Chronology of American Indian History

The Lakota Sioux sue the United States for
the illegal seizure of the Black Hills.
In a suit against the U.S. government filed in the
Court of Claims, the Lakota Sioux call for the re-
turn of the Black Hills. Approximately 7.7 million
acres in the Black Hills region were seized from the
Sioux without compensation after the discovery of
gold there (see entry for 1877). The land had been
officially granted to the Indians as part of the for-
mation of the Great Sioux Reservation by the 1868
Treaty of Fort Laramie.

The Iroquois seek recognition from the
League of Nations.
As speaker for the council of the Iroquois confed-
eracy, Cayuga leader Levi General travels to Geneva,
Switzerland, to address the League of Nations. In his
speech, General condemns the Canadian govern-
ment’s attempts to force citizenship on Indians (see

entry for 1920). To reinforce Iroquois claims to sov-

ereignty, he asks the league to formally recognize the

confederacy, but the organization declines to do so.

February

The Bureau of Indian Affairs recommends

restrictions on Indian ceremonies.

On the advice of a conference of missionaries,

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Francis E. Leupp

mandates that reservation superintendents should

permit Indians to perform dances only once a

month and that the dances should last no longer

than one day. The “dance evil,” as some reformers

brand Indian ceremonies that feature dancing, is

seen as one of the greatest obstacles to Assimilation.

Leupp also indicates that dances should be attended

only by Indians older than 50 and that the Bureau

of Indian Affairs will use “careful propaganda” to

gain public support for its suppression of Indian

dancing.

May

The American Indian Defense Association is

founded.

A small group of wealthy white liberals form the

American Indian Defense Association to fight for a

variety of Indian causes. The driving force behind

the group is sociologist John C. Collier. Disillu-

sioned with Western culture after the disaster of

World War I, Collier was first fascinated by the

tribal culture of the Pueblo Indians during a visit

to Taos, New Mexico, in 1921. After helping the

Pueblo defeat the Bursum Bill (see entry for NO-

VEMBER 5, 1922), which would have granted a

large amount of Pueblo land to non-Indians, Col-

lier decides to organize the AIDA to battle other

governmental threats to Indian communities and

cultures. Serving as the AIDA’s executive secre-

tary, Collier will spend the next 10 years lobbying

Congress on issues such as Indian poverty, Native

American religious freedom, and the diminishing

power of tribal governments. (See also entry for

1933.)

Cherokee delegate Ruth Muskrat presents President
Calvin Coolidge with a book titled The Red Man in the
United States during the 1923 meeting of the Com-
mittee of One Hundred. (Library of Congress, Neg. no.
USZ62-107775)