The unfortunate manner in which indigenous people lost many of their rights during the years following World War II occurred for a variety of reasons. The most prominent ones were that they had served in the war and were considered as needing to be “good enough” to have that acknowledged, so therefore they had to assimilate as American citizens. Tribes were broken up and members were persuaded to live in white cities, leading to the loss of many cultures and languages. This was connected to beliefs that “regular” people lived in the U.S. itself, without taking into account the histories that had been established on reservations since the 1800s. Indigenous people tried things like forming economic entities like the National Congress of American Indians and finding ways to protest, while many had to hide their cultures to keep them alive. While this didn’t always work and they found themselves in poor financial situations, they retained a determined spirit. Meanwhile, the prosperity and progress faced by White Americans in the years following the war also increased as America was now truly considered a superpower, and as such it felt somewhat like eliminating “unnecessary” countries, or in other words, the reservations, from the land, as a way of cementing this positive reputation. Unfortunately, in regard to reputations, the old image of Native Americans as “warlike” and “savage” persisted, a lot of it due to the presence of televised media, which made it increasingly difficult for them to gain any rights or lands back, as there was a significant lack of trust. As this unfair treatment increased, so did the feelings of unrest and also longing of indigenous people to honor their ancestors by coming back together. As stated in the “Reaffirmed Statement on Indian Policy” by Vine Deloria Jr. concerning the NCAI’s rules, they were often silenced and ignored due to the constant torturing and killing of Native Americans, who ended up being unable to inform the government about what was really going on and the scholars in places like Chicago come to an understanding. In the late 1950s, it was seen that indigenous people were often left poor and malnourished due to not being in lands where they could properly survive ecologically, and the frequent racism made it hard for them to get jobs or other aspects of society that were taken for granted. They were also not often warned when termination attempts would be made, often resulting in surprise attacks that hurt their communities. From a gendered perspective, there were also many Native American women who faced stuff like sterilization in the years after World War II, in a misguided attempt to cease the indigenous bloodlines. Native Americans wanted there to be peace and a means of co-existence, which explains why they made rules with places like the NCAI and expressed what was truly going on. By making these changes, the Native Americans hoped to overcome their problems and make things seem more equal, especially as they were frequently overshadowed by various forms of media and treatment of European-Americans. While there aren’t as many tribes in reservations left today as there are indigenous people living in urban areas, termination did help to instill Native Americans with a new sense of activism and identity. In a sense, it proved to be a failed experiment that showed a path forward for Native Americans despite all the hardships they had faced.