i
CHEM AWA^AMERIC AN
Printed at Chemawa, Oregon, and Devoted to the Interests of Indian Education
VOL. XXXIV
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 1933
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AT CHEMAWA
By J ames T. R van , Superintendent
The policy of the Office of Indian Affairs which has
resulted in changing the large boarding schools to voca
tional schools is destined to have far-reaching effects in
eliminating the vicious circle of education only to have
the children return to the old mode of life. The status
of the Indian child when
he graduates from public
school i s quite different
from that of his white
brother who relies on em
ployed parents, friends,
and relatives to help him
secure employment. The
white child also has the
advantage of opportunity
in many low skilled ‘ ‘white
collar” jobs, such as “soda
slinger” and “bell hop,”
to which the Indian youth
Supt. Ryan
has not as yet been general
ly accepted. The Indian child lacking these funda
mental requirements for placement has found it im
possible to secure steady employment except when he
had acquired skill in some trade. This trade educa
tion has been the only stepping stone from reserva
tion to non-reservation employment for all but a very
few so well-endowed with ambition and personality
that success for them was practically inevitable.
Chemawa, which is to some extent typical of the
largar Indian Vocational Schools, trains children in
some thirty trades or vocations. It places its pros
pective graduates in temporary employment as a
means to breaking down barriers and of detecting de
ficiencies. The school then secures permanent employ
ment for its vocational graduate. Those who do not
graduate in a vocation it is, of course, almost impos
sible to place.
The Indian Office should also find gratification in
the improved spirit and attitude of the vocational
boarding school graduates. They are striving hard;
their academic attainment is advancing with the bright
er outlook for their future. That the younger students
not ready for vocational education can profit best by
education in a public school where they can come into
contact with a normal cross section of the school pop
NO. 17
ulation is not to be questioned, and if it were possible
to place the sixteen year old boy or girl in a city trade
school better results might be obtained. However,
there is some doubt in this respect for few of the city
trade schools offer the number of vocational subjects
possible in the Indian Vocational High School. Also
the cost of enrollment in city vocational schools would
be prohibitive if board, room and guidance were added
to the tuition.
The work at Chemawa is practical and our placement
so far has demonstrated that children are well-trained.
The boys learning cooking cannot be satisfactorily
taught on huge steam cookers such as are required
for the students’ dining hall, consequently the “Alta-
mot Restaurant” has been established as an adjunct
to the kitchen and here boys are taught restaurant
cooking in all its ramifications. The girls, in learn
ing housework, are likewise given practical experience.
After completing the home economics course they
enter the practice house for intensive housekeeping
experience and on completion of that are put in homes
about the grounds where they secure actual practice
under normal working conditions. The employers in
Salem are likewise cooperating with the school by of
fering short time training in industry and in supplying
the school with a record of each individual’s capacities.
Students who have entered on training in Salem have
done so well that Chemawa feels justified in believing
that its education is practical and that it is properly
fitting boys and girls for employment.
JOHN COLLIER, COMMISSIONER
The following item from the Christian Science Mon
itor concerns a topic of great interest in the Indian
Service right at this time:
The nomination of Mr. John Collier of California to
be commissioneer of Indian affairs was confirmed yes
terday by the Senate.
Mr. Collier came into Indian work in 1920 when he
left a position with the California Board of Education
to study community organization of the Pueblos. He
spent a year with these Indians. In 1922 he gave up
all other work in an effort to bring about a reform of the
Government’s method of handling the Indians. He
served without salary as a research specialist for the
General Federation of Women’s Clnbs for a period,
and in 1923, was selected as executive secretary of the
Indian Defense Association.