is passed.
The Senate Special Subcommittee on Indian Edu-
cation called for major reforms in its study Indian
Education: A National Tragedy—A National Chal-
lenge (see entry for 1969). As a response, Congress
passes the Indian Education Act, which will become
known informally as Title V. The act provides addi-
tional funds for public schools with a large number
of Indian students and requires increased parental
involvement in educational programs for Indian chil-
dren. It also offers educational grants to tribes and
other nonprofit organizations serving Indians, allo-
cates money for adult job training programs, and calls
for the formation of an Office of Indian Education
within the U.S. government. As a direct result of this
legislation, Indians throughout the country will see a
substantial improvement in their educational oppor-
tunities. (See also entry for NOVEMBER 1, 1978.)
“We have concluded that our
national policies for educating
American Indians are a failure
of major proportions. They have
not offered Indian children—ei-
ther in years past or today—an
educational opportunity any-
where near equal to that offered
the great bulk of American chil-
dren.... Our own general thus
faces a challenge—... [to] rec-
ognize our failures, renew our
commitments, and reinvest our
efforts with new energy.”
—from Indian Education: A National
Tragedy—A National Challenge
(1969)May 20Mount Adams is returned to the
Yakama.
Acknowledging the wrongdoing of the United
States, President Richard M. Nixon signs an ex-
ecutive order to return 21,000 acres of land in the
Gifford Pinchot National Forest to the Yakama
of central Washington State. The area includes
Mount Adams, a site of great religious importance
to the tribe. The land was part of a 121,000-acre
parcel of Yakama territory illegally seized by the
U.S. government in 1897.September 21Indians of All Tribes leader Richard Oakes
is murdered.
During an altercation with an employee of a YMCA
camp, Mohawk Indian activist Richard Oakes is
shot and killed. While a student from San Francisco,
Oakes emerged as the leading spokesperson for
the Indians of All Tribes during its occupation of
Alcatraz Island (see entries for NOVEMBER 20, 1969,
and for JUNE 11, 1971). The shock of his sudden
death helps unify participants of the growing Red
Power Movement.NovemberQuebec rejects Cree and Inuit land claims.
The Grand Council of the Crees (see entry for
1972) and the Northern Quebec Inuit Association
apply for an injunction to halt the construction of
the James Bay hydroelectric project (see entry for
APRIL 30, 1971). The injunction is granted, but it
is withheld a week later by the Quebec Court of
Appeals, which maintains that Native rights in
Quebec were extinguished by the Hudson’s Bay
Company charter (see entry for 1670). The deci-
sion prompts a storm of protest and moves Quebec
Natives to come together to demand recognition of
their claim to lands in the province. (See also entry
for NOVEMBER 11, 1975.)