Nixon, Richard

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North Dakota Law Review Volume 48 Number 3 Article 10 1972 Special Introduction by President Richard Nixon - North Dakota Law Review - Summer 1972 Richard Nixon Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/ndlr  Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Nixon, Richard (1972) "Special Introduction by President Richard Nixon - North Dakota Law Review - Summer 1972," North Dakota Law Review: Vol. 48 : No. 3 , Article 10. Available at: https://commons.und.edu/ndlr/vol48/iss3/10 This Introduction is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Law at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in North Dakota Law Review by an authorized editor of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact und.commons@library.und.edu. SPECIAL INTRODUCTION BYPRESIDENT RICHARD NIXONNORTH DAKOTA LAW REVIEW-SUMMER 1972In considering the laws that relate to any given segment of oursociety, it is essential that we consider both the functioning of pre-sent laws and the need for new laws; both what the laws achieveand what gaps there are that still must be filled.Today, the need for new law is in no place more evident than inthe laws which pertain to the American Indian. In my Special Mes-sage to the Congress on Indian Affairs of July 8, 1970, I identifiedseveral areas in which existing statutes are inadequate to today'sneeds, and proposed new laws to meet those deficiencies.Then, as now, it was my intention to develop a new policy forthe Federal Government in its special relation to the American'In-dian. I said then that it should be our policy to encourage Indian self-determination so that more of the solutions to local Indian problemscould be worked out by Indians themselves. I envisioned an ap-proach which would carefully steer a course between excessive Fed-eral control and termination.This new policy involves Indian tribes' taking over serviceswhich in the past have been performed only by the Federal Govern-ment. It also means greater participation of Indian tribes in thedevelopment of Federal Indian policy; for example in the develop-ment of initial program budgets of the Bureau of Indian Affairs,which provides some 50 per cent of all Federal funds that go to Indi-ans under our trust responsibility.One significant weakness in Indian law lies in the nature of thepresent Federal machinery for protection of Indian rights in impor-tant legal proceedings. To eliminate that weakness, I proposed -nearly two years ago - the creation of an Indian Trust CounselAuthority, an independent body which would speak up for the pro-tection of Indian natural resource rights in courts and other judicialforums where those rights are challenged. In my Special Messageof July 8, 1970, I said:The United States Government acts as a legal trusteeNORTH DAKOTA LAW REVIEWfor the land and water rights of American Indians. Theserights are often of critical economic importance to the Indi-an people; frequently they are also the subject of extensivelegal dispute. In many of these legal confrontations, theFederal government is faced with an inherent conflict ofinterest. The Secretary of the Interior and the AttorneyGeneral must at the same time advance both the nationalinterest in the use of land and water rights and the privateinterests of Indians in land which the government holds astrustee.Every trustee has a legal obligation to advance the in-terests of the beneficiaries of the trust without reservationand with the highest degree of diligence and skill. Underpresent conditions, it is often difficult for the Department ofthe Interior and the Department of Justice to fulfill this obli-gation. No self-respecting law firm would ever allow itselfto represent two opposing clients in one dispute; yet the Fed-eral government has frequently found itself in precisely thatposition. There is considerable evidence that the Indiansare the losers when such situations arise. More than that,the credibility of the Federal government is damaged when-ever it appears that such a conflict of interest exists.Unfortunately, the Congress has not yet acted on the IndianTrust Counsel Authority, or on a wide range of other proposals ofconcern to Indians. In lieu of this Congressional action, we havedone the best we can to follow a strategy of Indian self-determina-tion.We have set up a water rights office in the Department of theInterior to ensure attention to Indian water rights cases pending Con-gressional action on the Indian Trust Counsel Authority.We have proposed an increase in total Federal assistance so thatIndian groups will receive larger grants as they take over more ofthe basic social services and property management functions previ-ously performed by the Federal Government on reservations. Wehave proposed that this assistance be supplied by the Bureau of In-dian Affairs in accordance with the priorities set by Indian govern-ing bodies themselves.We have increased the number of Indians who hold Executivepositions in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and who are its Area Di-rectors. In many instances, the Vice Presidential and White HouseOffices have been active in assisting to protect Indian interests-for example, to stimulate housebuilding on Indian reservations andensure the representation of Indian interests in court cases.In some areas White House efforts have helped to produce Con-gressional action beneficial to the Indians-restoration of the BlueLake lands, authorization of the Navajo Community College, appro-priations to promote Indian health, demonstration aid to urban IndianSPECIAL INTRODUCTIONcenters, and the Alaskan Native Claims Settlement. But much moreremains to be done.Congress has yet to approve the cancellation of the 1953 termi-nation resolution, the self-determination legislation which is neededto transfer greater control of reservation life to Indians, amendmentof the Johnson-O'Malley Act so that its special funds for Indianstudents would go directly to Indian tribes and communities, ratherthan to the school districts and thereby enable Indians to help shapethe schools their children attend, the Indian Financing Act of 1970which would make available greater loan resources for economic de-velopment on the reservations, the creation of an Assistant Secretaryfor Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior and the creationof an Indian Trust Counsel Authority.It is my firm belief that Indians must be given more of an op-portunity to control their own lives and their destiny as a people.There still exists a need for Federal assistance, both financial andadvisory, but there also exists a need for greater control of Indianaffairs by Indians.I salute the North Dakota Law Review for its interest in pro-moting greater understanding of Indian law and, through it, of theIndian people today. I also hope that through this forum more Amer-icans will become involved in our efforts to assure Indians the rightswhich have too often been denied to them in the past and the chanceto play a more active role in the life of this Nation in the future.

Special Introduction by President Richard Nixon - North Dakota Law Review - Summer 1972

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Special Introduction by President Richard Nixon - North Dakota Law Review - Summer 1972

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