From 1952 to 1966 McNickle was the director of AID, a project funded by the Field Foundation. Its purpose was "concerned with helping the Indian people of the United States to find and use the material resources and the leadership which exists in their communities" (McNickle, AID First Annual Report, 1952). Workshops were first run on a variety of pertinent subjects. Later AID began to focus upon one community, Crownpoint, New Mexico. The Crownpoint project ran from 1953-1960.