Clarence W. Bailey,
Veteran reporter, Arizona Republic, Phoenix.

YOUTHFUL Indians are the most pressing problem of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, according to Louis R. Bruce, BIA commissioner. Bruce made the comments in Phoenix, Arizona, in mid-January during a four-day tour of reservations in the state, to the Arizona Republic.

Bruce said his agency is busy developing various youth programs to help teen-age and young Indian adults become involved in America’s problems.

"Fully 65 percent of our total Indian population today is under the age of 25. That’s why we have to devote considerable time to creating effective programs for them."

He said that his stepped-up efforts to assist Indian youths are being made in five areas: young adults; Indian youths attending public schools; Indian youths attending bureau or reservation schools; young Indians in bureau boarding schools; and Indian college students.

"We’re now working on plans to establish a National Indian Youth Advisory Committee," Bruce said. "The purpose of this committee will be to help Indian youth become involved in all kinds of activities, to develop leaders not only for the reservations but in national affairs."

The youth planning includes a national Indian sport program. He said he is receiving wide support for his proposals. "In all my life I’ve never seen as much interest in Indian affairs by non-Indian people," he added.

Bruce emphasized that all of his efforts will have the objective of sharpening the Indian’s identity in our culture, as well as helping to produce Indian leaders.

He said he did not anticipate that Indians ever would abandon their reservations and become generally intermixed with the Caucasian population. "Some Indians will always want to continue in the tribal structure," he said.