Women's National Indian Association

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The Women’s National Indian Association (WINA) was founded in 1879 by a group of American women including Mary Bonney and Amelia Stone Quinton. Bonney and Quinton united against the encroachment of white settlers on land set aside for Native Americans. They also drew up a petition that addressed the binding obligation of treaties between the United States and American-Indian nations. The petition was circulated in fifteen states and was presented to President Rutherford B. Hayes at the White House and in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1880.

The Association's aims were for Christianization and assimilation of American Indians. It maintained missions, produced several publications and influenced national policy, including the passing of the Dawes Act in 1887. At its height the Association had 60 branch organizations in 27 states.

The Association changed its name to National Indian Association, and was voluntarily dissolved in 1951.

[edit] References

• Davis, M. B. 1994. Papers of the Women's National Indian Association. Huntington Free Library (archive link, was dead)
• Graves, K. L. Bonney, Mary Lucinda. American National Biography Online, Feb. 2000.
• Quinton, A. S. The Woman's National Indian Association. In Eagle, Mary Kavanaugh Oldham, ed. The Congress of Women: Held in the Woman's Building, World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, U. S. A., 1893.. Chicago, ILL: Monarch Book Company, 1894. pp. 71-73.