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better housing, better health services, improved facilities for the aged and infirm on the Navajo Reservation--as well as other Indian reservations where such benefits may be denied or applied in a discriminatory manner. 
 (c) To assist the Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation in the defense and protection of their water rights; and such other problems as may be requested of the Executive Council by affiliated tribes and Indian organizations. 
 4. To urge all Indian Tribes and groups in the United States and (?) to take appropriate measures to see that voting precincts are established on Indian Reservations and that all eligible Indians register to vote, and vote, in all elections--national, state, and local; and that public office seekers should be asked to take a stand on questions of interest to Indians. 
 5. To authorize the President of the Indian Congress to appoint a committee to draft and put into effect a plan for the establishment of an Indian tribes in gathering facts, and especially, in the examination of Government archives and other documentary material for tribes and their lawyers who do not have adequate facilities for making an exhaustive examination of facts, to the end that the tribe or tribes may be able to obtain and accept grants or loans of money for said purposes and to supervise the management of said office. 
 6. To endeavor to collect $10,000.00 by voluntary contribution from member tribes, groups, or individuals (7,500.00 for the maintenance of the Legal Aid and Service Bureau in Washington during the year 1947, to serve the various tribes in the United States and Alaska, including the salary of a general manager, secretarial and stenographic hire; rent, telephone, postage and office supplies, and all necessary incidental expense; publication of reports and informational bulletins and $2,500.00 of which shall be for legal services in Washington, D.C.)
 7. To request the Congress of the United States to authorize Inidan tribes to use their funds for all purposes deemed by them to be for their best interest and direct the Executive Council of the Inidan Congress to draft the necessary request, or language, and submit it to the Appropriations Committee in Congress. 
 8. To give special study to the problems of the Indians of Alaska and aid them in establishing their possessory rights to their lands. 
 There is much work ahead. The Federal Government has failed time and again in its dealings with the Indians because there has not been any leadership among the Indians, or because such leadership was negative and effective only in resisting the Federal Policy. Indian leadership should contribute to the formulation of Federal policy. It should take the leading part in inquiring into the needs of Indians and of making those needs vocal. 
 If the Indian Congress is to realize its purposes, it must have the influence and support of its white friends, and their organizations, as well as the cooperation of all the Indian organizations, groups, tribes and individuals. Only through concerted action can we achieve our goal.
Sincerely,
N.B. Johnson
President, NCAI