The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-08-22
INDIANS RAISING < THEIR OWN GRAIN
'Blackfeet Of Montana Rapidly
 Becoming Independent

Three thousand farmers well organ . ized and out of debt.
 In the entire community there is not a mortgage. And every man, woman and child is the owner of a 400-acre farm, of which eight acres are irrigated and the remainder non-irrigated.
 These farmers, residents of Montana, are Blackfoot Indians, wards of the United States government says the . Science Monitor.
 s-. The BlackfO0t Indian reservation is situated in the northern part of Mon tana, just south of Alberta, Canada. : The average altitude is about five thousand feet, and because of its north ern location and high altitude the cli- matic conditions are severe. 1t has been considered essentially a grazing country with little agricultural possibilities. The Indians on the reservation are of a high type. During the settlement of the northwest the lands of these In- dians were gradually restricted until they were finally placed on the reserva- tion. From the sale of lands and the cession of the Glacier National Park to the government, and in other ways, the Blackfeet received considerable amounts of money, and in 1917, 1918 and 1919 were prosperous.
 Following 1918, drouth conditions prevailed and the livestock values dropped to such an exteOt the Indians , became almost bankrupt so far as their livestock was concerned. They hit bot i tom in 1920, with little personal prop 5 erty and no commercial credit. This con dition prevailed to such an extent that during the winter and spring of 1921 almost two thousand of the three thou sand membership of the tribe were re- ceiving rations from the government.
 As their funds were almost exhausted the question arose as to what was best to be done to take care of the situation. The Five-Year Plan
 To start definite plan after the leading Indians of the reservation had 5 been consulted, a 5-year program was decided upon, beginning in 1921. This decision was reached March and, on account of the short time before the blowing and planting season, the pro- gram could not be undertaken exten- sively and efforts had to be restricted. : As a result, about % per cent of the Indians of the reservation planted grain and probably 40 per mt planted gar dens. Provisions were made for har- ~ yestlpg and threshing the grain and the Indians were encouraged to build root houses to take care of their garden products. With the exception of those of few mixed-blood Indians, there were few grain fields in excess of five acres. In fact, the fields probably averaged two acres to the Indian and as a re- suit the threshing-maehine record in the autumn of 1921 showed HOO bushels of grain and the root-hOuse rec \ .ords creditable amount of potatoes, carrots and rutabagas placed in storage for the winter. In addition many of them had grown peas, beans, onions, lettuce, cabbage, and few other hardy garden products for their own summer use.
 To interest the Indians in this pro- gram, the superintendent of the reser- vation, in connection with the field ma tron, the superintendent of livestock and the district farmer, with an inter- preter made a house-tO-house canvass of the reservation, visiting the home of each Indian, talking over his plans from a standpoint of industry.
 The Chapter Organization
 The work grew to such an extent by the end of the first year of the program 1t was impossible for the superintendent and his few assistants to retain this personal touch throughout the entire reservation. That the situation might be handled more expeditiously and the per sOnal touch retained as far as possible, 1t was decided to organize a farm and livestock association. This association covers the entire reservation area and is composed of about thirty chapters. ! The chapter membership averages about fifteen families as a rule associated to- gether through relationship or mar riages.
 As a rule the memberships used good judgement in selecting officers. The president, in almost every instance, was the leader of the community. The vice president likewise had a substantial standing, and the secretary, in every instance, could read and write. By means of this organiza tion, close asso- citation and touch was kept up, and the superintendent was able to get into com munication with any particular chapter or all of the chapters promptly through it's officers.
 The officers rendered loyal support to the program so that, in starting the seeond year of the program in the spring