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benefits to which they are entitled; to secure and to preserve rights under Indian treaties with the United States; and otherwise promote the common welfare of the American Indians.

On November 21, 1944, a select committee from the House Indian Affairs Committee held hearings in Oklahoma City, Okla., to investigate economic conditions of the Indians. Many Indians of Oklahoma appeared before the committee and testified. Among those was Judge Johnson.

The statement of Judge Johnson, including the constitution and bylaws of the National Congress of American Indians, reads as follows:

Statement by N. B. Johnson, President, National Congress of American Indians, made to the Subcommittee on Indian Affairs of the House at Oklahoma City, November 21, 1944.

Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, my name is N. B. Johnson. At present I am the district judge of the Twelfth Judicial District of Oklahoma. I am one-fourth Cherokee Indian and have recently been elected president of the National Congress of American Indians at a convention in Denver, Colo.

With the permission of the committee I should like to read into the record a copy of the constitution that was ratified at the convention. It is as follows:

"PREAMBLE

We the members of Indian tribes of the United States of America in convention assembled on the 16th day of November 1944, at Denver, Colo., in order to secure to ourselves and our descendants the rights and benefits to which we are entitled under the laws of the United States, the several States thereof, and the Territory of Alaska; to enlighten the public toward a better understanding of the Indian race; to preserve Indian cultural values; to seek an equitable adjustment of tribal affairs; to secure and to preserve rights under Indian treaties withe the United States; and otherwise to promote the common welfare of the American Indians do establish this organization and adopt the following constitution and bylaws:

"'ARTICLE I. NAME. The name of this organization shall be the National Congress of American Indians.

"'ARTICLE II. MEMBERSHIP. Section 1. Any person of Indian ancestry may become a member of the National Congress: Provided, That member organizations shall certify to the eligibility of their members for national membership and that such members be accepted by the National Congress.
"'Sec. 2. Any Indian tribe, band, or community of Indians may become member organizations as such under terms prescribed by the executive council.
"'Sec. 3 The executive council shall have the power to grant individual membership of Indians in accordance with rules it may prescribe.
"'ARTICLE II. GOVERNING BODY. "'Section 1. The governing body of the National Congress for the period between November 16, 1944, and the

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