– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

Things were looking up for the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin.

And that’s exactly what made them a target.

It was 1952.

The Menominee had just won a 16-year legal battle over the U.S. government’s

mismanagement of their forest, and they’d been promised $8.5 million.

They now had control over  how that forest was logged.

And even though the average tribal member wasn’t well off financially…

the Menominee had a safety net.

But it was about to break.

Hi! I'm Che Jim, and welcome to Crash Course Native American History.

[THEME MUSIC]

Over the years, the U.S. government’s policies toward Native nations have swung between

marginally supporting their right to exist, and trying to erase them.

In episode 12, we covered the  Allotment and Assimilation Era,

when the U.S. broke up Native  nations, split their lands, 

and tried to make Native people  live like white Americans.

And in episode 13, we talked about the Reorganization Period,

when the government reversed course, and 

tried to fix the terrible results  of those earlier policies.

But by the 1950s, the pendulum was swinging back the other way.

And federal Indian policies were about to enter a new era —

the Relocation and Termination Era.

A period marked by pushes for new assimilation tactics—

or ways to absorb distinct cultures into a dominant culture.

This, of course, had happened before and it would happen again.

In the Relocation and Termination Era,

assimilation involved pushing Natives to live and work in cities — that’s the relocation part.

At the same time, the government was 

terminating its nation-to-nation  relationship with tribes.

In other words, it no longer  wanted to treat tribes

as if they were their own sovereign nations with their own governments.

And it wanted out of treaties.

That’s the termination part.

We’ll get into both in detail.

But first, I’ll set the scene: in the wake of World War II,

a debt-strapped U.S. government was looking for ways to cut costs.

That meant slashing budgets for federal programs.

And policymakers soon zeroed in on the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or BIA—

the agency that funds basic services on or near reservations, like schools, roads, and healthcare.

Surely Native folks didn’t need funding for all that, right?

Except there was a problem:

the federal government had previously agreed to provide these services to Native nations.

Agreements that dated back to treaties they’d 

signed in the 19th century  in exchange for Native land.

That support was supposed to be permanent.

But the government started to wonder, what if it… wasn’t ?

[PRESIDENT CHE] Hey guys, big idea, came to me in a dream.

Okay, listen: what if you all left reservations, alright, and then you moved to cities,

to live like white people, right?

Then! Then! Here’s where it gets good:

then we, the government, could then tax and sell your land to pay our own bills.

Right!

I mean, it sounds absolutely incredible!

And– oh listen, I’ve gotta go, I gotta  put a lot of things in Jell-O.

Ok? Alright, you think about it, let me know what you think.

Love ya, byyyye.

[CHE] Enter the Urban Indian  Relocation Program of 1952,

which, through the BIA, encouraged tribal members 

to move to major cities with  the promise of good jobs!

Housing! Education! Free pizza!

Okay, maybe not that last  part, but you get the idea.

And they offered government assistance in getting all of the above… minus the pizza.

A few years later, the Indian Relocation Act 

even promised to pay for  tribal members’ moving costs, 

job training, and health insurance  if they relocated to cities.

Sounds like a sweet deal, right?

But it also meant Native Americans were leaving behind their communities

and their cultures.

Behind the glossy posters, relocation looked a lot like assimilation 2.0.

The government hoped that Native people would disappear by blending into the crowd.

And so would Native governments, reservations, 

the BIA, and the need to  maintain those pesky treaties.

Then, in 1953, Congress passed part two: The Termination Act.

Which stated that Native Americans would be, quote,

“subject to the same laws and entitled to the same privileges and responsibilities as are

applicable to other citizens  of the United States.”

Which sounds great to some people.

Even ahead of its time.

But in practice, “freedom” meant the end of federally recognized sovereignty

—the right to self-govern—

by breaking up Native nations, one by one.

Dissolving reservations.

Ending tribal governments.

Cutting off federal support.

The logic was that if there  were no Native nations, 

there would be no responsibility  to provide services to them.

Now, some Native organizations like the National Congress of American Indians

saw right through this ruse, and fiercely opposed the new policy.

Instead, they proposed a  government assistance program 

that could eventually return Native  nations to self-sustainability.

Which, to be clear: Native nations were self-sustainable before colonization.

But after the wreckage we’ve seen in the last few episodes, some repair would be necessary.

Unfortunately, despite widespread media coverage, this plan never went anywhere.

And, along with relocation, termination became the new dominant federal Indian policy.

Which brings us back to the Menominee, one of

the first Native nations to  be targeted for termination.

Remember, they were thriving at the time.

Their lumber mill was profitable, they had 

successfully sued the  government for over $8 million.

Unfortunately, it was because of this perceived 

success that the tribe was  deemed “ready” to be cut loose.

But before that could happen, the Menominee first had to agree to it.

So in 1954, Senator Arthur V. Watkins of Utah visited the tribe personally to persuade them.

Well, maybe “persuade” is the wrong word.

It was more of a bait and switch.

See, tribal members had the opportunity to vote to get the settlement money they were owed.

And by a show of hands,  most people voted in favor.

But Watkins had attached provision that was essentially termination.

And once it became clear that the vote meant 

the end of their government and  reservation, it was too late.

The actual process of termination proved to be a difficult and destructive task.

Tribal property was transferred to a newly created corporation:

Menominee Enterprises, Inc. – with tribal members controlling a small stake in the company.

And the reservation became Menominee County,

which immediately made it one of the poorest and least populated in Wisconsin.

Things quickly went from bad to worse.

Without federal funds or a strong tax base to keep the lights on,

the county’s only hospital shut down.

Many schools, utilities, and other basic services deteriorated.

The new white superintendent of the lumber mill fired about 150 Menominee employees.

Then, the mill needed renovations that the Menominee couldn’t afford.

It was one thing after another!

And within seven years, the newly formed corporation was on the brink of bankruptcy.

Many people sold their land just to stay afloat.

The same story played out in 1958, with the termination of 44 tribes in California.

Congress made promises to help  those tribes improve roads, 

water, and sanitation before  termination became official—

but then it didn’t keep those promises.

I’m shocked. Shocked!

And the state of California didn’t help either,

reasoning that this was the federal government’s responsibility!

Because, well… it was.

Once again, many tribes were forced to sell or give up their lands.

Like the United Auburn Indian Community of the Auburn Ranchería—

their 40-acre holding dwindled to just 2.8 acres with a church and a park.

All told, 109 nations were terminated during the 1950s and ‘60s.

This policy wiped away federal protections for 1.3 million acres of Native land.

And it cut off 11,000 people

—or 3 percent of the American Indian population—

from the benefits of being recognized as citizens of their nation.

No more tribal government.

No more reservations.

No more funding for basic  services for their community.

And termination only sped up relocation.

As tribal members relocated to cities, fewer 

people were left on the  reservations to fight termination.

Then, after termination, tribes had fewer resources to help their members,

so more people moved to the city to try to make ends meet.

Between 1950 and 1968, more than 200,000 Native Americans

took up the federal government’s offer of a one-way ticket to a city.

Others moved on their own dime.

But often, the big promises didn’t pan out.

Instead, Native folks commonly found scarce, low-end jobs.

Housing discrimination. Racism.

Social isolation. Homesickness.

Many couldn’t afford a ticket  back to the reservation.

And for members of terminated tribes, the reservation no longer existed!

For many, this was poverty  with a change of scenery.

We’ll talk much more about relocation and its long-term effects in a future episode.

But you know what else failed?

The plan to disappear Native  nations and Native people.

We’re still here.

And that’s because of Native-led efforts.

The Menominee weren’t done yet.

Technically, when the Menominee were terminated,

the name “Menominee Indian  Tribe” was terminated, too.

But in 1962, they created a non-profit organization just to preserve the name:

Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, Inc.

Two years later, nearly 800 Menominees 

petitioned President Johnson  to repeal termination.

He did nothing.

Then in 1970, a group called DRUMS

—Determination of Rights and Unity for Menominee Stockholders—

organized to get federal recognition back.

Nobody had ever done that before!

Until the group’s leaders, Ada  Deer and James Washinawatok, 

devoted years of their lives to making it happen.

And it worked! In 1973, nearly twenty years after termination,

the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin was restored by an act of Congress.

Deer went on to become the first woman to lead the Menominee,

and later, the first Native woman to lead the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

In 1993, she said, quote,

[ADA DEER] “Against all odds, we invented a new policy, restoration.

Now again, I would like to emphasize this.

We, the Menominees, invented  a new policy: restoration.

This is the possibility, this is the challenge, that Indigenous peoples in the hemisphere

and across the world can exert and accept.

You don’t have to accept the policies; you can work to change them.”

[CHE] And that work hasn’t stopped.

For example, the Klamath Tribe, who lost federal recognition during the termination era,

got it restored in 1986 – though they didn’t get back all of their former reservation lands.

And despite federal termination, other tribes have gained recognition within their states.

Like, the Gabrielino-Tongva Indian Tribe, one of two state-recognized tribes in California.

Still, many tribes terminated  throughout the 1950s and ’60s 

remain without state or  federal recognition in 2025

—even though they’ve fought  for decades to get it back.

Though they started as a way to cut costs,

for the federal government, relocation and termination served the same end goals:

blend Native Americans into mainstream culture.

Break up Native nations.

Cut costs by getting out of the  promises they’d made to them.

They were new moves, from an old playbook.

Relocation separated Natives from their cultures and communities,

while failing to uphold the  promises of a better life.

And termination was devastating for the nations affected, leaving scars felt to this day.

And although many Native nations fought hard to get their federal recognition restored,

many are still fighting.

Next time, we’ll talk about how the pendulum of federal Indian policy swung again,

and the dawn of a new era: self-determination.

I will see you then.

Thanks for watching this episode of Crash Course Native American History,

which was filmed at our studio  in Indianapolis, Indiana, 

and was made with the help  of all these nice people.

If you want to help keep Crash  Course free for everyone, 

forever, you can join our community on Patreon.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
tribe /traɪb/ B2	noun - a group of people from the same ethnic group, often living in a particular area with shared customs
government /ˈɡʌvərnmənt/ B1	noun - the system or group of people governing a country or area
reservation /ˌrɛzərˈveɪʃən/ B2	noun - a protected area of land reserved for indigenous people or wildlife
relocation /ˌriːləˈkeɪʃən/ C1	noun - the act of moving to a new place to live or work
termination /ˌtɜːrmɪˈneɪʃən/ C1	noun - the ending of something, such as an agreement or relationship
assimilation /əˌsɪmɪˈleɪʃən/ C1	noun - the process of absorbing or integrating into a larger culture
policy /ˈpɑːləsi/ B1	noun - a course of action adopted by a government, organization, or individual
nation /ˈneɪʃən/ B1	noun - a country or large group of people united by common descent, language, or culture
sovereignty /ˈsɑːvrənti/ C2	noun - the authority or power of a country to govern itself
restoration /ˌrɛstəˈreɪʃən/ B2	noun - the act of returning something to its original state or condition
relocate /ˌriːləˈkeɪt/ B2	verb - to move to a new place to live or work
terminate /ˈtɜːrmɪneɪt/ B2	verb - to bring to an end
assimilate /əˈsɪməleɪt/ B2	verb - to absorb or integrate into a larger group or culture
provide /prəˈvaɪd/ A2	verb - to give or supply something
support /səˈpɔːrt/ A2	verb - to help or encourage noun - help or backing
native /ˈneɪtɪv/ B1	adjective - belonging to a place by birth or origin, especially indigenous
federal /ˈfɛdərəl/ B2	adjective - relating to the central government of a country
new /nuː/ A1	adjective - recently made or produced
difficult /ˈdɪfɪkəlt/ B1	adjective - needing much effort or skill to do