These incredible photographs were colorized by British colorization specialist Royston Leonard. The remarkable pictures show the group during the 1920s, with some of the leaders meeting with then American president, Calvin Coolidge, at the White House.
In 1924, the Indian Citizenship Act was proposed by Representative Homer P. Snyder and signed by President Calvin Coolidge, meaning the indigenous peoples including the Native American tribe, also known as Native Indians, were granted full U.S. citizenship.
Despite being granted full citizenship in 1924, not all Native Americans were granted the right to vote until 1957 due to discriminatory state laws which used a variety of excuses to prevent members of tribes from fully exercising their rights
The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, also known as the Snyder Act, was proposed by Representative Homer P. Snyder (R) of New York and granted full U.S. citizenship to the indigenous peoples of the United States, called "Indians" in this Act.
While the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution defined as citizens any person born in the U.S., the amendment had been interpreted to restrict the citizenship rights of most Native people. The act was signed into law by President Calvin Coolidge on June 2, 1924. It was enacted partially in recognition of the thousands of Indians who served in the armed forces during World War I.
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| Pictured is President Calvin Coolidge with a group of Native Americans on the White House lawn. |
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| Native Americans, pictured here at the White House in traditional dress, were only granted full US citizenship in 1924 by the then President Calvin Coolidge, who was later granted honorary tribal membership by Sioux Chief Henry Standing Bear. |
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| A group of Native American men wearing their traditional attire while raising the Stars and Stripes at the Lincoln Memorial in 1936, 12 years after President Calvin Coolidge granted them US citizenship. |
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| President Coolidge with Native American tribes, 1924. |
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| Native Americans at the White House, circa 1929. |
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| Two Native American elders, dressed in traditional garb discussing policy with a member of President Coolidge’s staff. |
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| This remarkable photograph shows Native American men, women, and children in Washington D.C., to speak to President Coolidge. In 1924, Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act, granting citizenship to indigenous people. Well-deserved: they had been in the country for generations before the “Americans” who automatically receive citizenship at birth. |
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| These Native American women traveled to Washington DC in 1924 to celebrate the newly-signed Indian Citizenship Act. |
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| This Native American elder was photographed around 1925. |
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| This Native American woman, center is meeting US President Calvin Coolidge in 1923 in advance of the Indian Citizenship Act. |
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| Native Americans posing for group portrait in 1915. |