In the early 1900s, three prominent American Indians, Dr. Charles Eastman, his brother Reverend John Eastman and Rev. Sherman Coolidge first discussed organizing a Pan-Indian or intertribal Indian rights organization. However, they concluded the time was not yet right to broadly advance the idea, believing such a movement "would not be understood either by our own people or the American people in general," present a "grave danger of arousing the antagonism of the Bureau," and compromise the many progressively-oriented Indians affiliated with Government service and programs.