Volume 5 Number 1
October 1965

Francis McKinley

AS AN AMERICAN CITIZEN, the Indian has open to him all of the opportunities, promise and hopes for success and achievement. It may be that he has in the past and in some cases still suffers certain handicaps in the realization of his dreams and aspirations. There are, however, a sufficient number of Indians who have overcome these handicaps and achieved distinction and greatness in whatever endeavor they have chosen so that we can say it is possible.

Although as a group the American Indians have been resistant to integration and assimilation, much to the chagrin of our fellow citizens, there is an ever increasing number of our Indian people who are finding their niche and place in the American society as ordinary, hard working, responsible citizens.

The population of the American Indians, according to the most recent statistics, is increasing rapidly, more than the rest of the population. The American Indians are a young group with over 50 percent under the age of 21. The increasing population can be attributed to the growing improvement in living standards and health and sanitary conditions, in spite of that fact that Indians still suffer the worst housing, health and sanitary conditions in this country.

The educational level of American Indians is progressively on the upward curve. Yearly, more and more are graduating from high schools, entering colleges, technical institutes, vocational training schools, and a good many are successfully completing their courses.

As one travels -around most of the reservations, bustling progress, intensive improvement, and innovating changes are noted. You can sense certain degrees of vibrant energy and almost feel the dynamism that is waiting to be unleashed. There are improved roads, new facilities--hospitals, schools, water works--new homes with TV aerials sticking rather incongruously out of shacks and cabins. A few weeks ago I was on the White Mountain Apache Reservation, enjoying the beauty and splendor of the Apaches, incomparable wilderness area, when I came upon an inaccessible spot where I was sure that not very many Apaches had trod. I had just lapsed into meditation when I was surprised by an intruder who told me he was a Neighborhood Youth Corps kid cleaning the wilderness area of weeds.

A few days later I was down in Canyon de Chelly on the Navajo Reservation, and again I had the urge to get away from it all for a spell and sought out an undisturbed spot, a haven for Chindis where I knew no Navajos dared trespass, when again I was startled by another presence. A bright, innocent face peered at me from among the boulders, and I said, "I suppose you are another one of those NYC guys?" To which he answered, "no" and went on his way carrying a pick. So you see, you have a new breed of cats, to borrow Brenda Brush’s favorite figure of speech, roaming and working on every corner of Indian reservations.

I mention some of the more obvious improvements and progress today among Indians and I could enumerate a great many more. But those I have mentioned will suffice as a sample.

Now, what are some of the circumstances that are making a noticeable and more significant dent into the deplorable and aggravating conditions that have so marked the Indian citizens of this country? First, the Bureau of Indian Affairs is doing about as good a job as has been done any time in history in meeting the problems head on, particularly in its traditional areas of concern such as land management and improvement and other custodial and maintenance responsibilities. I certainly think that Commissioner Nash and his staff deserve a well-earned commendation for many of their recent efforts, particularly in providing improvements in housing. The BIA has some very splendid vocational training and educational programs. Its scholarship programs, a real aid to college and university-bound students, are outstanding. I wish that there could be more of them. The Indian Division of the United States Public Health Service has made outstanding inroads into ridding the people of death dealing diseases and crippling illnesses. Dr. Carruth Wagner and his staff deserve our show of appreciation. Other government agencies such as the Federal Housing Administration, Housing and Home Finance Agency, the Department of Labor and its Manpower Development Training and the Department of Commerce and the Area Redevelopment Act are just a few who have contributed recently to the many improvements on Indian reservations.

The second significant aspect of the new horizon for American Indians, which shows promise of contributing to even greater dimensions in the overall prospects for improvements in Indian life is this country’s recent concern for the plight of minority citizens in their struggles for equal rights and opportunities so long denied them. I speak of the civil rights movement and the achievements that have been made recently to rid the shameful hypocrisy that has existed. Certainly, the American Indians will benefit from these triumphs.

Accompanying the historical changes that will assure all Americans of the right to participate equally in the opportunities afforded them by their great country and its government, is President Johnson’s program for a Great Society. Spearheaded by the anti-poverty programs, an all-out effort is being made to break the cycle of poverty. Even though the growing pains of this rather remarkable and amazing effort are often intolerable and exasperating, there are growing signs that significant achievement will be made. The American Indians are on the bottom insofar as deprivation is concerned among underprivileged groups, and here again, there certainly are opportunities that can work to the advantage of Indians.

The third aspect of the new horizons that should be mentioned is the growing value of the Indian country, particularly the large reservations. The tremendous upsurge in population in this country in the past two decades with greater increases predicted makes the Indian country the least unspoiled and untrammeled areas for recreation. Opportunities are great for enterprises devoted to commercial recreation and tourism. Some Indian tribes are already realizing the fruits of these activities.

The fourth aspect of new horizons, that I particularly want to mention, is that all human beings are malleable, flexible, adaptable and adjustable to whatever conditions that they may face in their environment. The ability to adjust to change is one of the distinguishing traits of humans. The American Indians, no less than any other people, have these traits. Sometimes, we have stereotype notions about American Indians such as they do not change or do not want to change. I think it is to their credit that they survive and exist today, retaining much of their culture, language, customs, and personalities, simply because they were able to change, adjust and swerve much like a well trained cow pony, in spite of all kinds of adversities and trials. Along with his fellow men, in this country and throughout the world, the American Indians must face change. It is inevitable. The great scientific and material progress have accelerated so greatly that its manipulators and exploiters have forgotten about how they will live with each other and much like many city folks don’t care or do not want to know their neighbors.

Insofar as relationships are concerned, the American people could be worse than the so-called primitive folk. On this score, I venture to say that American Indians, being somewhat old-fashioned and "square" in many ways, are in some respects way ahead of their sophisticated fellow Americans. The American Indian still retains some of his values which are centered around the individual, the family, and people oriented traditions. The American Indian has his ideals, which are not very different from those professed by our fellow Americans, and he lives closer to those ideals. This is partly the reason why he is at the bottom of the totem pole insofar as well being, success, achievement, and prosperity are concerned. You cannot be a prosperous businessman if you believe in sharing all you have with others; you cannot have social success and achievement if you put little weight on prestige and status; you cannot do very well in school when competition that insures academic achievement is alien to your values.

Now what do these seemingly antithetical values have to do with what is believed to be the ingredients for success in America? I believe that many American Indians still have the foundations and cornerstones for building a life commensurate with the fast changing society without sacrificing their individual integrity, the sense of balance with God’s universe, and not being overwhelmed by material gain. They can have a happy, satisfied life, prosper, and achieve success with their fellow Americans, giving and taking of those things that will assure contentment and a comfortable life.

Now that I have done my Chamber of Commerce act, I want to do a switch and look at what "New Horizons for American Indians" means from another angle. What does the average reservation Indian think about the current brand of "new horizons" for Indians? Throughout our American history the new hopes and aspirations for American Indians have been to literally sweep him under the rug along with the rest of the unsightly and unwanted debris. Viewing new horizons from his position, what would the average Indians say? I have known a great many Indians in my time and I am sure that you have. Now, out of all these acquaintances, I have come up with a composite Indian and this is what he might have to say about himself and his world view.

I, as an American Indian, exist in sort of a dualism. I have my American self which is me most of the time. Then I have my Indian self. My Indian self is often unduly suspicious. I don’t often buy, although I will go through the motions of buying. I will accept anything that is given me, free of course: my old gathering instinct. I don’t often know what to do with what I often accept, so it accumulates in my backyard, both mentally and physically.

My American self is my intellectual and educated self. I like things, material things. I also like certain intangible things like status, prestige, honors, success, achievement, and winning, so I call these the cravings of my selfish self. Now I have material things and intangible things. I don’t know what else to do with them, so I revert back to my Indian self. I didn’t quite desire all the things that my American self said were important, and therefore I find some comfort in rather contemptuously viewing what I thought I prized because truthfully they didn’t amount to very much. I’d rather forget about all of the material trappings, the effort that is required to get them, and the maintenance that goes with them, trying to keep up pretense. I’d rather look up my friends, make small talk, laugh and joke, socialize with others like me, or just sit and ponder at ease with the world around me and maybe wonder about people and how they came to be. Seemingly small things, ordinary, everyday happenings of life are important to me. Affairs of people in my immediate presence are important. The outer world, peopled by strangers whose ways and kind of life are puzzling to me, is remote, inaccessible, unfriendly, and uncomfortable.

Confronted with this kind of an attitude what are the reactions of the countless numbers of helpers, both official and unofficial, who have tried to improve and enrich the lives of the American Indians over the years? The reactions are varied, ranging from utter contempt to sentimental indulgence and ubiquitous paternalism. How many of you have read or heard bitter denunciation and ridicule of the impossible Indians from frustrated Indian workers, the smug, superior judgment of ‘I told you so’ experts in social sciences, and the faded look of resignation of eight-to-five-clock-watchers who at one time went to work for Indians, with a bright gleam of hope and idealism, anxious to meet the challenges of leading disadvantaged people to a better life?

Taking into consideration the reactions and attitudes of the American Indians to most of the efforts expended in his behalf, the proper question in talking about new horizons for Indians might be, "Whose idea of new horizons for American Indians are we talking about?" Now this query might sound strange, but when you consider and reflect upon the place of the American Indians in the scheme of things in this country, both past and present, the question does make some sense.

Do new horizons for American Indians mean the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ plans for more appropriations from the Congress of the United States? More money for a bigger and better staff? More public works? A new fence around the school? Better and more exhaustive soil surveys? Or do new horizons mean the American public’s notions about a melting pot so that the American Indians are braised, broiled, boiled, fried, digested, assimilated, integrated into the body of first class citizenship? Do new horizons mean the religious idea of making the Indian a Christian and forgetting about his pagan, heretic ideas? Or do they mean the average American’s idea of a shining, chrome-plated, gadget-strewn, neon-lit middle class paradise? Do new horizons mean the change of personality characteristics, values, and customs so that the American Indian becomes a red carbon copy of his rugged, individualistic, exploitive, belligerent, competitive, ulcer-ridden white brother? Could new horizons mean the educators’ cliche, "give them knowledge, skills, and techniques" and presumably all will be well?

Now what is wrong with these plans, goals, objectives, etc., for the American Indian? Nothing. They are all fine--according to the one who makes them. If the American Indian is somewhat evasive and hesitant about agreeing to the beautiful swaths of color painted on the new horizons envisioned by his friends and acts like he sees instead motley greys and blacks, is it tiny wonder? The next question is: What do you want? Don’t you have any future plans? Don’t you want progress?

It is my opinion that a great bulk of the American Indians desires and wants change. Although the so-called traditional Indian, the conservative, the long hair, the blanket one, or whatever name is tagged on him because he appears to resist and remain unimpressed with the changing society around him, appears to remain in stagnation, I feel that it is this group, usually the most deprived and disadvantaged, which is most ready for change. I believe that they always have wanted a change. The only trouble is that no one has paid much attention to them.

A great many American Indians have sought new horizons, only to suffer disappointment and bitter disillusionment, because those who were in position to help them have been too busy developing and working out their own kind of new horizons for the Indians. I can remember that during my younger days it was the older Indian leaders, many of whom could neither speak nor write English, who were most desirous of having the younger generation progress and they recognized education as the first requisite to advancement. They are the ones who had the vision and the dream of an enlightened Indian citizenry who would protect and preserve the good in Indian life and at the same time enjoy the benefits and the good life of the surrounding society.

What has happened and what is happening now with respect to the growth and development of the American Indians? I believe that it is the long, enduring policy of expediency--the black and white effect, the either/or approach, you do or else admonitions--the kinds of attention the American Indian has always received under different kinds of approaches. They are known by various names such as removal, annihilation, civilization, termination, etc. There is a lack of continuum in the growth and development pattern. There is no increment of progressive changes. It is from one extreme to another. As an example, you have very poor, desperately poor Indians, and then you have a fairly affluent group.

One observer has said that there is not a middle class among American Indians on a typical reservation. I say that you have a very poor class, which is obvious, and you do have a middle class among Indians. What you lack among Indians is the upper class if your criteria is measured in terms of achievement and intellectual and technical competence. You may have this upper class if you use income as a measuring stick. The reason why I mention these social strata of classes is to point out again that the lower deprived groups among Indians are demanding change, but it is the thin layer of middle class Indians who often are the ones who resist change, particularly the newly affluent who are occupying leadership positions and administrative jobs in the tribal heirarchy. It is this minority group who have achieved security and status who are ones that are often not responding to the appeals of their fellow Indians because they do not want to "rock the boat." Like the typical middle class burgher, they have it made and look askance at the poor. This same analogy might also be applied to the representatives and employees of other organizations that are headquartered and working in Indian communities.

Now that I have made an analysis of what I believe to be some of the problems of leading, and lending a hand, to the majority of the American Indians in their difficult task of adjusting to and coping with the changing times, what do I suggest in way of an approach? I think that there is a glimmer of hope in the kind of reasoning behind the Office of Economic Opportunity philosophy. The Act, particularly Title 11 which involves community action programs, stresses the need to get the full participation and involvement of the poor. In this case it means nearly all of the American Indians since they are very poor.

I would like to make reference to the efforts of so-called reformist groups of the 1920s who were concerned with the plight of the American Indians. These groups, among them enlightened government officials, were pointing out the injustices of past federal government policy, particularly to those laws and regulations which prevented the Indians from practicing their religion, traditions, ceremonies and certain customs.

Dr. Lyman Tyler does an excellent job of summarizing the efforts of the reformist groups in his study of Indian policies, which served to provide the data and thus the support for the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. 1 call your attention to one statement which seems to indicate the kinds of approaches which are needed in dealing with the present day Indians and it reads as follows: "The new Indian policy must be built around the group-dynamic potentials of Indian life. This meant an ending of the epoch of forced atomization, cultural prescription, and administrative absolution, and an affirmative experimental search for the power abiding with Indians, waiting for release through the enfranchisement or the recreation of Indian grouphood."

The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 was a milestone in Indian affairs and it finally recognized the American Indian’s right to form his own self-government, manage his own affairs, make his own decisions, and build a foundation around his culture, values, traditions, and ceremonies as a springboard to whatever kind of life that he decided was best for the future generations of Indians.

Although the so-called IRA did provide a certain amount of self-government, establish tribes where there had been only clans and family groups, and set up tribal councils, it did not grant a full measure of self-autonomy. It also did not go far enough. The reservation of certain powers in tribal constitutions and charters with the Secretary of the Interior has prevented the full participation and involvement of Indians at the grass roots level. In other words, it has not reached the dynamic potential of the Indians that is lodged within the family, clan and community structures. It only succeeded in establishing tribal governments with limited powers, subject to veto of federal government officials. Although provisions have been made to amend the constitution and charters of the various tribes, and which would assume those powers now reserved to the Secretary of the Interior, not very many tribes have felt the need to make the changes.

Part of the reason for not assuming further powers of self-government is that the involvement and participation of many of the Indians have not been solicited or attempted. It would seem to me that the present programs that are now being proposed under the ‘ Office of Economic Opportunity may be the stepping stones toward getting the full measure of involvement from the Indians and may thereby facilitate the adjustment and coping with change which I feel the Indians want.

In closing I would like to quote from John Collier’s writings in which I think he is pointing out in his eloquent way the need to be aware and conscious of the dynamic potential of Indian societies: "Colonizer, missionary, moralist, idealist, crusader for causes, it is to the hurt of all that you love, to the defeat of your own purpose and the ruin of men, if you plunge toward your aims in terms of individuals, aggregations of individuals, or external material results, ignorantly or impatiently by-pass the society."