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has good ideas and those ideas  should be used.  If it has bad ideas, they should be changed.  The same is true of state officials and Indians themselves.

Undoubtedly, there are many things that can be solved by national action.  Congress has the Indian under its jurisdiction, as do some Federal agencies, and there are many laws and regulations which tie the Indian down like the Lilliputian midgets tied down the Gulliver giant.  Corrections must be sought nationally on those things which similarly involve the various states, but there are also many thigs which need to be done locally, or within the states, and each of the states should pursue vigorously its own course of action to do what it can to meet its own problems.  The Governors' Interstate Indian Council should be a focal point for the states seeking national action, and it should also be a stimulant for each of the states to do what it can.

In Minnesota, we take our responsibility seriously:  I hope all the other states do too. We have been meeting with out Indians and plan to continue doing so.  I just returned from a very enlightening meeting in the northern part of out state last week.  I attended a session of the Consolidated Chippewa Council.  I was proud of the way in which the Indians conducted their meeting.  It was a real lesson in democratic discussions and action;  a model which might well be studied by the white man.  This fall we are planning to have another state-wide Indian conference for a discussion of their own problems, attempting to highlight what they can do themselves and encourage cooperative action of all pertinent groups within the state. 

In these meetings and discussions, I have noted one thing which I don't like.  There seems to be a tendency for Indians to wait for the Government to do this or that before the Indians feel they can go ahead on their own.  Waiting upon the Government, discussion tends to turn toward the obligation of Government and before you know it, the whole group is paralyzed, discussing whether the Government will, and why they won't, and why they should, and how we can get them to do it, and without realizing it, the main purpose of his discussion as to how to attain his objective is lost from view.  You will think I have a one track mind.  Today I have.  It is Indian self-help. ***** My main theme today has been Indian self-help.  Governmental agencies, the Interstate Council, and all of us interested in Indian Problems wish to furnish a vehicle and clear the road for the Indian to solve his own problem.  There are many technical aspects to this, some of which have been suggested.  We should work for the elimination of laws and rules and procedures which deter the Indian.  The states must take action consistent with local needs.  The white man must help wherever he can, but basically and fundamentally the Indian must do the job.  When schools are provided, the Indian should send his children to school and keep them there until they are educated, and when educated they should put their knowledge and abilities to use and should not come back to vegetate on the reservation.  So also with the problems of employment, law and order, and all of the other things.  National security comes first, of course

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