generally have rejected the choice — an act of will of which 

 they should feel proud. They chose the way of our fathers 

 who left Europe in small ships to face unknown hazards and 

 hardships rather than submit to tyranny or violation of con- 

 science. What is no less important is that we still offer them 

 only the impossible choice — live like white men, or not at all 

 — and that they still refuse. To resolve the problem which 

 is our problem — we say, "keep your culture if you will, but 

 not at our expense" — and impatiently we throw them into 

 the water to sink or to swim, as we say. But the Indians 

 stubbornly neither sink nor swim; they float. They retreat 

 into themselves, unable to explain that they cannot and will 

 not be like us — that would be discourteous and aggressive 

 and not good Indian behavior. They plead silendy for 

 understanding, patience, and help. And the help that we 

 give them is offered as charity, in paternal spirit, forcing 

 them in order to live they lose the independence which is 

 their traditional heritage and the birthright of every com- 

 munity. Outsiders manage their affairs; because they can- 

 not pay for their community schools and hospitals, they are 

 not allowed to manage them. And then we complain that 

 they do not know how. Indian tribes have from time im- 

 memorial managed the most difficult community decisions, 

 and did so with consummate skill. Otherwise they would 

 not have survived. They could do it now, if we let them 

 do it in their own way. What needs to be done to protect 

 Indian communities is to help them to protect their small 

 remaining land base — which is their tribe — and to help them 

 to provide means to earn a living and to maintain health and 

 education; help them to do what needs to be done — help 

 them with money and skills — ^but let them do it for them- 

 selves. We shall prove ourselves wise enough to run their 

 lives only when we find ways to let them run their own. 

 But we have to provide some replacement for the continent 

 which we took from them, until freely they as communities 

 can invent means to adjust to this new environment of the 

 white man as once they adjusted to changes in nature. 



If we can work this miracle of human relations as we 

 have worked miracles of technology, our reward will be 

 great. First, we shall have resolved a problem which weighs 

 heavily on our hearts and consciences. Second, we shall 

 have breathed new life into communities that are paralyzed, 

 and we shall witness a rebirth of Indian culture. When we 

 speak of the cultural heritage of the American Indians 

 that we think to preserve, we are thinking of the arts and 

 crafts and song and dance that have come to Indians from 

 their forefathers. This is good. With encouragement and 

 markets the traditional Indian products can continue to 

 be produced in quantity, and the Indian powwows can 

 be made attractive to tourists. This recognition of the 

 value of Indian culture by the larger society is good, and 

 helps American Indians both economically and psychologi- 

 cally. But it is not enough. This living on the past is living 

 off capital. Art is not art, and music is not music, if it 

 comes ready-made. We appreciate the old masters, but we 

 demand of our artists that they be creative so that our gen- 

 eration, too, will produce those who will some day be old 



masters. Indian culture was changing and creative, devel- 

 oped out of the fabric of community life. When we think 

 of preserving Indian culture we do not think alone of the an 

 and artifacts which are reflections of the Indian cultures of 

 the nineteenth century, but of the potential for creation that 

 exists also in the twentieth century. Only by freeing Indians 

 to live as they wish as Indians can we expect that life will 

 again be breathed into the Indian culture that we preserve. 

 Creative arts — all culture — are reflections of communities. 

 Our great reward, if we help American Indian communi- 

 ties to develop freely in their own full directions — our great 

 reward will be that we shall see a renaissance of Indian cul- 

 ture, changing with the times but remaining Indian. Indian 

 culture is the basic identification with fundamental values 

 and beliefs that have come down from the past in each In- 

 dian nation. These are fundamental values, and just as the 

 values of Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin are living 

 guides to us today, in spite of the fact that we have moved 

 from an agricultural horse-and-buggy style of life to one 

 that is in many ways far richer. So the basic American 

 Indian values so important to be preserved will be best pre- 

 served if the Indian communities are protected by changes 

 in outward things that will protect but not offend their inner 

 values. With Indian community values preserved, the arts 

 will be protected so that they can develop. Just as there are 

 both museums to preserve the best of the old and also studios 

 to create the new, without which our culture would dry up 

 and die, so if we speak of preserving Indian culture we 

 must plan first of all to help Indians to gain autonomous 

 communities which will be their studios for the creation of 

 a living culture in the spirit of the changing past. 



Necklace made of caribou hoof, by Eskimo. Loaned 

 by Indian Arts and Crafts Board. 



Pao(6 .SEPTE.MBER 



