Additional progress toward the goal of full educational and economic opportunities for American Indians was accomplished by the Bureau of Indian Affairs along many different lines in the fiscal year 1957, the Department of the Interior reported today.
In the field of juvenile education the Department's report called attention to the record enrollment of 132,000 Indian children in schools of all types throughout the country, a seven-percent increase in Navajo enrollment to a new high of over 27,000 and the initiation of active steps to enlarge school opportunities for the Choctaws of Mississippi and the natives of Alaska.
Greater attention than ever before was also given to the educational needs of Indian adults. The adult literacy training program, launched by the Bureau on five reservations in 1956, was continued in 1957 and expanded to additional tribal groups in Arizona, New Mexico and Alaska. Plans were shaped up in fiscal 1957 for the adult vocational training program which was formally initiated on July 1.
On the economic side one of the most important developments of the year was the establishment of eight additional industrial plants near Indian reservations. Three of these were in South Dakota, two in Arizona, and one each in Montana, North Carolina and Washington. One of them, however, located at Flagstaff, Arizona, found it necessary to discontinue operations after the end of the fiscal year. Those still operating are expected to train and employ as many as 500 Indian workers during fiscal 1958.
Nearly 7,000 Indians received assistance in 1957 under the Bureau's relocation services program in finding jobs and establishing homes away from the reservations in cities such as Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago and St. Louis. This compared with slightly over 5,000 aided under the program in fiscal 1956.
Income to Indians from oil, gas and other mineral leasing of reservation lands nearly doubled as compared with the previous year, rising from about $41,000,000 in fiscal 1956 to over $75,000,000 in 1957. As usual, some groups and individuals benefited far more heavily than others. A large part of the increase was accounted for by the nearly $35,000,000 in bonuses received by the Navajo Tribe for oil and gas leases in the “four corners” portion of the reservation.
Two tribal groups reached the point of final divorcement from Federal trusteeship in fiscal 1957 under the provisions of laws enacted in 1954. These were the coastal Oregon tribes of the former Grand Ronde-Siletz jurisdiction and four small Paiute bands of Utah.
