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Show COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 17 qewa River, as proposed by the company, were so evident and con-siderable as to outweigh the objections of the tribe and accordingly license was issued to the company on August 8, 1921. A yearly rental of $1,200 in addition to the stocking of the reservoir with muskalonge, pike, and bass, and other beneficial conditions were secured for the Indians. CLAIMS OF THE INDIANS OF CALIFORNIA. A hearing was held last April at which a number of delegates representing Indiam of the State of California asked a modlfica-tion of the previous adverse report oil jurisdictional bills S. 2236 and H. R. 4383 to permit these Indians to have their claims against the Government heard by the Court of Claims. At this hearing it was made clear that the previous adverse report would not be modified, as the department was unwillin to approve any bill that had for its purpose compensating Indians f or the value of lands (about $10,000,000) involved in the 18 treaties which were rejected by the Senate in 1852 by a unanimous vote. It was also stated at this hearing that where Indians are without any tribal property and are indigent the Government should extend to them liberal aid in providing for their care and comfort and in securing to them the advantages of education and civilization, to the end that they may have homes and become self-supporting, useful citizens of the country; that a definite roll of these Indians should he made through the department showing their blood status, condi-tion, and needs, with a view to legislation that would provide neces-sary relief; and that more liberal appropriations'should be made for them than heretofore. EMPLOYMENT OF TRIBAL ATTORNEYS. Under existing law, attorney's contracts were last year approved for the following tribes: Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache, in Okla-homa ; Bannock and Shoshone, in Idaho; Blackfeet and Gros Ventre, in Montana; Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux, in North Dakota; Clal-lam, in Washington; and Santee and Flandreau Band, in Sonth Dakota. Several contracts not in accordance with law, and without proper sanction, were disapproved. CHIPPEWA INDIANS OF MINNESOTA. The affairs of the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota received much attention during the year, and I personally visited the different agencies and met in counoil many of the.memhers of the tribe for the purpose of gathering, as far as practlcable, first-hand mforma-tion upon the general situation. In order to cover thoroughly the various interests involved it was decided to make a careful survey and an lnpuiry into all the differ-ent matters about which the Indians complain, and particularly with reference to the contention that they have never been compensated for the lands appropriated and now incorporated in what is known as the Minnesota Kational Forest, or for the timber i e ~ cs t~nciinp |