It is with a great deal of pleasure that I return to Shiprock for the dedication of this splendid new factory constructed by Navajo effort to house the largest industrial facility in the entire State of New Mexico.
The Navajo people have indeed moved into the, space age. In this plant, a subsidiary of the world-wide Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation, Navajos are today assembling some of the components that go into our Apollo rocket systems.
I congratulate the Dineh* -- and Chairman Nakai and officers and members of the Shiprock Chapter, and other members of the Navajo Tribal Council -- for the patience, persistence and foresight that has brought this community into the orbit of America's future. I also congratulate Dr. Lester Hogan, President of Fairchild Semiconductor, and other officers of that corporation who joined hands with the Navajos and with the Federal Government in a venture that was, in fact, a real gamble in the beginning. It takes imagination and belief in the potential of Indian Americans to accomplish what has been accomplished here at Shiprock in the past three years. The company has grown from a modest operation with 50 workers -functioning temporarily in Shiprock's recreational center building -- to a plant employing 1,200 -- including more Indian people than any other plant of any kind in the entire United States. All but a small handful of the employees, including supervisory employees, are Navajos -- and I am told Fairchild's objective is not only to double and possibly triple the current payroll in the near future but to convert all jobs to Indian occupancy as quickly as Indian skills can be trained to assume the entire range of responsibilities.
These developments didn't happen by spontaneous combustion. They happened because the Navajo people believed in themselves, and convinced others that the belief is well-founded. They happened because Indians employed here have demonstrated aptitudes and attitudes that are necessary ingredients to successful private industry. They happened because a kind of partnership effort was involved -- a four-way partnership of private industry, tribal authorities, Federal aid agencies and the larger New Mexico community.
*Navajo name for "the people" - meaning themselves.
Be assured that during my tenure as Commissioner of Indian Affairs this kind of all-points effort will become a feature of the BIA's efforts to assist Indians to develop themselves and their resources to the maximum degree. Indian areas -- even the vast and somewhat remote
Navajo area -- cannot support their populations in forms that no longer relate to the economy of this Nation as a whole. The Navajos have proven that it is' possible to be Indian and be modern -- indeed, that the best safeguard to survival of a people is to bolster ancient custom and tradition and belief with know-how related to the broader community.
The Navajos have already made a good start, as shown by a decision of the tribal council to retain a firm of urban planners to outline a comprehensive plan for the entire reservation. This latest important tribal council action follows a series of other moves to promote industrial growth. One is the establishment of the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority which is now providing water, natural gas and electricity to many parts of the reservation. and I cannot fail to mention the new Navaho Community College. What a farsighted move this is -- to provide a means, here at home, for training Navajo workers and supervisors in the various skills and technologies that will be necessary to the economic improvement of the Navajo region. I know this college has been a long-time dream-come-true for a number of Navajo leaders dedicated to the proposition that education is basic to continued Navajo vitality.
These new developments strike my eye and heart with particular awareness because I come here today as one returning to the scene.
Navajo pride is growing -- I sense it strongly in this tremendous gathering here today, and I sense it among the several Navajo individuals with whom I have spoken personally. At the same time, the shape of Navajo land is changing. Where once only the dramatic works of nature itself comprised the profile of the land, now the shape of towns made by man are forming. Such places as Window Rock, Fort Defiance, Chinle, and Crownpoint -- to name but a few -- were once hardly more than place names and now they are becoming centers of Navajo life. These are places where that most valuable of all Navajo resources, the Navajo people, can live, work and thrive.
I first became acquainted with Navajos and their problems when Secretary of the Interior Krug asked me to serve as chairman of a task force appointed to review your plight following the terrible winter of 1947. Much of our report was incorporated in the Navajo-Hopi Rehabilitation Program, I have kept up with reservation development, here and elsewhere.
One of the most interesting developments is the fact that the Indian population is growing at a great rate. This is exemplified by the Navajos in particular. Only a decade or maybe a bit longer ago there were only 85,000 Navajos, Today your numbers exceed 120,000 and by the turn of the century, at present rates, there will be about 340,000 Navajo people.
All of these people cannot possibly expect to live on lands that are not producing the most they can in terms of today's economy. It is not enough to be farmers and ranchers. It is also necessary to be storekeepers and manufacturers and miners and producers of new kinds of goods from traditional resources. All kinds of products can be made from the resources of the forests. New kinds of foods can be produced, processed and packaged to supplement the agrarian life. New income can come from purposefully planned recreational developments to attract the tourist dollars and still not detract from the natural beauty of some Indian lands.
There are jobs and job opportunities of many kinds yet to be created in Indian areas. This must be our objective. For, while many Indians will perhaps wish to venture into the urban, areas in search of new opportunity, many others will prefer to remain in their homelands.
To open up the options -- this is my objective as Commissioner. And it can be done only through the four-way kind of effort that has been demonstrated here at Shiprock. Through joint planning by private industry, Federal and state government, and the Indian people themselves.
This kind of economic development planning will have its impact upon the social betterment of Indian communities -- for there is no way to draw the line between the term "social progress" and the term "economic development." Each is only a theoretical concept until they come together. The betterment of human living is the objective of developing natural resources.
You have all heard about Indian people moving into the "mainstream" of American life. Where, I submit, does the mainstream begin and end? In my mind, the mainstream of America runs from the rich tidelands through the mountains and across the plains for three thousand miles. Indians are in the mainstream. The only problem is, their areas have not been as well developed for human habitation, nor their resources as well developed for human use, as have most other areas and resources of the country.
It is beginning to happen. It is happening there in Shiprock. And I salute 'the efforts of all people and all organizations that combined to make it happen.
