c-span3, funded by your local cable or satellite provider. watch us in hd, like us on facebook, and follow us on twitter. we can long, american history tv is featuring madison, wisconsin. it's one of only two u.s. cities built on an isthmus, narrow strip of land connecting to larger land areas. madison is between two lakes. together with our charter cable partners, our city tour staff recently visited many sites exploring madison's rich history. learn more about madison, wisconsin, all we can, here in american history tv. >> today, we are on the campus of the university of wisconsin madison in front of lathrop hall where 100 years ago last month, in 1914, the society of american indians met at their fourth annual meeting. the society of american indians was the first secular indian-led indian rights association that sought to impact congressional policy, to help out indian people on reservations. it was made up mostly of american indian professional people. there were educators. there were lawyers. there were members of the bureau of indian affairs. 52 of them gathered together here in wisconsin to set the agenda for the future in an attempt to shape congressional policy. what was happening at the time for the american indian people, the reservation system was appearing to be a failure to many different interested parties. indian people were poor. they were undereducated. they have been losing vast quantities of land. their tribal economies were in bad shape. the feeling around the country was that there was a time for change in indian policy. the specific items on their agenda were to get citizenship for indian people. you might know that indian people would become citizens in 1924. in 1914, they were wards of the u.s. government. you were not citizens of the u.s. government. by 1914, there was a good 100-year backlog of complaints that indian people had about failure of the treaty relationship. indian people wanted the court of claims opened to them so they could litigate their claims against the united states government. they would assemble what they called a memorial and actually present it to the president of the united states, woodrow wilson, in december of 1914. woodrow wilson did not have indians high on his political agenda, though he indicated he would take this matter very seriously. it would not be until 1924, 10 years later, that indian people would get citizenship. the people who came and formed the society of american indians and the people who came to this particular meeting were really the first generation of rather prominent indian national figures. perhaps the most prominent of the mall was henry roe cloud, the first american indian graduate of yale. he would help right the miriam report, a critique of federal indian policy in 1928. this would have a big impact in the roosevelt administration and was the scholarship behind the indian new deal. the other one was lauren cornelius, an activist from the oneida people in wisconsin. another was dennis wheelock, a lawyer and activist working on behalf of indian rights. carlos montezuma was a member of the society for american indians, an author, physician. so was charles eastman, an author. he was also a physician. all of these people had tribal affiliations. when you read the minutes of this meeting, you can see the characteristic intertribal teasing that goes on between indian people. they would identify with their tribes, but they were working out this idea of a unique contribution of the indian race, as they put it. in 1909, the naacp had been formed. with the society of american indians coming in in 1911, we get the sense of conceptual continuity with the idea of race. the society would've factionalized over two issues in the course of the late teens and into the early 20's. one was the role of the bureau of indian affairs could have in the society of american indians. there were several people who were employees of the bureau of indian affairs. there were other people within the society who didn't think the bureau had a place. they also factionalized over the issue of peyote. this had been a movement that was growing. a pan indian religious movement. the society debated this ad was on both sides. ultimately, what happened, the society would dissipate over these kinds of issues of conflict so that by 1923, they had their last meeting in chicago. the society would lead to the formation of the national council of american indians, and subsequently, the national congress of american indians, which still operates today. i think it is important to take recognition of the 100th anniversary of the fourth annual conference of the society of american indians that took place here on the campus of the university of wisconsin madison. it seems that this conference at the time started a relationship between the university ahe

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United States , Wisconsin , Lathrop Hall , Chicago , Illinois , America , American , Lauren Cornelius , Henry Roe , Charles Eastman , Dennis Wheelock , Carlos Montezuma , Woodrow Wilson ,