Oklahoma's Newer New Deal: The Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936

Abstract

Historians contend that the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA), enacted in 1934 forever changed the direction of federal Indian policy. The Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act (OIWA) passed two years later in 1936 helped transform life for Oklahoma Indians. Scholars have explored and written extensively about the IRA. However, they have focused little attention on the OIWA. This study contends the OIWA proved as transformative for Oklahoma Indians as the IRA did for Indians across the country. To appreciate fully the Indian New Deal, one must understand the OIWA. Indian voice is integral to this study as a means to fully appreciate the rapid changes most Oklahoma Indians experienced over the short period during the Great Depression and World War II era. This study explores Oklahoma Indians and how the OIWA impacted their social, political, and economic institutions, and along with other forces helped propel them into the evolving urban and industrialized society that emerged following World War II.