The Glacier reporter. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1953-current, 1953-08-28

bilities to State and local agen-
cies in my judgment, is a desir-
able objective from every point
of view. 1t will help to bring the
Indians more. closely into the fab
ric of community life at the grass
roots level. 1t will help to break
down the old reservation walls
that have set them apart and
! which have in many cases under
mined initiative and self-respect.
Finally, it should mean a pattern
of services more responsive to
the Indians actual needs since
the level of services will be de-
termined locally rather than by
Congress or some official in
| Washington.
The third point in our policy
statement that l want to discuss
has to do with the ultimate dis
position of tribal assets. We
mentioned distribution of these
assets to the tribe as unit, or
division among individual men,
bers, whichever may appear to
be the better plan in each case.
In making decisions on this mat
ter we shall undoubtedly be guild
ed largely by the expressed
wishes of majority of the tribal
members. We know that in
some cases the majority of the
members would favor plan
of dividing the tribal assets and
having the individual members
take their places in the local COM
munity on an equal basis with
other Americans. A number of
tribes, however, would probably
oppose such a plan for number
of reasons. In some cases the
tribal assets consist mainly of
forest or rangelands which can
be most effectively operated as
unit or in very large blocks.
There are other types of assets
which cannot be easily sold or
sub-divided without the danger
of serious losses.
Moreover, the problem is not
strictly one of economics. We
recognize that there are many
Indians, deeply attached TO their
tribal organizations who will
want these organizations to con-
tinue to function even after Fed
eral services and supervision
have been withdrawn Wherever
such sentiments exist, my own
belief is that they should be Civ
en- the fullest possible consider
alton. Certainly the Indians are
entitled to have their own cul-
tural and social GROUP life-if
they want it-as much as any
other minority group in the pop
ulation. | seriously doubt that
anyone wants to deprive them of
this privilege.
| would emphasize, however,
that this question of group iden-
tity should not be confused with
or intermingled with the prob
lem of terminating Federal re-
sponsibilities. To state the mat
ter another way, the needs of the
Indians for cultural and social
group activity should not be used
as preteXt for keeping them
perpetually under Federal pa
ternalism, no matter how bcnev-
client and enlightened such an
attitude may be.
To summarize, then, our basic
objective is to get the Federal
government out of the business
of administering Indian affairs
as rapidly as this can be accom-
plished without doing a serious
or lasting injustice to the Indian
people. The-specific timing and
the methods of approach will nee
cssarily vary from tribe to tribe
and from place to place. But
everywhere our efforts arc point
ed in the same direction and at
the same target. Through every
device at our command and in
every phase of the Indian Bureau
program we are working toward
the day when the American In
dian will be free of the ties which
have bound him to the National
government for so many years
the day when all of our Indian
citizens will come into their
rightful heritage of full freedom
and responsibility