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Now, to go ahead with the report of the activities of NCAI: as stated before, Mr. Curry has given you a detailed report on this year's work in Washington, and, since time is of the essence, I had better mention very briefly one or two matters which call for serious consideration. One is the present trend of legislation in Congress. We had better take note of the fact that Congress, on the whole, is confining its attention to the National Defense Program. The 81st Congress, previously, had not been very friendly toward Indian bills, although the House had a better record than the Senate. In general, the bills now pending have high-sounding titles but need to be watched for sinister clauses dangerous to Indian well-being. However, I am sure that if we give a proper amount of attention to supplying information to the members of Congress with the real facts, we will have a substantial effect on their attitude. We should convince our national leaders that, unless they can solve the Indian minority problem, they should not attempt to deal with world minority problems. At the present time the world is much concerned with minority questions and, therefore it is a good time for us to demand attention to our own.

As to the present administration of Indian Affairs in Washington, one cannot predict, but you have heard Commissioner Myer and know that although he seems friendly, he does not seem disposed to cooperate readily. He has frankly stated that he must retain final authority in the appointment of personnel until we can pay our own bills. He should be informed that a number of tribes do pay their own bills but have no voice in selecting their personnel. It will be interesting to watch whether they will be allowed to select their employees when the Commissioner learns that they do pay their own bills.

As to the Area Offices, the Commissioner says they are here to stay. You will recall that at first these were known as "Regional Offices," but Indian protests and the refusal of Congress to appropriate funds for their maintenance forced the Bureau to use another nice-sounding name, viz., "District Offices." Now they are called "Area Offices," and if we protest fiercely enough, we may be able to secure not only a change of name, but new personnel, or even complete abolition in some locations. Where these offices are serving the Indians well and the Indians are satisfied, I think they should remain; I say this although I am fully aware that NCAI is on record as being against the Area Offices in toto. This problem should be discussed fully to determine what is the consensus of NCAI members as to our future position.

Much needs to be done in developing a spirit of cooperation between the Indians and the personnel of the Indian Bureau. We want to be allowed to contribute our ideas and wishes as to the administration of our affairs and to bring about harmonious relations so that many improvements may be introduced and an era of good feeling established among us. One very definite way for us to help the Indian Bureau is to furnish constructive and practical suggestions that will appeal to the Indian Bureau personnel as feasible and useful.************************

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