Committee on Indian Work Awards New Grants
Diocesan Press Service. June 30, 1970 [88-3]
NEW YORK, N. Y. -- The National Committee on Indian Work has announced approval of five new grants from its Indian/Eskimo Community Development Fund which brings the total of grants made thus far to $105,032 and exhausts the balance remaining in the fund. A sixth grant of $6,000 for support of an urban Indian center was approved pending receipt of further contributions.
At its May 22 meeting in Sioux Falls, S.D., where the grant applications were considered, the Committee expressed gratitude to the many people who helped push contributions slightly over the initial goal of $100, 000. Because many Indian groups have been encouraged by the Church's commitment to support their self-determination efforts, NCIW will continue to act on applications as they are submitted, releasing grant money for those they approve as contributions are received.
-Current grants are going to the following projects:
Alaska Federation of Natives, Anchorage, Alaska, $10,000. NCIW voted to waive its $10,000 limit on grants made to any one organizations in a given year in this instance and to supplement its earlier grant of $10,000 to AFN with an additional $10,000. Mr. Kent FitzGerald, Executive Secretary of NCIW, explained that 1970 is a critical year in the history of the Alaskan Native peoples because of the legislative settlement of their land claims now before Congress. In making this second grant to AFN, NC1W urged that special consideration be given to the needs of the Arctic Slope Natives because their traditional economy of trapping, fishing and whaling calls for a land settlement based on the area of land they have traditionally used rather than on the per capita basis proposed in Congress. The Alaska Federation of Natives (Indians, Aleuts and Eskimos) was organized in October, 1966, and now has such a broad following among Natives throughout the State that it is generally recognized as the organization which speaks for all Alaskan Natives. It has an able, articulate leadership, a number of whom are members of the Alaska State Legislature.
Dresslerville -- Reactivation of Old Community Well, Dresslerville Indian Colony, Nevada, $940. Since this community has only one active well, each summer brings a serious shortage of water. To ensure a continual water supply (even during an occasional pump breakdown), the members of the Health Committee of the Dresslerville Indian Colony have decided to reactivate an old community well as a supplement to the present well. Five men from the Dresslerville community have volunteered their services for the project.
Red Scaffold Community Enterprise, Eagle Butte, South Dakota, $9, 000. Real community involvement can be recognized in the formation of this proposal to set up a community-operated saw mill. Use of a portable saw mill is being donated and the first group of six workers has agreed to work for a modest wage until the mill can become self-supporting.. In addition to providing local job openings, this project will utilize local timber resources and enable residents to buy the finished lumber at a low cost.
National Council on Alcohol and Drugs, Minneapolis, Minnesota, $2, 289. This national organization is directed to one of the greatest social, economic and health problems facing the Indian people and their communities. Thus far, treatment of the problem has been spotty, primarily by non-Indian planned and directed groups. The work has also suffered from communication and coordination of efforts. The National Indian Council on Alcohol and Drugs will attempt to coordinate existing programs and develop its own education and rehabilitation programs, geared to the special needs of Indians. Indian paraprofessionals will also be trained to work in these programs. Funding of the balance of the original $9,156 grant request is being considered by several other denominations through the Joint Strategy and Action Committee.
Indian Ecumenical Conference, Crow Reservation, Harding, Montana, $3,000. This proposal to hold a conference of Indian and Eskimo representatives of various denominations and native Indian religions in the United States and Canada was submitted by the Institute for Indian Studies at Rochdale College in Toronto, Canada. The major denominations are becoming increasingly concerned about the loss of Indian and Eskimo people from the Christian Church and the degree of competitiveness which still exists among various denominations. The overall result is factionalism within Indian and Eskimo communities and a significant movement toward the Native religions. NCIW feels that it is important to give representatives of Christian and Native Indian religions an opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings about their religious lives and to discuss the ways in which established churches can redirect their efforts to work ecumenically in support of what Indians and Eskimos believe is needed. Therefore, it voted to make a $3,000 grant in support of this Indian Ecumenical Conference, which will be held on the Crow Reservation in Montana in late August. The Anglican Church in Canada has made a major contribution towards meeting the costs of the conference and various U.S. denominations are being asked to contribute a total of $20,000.