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NATIVE BUT FOREIGN
Indigenous Immigrants and Refugees in the North American Borderlands by Brenden W. Rensink, Texas A&M Press, 2018

Chapter 10, Note 28 (pages 205 and 273)

With some qualifying conditions amended, Udall and Arizona senator Carl Hayden made public statements to smooth the process, endured a backlog of bills from a Civil Rights Act filibuster, and eventually succeeded in moved the bill along until its passage on October 8, 1964. (205)

Chapter 10, Note 28 . . . for sources and more detailed discussion of the legislative process and public discourse surrounding the bill’s passage. (p. 273)

After H.R. 6233’s initial introduction, Wayne Aspinall, Chairman of the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, requested an opinion from the Department of the Interior. Assistant Secretary of the Interior John A. Carver’s report was overwhelmingly positive, and offered only a few qualified conditions. Carver’s reply, which was later resent to Aspinall’s 1964 replacement, Henry M. Jackson and included in S. Report 1805, detailed the history of Arizona Yaquis, explained their dire needs, cited the precedent of federal expenditures on the behalf of Rocky Boy’s Band of Chippewa-Crees and clarified reasons why the chosen site was acceptable.[1] By May 1964, Udall announced his belief that the bill would soon pass through the Indian Affairs subcommittee of the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, but he was worried its progress may be stymied by the backlog of bills in the Senate due to the ongoing filibuster against the Civil Rights Act. With the filibuster’s end in June, Udall readied his testimony in support of the bill. Arizona Senator Carl Hayden did likewise, releasing a public statement about the precedent of land being granted to Guadalupe Yaqui Indians in Maricopa County in 1912. Hoping to smooth over possible objections to the bill, which was slated to move through debate and conference in the coming months, Udall and Hayden’s efforts were met with positive reaction on Capitol Hill.

Though not deeply involved in the PYA and H.R. 6233 as Carl Hayden, Arizona’s other Senator, Barry Goldwater had a history of interest in Native issues. He never took a central role in this and later Yaqui endeavors in Congress, but kept files and correspondence on the events. Furthermore he did serve on some committees that dealt with Yaqui issues. These add another limited, but valuable congressional perspective on Yaqui-U.S. relations.[2]

The bill was reported to the House floor with amendment (H. Report 1805) on August 14, passed with amendments on August 18, referred to the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs on August 20, reported to the Senate floor with amendment (S. Report 1530) on September 8, passed with amendments on September 24. The House concurred with Senate amendments on September 29, examined and signed the bill on September 30 and presented it to President Lyndon Johnson on October 2. President Johnson signed the bill into law on October 3, 1964, finalizing a seventeen-month process.[3]

[1] John A. Carver to Wayne Aspinall, October 16, 1963, Udall Papers, UASC, Subgroup 2, Series 3, Box 162, Folder 14; and John A. Carver to Henry M. Jackson, August 3, 1964, Spicer Papers, ASM, Subgroup 6, Box 1, Folder 1.

[2] Personal and Political Papers of Senator Barry Goldwater, FM MSS1, AHF, Series 3, Box 181, Folder 68; Box 188, Folder 6; Box 196, Folder 24; Box 210, Folder 210; Box 222, Folder 2; Box 228, Folder 7; and Box 234, Folder 7.

[3] See House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, Providing for the Conveyance of Certain Land of the United States to the Pascua Yaqui Association, Inc., 88th cong., 2nd sess., August 14, 1964, H. Rep. 1805, serial 12620; Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, Providing for the Conveyance of Certain Land of the United States to the Pascua Yaqui Association, Inc., 88th cong., 2nd sess., September 8, 1964, S. Rep. 1530, serial 12617; and Cong. Rec., 88th Cong., 2nd sess., 1964, 19726, 20096-97, 20561, 21656, 22841, 23099, 23208, 23209, 23861 and 24062.