Two promising projects involving pre-vocational training for Indian men and women are being undertaken through the joint efforts of the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department of Labor, and State education and employment assistance agencies in Washington, Arizona, and Texas.
Pre-vocational training often means the difference between success and failure of Indian people in job training and employment, Bureau specialists have learned from previous experience in helping Indian men and women to attain marketable skills.
An experimental project, now under way on the campus of Arizona State University at Flagstaff, has just "graduated" a group of 20 single men, who will now enter training in occupational skills. The pre-training consisted of remedial teaching in mathematics, science, language skills, blueprint reading and other subjects related to industrial work, in addition to orientation in the responsibilities of the employee to his job. The 20 who have completed the course will be followed throughout their skill training period and employment, to compare their achievements and staying power with another 20 who entered occupational training without the preliminary preparation. The experiment is financed under the Manpower Development and Training Act.
In Seattle, Washington, Indian men and women have also been channeled into pre-vocational training programs operated under MDTA, attending classes in public schools. About 50 are currently in training, with another 50 scheduled to enter soon. A similar effort has been proposed for Fort Worth, Texas, to involve an estimated 200 Indians.
ANNUAL LAKE QUINAULT TROUT DERBYWashington State's magnificent Olympic Peninsula is the scenic setting for the Annual Quinault Trout Derby, an event popular with Northwest fishermen and vacationers. This year the Derby will take place on May 29 and 30.
The Quinault Indian Reservation and Lake Quinault are located on U. S. Route 101, about 44 miles north of Hoquiam, Washington.
The two-day Derby features cash prizes for the largest fish caught each day, a 34-mile canoe race, performances by the Taholah War Dancers, carnival rides, a dance, and a salmon bake both days. On the 30th competitions will be held in Indian water sports, with prizes for the winners.
TWO AWARDS GRANTED BY THE INDIAN CLAIMS COMMISSIONThe Indian Claims Commission recently granted two final awards of $965,560 to the Sac and Fox Nation of Indians, and $633,193 to the Iowa Nation. These awards represent compensation for lands in Missouri ceded to the United States under a treaty in 1824.
SEMINOLE AVIATION PLASTICS PRODUCTION OPERATING IN THE BLACKSince January 1965, Wewoka Plastics, an enterprise of the Seminole Tribe of Oklahoma, has been solidly on the black side of the ledger.
The company, which merged last year with Systems Engineering Electronics, Inc. (SEE) of Dallas, Texas, reports that monthly payrolls in the first quarter of 1965 approximated $10,000. A total of 35 employees are on the job, three-fourths of them Seminole Indians. Seminoles also hold top posts in company management in the Dallas office. The Chairman of the Tribal Council is a SEE Director.
A large backlog of orders from such aviation electronics firms as Bendix, Texas Instruments, Lockheed and Boeing indicates continued demand for company products and a possible future need for increased hiring.
The company emblem carries out the Indian image, showing a Seminole war dancer holding a micrometer in one hand, a caliper in the other.
