The attempt to gain cultural self-identity and pride among African-Americans quickly spread to other groups. Indeed, while the documents below deal with Latinos and American Indians, the development of ethnic pride also grew among Euro-American ethnic groups. Polish-Americans for instance began to re-emphasize their history in the U.S., the worth of speaking Polish or celebrate their own foods and cultural events. All these groups sought to recover their own history and suggest that their uniqueness and culture should not be suppressed by dominant society.

The following excerpts are from Takin’ It to the Streets: A Sixties Reader

Watts and Little Big Horn

By 1966 connections could be drawn between events in American Indian history, such as Little BigHorn, and more recent occurrences in the black community, particularly the Watts riots. This editorial from the NCAI [Na- tional Congress of American Indians] Sentinel suggests the growing links between the movement sfor racial equality and identity.

There seems to be a sudden preoccupation with Indian Affairs in the newspapers, in Congress, and in the movies this month. We can't help feeling that a great deal of misunderstanding is being spread by people who are interested in Indians but who don't have the facts and aren't aware of the issues involved.

Basic to misunderstanding is the assumption that has silently been acknowledged as an eternal truth for most of American History: that somehow, in some way, perhaps tomorrow, the American Indian will ASSIMILATE and disappear. He will vanish!!

This theory, the "ten little, nine little, eight little Indians" theory, celebrated in song and story by millions of non-Indian children for hundreds of years, should be laid to rest once and for all. It should not form the basis of Indian policy and groups working with Indians should not base programs and program projections on the natural course of events working toward assimilation.

In El Paso, Texas, in March during the Executive Committee session of the NCAI we were greeted by a group of Tigua Indians, descendants of a group marched south from Isleta Pueblo by the Spanish in the middle 1600's. Somehow they had survived 300 years right inside El Paso, keeping their ceremonies, their form of govern- ment, their culture. Rather than assimilating or vanishing, the group has grown. Should we form a new rhyme? IO little, 11 little, 12 little Indians?

In addition we are continually discovering surviving groups of Indians in parts of the east where they have managed to hold their group together for 400 years. Admittedly many of the traditions have long since vanished, the native languages have all but died, there are few full bloods left. But the important thing to remember is that they have survived and intend to remain together as long as possible.

In 1887 the Dawes Allotment Act was passed. It was highly advocated by the Churches whose battle cry had become "Send a red- blooded Christian after a Redskinned Heathen." The purpose of this Act? To assist in the eventual assimilation of Indians by giving them that most precious -gift possible-160 acres and farm equipment! Today we have a fantastically complicated problem of fractional interests owning small pieces of land as a result of the great experiment in assimilation.

A recent study, Beyond the Melting Pot, points out that in New York City over a period of 3 generations the ethnic groups have remained characteristically themselves in spite of all sociological theories and programs devised to "melt them." Such efforts have by and large proved fruitless and the book frankly admits that all forms of social and political organization have been forced to adapt to the different groups rather than being able to force conformity from them.

Granted that assimilation has not and will not work, we still have a serious problem of making sufficient progress with, for and by Indians so that they are not made obsolete by the onrushing technol- ogy of today. We would suggest that new Indian policy be formed to take into account the differences in culture and outlook that Indians have with the rest of American society. And we would not suggest that we begin with a group of anthropologists talking about beads and braids and dances. When we advocate recognition of cultural differences we are thinking primarily of the ways that people act and react to situations, the way they view the world, and the values that they consider most important. For example, profit, while dearly worshipped by the rest of the society, is not particularly dear to tribal hearts. Tribal enterprises are operated more to provide employment and opportunity than to create dividends. The rest of society has a mania for "giving" to every noble cause. This is climaxed of course by the "One Great Hour of Sharing" initiated by the churches. Indians would rather share daily than give weekly, monthly, at income tax time, or by fund raising appeals. Indians truly believe that the gift without the giver is bare and with the giver it is sharing, not giving.

We would advocate, therefore, a program of acculturation rather than a temporary patchwork of assimilationist programs. Acculturation is, we feel, a program by which tribes can be encouraged to change behavior patterns by giving them the opportunity to develop programs incorporating their present values with new opportunities for human resource advancement. Teach HOW credit works by allowing tribal credit unions to be developed, teach HOW to manage land by allowing tribes more freedom in leasing and range management and land consolidation. Let them find programs which will work rather than being forced to submit to programs which do not work.

There is continual emphasis on bringing the poor into the "main- stream" of American society. Quite often this means the ridiculous assumption that poor, and especially rural, people must assume a value system that will always be foreign to them. There is not that much stability in the "mainstream" that a certain set of values will prove to be universally valid. And the "mainstream" itself must inevitably give way to innovations demanded by the poor to fit their needs.

We believe that the solution to Indian problems lies with development of human and natural resources of the people where they are--on reservations. Watts, California should be warning enough that it is too late to solve problems of rural folk people when they are penned up in an urban area without any hope for the future. We would not like to see Watts re-enacted in Billings, Albuquerque, Boise, Rapid City, Minneapolis, Spokane, Phoenix, Reno, Portland, Omaha, but it will unless problems are solved where they exist.