Key Individuals
Many individuals contributed to the final IRA proposal, though a few individuals in particular stand out as critical advocates for and shapers of the finalized Indian Reorganization Act. Important to note is the fact that, despite the Indian Reorganization Act focusing on Native American societies, very few Native Americans participated directly in the legislation-making process.
John Collier
John Collier was the face of the IRA, and had a long history of interfacing with Native Americans prior to his involvement with the BIA. As a highly active organizer, Collier became interested in Native American affairs after encountering the Pueblos of New Mexico, where he became enamoured with their culture and feared their destruction. Acting as a lobbyist for the Pueblos, Collier consistently produced articles in a passionate attempt to turn public sentiment away from assimilation and towards preserving Native American traditions and customs. Many of his early articles hinged upon decrying the proposed Bursum Bill of 1922, which would have led to the federal government acquiring previously untouched Pueblo land, which Collier argued would lead to the wholesale destruction of Pueblo culture and traditions. Founding the American Indian Defense Association as a response to this, Collier successfully discredited many assimilationist policies in the decade before the adoption of the IRA.
Photograph of John Collier (furthest right), 1937, accessed from Library of Congress.
As time went on Collier’s image grew and he attracted national attention for his articles and campaigning. Many of his earlier articles demonstrate the urgency he held in regards to what many in Washington called the “Indian Problem,” with attacks on legislation like the Bursum Bill accompanied by assertions that the United States had failed entirely due to its backwards policy of assimilation. In response to poor conditions becoming worse during the Depression, Collier was appointed as Commissioner of the BIA by President Roosevelt in 1933. As the face of the IRA, Collier actively stirred up public and legislative support for reform, conducting numerous tours and hosting congresses with Native Americans throughout his early tenure as Commissioner, though his paternalistic nature and failure to include Native Americans in the policy making process beyond a small degree of advisement hampered the ultimate outcome of what became the Indian Reorganization Act.
Felix and Lucy Cohen
While Collier was the face of the reformist movement, Felix Cohen was the primary legal architect of the initial draft of the IRA, working in tandem with a team of lawyers and legislators to create the specific wording and legislation that was eventually passed into law. Cohen initially agreed with the wardship model that the federal government had been operating on, but eventually came to understand that the paradox of attempting to grant Native Americans autonomy while also controlling their lives as guardians was a primary cause of failure within the BIA. Cohen himself was an idealist, preferring to apply socialist methods to his work and was marginalized within his administration because of his Jewish heritage, leaving him less well remembered in terms of his importance when compared to the loud and charismatic Collier.
Felix’s wife, Lucy Kramer Cohen, was also an integral part of helping him in creating the IRA. As a student of the “father of American anthropology” Franz Boas, Lucy helped to shape the IRA’s initial meaning while also inserting Boas’ teachings into the legislation, providing a counter-balance against the tide of assimilationist sentiments shared by most individuals at the Bureau. Alongside this, Lucy contributed her own beliefs and knowledge as a professional anthropologist, granting Felix additional perspective when considering how the “Indian problem” could be resolved (Boas himself also contributed to the IRA indirectly via a questionnaire aimed at issued to American anthropologists asking for information on how Native American reservations were governed). It is apparent that Felix drew inspiration from many different sources, even stepping outside of the Anglo-American legal tradition that he was familiar with and considering the Spanish legal jurisprudence that had also been applied to Native Americans prior to the United States even existing. Citing Spanish writers and thinkers such as Bartolome de las Casas and Francisco de Vitoria, Cohen’s comprehensive work led him to publish the influential Handbook of Federal Indian Law in 1939, which remains one of the most important documents referencing Native American relations with the federal government to this day.
Burton K. Wheeler
Senator Burton K. Wheeler (D-MT) was one of the two people whom the finalized bill is nicknamed after (the other being Representative Edgar Howard, D-NE) and was chairman on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs during the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act. Wheeler was a prominent figure during the New Deal period, and his influence on the end result of the Indian Reorganization Act cannot be understated. Wheeler himself was an assimilationist in contrast to Collier and Cohen, leading him to distrust many of the new ideas posed by the Collier administration and placing him squarely at odds with Collier on the national stage. As one of Collier's major obstacles to passing the IRA, Wheeler disagreed with many of the early ideas put forth by the rough draft created by Cohen and his team, ultimately being the driving force for trimming it down and eliminating some of the more "revolutionary" provisions. The greatly reduced Indian Reorganization Act eventually saw the light of day with his approval, though only three years later Wheeler was calling for a repeal of the IRA, claiming that it had not served the Native Americans well and that reservations should be dismantled, so better to "hasten Indian individualism."
Senator Burton K. Wheeler (D-MT), 1924, accessed from Library of Congress.