Page:LewisMeriam-TheProblemOfIndianAdministration.djvu/64

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Findings and Recommendations
37

really ready to receive the Indians, and for some years the government must exercise some supervision to see that the Indian children are really getting the advantage offered by the public school system. The policy of having a federal employee perform the duties of attendance officer is sound, but more emphasis should be placed on work with families in this connection, in an effort not so much to force attendance as to remove the causes of non-attendance.

The Indian day schools should be increased in number and improved in quality and should carry children at least through the sixth grade. The Hopi day schools are perhaps the most encouraging feature of the Indian school system. More can perhaps be done in providing transportation to day schools. Where Indians come in to camp near the day schools, special activities should be undertaken for them. In general the day schools should be made community centers for reaching adult Indians in the vicinity as well as children, and they should be tied into the whole program adopted for the jurisdiction.

Improving General Economic Conditions. The primary object of the Indian Service in the field of general economic conditions should be to increase the amount and the productivity of Indian labor so that the Indians can support themselves adequately through earned income.

The first step in this direction should be to create a committee of specialists, consisting of representatives of (1) The Division of Planning and Development; (2) the local staff of the jurisdiction; and (3) state agricultural colleges. This committee should map out a program for economic development that offers maximum possibilities for success and that will not be subject to radical change with changes of local administrative officers or even with changes in the Washington office. The details will, of course, have to be modified and developed from time to time as experience dictates, but the fundamentals should rest on the natural resources of the country.

When the program has been worked out, the jurisdiction should be supplied with a sufficient staff of trained and experienced demonstrators to stimulate the Indians and to teach them the details both in production and in marketing. The number of these demonstrators will depend on local conditions, including the attitude of the Indians. If only a few Indians are ready to respond, a single

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