| Book Review | The Western Historical Quarterly, 32.3

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| Book Review | The Western Historical Quarterly, 32.3 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

A Fateful Time: The Background and Legislative History of the Indian Reorganization Act. By Elmer R. Rusco. (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2000. xv + 363 pp. Notes, bibliography, index. $44.95.)

The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934 ranks among the most important pieces of Indian legislation and is often depicted as the centerpiece of Commissioner John Collier's Indian New Deal. Although numerous studies have dealt with the measure, Rusco, a political scientist, claims that his book "provides a sounder base" for understanding the intent of the IRA and examines several issues that earlier works have overlooked or treated inadequately (p. 12). Rusco's study covers the background and passage of the IRA, not its subsequent impact. 1

Rusco's background section touches on several important themes. He notes, for example, that numerous tribal governments still existed in the 1920s. The federal government, despite its policy of forced assimilation, sometimes worked with these local units and even formed new tribal governments when the need arose. Moreover, Rusco claims that court decisions gave existing tribal governments considerable legal jurisdiction. These views obviously conflict with the widespread belief that the federal government had destroyed tribal authority, and that the IRA filled a political vacuum. . . .

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