1934 Indian Reorganization Act

In June of 1934, the Wheeler-Howard Act (also known as the Indian Reorganization Act or IRA) and the “Indian New Deal” was signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The IRA led to significant changes in both tribal governance and allotment of tribal lands. The IRA offered federal subsidies to tribes that adopted constitutions and created city council-style government. It also formally ended the process of allotment on Indian lands implemented under the 1887 Dawes Act which broke apart reservations and had devastating economic and cultural impacts on tribal communities. Allotment removed at least 90 million acres of Native American land from tribal ownership, created a “checkerboard” ownership pattern of land on tribal reservations that still exists today, and prevented freedom of movement and access to tribal homelands.

Text from the Wheeler-Howard Act, 1934, Courtesy of NARA — Text from the Wheeler-Howard Act, 1934
*Courtesy of NARA*

Chief Ignacio, Weenuche Band, undated, Courtesy of Library of Congress — Chief Ignacio, Weenuche Band, Undated
*Courtesy of Library of Congress*

For the Ute, the Wheeler-Howard Act led to the formation of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. “Six years after the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, The Weenuche Band at Ute Mountain Ute Reservation organized a tribal government and enacted a tribal constitution. The Weenuche Band became the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. The governing body of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe is the Tribal Council consisting of seven members. The Council is selected through popular vote for a three-year term. The Council governs the Reservation and manages a tribal government. Most of the administrative positions are staffed by Tribal employees. Funds to run the Tribal government are provided by the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and by contractual agreements with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services, and Indian Health Services. The tribe is structured as a Federal Corporation that may be used for business purposes in developing financial growth and Tribal economy.” (© and Courtesy of Ute Mountain Ute Tribe)

However, the IRA had significant drawbacks, “Although there were some variations, in general the new tribal constitutions and bylaws were standardized and largely followed the Anglo-American system of organizing people. Traditional Indians of almost every tribe strongly objected to this method of organizing and criticized the IRA as simply another means of imposing white institutions on the tribes. In some of the constitutions the traditional Indians were able to protect themselves by insisting that the tribal government derive from the more ancient form of government and not be subjected in its operation to the powers that the people had allocated to it. Other tribes rejected the idea of a formal, and small, tribal council governing them and demanded that the tribal council consist of the whole tribe meeting in concert. Experiences proved this approach to have its merits and shortcomings.” (© and Courtesy of Vine Deloria Jr. and Clifford Lyttle, American Indians, American Justice, 1983)