Canadian administrators of Indian affairs will be guests of the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs at a three-day joint meeting starting October 7 in Phoenix, Ariz., the Department of the Interior announced today.
The conference is an outgrowth of a visit made to the University of Toronto last December by United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash. Its major purpose is to provide for an interchange of information between the administrators of Indian affairs in the two countries on a wide array of topics of mutual interest.
The group of Canadian visitors will number about 15 and will include both national and regional administrators of Indian affairs. Heading the contingent will be Colonel H. M. Jones, Director, Indian Affairs Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration, and Mr. Ben Sivertz, Director, Branch of Administration, Department of Northern Affairs.
The United States participants will include Commissioner Nash and others from the Washington office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as well as the Bureau's 10 area directors.
Following the business sessions the United States and Canadian conferees will divide into groups for visits on Thursday and Friday to the Hopi and Navajo Reservations in northern Arizona, to the Fort Apache Reservation in the eastern part of the State, and to Indian employment centers in Phoenix and Los Angeles.
The Monday morning session will feature introductory talks by Colonel Jones and Commissioner Nash and will set the stage for the meetings to follow. Monday afternoon will be devoted to a discussion of Indian local government in the two countries. On Tuesday morning the conferees will focus on economic development in Indian areas. Tuesday afternoon will be given over to the administration of service programs in the fields of education, welfare, housing and health. Wednesday morning's session will deal with programs of placement or employment assistance. The final session on Wednesday afternoon will be devoted to concluding remarks by the heads of the two delegations, evaluation of the conference, and plans for possible future meetings.
