President John F. Kennedy helped revive the “‘frontier’ as a trope of populist imperialism” as he described in a speech the country’s future path towards a “new frontier” with respect to the other parts of the world, especially in regard to the Cold War and anti-communism struggle (178-79). The myth of U.S. exceptionalism remained strong. Counterinsurgency in Vietnam involved U.S. troops referring to Vietnam as “Indian Country” or other references originally used in the context of past wars against Indigenous people.

Indigenous people continued to resist during the Cold War era, helping to secure changes in opinion about the right to self-determination and land restitution. In 1961, young activists from 21 Indigenous nations founded the National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) and a few years later organized in support of fishing rights in Washington, which obtained national publicity. Additionally, with the efforts of the Survival of American Indians Association through fish-ins, multiple Indigenous nations in the Pacific Northwest were able to obtain a court victory in 1973 protecting their fishing rights that were guaranteed in past treaties, a key victory for Indigenous sovereignty. In 1969, the Indians of All Tribes alliance in the Bay Area began their occupation of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, gaining media attention until President Nixon ordered forced evacuation in June 1971.