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Indians are proving successful in adjusting themselves to the new paths. It will be far more effective in giving real instruction in civics than are the ordinary school text books on the subject written for white children. These books must seem very remote to the Indian boy or girl, who has so little background to help him in understanding them.
Similarly, attention should be given to the possibilities of using Indians, resident in the area and speaking the language, as statistical agents of the government to collect other data relating to economic and social conditions. The results of their work and of the other work of the Service should be frequently brought to the attention of the Indians in the effort to have them understand their own problems and to inspire them by concrete definite knowledge of how other Indians have solved these problems. From the Indian Office should go out to Indian schools and to public schools having a number of Indian pupils, material for a real course on civics for Indians.
No one who has sat through many Indian councils and has received many individual Indians or small groups can fail to be impressed by four things: their intense interest in their own affairs, the keenness of many of their leaders, their general good nature and friendliness, and, often, the paucity of their knowledge of what the government is attempting in their behalf. Some superintendents and other field workers have been successful in overcoming this latter condition, notably in the five-year programs. The belief is entertained that an able statistician, working in cooperation with the other officers in the Indian Service, can accomplish a great advance through disseminating among the Indians brief bulletins showing progress in public health, education, economic efficiency, and improved social life. One of the outstanding fundamental needs of the Service is an able, well-trained statistician with a very small staff of assistants, so that all concerned may readily and quickly secure the essential facts necessary for efficient administration.