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Pena Nena Henash The f.onrt Smakx I ————————
Aleut I — ®
Unungang Toonnoktakriks The Alruls Speak _ **■ x j
~ N°----Monday, J»n. 21, 1963_ Fairbanks, Alaska
BIA Commissioner Pliilleo Nash
Makes 10-Day Tour of Alaska
i .S. Commissioner of Indian Af
fails Philleo Nash arrived in An
chorage last night and will begin
today an extensive 10-day tour of
Alaska.
The head of the federal bureau is
making the trip to gather first
hand information and to become
thoroughly familiar with the state's
native people.
According to Nash, he is particu
larly interested in how the Bureau
can best help natives become eco
nomically self-sufficient, obtain
full participation in American life,
and obtain equal citizenship priv
ileges and responsibilities.
He was met at the Anchorage
Airport last night by Robert L.
Bennett, area director of the BIA in
Alaska, and accompanied by him
departed for Nome today.
At Nome he will meet with Es
kimo people, many of whom are
from King Island and Diomede.
Weather permitting, he will fly
by charter- to Katzebue with stops
at Buckland and Deering en route.
If possible, he plans to attend ded
ication ceremonies for the new i
school addition and employees quar- |
ters at Kotzebue.
On January 22 he will fly to Fair
banks where he will visit at the
University of Alaska and meet
with native students there.
On January 23 he will fly to Bar
vow for dedication of the new
school and employees’ quarters that
evening.
♦-—________
I At Barrow, Commissioner Nash
j will visit hemes of Eskimo people
| and arrangements are being made
| for a general meeting with people
I there.
On January 25, Commissioner
Nash will return to Fairbanks and
| weather permitting will visit Minto
i and other nearby Athabascan vil
lages in the afternoon. A reception
in honor of Commissioner Nash is
planned that evening.
On January 26, he will fly to
Juneau where he will attend the in
auguration ceremonies of Governor
William A. Egan.
Robert L. Bennett, area director,
will take Nash on a tour of points
of interest the next day.
On the afternoon of January 28,
he will visit Mt. Edgecumbe Board
ing School and speak to the students
in assembly. Arrangements will be
made, for him to meet with John
Hope, grand president of the Alaska
Native Brotherhpod, and possibly
attend a meeting of the Alaska Na
tive Brotherhood and Sisterhood,
Sitka camps, that evening.
On January 29, Commissioner
Nash will fly to Metlakatla on An
nette Island, then to Seattle.
Upon arrival in Seattle, he will
be met by Virgil Farrel, adminis
trative officer and special repre
sentative of the BIA, who will con- ,
duct him on a tour of the “North
i Star” and the BIA Seattle opera
! tion.
®*A COMMISSIONER VISITS ALASKA—Philleo Nash, commission
er of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Is now making a 10-day tour of
the state, the first of many such trips he plans. As he visits, a clear
?“* “ emphasis toward economic development is indicated by
,A w,th /he hiring of four development officers to work in
widely separated areas of the state.
BIA-Missionaries Group Plan
3-Day Development Conference
E. R. Fryer, assistant commis-*
sioner of the Bureau of Indian Af
fairs in charge of economic devel
opment, is slated to be the keynote
speaker of a 3-day social and eco
nomic development conference to
be held February 19-21 in Fair
banks.
The conference entitled “Process
and Projects” will be sponsored
Kotzebue Youth to Study Low
A Kotzebue young man, William*
L. Hensley, will leave sometime
after Jan. 19 for George Washing
ton University, Wash., D.C. His
intentions are to take a year or two
pre-law courses, then go into the
study of law.
Hensley was born at Kotzebue in
June. 1941. and spent most of his
childhood in camp at a place near
Little Noatak called Itkatuk.
His father. John Hensley, died in
1947. "My mother still lives up at
the camp in a brand new sod igloo,"
said Hensley. His sister, Frances,
is married and lives in Chicago.
The youth attended elementary
school in Kotzebue and Noorvik,
finishing the eighth grade as vale
dictorian of his class. Many of his
classmates chose to go to Edge
cumbe, but for various reasons,
Hensley wanted to go Outside for
study.
With the help of a friend, Rich
ard Miller, he was enrolled in Har
rison-Chilhowee Academy at Knox
ville, Tenn.
In August, 1956, he left Kotzebue
and was plunged into a radically
different world than was his at
home.
“Simple acts such as using the
telephone or buying a bus ticket
was a challenge. Streets in cities
like Seattle and Memphis literally
befuddled me,” Hensley said.
"Students and teachers were very
helpful aod I caught on to all those
little things and did my damdest
to make high school a success.”
He finished Chilhowee with a
95.3 cumulative average, was co
captain of the football team, presi
dent of the student body class pres
ident for two years, and boys’ dorm
president.
After a long absence, he returned
home after graduation in 1960.
He then enrolled in the Universi
ty of Alaska and spent two years
there. Academically his first year
was a "feeler.” but he received bet
ter than a C average. His second
year he received better than a 3
point average.
This semester he has not been
attending college but has been
working for Wien Airlines as traf
fic representative. He operates the
teletype, radio, makes manifests,
writes tickets, makes out sales re
ports, and works in cargo now and
then.
At the university, some extra
curricular activities included Alfa
Kappa Psi, a national business fra
ternity. secretary to the Alaska Na
tive Brotherhood, member of the
Choir of the North, JV basketball,
and class committeeman.
Some of his favorite classes were
economics. English literature, Rus
sian, and anthropology.
Hensley, along with Frances Deg
nan, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Frank Degnan, of Unalakleet, were
chosen as representatives to the
first National Indian Youth Council
at Brigham Young University, Pro
vo, Utah.
YOUNG NATIVE LEAVES FOR
LAW SCHOOL — William L.
Hensley is on the way to George
Washington University, Washing
ton, D.C., to take pre-law. He in
tends to study law thereafter.
Hensley is from Kotzebue and
has, up to now, been employed
by Wien Alaska Airlines as a
traffic representative.
“This was a genuine experience
in meeting others who have had the
same experiences in acculturization
as we have had in Alaska,” Hensley
said.
“Let me say that I have a great
(Continued on Page 5)
jointly by the Bureau of Indian
Affairs and the Churches' Socio
Economic Advisory Committee, of
the Tanana-Yukon area.
All sessions will be held in the
Chamber of Commerce conference
aoom.
One of the highlights of the con
ference will be the attendance and
participation of a delegation from
the Ute Indian Tribe of Utah, head
ed by Francis McKinley, Director
of Education and member of the
Business Committee of the Ute In
dian Tribe.
"The Ute Tribe has been in the
throes of planning and executing
social and economic development
plans for some 15 years and their
experiences should be of real in
terest and value.” said Robert L.
Bennett, area director.
Four Aims
Bennett said the conference had
four main purposes:
1. To determine the process by
(Continued on Page 5)
Stress Placed
On Economic
Development
By Thomas Snapp
Times Staff Writer
A clear-cut shift of emphasis by
the Bureau of Indian Affairs in
Alaska was indicated today by the
hiring of four economic develop
ment officers to work with native
people in four widely separated
area of the state.
The appointment of three pro
jects development officers and an
industrial development assistant
was announced today by Robert L.
Bennett, area director of the bur
eau.
The hiring of the four new men
brings to seven the number of per
sonnel hired for economic develop
ment within a year since Bennett
has headed the bureau in Alaska.
For the Juneau area: Gilbert
Dyer has been appointed an indus
trial development assistant. For the
past two years he has been with
the BIA's Branch of Industrial De
velopment. Washington, D.C. Prior
to that he was a member of the
Economics Department of the Uni
versity of Montana.
For the Fairbanks area: Frank
Anderson has been appointed a
projects development officer. He
will report for duty the first week
in February.
For the Anchorage area: Lado
A. Kozely has been named projects
development officer. He will report
for duty sometime this month.
For the Nome area: E. Arthur
Patterson, now a business teacher
at Mt. Edgemumbe High School,
has been appointed projects de
velopment officer. He has a master’s
degree in economics.
The BIA is also recruiting for a
tribal operations officer to work
from the Fairbanks regional office,
Bennett said.
i (Continued on Page 7'
Editorial
High School Dropouts
Dropouts in elementary and secondary native schools
have become subjects of great concern to educators in
Alaska. In view of this dilemma, University of Alaska, un
der contract with the U. S. Office of Education, has just
completed a notable study entitled "Alaska Native Sec
ondary School Dropouts: A Research Report. In making its
findings available to the public, the University will, un
doubtedly, aid greatly in resolving this problem.
It is a report that should open many eyes so the prob
lem can be scrutinized from every possible angle. The
report points out that dropout problem in native schools
is a unique one. One of the main causes of dropouts is
the cultural background of the students. Seeking out causes
and effects of this facet alone may help to improve the
situation to a great degree.
One aim should be toward educating native com
(Continued on Page 2)