The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1952-06-05

Highlights OF His Recent Visit
To Navajo Reservation Where
Presbyterian Churches Main
tain A Mission.
Rev. J. Russell Butcher, minister
of The Presbyterian Church, at the
weekly luncheon meeting of the XII
wants Club, held at the Hotel Alex
ander on Thursday, gave an ex-
tremely interesting talk on the Nav
ajo Indians, based on a recent trip
he made to their reservation in the
Southwest, where the Presbyterian
Church maintains mission.
The program was arranged by the
Birthday Committee, of which James
v. Cannen is chairman, and president
Albert M. Long was in the chair.
Mr. Butcher told his audience
that when you entered the Navajo
reservation, which has an area of
5000 square miles (about the size
of West Virginia., it was like step
ping into different world, where
members of the tribe were living in
communal buildings that Coronado
occupied some 400 years ago.
The speaker then told of visiting
Acoma, the Sky City, built on top
of tremendous rock accessible by
only a narrow pathway, and he re-
lated that all the soil, as well as the
building material in Acoma, was
carried up on the backs of the In
dians.
There are $4,000 Navajos on the
reservation and the population is
increasing at about the rate of 1000
year, and Mr.. Butcher explained
this increase as being partly due
to the fact that the social customs of
the tribe are different to ours.
Touching on the extreme poverty
of the Navajos, Mr.. Butcher stated
that in 1913 Congress passed the
Navajo-Hopi Rehabilitation Act,
which provided for the expenditure
of eighty-eight million dollars over
a period of ten years, in an effort to
better conditions. But even with
this help they were still an extreme
ly poor group of people. The reser-
walton, he added, has practically no
trees; there is very little vegetation;
the land is badly eroded; and things
are made worse by the many
droughts.
Their situation is made even more
difficult by their deep-rooted sus-
Ipicion of the white man, coupled with
the fact that the Federal Govern
ment in Washington is not only
poorly informed regarding their
terrible situation, but also seems
very little interested in it.
Mr.. Butcher gave a very humor-
GUS illustration of the Navaios sus
picion Of the white man by telling.
Of an incident that happened at a
dinner at which one of the leaders
of the tribe was to make a talk.
Noticing how heartily he was enjoy
ing his meal, white man turned to
the one sitting next to him and re-
marked: Il wish l had his appetite. ;"
Shortly afterwards the Indian chief
was called on to speak, and his first
words were: ''The white man not
only wants to take my land and nv
money, but now he wants to take
my appetite"
Mr.. Butcher. stated that the Nav
aJos are believed to have come to
the United States from Northwest
Canada in the 18th century. living
by farming and raiding until they
were conquered in 1863 by Kit Car
son. After that, an effort was made
to get them properly settled on their
reservation and each man was Civ
en- two sheep. But, pointed out Mr..
Butcher, it takes about 200 sheep to
ouSCd1n dn average Navajo family
and that even today few of them
have as many as fifteen.
In conclusion, the speaker stated
that the Navajos are very poorly
educated and that only about ten
per cent can read and write. At the
close of World War II there were
around $4,000 children on the reser-
walton, with only about half of them
even getting the rudiments of an
education, and he pointed out that
IN the last ten years only 600 Navajo
children graduated from high school
/ Guests at the luncheon meeting
were: Kiwanian Mitch VanBilliard
of Bethlehem, Pa; and j. v. Jani-
son III, of Hagerstown.
Scientist Says U. S. Could
Feed One RilIiOn paoplo