1 CHAPTER 1: AMERICAN INDIAN SELF-DETERMINATION AND ...

fight against termination in the 1950s. 86 Peter MacDonald
(Navajo), who directed the Navajos' antipoverty program and
who later became Tribal Chairman, argued that the quality of
early tribal proposals to the OEO further cemented Shriver's
commitment to granting funds directly to Indian nations. 87
The decision that tribes could receive funding directly
from OEO to administer their own poverty programs
constituted, in the words of Vine Deloria Jr., a "big
breakthrough," one that would inspire similar moves by other
federal agencies. 88 Another breakthrough was the creation of
an "Indian Desk" in OEO to coordinate the use of the agency's
resources to benefit Native Americans. The OEO's Indian Desk
was headed by James J. Wilson (Pine Ridge Sioux), and Native
Americans held 85 percent of all positions within the OEO's
86 Vine Deloria Jr., interview by author, 15 August 2000,
Golden, Colorado.
87 Peter MacDonald, recorded by Tom Ration, February 1969,
2-3, Navajo Transcripts, tape 377 (side 1), reel 2, AIOHC-
UNM. For a slightly different interpretation, see Human
Sciences Research, A Comprehensive Evaluation of OEO
Community Action Programs on Six Selected American Indian
Reservations, September 1966, 369-370.
88 Deloria interview, 15 August 2000. Castile, To Show
Heart, 30-33; Clarkin, Federal Indian Policy, 122-123; Cobb,
"Philosophy of an Indian War," 82-93; Deloria, "The Era of
Indian Self-Determination," 196-197; Jennie R. Joe, ed.,
American Indian Policy and Cultural Values: Conflict and
Accommodation (Los Angeles: American Indian Studies Center,
1986), 4, 16-20.
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