Collier, John

Related Category: Sociology: Biographies

1884–1968, American social worker, anthropologist, and author, educated at Columbia and the Collège de France. After holding several positions in community organization and social work training, he became active in Native American affairs in 1922. Collier was editor of the magazine American Indian Life from 1926 until 1933, when he was appointed commissioner of Indian Affairs, a position he held for 12 years. In addition to works in verse, he wrote Indians of the Americas (1947) and On the Gleaming Way (1962, orig. pub. 1949 as Patterns and Ceremonials of the Indians of the Southwest).