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The Principal Chief of the Eastern Cherokee Bend called upon us to assist his people in keeping control over the tribal matters in the hands of real Indians of the Bend. The Eastern Cherokees have a chance to share in the profits of a rich tourist trade which passes right through their reservation going to and from the Great Smokies National Park. A number of white business men would like to get the trade for themselves by acting through Indians of a lesser degree of Indian blood whose rights to be on the tribal roll are challenged by the old time Indians. We in Oklahoma went through similar troubles and we can sympathize with our brothers in North Carolina. I am happy to report that Chief Bradley won out in the recent election, after we helped to secure and honest election.
I mention only one other achievement of the year, then I must pass on to other matters. This last item is cause for the greatest satisfaction, since it concludes a very old injustice. For more than thirty years the Indians of the Pyramid Lake reservation have been trying to evict from inside their boundary lines certain white squatters who, the record shows, must have known at the time of their settlement that they were trespassing. An indifferent guardian in the early years and the variety of stalling tactics of the lawyers and politicians who intervened in behalf of the squatters has prevented any final action being taken. The rights of the Indians were fought through the District Court and the Circuit Court of Appeals, where the Indians were upheld. The Supreme Court refused to review the Circuit Court's decision. But still the matter did not terminate. The Indians were still kept off the land which rightfully belonged to them. I am therefore most happy to report that, through action of our Chief Counsel, we have just succeeded in having writs of eviction served on the white men and I believe is now only a matter of days until they will be out of there, bag