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and your other officers and member who are as prominent and well-thought-of in the affairs of our country, These men and the member of your organization are the best testimony in the world to the fact that there is no difference between the Indian and the white man, except that of nationality, and I think we'll have to admit that if it comes to a question as to which nationality is best, a man would hesitate to say that the genuine American should take second place to any person.

The Governors' Interstate Indian Council now has gotten off to a fine start. Sixteen or seventeen states with Indian populations are actively cooperating in this organization. I believe most of you know the history of the organization. It was started in St. Paul, last March, by Governor Youngdahl of Minnesota, who called the meeting of the various states with Indian populations, to see if we could somehow get our shoulders to the wheel and jointly find a solution to Indian difficulties. The meeting in St. Paul was a great success. It was resolved then that further meetings should be had to organize an interstate council, and a couple of months later, in Salt Lake City, we met again, with even wider representation and several Governors present, to discuss cooperation among the states in finding an effective solution to Indian problems. At that meeting, the delegates elected me chairman of the group, most likely out of deference to Governor Youngdahl's leadership and activity, a responsibility which I find most satisfying. The Indian problem was again taken up at the Governors' Conference in West Virginia, which the Governors of 48 states attended, and that Conference not only endorsed the idea of an Interstate Indian Council, but enthusiastically accepted the organization as a child of its own, bespeaking full support and interes

This summer, as a result of the Salt Lake City meetings, eight special committees, made up of as many Indians as whites, are studying various phases of the Indian problems. The committees are: Education, Employment Opportunities, Health, Housing, Law and Order, State-Federal Relations, Treaties, Claims and Lands, and Welfare. 

Each committee consists of four or five people who are giving intensive study to the matter under its jurisdiction. They will make written reports of findings and recommendations which will be brought before the next Interstate Council meeting, tentatively scheduled at Oklahoma City December 7 and 8. At that time we plan to have a 2-day session, to thoroughly discuss the ideas and recommendations of the various committees. We hope to lay before Congress a plan of action which, with a national sweep, will put us on our way toward correcting the things that lead to Indian difficulties. This plan of action should take into account the responsibilities and plans of the Federal Indian Bureau, whose suggestions and help we desire and need. I know that among some folks the Federal Bureau is criticized. No doubt some criticism is justified, and some of it is probably not justified, but I would like to add here that our relationship with the Federal people cannot be that of an antagonist or an unfriendly group. We are interested in anything and everything which will be helpful to the Indian and which will point the way toward making the Indian just another citizen, like the Irish, the Scotch, or, in this part of the country, the Scandinavian. The Indian Bureau undoubtedly

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