CONFERENCE FORMS DEVELOPMENT PUN
been* inU<Ho?y' Crossf F°X h“S bee" * missionary in A,aska for 35 years, the last seveTo?whteh hll
----______—Tundra Times Photo
Rogers Says Alaska Needs
Development, Not More People
Alaska’s native population is
mushrooming and Alaska, instead
of needing more people, needs de
velopment to raise the standard of
living of the people who live in the
large state.
This, in essence, was an opinion
stressed by Dr. George W. Rogers,
Research Professor of Economics,
at the University of Alaska.
Dr. Rogers gave the opinion at a
panel entitled “Facts for Develop
ment” at the recent 3-day economic
conference in Fairbanks.
The research professor said his
life was dedicated to gathering eco
nomic and social facts about Alaska.
Beacuse cf health programs, he
said the birth rate was soaring over
the death rate in the Alaska native
population.
“People born into this world
are being kept alive and this is good
but this also poses a tremendous
problem right now and for the fu
ture particularly,” he said.
“Whether we want it or not the
people are here and are coming in
increasing numbers."
“What we need now are the plans
and programs and development pro
jects which will provide these peo
ple with the opportunities of de
veloping a standard of living that is
something above the subsistence
level or above the welfare level or
some combination of the two, which
at the present time the bulk of our
people have to be satisfied with.”
Dr. Rogers pointed out when you
look at general facts of Alaska they
appear to be good, that the popula
tion is growing by leaps and bounds
and the per capita income is high.
But he said when you dig deeper,
below the surface, “you find an en
tirely different story.”
“We find this dynamic growth has
taken place primarily in two cen
ters. Fairbanks and Anchorage.”
“The rather high level of income j
and economic activity has been
concentrated in those two areas, i
When we look at the rest of Alaska, j
the people outside those two areas, ,
we find they are just holding their
own, or doing a little better, or going
' downhill.”
Rogers then disagreed with a
(Continued on Page 6) j
THE REV. PATTERSON KELLER LISTENS INTENTLY TO CAN
ADIAN—Rev. Keller of Huslia, is seen listening intently to Sam
Cormier, of Canadian Co-op Association and former instructor at
Antigonish University, Nova Scotia, as they discussed economic
development problems during a recess at the recent "Process and
Projects” conference In, Fairbanks. Cormier made several addresses
to rapt audiences at the conference. —Tundra Times Photo
Fryer Says Development Starts
With Understanding People
E. R. Fryer, assistant commis
sioner of the Bureau of Indian Af
fairs for economic development,
stressed here last week village de
veolpment must begin with the un
derstanding of people.
“It is necessary to probe deeply
the totality of a community and
deal with what the people have
and where the people are,” Fryer
said.
“One must know the structure ol
leadership, the characteristics of
the people and their hopes and as
pirations.”
Not only the physical resources
but also the human resources must
be inventoried, he said, and the two
must be related to bring something
to reality.
Fryer was speaker on many oc- '
casions during the three day con- !
ference, “Process and Projects,”
sponsored jointly by the Bureau of
Indian Affairs and the Churches j
Socio-Economic Advisory Commit
tee of the Tanana-Yukon River
drainage area.
Knowledge of marketing, capital
requirements, and problems of
management he stressed as neces
sary in development, pointing out
that management problems had
been talking with people who have
countered in developments in the
lower states.
He went on to criticize the Bur
eau of Indian Affairs as being
“cow-plow minded.”
“For a hundred years we have
been talking iwth people who have
had great land resources. 25 mil
lion acres in the case cf the Navajo,
for example.”
He said the bureau had tried to
make the Navajo grazing men or if
that were not possible, to find ways
of irrigating the pastures so they
could become farmers.
“There's nothing in the history
of the Navajo to suggest that they
have any particular interest in the
plow: nevertheless, we have been
dedicated all these years to the
plow.”
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Church, State, Federal Agencies
To Coordinate Their Activities
In Tanana-Yukon Pilot Program
The immense problems involved '
in economic development in the vil
lages of Alaska were faced squarely
in a three-day conference in Fair
banks, February 19-20.
And some of the brightest minds
in the state grappled with the many
complexities of development and
the processes by which it can be
achieved.
The conference concluded with
the adoption of a coordinated plan
of action to bring all forces, both
governmental and private, to bear
on the total problem in the Tanana
Yukon River basins.
Cooperation, communication, and
coordination were emphasized
throughout the conference by top |
state, federal government, and
church leaders.
Significantly, there was unani
mous agreement that initiation of
action should be on the ‘‘grass
roots” or village level, that develop
He then pointed out the high de
gree to which people respond to
things in their environment. Indian
people are particularly responsible
to things of recreation, the hunt,
of fishing, or outdoor life which
may have commercial aspects, he
said.
The BIA official cited the case
of the White River Apaches of
Arizona who for years cloistered
themselves and were almost hostile
to visitors.
They began a series of develop
ments around a lake, hunting and
fishing—resources they understood
and loved, and he said the develop
ment was phenomenal.
“The changes in this group, their
involvment and self-development,
concern, hospitality and identifi
cation with communities outside
have been a lesson to Indian groups
everywhere,” he said.
“These developments of the
Apaches are both of the culture and
the resource. Neither is cow. nor
plow,” he concluded.
fment should start small and grow,
that the native culture an i philos*
ophy of the native peoples of Al< -
ka be continually kept in mind by
those involved in development plan*
ning.
Father Jules Convert, S.J.. o£
Kaltag, the person most responsible
for sparking the conference, stressed
that tlic church through its mi -
sionaries were anxious to assist by
providing factual, meaningful infor
mation for development and by act
ing as mediaries between govern*
ment agencies and villages.
Some individuals at the confer*
ence suggested if a pilot program
of development in the Tanana-Yu*
kon drainage area is successful
through the use of the coordinating
committee, that this plan may set!
the pattern for development in other
areas of the state.
Four members were named to the
coordinating committee: The Eight
Rev. William J. Gordon, Bishop
of Alaska. Episcopal Church, rep
resenting the Churches Socio-Eco
nomic Advisory Committee; Dr,
George Rogers, representing the
University of Alaska: Hubert J.
Gellert. representing the state gov
ernment; and Ross L. Miller, of the
BIA. Juneau, representing the fed
j eral government.
The committee plans to consult on
appropriate occasions representa
tives of organized labor, native or
i ganizations, and other interested
groups.
According to a recommendation
adopted by the group, the commit
tee will concern itself with keeping
j abreast of local needs, problems,
and goals with the view of assist
ing the development of local initia
tive and meaningful communication
between communities and the co
ordinating committee.
The committee will designate in
each community the person through
which it will work and at particular
times will designate communities
for concentration of effort.
The immediate attention of the
committee is to be given to adult
education geared to basic common*
ity needs and to maximum local hire
(Continued on Page 61
MISSIONARIES CONFER—Shown above are three of 23 Catholic
and Episcopal missionaries (representing about 220 years in Alaskai
who attended the recent economic development conference in Fair
banks. At left is Father James Plamondon, of St. Michael's, and at
right is Father Pasquale Spoletini, of Kotzebue. In the center is
Father Jules Convert* of Kaitag, a delegate to last year’s Tanami
Chiefs Meeting. It was Father Convert’s efforts that sparked thfi
formation of the Churches Socio-Economic Committee of the TaWrrut.
Yukon basins and that sparked tbe 3-day developrewot ntouchsrewra?.
—Tundra Times Photo