Excerpt from Final Report, Vol. 1 of 2: Submitted to Congress May 17, 1977 A history, once thought ancient and dead, has risen to challenge this generation of Americans. As never before, since the days of the last century when they were forced to fight militarily for their lands, their freedoms, and their existence, the Indian peoples of our country are today stirring both the consciousness and conscience of the Govern ment and all elements of the Nation. It is the fortune of this generation to be the first in our long history to listen attentively to the Indians, and thereby to begin to understand what they are saying, to recognize realistically their own points of View, as a unique part of our population, and to heed their voices for the righting of wrongs, the ending of frustrations and despair, and the attainment of their needs and aspirations as Indians and as free and proud Americans. It is generally believed, mistakenly, that the Federal Government owes the American Indian the obligation of its trusteeship because of the Indians' poverty, or because of the Government's wrongdoing in the past. Certainly American Indians are stricken with poverty, and without question the Government has abused the trust given it by the Indian people. But what is not generally known, nor understood, is that within the federal system the Government's relationship with the Indian people and their sovereign rights are of the highest legal stand ing, established through solemn treaties, and by layers of judicial and legislative actions. Perhaps someday in the future, the Indian people may return to the bargaining table to renegotiate and reshape those solemn agree ments. But it must be done as equals, and not as one party coming, on its knees, pleading as inferiors. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.