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Bv Indian Press AssociationHailed as the largest meeting of Indians for 1971. the National Conference on Indian Self Determination. held in Kansas City. Mo.. March 8 12, brought together more than 400 Indian leaders representing over 150 tribes, intertribal groups andurban Indian organizations. Itwas sponsored by the National Congress of American Indians with funding from the Office of Economic Opportunity and the Bureau of Indian Affairs and with organizational assistancefrom the National Council on In dian Opportunity.Heading the list of dignitaries from federal and administration offices was Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, who spoke on the opening day. The vice pres ident is Chairman of the Na tional Council on Indian Opportunity. Other dignitaries includ ed Indian Commissioner Louis It. Bruce. Deputy Undersecretary of the Interior WilliamRogers, and Brad Patterson, assistant to Presidential Assistant Leonard Garment. Top Indian staff members of the BIA attending the conference included Ernest Stevens, Leon Cook, Tony Lincoln, Jim Hena and Billy Mills.To many of the delegates, the conference was reminiscent of the 1908 Kansas City conference which killed the unpopularOmnibus Bill for Indians. But as Kansas City was the burial ground for the Omnibus Bill, it became the burial ground forwholesale selling of pre-packaged Indian legislation by the administration as well.The specified purpose of the conference was to provide an opportunity for discussion and input to Indian legislation pro posed by the White House to the 92nd Congress.Prior to the conference, NCAI Acting Director Leo Vocu said,“This will be the last chance forIndians to present a unified voice in the President’s (Indian) message and legislative proposals before it is sent toCongress.” With the exception of the proposal for legislation establishing an Indian Trust Counsel Authority, the delegates failed to come up with support for any of the President’s six other legislative packages. Chairman’s Association Major PointAlthough not on the agenda, the formation of an association consisting of principal tribal leaders emerged from behind the official scene as the major point of discussion and controversy on the assembly floor. A reslu-tion supporting the formationof the National Indian Chairmen’s Association was narrowly defeated by a vote of 85-83.Opponents to a tribal chairmen’s association argued that another national organization would further weaken, and possibly destroy, the financially-troubled NCAI. Some saw it asa “power play” by chairmenof large tribes. Concentrated opposition came from the northwest, California, the Great Lakes area and the eastern parto f the country. Intertribal groups from California, Nevada and the Great Lakes region are forming an organization to oppose the tribal chairmen’s association, according to a California delegate.Some of the opponents suggested a plan to keep unity in the existing national organization by changing the NCAI'sExecutive Council to consist ofonly tribal chairmen.Although both sides avowed continued loyalty to NCAI, many leaders stated that the National Congress’ organizational weakness in recent years has made it incapable of filling the needs of the reservations. “It was formed as a lobbying organization and is desperately needed for that purpose,” said one delegate. “We want to keep our national Indian membership organization. But we also need a united voice to speak for reservation needs and wishes.”Former Commissioner Robert Bennett and present Commissioner Louis Bruce both calledfor a structured organization so that effective consultation could be possible. “I want to consult with you,” said Bruce, “but how do I do it? Who speaks forthe tribes?”Leaders supporting the chairmen’s association insisted that the association and NCAI would only serve to compliment each other—NCAI as a political lobbying force in Washington, and the National Indian Chairmen’s Association as a program policy body working with federal agencies to assure that programs fit reservation needs.“The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 gave legal recognition to Indian tribal governments,” said a spokesman. “It is now time for the development of statutory federal recognition of regional and national intertribal government.”Although they failed to gainsupport through a resolutionfrom the Kansas City conference, proponents of the chairmen’s association plan to go(Continued on page five)
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Ignacio Southern Ute Drum
Ignacio, Colorado, US
Fri, Mar 26, 1971
Page 4
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Andrew M.
TX, USA 22 Feb 2022
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Ignacio Southern Ute Drum
