Navajo Rehabilitation Act
The Navajo-Hopi Long Range Rehabilitation Act of 1950, also known as the Navajo Rehabilitation Act, was a significant legislative measure aimed at addressing the severe economic challenges faced by the Navajo and Hopi reservations. This act was enacted in response to over two decades of declining conditions, exacerbated by federal livestock management policies that undermined the traditional pastoral economy. It authorized approximately $88.5 million for various development projects, primarily focused on constructing schools, improving roads, and enhancing rangelands and irrigation systems.
The act facilitated essential infrastructure improvements, resulting in better access to education and employment opportunities for the communities. By the 1960s, school attendance had increased considerably, contributing to higher educational attainment within the population. The act also included provisions for loans and leases, along with a long-ignored option for the Navajo tribe to adopt a tribal constitution. Overall, the Navajo Rehabilitation Act represented a pivotal effort to improve the living conditions and economic prospects of the Navajo and Hopi peoples during a time of great need.
Navajo Rehabilitation Act
The Navajo-Hopi Long Range Rehabilitation Act of 1950 (Public Law 81-474) was passed by Congress to construct basic facilities on the Navajo and Hopi reservations. Passed in response to more than twenty years of deteriorating economic conditions on the Navajo Reservation, the act authorized funding for school construction, roads, and other projects.
In the 1930s the federal government had initiated a range-management program on the Navajo and Hopi reservations. Central to the program was reducing the amount of livestock on the range. This devastated the Navajo sheep-based pastoral economy. The full effects of stock reduction were partially obscured during World War II, when thousands of Navajos joined the service or worked in war-related industries. When these people returned home, however, livestock regulations and insufficient resources prevented a renewal of the pastoral economy. Unusually harsh winters added to the distress and drew national attention to the impoverished conditions among the more than sixty thousand Navajos residing in Navajo country.
Reservation schools could accommodate only about 25 percent of the student-age population. All-weather roads were practically nonexistent on the reservations. Inadequate roads contributed to health, education, and economic problems. Infant mortality was high and school enrollment low. After passing minor emergency relief measures, Congress considered a more comprehensive approach.
A 1949 bill to fund improvements on the Navajo and Hopi reservations, reflecting a resurgent congressional interest in limiting tribal sovereignty, also included a provision which extended the jurisdiction of state law over the two reservations. Citing this provision, President Harry S. Truman vetoed the bill.
In 1950, the president signed the Navajo Rehabilitation Act, which emerged from Congress without the offending jurisdictional provision. This version also provided expanded opportunities for Hopi participation in projects. The act appropriated $88,570,000. The largest portion, $25 million, was for school construction, followed by $20 million for roads and $19 million for rangelands and irrigation projects. Lesser amounts were appropriated for health and water facilities, industrial development, and other projects. More than $9 million was allocated for relocating and resettling individuals away from the two reservations. There were also provisions for loans and leases. Finally, one provision (ignored for more than thirty years) authorized the Navajo tribe to adopt a tribal constitution.
In 1958, Public Law 85-740 provided an additional $20 million to complete road construction. By 1962, more than 80 percent of the total appropriation had been expended, including nearly all the money targeted for roads and schools.
The major benefit of the act was the substantial improvement in roads and schools on the reservation. All-weather roads have provided greater access to job locations and markets. School attendance increased dramatically through the 1950s and 1960s, as did the overall educational attainment of the population.
Bibliography
Bailey, Garrick Alan, and Roberta Glenn Bailey. A History of the Navajos: The Reservation Years. Santa Fe: School of American Research, 1999. Print.
DeJong, David H. Promises of the Past: A History of Indian Education in the United States. Golden: North American, 1993. Print.
Iverson, Peter, and Monty Roessel. Diné: A History of the Navajos. Albuquerque: U of New Mexico P, 2003. Print.
Roessel, Robert A. Navajo Education, 1948–1978, Its Progress and Its Problems. Rough Rock: Navajo Curriculum Ctr., 1979. Print.
Wilkins, David E. The Navajo Political Experience. 4th ed. Lanham: Rowman, 2013. Print.