Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-05
GOdfathers of the Indians

in the whole miserable business seems to
be that this last fact applies on the
whole, so far as Government servants
are concerned, to relatively minor ap-
oointees and to relatively small amounts
Taken together. however II is enough to
make most national legislators suspicious
Of any administrator Of Indian affairs.
Rhoads and Scattergood's first effort
was to cut at the crudest and cruelest
confronting fact-to clean up the scan
dalous Indian boarding schools.
Already Government agents were
preaching, In the usual Government way,
the virtues of vitamtrs and mixed diet.
It was slightly ironic. For the chill
dren the Government cared for" ate
principally beans. They we're supposed
| to be nourished for II cents day each.
Now they get some things beside beans
ON nearly 38 cents day.
Girls Decorate Clothes.
And then their clothes. Sometimes
there were enough to be warm in Win
ter Never was there anything to wear
but dreadful uniform. A uniform for
those lovers Of color, instructive artists Z!
Shoes bought in carload lots-mtscella-
neous sizes-fit II they could-wear
them anyway. Now they get a variety
of bolts Of cloth and let the girls deco
rate them to suit themselves-and buy
their shoes to fiat $40 instead Of $40
a year.
In spite Of traditional congressional
hostility. the well known iron minded
ness of the budget they managed to get
S6,000,000 more wherewith to amelio-
rate the most glaring evils.
Now cupboards are built for them A
little thing. cupboard. Yet here SYM
bolized is an effort to meet one char
acteristic of the red man, most batting
to the white.
The Indian has little or no sense Of
personal property or Of saving or of
investment. For example. he sells hts
allotted land. buys everything in sight
that hits his fancy, goes home. Imme-
diately the entire tribe descends upon
him and stays till everything he has
bought Is eaten up. worn out.
The Indian had not the good fortune
to have been enslaved, end so to learn
work. He feels sure that the white
man owes him living. Only desire
for property makes any one work white
or red
Sleeping in overcrowded, disease
breeding dormitories, no child owned so
much as box in which to keep a secret
treasure. nor indeed any treasure to
put there II he had
III cNIiOOi' OliIS soy lCb Jllt CIlO
make something 1t likes and keep 1t to
himself in its own place Personal pos
session-the foundation Of our economic
system. It may be rotten but 1t is our
own And most Indians will never fit
into 1t, never cease to be public charges
until either they achieve that sense of
personal property which urges them to
work, or we change our system.
Ran Florginr and Jail.
Cruelty Of jail and hogging (Which
actually existed done away with Work
about the school plant which but YES
terday consumed practically all the time
OF the children when they were not in
the school room-hard work In steamy
laundries, floor scrubbing. unchildlike
work-f1as now been exchanged in the
remaining boarding schools into only
that sort of work which may be really
educational to them. Two hundred new
employees do the work now
AS fast as money can be obtained
from Congress the children are being
taken out of dormitories and distributed
through other schools
Day schools for those Indians who are
not nonlads. Wherever possible ordi-
nary public schools. alongside of the
white child
Every one tells me that there Is little
or no objection to this plan on racial
grounds. Frequently the States are glad
to get the help of Government money in
supporting schools from which the
whites may benefit.
Local objection seems to be not to an
Indian but to dirty. badly clad Indian
Build SAYS Mr.. Rhoads, ION the
natural abilities of the Indian-keen
observation, retentive memory, ability
-
mechanics. l have known one to take
motor engine down and put 1t to-
gether again from memory
In certain car shops of the Southwest
it was found that the employees ranked
in skill as follows: First. Indian; sec
ond, white; third, japanese.
Text Books Thrown Away.
RECOMMENDATION of the worst kind
characterized our schools when Mr..
Rhoads came into Office. Nothing ma
lively Indian was admitted to be right.
beautiful. Babies Of the sand and cac-
tus wrote laborious themes about snow.
maple trees. ships at sea. Today the
old text books have been thrown away,
teachers are told to develop their mate
rial from native art from local expert
ence Fine Indian craftsmen are sought
out as teachers for pottery design, bas-
ket weaving, metal working.
Create a sense of personal ownership,
create pride in workmanship.
And after school what? Back to the
blanket?"
The reality of the past in most cases
Is far less picturesque. Back to idle
ness, filth, squalor. Look, then, for an
alternative. The only alternative-work
Enter. then, under Rhoads and Scat
tergood, vocational workers to try
to find what sort of work a youth can
do, and placement officers" to try to