The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is an American Indigenous rights organization. It was founded in 1944 to represent the tribes and resist U.S. federal government pressure for termination of tribal rights and forced assimilation of Native Americans (including Alaska Natives). These were in contradiction of their treaty rights and status as sovereign entities. The organization continues to be an association of federally recognized and state-recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes.
Contents
Organization
NCAI was founded in 1944 and incorporated as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., in 1962. The organizational structure of the National Congress of American Indians includes a General Assembly, an Executive Council, and seven committees.
In addition to the four executive positions, the NCAI executive board also consists of 12 area vice presidents and 12 alternative area vice presidents.
Chuck Trimble was the former chief executive.
History
Native Americans in the United States have independent governments and distinct cultures, histories, and territories. However, the need to create a unified voice in dealing with the U.S. federal government led to an intertribal coalition.
In the 20th century, a generation of Native Americans came of age who were educated in intertribal boarding schools. They began thinking with a broad pan-Native American vision and learned to form alliances across tribes. They increasingly felt the need to work together politically to exert their power in dealing with the United States federal government. In addition, with the efforts after 1934 to reorganize tribal governments, activists believed that Indians had to work together to strengthen their political position. Activists formed the National Congress of American Indians to find ways to organize the tribes to deal in a more unified way with the US government. They wanted to challenge the government on its failure to implement treaties, to work against the tribal termination policy, and to improve public opinion of and appreciation for Indian cultures.
The NCAI's initial organization was largely created by Native American men who worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and represented many tribes. Among this group was D'Arcy McNickle of the BIA. At the second national convention, Indian women attended as representatives in numbers equal to the men. The convention decided that BIA employees should be excluded from serving as general officers or members of the executive committee. The first president of the NCAI was Napoleon B. Johnson, a judge in Oklahoma. Dan Madrano (Caddo) was the first secretary-treasurer; he also had been serving as an elected member of the Oklahoma State Legislature. From 1945 to 1952, the executive secretary of the NCAI was Ruth Muskrat Bronson (Cherokee), who established the organization's legislative news service. Bronson's work was largely voluntary, as the organization could not afford to pay her to act as its executive secretary.
In 1950, John Rainer became the first paid executive director of NCAI. He was replaced by Bronson in 1951, who resigned in 1952. Frank George, a Nez Perce from the Colville Indian Reservation, briefly held the post before Helen Peterson (Cheyenne-Lakota) took over the post as the executive director of the organization in 1953. That same year, W. W. Short replaced Johnson as president of NCAI. In 1954, Short was replaced by Joseph Garry (Coeur d'Alene), a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War. Garry significantly enlarged the organizational direction away from its focus on issues of Native Americans in the Great Plains and the Southwest, making it more inclusive of tribes in the Midwest and Northwest.
Constitution
The NCAI Constitution says that its members seek to provide themselves and their descendants with the traditional laws, rights, and benefits. It lists the by-laws and rules of order regarding membership, powers, and dues. There are four classes of membership: tribal, Indian individual, individual associate, and organization associate. Voting rights are reserved for tribal and Indian individual members. According to section B of Article III regarding membership, any tribe, band or group of American Indians and Alaska Natives shall be eligible for tribal membership provided it fulfills the following requirements:
A substantial number of its members reside upon the same reservation or (in the absence of a reservation) in the same general locality.
It maintain a Tribal organization, with regular officers and the means of transacting business and arriving at a reasonably accurate count of its membership;
It is not a mere offshoot or fraction of an organized Tribe itself eligible for membership
It is recognized as a Tribe or other identifiable group of Native Americans by the Department of the Interior, Court of Claims, the Indian Claims Commission, or a State. An Indian or Alaska Native organization incorporated/chartered under state law is not eligible for tribal membership.
Achievements
The NCAI has maintained a policy of non-protesting. During the 1960s NCAI carried a banner with the slogan, "INDIANS DON'T DEMONSTRATE":
In 1949, the NCAI made charges against Federal job bias towards the Indians
In 1950, the NCAI influenced the insertion of an anti-reservation clause to the Alaska Statehood Act. This clause removes the ban against reservations for Alaskan Natives.
On July 8, 1954, NCAI won its fight against legislation that would have allowed the states to take civil and criminal jurisdictions over Indians.
On June 19, 1952, a self-help parley was opened in Utah where 50 agents for 12 groups proposed several self-help action plans
Indians had annual conventions nationwide and dealt with various topics such as health care, employment, and safety issues
In 2015 the organization successfully lobbied the State of California to ban the term "redskins" from being used by public schools in the state of California.
Internal policy differences
In the early 1960s, a shift in attitude occurred. Many young American Indians branded the older generation as sell-outs and called for harsh militancy. Two important militant groups were born: the American Indian Movement (AIM) and the National Indian Youth Council (NIYC). The two groups protested several conventions.
In 2023, two amendments to the NCAI constitution were proposed which would remove state-recognized tribes from full tribal membership to only associate non-voting tribal membership, as well as require candidates for NCAI national leadership to be enrolled members of federally-recognized tribes. The amendments received the vocal support of the principal chiefs of several federally-recognized tribes including the Cherokee Nation and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Members from other federally-recognized nations, such as the Tunica-Biloxi and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, opposed the measure. After a heated debate, the measures failed with 55.67 percent against and 44.3 percent in support.
After 80 years of existence, NCAI membership has gone from 270 member tribes to 146 member tribes.
Ongoing issues
The NCAI has been advocating for improved living conditions on reservations, arguing that 560 tribes are federally recognized but fewer than 20 tribes gain profits from casinos to turn the tribe's economy around. Other issues and topics include:
Protection of programs and services to benefit Indian families, specifically targeting Indian Youth and elders
Promotion and support of Indian education, including Head Start, elementary, post-secondary and Adult Education
Enhancement of Indian health care, including prevention of juvenile substance abuse, HIV-AIDS prevention and other major diseases
Support of environmental protection and natural resources management
Protection of Indian cultural resources and religious freedom rights
Promotion of the Rights of Indian economic opportunity both on and off reservations, including securing programs to provide incentives for economic development and the attraction of private capital to Indian Country
Protection of the Rights of all Indian people to decent, safe and affordable housing.
Spreading of state-specific information on voter ID requirements through its partnership with the non-partisan VoteRiders organization.
In 2001, the advertising firm of DeVito/Verdi created an advertising campaign and poster for the NCAI to highlight offensive and racist sports team images and mascots. In October 2013, the NCAI published a report on sports teams using harmful and racial "Indian" mascots.
Notable members
Ruth Muskrat Bronson, executive director (1944–48) and a specialist in American Indian affairs
Vine Deloria, Jr., executive director (1964–1967). He ended major legislative battles
Susan Shown Harjo, executive director (1984–1989)
J. B. Milam: founding member
Ira Hayes: American hero during the battle of Iwo Jima, and also made a speech in the congress.
Nipo T. Strongheart performer-lecturer and technical advisor on several Hollywood films involving Native Americans and a cofounder.