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have to advance the expenses personally.

The cases are also hard to handle because of the obstructions and difficulties placed in the way of Indian lawyers by Indian Office officials.

The time for filing claims will expire in the next year. The National Congress of American Indians, which was largely responsible for the passage of the act in the first place, should take some action so that the tribes too poor to hire attorneys shall not lose out entirely. There are two ways to handle this matter; one is to get an amendment to the Indian Claims Commission act lifting the time limitation on the filing of claims. This is probably the best way to handle it. The other method of clearing up the situation might be to induce the Indian Office to remove the obstructions to approval of Indian attorney contracts so that more attorneys will be willing to handle these cases.

There are several moral claims by Indian groups that are not covered by the Indian Claims Commission Act. One is the so-called Prisoners-of-war case, involving the Apaches, and another is the famous Wounded Knee Massacre. These atrocities are not covered by the Indian Claims Commission Act because they are treated as injuries to individuals while the Claims Commission Act covers only injuries to Tribes. The NCAI ought to do what it can so that the survivors of these atrocities, and their heirs, will be compensated for the wrongs done them by the United States Government.

Attorney Contracts

The question of relations between the government and tribal attorneys is a proper one for consideration by this Convention. The last administration adopted a policy of harassing tribal attorneys. This made it almost impossible for attorneys to take tribal business except at a serious financial loss. The harassment took the form mainly of long and unreasonable delays in the approval of attorneys contracts and unjustified delays in the approval of expense and fee bills. The present administration has speeded up the payment of fee bills considerably but has not yet got around to expediting the approval of contracts. 

It is an offense to the dignity of the Indian councils that they should be prevented from hiring their own attorneys except with the intervention of the Indian Commissioner. On the other hand, the law requiring approval of attorney contracts by the Indian office can often serve as a protection to Indians from unscrupulous members of that profession. But in no event should the Indian Office use this power as a weapon to advance its own policies when they are in disagreement with the policies of Indian councils. The Indian Office should limit itself to consideration of the attorney's qualifications. To harass an attorney who happens to support his clients in disagreements with the Indian Office amounts to official malfeasance.

Colorado River Indians

The government is in the process of resettling a large number

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