The Association on American Indian Affairs (Norman grantee 1952–1964) was founded in 1922 to preserve Native culture and defend the rights of Indigenous peoples. By the 1950s, the Association faced one of the gravest threats yet: a federal termination policy through which Congress sought to end all federal obligations to Native Nations, dissolve tribal governments, and leave tribal lands vulnerable to seizure. The Association’s response was two-pronged — fighting termination in Washington while helping Native communities build the infrastructure they needed to survive it.

On the policy front, the Association worked to delay termination dates and amend terms for several tribes and won passage of the Long-Term Land Leasing Act in 1955 that allowed Native lands to be leased for up to 25 years, giving tribes a tool to generate economic activity on their own lands. On the ground, the Association traveled to the Spirit Lake Sioux reservation in North Dakota to help improve water supply and housing conditions. In Alaska, it supported the formation of Dena’ Nena’ Henash (“Our Land Speaks”), a regional organization of 32 villages that became the Tanana Chiefs Conference, which still advances tribal self-determination across Alaska today. The Association also sponsored the founding of the Tundra Times in 1962, the first newspaper controlled and edited by Alaska Natives, created specifically to keep villages informed and unified.