Evening star., 1944-02-27

en- look On.-U. s. Indian Service Photo
$21 100000 of which about two-thirds
was sold on the open market, helping
to feed the Nation, Its armies and it,
allies.
The Indians during 1912 also mar
keted enough wool to provide uniforms
for 10000 soldiers, or more than a divi-
sion.
The Office estimates that approx.
mately 10000 Indians are in war in.
dustry Adding these to the $4,000 men
in the service it appears that about
$1,000 red men land women are con-
tributing In some way to the winning
of the war. This is about IS per cent
of the estimated 100000 Indians In
the continental United States.
(The Indian population OF the United
States, incidentally, has been a matter Of
dispute among authorities. The legal
definition used by the Indian Office in
cludes any one aDho is member Of q
so-called treaty tribe" 1t estimates
that OF those so enrolled, 10000 ara
tuH-bloOded, Dhue the remainder are OF
mired blood. Approximately 100000 OF
the Indians liue on Government reser-
vations)
Indians in War Industry
War occupations in which the Indians
are particularly numerous, according to
Mr.. Collier, include railroading, min
ing, aircraft manufacturing (the Civil.
ian Conservation Corps trained num-
Der of Indians as aircraft mechanics)
and steel construction. incidentally, Mr..
Collier says that one of the best-known
units of structural steel workers in the
country is composed of 200 Iroquois
who make their home in Brooklyn Ap-
parently their litheness and sure-foot-
edness makes them adept at this dam
gerous occupation. Among the Navajos
alone, the only tribe for which precise
figures are available, some 1000 are In
war industry.
The Indians are putting their money
into War Bonds, too. Purchases range
all the way from the s25 bonds bought
by nearly all Indian workers to a $40
900 investment recently made from
tribal funds by the Navajos
Some Government agents report that
Indians from reservations have brought
their savings in and started to leave
before receiving bonds. Apparently they
planned to give rather than lend their
money.
Heavy Bond Buyers
During the bond drive just closing,
the superintendent of the Mesa Verde
National Park reported on the bond.
buying of two Of his Indian employees
Sam Yellowhorse and Joe Lee. Sam has
wife and six children, Joe a wife and
five children. Yet each, out Of monthly
salary of s125, allots s18.75 for War
Bonds-or Is per cent. In addition, Joe
and his wife Mabel recently sold their
light truck, added SIS from savings and
invested In an extra $500 bond.
The Indian Office considers these cases
typical
What has selective service shown as
to the health of the American Indian?
The rejection rate IS per cent? Is
higher than that for white Americans"
Mr.. Collier said. The Indians still
have high prevalence of tuberculosis
of the reflections"
Statistics, too, show that the death
rate among Indians l3 per 1000 an
nually) is higher than among white
people Q1 per 1000 annually.
However, Mr.. Collier points out dur
ing the last several years since the
Government intensified its health pro-
gram among the Indians, their birth
rate is rising rapidly, and is now IS
per cent higher than the general Ameri-
can level Significantly, the increase
among full-bloods is higher than among
the mixed breeds. Among the Hopis-
an exceptional case-the population IL
rising 2.5 per cent yearly now
No Longer a Subject Race
This new surge of life among the
Indians is attributed by Mr.. Collier d.
rectly to the revision of Government
policy in 1928 when the old Indian Bu-
reau was reorganized.
Before then" he said, "our oficial
policy was to liquidate the Indian as q
race. We tried to make him forget his
language and his religion. He was q
member of dying race-and knew it.
In 1927. about $4,000 Indians died yearly.
Now deaths among them have been
cut in half-or down to $4,000 yearly.
THE reason for this isn't entirely
medical, despite our new health pro-
gram and improved hospitals. 1t Is
largely psychological.
Before 1923 the Indian was a SUBJ
ject race-a race managed by white
men. Between 1888 and 1888, half Of
the Indians remaining land was taken
from them by white men. They were
close enough to NaNism to know what
it meant, and that's why they hate It
today.
To-day the Indian has regained his
self-respect. He is intensely and sin.
cerely loyal to the United States Gov.
eminent. That Is the explanation q
his war record"