American Indians Of Today (1957)

[Music] every year in many places in the United States American Indians gather to dress as their ancestors did and to the Indians change back into everyday clothes and pack their costumes into their cars and trucks then family by family they begin the trip back home home for most Indians in the United States today is on a reservation land which belongs to the tribe even as the result of treaties made many years ago or through some other action of our national government one of the more successful is the San Carlos Apache reservation in Arizona a million and a half acres with good land for cattle grazing the Apaches used to lease this land to nearby ranchers and hire themselves out as range Riders but now the Apaches ride her on their own cattle this is George Andrews who who manages the tribal herd these cattle belong to the tribe as a whole the income from this herd helps the Apaches Finance improvements on their reservation in addition there are several privately owned herds on the reservation the cattle in these herds belong to individual Indian families these herds are run cooperatively by the families that own them this is the house where George Andrews lives it's a comfortable house one of the best on the reservation there's a gas stove a refrigerator and a deep freeze and plenty of meat on the table his wife's mother lives with them she still dresses as she did in the old days she doesn't care much for this kind of living but it's the only kind of Life the children have known and that's the way George Andrews wants it already the children are learning to speak English perhaps it won't be as hard for them to get along as it was for him every few weeks the whole family makes the 30-mile trip to the trading post a general store that carries a little bit of everything it's much like those on other reservations except for one thing this one is owned and operated by the tribe itself and not privately owned as most are Andrews and others usually buy on credit and pay up when the cattle go to market they usually buy enough to last for two or 3 weeks the trip to the Trading Post is a holiday for the children and even their grandmother enjoys it as in most reservations the Apaches govern themselves The Trading Post and other tribal Affairs like the herd are operated by a tribal council elected by vote of the entire tribe the council is in charge of all the general business of the tribe it must approve the sale of land and other tribal resources Prospectors and others who want to do business on the reservation must first get permission from the tribal council since many Indians don't don't speak English the meetings are usually held in the language of the tribe but the chairman translates into English for the benefit of visitors and for the official minutes matters concerning individual families may come up before the council too the council operates much like a community government under a law passed in 1934 through this law Indian tribes May govern themselves within the framework of the original treaties they made with the United States government in general reservation lands are held in trust for the use and benefit of the Indians by the Bureau of Indian Affairs with headquarters in Washington an agency office on each reservation handles the services which the bureau provides for example the agency may offer help in business matters farming problems Social Security and many other matters which are still all too strange to many of the older folk where the tribal councils do not handle such matters the agency May supervise the sale of land or handle land leases whether it is tribal land or land that is owned by an individual family the agency keeps records and provides other services for those who live on the reservation only since 19 19 24 have all Indians been citizens of the United States they may vote they pay taxes except on reservation lands and income from such lands and they may move away from the reservation if they wish there are about 400,000 Indians in the United States today belonging to some 300 Indian tribes their reservations are in many of the states of the Union most of them are in the West some are the original homes of the Indians who lived there while on others the Indians were moved in by government treaty the people on these reservations live in many different ways because of their different lands and the different tribal backgrounds sometimes a tribe's pride in its ancient way of life makes it hard for it to accept a different way this has happened with many of the Sue tribe in South Dakota a few today are successful farmers and Cattlemen but not long ago the Sue were Wanderers who had no permanent home the men of the tribe were hunters and warriors they lived by following the buffalo on the plains to the Sue digging the soil was considered degrading to a man so those Sue who have become farmers and Cattlemen today have had to give up these ancient beliefs of family and tribe although some have succeeded there is much evidence on the Sue reservation that many find it hard to adapt to this way of life in New York state on the other hand the senica reservation is mostly on good land and the senas have a tradition of farming they knew how to grow corn squash and beans long before the coming of the pilgrims so today many of the Sena have been able to make a success of farming the seol reservation in the Florida Everglades includes large areas of swamp land some of the seol Indians there can make a living in the swamps by catching frogs which they sell for frogs legs but many find it hard to get along on the kind of land that is available to them and most members of the tribe live in great poverty many live along highways and sew colorful skirts which they sell to tourists some tribes of the Southwest like the Zuni have long been expert Jewelers and continue to work at their craft today they use modern tools to help them in their age-old art another Southwest tribe is the nav the largest tribe in the country these people use their land mostly for sheep grazing since it's too dry to use for farming the navajos have long been expert Weavers and some earn a living from wool rugs which they make on hand looms they use wool thread which they have carded and spun by hand some tribes with suitable Forest land have gone in for lumbering and a few have set up Sawmills in order to get a higher price for cut timber in some tribes the men have proved themselves especially capable at certain skills and set up temporary quarters in the city while they work at these special jobs and many many Indians work as unskilled laborers fruit Pickers and migratory workers today a number of Indians are moving away from the reservations to try to settle in cities most of them go to New York Chicago Denver and Los Angeles the government sponsors this move and pays their way for the first few weeks they live in temporary quarters as government workers help the newcomers learn the ways of the city and help them get settled [Music] the government workers do what they can to help new Indian families find a place to live in the city and to line up a suitable job they see that the children get a good start in the neighborhood [Music] School some Indians have learned trades in school and in the army that are youth to them in the city but many find it hard to adapt themselves to the pressures of City Life some return to their friends and family on the reservation before they are able to form new friendships in the city but for those who can successfully make this move City life has many Rewards one of the important keys to the future of the American Indian lies in the kind of education their children are able to get today there are about 120,000 Indian children in schools 2/3 go to public schools about 1/3 to Federal schools and a few to Mission schools on some reservations the children live at the school because of the distance they would have to travel some of these students may be interested in professional careers and today there are many Indian doctors and lawyers nurses and teachers other Indian children may want to learn things they can use as soon as they get out of high [Music] school the schools on some of the reservations have good shops and equipment to help the boys learn a trade the girls may want to major in home economics and learn about things a housewife needs to know today like home canning and [Music] cooking a few are interested in art and painting and often they turn to themes that reflect their Indian background [Music] in addition to their crafts Indian artists have done work of great Beauty and illustration design and other areas of artistic [Music] expression as we have seen American Indians today are a people who are going through a process of tremendous change the exact direction of this change is not yet entirely clear [Music] some are doing well on their reservation and recent discoveries of oil and Uranium on some tribal lands have greatly benefited those tribes a few are making a new life for themselves in the cities those who are successful demonstrate the value to the United States of the vast res sources which lie in the skills and future potential of some 400,000 of its citizens [Music]