Society of American Indians
The Society of American Indians (SAI) was founded on October 12, 1911, in Columbus, Ohio, by a group of over fifty Native American delegates seeking to amplify indigenous voices and foster a sense of native pride. The organization was unique in being predominantly run by Native Americans, despite the initial involvement of non-Native sociologist Fayette A. McKenzie. This gathering aimed to address issues of native identity, citizenship, and education, leading to the drafting of a constitution focused on the advancement of Native Americans and the promotion of their cultural heritage.
The SAI published the Quarterly Journal, which reflected its goals and served as a platform for advocacy. Arthur C. Parker, a prominent member and editor, played a key role in shaping the organization and championing educational reforms. At its peak, the SAI boasted over two hundred active members, but internal conflicts, diminishing resources, and the challenges of political disenfranchisement led to a decline in membership.
Despite its efforts, including the successful advocacy for the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act, the SAI faced significant struggles and ultimately became defunct in the early 1920s. Its legacy remains significant in the history of Native American activism and efforts toward unity and representation.
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Society of American Indians
On October 12, 1911, more than fifty Native American delegates met in Columbus, Ohio, at the founding conference of the Society of American Indians (SAI). The date, Columbus Day, was significant: This gathering marked a reclaiming of indigenous voices, a rediscovering of native pride.
The “father” of this organization was a non-Native American sociologist from Ohio State University, Fayette A. McKenzie. Six months prior to the October conference, McKenzie had met with Dr. Charles Eastman (Sioux), Dr. Carlos Montezuma (Apache), attorney Thomas L. Sloan (Omaha), Laura Cornelius (Oneida), and Henry Standing Bear (Sioux). Coming from different backgrounds, these educated professionals united to form a native-run association. Already assimilated into the dominant society, they sought to retain their Native American identity. Calling themselves the American Indian Association, the group rallied around pan-Indian reforms, especially in the educational arena.
At the October convention, the historical, legal, and cultural bonds connecting all natives were emphasized. The delegates drafted a constitution that advocated native advancement, true historical presentation, native citizenship, and legal assistance. To assert that this was a native movement and not a “white-run” organization, delegates changed the name to the Society of American Indians. National meetings were to be held annually, and Washington, D.C., was designated as the society’s headquarters.
The SAI’s publication, the Quarterly Journal, was first issued on April 15, 1913. The masthead was framed with the society’s emblem, the American eagle on one side and a lighted torch on the other. Below this was the SAI’s motto: “The honor of the race and the good of the country shall be paramount.”
The journal’s editor, Arthur C. Parker (Seneca), was the SAI’s most intellectual influence. With his anthropological background, Parker sought to design the SAI after Tecumseh’s historical visions. Parker ardently fought for educational reforms, for an American Indian Day, and for visible Native American role models.
As a peacekeeper, Parker often tempered the rising factionalism in the SAI. In 1913 the SAI was at its membership height with more than two hundred active (native) members and more than four hundred associate (non-native) members. Friction in the following years sharply eroded membership numbers, however; lacking resources for assisting tribes with legal aid and for affecting the structure of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), members began to air their frustrations internally. Conflicts involved arguments over the abolition of the BIA, the denouncement of peyote religion, and the responsibility of individual tribal complaints. The SAI officially rejected peyote religion, but no consensus was reached on the BIA question, an issue that eventually splintered the SAI.
A change in focus was attempted by renaming the society’s publication The American Indian Magazine. One of its editors, Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, a Yankton Sioux, became involved in the SAI by opening an educational center among the Utes. Even with Bonnin’s strong contributions, however, the SAI’s status remained precarious.
In the early 1920’s, a sense of despair clouded the SAI’s visions. Attempts at pan-Indian unification had failed, BIA abolition was hopeless, political clout was slight (many members were not franchised), and individual interests were detracting from pantribal ones. On June 2, 1924, the Indian Citizenship Actwas signed, marking the success of one of the SAI’s hardest fought battles. By this time, however, the group was almost completely defunct, and symbolically, this date marks the end of the SAI.
Bibliography
Ewen, Alexander, and Jeffrey Wollock. Encyclopedia of the American Indian in the Twentieth Century. New York: Facts On File, 2008. Print.
Lomawaima, K. Tsianina. "The Society of American Indians." American History. Oxford University Press USA, May 2014. PDF file.
Maroukis, Thomas C. "The Peyote Controversy and the Demise of the Society of American Indians." American Indian Quarterly 37.3 (2013): 158–80. PDF file.
Patterson, Michelle Wick. "'Real' Indian Songs: The Society of American Indians and the Use of Native American Culture as a Means of Reform." American Indian Quarterly 26.1 (2002): 44–66. Print.
Smithers, Gregory D. "The Soul of Unity: The Quarterly Journal of the Society of American Indians, 1913–1915." The Society of American Indians and Its Legacies. Spec. Issue of SAIL and American Indian Quarterly 37.3 (2013): 263–89. PDF file.