The New York Indian Board and the Righteous Case for Removal

Abstract: This article examines the New York Indian Board for the Emigration, Preservation, and Improvement of the Aborigines of America (NYIB): a front organization launched in July 1829 to generate public and political support for the policy of “Indian Removal.” The NYIB presented itself as an independent, multi-denominational voluntary association spontaneously created by New York clergy. However, the group was covertly founded, funded, and directed by the U.S. Government, as part of an operation overseen by Thomas L. McKenney, then Head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs under President Andrew Jackson. This article explores the origins, approach, and impact of the NYIB—a ruse designed to exploit public religiosity and popular prejudice against Native Americans. In so doing, the paper considers the emergence of a form of deceptive campaigning that remains a staple of modern information warfare.