lands restored. In 1950 the Ute Indians were awarded a judgment against the United States of $ 31,750,000 for lands taken without adequate compensation. A special Indian Claims Commission, created by act of Congress on August 13, 1946, received many petitions for land claims against the United States and awarded, for example, about $ 14,789,000 to the Cherokee nation, $ 10,242,000 to the Crow tribe, $ 3,650,000 to the Snake-Paiute of Oregon, $ 3,000,000 to the Nez Perce, and $ 12,300,000 to the Seminole. The period from the early 1950s to the 1970s was one of increasing federal attempts to establish new policies regarding the Indians, and it was also a period in which Indians themselves became increasingly vocal in their quest for an equal measure of human rights and the correction of past wrongs. The first major shift in policy came in 1954, when the Department of the Interior began terminating federal control over those Indians and reservations deemed able to look after their own affairs. From 1954 to 1960, support to 61 tribes and other Indian groups was ended by the withdrawal of federal services or trust supervision. The results, however, were unhappy. Some extremely impoverished Indian groups lost many acres of land to private exploitation of their land and water resources. Indians in certain states became subject exclusively to state laws that were less liberal or sympathetic than federal laws. Finally the protests of Indians, anthropologists, and others became so insistent that the program was decelerated in 1960. In 1961 a trained anthropologist was sworn in as commissioner of Indian Affairs, the first anthropologist ever to hold that position. Federal aid expanded greatly, and in the ensuing decade Indians were brought into various federal programs for equal economic opportunity. Indian unemployment remained severe, however.
American Indians came more and more into public attention in the late 20th century as they sought (along with other minorities) to achieve a better life. Following the example set by black civil-rights activists of the 1960s, Indian groups drew attention to their cause through mass demonstrations and protests. Perhaps the most publicized of these actions were the 19-month seizure (1970-71) of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay (California) by members of the militant American Indian Movement (AIM) and the February 1973 occupation of a settlement at the Oglala Sioux Pine Ridge (South Dakota) reservation; the latter incident was the second conflict to occur at Wounded Knee. Representing an attempt to gain a more traditional political power base was the establishment in 1971 of the National Tribal Chairman's Association, which eventually grew to include more than 100 tribes. p> Indian leaders also expanded their sphere of influence into the courts; fishing, mineral, forest, casino gambling, and other rights involving tribal lands became the subject of litigation by the Puyallup (Washington...
