Volume 4 Number 2
January 1965

Elizabeth E. Hoyt

The study reported here was undertaken to give more specific insight into the reasons why young Indians leave school earlier than white children and why, when they do leave school, they adjust less well in the economic world. It is, of course, obvious that they are to a certain extent suspended between two cultures; but it has not been altogether clear whether this means, primarily, that they feel the pull of the non-material values of the old Indian culture, which are at some variance with modern white culture; or whether, having accepted white values in the main, they have difficulty in following them out. If the latter, what are the specific difficulties?

The major basis of the study is 582 essays from Indian children, 15-17 years old, on "My Hopes for My Life on Leaving School", plus 207 essays from non-Indian children on the same subject. The Indian schools included one Navajo Special Program School, and five schools on a high school level; one federal boarding school (Albuquerque), one reservation public school (Zuni), one public integrated-school (Gallup High), one Roman Catholic integrated school (Gallup Cathedral), and one Protestant Mission School (Ganado). In addition there were 287 essays on "Plans", mostly from South Dakota; these were used only for supplementary purposes, since the word ‘Plans’ is narrower than ‘Hopes’ and carries a somewhat different meaning.

Although it would be much better to get an adequate number of essays from Indian children all over the United States, it was felt that the southwest would be the place where attachment to the old Indian culture would be most likely to be expressed, and so if a choice of regions had to be made the southwest would be the most valuable region.

The greatest differences in response by schools, as might be expected, were not between the different types of high schools, but between all high schools, as a group, and the Navajo Special Program School. The NSP children were the least sophisticated of the children and said much more about the importance of family or tribe. Certain things, however, were true of all essays from Indian children and are significant as contrasted with, or similar to, the essays from white children.

There were three outstanding similarities between Indian and white children’s hopes. The first was emphasis on importance of job. Ninety-one percent of Indians and eighty-nine percent of whites spoke of job. Second, Indian children expressed desire for material things such as cars and houses in about the same proportions as the white children. Third, among both Indians and whites less interest was expressed in non-material than in material values. No Indian child expressed any interest in the non-material values of old Indian culture.

There were also three major differences between Indian and white children’s hopes. First, the Indian children were much more ignorant than white children about jobs that might be available to them and the training necessary and available for those jobs. All of the schools attended by these Indians paid some attention to vocation, but in general the Indian children did not have the foundation on which to build that the white children had. Roughly, the Indian children were confused by not knowing what jobs were possible, the white children were confused by knowing of many jobs. Second, nearly a third of the Indian children expressed a concern or affection for family or tribe; references to family were twice as many as those to tribe. No white child mentioned concern or affection for family. Third, the Indian children, in contrast to the white children, expressed considerable insecurity about their future. They did not mention possible prejudice toward them, but feared they might not make the grade, may become bums or just drift along because the temptations were too many or they were not smart. A few said they had been discouraged by others. However, the Indian children sometimes stated a very strong determination to succeed.

Another part of the study, not subject to statistical presentation, is findings from the writer’s visits to various centers where Indians live, both on and off reservations. The most important of these were in New Mexico, Washington and South Dakota. In these centers the writer discussed experience with Indians, especially young Indians, with various employers of labor and employment agencies, and also visited all social centers and social enterprises for Indians, saw the work or recreation in process and talked with those in charge.

The evidence from the economic side is rather more hopeful than that from the social. It seemed to be the general opinion of employers that at present it is too much to expect most Indians to keep at work regularly and consistently but if the employer is liberal in granting workers leave to stay home, or go home, when the urge is upon them, and is generally understanding of Indian home backgrounds, he could ordinarily expect good service. It was pointed out that while Indian children are capable of great effort and are by no means lazy, they, or at least the boys, do not grow up in in atmosphere where steady and regular employment is expected; and we ignorantly assume that they should have work attitudes which have never been developed in them. With sufficiently intelligent attitudes on our part, a good portion of the difficulties of a good Indian labor force in suitable employment would disappear.

To turn to the social side, in most of the communities visited there were social centers or social enterprises for Indians. In all except one instance these appeared to isolate Indians from the general stream of community life with neighboring whites. Opinion of the doubtful value of these undertakings on long-run improvement of relations was expressed by three of the most intelligent white persons (a Roman Catholic, a Methodist, a Friend) who were working in these agencies with Indians: All had started with enthusiasm, knowing Indians needed special help, but though Indian-., came to them in large numbers they had begun to doubt the ultimate effects of such help on Indian morale. All agreed, of course, that the best thing would be for Indians and whites to have closer social association, on man-to-man or friend-to-friend basis, but they did not know how to bring it about. One limited instance of this was found, a Saturday night dance program established by community leaders to bring young whites and young Indians together (Bellingham, Washington).

Some churches that started as integrated churches have now set up separate Indian churches, and justify their action because thus their worshippers are increased in numbers.

There were in some places Indian celebrations, as dances, rodeos and barbecues, which whites attend. The writer’s limited experience with these was that at such functions there was very little social intercourse between Indians and whites and they served more to set the Indians apart as a peculiar group than to bring whites and Indians together. In all but one instance these celebrations appeared to be primarily money-making spectacles: The picturesque customs of several tribes were combined, the costumes came from a mail-order house and some features of the spectacles were not Indian at all. The exception was a series of dances at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque: the dances were genuine and at the end the Indians called to the large white audience to join them, and they all danced a simple dance together.

From the evidence of the essays, plus the more tentative evidence of the writer’s contacts in Indian centers, it would seem that Indian children are in the main following the direction of the white society around them, or at any rate have little other direction; but they are having difficulty in following it. Not only do they lack vocational preparation, they have an inadequate background of knowledge both of jobs and training and inadequate realization of the employer’s requirement of regularity of employment. In the second place they feel family ties more strongly than white children of the present generation do; thus when they leave home to take a job it is particularly hard for them to carry through on it—they feel they need contact with home. In the third place, and this is also an aspect of the first and second, they are handicapped, not directly by prejudice as such, but by not being fully accepted in white society.

This last point seems to the writer the hardest to deal with. On the part of whites there is in general a lack of concern for Indians, based in part on ignorance. When there is concern, it often takes the form of "doing something for Indians" that separates them from whites still more. On the part of young Indians there is shyness and doubt; on the part of older Indians, suspicion and resentment to a considerable extent justified, but greater than is justified.

It is also the writer’s opinion that more separation of Indians, however high the motives, is not going to help Indians in the long run, nor is it going to help the United States in its efforts to bring about more understanding among all the peoples of the world. The Indian problem, in other words, is part of a whole-world problem, the solutions for which we are groping. What needs to be built upon are the generally friendly and constructive attitudes of the young and the (so far relatively few) cases of constructive experience outside of schools which are now bringing about better relations between whites and Indians. In so far as this is a matter of providing financial means for experimental projects, the whites have usually (but not always) the greater advantage and responsibility; but for success, attitudes and cooperation of Indians are equally as important as the attitudes and cooperation of whites.