"The unique content and method of traditional Indian teachings, development of morality and will power in the formation of Indian character, the spiritual training of Indian children by kin .and medicine man. All will be discussed at '" I the Second Conference of American Indian Elders on Traditional Indian Education," Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today. The Conference will be held at the Mather Training Center, Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, June 19-23.
The week-long, conference is jointly sponsored by the Myrin Institute Inc., a non-profit foundation organized to promote adult education, and the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs. An initial conference with Indian elders was held in Denver, Colorado in June, 1968.
Following introductory remarks by Sylvester M. Morey, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Myrin Institute, Commissioner Bruce will address the Conference June 19 on the need and importance of traditional Indian education. The afternoon discussion will cover the content and methods of traditional Indian teachings as they affect a child's life from conception through puberty.
Tuesday the group will discuss the formation of character and the grooming of a chief. The Thursday morning discussion will be the role of women elders in the education of the young; followed by an afternoon discussion of the perpetuation of sacred lore to young Indians and its influence on their lives.
Indians participating in the Conference are representative of regional Indian areas and tribes of the United States. Allen Quetone, Kiowa, Superintendent of the BIA Concho Agency, Concho, Oklahoma will. Serve as Moderator; and Robert L. Bennett, former Commissioner of Indian Affairs and presently Director of the American Indian Law ‘Institute at the University of New Mexico, will attend as special consultant.
On Friday June 23, participants have scheduled a press conference at 1:00 p.m. for concluding statements. It is expected that the group will discuss the gap in understanding that has always separated the white man from the red.
