Menominee Drums

Book excerpt: In 1961, the U.S. government terminated the Menominee Indians’ federal status as a recognized tribe, including rights to a self-governed reservation. The Menominees were not the only tribe subject to this injustice; the government’s action was part of its larger policy of termination, which aimed to assimilate all Native Americans into larger American society. For the Menominees, as well as for other tribes, the result was devastating; in addition to their loss of land, Native peoples lost their livelihoods, assets, and very identities. In Menominee Drums, Nicholas C. Peroff explains how termination evolved and how it affected the Menominees. He also tells the astounding story of how the termination was reversed. Through an organized campaign called DRUMS, the tribe was able to regain its status of federal recognition.