Episcopal Press and News
NCIW Meets in Denver
Diocesan Press Service. March 7, 1975 [75098]
Salome Breck, Editor, the Colorado Episcopalian
DENVER, Colo. -- Hunger, native leadership training and community development were priority agenda items when the National Committee on Indian and Eskimo Work met in Denver Jan. 25 and 26.
Some six years ago the Episcopal Church saw the organization of its first NCIW. Today, because of the pattern of its structure and its scope of activities, the organization is considered a model for other religious groups.
The two-day session in Denver brought together some 50 chairpersons and members of the six regional divisions. During the next two days Episcopalians were joined by other members of the Indian committee of the Joint Strategy and Action Committee (JSAC) of nine Christian bodies.
In its early days NCIW consisted not only of first Americans but also of Episcopal bishops in whose jurisdiction Indian reservations were located. Today membership of NCIW consists only of Indians and Eskimos, representing all areas of the United States, including Alaska.
At the Denver session the only bishop to meet with the committee was the Rt. Rev. Richard B. Martin, executive for ministries for the national church, and in charge of Mission Service and Strategy, a five group Episcopal organization, of which NCIW is a member.
Marcia Pierce Steele, who presided, heads up NCIW activities in the Eastern Region. Later in the session she was elected national chairperson.
" Let's look at where we are and where we must go," was her opening challenge. Hunger, described as "widespread" on all reservations was immediately designated the number one problem.
"Many of our people are starving, " warned Joan Bordman, national staff member in charge of work for the western area.
"Regulations on food stamps vary from state to state," she explained. "Navajo Indians must go to Window Rock to apply for stamps, no matter how far away they may live. I know of Indians who walked 300 miles to the Navajo capital, waited as they must, for 30 days, to find out if they were eligible, and discovered they were not!"
"In Arizona, commodities available for a once-a-month allotment for each member of a family consist of one pound each of navy beans, macaroni, rice, flour, lard, butter, cheese, peanut butter and a can of green beans. It might keep a person from being hungry two weeks out of a month, " Mrs. Bordman pointed out.
Bishop Martin announced the resignation of former executive secretary Fay McKnight. Presiding Bishop John M. Allin, he said, would like some suggestions from the NCIW members before he appoints a successor.
The Episcopal Church needs to develop native leadership in all areas of the country but especially on the Navajo Reservation. The Church has been ministering to the Navajos for some 80 years, but for many reasons, including its paternalistic attitude, only now is a Navajo Indian preparing for the ministry.; Steven Plummer-is a senior at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific and expects to be ordained this summer.
This is in sharp contrast to the Dakotas, where native priests, deacons and lay readers have served their own people for more than 100 years.
The Rev. George C. Harris, successor to Bishop David Cochran of Alaska as director of the Dakota Leadership Program, "described the new emphasis now being placed on training by extension courses.
"With extension training, you focus on competence rather than on credentials," Father Harris explained. "We will augment extension work with reading seminars and summer conferences."
Formerly the Dakota program was an "on-campus" arrangement at St. Elizabeth's Mission, Mobridge, South Dakota. And because the average Indian interested in theology is older than his Anglo brother student, most of the Dakotas were married. This meant that the Dakota program had to support not only the seminarian but his family. The process was costly. It also separated the student from the very people he would eventually serve.
"Now students may stay in their homes, keep their jobs and continue to work when they have finished school," said Father Harris. "All this is possible, and also advantageous, if the Church will just accept the fact that all clergymen don't need the same qualifications. Our extension seminar leaders are using studies which have been developed at Cook Christian Training School in Tempe, Arizona. The methods were used in ecumenical work in Guatemala and Alaska. A variety of training is possible, even for one person."
Dr. Cecil Corbett, president of Cook Christian Training School, explained the work done in this ecumenical institution, which receives support from some dozen religious bodies, including the Episcopal Church. Established in 1911 to train American Indians for leadership roles, the school has enrolled students from some 67 tribes, 27 states and four Canadian provinces.
The Rev. Phillip Allen, who resigned as chairman of NC1W, begins a new training program in Nevada under the direction of Bishop Wesley Frensdorff. Father Allen said the new venture would provide training not only for Indians but for Anglos as well, preparing them to work in more sparsely populated areas while continuing with jobs.
Thomas Jackson, executive secretary for the Navajo Council which is looking for workable models of leadership training for that nation, explained the hope of the Council to combine these proven programs and adapt them for work among the Navajos.
Community Development
The development of community projects varies from region to region.
The Eastern Region, where Marcia Steele is chairperson, is concentrating on helping Indian senior citizens. Four times a year the committee gives entertainments in rest homes, they bake special treats for shut-ins and plan to organize a senior citizen's group on the reservation.
In Alaska, where David Salmon is chairman, the regional committee is developing a Church School program especially structured to needs of native students and their teachers. First funded by NCIW money, Alaska's native leadership training program is now ready to help finance it.
In the Great Lakes Region where Florence Jones is chairperson, work on reservations must continue at the same time American Indians in impacted industrial areas must be assisted.
James Crawford, chairman of the Northern Plains Region, is an example of what can happen in an area where the Church has spent time and money developing native leadership for two or three generations. A Sisseton of South Dakota, Mr. Crawford is a lay reader, a former student at Cook Training School (now a member of its Board of Directors) and hopes to be ordained soon. A heavy equipment operator for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, he plans to continue his job after ordination.
Chairperson of the newest regional group, the Southeast, is Mollie Blankenship. Here the NCIW committee stresses work with youth. "Many of our mothers are employed and need help with the supervision of their children," Mrs. Blankenship commented. "We are organizing Little League Baseball for our youngsters and hope local congregations will send us funds for equipment and transportation.
Lillian Vallely, chairperson of the Northwest, one of the oldest and most active regions, is beginning her second term, and now has a committee member in each of the six states included in her area. Their first project, begun almost three years ago, involved a fish hatchery on the Pyramid Lake at Nixon, Nevada. Land and water rights and treaties are expertly handled by this knowledgeable committee. Mrs. Vallely is also assistant chairperson for the national committee.
In the Southwest Region where Thomas Jackson is chairman the principal effort is toward strengthening of the entire Navajo Council program.
NCIW has grown tremendously in scope and effectiveness during these six years. From a highly centralized group, with many of its members shy and reluctant to challenge the thinking of any member of the clergy, it has emerged as a committee strongly identified with regional problems and able to cope. Funds have diminished, but NC1W knows how to use "seed money" effectively.
To see the committee members work together is to witness effective self determination replacing the old concepts of paternalism which have been responsible for many of the failures of the past.