Founded by a group of Indians who possessed both strong tribal loyalty and
important connections with the white world, the Society of American
Indians was founded in 1911 with the belief that "race leadership" could
build a legal division.  Almost immediately, however, problems developed
within the group as different factions formed over such sensitive issues
as Indian assimilation into white culture and the future role of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs.  In the end, the society lacked the resources
and the broad public support needed to make its promises reality.  This
photograph is of a society banquet attended by both whites and Indians in
Philadelphia in 1914.