1942: Indians, American

The War is exerting a tremendous influence upon the Indians of the United States, and furnishing countless examples of their unexcelled loyalty. Volunteers in large numbers have swelled the proportion of Indians in the armed forces beyond that of any other racial group. The Army and Marine Corps have organized Indian groups for specialized services, while accepting Indians without prejudice in all ranks of the armed forces. Thousands of Indian men and women have found places in war industry. As a result, the reservations are stripped of personnel below the minimum needed to maintain normal production in livestock and agriculture. Despite this, the Indian areas have exceeded their quota in food production.

The Civilian Conservation Corps which was terminated June 30, and the schools of the Indian Service may be credited with the practical training with tools and machinery which fitted Indian young men for both industry and the armed services. The war coming as a culmination to these experiences, will probably contribute to more complete assimilation than any previous contact with white culture.

A small colony of Aleuts (about 160) on Attu at the far end of the Aleutian Islands were among the first residents of American territory to suffer capture by the Japanese. As a result of the bombing of the native village of Unalaska during the Japanese attack on Dutch Harbor, the natives of these island outposts and the Eskimos from the Pribilofs were evacuated to Kilisnoo and Ward Cove in southeast Alaska where they are being assisted in reestablishing their self-sufficiency.

In August the Office of Indian Affairs was moved to Chicago, leaving a small liaison staff in Washington.

When decision was reached in early February to remove both alien and American-born Japanese from the Pacific Coast, the undeveloped lands of the Colorado River Indian Reservation in western Arizona were selected for the site of the first relocation center. The Indian Service had just completed the construction of Head Gate Rock Diversion Dam on the Colorado River preparatory to the subjugation of this area, but work had been stopped by war priorities. The Army decided to transfer about 20,000 evacuees to the area and supply them with the tools and machinery to install the main canal and laterals, and subjugate about 25,000 acres of the most fertile land. Three town sites were selected, rough army barracks erected, and Poston, Arizona's third largest community, came into being within four months. The administration and supervision of the project remains under the Indian Service.

Near Sacaton on the Gila River, Pima Reservation, another war relocation center, has also been erected, which will be under the direction of the War Relocation Authority. Under agreements between the Department of the Interior, the Indians and the war agencies, the Japanese are to be removed at the close of the war and the lands and improvements are to revert to their Indian owners.

In 1941 the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision in the suit of the Walapai Indians of Arizona to regain title to lands on their reservation, which had been granted to the Santa Fe Railroad. The court held that the Indians retained these rights because of aboriginal occupancy. During 1942 an opinion of the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior held that the principles enunciated in this decision would apply with equal force to fishing rights of the natives of southeast Alaska. Final decision in the matter is in abeyance for the duration, but indications are that the Walapai decision will prove an effective defense of native rights over a wide area.

During 1942 Mr. John Collier, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, served as Chairman of the Governing Board of the Inter-American Indian Institute, which was established by treaty in 1941. The Institute Office is in Mexico City, and the permanent Director, Sr. Manual Gamio. The Institute has undertaken the extension of the studies of Indian diet inaugurated in 1941 by the United States Indian Service to Latin American countries. The first diet study report, completed this year, covered the Papago Reservation in southern Arizona, and indicates that the subsistence farmers preserving the ancient culture traits are better nourished than the more modern wage-earning Indians. Recommendations for the preservation of older diet patterns and the introduction of new and suitable foods are being made effective through the Government schools on the reservation.