The Glacier reporter. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1953-current, 1955-04-29
Many Attend Institute
On American Indian
Affairs at Missoula

Delegates from the Billings
Area Office, Bureau of Indian
Affairs, Department of Public
Welfare, State of Montana, Mon
tana State Board of Health, Mon
tana State T. B. Association,
State Extension Service, Montana
Farmers Union, and the seven
Indian Tribes of Montana gather
ed at the Montana State Univer-
,sity campus Thursday and Fri
day, April 81 and %, to attend
the second annual Montana State
University Institute on American
Indian Affairs.
Saturday morning, April %,
the delegates heard an address
on Indian Education by Ernest
L. Wilkinson, president of Brig
ham Young University, Utah, and
summary of the convention by
DR. Fielder of the English De-
partment of Montana State Uni
versity wilkinson, incidental
ly, is senior partner in the law
firm now prosecuting claims of
the Blackfeet Tribe against the
U. S. Government and maintains
an office in Washington, D. c.
The theme of the institute,
Need and Services of Montana
Indians, was effectively discuss
ed in various workshops and
general assemblies. The conven-
ton was administered by the
Montana Committee on Human
Relations, established by the last
institute, with the assistance of
the Community Services Labora-
tory of Montana State Universe
ty. Students of the University
as we'll as students of Missoula
County Public Schools, also par
ticipated in the discussions.
Principal topics discussed by
the delegates with regard to In
dams were Law and Order, Re-
sources Development and Man.
agement, Education, and Rehab-
ilitation. No specific recommen-
datiuns however, were made rela-
tive to any of these topics-the
object being only to acquaint
those present with the needs of
Indians in these fields, to deter
mine whether or not the present
agencies charged with meeting
these needs were doing so or
we're adequate, and to determine
how relations between persons,
groups, and communities could
be developed to alleviate these
needs and improve the existing
services or bring about the Gre
alton of new services where need
ed.
The Resources Development
workshop brought out fact long
recognized by both Indian tribes
and non-Indians concerned with
Indian affairs-that one of the
chief deterents to progress of In
dams and realization of the full
potential of Indian reservations,
as we'll as one of the most costly
items in management of Indian
properties by the Federal gov
eminent, is the increasing pro-
blem of fractionated ownership of
Indian lands. Legislation now
pending in Congress aimed at
partially solving this problem
was discussed with the workshop
concluding that some legislation
should be definitely approved in
the near future toward this end.
Both the Resources Develop
ment and the Rehabilitation
work shops brought out the fact
that existing credit facilities
should be made available to In
dams as well as non-Indians as
present facilities available to In
dams were inadequate. 1t was
also brought out that much i'm
portant information about the
changes of Indian Bureau polio
les from time to time was not be-
ing furnished promptly to Indian
tribes. AS an example, one dele
gate stated that his tribe still had
not received the information that
trust land could be mortgaged to
non-Indian lending agencies I'M
der certain conditions in spite of
the fact that this change in the
IL p@,Je L~~~ral