Vine Deloria on Native Americans (1972)

Native Activism and Political Gains

Vine Deloria Jr. argues that Native activism in the late 1960s and early 1970s had achieved meaningful gains, particularly by drawing attention to Native claims to land and sacred places. He cites the return of Blue Lake to Taos Pueblo, the restoration of land to the Yakima and Warm Springs tribes, and efforts to recognize the Tonto Apache.

Deloria presents the Alcatraz occupation and related protests as tactics that helped bring these issues to public attention and encouraged the creation of urban Native cultural and educational centers.

Criticism of Federal Policy and Anthropology

Deloria sharply criticizes the Bureau of Indian Affairs for inertia and for policies that, in his view, imposed outside ideas of progress while undermining tribal life.

He also challenges anthropologists who treat Native cultures as relics of the past, collect or display sacred objects without tribal consent, and judge contemporary Native people against scholarly stereotypes. As an example of what tribes can accomplish when allowed to direct their own affairs, he describes the Lummi Tribe’s development of an aquaculture enterprise after earlier government-backed projects had failed.

Indigenous and Western Worldviews

Deloria argues that disputes over land and environmental protection reflect a deep conflict between worldviews. He contrasts a Western tradition that separates people from nature and values land largely through ownership and economic use with Indigenous traditions that regard the natural world as living and interconnected, with other species possessing a right to exist in their own right.

He connects this conflict to issues such as strip mining, predator-control policies, and the treatment of wild horses and other animals.

Religion, Philosophy, and the Future of Native Political Struggle

Deloria predicts that Native political struggle will increasingly draw on traditional religion and philosophy, not just civil-rights demands or protest actions. He calls on Americans to examine the assumptions behind their social, political, and religious values, arguing that symbolic activism alone cannot address the country’s deeper problems.

He also discusses Immanuel Velikovsky’s theories as an example of ideas he believes academic institutions rejected without seriously considering them. These claims are presented as Deloria’s views, not as established scientific conclusions.

Deloria concludes that Indigenous perspectives offer a vital alternative to dominant Western assumptions and will become a central challenge in the coming decade.

Presenter/contributor: Vine Deloria Jr.