COUNCILS, PETITIONS, AND DELEGATIONS: CROW CREEK ACTIVISM AND THE PROGRESSIVE ERA IN CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA

Abstract

While the Progressive Era in U.S. history featured varied examples of individuals and organizations turning to the federal government for reform and support, major narratives have mainly left American Indian tribal communities out of the story. This essay argues that Native people actually were quite active in their reservation communities during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Among other things, they held their own political councils, sent petitions to federal officials to promote their own agendas, and supported delegations to make their case in Washington, DC. This case study of activism on the Crow Creek Reservation in central South Dakota reveals numerous similarities and distinctions between Indian and non-Indian people in terms of progressive activism, while reinforcing the idea of American Indian political adaptations and cultural persistence during the Progressive Era.