Red Power Rising: The National Indian Youth Council and the Origins of Native Activism

294 Pages·2011·13.103 MB·English

by  Bradley G. Shreve

W E R
R E D P O
R I S IN G
The NaTioNal
iNdiaN YouTh
CouNCil aNd
The origiNs of
NaTive aCTivism
BRaDlEy G. ShREvE
FOREWORD By ShIRlEy hIll WItt
Red Power Rising
New Directions in Native American Studies
Colin G. Calloway and K. Tsianina Lomawaima, General Editors
The National Indian Youth Council, 1964. (Center for Southwest Research,
University Libraries, University of New Mexico, MSS 703 BC, box 1, folder 15)
Red Power Rising
The National Indian Youth Council
and the Origins of Native Activism
Bradley G. Shreve
Foreword by Shirley Hill Witt
University of Oklahoma Press : Norman
All author royalties from the sale of this book are donated to the National Indian Youth
Council and the American Indian College Fund.
Publication of this book is made possible through the generosity of Edith
Kinney Gaylord.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shreve, Bradley Glenn, 1970–
Red power rising : the National Indian Youth Council and the origins of Native
activism / Bradley G. Shreve ; foreword by Shirley Hill Witt.
p. cm. — (New directions in Native American studies ; v. 5)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978- 0- 8061- 4178- 7 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Indians of North America—Politics and government—20th century. 2. Power
(Social sciences)—United States—History—20th century. 3. Indians of North
America—Civil rights—History—20th century. 4. Civil rights movements—
United States—History—20th century. 5. National Indian Youth Council—
History—20th century. 6. Indian activists—Southwest, New— History—20th
century. 7. Indian youth—Southwest, New— Political activity —History—20th
century. 8. Indian students—Southwest, New— Political activity—History—
20th century. 9. Student movements—Southwest, New—History—20th century.
10. Decolonization—History—20th century. I. Title.
E98.T77.S49 2011
323.1197—dc22 2010033799
Red Power Rising: The National Indian Youth Council and the Origins of Native
Activism is Volume 5 in the New Directions in Native American Studies series.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of
the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council
on Library Resources, Inc. ∞
Copyright © 2011 by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Publishing
Division of the University. Manufactured in the U.S.A.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, me-
chanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—except as permitted under
Section 107 or 108 of the United States Copyright Act—without the prior writ-
ten permission of the University of Oklahoma Press.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
For Winter Sequoyah

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Foreword, by Shirley Hill Witt xi
Acknowledgments xv
Abbreviations xvii
Introduction 3
1. “Freedom for Our People”: Foundations of
a Movement 16
2. “We Are Born at a Time When the Indian People
Need Us”: The Regional Indian Youth Council 39
3. “Nationalism Is a Journey, a Journey from Fear
into Hope”: The Workshop on American
Indian Affairs 65
4. “We Believe in a Future with High Principles
Derived from the Values and Beliefs of Our
Ancestors”: The Founding of the National
Indian Youth Council 94
5. “The Time Comes When We Must Take Action!”:
The Fish- in Campaign and the Rise of Intertribal
Direct Action 119
6. “We Cannot Be Afraid of Power; We Must Use It”:
The Growth of Red Power Militancy 139
7. “Slug Them in the Mouth or Shoot Them”: Reform,
Revolt, and Reorganization in the NIYC 160
vii
viii CONTENTS
8. “The National Indian Youth Council Is a Process,
Not an Event”: Continuity and Transformation
in the 1970s and Beyond 180
Epilogue 202
Notes 211
Bibliography 247
Index 261
Illustrations
The National Indian Youth Council, 1964 frontispiece
The dawn of Red Power 4
Mel Thom at a protest in Washington, D.C., 1968 7
Beryl Blue Spruce, Herbert Blatchford, and other
members of the Regional Indian Youth Council, 1956 48
Tribe of Many Feathers, including Mel Thom, 1959 51
Postcard featuring Clyde Warrior in fancy dancing
regalia, late 1950s 59
Scene from Workshop on American Indian Affairs 78
Workshop on American Indian Affairs attendees 86
Herb Blatchford, 1958 98
Mel Thom, 1959 100
Cover of Aborigine, with NIYC seal, designed by
Karen Rickard 110
Shirley Hill Witt, Gerald Brown, and other NIYC
leaders, 1964 129
Hank Adams 137
Mel Thom, Hank Adams, Ralph Abernathy, and Reijes
Tijerina at the Poor People’s Campaign, 1968 176
Gerald Wilkinson 186
NIYC rally 188
Viola Hatch 190
Clyde Bellecourt of AIM and Stanley Snake of NIYC 193
Gerald Wilkinson and Navajo tribal chairman
Peter McDonald 197
Main office of the NIYC in Albuquerque 205
ix