OPA

Secretary of Agriculture Clifford M. Hardin and Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton announced plans today to operate 56,Youth Conservation Corps camps this summer for eight weeks, starting late in June.

Camp sites have been selected in 36 States, the District of Columbia and American Samoa on lands administered by agencies in the two Departments.

Under provisions of a law signed by the President last August, about 2,200 young men and women, ages 15 through 18, will be employed. Comparing the YCC with other federal youth programs, the Secretaries said that the Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers and the Neighborhood Youth Corps are also conservation oriented, but are primarily aimed at serving disadvantaged youth. The Youth Conservation Corps program is unusual, the Secretaries said, because it serves young men and women--within specified age limits--of all social and economic backgrounds.

The Secretaries said that the pilot nature of the program generally limits the selection of participants for each YCC camp to those who live within the boundaries of a school district--or the area served by a community youth organization --selected to recruit and process applicants for that camp. This is in accord with provisions of the legislation that Corps members shall be employed on conservation projects as near their places of residence as feasible. The Secretaries emphasized that no applications can be accepted from prospective YCC candidates until agreements have been reached with participating school systems or other youth-serving organizations. More information on this aspect of the program will be available about April 1.

Half the YCC participants will be employed in National Forests operated by the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. The other half will be under the direction of the Department of the Interior on lands of the National Park Service, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Territories and Bureau of Land Management.

The Secretaries of the two Departments stressed that the YCC won't be a "make-work" program. It is being designed, they said, to assure: (1) Buildup of environmental training for young people; (2) gainful summer employment for the Nation's youth; and (3) performance of needed conservation work to improve quality of public lands and water.

Secretaries Hardin and Morton explained that selections of sites for camps were directed by a very tight budget. They were made on the basis of (1) availability of existing facilities that could be readied with a minimum of time, work and money and (2) potential of the area for developing worthwhile conservation work-educational projects at or near the campsites.

The new law authorizes up to $3.5 million annually for a three-year period, of which $2.5 million has actually been appropriated. This money must cover the cost of operation of the eight-week session this year, as well as salaries for the young participants. Each member of YCC will be paid a fixed sum for the tour of duty. After deductions, take-home pay for each of the participants will amount to about $300 for the season.

In addition to the traditional separate camps for young men and women, there will also be co-educational camps. Most residential camps will have capacities for 50 Corps members each, although some may be as small as 11. Facilities will range from tents and rough bunkhouses to large barracks-type buildings. In some instances, small groups may occupy remote ranger stations.

Nonresidential camps will permit local youths to work and learn in the day and be transported home at night.

Aside from geographic criteria, eligibility requirements include such things as having reached 15 but not yet 19 years of age, being interested in conservation of the Nation's natural environment, having no history of criminal or anti-social behavior and having work permits in States where they are required. In general, the young people must be in good physical condition, although opportunities for the handicapped may be provided in some camps, if possible.

Attached is the list of camp sites.

National Park Service

Mount Ranier National Park headquartered at Longmire, Wash. Residential and co-educational. 32 male and 18 female participants. Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area at Digman's Ferry, Pa. Residential. 50 males. Catoctin Mountain Park at Thurmont, Md. Residential. 50 females Great Smokey Mountains National Park at Townsend, Tenn. Residential. 50 males Rocky Mountain National Park at Estes Park, Colo. Residential: 25 males. Everglades National Park at Homestead, Fla. Residential. 50 males Grand Canyon National Park at Grand Canyon, Ariz. Residential. 25 males Harpers Ferry National Historic Park at Harpers Ferry, W. Va. Non-residential and co-educational. 20 participants. National Capital Parks at Washington, D. C. Non-residential and co-educational 25 males and 25 females.

Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife

Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge headquartered at Carterville, Ill. Residential and co-educational. 25 participants Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge at Decatur, Ala. Residential and coeducational. 25 participants. Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge at Calais, Maine. Residential and co-educational. 75 participants. Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge at Round Oak, Ga. Residential and co-educational. 25 participants. Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge at Brooksville, Miss. Residential and co-educational. 25 participants. Lamar National Fish Hatchery at Lamar, Pa. Residential and co-educational. 25 participants. Desert National Wildlife Range at Las Vegas, Nev. Non-residential and co-educational. 20 participants.

Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife

Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge at Seneca Falls, N.Y. Non-residential and co-educational. 20 participants. Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge at San Benito, Tex. Non-residential and co-educational. 25 participants.

Office of Territories

American Samoa. Non-residential and co-educational. 40 participants.

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Cherokee Indian Reservation at Cherokee, N.C. Residential and co-educational. 50 participants. Jones Academy of Bureau of Indian Affairs at Hartshorne, Okla. Residential and co-educational. 50 participants. Standing Rock at Wakpala, S.D. participants.

Bureau of Land Management

Lubrecht Forest at Greenough, Mont. Residential and co-educational. 50 participants. Reno, Nev. Offices of BLM. Participants. Non-residential and co-educational. 25 participants.

Bureau of Reclamation (Youth Conservation Corps Contractors)

Children and Youth Services Inc. at Salt Lake City, Utah. Residential and co-educational. 50 participants. Weber State College Division of Continuing Education in Ogden, Utah. Residential. 50 males. Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, Wash. Residential and co-educational. 50 participants. Opportunities for Youth Corp. at Whittier, Calif. Residential and co-educational. 50 participants.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Flathead National Forest headquartered at Kalispell, Mont. Residential. 30 male participants.

Lolo National Forest headquartered at Missoula, Mont. Residential. 20 female participants.

Lolo National Forest headquartered at Missoula, Mont. Residential. 25 males.

Black Hills National Forest, headquartered at Custer, S.D. Residential 30 females.

Cibola National Forest headquartered at Albuquerque, N.M. Residential 50 males

Santa Fe National Forest headquartered at Santa Fe, N.M. Residential. 30 females.

Wasatch National Forest headquartered at Salt lake City, Utah. Residential and co-educational. 25 males and 25 females.

Boise National Forest headquartered at Boise, Idaho. Residential. 40 males.

Sierra National Forest headquartered at Fresno, Calif. Residential. 50 males.

Cleveland National Forest headquartered in San Diego, Calif. Residential 30 females.

Shasta-Trinity National Forest headquartered at Redding, Calif. Residential 15 male and 15 female.

Angeles National Forest headquartered at Pasadena, Calif. Residential. 30 females.

Snoqualmie National Forest headquartered at Seattle, Wash. Residential and co-educational. 25 males and 25 females.

Gifford Pinchot National Forest headquartered at Vancouver, Wash. Residential. 30 males.

Ochoco National Forest headquartered at Prineville, are. Residential. 40 males.

Ochoco National Forest headquartered at Prineville, Ore. Residential 30 females.

Texas National Forest headquartered at Lufkin, Tex. Residential 32 males.

Ocala National Forest headquartered at Tallahassee, Fla. Residential 50 females.

Ouachita National Forest headquartered at Hot Springs National Park, Ark. Residential. 25 males.

Monongahela National Forest headquartered at Elkins, W. Va. Residential and co-educational. 25 males and 25 females.

Wayne-Hoosier National Forest headquartered at Bedford, Ind. Residential. 40 males.

Wayne-Hoosier National Forest headquartered at Bedford, Ind. Residential 11 females.

Ottawa National Forest headquartered at Ironwood, Mich. Residential 30 males.

Chequamegon National Forest headquartered at Park Falls, Wise. Residential and co-educational. 25 males and 25 females.

Chippewa National Forest headquartered at Cass Lake, Minn. Residential and co-educational. 25 males and 25 females.

Nicolet National Forest headquartered at Rhinelander, Wise. Residential. 35males.

Mark Twain National Forest headquartered at Springfield, Mo. Residential. 35 females.

Hiawatha National Forest headquartered at Escanaba, Mich. Residential. 36 males.

Pike National Forest headquartered at Colorado Springs, Colo. Non Residential and co-educational. 25 participants.

Coconino National Forest headquartered at Flagstaff, Ariz. Non-Residential and co-educational. 25 participants.

Daniel Boone National Forest headquartered at Winchester, Ky. Non-Residential and co-educational. 25 participants.

Kisatchie National Forest headquartered at Pineville, La. Non-Residential and co-educational. 25 participants.

White Mountain National Forest headquartered at Laconia, N.H. Non-Residential and Co-Educational. 25 participants.

DEAR CONGRESSMAN:

The President has recent­ly received a number of letters concerning the pro­posed Trans-Alaska pipe­line. He has asked me to share with you our view of some of the issues raised.

Now that the Supreme Court has declined to review the Court of Appeals decision in the Alaska Pipeline case, Congress must enact new right-of-way legisla­tion before I can authorize construction of any major pipeline across the public lands. Prompt adoption of such legislation is required by our overall national in­terest. It is also in our na­tional interest that the Alaska pipeline be built as soon as possible and that the Congress not force a delay of this project while further consideration is given to a pipeline through Canada.

The United States is faced with a serious imbalance between domestic energy sup-ply and demand. Almost every region of our country and every sector of our economy is affected. Last year we imported 1.7 billion barrels of foreign oil at a cost in first-round balance of payments outflows of ap­proximately $6 billion. The President will, in the near future, address a special message to the Congress on the entire question of nation­al energy policy.

Despite all the efforts we can and must make to in­crease our domestic resource base, by 1980 we will prob­ably have to import about 4 billion barrels of oil with first-round balance of pay­ments outflows of about $16.0 billion, in the absence of oil from the North Slope of Alaska. The Alaska pipe­line will not avoid the necessity to purchase foreign oil, but it will reduce the amount we have to buy.

In the past few months, we have witnessed difficulties occasioned by too, large unfavorable balance of payments and too large an accumulation of dollars abroad. Because we must purchase abroad every bar­rel of oil that we do not get from the North Slope, for the next 10-20 years at least, I am fully convinced that it is in our national interest to get as much Alaska oil as possible delivered to the U.S. market as soon as possible. I am equally con­vinced that prompt construc­tion of a Trans-Alaskan pipeline is the best available way to accomplish both of these objectives.

Several of the letters we have received advocate that we abandon the Trans Alaska route in favor of a pipeline through Canada or at least delay the Alaska pipeline until we can con­duct further environmental studies of a Canadian route and initiate intensive nego­tiations with the Canadian government. In support of this position, it is argued that a Trans-Canadian pipe­line would be both environ­mentally and economically superior to a Trans-Alaska route, and that in view of the recent decision in the pipeline case, it is now quite likely that a pipeline could be built more quickly through Canada than through Alaska.

Let me explain why I dis­agree with these points.

First, a Canadian route would not be superior from an environmental point of view. No Canadian route has been specified. But the environmental impact statement prepared in connection with the Alaska route con­sidered various possible Canadian routes, and from the information available it is possible to make a judgment about the relative en­vironmental merits of the various Canadian routes and the proposed Alaska route. The Alaska and Canada routes are equal in terms of their effect on land based wildlife and on surface and ground water. However, it is clear that any pipeline through Canada would involve more unavoidable en­vironmental damage than the Alaska route. Because the Canadian route is about 4 times as long, it would affect more wilderness, dis­rupt more wildlife habitat, cross almost twice as much permafrost, and necessitate use of three or four times as much gravel that has to be dug from the earth; and it would obviously use about four times as much land.

The potential environmen­tal damage of these alter­natives is more difficult to assess. The two routes are approximately equivalent with respect to risks from slope failure and perma­frost. A Canadian route would not cross as much seismically active terrain or require a marine leg. It would, however, involve many more crossings of large rivers, which, experi­ence proves, are a major source of pipeline damage and, thus, environmental damage. River crossings pre­sent difficult construction problems; and the main hazard during operation comes from floods which scour out the river bed and bank, and if large enough, may expose the pipe to buffeting from boulders and swift currents and, thence, rupture. It is generally the rule that the wider the river, the greater the risks.

The environmental risks involved in the Alaska route are insurmountable. They be guarded against. The environmental and technical stipulations that I attach to the Alaska pipeline permit will assure that this pipeline is de­signed to withstand the larg­est earthquake that has ever been experienced in Alaska; it will be designed and con­structed more carefully than many buildings in known earthquake zones, such as Los Angeles and San Fran­cisco. Moreover, we are in­sisting that operation of the maritime leg be safer than any other maritime oil transport system now in operation. If our West Coast markets don't receive their oil from Alaska in U.S. tankers that comply with the requirements we are impos­ing, their oil will probably be imported in foreign flag tankers that are built and operated to much lower standards.

It is important to recog­nize that while we can go far to study and control the environmental risks that are involved in an Amer­ican-owned transportation system on American soil, we have no jurisdiction to take comparable actions on Cana­dian soil. I cannot, as re­quested in some of the let­ters, "immediately begin comprehensive environmen­tal studies of a Canadian pipeline route" because such an action would encroach on foreign sovereignty. I can­not order the more than 3,000 core samples in Can­ada of the type that were made of the Alaska route. I cannot even order a simple survey.

Our environmental impact study was based on the best information available about Canada. I believe it would be contrary to our national interests to delay this matter further by seeking additional detailed information about a route that has not been requested or designated by any of the companies or governments involved.

Second, it is clear that from the viewpoint of our national interest, as distin­guished from the interest of any single region, the Trans Alaskan route is economi­cally preferable. The United States Government has had a number of discussions with responsible Canadian officials about a possible pipeline through Canada. Some of these discussions w e r e through the State Depart­ment, and one year ago I per­sonally met with Mr. Donald MacDonald, the Canadian Minister of Mines, Energy and Resources. Responsible Canadian officials, at these ­­ meetings and in subsequent policy statements, have made it clear that there are cer­tain conditions that the gov­ernment of Canada would impose on any pipeline through Canada. These are:

(1) a majority of the equity interest in the line would have to be Canadian (in this connection, ownership by a Canadian subsidiary of an American company would not qualify as Canadian own­ership); (2) the manage­ment would have to be Canadian; (3) a major portion ( at least 50 % ) of the capac­ity of the line would have to be reserved for the transpor­tation of Canadian-owned oil, with the primary objec­tive being to carry Canadian oil to Canadian-not United States-markets; and (4) at all times preference would be given to Canadian-owned and controlled groups during the construction of the proj­ect and in supplying mate­rials. Since our meetings with the Canadians, these four re­quirements have been reiter­ated by them many times in public statements, and we have never had any indica­tion that their insistence on them has lessened. In fact, recent pronouncements from Canada suggest these four elements are more important than ever to the Canadian Government. The .question, then, is not simply whether Canada is willing to have a pipeline built through its ter­ritory (although no Cana­dian official has ever said it is willing), but also whether the four requirements Can­ada would impose are ac­ceptable in light of the United States national in­terest.

These four requirements are probably reasonable from the point of view of Canada's national interests. They are unacceptable from the point of view of our national in­terests when we have the al­ternative of a pipeline through Alaska that will be built by American labor and will deliver its full capacity of American-owned oil to our markets. The Alaska route would be economically supe­rior from our point of view even if we could be assured of getting for our market all the Canadian oil a Trans- Canada pipeline would carry, because of the balance of payments costs we would incur by importing addi­tional foreign-owned oil. There is a prospect of even worse consequences from a Canadian pipeline. Recent estimates by the Canadian Energy Board show that Canada's demand for oil from her western provinces will soon equal or exceed production; and, unless ma­jor new sources are discov­ered, the eventual result will be the cessation of Canadian exports of oil to the United States. The seriousness of this developing situation was demonstrated just last month, when Canada imposed controls on the export of crude oil.

Third, even though the re­cent Court of Appeals de­cision has caused delay and the Supreme Court has re­fused to review the case, it is clear that a Trans-Alaska pipeline can be built much more quickly than a Trans Canadian line. The companies who own the North Slope oil have not indicated a de­sire to build through Canada. Before an- application for a Canadian route could be ap­proved, a number of time-consuming steps would be necessary that have already been accomplished for the Alaskan route : detailed en­vironmental and engineer­ing investigations, including thousands of core holes, would be required prior to design ; a complex, specific project description would have to be developed; fol­lowing that, another U.S. en­vironmental impact state­ment would have to be pre­pared for the portion (at least 200 miles) of the line in Alaska and its extensions in the "lower 48" states; per­mits from the provincial and National Energy Boards of Canada would have to be re­quested, reviewed, and ap­proved; and Canadian na­tive claims would probably have to be resolved, a process that took years in the United States. Moreover, specific arrangements be­tween the U.S. and Canadian governments would be neces­sary to protect U. S. national interests and provide an op­erating regime for this international pipeline. Finally, the task of arranging the financing of a Trans-Canada line would be extremely diffi­cult. The capital required to meet the condition of ma­jority Canadian equity own­ership would strain Canadian financial sources and final­ization of new financial ar­rangements could take years to complete. Whether all these steps are even pos­sible, however, must be viewed in the context of the political and environmental controversy in Canada about the wisdom and feasibility of a Canada pipeline and the recently repeated position of the Canadian Government that it has "no commitment to a northern pipeline at this stage."

In contrast, the only two remaining steps required to commence construction of the Trans-Alaskan route are for the Congress to grant me authority to issue permits necessary for a pipeline of this size and for the Courts to determine that the en­vironmental impact state­ment complied with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. Both steps are also required for a pipeline in Canada, because the recent Court of Appeals decision applies to the U.S. portion of any line through Canada.

I sincerely hope that a great deal of oil is discov­ered in Northern Canada and that these finds together with increased reserves of Alaskan oil soon justify a second pipe­line, or other delivery sys­tems, to bring oil, natural gas or both through Canada to our Midwest. It is in our interest to increase our se­cure sources of foreign oil as well as to increase our domestic resource base. How­ever, for all the reasons listed above, I do not believe it is in our interest to delay the Trans-Alaska pipeline any longer than required by the Court of Appeals decision and I do not believe it is now in our interest to re­quest negotiations with the Canadian government for a pipeline route through their country.

By stressing so strongly my belief that a Trans Alaska pipeline is in our national interest, I do mean to imply that we are insensitive to the energy re­quirements of the Midwest. The Administration has ta­ken, and will continue to take, such steps as are nec­essary to assure that these requirements are met; just last week, for example, oil import restrictions were lifted to bring additional oil to the. Midwest.

Moreover, some of the ad­vantages, to the Midwest that are claimed for a Trans­Canada pipeline will not, in fact, occur. For example, an oil pipeline through Canada will not affect fuel prices in that area, because price is set by the much greater vol­ume of oil coming north from the Gulf of Mexico and North Slope oil would pro­vide only a portion of the total Midwest demand. Nor is it true, as some claim, that the West Coast does not need nor cannot use all of the oil delivered by a Trans-Alaska pipeline. In 1972, demand in that area was 2.3 million barrels per day (MMbpd of which 1.5 million barrel was obtained from domestic resources and 0.8 million bar­rels was imported (0.3 MMbpd from Canada, 0.1 MMbpd from other Western Hemisphere sources and 0.4 MMbpd from relatively in­secure Eastern Hemisphere sources). The best available projections show that by 1980, and for subsequent years, the West Coast de­mand will exceed domestic production and Canadian ex­ports available in that area by at least the capacity of the Trans-Alaska pipeline.

As much as I would like to assure the Midwest even a marginal increase in the security of its total energy supply, it is more important now to assure that the total economic and energy secu­rity interests of all the people of the U.S. are served by getting as much Ameri­can-owned oil as possible to the U.S. market as soon as possible:

I hope the views expressed, in this letter will be helpful to you in your consideration of this issue.

Yours Sincerely,

Rogers C. B. Morton Secretary of the Interior

It is a pleasure for me to be with the Tribal Chairmen’s Association today. We have a common interest in improving the quality of life for Indian people. The problems that face us are complex and difficult and they will require all the effort we can put against them.

I certainly do not tend to stand here and tell you that l am an expert Indian Affairs. As you well know there’s no one who can make that claim. But I have plans and programs that will help build the future for Indian citizens, and I will need your help every step of the way.

In a nutshell, here is the Federal Governments policy today: it offers self-determination and self-government o Indian people as rapidly as Indians want it and can assume responsibility for it. In other words tribes have the option of assuming control of their own Federal programs they wish to do so. Furthermore, they will not be cut off from federal support; they need only demons rate strong and responsible tribal government and the ability to handle programs on their own.

Each of you is a duly elected representative of your tribe. You have achieved this distinction in an election held by your peers according to a constitution. You are the leaders of tribes recognized by the Federal Government and entitled by law to special services from the government. It is therefore appropriate that my first formal meeting as the new Commissioner should be with you, the elected chairman of national tribes.

I hope that you will invite me again and again to discuss our programs and their delivery to our people. It is absolutely essential that we talk with one another --the government, tribal chairmen, and Indian citizens in general --if the Bureau is to be responsive to Indian needs.

You know that Federal programs have been transferred to your hands in many instances so that Indians themselves can shape their direction and manage their operation. This option will continue to be made available. In no cases will the Federal Government abandon its trust relationship with Indian tribes and groups.

Still spending in the congress, in varying stages of progress but not yet into law are 7 pieces of Indian legislation. One of my jobs will be to push hard are 7 pieces of Indian legislation. One of my job will be to push hard for the passage of these bills. If they were all we passed next week, we would be further ahead in self-determination than we have been in 150 years. As a matter of fact, we propose to enlist the help of congressional leaders in getting this legislation through the mill as a Bicentennial present to our nation’s first Americans.

One of these pieces of legislation is called the Bloc Grant Program. It would channel an additional $25 million in bloc grants to tribes for economic development. I think you will agree with me that the single most important step in Indian self-help is economic stability on reservations. Any and all programs that strengthen tribal government, develop tribal resources, improve community facilities and create jobs for Indians will get the full support of the Bureau. Second in our priority list to economic development is education. I don't need to tell you how important it is for Indian young people to be properly equipped to compete in today's world.

We are speeding up our education assistance programs and will continue to do so. Much progress has been made in Indian education, particularly in the last ten years. In 1960 only one-fifth of all Indians aged 25 and older had a high school education. Today the figure is better than one third. Since 1950 the number of American Indians attending college has doubled.

Scholarships for Indians going to college have skyrocketed. In 1973 alone, some 14,000 Indian students are receiving scholarship aid. This is 20 times the score of ten years ago, and 5 times the number receiving assistance only 4 years ago. More than 100 of these students are in-law school, and another 100 are in other post-graduate programs.

In my opinion, that's good -- but not good enough. We need better education techniques, better qualified teachers, and more dedication on the part of everyone involved in Indian education. Our goal is quality in elementary schools, in high schools and in college education for Indians.

In land management and land-awards -- dear to the hearts of many Indians this administration has a solid record of achievement. In recent years, Native Americans have received increasingly large restorations of land. The Taos Pueblo received 48,000 acres that had been part of the Carson National Forest in New Mexico. In May 1972, in the state of Washington. 21,000 acres were restored to the Yakima Nation. Alaska Natives will soon begin to get one-twelfth of the land in their state and a sizeable chunk of cash as well --under the provisions of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

I would like to mention also an event unique in American history and unique in the lives of Indians. Last month after years of effort on the part of Indian leaders and non-Indian Americans sympathetic to our goals, the American Indian National Bank was chartered and opened for business.- This bank is the keystone of a financial structure, owned and operated by Indians, that will involve banking operations, industrial capital and insurance services to Indians throughout the United States. Although many people assisted in the project, the one man whose patient work over several years was most responsible for making the Indian Bank a reality is someone you know well -- Marvin Franklin -- my good friend and trusted adviser.

As I get further into my work, I intend to seek the advice and counsel of tribal leaders, individual Indian citizens, Indian organizations, and of course your own Tribal Chairmen's Association.

No one can do this job alone and there is a tremendous amount of work to be done. But we all know what the goals are, and I know you will help me achieve them.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B Morton today announced the appointment of Marvin L. Franklin, 56, an Oklahoma City business executive and member of as Assistant to the Secretary for the Iowa Indian Tribe Indian Affairs, a new position in the Interior Department.

Franklin will be the senior official for Indian affairs within Interior, and will immediately assume direct responsibility for all Department programs concerning Indian and Alaska Native people on an interim basis, Secretary Morton said. He will report directly to the After a Commissioner of Indian Affairs is named, Franklin Secretary will continue to advise Secretary Morton on ways to improve Indian programs and their relationships with other Federal agencies.

The appointment marks the completion of a two-month effort by Richard S. Bodman, Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget to administer programs and provide services for Indians following the occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters last fall.

Franklin has been employed by Phillips Petroleum Company since 1947, and since 1965 has been its Director of Cooperative Projects. A major part of his assignment has been to work with government to develop industry in disadvantaged areas, especially those where Indians are in need of job opportunities.

In this capacity Franklin has worked closely with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in its industrial development program for reservations, as well as with the Department of Commerce, the Economic Development Administration and the Small Business Administration.

Having an Indian heritage, Franklin has been a Councilman with the Iowa Tribe, Chairman of the General Tribal Council and presently is Vice Chairman of the Tribal Executive Committee. The Iowa Tribe once controlled the land area between the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, but the Westward Movement resulted in the tribe being located on a 400-square-mile reservation in northeast Kansas and southeast Nebraska.

Franklin's efforts on behalf of Indians were recognized by the Department of the Interior on June", 1971, when Secretary Morton presented him with the Public Service Award for Conservation o£ Human Resources for results achieved in creating economic betterment for Indian reservations.

His affiliations also include being president of Indian Enterprises, Inc., founded by the four Indian tribes of northeastern Kansas to assist in bringing job opportunities to tribal members. He also is President of the Phillips Industrial Finance Corporation, Vice-President of Provesta Company, member of an advisory committee to the American Petroleum Institute; President, First Americans Corporation; and a director of the Navajo Forest Products Industries, the Navajo Chemicals Company, Papago Explosives Company, Oklahoma Vocational-Technical Foundation, and the American Indian National Bank.

While in Oklahoma City Franklin has had an opportunity to engage in business outside of his required services to Phillips Petroleum. He has been an organizer and active officer in a life insurance company, an investment company and partner in law firm. Franklin was born July 18, 1916 in Ponca City, Oklahoma. He was graduated from Northern Oklahoma College in 1940, and received a law degree from Oklahoma City University in 1955. From 1940 to 1947 he was a commercial pilot and trained pilots during World War II. He also was Director of Page Aviation Flight School under contract to Oklahoma University. His home is in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

I am grateful for the opportunity of discussing our mutual concern for a sound program for American citizens of Indian ancestry at this conference. The backdrop of our discussions is a national concern, and national action, on what John Kenneth Galbraith has called "insular poverty". Insular poverty, as distinguished from "case” poverty, is the poverty of an area or a region, of a community or of an Indian reservation. It has its roots in economic dislocations, changing technology, declining resources of water or soil, or geographic or cultural isolation.

Such poverty, "grinding, soul-shattering poverty" in Secretary Udall's words, is the overt symbol of the so-called Indian problem.

Such cancers can never stay isolated. Conditions on a single Indian reservation reflect, for good or ill, on all the Indian people, and on all the efforts of government directed to that segment of the population. And by government, I mean State and local as well as Federal.

The temptation to be superficial is great--Americans don't like to concede that their affluent society contains these pockets of poverty. So they retreat to the Biblical rationalization ("the poor ye have always with you") or to the vague charge of Federal responsibility (When is the Government going to cease forcing the Indians to stay on those miserable reservations?).

Misconceptions of the American Indian today are extremely widespread. At dozens of different kinds of meetings, the same questions are asked about our Indian programs: Can Indians vote? Are Indians permitted to leave the reservations? Are Indians entitled to go to public schools? When is the Government going to do something for the Indians?

Can it be that the American people, as preoccupied with civil rights as with any other public question, really believe that Indians don't have citizenship? That they are “wards" of the Government? That they are savages?

Unfortunately, it can be. Deep in our national psyche is hidden the reasons why Americans don’t think of Indians as full-fledged citizens, albeit there is not the slightest hint of prejudice in their blindness about them. In no Federal program is there a greater public interest, and in no Federal program is there greater public ignorance.

In such an environment it is hard to formulate and carry out programs and policies. The present administration--and I'm proud to be a part of it and proud to speak up for it in the matter of Indian programs--started with an exceptional awareness of the needs in this area.

That the Indian people shall have a voice--which they shall be listened to with open mind as well as ear--and that something shall be done in response to their voiced needs--these are the principles upon which the Kennedy-Johnson Administration has for the past four years been guiding legislation and inaugurating programs for the Indian people.

President Kennedy understood--and President Johnson understands--the basic facts of our economic and social life. This Administration that has not offered mere words and promises, but has produced laws and programs.

These efforts have been directed at all groups within our society; and some have been tailored particularly for groups with the most urgent and desperate needs. The Indian people have urgent needs and I should like to review the record of efforts in their behalf.

You may recall that, during his campaign four years ago, President Kennedy offered a 10 point program for improvement of conditions on Indian reservations. Let us take a look at the ten point program as it has shaped up: (1) we would, John F. Kennedy said, enact an area redevelopment measure to give Federal help for the development of industry and training of people in depressed areas. Federal help came with enactment of the law in 1962 and Indian reservations have been aided in developing industry and training workers.

(2) We would, the candidate said, provide adequate credit for Indians by expanding the loan fund, The Indian Revolving Loan Fund has been doubled--and, because credit pyramids, the presence of more Federal funds for business, industrial and land improvement investments has generated tribal and private investments to--the combined total now being $150 million.

(3) We would, Senator Kennedy promised, "help Indians retain their land by rendering credit assistance and by removing the elements of economic pressure and desperation that have caused them to sell their land." Stepped up programs in real estate appraisal, land management, forestry management, irrigation farming--all have helped the Indian people to hold their lands and make the lands work for them.

(4) We would, it was pledged, make the benefits of Federal housing programs available to Indians. We have done it. For the first time in history, Indian reservations began to participate in the Federal housing program, now, 63 reservations have housing authorities; 3,200 units were approved last year for reservations--almost ten percent of the national total; and 400 have actually been constructed, or under way.

(5) We would, President Kennedy further pledged, give young Indian people on opportunity to share in a youth training program. The youth conservation corps as it was originally conceived did not materialize--but camps for education and training are provided for in the new Economic Opportunity Act which President Johnson signed into law last month. There will be job corps camps all across the country, for young people who have not benefitted from schooling and who, as a consequence, are untrained and out of work. Some of these camps will be on Indian reservations.

(6) Support to vocational education was promised, support so necessary in this age of demand for skilled workers and a declining market for the unskilled. Not only has there been enacted a new Vocational Education Act to benefit public schools, but the Bureau of Indian Affairs has stepped up its own program of vocational training, in the two technical schools it operates - Haskell and the Institute of American Indian Arts. Moreover, a vocational training program for adults provides an opportunity for young men and women to acquire the many and sometimes highly specialized skills in which there are shortages of trained manpower. Thousands of Indian families - once living on the edge of chronic poverty - are now established in comfortable homes, their children well-fed and well-clothed because the head of the family is bringing home good wages every week.

(7) We would, it was promised, "develop a better health program for Indians." During the four years of the Kennedy-Johnson Administration the Indian health program has worked steadily to cure disease, improve the environmental health, and increase hospital and medical services for the Indian people. Clean water, sewage disposal, control of disease-bearing insects, maternal and child care - 11 have resulted in market improvements in the health of the new generation of Indian children.

(8) We would work toward improvement of educational opportunities. School construction at a pace that is designed to make up for long years of neglect; new teachers; a variety of new vocational offerings; improved methods of teaching English to children who do not hear it spoken at home; financial aid for those who wish to go to college; basic education for adults; summer enrichment programs for children--all of these are in evidence, the results of four years of concentrated effort.

(9) Community development programs--the crux of any effort to help people improve themselves--were also pinpointed in President Kennedy's ten-point pledge, as he promised assistance to tribal leaders. New community buildings, improved community services by the tribal governments, carefully planned programs of economic development and education financed with tribal funds, a widespread and growing interest in encouraging the education of youth--all of these are evidences of community development on Indian reservations, in which specialized help from the Bureau of Indian Affairs has been provided. And now, with establishment of the Office of Economic Opportunity, much more can be looked for.

(10) Finally, we said we would emphasize genuinely cooperative relations between Federal officials and Indians." I sense, everywhere among Indian groups that I go, a new confidence in the Government and faith in themselves--and much of this new feeling can be attributed to the genuine concern and special efforts of Philleo Nash, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Philleo Nash has earned the sobriquet lithe Indians' Commissioner.

On an overall basis, in the past four years the Bureau of Indian Affairs has moved away from the purely custodial approach to its responsibilities and has begun to stress programs that help people to help themselves. Materially speaking, at least, there are some distinct evidences of success.

I have already mentioned the increase in loan funds for development purposes. Paralleling loans has been technical aid of various kinds. About 75 feasibility studies have been undertaken since 1962 to evaluate the potential of reservations for tourism, lumbering, recreational site development, and mineral resource development.

Several tourist recreation projects are now in operation--picnic areas, marinas, hunting preserves, the spectacular ski lift on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, and the already-famous new mineral springs resort at Warm Springs, Oregon.

Even beyond these tribal enterprises are the 40 or more industries that have encouraged and assisted in establishing themselves on or near reservations, providing new jobs for many Indians who never before knew what it meant to have a steady, year-round pay envelope. Jobs have also been created through construction of roads and from other projects financed with funds from the Accelerated 'Public Works Program.

A sound economy is the basis for a solid society--whether it be a reservation society or any other. The Bureau's effort to help the Indian people establish a sound economy--and, thereby, become participating citizens--is premised on the belief that the Indian people, as Oliver LaFarge once said, wish to become “whole people in our world without ceasing to be Indians."

It hardly needs stating for this audience that Indians are citizens of the United States, and of the State Wherein they reside. That they register and vote has become a fact of political significance. They are not tied to their reservations in any way different from the way all of us are tied to our homes and the familiar places of our childhood and youth.

Furthermore, all of you understand that Indian reservations are not public lands, but private lands. Title held by the United States is a trust title, and the beneficial interest is either in the Indian tribes or in individual Indians. Insofar as “ending the reservation system” is concerned, no one could advocate a policy which would have the effect of depriving American citizens of private property.

What could be advocated, and frequently is advocated, is that the restrictions upon the alienation of Indian property be ended by ending the trust responsibilities of the United States.

Without meaning to criticize or to commend the action which is going on all the time in this direction--either at Congressional behest, or in the furtherance of existing authorities to terminate the trust relationship--let me discuss with you some of the implications of such a policy in terms of the State and the local units of government.

We can start by remembering that in legal theory at least, it is the umbilical cord of trust control over the land which justifies the existing Federal programs for Indians, not just ethnic differences. Ethnic difference is an offensive basis for governmental policy, and I for one hope we never base our Indian programs on that basis solely.

How many times have you, in your States, found yourself automatically assuming that any governmental service needed by Indians should be furnished by the Federal Government? Undeniably almost every kind of governmental service is furnished to Indians--education and health services to the tune of $140 millions of dollars a year each; welfare services and relocation and adult vocational training amounting to twenty-five million dollars a year; law enforcement costing nearly $3 million; forty million dollars’ worth of forestry, extension, soil and moisture, road and building and irrigation maintenance and more than $50 million dollars a year of construction, including schools, buildings and utilities, and irrigation systems.

What I would like the States to do is indulge in a little informal arithmetic. Would the nontaxable Indian lands yield as much money for the same services, if they were on the tax rolls? The question of course answers itself.

It answers itself in the same way that the equivalent question is beginning to answer itself in terms of the public lands. Recently in Utah, for example, I spoke to the Western Association of State Land Commissioners, and discussed the reinvestment by the Federal Government in the West under generous policies prescribed by Congress. On a per acre basis, Utah received, in fiscal 1963, 16 cents from lease of minerals on Federal lands; 38 cents "savings" on highway matching funds; 25 cents payment into the Reclamation Fund (whose benefits are by law confined to the Western States; and 12 cents program expenditures on Federal grazing lands. Ninety-two cents an acre is the equivalent of an assessed valuation of $18.50 per acre, on Utah's tax rates--and Utah taxes its own equivalent land at $2.50 per acre.

The amounts of the expenditures on the Indian programs are substantial in States like Arizona, for example. There, in this fiscal year, the Public Health Service will spend over $11 million. The Bureau of Indian Affairs will spend more than four times that amount--$20 million on education; $7 million on resource management; and half million on law enforcement; $12 million on utilities and other public facilities and irrigation systems, and $6 million on Federal highways through reservations. What would the reservation land in Arizona have to be taxed at to yield this kind of money? More, I suspect, than equivalent private land is being taxed.

These moneys aren't begrudged. A generous Congress appropriates every dime of this money, and the test applied isn't the crass one of payment in lieu of taxes.

The point I hope I am making is that the Indian program, as so many programs of the Federal Government, represents an affirmative determination on the part of all the people of the United States to assume certain kinds of obligations as national obligations. The net effect in many situations, but particularly in the Western States, is a net benefit to the State or local governments which otherwise might be charged with furnishing such things as health or education, and a net benefit to the local economy, as in the case of the construction of irrigation' projects, and the carrying on of sound programs of forestry, agricultural extension, and soil and moisture work.

The old cry that the Federal Government should withdraw--that there should be less government--is a blind and shortsighted one in the West. It is strange that this is where most of it is heard.

The point has now been reached, I am convinced, at which further accomplishments, further planning, will depend very greatly upon increased coordination among local, State and Federal Governments--and upon more and more participation by the Indians themselves.

Concerning the participation of Indians in programs to aid them:

We are not far away from the time when giant steps can be taken, grand concepts put into action. I sometimes sense, however, that many of the Indian people themselves are unaware of how greatly their ultimate destinies rest with themselves. Government aid can build a floor of programs to alleviate poverty and the other human miseries that poverty engenders. Government aid can create an atmosphere in which the human will and spirit may thrive. But government aid cannot manufacture the special lens that people need to see opportunities that surround them. The people must develop enough faith in themselves to see themselves as creators as well as beneficiaries of their environment.

The Indian people contain within themselves the basic elements for their own resurgence as a self-supporting segment of our society. They are secure in the knowledge of who they are and what they need to retain their identity--and that is more than can be said of some of the rest of us. The Indians also have another advantage. They have an economic base on which to build. They own 50 million acres of land. True, some of it was worthless 50 years ago, but most of it is laden with potential for the years to come, in mineral reserves that might lie beneath the surface, and in leasing value that may derive from urbanization and reclamation, as the whole country melts slowly into a city.

The greatest of all opportunities for action by the people themselves comes by way of the new Economic Opportunity Act. This is the legislation that is premised on the assumption that people want to help themselves. Embodying the President's anti-poverty crusade, it provides funds and technical aid to the people in those communities who are ready with plans but lacking the means to undertake construction projects and education projects and other programs conceived from local need and nurtured by local hope.

“What the anti-poverty program should mean to Indians, I! Senator Humphrey, our Democratic candidate for Vice President says, “are increased opportunities for employment in Indian country; new educational opportunities; better agricultural opportunities; better health; new industries and a happier and better life. The Democratic Party will not write off any reservation as hopeless.

The Indians are a proud and able people. They don't want handouts. They want, in their innermost hearts, to be in control of their own destinies. This hope can become reality both for the Indians who prefer to live on their reservations and for those who prefer to leave. In either case, the thing they need remember--or learn, if they have not yet learned it-is that poverty is not necessarily the price to pay for retaining their Indian identity. The whole American culture can be strengthened with fibers drawn from the Indian culture. The Indian life can also be strengthened by the addition of some of the good things that the modern world offers.

The great Chief Joseph, warrior and leader of a day long past, left a thought for all Indians of all times. He said:

“Let me be a free man--free to travel, free to stop; free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers; free to think, talk and act for myself-- and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty. Whenever the white man treats the Indian as he treats his own kind, then we will have no more wars. We shall all be alike--brothers of one father and one mother, with one sky above us, and one country around us, and one government for all. For this day the Indian race is waiting and praying.

There is nothing I can add to those eloquent words, except to say that I believe the vision is at last within reach--if we stand as tall as we might.

By 1970, more than 500,000 visitors may be traveling to a new national recreation area in Montana and Wyoming and enjoying the same scenic mountains, canyons, and rivers where an unknown Indian tribe lived in prehistoric times.

The Department of the Interior has announced it favors enactment of Federal legislation which would authorize establishment of the 63,000-acre Big Horn Canyon National Recreation Area surrounding Yellowtail Reservoir in southern Montana and northern Wyoming.

The 71-mile reservoir, expected to be completed by 1966, will be formed by the 525-foot-high Yellowtail Dam being built near the mouth of Big Horn Canyon, about 42 miles southwest of Hardin, Mont., by the Bureau of Reclamation as a part of the Missouri River Basin Project.

A bill pending in Congress provides for acquiring approximately 7,300 acres of non-Federal lands within the authorized boundaries and for the inclusion of Crow Indian Reservation lands. The reservation acreage could only be included in the recreation area at the request of the Crow Tribal Council, "subject to any limitations specified by the tribal council and approved by the Secretary of the Interior."

Located between the Bighorn Mountains on the east and the Pryor Mountains on the west, Bighorn Canyon was formed by continued erosion during the geological uplift period during which the Bighorn and Pryor mountain ranges were being formed. The canyon depth varies from 800 to 2,000 feet and its walls present the various strata of geological periods dating back millions of years.

In addition to the impressive scenery and geological story presented there, it is an area of significant archeological and historical interest. The Smithsonian Institution is studying a narrow strip of land running the length of the canyon on which have been found campsites, tepee rings, a medicine wheel, original trails, and other evidence of habitation by an unknown prehistoric people.

In historic times it is known that the Crow, or Absaroka, were among the earliest people to dwell in the area and they have remained to the present.

Within a few miles of the dam site are the remains of Fort C. F. Smith, an Army infantry post established in 1866 to protect travelers on the "Bozeman Trail" - the main supply route between Fort Laramie, Wyoming, and Virginia City, Montana - who were constantly under attack by the Sioux and Cheyenne for "encroachment" on their hunting grounds.

Farther downstream from the dam is the site of the Hayfield Fight, where a small force of hay cutters and their soldier guards repelled a superior number of attacking Sioux by using the then newly issued breech-loading Springfield rifles. This fight has become a classic of Western Indian wars, being the first battle in which the new weapons were used.

In addition to providing a safe water access to area formerly nearly inaccessible, the reservoir will offer new opportunities to the area for all types of water-based recreation and other outdoor activities.

The proposed recreation project is in one of the Nation's major vacation areas and meets National Recreation Area qualifications established by the President's Recreation Advisory Council. It can be reached from the north and west by U. S. Highway 87 and Interstate 90, now under construction, and from the east and south by U. S. Highway 14. The Department estimates that more than half-million visitors annually would travel to the area by 1970.

The Crow Indian Tribal Council, the Council 1s planning and economic consulting firm, and the National Park Service are making a joint master plan study of the entire reservation area to consider the recreation potential of the Indian lands and their relation to the recreation area. The results of the study will enable the Tribe to determine the extent of its participation in the development of the national recreation area.

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It was almost a year ago, in the spring of 1962, that your director, Mrs. Mary Jeffries Burt, asked me to be one of the speakers at the Sunday Evening Forum for the current season. When I look over your roster of speakers for the 1961-62 season I realize why some of my good friends have called this the outstanding community forum in the Nation. I am honored to join such distinguished company.

Tucson is an important center of both intellectual and practical activity in the field of Indian affairs. Here we have the Bureau of Ethnic Research at the University of Arizona under the direction of an old friend, Dr. William H. Kelly. Here, too, we have the widely admired Association on Papago Affairs which is cosponsoring this meeting. It is guided by another old friend, Dr. Edward Spicer. It was from Tucson that we drew our Associate Commissioner in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Mr. James E. Officer, who served with me on Secretary Udall's Indian Task Force some two years ago this spring o Together we are trying to build something that will be as long remembered as the Rhodes-Scattergood or Collier adminis­trations.

The former signalized a redirection of the Nation's energies in the field of Indian affairs along Quaker lines. The Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner were both officers of the oldest of the Indian betterment organizations, the Indian Rights Association. They had the benefit of the most thorough study of Indian administration yet made, the Meriam Report of the Brookings Institution. The modern period of Indian affairs may be said to have begun during this administration.

With the advent of the New Deal, another forward surge was made. Mr. John Collier had been the most ardent defender of Indian rights and the severest critic of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. His assistant commissioner, Mr. William Zimmerman, was a close personal associate of Secretary Ickes. Mr. Collier plunged into action with a bold new legislative program. The Indian Reorganization Act brought increased self-determination to the tribes, stopped the alienation of land, and initiated the tribal enterprises we proudly display today.

Jim Officer and I are determined that the Kennedy-Udall administration will be remembered for its contribution to Indian betterment. Secretary Udall, I can assure you, is in close, daily personal contact with Indian Affairs. We have the benefit of a policy study in depth--the report of the Secretary's Task Force on Indian Affairs. We have the support of a President who is determined that minority rights shall be respected and that opportunity shall be equal across the land.

We place our faith in development: the development of resources and the development of people. We intend to accelerate and improve education at all levels. We intend to accelerate and improve economic growth on the reservation. We are calling these programs the "New Trail", and that is the subject of my remarks tonight.

Many of our older service and assistance programs in the Bureau--such as education and forestry--passed the half-century mark long ago. Our oldest irri­gation enterprise (the Lower Colorado River Project) will soon be 100 years old.

Yet, despite this long record of national concern for the welfare of Indians, despite the rapid expansion of our Indian programs in recent years, what is the situation today? Adult Indians are, on the whole, only half as well educated as other Americans; they live only two-thirds as long; and their annual incomes are somewhere between one-fourth and one-third as large.· Unemployment, let me add, is between six and seven times the national average.

I feel sure there is no need to dwell to this audience on the human actuali­ties that lie behind these depressing statistics. They add up to poverty; a crushing, grinding, soul-destroying poverty that our national conscience cannot tolerate.

Now why is this? What has gone wrong? Is it a money problem? I think not. The Congress has been generous with public funds on the reservations. From the beginning of the country up to 1960 about three billion dollars has been appro­priated for services to Indians. Between the Indian Health Division of the

U. S. Pueblo Health Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs we are currently spending in the vicinity of a quarter of a billion dollars annually on services to Indians. For the coming fiscal year our two agencies are asking the Congress to provide about $725 for every Indian man, woman, and child.

These huge sums are necessary; but the long-standing poverty on the reserva­tions shows that the problem cannot be solved merely by pouring in more ar1d more public money unaccompanied by other changes.

Is it the fault of the Bureau of Indian Affairs? Since its creation the Bureau has been a favorite whipping boy for those who desire better results but are not necessarily familiar with the problem. The Bureau has also been the target of merited criticism from those who are better informed and just as sincere. We are a public agency and we do our business in the spotlight of public attention. We need and invite public scrutiny. I do not propose tonight to defend the Bureau from its critics. We are a competent organization and we do not consume our appropriations to sustain ourselves. Ninety percent of what we receive goes out in services and benefits to Indian tribes and individuals.

Strung out along the East Coast of the United States are dozens of small Indian communities and many thousands of Indian individuals who are not Federal service Indians. They are the remnants of the bands and tribes with whom our Colonial ancestors made settlement for lands and forests long before the formation of the Federal union. Their property is unrestricted; their standing in the law is exactly the same as yours and mine. On the whole, they are poor people with all the social ills that poverty brings with it. But they have never received services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and their poverty cannot be attributed to it.

Is it, then, the fault of the Indians that they find themselves today at the bottom of the national economic ladder? Have they simply failed to make the most of their own potentialities and of the opportunities available to them?

Group indictments are repugnant to all thinking people. There are too many Indian individuals of high achievement in business, the professions, and public life to let such an allegation stand. Moreover, Indian tribal enterprises are already hitting the mark in such varied fields as commercial tourism, the live­stock industry, forest products, commercial fisheries, and many others.

Some people think the reservation system itself is responsible for Indian poverty. To test this proposition, let us look at Oklahoma. There the reserva­tion concept was never fully developed. Moreover, Tribal governments there were stripped of their principal functions with statehood, more than half a century ago. Indians do, in fact, have a fuller participation in community life in Oklahoma than in most other States. And this fact tends to support the proposi­tion. But Indian poverty has not been eliminated in Oklahoma, as any Oklahoman can tell you.

Closely associated with reservation life in some parts of the country is the Allotment Act of 1887. With the exception of the eastern side of the Navajo Reservation, there are not many allotted lands in the southwest. Across the Northern Plains, however, the consequences are distressingly evident of what was intended to be a great reform, undertaken toward the end of the last century.

In brief, the Allotment Act intended to "civilize" (or as we now say, to "acculturate") Indians by individualizing their tribal land holdings. Each head of a family, his one spouse and their minor children, was given a piece of land. To protect the ownership, a trust title was established for a 25-year period, after which it was believed the acculturative process would be complete and the Government's protective relationship could be severed.

The tragic consequences in the loss of land ownership were with us until the Indian Reorganization Act. The economic aftermath is still with us.

The first trust period began to come to an end in 1912. Large-scale loss of ownership began immediately. Altogether, before the extension of trusteeship by the Act of 1934, 90 million acres of land--nearly two-thirds of the Indian estate--passed irretrievably from Indian ownership.

We need to reflect on the lessons of allotment. In retrospect we can see that our forefathers had the cart before the ox. They thought the elementary family of one father, and one mother and their unmarried children was the natural way of life of all mankind. They thought every pioneer lived on a farm with a frame house, barns, fences and fields, because the land came in natural units of 160 acres.

Experience has taught us that people hang onto land only if it has meaning to them. And anthropology tells us that people have land use and ownership patterns because their culture tells them what they have is right, not the other way around.

Allotment cannot be the sole cause of poverty on the reservations. If it were, all the unallotted reservations here in the southwest would be rich. Here we would have no problems of land use and ownership, and plainly this is not true.

Finally, there are those who would lay blame on the Indian Reorganization Act and its philosophy. The philosophy of that act is to protect tribalism; and tribalism, they say, is the evil that lies behind poverty. I cannot accept this.

Tribalism is not an evil; and in any case its elimination of perpetuation should not be the choice of the bureaucrat. It should be for those who choose to live within tribalism to continue it; and for those who choose to live outside of it, to Part Company with it. Some, but not all, Indians prefer it. We do not solve other problems by compelling people to give up a form of association which they had before we came here. We should respect the freedom of association of Indians under tribal government just as we respect other ways in which people band together for their mutual advancement and comfort.

There you have it: This is what we call "the Indian Problem." A national conscience; appropriations; a big bureau; and the end result; Poverty.

I think there is a way out. It is not a panacea. There is no magic in it. It requires much work and patience and above all, respect for a way of life that is different from ours. The way is the path of economic development outlined in the report of the Task Force.

The central goal of economic development, of course, is to increase employment and income, and to raise living standards. Our starting levels on the Indian reservations are, quite generally, very low. We are dealing with about 380,000 Indian people, of whom perhaps 100,000 are employable, in terms of age, physical fitness, and other pertinent factors. About 40 percent of these--roughly 40,000 persons--are men and women currently out of work. With respect to the country as a whole, we are concerned when unemployment rises much above four percent. When the national unemployment rate gets into the neighborhood of six percent, where it now is, we recognize that the situation is serious. A local area where unemployment runs as high as 12 or 15 percent is classified as one of serious labor surplus. Yet on the reservations we find rates averaging 40 percent and running much higher than this on some reservations at some seasons. This is a measure--a very basic one--of the difficulties to be overcome.

It is clear that under such circumstances, a task force report is one matter, acting upon it is quite another. It took some months for us to develop a program of economic development, to obtain approval of the necessary budget and Congressional appropriations to fund our requirements. Increased staff was needed, and this meant recruiting people qualified for the wide variety of positions called for. Economic and community development is not a process that can be turned on the way we turn on water from a faucet. And as we have prepared to step up our developmental efforts, we have sought also to understand more fully the require­ments of economic development. There are certain basic similarities between these requirements on the reservations and the requirements of other underdeveloped communities and areas.

A common characteristic of underdeveloped communities, on reservations and off, at home and abroad, is lack of capital. Without capital, a community must lead a hand-to-mouth existence, and the hand cannot be really productive nor the mouth well fed. To accumulate capital out of precariously low incomes is extraordinarily difficult; that is why poverty-stricken communities and Nations tend to remain poverty-stricken. Some outside force, an economic lift from outside the community, is one way--often the only way--of breaking the year-in year-out cycle in which poverty breeds poverty.

There are two broad kinds of capital, private and public. One takes the form of factory buildings and equipment, of trucks and bulldozers, of stores and the goods that stock their shelves--all the private capital that makes it possible for business to operate. The other kind--public capital--takes the form of roads, waterworks, and sewerage systems, of schools and hospitals, of fire-fighting equip­ment, public auditoriums, and the whole apparatus of law and order. These, too, are essential to the operation of business and of the community. Both are capital and the Indian reservations are starved for both kinds. Unless public capital is provided, business opportunities can hardly be opened up. And unless business investors can be attracted, reservation resources cannot be made to yield the expanded employment and income that is urgently required.

We recently made some estimates of the public capital requirements on the reservations. We took a hard look at where we stood in our Bureau public works programs and what we would have to do to bring them completely up to date, with no backlog of unfinished business. The results were impressive--and sobering.

Roads are basic to modern life; they bind a community together and they open up the outside world. Without an adequate transportation system, economic develop­ment has no chance even to begin. We estimate that it would take more than $170 million to build the roads that are needed on the reservations today in addition to those we already have. Under our current program it would take us more than 10 years simply to catch up on the roads that are needed--needed today, not 10 years from now.

I don't need to tell you how important schools are. They are important in terms of human development and fulfillment. Moreover, undereducated people will never catch up in economic terms with the rest of the country--or indeed with the world.

Our school construction requirements, including our boarding schools and staff housing, would require more than $120 million to be brought fully up to date. Here we are not so badly behind; at current rates we should wipe out the present backlog in a very few years.

Our community water and sewerage systems, which are built by the Indian Health Division of HEW, are $65 million behind. It would take 16 years at present rates of expenditure to complete construction on that scale.

And so it goes, right through all 12 categories of public works on the reservations. The total of all these estimates comes close to one and one-quarter billion dollars. This is the equivalent of 14 years of our current public works programs.

If all reservations were 14 years behind and if all shortages of public capital had to be made good before business capital could be attracted, the situa­tion would of course be quite impossible. Fortunately some reservations are significantly better off than this and some have already made an impressive start in business development.

We are already making a start in overcoming the lack of both kinds of capital-­public and private--and the lack of employment. It is only a start, but we are making it.

We are using the Accelerated Public Works program to step up our investment in a wide variety of public improvements. We are moving to attract private capital to specific opportunities on or near reservations and to lay the foundation for much broader private investment.

Faced with unemployment approximating 40 percent, the Indian people require immediate employment as well as the prospect of jobs in the future. The great backlog of public works means that useful employment could be created if the funds were available. And the Accelerated Public Works appropriations are providing additional funds.

Late last year Congress appropriated $400 million for use across the country and is expected to follow shortly with an additional $500 million. All this is to relieve unemployment and stimulate economic growth in distressed areas. Indian reservations qualify; so far we have 88 Indian projects going in 19 States, and on February 15th last we had 2,700 Indians at work on these projects. Of course, this means that less than 10 percent of the total reservation unemployment has been absorbed, but the improvement .is most helpful in one of the bitterest winters in history.

In addition we are pushing "force account11 work. This is the name given to public works projects when the Government does the building itself instead of letting contracts. The importance of this to Indians is that when the Bureau of Indian Affairs does the work, we employ nearly all Indians. Under our programs we have buildings going up, we have road work to do, and we schedule major alterations to existing buildings. These and other activities in the Bureau can provide work, ­­ training, and income for Indians. This year about 50 percent of our road construction and nearly all our building repairs and road maintenance will be done by Indians under force account.

During fiscal year 1962 we increased the number employed under force account by 987, of whom 776 were Indians. During the last six months of 1962 an addi­tional 644 were employed under force account. In the current year nearly $30 million is going for force accounts. This is more than twice as much as was spent in this way as recently as 1961.

These are steps we are taking to achieve the most rapid possible expansion of employment. We are also opening the way for employment and income that will benefit many thousands of families. Hopefully entire communities will achieve the "break-through" to well sustained economic self-support.

We are working at this along several lines, some fairly well established, some entirely new. One of the former, which originated only a few years ago, is our program of adult vocational training.

Under this program Indian young men and women over high-school age but under 35, can apply and receive up to two years of vocational training in the occupation of their choice and in an approved training institution. One hundred percent of the expense is provided by the Federal Government, including transpor­tation, tuition, health insurance, tools and supplies, subsistence for the trainee and for his family if he has one. Uncle Sam doesn't have to do this--he does it because he wants to and because it is bringing results.

Eighty-two hundred men and women and their dependents--more than 22,000 Indian people in all--have been helped under this program since it started a few short years ago. The progress of the Indian people under this program is one of the finest things that has ever resulted from anything done by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Eighty-six percent of those who have taken the full training course are employed full-time and gainfully in the vocation of their choosing. This is a truly remarkable record.

Another program that is receiving fresh emphasis today is that of employment assistance. It was originally conceived, about a dozen years ago, as a program of "relocation," of training Indians for jobs far away from the reservation and helping them to move there--from the Great Plains to Los Angeles, for example. Today we are bending our efforts to help people prepare for and find jobs near home as well as far away. These jobs may be in factories located on or near the reservation, or in enterprises that the tribes themselves may establish. The employment assistance program, broadened in this way, is part and parcel of our program of industrial development.

Industrial development, inaugurated in the middle 1950's, was initially conceived as a program to interest manufacturers in the special skills of Indian workers and establishing their plants on or near reservations. Today we are better staffed and more fully prepared than ever before to work with manufacturers on plans to establish plants in Indian country. In such planning we draw, of course, on the varied sources of financial aid available through the Small Business Administration, the Area Redevelopment Administration, and other agencies. We are better prepared, also, to cooperate in on-the-job training for such plants. We are better staffed to work with the Indian people and their governing bodies in exploring their economic potential, understanding the requirements of private business, and organizing to meet those requirements.

We are now assisting the Indian people to look at their resources with a fresh eye, to discover what potentials exist alongside that of their natural aptitudes and trainable skills. Many reservations lie in country of great beauty. In a period of rapidly increasing demands for recreation, the Indian lakes, forests, and streams have great potential value. Of equal importance to many tribes are mineral and forest resources that have never been suitably studied or opened up to well-planned commercial development. We are cooperating closely with the tribes, moreover, in making sure that land use, whether for grazing, irrigation, or other purposes, is made as beneficial to the Indians as possible.

Thirty-eight studies of potential economic development on Indian reservations have thus far been initiated jointly by the tribes and the Bureau. Twenty of these are being undertaken through contracts financed with Bureau funds. Another 18 studies are being undertaken with funds from the Area Redevelopment Administration.

Not all these potential developments will prove feasible, of course, but we have reason to be hopeful that a high proportion will lead to investment and employment within the next few years.

The New Trail along which we are moving with the Indian people is the sound path of economic development. It is the path the advanced Nations of the world have followed to the achievement of high production and high living standards. It is not an easy path, nor can we expect progress along it to be rapid. The main thing is that we have made a beginning.

President Kennedy tells a story that is appropriate in this connection. It concerns the famous French marshal, Lyautey, who in his retirement devoted himself to the daily supervision of his estate. He instructed his gardener one day to plant a special tree, saying he wanted it planted the very next day. "But Marshal/' exclaimed the gardener, "That tree will not bloom for a hundred years!"

“In that case, 11 replied the marshal, “plant it this afternoon.” I think the President's story speaks for itself.

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Memorandum

Attached is a news release describing the newly created Institute of American Indian Arts at Santa Fe, New Mexico. The article is intended to provide subject matter suitable for:

1. routine newspaper column write-ups
2. feature stories
3. school papers
4. information bulletins or letters
5. handout sheets

Your cooperation in action to help us publicize the Institute will be appreciated. We are especially interested in having news reach two groups of readers - Indians and those who live or work in close association with Indians.

INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN INDIAN ARTS TO OPEN AT SANTA FE

The United States Bureau of Indian Affairs has set October 1, 1962, as the opening date of its newly created Institute of American Indian Arts. Santa Fe, New Mexico, will be the home city of the Institute, an Institute which promises to be unique and important in the world of the arts. Dr. George A. Boyce is-the Superintendent.

Result of need and national interest - American Indians have always caught the public eye and inspired interest. Sometimes this interest has been based on sentiment or glamour. Quite often, though, it has been sincere and deep-rooted. This type of interest has been continuous and insistent. Many persons, Indians and non-Indians alike, have used every means possible to point attention to the need for a school where the unusual artistic talents of Americas Indians may develop - a school where the best of the traditional tribal arts may be appreciated and continued - a school where the artist or craftsman will also feel free to reach for new horizons. The efforts of the many have made October of 1962 a significant date -- America is to have a national center of Indian Arts and Culture, a place where dedicated students and educators may work, STUDY, CREATE and CONTRIBUTE.

Purposes served - For Indian youth of high artistic talent, the Institute will open new doors of opportunity for self-expression in painting, in sculpture, in music, in drama, in writing and the HHOLE RAINBOW OF THE ARTS. The overall program will also include academic courses, interpersonal relations and guidance services, and wholesome campus living. The total experience should give the graduate pride and practical power for living.

Economic values too: Indian youths will also see art talent as an economic resource, a resource which, when developed to the point of practical value, may result in excellent "make-a-living" careers. Some of the graduates may work as full-time artists; others nay work in art-related types of jobs. It is hoped that all of the students will enjoy the Arts for the sake of art as another aesthetic dimension in their lives.

For Indians generally, the work of the Institute should have "impacts on man near and far. The Institute itself will create or acquire the "best" in Indian arts for man to sec and appreciate. When graduates take their places in American community life, they will represent a contribution capable of enriching the community. In a purely practical sense, the trained Indian artist will be a responsible citizen with an income adequate to maintain good standards of living for himself and family.

For the nation, the values arc unlimited. It has been said that the way to create friendship in the family of man, is to know and understand the so-called "stranger" ethnic groups. The Institute can represent a very important resource to America in telling the story of its native Indian groups to the world ... a story told by the youth of the nation's major tribes in person.... and in a setting which offers memorial evidence along with the spoken word.

It can be said that the Institute will have intimate and personal value for Indian youth. Its graduates will enrich many communities. It may become an important instrument in cur country's program of international relations.

High school and graduate programs to be offered “The Institute will offer a comprehensive academic program of studies for selected art-interested students in grades 10, 11, and 12. In addition, these students may elect courses in a wide variety of the arts.

The high school program is intended, in short, to meet the academic needs of (a) art students preparing for fine arts work in college, (b) art students preparing for technical schoe1s, (c) art students completing their formal education upon graduation from high school. The post graduate school: For high school graduates who wish to do two years of work above grade 12, an advanced program of specialized studies will be offered. This level of work will meet the needs of students who are ready in terms of high school background and maturity to engage in an art specialization. The graduate program will involve in an art specialization and selected pertinent academic courses.

Art courses to be in many fields: To the extent possible, instruction will be offered in such fields as: FINE ARTS -" oil water color, earth colors, pen and ink; CRAFTS -- ceramics, woodwork, sculpturing, weaving, metalcraft, beadwork, silk screening, leatherwork; DRAMATIC ARTS -- creative writing, dramatics, dancing, music; other courses may be added as required. Related academic courses will support art: RELATED COURSES will include: business training, business principles, business management, salesmanship, Indian history and anthropology, English, mathematics, applied science, history of art, art appreciation, and typing.

Post high school students who wish to strengthen their general education as preparation for college may also elect any of the high school offerings. Provision for individualized programs according to student needs is included in the curriculum. In some instances, students nay enroll at the college level in local colleges for limited off-campus studies.

Guidance - The guidance program will be complete and practical. Professional counselors and guidance technicians will serve as leaders in a slice involving all available human and material resources. The program will be concerned with student life on a round-the-clock, seven days a week basis, his personal well-being, his health, meals, recreational activities, work and study schedule, job placement (in-school, summer, graduate career). In short, guidance will be a program in tune with the complete life of each student.

Student body to be colorful and talented - On campus one will meet the arts elite of American Indian youth. These young people will come from all parts of the Indian country. All Federally-recognized tribes will be represented. The Eskimo of Alaska will mingle with the Seminole of Florida. Hopi, Sioux, Chippewa, Pueblo, Navaho, Apache... these, and many other tribes will make up the family of the Institute.

Faculty to be resident and visiting - To meet the instructional needs of such a specialized student group, two types of faculty will staff the classrooms and studies: a resident staff and a visiting staff of specialists. In the latter category many of the specialists may be the great names in the major fields of art.

Professional training and successful experience will be significant factors in the selection of faculty members. Selections, however, will not be made on these merits alone. The Institute will be staffed by people who also have an unusual degree of sincerity and interest in Indians and intercultural relations.

Criteria for admission - The Institute seeks students with high aptitudes in one of the arts; students who have attracted the attention of their teachers, friends, counselors or the public because of their performance in painting, music, creative writing or anyone of the various kinds of art. Evidence must be submitted. Examples: samples of art or crafts work, or of creative writing -- descriptions of achievements in music or dramatics -- written recommendations by people who know of good work dene -- listings of honors or awards won -- the cumulative record kept by the applicant's school.

Applicants must be members of a Federally-recognized tribe and have at least one quarter Indian blood. In the main, this means all tribes that have any type of relationship with the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs. In the case where this relationship has been terminated by law, or where recognition is by the State or local group only, students are not eligible to attend.

Applicants should be in grades 10, 11, and 12 for work in the high school program. The post high school program is open to students who have graduated from high school and wish to do two years of graduate work. The age limits for both programs (high school and graduate school) are 16 through 21 years of age. Exceptions to this requirement nay be possible when the application is supported by an adequate justification.

Applicants should be persons of good character.

Students must furnish evidence of sincere interest and serious intention in the art field.

It is important to remember this. If one is currently enrolled in a public school, a parochial (mission) school, a Federal Indian school, or perhaps is a student who has temporarily dropped out of school, HE IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY IF HE MEETS THE CRITERIA DESCRIBED ABOVE. It does not matter where one has attended school. If the criterias are met, if one has art talent and feels that the Institute is the best place to develop his talent, HE IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY.

Where to, Mr. Graduate? - Two types of careers are possible: pure art careers - art-related careers.

In the pure art career field, the graduate may work as a full-time artist or craftsman. He may be independent and self-employed, or he may be a member of a guild and work with a cooperative group, or he may be employed as a staff artist in anyone of the many operations of the professions, industry or business.

In the art-related career field the title "artist" nay not actually be emphasized in his job title, but the nature of the work will be based on his art background of education. The graduate may do art-related work in museums, schools, churches, newspaper and book publishing work, research projects involving science, medicine, etc., the National Park Service, U.S. Information Agency, advertising and ether types of commercial art, illustration and design, work in the entertainment profession involving television, movies and the theatre. The field is large and varied. So, regardless of whether the graduate works in pure Indian traditional art, or in art generally as an artist or art business, or whether he follows an art related career, he can make a Good living and also contribute significantly to art and mankind. His contribution should be unique in that it stems out of an Indian background.

Additional information - Information bulletins, application forms and answers to your questions are available upon request. Address inquiries to: The Superintendent, Institute of American Indian Arts, Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Of the 31,259 Indian people who have moved away from their reservations to western and Midwestern cities since 1952 with help provided under the relocation services program of the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior, about 70 percent have become self-supporting in their new homes, Commissioner Glenn L. Emmons reported today.

"The highest rate of successful Indian relocations," Mr. Emmons said, it was 16 percent in 1955. The lowest was 61 percent in 1958. Over the whole period since the entirely voluntary program started in February 1952, the rate has been just about 70 percent.

"When we consider the numerous difficulties which many Indians from reservations face in adjusting to the complexities of life in our larger cities, this stands as a highly remarkable record. It shows what Indian people can do in taking their place alongside citizens of other races if they are only given a reasonable opportunity.”

As further evidence of Indian success under the auspices of the relocation services program, Commissioner Emmons cited a recent report made by a four-man committee of the Navajo Tribe of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. The Navajo group, representing the biggest tribe in the country, visited a large number of relocated Navajo families and single individuals in their new city homes in the latter part of 1959.

Commenting on these visits, Hoska Cronemyer, Chairman of the Navajo committee, had this to say:

"Any program of this size is bound to cause some difficulties. But we resent individuals and organizations taking advantage of these difficulties and exploit19 the victims to fight the Indian Affairs Bureau and the whole relocation program for their purposes or for publicity.

"In general, we think that if a man does the right thing, he'll do all right for himself and his family wherever he is, we think the relocation program is one of the best plans the Federal Government has ever had. Had it been in effect 50 years ago, the Indian would be much better off today.”

Commissioner Emmons also reported "gratifying progress in the Bureau's more recently initiated program to provide adult Indians with vocational training.

"Over a two-year period from the start of the program in February 1958 through the end of December 1959,” he said “2,017 individual Indians have been enrolled at Government expense in vocational schools throughout the country. Of these, 611 have completed their training, 629 have discontinued, and 777 are still in training. In addition, we have a backlog of 778 Indian applicants who are awaiting placement in vocational schools as soon as the funds can be made available.”

Transfer of Howard S. Dushane, superintendent of the Fort Belknap Indian Agency at Harlem, Montana, to the comparable position at the Cheyenne River Agency in South Dakota, effective February 20, was announced today by the Department of the Interior. He succeeds Noralf Nesset who was named superintendent of the Standing Rock Agency, Fort Yates, N. Dak., last December.

Mr. Dushane is of Indian descent and has been with the Bureau since 1934. His first assignment was at Valentine, Ariz., where he remained in positions of increasing responsibility until 1944 when he transferred to the Fort Apache Agency in the same State as personnel clerk. Five years later he was appointed chief clerk at the Hopi Agency, Keams Canyon, Ariz. After one year in this post he transferred to Hoopa, Calif., as district agent. In 1952 he was designated program officer in the area office at Sacramento, Calif., and three years later moved as program officer to the area office at Portland, Oreg. He was named superintendent of the Fort Belknap Agency in 1957.

Mr. Dushane is a native of Seneca, Mo., and a graduate of the Haskell Indian Institute at Lawrence, Kans.