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Show Years of Trouble, Years of Hope, 1934-1960 In the 1930s there was a change in United States Indian policy. The Meriam Report of 1928 had described the terrible conditions on Indian reservations, and many reform measures were enacted. The Indian Reorganization Act was passed by Congress in 1934. This law prohibited further individual allotment of land and provided for the restoration of tribal land. It also affirmed the rights of Indian people to local self-government. Tribes were given the authority to regulate law and order, tribal membership, taxation, and other matters relating to reservation life. In many ways it made Indian reservations into small states within the states. The Indian Reorganization Act provided for a tribal council system of government. It provided for the organization of the tribes as business corporations to manage the development of tribal resources. However, the federal government maintained ultimate control.1 Uintah and Ouray Reorganization There had always been a council which met with the agent or superintendent at Uintah and Ouray Reservation. However, it was a council with little power. It was usually a meeting where the concerns of the People were heard. The superintendents took action to correct things only if they felt the complaints were justified. However, in 1937 a Uintah and Ouray Ute Tribal Business Committee was formalized under the Indian Reorganization Act. Its members were to handle the political and economic affairs of the People. This committee was actually a continuation of the committee organized in 1927 to handle the legal business of the tribe. The power of the Business Committee was severly limited. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Congress, and the Secretary of Interior continued to have the final say on financial matters and legal punishments. Too often the Committee merely did what the |