DECEMBER 12, 1923

COOLIDGE ADMINISTRATION CONVENES “ADVISORY COUNCIL ON INDIAN AFFAIRS”

The Secretary of the Interior invited an eminent group of Americans to form the “Advisory Council on Indian Affairs,” also known as the “Committee of One Hundred” (Committee) to review & advise on Indian policy. In addition to Bernard M. Baruch, William Jennings Bryan, and General John J. Pershing were noted American Indian leaders including: Rev. Sherman Coolidge, Arthur C. Parker, Dennison Wheelock, Charles Eastman, Thomas L. Sloan, Father Philip Gordon, Henry Roe Cloud, J.N.B. Hewitt & Fayette Avery McKenzie. In 1926, Committee recommendations prompted the Brookings Institution’s study of the condition of Indians in the U.S (“Merriam Report”). Roe Cloud & McKenzie were significant contributors to the study. In 1928, the report’s findings & recommendations, now-published, documented failures of Federal Indian policies, particularly on education, health & poverty. The Report set the stage for the Roosevelt Administration’s “Indian New Deal.”

Source:  Hertzberg, Hazel W., The Search for an American Indian Identity: Modern Pan-Indian Movements. (Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1971).
Photo:   National Photo Company, 12/13/1923.  Committee of 100 on Indian Affaires.  Public Domain.  Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. National Photo Company Collection, v.1, p. 25, no. 27840. Call No.: LOT 12283, v. 1 [P&P;]; Control No.: 93506281, Committee of 100 on Indian Affaires - b&w film copy neg. | Library of Congress (loc.gov).