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the tribe. Disturbing the peace, in white men's law, is a misdemeanor; but among the old Kiowas it was a serious crime, because a breach of the peace could lead to more serious trouble which in the course of events could embroil the entire tribe. Therefore, upon every member of the tribe was laid the injunction, "Do not make trouble."

This, I insist, is not the rule or behavior of a warlike people. 
We all of us here, I say, are concerned for the future of our Indian people, our families, our friends. We have come from practically every state in which there is a sizeable Indian population: from California, Washington, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado (Fill in states represented.)

We are here to take such actions as recommend themselves, to say what needs to be said, in Indian behalf.
We are here united, all speaking for one, any one of us prepared to stand and speak for all. In this is our Indian creed, our concern for the preservation of all our people. The significance of our meeting lies in this, and nothing more.

Our National Congress of American Indians, after only three years of active campaigning, has established itself as the medium through which Indian opinion and Indian desires are expressed. On the basis of our progress to date, I have no hesitancy in saying that the time has passed when measures bearing on the lives and property of our Indian people will, as in former years, be placed on the books without consulting the wishes of the people involved. I do not intend this as a threat or a bluff. We have no intention of asking for anything that is not rightfully due us or of using methods that are not out in the open. But we have demonstrated that we know how to speak out for the Indians of the United States and Alaska and I cannot believe that any hereafter responsible official will want to act in Indian matters