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President Richard Nixon signs the Blue Lake Bill on December 15, 1970, in the State Dining Room of the White House.

Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library and Museum/NARA

From President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Indian Reorganization Act in 1934 to the codification of termination policy in the 1950s to President Nixon’s era of self-determination, major shifts in federal Indian policy took shape throughout the 1900s. Although Indigenous peoples are often portrayed as people of the past, by protesting, having important conversations, and holding positions of power in the White House and the federal government, American Indians continue to be active agents in their history with the White House.