Correspondence Between Matthew Connelly and Gertrude Ely, with Related Material
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OCR Page 1 of 76-6
April 23, 1951
Dear Miss Ely:
I have called to the attention of Secretary Chapman
your concern that Indians be given the right to choose their
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own legal advisers The Secretary tells me that your appre-
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hensions on this score may be based upon a statement of
policy issued by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs on
November 9, 1950 with reference to contracts between attorneys
and Indian tribes, and on actions taken by the latter in
carrying out this policy.
The Secretary also informs me Federal statutes require
that he approve the selection of counsel by Indian tribes and
all or some of the terms of the attorney's employment. This
authority has been delegated to the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs. The issuance of the statement of policy by the
Commissioner was motiviated by a desire to clarify for interested
parties the policies which he intended to follow in reviewing
contracts between attorneys and Indian tribes. In some respects,
this statement embodied departures from previous practices. It
has unfortunately been assumed in some quarters that the state-
ment was intended to be final. Actually, it was intended to be
provisional, to form only a basis for new regulations in this
field which were being considered. The Secretary's Office is
now reviewing the whole problem, and he asks me to assure you
that no final decision will be made which will impair improperly
the freedom Indian tribes should possess in selecting their own
legal advisers.
As long as the laws requiring the approval of the contracts
between Indian tribes and attorneys remain on the books, the
Secretary is charged with a duty to see to it at least that the
attorneys employed by Indian tribes are of a reputable character,
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and that their fees bear a reasonable relation to the value of
x
their services. I understand that in recent months the Commissioner
of Indian Affairs has disapproved some contracts between attorneys
and Indian tribes, or approved such contracts only conditionally.
However, a number of these contracts have subsequently been
HARRY
STATE
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