OCTOBER 12, 1911

SOCIETY OF AMERICAN INDIANS (SAI) FOUNDED

The first Pan-Native lobbying entity, SAI was organized by noted Native Americans. Its leaders included: Episcopal priest Rev. Sherman Coolidge (Arapaho); anthropologist Arthur C. Parker (Seneca); physicians Charles Eastman (Santee Sioux) & Carlos Montezuma (Yavapai Apache); educator Laura Kellogg (Oneida); attorney Thomas Sloan (Omaha); and author/composer Gertrude Bonnin (Yankton Sioux). SAI published the Quarterly Journal of the American Indian (1913–1915), renamed American Indian Magazine (1916– 1920) and offered legal assistance to Native individuals and tribes. Its main focus was on U.S. citizenship for Indians and allowing Indian nations to access the U.S. Court of Claims. By 1923, divisive issues such as peyotism caused it to dissolve. However, because of SAI, Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act (1924) and created an Indian Claims Commission (1946). Its successor is the National Congress of American Indians established in 1946 and is active and powerful.

Sources:  
K. Tsianina Lomawaima, “Society of American Indians,” Oxford Research Encylopedias, May 2015.  Retrieved 7/27/2020, https://oxfordre.com/americanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-31
Susan Dominguez, “Society of American Indians,” Encyclopedia.com.  Retrieved 7/27/2020, https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/society-american-indians
Wikipedia
Photo:  Author unknown, 1917. The Society of American Indians, Ohio State University, 1917. Public Domain.