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Statement by the President Upon Signing Bill Creating the Indian Claims Commission.

August 13, 1946

I AM GLAD to sign my name to a measure (H.R. 4497) which removes a lingering discrimination against our First Americans and gives them the same opportunities that our laws extend to all other American citizens to vindicate their property rights and contracts in the courts against violations by the Federal Government itself.

This bill makes perfectly clear what many men and women, here and abroad, have failed to recognize, that in our transactions with the Indian tribes we have at least since the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 set for ourselves the standard of fair and honorable dealings, pledging respect for all Indian property rights. Instead of confiscating Indian lands, we have purchased from the tribes that once owned this continent more than 90 percent of our public domain, paying them approximately 800 million dollars in the process. It would be a miracle if in the course of these dealings--the largest real estate transaction in history--we had not made some mistakes and occasionally failed to live up to the precise terms of our treaties and agreements with some 200 tribes. But we stand ready to submit all such controversies to the judgment of impartial tribunals. We stand ready to correct any mistakes we have made.

I hope that this bill will mark the beginning of a new era for our Indian citizens. They have valiantly served on every battle front. They have proved by their loyalty the wisdom of a national policy built upon fair dealing. With the final settlement of all outstanding claims which this measure ensures, Indians can take their place without special handicap or special advantage in the economic life of our nation and share fully in its progress.

Note: As enacted, H.R. 4497 is Public Law 726, 79th Congress (60 Stat. 1049).

Harry S Truman, Statement by the President Upon Signing Bill Creating the Indian Claims Commission. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/232026

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