ABSTRACT
In 1879, the Pimas and Maricopas in the Salt River region of central Arizona obtained a reservation by executive order, and later, under the provisions of the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act, they organized a constitutional government, which is still in place today. Although there exists much anecdotal evidence showing that tribal governments experienced a renaissance in the late 1960s and 1970s, there has as yet been little solid research into the reasons why. As Hoikkala shows, one reason is that Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty made new sources of federal grant funding available; this assisted in tribal self-determination largely because the funds were not funneled through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Instead, federal money went directly to tribes and tribal programs. Hoikkala’s article discusses how, in this political revival, women became more involved in tribal government, as elected officials and as appointed employees.
