The Indian youths of America are going to college and other institutions of higher learning in ever-increasingly numbers, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glen L. Emmons said today.
According to a nationwide Indian Bureau survey, there are over 2,300 young Indian men and women who are now taking courses in schools above the high school level. The total twenty years ago was about one-third that number.
Many of these education-seeking youngsters are able to pay their own ways; others are being aided by scholarships, grants and working in nonclass periods.
The financial aid given the young Indians who need it comes from many sources. Some scholarships are granted by their tribes; others by church groups or benevolent organizations, by individuals or their estates, by the States, and by the Indian Bureau.
The Navajo Tribe of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah is the leader in offering tribal scholarships. The Navajos have set aside ($100,000 this year from their tribal funds to provide scholarships to enable qualified youngsters of the tribe to continue their education after leaving high school. The 213 Navajo youths in college this year is a remarkable advance considering that there were only seven in college 20 years ago, Commissioner Emmons said.
The Navajos granted 84 new tribal scholarships for the 1955-56 school year, with 51 of them going to freshmen. The Navajo students do not have to repay the money granted for their advanced education; the only stipulation is that they work with their own people on the Navajo Reservation one year for every year that the tribe pays their way through college.
Scholarships for numerous Indians are granted from other sources outside the tribe. The Indian Bureau granted 114 to Indian students, 62 to freshmen. Churches and benevolent organizations gave 72 scholarships, 29 of them to freshmen. From all sources - the Indian Bureau, the States, churches, benevolent organizations and individuals - 512 scholarships were provided for Indian students for the current school term. Of this total, 237 were for freshmen.
In Oklahoma, Indian Bureau officials estimate that 600 Indian young men and women received degrees last year. They also report that there are about 1,500 in college now - many of them paying their own way, others attending school with the help of scholarships or grants.
One Indian in Idaho, who had only a ninth grade education himself, has made it possible for outstanding high school graduates of his Nez Perce Tribe to attend college. Isaac Broncheau, who was wounded in both legs in World War II and who died at the age of 28 from tuberculosis, willed his $23,000 estate to be used to provide $500 yearly scholarships so that young members of his tribe might have a chance for educational advantages which he never enjoyed"
Congress approved $50,000 for Indian Bureau scholarships and grants for the 1956 fiscal year. This amount more than doubles the figure for 1955, $22,935, which was the largest previous appropriation for Indian higher education. However, Commissioner Emmons said, the 1956 appropriation still falls short of filling the requests for aid that have come to the Bureau.
Twenty years ago, the money available for Indian Bureau scholarships and grants was only $10,000.
