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SPEECH BY MR. ERIC T. HAGBERG, GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT, UNITED PUEBLOS AGENCY, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, TO THE NATIONAL CONGRESS OF AMERICAN INDIANS CONVENTION IN SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO, DECEMBER 5, 1947. - - - - - President Johnson; [[strikethrough]] and [[/striekthrough]] Secretary Bronson, and delegates to the N.C.A.I. convention: I want to thank you for the opportunity of meeting with this representative group of American Indians here in the heart of Indian country -- the Southwest. This presents an opportunity of discussing a phase of Indian self-government evidenced in the procedure being developed here in the Pueblo country, which encourages direct Indian participation in the planning of programs. The Indian people express themselves through their representatives. It is an inspiration to all of us who believe in the fundamentals of American democracy to meet with a group such as the National Congress of American Indians -- an organization speaking for the American Indians. This is a real mechanism of American democracy and it is only in a democracy that minority peoples can gather together, discuss their problems, and present them to the majority. As history is being made at the London Conference attempting to work on problems for minorities of Europe, you people in the spirit of real Americans are meeting here in Santa Fe to discuss and work on problems of an important minority group in America. Here in Santa Fe you are holding a rendevouz [[rendezvous]] with destiny-- the destiny of your people, and it is through democratic meetings, where the people speak, that a real true solution can be found. It is when we gather in meetings such as this that we know our boys did not die in vain, and that this Government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished and will never perish. The problems facing the Indians of today can only be solved by the Indians. They know their problems, they understand their problems, and it is to them we should look for an understanding solution. In other words, let us hear the Indians speak. It is along this line of thinking that I would like to discuss briefly what has developed in the the Pueblo country. I think you would like to know about it. In working on the many problems that arose in this jurisdiction during the past year and a half, it was very apparent that there was a missing organizational link. The Indian people had their governments, and the Federal Government had the Indian Service. The connecting link was missing. As Mr. Abel Paisano, Chairman of the All-Pueblo Council, has said many times, there was a curtain drawn between the Indian people and the Agency. As the days went by it became very apparent to me and to the rest of those at the Agency that this curtain must be torn down. We realized that we must hear what the Indian people had to say. We realized that they knew their problems better than we ever would know them. After conferences with various Indian leaders in this area -- John Rainer, Abel Paisano, Alvin Warren, Joe Padilla, and many others sitting here in the audience this evening, it was decided that a new
