The Glacier reporter. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1953-current, 1953-10-16
STATEMENT
BY Leo IA. kennsriy, Chairman
Blaekfeef Tribal Council

DuTluS lily AZ yCoho "a cSA 49,
as member of the Blackfeet Tri-
bal Council, I have had the op-
portunity to attend many meet
ings held both on the reservation
and in Washington, D. c. by vari-
GUS committees of Congress rel
alive to the problems of the
Blackfeet Tribe, but the meeting
! of the House Subcommittee on
Indian Affairs held October IA at
the Browning high school gymna-
stun, of which MIR. Harrison of
Wyoming was chairman and Re-
preventative D'Ewart of Montana
was a member, was one of the
most prejudiced meetings held by
congressional committee to my
knowledge.
Mr.. Harrison, chairman of the
committee, took the opportunity
at the close of the meeting to in.
form those present that the legal
counsel of the Blackfeet Tribe,
Mr.. Felix S. Cohen, had made
statements at the former commit
tee on Indian Affairs in the house
of representatives (of which Mr..
Harrison was also a member,) was
dominated by Dillon S. Myer, for
mer Commissioner of Indian AZ
fairs. Mr.. Harrison stated that he
would demand an apology from
MIR. Cohen for making this state
ment. Whether Mr.. Cohen's state.
ment was true or not, I do not
know. I will say, however, that
the conduct of the October IA
meeting in Browning had all the
"ear-marks" of being dominated
by Indian Bureau thinking and
was typical of the approach GER
tain employees of the Indian
Bureau use in their solution of
the so-called Indian Problem
that approach being to attack the
character of individuals in order
to create confusion and disorgan-
ize Indian tribes.
Although the purpose of the
committee meeting was never
stated, it was felt by members of
the Blackfeet Tribal Council that
the members of the committee
were attempting to learn some of
the problems confronting Indians
and to try and assist them in So
luton of some of these problems
by changes of policy, both legis-
lative and administrative. The
council was also under the i'm
preston that the so-called, and
much-heralded Withdrawal" pro-
gram of the Indian Bureau and
Congress would be discussed.
With this in mind, the Tribal
Council spent many long hours
gathering material and consulting
with members of the Tribe in an
effort to formulate a program
thought best for the progress of
the Tribe as a whole. Although
the resolutions adopted by the
council as result of these dis
cussions and the research done by
council members were allowed to
be presented, they were not al
lowed to be discussed with men,
bers of the committee and thus,
what was supposed to be an at
tempt to improve government re-
lations with the Indians turned
out to be an investigation of loans
made by Tribal Councils, past and
present.
believe l read somewhere that
this committee was to investigate
the progress of the Indian Bur-
eau and report its findings back
to Congress. 1 would suggest,
however, that another committee
be appointed to investigate pro-
gress of this committee. On Sec
ond thought, if the meeting held
in Browning is a sample of their
work, the second committee
would be unnecessary as it is
quite evident that no progress
will be made.
have been known in the past
to criticize committees appointed
by the Tribal Council to investi-
gate certain problems, but after
seeing this Congressional Com
mittee in action and observing
their tactics, my criticisms of
council committees seem without
foundation.
This Saturday the Council is
meeting with the newly-appoint-
ed Commissioner of Indian At
fairs. I hope this meeting will
prove more fruitful than the
meeting held with the Congress
sional Committee.
(Signed3
Leo M. Kennerly