On Week 5 in class discussion we started and ended with talking about a man named John Collier. John was a non native who was the president of American Indian Defense association , John unlike many others wanted to help the Indians but he might’ve taken the wrong approach to it. The Indians when getting offered a deal would like to meet with all of the leaders before choosing an option which could take time, this was a problem for John. The other problem was that the Indians were very hesitant on taking the offer because we basically have been always saying this and that but never following through with it and also have caused so much harm to them so I could understand why they didn’t want to sign right away. I believe in the end we actually did some good by ending the allotment , reorganization of tribes towards self government and a multi million dollar credit fund to help foster poor Indians. I personally would have to say I liked John for the things he did, because he was one of the only ones that came in with a fresh attitude and showed that he was one that actually cared for trying to make the Indians everyday life better as a whole.
makayla7 July 10, 2018
I agree with you when you say that John Collier was one of the only ones that was actually putting forth the effort to try and make Natives Americans lives better. Although he could have done many things differently, he was one of the few people at the time that actually went to reservations to see what Indians had to deal with on a day to day basis. He had first-hand experience with the Natives unlike many others in the government. It was also brave of him to publicly criticize the Bureau of Indian Affairs and their policies. Many people at the time had just slid the complications from within that agency under the rug.
zpete55 July 11, 2018
I agree with what you are saying I think that John did some good things like ending the allotment, reorganization of tribes towards self government and a multi million dollar credit fund, I think that all of these things are super good ideas because by doing stuff like this people are able to get money and get there business off the ground and going. I wouldn’t want to sign the agreement right away like them, after having some many treaties mess them up I would not be in any hurry to sign another one with a new person that is now in charge of the BIA