Throughout the era of termination, many Indigenous communities were shut down, and their properties were distributed unfairly to private corporations. What made a tribe a target for termination were the wealthiest tribes with massive land holdings.
All of the tribes from California and Florida, as well as many tribes from South and North Dakota, lost federal recognition. To the tribes that had lost Federal recognition, they were forcefully removed from the reservation and put into urban areas. All of these tribes had one thing in common: they were resource-rich. If the federal government removed the people from the lands, they could use the land’s resources and gain more money. This was an attempt to assimilate Indigenous people and to take their lands and resources legally so they couldn’t refuse.
Many Indigenous communities with profound amounts of wealth within their community were often targets of termination of their federal recognition—specific tribes such as Menominee of Wisconsin. The Menominee had a successful wood and logging business and controlled massive amounts of forest. Due to the selfish and greedy corporations’ lobbying against the Menominee People, the Menominee people lost their federal regonitation in 1953. As a result of termination, this began an era of taking lands and properties from Indigenous communities, and some Indigenous groups would try to create their corporations to protect their lands, such as the Menominee Enterprise, Inc. Although this helped a little, many tribes began a new Era of Restoration.
While the Era of Termination was a devastating chapter in the history of many Indigenous Tribes, the subsequent Era of Restoration sought to undo the damage. Grassroots movements played a crucial role in this restoration, offering support to many Indigenous communities that had lost their federal recognition. These movements, often born out of a shared sense of injustice and a desire for change, provided a powerful platform for Indigenous voices. They supported the Indigenous community that had dealt with termination due to racism, greed, and capitalism, and their efforts were instrumental in the growth of new social movements, such as the Red Power Movement. These social movements would push for Indigenous Rights such as honoring treaties, continuing to treat with the Federal Government, and removing racial inequities against Indigenous People.