Orwellian Language and the Politics of Tribal Termination (1953–1960)

Abstract

From 1953 to 1960, the federal government terminated sovereign recognition for 109 American Indian nations. Termination was a haphazard policy of assimilation that had disastrous consequences for Indian land and culture. Nonetheless, termination cloaked latent motivations for Indian land within individual rights rhetoric that was at odds with Indian sovereignty. Termination highlights the rhetorical features of social control under capitalism portrayed in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), in which opposing principles are fused and inverted. This essay critiques termination's Orwellian language to show how ideographs of social liberation are refashioned by the state to subvert Indian sovereignty and popular dissent.

Keywords:

• American Indians
• Arthur V. Watkins
• Orwellian Language
• Termination

Sections of this manuscript are derived from the author's dissertation. The author wishes to thank Kirt H. Wilson, Kristen Hoerl, and Jean O'Brien-Kehoe for their helpful commentary on this essay. The author also wishes to thank the editor and the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Casey Ryan Kelly

Casey Ryan Kelly (Ph.D., University of Minnesota) is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Butler University.