Indian Termination

(noun)

The policy of the United States from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s based on the presumption that American Indians would be better off if assimilated as individuals into mainstream American society. To that end, Congress proposed to end the special relationship between tribes and the federal government. In practical terms, the policy terminated the U.S. government's recognition of sovereignty of tribes, trusteeship of Indian reservations, and exclusion of Indians from state laws. 

Related Terms

Examples of Indian Termination in the following topics:

  • American Indian Relocation

    • Indian termination policy of the United States (mid-1940s to the mid-1960s) intended to assimilate American Indians (herein referred to as "Indians" for historical context) into mainstream American society.
    • The Indian Health Service provided health care for many Indian tribes, but once a tribe was terminated all tribe members lost their eligibility. 
    • Many Indians also lost health care during termination after relocating off the reservations.
    • Termination, although not the only cause of Indian poverty, had a significant effect on it.
    • Johnson and Richard Nixon encouraged Indian self-determination instead of termination.

  • American Indians and the War Effort

    • Some 44,000 American Indians served in the United States military during World War II.
    • At the time, this was one-third of all able-bodied Indian men from 18 to 50 years of age and 10% of all Indian population.
    • The overwhelming majority of American Indians welcomed the opportunity to serve.
    • Many military awards offered to American Indian soldiers were later used during the termination period by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as proof that American Indians were eager to assimilate into white mainstream American culture.
    • The war's aftermath, says historian Allison Bernstein, marked a "new era in Indian affairs" and turned "American Indians" into "Indian Americans."

  • American Indian Rights

    • The fight for American Indian rights expanded in the 1960s, resulting in the creation of the American Indian Movement.
    • With the passage of the Indian Civil Rights Act (ICRA) in 1968, also called the Indian Bill of Rights, American Indians were guaranteed - at least on paper - many civil rights.
    • One of the primary advocacy organizations for American Indian Rights, the American Indian Movement (AIM), was also formed during the 1960s.
    • The American Indian Movement (AIM) is an activist organization in the United States founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by urban American Indians.
    • The list addressed the failed responsibilities of the U.S. government and demanded the restoration of the 110 million acres of land taken away from Native Nations by the U.S.; the restoration of terminated Native Nation rights; the abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; the establishment of immunity of Native Nations from state commerce regulation, taxes, and trade restrictions; the protection of American Indian religious freedom and cultural integrity; and affirmation of the health, housing, employment, economic development, and education for all American Indian people.

  • The Indian National Congress

  • The Indian Independence Movement

  • Contemporary Indian Art

    • Contemporary Indian art fuses multiple concepts and forms of media to express both traditional Indian and non-traditional themes.
    • Havell, consciously attempted to reconnect Indian artists with their past.
    • Modern Indian art typically shows the influence of Western styles but is often inspired by Indian themes and images.
    • Souza uses an expressionistic style to illustrate both the highs and lows of Indian social life.
    • Over the years, the fair has showcased Indian modernists (including those from the Progressive Artists' Group), Indian diaspora artists, contemporary Indian art, international artists, and art from the subcontinent.

  • EMF and Terminal Voltage

    • The voltage output of a device is measured across its terminals and is called its terminal voltage V.
    • Terminal voltage is given by the equation:
    • I is positive if current flows away from the positive terminal.
    • The larger the current, the smaller the terminal voltage.
    • (Note that the script E stands for emf. ) Also shown are the output terminals across which the terminal voltage V is measured.

  • DNA Sequencing Based on Sanger Dideoxynucleotides

    • The classical chain-termination method requires a single-stranded DNA template, a DNA primer, a DNA polymerase, normal deoxynucleotidetriphosphates (dNTPs), and modified nucleotides (dideoxyNTPs) that terminate DNA strand elongation .
    • Chain-termination methods have greatly simplified DNA sequencing.
    • More recently, dye-terminator sequencing has been developed.
    • Dye-terminator sequencing utilizes labelling of the chain terminator ddNTPs, which permits sequencing in a single reaction, rather than four reactions as in the labelled-primer method.
    • In dye-terminator sequencing, each of the four dideoxynucleotide chain terminators is labelled with fluorescent dyes, each of which emit light at different wavelengths .

  • Indian Resistance and Survival

    • Indian tribes fought over 40 wars for survival, killing at least 19,000 white settlers and soldiers and at least 30,000 American Indians.
    • Indian Wars continued into the early 20th century.
    • Bureau of the Census (1894), The Indian Wars under the government of the United States have been more than 40 in number.
    • They have cost the lives of about 19,000 white men, women, and children--including those killed in individual combats-- and the lives of about 30,000 Indians.
    • Census Bureau estimated that about 0.8% of the U.S. population was of American Indian or Alaska Native descent.

  • American Indians and the Revolution

    • Most American Indians who joined the struggle sided with the British, based both on their trading relationships and hopes that colonial defeat would result in a halt to further colonial expansion onto American Indian land.
    • The first American Indian community to sign a treaty with the new United States Government was the Lenape.
    • The British made peace with the Americans in the Treaty of Paris (1783), through which they ceded vast American Indian territories to the United States without informing or consulting with the American Indians.
    • The Northwest Indian War was led by American Indian tribes trying to repulse American colonists.
    • The Treaty of Penn with the Indians by Benjamin West, painted in 1771