Charles H. Burke
Encyclopedia
Charles Henry Burke was a Republican
Congressman from South Dakota
and Commissioner
of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
in the 1920s.
in 1882 and settled on a homestead in Beadle County of what is now South Dakota
, moving on to Hughes County
in 1883. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1886. He also engaged in the real estate investment business in the area of Pierre, South Dakota
. He was elected to the South Dakota House of Representatives
in 1895 and 1897. He ran for the United States House of Representatives
in 1898, won election, and remained in that position through 1907, losing the nomination for the 1906 election, although he won again in 1908 and remained in the House through 1915, serving as Minority whip from 1913 through 1915. In 1914, he received the nomination for the United States Senate
seat from South Dakota, and chose not to run for reelection to the House. He lost that Senate race.
He was appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1921, and served in that capacity until his resignation in 1929. He died in 1944, in Washington, D. C..
Its adoption marked the climax of a bitter contest waged throughout the 1920s between Indian protectors and reformers—led by John Collier and Gertrude Bonnin-
and obscurantists and exploiters of Indians—led by Albert B. Fall and Charles H. Burke.
The reformers had been able to reduce some of the power of the exploiters, which centered in an insensitive Congress and an uncaring bureaucracy, during the 1920s wringing from a reluctant national administration a few modest improvements in Native American welfare.
Then in 1934 they won their signal victory through passage of the Indian Reorganization Act, their cause riding on the momentum of the New Deal commitment to transform the nation.
During the early 1920s Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall was principal spokesman for the obscurantist element. The former senator from New Mexico was a staunch advocate of the business community’s unhindered access to mineral and petroleum resources on reservations.
Fall’s choice for Commissioner of Indian Affairs was Charles H. Burke, former congressman from South Dakota and author of the Burke Act which chilled Native American citizenship hopes and emasculated the trust features of allotment in severalty by making access to restricted allotments a matter of administrative discretion.
The New York Times described Burke as a "rugged individualist" with a "frontiersman’s" attitude toward Indians.
Hubert Work, Fall’s successor in 1923, was as honest as Fall was corrupt but just as ethnocentric.
Along with Christian missionaries he sought to stamp out Indian culture, particularly native religion and the peyote cult.
He bent to reformers’ demands only after they applied great pressure upon him.
Fall, Burke, and Work had strong support from the Indian bureau which at the time had over 200 employees in Washington and 5,000 field workers (teachers, vocational instructors, and general agents), a high ratio of personnel to the 250,000 Indians living on reservations.
The move for reform of Indian policy threatened their jobs, and they closed ranks behind their administrative superiors.
More and more, public opinion was formed by mass-circulation national periodicals and newspapers.
Shrewd obscurantists resorted to magazine and newspaper interviews to justify their positions.
The Saturday Evening Post, School Life, and Good Housekeeping regularly carried articles antagonistic to the emerging Indian reform movement.
In addition, the obscurantists were backed by several church publications including the Missionary Review, which carried articles written by missionaries working among the Indian tribes.
They called Indians "pagan worshippers in desperate need of Christianity and described the difficult task they faced in attempting to overthrow native religion and the peyote cult.
Obscurantists were particularly concerned with Indian dances which they thought showed Indian recalcitrance, defiance, and ethnic corruption.
Those who defended ethnic pluralism and the Indians right to worship as they chose, including dancing, were denounced as "anti-American, and subversive... agents of Moscow."
It was charged that they encouraged the persistence of "Indian paganism" and heathen cults which were "horrible, sadistic, and obscene."
Further, they were accused of attempting to Weaken and discredit the United States government.
Edith M. Dabb, national director of YWCA work among Indian girls, joined the Native American detractors, charging that native dances were a waste of time and that "sentimentalists who dwell on the beauties of the quaint and primitive world do well to remember that primitive beauty is frequently found in close company with primitive cruelty and primitive ugliness."
During an inspection of New Mexico pueblos in 1926 Commissioner Burke publicly excoriated the residents as "half animals" because of "their pagan religion," and he ordered several Indian leaders jailed "for violating the Bureau’s religious crimes code."
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Congressman from South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
and Commissioner
Commissioner
Commissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission or to an individual who has been given a commission ....
of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
in the 1920s.
Biography
He was born near Batavia, New York, in 1861, and attended the public school there. He moved to the Dakota TerritoryDakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...
in 1882 and settled on a homestead in Beadle County of what is now South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, moving on to Hughes County
Hughes County, South Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 16,481 people, 6,512 households, and 4,310 families residing in the county. The population density was 22 people per square mile . There were 7,055 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile...
in 1883. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1886. He also engaged in the real estate investment business in the area of Pierre, South Dakota
Pierre, South Dakota
Pierre is the capital of the U.S. state of South Dakota and the county seat of Hughes County. The population was 13,646 at the 2010 census, making it the second least populous state capital after Montpelier, Vermont...
. He was elected to the South Dakota House of Representatives
South Dakota House of Representatives
The South Dakota House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Dakota State Legislature. It is made up of 70 members, two from each legislative district...
in 1895 and 1897. He ran for the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
in 1898, won election, and remained in that position through 1907, losing the nomination for the 1906 election, although he won again in 1908 and remained in the House through 1915, serving as Minority whip from 1913 through 1915. In 1914, he received the nomination for the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
seat from South Dakota, and chose not to run for reelection to the House. He lost that Senate race.
He was appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1921, and served in that capacity until his resignation in 1929. He died in 1944, in Washington, D. C..
Burke and Native Americans
In 1934 Congress approved the Wheeler-Howard Bill (Indian Reorganization Act) hailed by its advocates as the Indian Magna Charta.Its adoption marked the climax of a bitter contest waged throughout the 1920s between Indian protectors and reformers—led by John Collier and Gertrude Bonnin-
and obscurantists and exploiters of Indians—led by Albert B. Fall and Charles H. Burke.
The reformers had been able to reduce some of the power of the exploiters, which centered in an insensitive Congress and an uncaring bureaucracy, during the 1920s wringing from a reluctant national administration a few modest improvements in Native American welfare.
Then in 1934 they won their signal victory through passage of the Indian Reorganization Act, their cause riding on the momentum of the New Deal commitment to transform the nation.
During the early 1920s Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall was principal spokesman for the obscurantist element. The former senator from New Mexico was a staunch advocate of the business community’s unhindered access to mineral and petroleum resources on reservations.
Fall’s choice for Commissioner of Indian Affairs was Charles H. Burke, former congressman from South Dakota and author of the Burke Act which chilled Native American citizenship hopes and emasculated the trust features of allotment in severalty by making access to restricted allotments a matter of administrative discretion.
The New York Times described Burke as a "rugged individualist" with a "frontiersman’s" attitude toward Indians.
Hubert Work, Fall’s successor in 1923, was as honest as Fall was corrupt but just as ethnocentric.
Along with Christian missionaries he sought to stamp out Indian culture, particularly native religion and the peyote cult.
He bent to reformers’ demands only after they applied great pressure upon him.
Fall, Burke, and Work had strong support from the Indian bureau which at the time had over 200 employees in Washington and 5,000 field workers (teachers, vocational instructors, and general agents), a high ratio of personnel to the 250,000 Indians living on reservations.
The move for reform of Indian policy threatened their jobs, and they closed ranks behind their administrative superiors.
More and more, public opinion was formed by mass-circulation national periodicals and newspapers.
Shrewd obscurantists resorted to magazine and newspaper interviews to justify their positions.
The Saturday Evening Post, School Life, and Good Housekeeping regularly carried articles antagonistic to the emerging Indian reform movement.
In addition, the obscurantists were backed by several church publications including the Missionary Review, which carried articles written by missionaries working among the Indian tribes.
They called Indians "pagan worshippers in desperate need of Christianity and described the difficult task they faced in attempting to overthrow native religion and the peyote cult.
Obscurantists were particularly concerned with Indian dances which they thought showed Indian recalcitrance, defiance, and ethnic corruption.
Those who defended ethnic pluralism and the Indians right to worship as they chose, including dancing, were denounced as "anti-American, and subversive... agents of Moscow."
It was charged that they encouraged the persistence of "Indian paganism" and heathen cults which were "horrible, sadistic, and obscene."
Further, they were accused of attempting to Weaken and discredit the United States government.
Edith M. Dabb, national director of YWCA work among Indian girls, joined the Native American detractors, charging that native dances were a waste of time and that "sentimentalists who dwell on the beauties of the quaint and primitive world do well to remember that primitive beauty is frequently found in close company with primitive cruelty and primitive ugliness."
During an inspection of New Mexico pueblos in 1926 Commissioner Burke publicly excoriated the residents as "half animals" because of "their pagan religion," and he ordered several Indian leaders jailed "for violating the Bureau’s religious crimes code."