The Glacier reporter. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1953-current, 1955-11-11
Indian Liquidation
Draws Big Protest

ment and its Bureau of Indian
Affairs, not Congress, which in
1855 is acting to destroy Indian
communities. A chronological
table may be enlightening:
l953-The 83rd Congress re-
undated the spirit of the Indian
Reorganization Act of 1934-the
Magma Charta of the Indians,
blue-printing Indian progress to-
ward self-rule and self-sufficien-
cy, and guaranteeing the right
of Indian communities to sur
yiye. The 83rd Congress did
this by passing Resolution
known as H. Con. Res. 108) de-
claring it to be the will of Con.
gress to terminate the Indian
tribes as quickly as possible, and
instructing the Interior Depart
ment to prepare Legislation to
accomplish that end.
l954-The ink was scarcely dry
on H. Con. Res. 108, when the
83rd Congress-, which had passed
this resolution, apparently de-
cided that some of its provisions
were improper. Out of 10
termination bills prepared by
the Interior Department, only S
were enacted and S were per-
mitted to die.
l955-The 84th Congress is
evidently ignoring H. Con. Res.
1903 and tacitly rejecting the pro-
gram to scrap the Indian Reor-
ganization Act. This Congress
has, to date, enacted no anti
Indian legislation. The Interior
Department and Bureau of In
dian affairs, on the other hand,
contrive to accomplish by admin
istrative means what Congress
does not see fit to accomplish
by legislation.
The Individual Citizen Can Help
Arm yourself with knowledge.
Read the Indian Reorganization
Act Single copies are available
free from the Association on
American Indian Affairs.) Read
Indian Rights and American
Justice" by Harold E. Fey, Ex-
ecutive Editor of the Christian
Century. Single copies may be
purchased for twenty-five cents
from The Christian Century
Foundation, 407 S. Dearborn
Street, Chicago S, Illinois)
Spread Your knowledge
Visit your local librarian to
suggest that the American Ii
brary Association could serve
the public interest by encourag-
Ing libraries throughout the
country to make literature on
current Indian problems avail
able. Visit or write your local
newspaper editors; call their at
tention to the fact that many
great newspapers are supporting
the right of American Indian
communities to survive; ask
them to print editorials on this
issue Visit or write your local
radio and television program d.
rectors; urge them to cover In
dian matters in their news broad
casts and to put Indian opinion
before the country through their
public education programs.
Function As A Citizen
Tell President Eisenhower,
MS health has been restored,
your thoughts about the actions
OF the Interior Department and
bureau of Indian Affairs.
Tell those in charge of Indian
Affairs what you think of the
program to terminate the In
ulans and bypass the Indian Re-
organization Act - which is still
me law of the land. The Hon.
douglas Mckay, Secretary of the
interior and the Hon. Glenn l..
s,mmons, Commissioner of In
oian Affairs may be addressed
al the Department of the In
'erior, Washington IS, D. C.
Visit or write your Senators
and Congressman and members
oi the Congressional committees
winch consider Indian legisla-
uon. If you live in a State where
mere are no Indian reservations,
,el Your Congressman know that
:he fate of the American Indians
~ a national issue of concern to
tricts.
lake Command OF The Future
visit or write members of the
Mepublican and Democratic
National Committees. Tell them
mat their platforms for the 1856
PRESIDENTIAL election should in.
tiude a pledge to abide by the
lettPr and ..;-:x - A.