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CHARLES GROUNDS:
I am a Seminole from Oklahoma. As I sit here I look over this group of young people and thing, "In the Indian Youth lies the hope of our race." We can talk about our financial situation all we want. This spring all our appropriations were cut off. We me in Oklahoma City, that is the various tribes in Oklahoma, and it was through this organization that went to Washington and conferred with out Oklahoma delegation and the Congress, and finally got out appropriation reinstated. That means to me this one thing. Within a very short time, maybe next year, the year following, five years from now or 10 years, we will have our appropriation cut off entirely. Now then, it is up to us Indians to prepare for that. How shall we prepare? We don't know the constitution of our own state; there's lots of things we have to learn, and brother, now is the time to get busy. These councils better get to functioning. Now then, here are these students getting out of an Indian school-- I am a product of an Indian school myself -- but I didn't stop there. If you stop there you have done an injustice to yourself. You are not ready to go up and take hold of the larger things. If these tribal councils and officers of the tribe and those in position will back up and say five or six of your outstanding students and see that they go on to school, then you are building something. Say, if we started at the start of the war, this year we would have had some students coming out of college. Start him to college; get him on through. Boy, it's a lonely feeling when you get out of high school and want an education. If you did start five or six of your students to college, next year start another. Soon you will have a whole group of leaders out of your own tribe. Maybe one of those students will be the governor of this illustrious state. These kids, in addition to your help and encouragement, they need some finances. Help them out. Again I say, in the Indian youth lies the hope of our race. 

MATTHEW HYDE PINE:
I represent the Oglala Sioux people of South Dakota. Some of you may recall that last year at the Oklahoma convention I presented to this convention a special problem which existed on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. That was in connection with Law and Order and the enforcement thereof. To date no action has been taken on the matter, partially due to the fact that we did not follow up the problem which was presented to this convention. As I stated last year at the Oklahoma convention, murders, anything from murder clear on down to the minor offenses and misdemeanors have been committed and no investigation has been made as to how our Indian people have met their deaths. As you know, the Indian Service appropriation has been reduced, perhaps to about 60% from the fiscal year beginning June 30, 1947. In this reduction the Indian Service, after Congress had announced this reduction would be made, the Indian Service got into a system by which most of the white-collared, high-salaried positions would be retained, and Indians who were employed in the 
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