Archive Report
Archive Report
New Turn in Fedaral Policy Toward Indians
Curtailment of Government Role in Indian Affairs
Drastic changes in the relationship between the federal government and American Indians, foreshadowed toward the end of the Truman administration, have been set in motion since President Eisenhower took office. Federal supervision over tribal affairs of one-sixth of the nation's Indians will be terminated by the enactment of bills now pending in Congress. It is proposed, moreover, that, as additional tribes become ready to assume full responsibility for their own welfare, the federal government shall move progressively toward complete abandonment of its traditional role of protector of Indian rights and property. Glenn Emmons, Commissioner of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior, said early this year: “We can anticipate in 1954 ...