American Indian Culture and Research Journal

INTRODUCTION A new era in American Indian affairs was born on March 6, 1968 when President Lyndon Johnsonl in a special message to Congress entitled "The Forgotten Americans," called for a new goal in federal Indian policy. He proposed "a policy of maximum choice for the American Indian: a policy expressed in programs of self-help, self-development and self-determination." Although the self-determination era was inaugurated by Johnson, Richard Nixon's special message on "The American Indians" of July 8, 1970 is generally viewed as the foundation of what was hailed at the time as a "radical new policy." The message read in part: It is long past time that the Indian policies of the Federal government began to recognize and build upon the capacities and insights of the Indian people. . . . The time has come to break decisively with the past and to create the conditions for a new era in which the Indian future is determined by Indian acts and Indian decisions.