The Native American Culture Group: Indigenous Community Organizing and Activism at a Federal Prison in 1970s Oklahoma, presented by John Truden, is part of “Perspectives in History,” the 2022 Oklahoma History Symposium.

Indigenous prisoners in state and federal prisons often organized cultural associations. These associations—which have parallels with modern organizations such as Huy in the Washington State Penitentiary—were created to build intertribal community, focus on Indigenous cultures, and raise awareness. About thirty such groups existed across the United States and Canada during the 1970s. In 1972, Indigenous inmates at El Reno Federal Correctional Institute formed one such association, the Native American Culture Group (NACG).
In addition to holding regular meetings into the mid-1970s, producing a newsletter, and making ties with organizations, the NACG was featured in a short film by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This session will provide context about this film and the organizations created by Indigenous prisoners.

Truden, John. The Native American Culture Group: Indigenous Community Organizing and Activism at a Federal Prison in 1970s Oklahoma. You Tube video, 27:48, April 18, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJw9HkDlg5A

John Truden is the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Native American and Indigenous Studies, Center for the Futures of Native Peoples at Dickinson College.

View this video on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJw9HkDlg5A

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