Society of American Indians

Maintained originally as part of the New York State Archaeologist's correspondence files, these records are actually the files of the private Society of American Indians. Organized in 1911 as the "Association of Indians in America," and renamed the "Society of American Indians" in 1912, the organization admitted full or part-blooded aboriginal Americans to active membership and other persons interested in the welfare of Indians as associate members. The organization's goal was "to advance American Indians in enlightenment, in material culture, in spiritual progress, and development," by holding an annual conference, preserving records of Indian culture, promoting citizenship for American Indians, and investigating "the legal and other wrongs to the American Indian in order to have equity and justice done to him".