Increased emphasis on the ultimate goal of transferring basic Indian Bureau functions either to the Indians themselves or to State and local highlighted the 1952 work of the Bureau, Commissioner Dillon S. Myer said today.
Among the major moves during the year were Indian Bureau-sponsored bills introduced in the last Congress to transfer civil and criminal jurisdiction over Indians to the States of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, California, Oregon and Washington;
Establishment of a new Division of Program in the Central Office of the Indian Bureau to concentrate on joint formulation of withdrawal plans by Indians and the Government;
Completing plans for the transfer of 25 Indian Service schools during the coming year;
Accelerated efforts to encourage Indians to seek loans from banks and other types of credit institutions instead of from the Bureau.
An important move in this direction was modification by the Bureau of regulations governing Indian trust land to permit mortgaging of such lands under certain conditions, thus allowing Indians for the first time to borrow from the private and public sources on a basis of equality with other citizens.
A survey of Indian finances during the year showed that in 1951 Indians received nearly $20,000,000 in credit from non-Bureau sources.
Total amount of loans from the Bureau and tribal sources outstanding at the end of the year was approximately $24,000,000.
Development of withdrawal programs for Indians will be preceded and based upon compilation of all relevant factual data, it was emphasized, such as an inventory of tribal and individual Indian resources, a study of the laws and treaties affecting any particular group, and many other factors. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs has made known a "standing offer" by the Bureau to work constructively with any tribe that wishes to assume either full or partial control over its own affairs. During the year the Bureau and the Department of the Interior sponsored bills to facilitate withdrawal from supervision of Indian affairs throughout California, and from the Grand Ronde-Siletz area of western Oregon covering 41 Indian bands.
The 10-year rehabilitation program for the Navajo and Hopi tribes, initiated during fiscal year 19511 moved forward on several fronts to improve and expand (school facilities at seven key spots on the reservation, to improve basic health installations, enlarge irrigation facilities and to improve transportation and communication.
Prospects for further progress under the 10-year program were encouraging since a total of $9,259,000 was made available by the Congress for fiscal year 1953, as compared with $8,645,520 in 1951 and $6,675,100 for 1952. However, it became increasingly apparent that, because of inflationary factors, the full program contemplated when Public Law 474 of the 81st Congress was enacted could not be carried out with the $88,570,000 authorized by that Act.
Leasing of Indian lands for oil and gas production reached an all-time high during the past year. Activity was especially pronounced at the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana, at several of the Sioux reservations in North and South Dakota, and at the Ute Mountain, Southern Ute, Jicarilla Apache and Navajo reservations in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico.
A total of some 600,000 acres of Indian lands were leased for oil and gas production during the year, as compared with some 400.000 during the previous fiscal year. The amount received by Indians in bonuses as compensation for the signing of oil and gas leases almost doubled, increasing from less than $4,000,000 to more than $7,000,000, while the total income realized from such leases, in the form of bonuses, royalties and rentals together, rose from about $13,000,000 in 1951 to more than $15,000,000 in 1952.
During the year, the Bureau continued administration of schools and hospitals and other social and economic services for Indians.
The highest number of physicians and dentists for the past 20 years - 19 -were on duty during the year at the Bureau's 62 hospitals and 10 out-patient dispensaries. On duty also were 711 nurses, and 140 practical nurses. Approximately 40,000 Indian children received dental services during the year.
The Bureau continued its activity under the Johnson O’Malley Act to provide public health and preventive medical services to Indians by county health departments, bringing to 30 the number of contracts of this kind totaling $155,000 in payments to States, counties or local health units.
The Bureau also sponsored enactment of Public Law 291, approved April 3, 1952, which authorizes transfer of Indian hospitals to appropriate State or local agencies, as well as admitting non-Indian patients to such hospitals where other facilities are not available.
Welfare assistance dropped during the year, averaging 6,059 cases a month compared with 6,392 monthly cases in 1951.
The trend of Indian children being accepted into the country’s public school system continued, Of the 37,000 Indians enrolled in public schools, 7,000 received no aid from the Federal Government. Aid was supplied for the remainder - 30,000 children - to local school districts unable to assume the full cost because of non-taxable Indian lands within the districts.
The Indian Bureau has withdrawn from direct school operation in the States of Idaho, Michigan, Washington and Wisconsin. Bureau responsibility in these States (excluding Michigan) is exercised through financial assistance to the States under the provisions of the Johnson O'Malley Act.
In 1952, 14 State contracts and 27 district contracts were in effect. This is an increase of one State contract over the preceding fiscal year. A decrease of 1.5 district contracts from the preceding year was because of the consolidation of district contracts on a county basis in one area.
The Bureau operated during the year a total of 93 boarding schools, 233 day schools in 14 States and Alaska with an approximate enrollment in all schools of 38,000 Indian children. Of this number, 40 are high schools offering both vocational and college preparatory courses, and are accredited by the States in which they are located. Haskell Institute at Lawrence, Kansas is also accredited by the North Central Association of High Schools and Colleges.
Since many of the pupils entering these schools could not speak English and were unfamiliar with many phases of modern living, emphasis was placed on the acquisition of English, and the development of habits, knowledge, and skills that would enable the students to make the adjustment necessary to their economic welfare.
Placement of Indians in employment took place in fiscal 1952 at an encouragingly high level and on a much wider scale than ever before. Out of a total of approximately 59,000 Indian placements reported during the year, the Bureau's placement staff participated directly in about one-third. In contrast to the Bureau-assisted placements of 1951, which involved mainly Navajos and Hopis, those placed with Bureau assistance in 1952 were from a large number of tribal groups throughout the western United States and Alaska. Nearly 6,000 of the placements reported were in permanent employment and about two-thirds of these involved Bureau participation.
In order to assist Indians leaving reservation areas for permanent employment in becoming established in their new locations, the Bureau initiated a program of financial aid for such re-settlers in January 1952. During the balance of the fiscal year assistance of this type was extended to approximately 1,000 Indians, including some 480 family units.
In the field of training to provide Indians with skills which they need for permanent employment, the most significant development of the year was the establishment of an apprenticeship program in the Navajo-Hopi area to teach 27 skilled trades. This activity, which was part of the ten-year rehabilitation program for Navajos and Hopis, was initiated in cooperation with a number of labor unions, the State Employment Services of Arizona and New Mexico, and the Labor Department's Bureau of Apprenticeship Training. It is being operated under the direction of a joint apprenticeship committee consisting of Bureau officials, Navajo and Hopi Tribal representatives, and officials of the Arizona and New Mexico State Federation of Labor.
