First, let me pass on the sincere regrets of Secretary Fred A. Seaton and Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons that they were unable to be with you here today. While previous commitments have unfortunately made their attendance impossible, both have asked me to express personal greetings and very best wishes for a most successful and memorable dedication.
Speaking for myself let me say at once that it is both a pleasure and a privilege to be here as your speaker, This is the first chance I have had as under Secretary of the Interior to take part in a ceremony of this kind involving four Indian friends, and I have been looking forward to it eagerly ever since I received the invitation.
One thing that has impressed me particularly about this occasion is the fact that Eagle Butte is this month celebrating its golden jubilee or 50th anniversary. This city is, by my reckoning, a remarkably young community. And yet in another Sense to all of us, regardless of age, the year of Eagle Butte’s founding, 1910, must seem a tremendously long time ago when we measure those years in terms of human progress.
We have to remind ourselves, almost forcibly, that in 1910 there were no rockets or missiles, no atomic energy, no television or even radio. In fact, airplanes were still a curiosity rather than an established mode of travel; automobiles were largely a rich man's plaything; and paved highways were virtually unknown. In almost every way it was a much different kind of world from the one we find ourselves in today--slower-moving, far less complex, perhaps a little closer to the soil.
And so, on an occasion like this, while it is appropriate for us to dip back briefly into the nostalgic past, it seems to me even more pertinent that we should focus our attention chiefly on the evidences of recent progress and on the prospects for the unfolding future.
This progress is reflected in the budget figures for the past 10 years for South Dakota. In 1950, the Indian Bureau was spending $3,157,189 in the State for education and welfare services, and that included almost one million dollars for health programs. In 1960, the Department of the Interior is spending almost five and one-half million dollars in this State for education and welfare. When we consider that the Department of Health, Education, and welfare has allocated an additional sum of more than three and one-half million for South Dakota Indian Health projects, the present-day expenditures are about nine million, or three times the amount of 10 years back.
Ten years ago, the Indian Bureau programmed $722, 699 for resources management. Now we are using $1,944,171 for this work. In 1950, the Bureau had $168,265 for construction in South Dakota. Now it is using $1,480,000. Those figures do not include road construction. The 1950 outlay for road building was $36,997. This year’s road work in South Dakota is going forward with an appropriation of $961,000.
In brief, the Government 10 years ago was spending $4,383,040 in this State for these various programs to benefit our Indian citizens. Today, we are conducting greatly expanded programs, and using $13,581,325, including the expenditures for health.
The $1.3 million figure does not include the rehabilitation and compensation money appropriated for South Dakota because of Congressman Berry’s bills 'which were enacted into law.
Mr. Berry’s legislation assisted by your able Senators, resulted in total rehabilitation and compensation appropriations for, South Dakota reservations of $21 million. These funds are for the sole benefit of the Indian people in your area.
For this reservation alone the money for rehabilitation and compensation for and required for Federal projects amounts to $10.5 million.
In a very real sense, the buildings that we are dedicating here today are a tangible symbol of the progress I have in mind. Taken together, they constitute one of the most modern and finest installations serving an Indian reservation anywhere throughout the Nation.
They represent progress, improvement; and the active policy of our National Government to help the Indian people in building toward a more ample and more rewarding way of life than they have known in the past. And we are certainly all indebted to the Army Engineers for an outstanding job in the planning and supervision of this most excellent project.
But over and beyond the new school facilities, the new hospital, and the other physical structures, we have something which is less tangible but even more basically important. It is the underlying community spirit--the growing sense of tribal and local purpose--which seems to pervade the whole atmosphere of this general area.
Before leaving Washington I did a little checking on the developments that I have been taking place around here during the past several years and I found that they add up to an unusual story of cooperative accomplishment and growth. Let us consider just some of the major highlights.
In the first place; there was the action of Congress in providing the legislative authorization and the necessary funds not only to compensate for properties taken in connection with the Oahe Project but to make possible the relocation of facilities and the launching of a broad rehabilitation program for the benefit of the Cheyenne River Sioux people. As all of you doubtless know, it was not easy to win congressional approval for far--reaching legislation of this kind, It took persistence and skill and dedication of the highest order. But the Cheyenne River Sioux people and the non-Indian people of this area are fortunate enough to be represented in Congress by men who command the wide respect of their colleagues and are thoroughly familiar with the mechanics of legislation, I refer, of course, to your two able Senators Karl E, Mundt and Francis Case, and to your capable member in the House of Representatives, Mr. E, Y, Berry. All of them played a major part in providing the legislative ground work for the tribal rehabilitation program now on the way to impressive reality. All of them are eminently entitled to a special tribute on an occasion such as this and I am particularly happy to extend a word of gratitude to them on behalf of everybody who has benefited from their efforts.
There are, of course, many other persons who deserve credit for their untiring devotion to the needs and interests of the Cheyenne River Sioux and of this general area. While I do not have time to list them all, I would like to mention specifically the late Ralph Case, who served for so many years as the tribal attorney. It is, I believe uncommonly fitting and appropriate that the new hospital which we are dedicating on this occasion should be mimed in his honor.
Once Congress had provided the authorization and funds for the Cheyenne River Sioux rehabilitation program in the next step was up to the Indian people, And I am happy to say that the tribal leaders met this challenge with a rare blend of statesmanship and vision and intelligence. In this effort they concentrated chiefly on long-.range projects and on a thoughtfully planned program designed to be broadly beneficial to the full tribal membership for a great many years to come.
The advances that have been achieved by the tribe since 1956 in the field of education provide an excellent illustration of the constructive programming that has been accomplished, For one thing we have the outstanding consolidated school system which has now been established here at Eagle Butte. Credit for this, of course is due not only to the tribal leaders but also to the local community and particularly those who have the responsibility for the public school operations.
I am told that during this past academic year the Indian children and the non-Indian youngsters went through their educational paces together without the slightest incident of trouble or unpleasantness. Equally important, I am told that the number of Indian children who reach the stage of high school graduation has been increasing steadily and rather rapidly every year since 1956.
And this, of course, gives special significance to the program of scholarships 'for higher education which the tribe has established. As far back as February of 1959, according to the report I received in Washington, nearly 200 grants had been approved for Cheyenne River youngsters to attend colleges or vocational schools beyond the high school level. Although the program was only two years old at that time, 38 students had already graduated and their average earnings were running approximately $3,350 a year. Today I feel sure that the statistics are even more impressive.
Education has been one of our most overriding concerns in the administration of Indian affairs here in South Dakota. For example, in 1950 there were 7,094 school-age Indian children attending school. In 1959, that figure had increased more than 20 percent, to 8,545, The largest increase was in the public schools, where enrollment went from 1,906 pupils in 1950 to 3,078 in 1959--·a rise of more than 60 percent. The increase in public enrollment was in line with the policy of developing public school opportunities for all Indian children whenever possible.
During this period, some Bureau schools were transferred to public school operation. Several of the smaller schools in the State were consolidated. The 45 federally operated schools in 1950 had shrunk to 32 by 1959, a graphic illustration of how this Administration managed to help more children get an education and at the same time cut down on federally run institutions.
In the past few years we have been encouraged by the response to the adult education program launched in 1956. Adult education units were established on this reservation, as well as at Rosebud, Standing Rock, Sisseton, and Pine Ridge. The programs were designed to meet the needs and interests of adults, and included projects on taxation, citizenship, home improvement, and other aspects of modern life. In 1959, approximately 180 adults were engaged in formal classroom studies, and there was an over-all State-wide total of 260 participating in community or group discussions on self-help community improvement.
Without soil and range conservation there would be little hope of improving the standard of living of those who live on Indian lands in South Dakota.
Back in 1950 the Indian Bureau conducted no soil and range inventory work in South Dakota. But in this year of 1960 a report has been completed on the combined soil and range surveys on the Cheyenne River Reservation, totaling a little over one million acres" Soil and range inventory work furnished basic technical information to assure the highest quality conservation programs, and maximum production of range and farm products. The Bureau has been inventorying the soil and range for the past four years.
Ten years ago the Government did have soil and moisture conservation programs. Now they apply to all Reservations in South Dakota, which was not true in 1950. Back then the Government was spending $62,579 for conservation work in South Dakota, whereas in 1960 we are devoting $441,020 to this work. Lands leased to non-Indians have soil and moisture conservation stipulations in the lease contract, requiring the lessee to pursue the recommended program. The acceleration of these programs over the past 10 years has been impressive. Let us look at a few. Land-use plans and soil surveys have been made for nearly twenty times as many acres in 1960 as in 1950. There are 195 ponds today in contrast to the 33 in 1950. These are but examples and a similar picture prevails in the use of fertilizers, tree planting, contouring and all the other techniques of soil conservation.
At this point I suggest that we pursue for a moment and contrast this picture of educational achievement and advancement with the situation that prevailed among the Cheyenne River Sioux when the city of Eagle Butte was first established back in 1910. Certainly all of us have come a long way in the past 50 years. But I personally doubt whether any segment of our population has moved ahead more rapidly or dramatically than this particular tribal group.
Apart from the basically important field of education, the tribe has also moved forward on many other fronts. There has been first-rate progress in the development and utilization of rangelands and other resources for the maximum benefit of the Indian owners. New business enterprises have been established by the tribe at Riverview, Timber Lake and Eagle Butte. And one of the finest developments of all, in my estimation, has been the new housing provided with tribal funds for older members of the tribe. Here we see social justice in action.
But what encourages me most deeply is the thought that these developments which have already taken place are only the beginning. Your superintendent, Mr. Howard Dushane, tells me that the trice "is bursting at the seams with plans." And this is certainly most welcome news to all of us in the Department of the Interior who have any responsibility for the administration of Indian Affairs.
Under the leadership of Secretary Fred A. Seaton, we have followed a consistent policy of encouraging Indian tribal groups to take on increasing responsibility for mapping out their own future plans of development and for carrying through the execution of the programs. This Cheyenne River tribe is one that has not only risen to the challenge but actually gone far beyond our most optimistic expectations. I congratulate all the members of the Tribe for the leadership they have enjoyed over the past several years, and I commend the non-Indian people of this general area for the cooperation and support they have extended to the tribal group.
