Show Indian land policy Made known here Assistant Secretary of Interior Roger Ernst has instructed the Indian Office as to the policy on acquisition of land for Indians in trust and in fee Ernst states that the guiding principle of the Department is will take lands in trust to provide protection and service to those Indians who are in need of It should be made clear ito the Indian people that our policies arc intended to help the tribes and the individuals and keep additional lands when they need such we will not take additional land In trust for Indians who now have the ability to manage their own The Assistant Secretary feels it would be better for the Bureau of Indian Affairs to concentrate on those Indians in genuine need of assistance rather than spending time providing protection and help to already successful Indians who want more Some attorneys representing the Indians feel that the statement that additional land will not be taken in trust for an individual where he has the ability to manage his own affairs is They say that most states would take the individual's taxes but spurn him services because he is exclusively a problem of the federal Further many Indians are able to operate successfully on tax exempt but do not earn enough to pay taxes in addition to other charges they must One informed source says that this will produce extremely spotty depending upon the whims and prejudices of the particular administrators who determine what constitutes ability on the part of an Indian to manage his own Much the policy in this respect takes no account of those situations where Indians are systematically excluded from the benefits purchased by tax moneys quite without respect to whether or not they are In regard to tribal Ernst a tribe is being given or otherwise acquiring Federally owned land by special a decision as to whether or not the tribe should receive the lands in trust is a matter for Congress to and we will ordinarily make no the land is being acquired by the tribe without special if it is within the reservation the land will be taken in a trust status if the sn rip- regardless of whether it was held in trust or in fee by the grantor unless there is statutory If the land acquired is outside the reservation title to it will be taken in fee unless there are very unusual involving a land The attorneys find this statement of policy regarding title to lands acquired by tribes gratifying as it drastically vises the controversial policies heretofore applied by the Indian The statement Is interpreted to mean that if the land is within the title will be taken in trust without This new policy was forecast by a cleared for the President's donating a tract of land to the Pueblo of Isleta in New A year ago the Department had recommended that the which the boundaries of the be put in fee The new Jaw provides that the together with the buildings and improvements will be held in trust for the Pueblo y of SOCIAL AFFAIRS MY APOLOGIES to the DANIELS It seems their names were from the story written on the American Legion dinner which was held at the Fort Duchesne Club I understand they furnished all musical numbers for the dinner and were the special Again my apologies to Danny and O. Weaver and Harold and spent the weekend in Logan where they visited Weaver's H. B. Clara mother of Darrell from is here to attend the graduation of her Miss Darlene |