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There have been Presidents who enacted policies that helped address issue of Native Americans. There has never been one that made these issues central because we live in a democracy, of sorts. Native Americas are a very small percentage of the population and thus have not a great amount of voter power. They do not live in concentrated cities or neighborhoods to elect leaders to national office. It is true that there are plenty of presidents who did nothing for Native Americans or did terrible things like Andrew Jackson. But other presidents did try to improve things for Native people. It is important to remember that the US president has little power if the Congress does not want to pass laws. Often that has been the case. The president can try to push laws and can sign ones that have been passed. But they do not make law.Here are some presidents who did a few things for Native peoples.John Quincy Adams was an early advocate for Indians. He called the existing policy “fraudulent and brutal.,,,It is among the heinous sins of this nation,” Adams refused to support Georgia’s aggressive pressure for Indian removalWilson, granted citizenship to the 10,000 Indians who served in World War I.Harding pushed for Indian citizenship. When Harding dedicated the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, he invited the Crow Chief Plenty Coos (or Plenty Coups) to participate in the ceremony. Plenty Coups addressed the crowd of 100,000 in the Crow language. “I am glad to represent all the Indians of the United States in placing on the grave of this noble warrior this coup stick and war bonnet, every eagle feather of which represents a deed of valor” He also invited Jim Thorpe and Zitkala-Sa to the White House.Coolidge enacted the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. Before that most Native Americans were not citizens and could not vote. He set up the investigations for the Meriam Report. It concluded that the Dawes Act had been a failure, theft and fraud. The Meriam Report in 1928, and Coolidge’s public support for its findings led to an overhaul of Indian policy.Hoover choose a Native American Vice President. Charles Curtis grew up on a reservation and spoke Kaw as a first language. Hoover attended a school with Native Americans for a while as a child.“They were of course being taught English. I and my cousins were mostly interested in learning Osage."He insisted that Indian land be protected. He decried the loss of Native land through the allotment policy, He introduced legislation to support education among Indian students. He spent money to build schools and hospitals on reservations at a time when federal spending was down. Hoover appointed Charles Rhoads, a fellow Quaker and president of the Indian Rights Association, as commissioner of Indian Affairs and the two helped define federal Indian policies that would span the next four decades. Their plan sought to “make the Indians self-supporting and self-respecting.” He said Native communities “infested with human lice in the shape of white men.” In 1932 the Leavitt Act was passed. It had been pushed by the Hoover admin. It canceled all outstanding debts of the tribes.Franklin Roosevelt enacted the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. It started down the path of restoring mineral and land rights and other resources to tribal control. The goal of the act was to reverse the traditional US government goal of assimilation of Indians into American society and to strengthen, encourage and perpetuate the tribes and their historic traditions and culture. The policy helped reverse the Dawes Act’s infamous privatization of communal holdings of tribes. Congress altered is some to led to new problems with lack of oversight and issues around Indians land and royalties. FDR appointed people who were highly interested in helping Native Americans. FDR had been interested in Native rights even before office. He was involved with the members of the American Indian Defense Association (AIDA). This organization worked to stop laws that prevented traditional dances and would have taken more land.Truman signed the law establishing the Indian Claims Commission. This created a process for tribes to address their grievances against the United States, and offered monetary compensation for territory lost as a result of broken federal treaties.Johnson passed the Indian Civil Rights Act in 1968. This act made many, (but not all), of the guarantees of the Bill of Rights applicable within the tribes. Before the law the US Supreme Court had made clear that tribal internal affairs concerning tribal members' individual rights were not covered by the Fifth Amendment to the US constitution. Before the law the tribes were ultimately subjected to the power of Congress and the Constitution but not really covered by it. He appointed Robert Bennett, an Oneida Indian, as commissioner of Indian Affairs. There had not been a Native in this sort of position since the 1860s. He ended the Termination policies. Johnson proposed an Indian policy of “maximum choice” for Indians, “expressed in programs of self-help, self-development, self-determination.” He also issued an executive order establishing the National Council on Indian Opportunity. Head start which he created became important in many tribal areas and lead to the creation of Native run schools and colleges. The first was Dine College founded on the Navajo reservation in Tsaile, Arizona, in 1968.“Both in terms of statistics and in terms of human welfare, it is a fact that America’s first citizens, our Indian people, suffer more from poverty than any other group in America. That is a shameful fact.”Nixon still has a good record in many Native American communities. Nixon came to office as the Red Power movement was growing. Nixon implemented policies that led to a great increase in actual tribal sovereignty. Nixon returned the important Blue Lake lands to the Taos Pueblo and the large amount of uplands areas to the Havasupai. The deal for the Havasupai was signed by Ford after Nixon left office. Nixon increased the annual funding of the Bureau of Indian Affairs by 214%. The bulk of these funds were to be given to tribal governments. Nixon gave the "Message from the President of the United States Transmitting Recommendations for Indian Policy" (8 July 1970). He recommended self-determination for Indian tribes as a goal of the federal government. His message said that termination was an incorrect policy. Nixon called for broad-sweeping self-determination legislation. This led to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975. Again, this was signed by Ford but it was Nixon’s bill.“What we have done with the American Indian is its way as bad as what we imposed on the Negroes. We took a proud and independent race and virtually destroyed them. We have to find ways to bring them back into decent lives in this country.”Ford signed the Indian Claims Commission Appropriations Legislation. He called it an opportunity “to take clear and decisive action” to make things right. “Although we cannot undo the injustices from our history, we can insure that the actions we take today are just and fair and designed to heal such wounds from the past.” Signed Senate Bill 634, which transferred 12.5 acres of federal land in Idaho into trust status for the Kootenai and allocated funding to construct roads and a community center. Signed the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. This elevated the health status of Indians to the highest possible level and encouraging tribes to enter into self-determined contracts with the Indian Health Service.Jimmy Carter passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1978. Before that religious practices could be banned and practitioners jailed. He signed the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978, curbing the practice of placing Indian children with non-Native families and establishing regulations for keeping Indian children in their communities. Negotiated an agreement and signed the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act in October 1980“It is the fundamental right of every American, as guaranteed by the first amendment of the Constitution, to worship as he or she pleases… This legislation sets forth the policy of the United States to protect and preserve the inherent right of American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, and Native Hawaiian people to believe, express, and exercise their traditional religions,”George H.W. Bush: When he signed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act into law in 1990. He also designated the first national Native American heritage month, and proclaimed 1992 the “Year of the American Indian.”Barack Obama brokered the passage of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act re-authorization. The Tribal Law and Order Act expanding punitive authority of tribal courts and working to reduce violent crime—especially against women—in Indian country. Finished the $3.4 billion Cobell settlement. He made the $680 million Keepseagle settlement in 2010. By 2012, the Justice and Interior departments had reached settlements totaling more than $1 billion with 41 tribes for claims of mismanagement. Obama signed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, reversing the United States’ 2007 position and committing to honor indigenous peoples’ right to exist. He institutionalized an annual White House Tribal Nations summit. He directed every cabinet agency to provide a plan within 90 days—and on an annual basis thereafter—detailing its consultations with tribes, plans to implement change in Indian country and regular progress reports. Over eight years virtually every agency improved somehow in what it did for Indian country. He hired several Indians to posts throughout his administration. He signed Executive Order 13592—Improving American Indian and Alaska Native Educational Opportunities and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities. He signed the Violence Against Women Act, extending to tribes unprecedented authority to prosecute non-Natives who commit crimes on Indian land. He pushed for improvements in Indian schools and increased funding for suicide prevention programs in Indian country. He worked out a deal to protect the Bears Ears with a number of tribes.“We also recommit to supporting tribal self-determination, security, and prosperity for all Native Americans. While we cannot erase the scourges or broken promises of our past, we will move ahead together in writing a new, brighter chapter in our joint history.”