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To American Indians

Greetings:

We send this work to American Indians everywhere to inform you of actions taken to form a national organization of Indians, to explain our purposes in forming such an organization, and to urge you to join us in making the organization strong and useful.

Here is What We Have Done

For several years Indians have talked about forming a nationwide Indian organization. There was a feeling that Indians should be drawn closer together in order to protect their common interests and in order to express the friendship they feel for each other. Some of you who read this letter may have attended the regional conferences of tribal council officials which were held in different parts of the country several years ago; you will remember how, at each one of these regional meetings, the thought came to all that such meetings should be continued, that permanent regional organizations should be established. 

There were other indications that Indians had this common desire to associate themselves together. In certain areas, as among the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, the tribal groups in Nevada, and the villages of Southeastern Alaska, inter-tribal organizations had been operating for a number of years. They had been demonstrating that Indians could get together successfully across tribal lines.

Having all this in mind, it was decided to make a start. But where:
We needed to go where there were Indians, and we had to find Indians who could give time and energy to the job. Organizations do not come about merely by wishing. Somebody has to work on it.

This explains how it happens that the first meetings have been held in Chicago, Ill., and that the majority of Indians attending the meetings have