The American Indian population is in a period of transition. It is young, growing, and becoming more urban. There were some improvements in income, housing, education, and health in the 1960-70 decade, but Indians remain the most disadvantaged of the minority ethnic groups in the United States. By most of the above measures, Indians, especially rural Indians, are not as well off as the U.S. population as a whole. But the Indian people are moving toward self-determination, or self-government, in programs to enhance their lives. Both excessive paternalism and termination of the trust relationships have become discredited as national policy regarding Indians. As the President's Message of 1970 states, "Federal termination errs in one direction, Federal paternalism errs in the other." It is also widely accepted that the integrity of the Indian culture should be preserved, not only as a contribution to cultural pluralism which enriches society as a whole, but also as a reflection of the desires of the Indian people themselves. The Indian culture is in a transition period, but the roots of Indian customs and values are deep and will not yield quickly or easily to alien customs and values. The process of moving toward self-determination is underway, and some measure of change is in the Indian picture today. (Author/NQ)