It is Time to Grow More Food
When the first bombs fell on Pearl Harbor, de
fense effort which was already warping our national
economy became overnight a war effort which is
even more ruthless of normal civilian activities.
Price increases already threatening a degree of infla
tion are still outside of governmental control. These
matters are of immediate pertinence to the adminis
trators of Indian schools, for they are forerunners of
two developments which will affect their responsi
bilities greatly.
First, we can look forward to additional losses
from our teaching staffs, for more men will be drawn
into both the armed forces and industrial war effort.
It will prove increasingly difficult to replace these
men with men of equal training or ability. Increas
ingly we must look to women to take up the guid
ance of the continued vocational training—both in
agricultural and the skill trades—which there is every
need for today than heretofore.
Second, we must continue to operate our schools
in an era of rising prices, with no additional funds
—may ever at a later date face some curtailment of
appropriations. The expansion of agriculture,garden
ing and animal husbandry which have been encour
aged for educational purposes over the last five years
must be expanded so that increased proportions of
foods to be used in our schools are produced as part
of school activities.
The "typical home gardens” referred to in an
earlier issue must be expanded into school gardens
which will supply the major part of the day school
lunch, or the boarding school table. Livestock
which were handled in day or boarding schools to
teach the proper care of farm animals, must be re
tained and increased, so that the male issue will
increasingly supply meat to our tables, and the fe
males milk. Where gardens can economically include
small grains, student project chickens may be added
or increased in number to supply eggs and meat.
Orchards which for years have been neglected,
need to be pruned, sprayed and cultivated, to en
courage their full bearing. Plantings of native and
improved fruitbearing trees, shrubs and vines need
to be increased. Every pound of food produced for
use within the school will release that much of our
dwindling cash for the purchase of supplies which
we cannot produce ourselves.
Fortunately, in doing all this, we will be setting
the best possible practical example to our Indian
boys and girls ana theirparents, for we will at last
approximate the self-sufficiency in food stuff which
we have been discussing and advocating for several
years, but only remotely achieving in practice.
Now is the time to begin planning in winter class
rooms for spring activités. Let us not forget that
some of our schools are in regions where two or
more cropping seasons follow each other in rapid
succession, if we are wise in planning the sequence
of plantings. Discussing and planning such activities
are good classroom activities—good basic reading ex
perience, good for basic arithmetic experience, good
for science experience, and should lead directly in
to concrete action as soon as weather permits.
—I ndian E ducation
Items of Interest
Mr. Doug Olds was inducted into the army as a
physical education director on Monday, January
19. He took up his assignments at Portland, Oregon.
Mr. Olds has coached football and basketball at
Chemawa and has taught health.
The coaching position vacated by Mr. Olds was
filled by Mr. Gene Stewart from Willamette Univer
sity. Mr. Stewart was an important factor in the
successful football season at Willamette during the
past year. He is a senior and has taken the job of
coaching the basketball team and teaching science.
Mr. Wm. Allen, who has been employed as a
machine shop instructor at Chemawa for a number
of years, left recently to take up a national defense
post.
Mr. Bowman, a very capable instructor in farm
machanics and mathematics, has taken Mr. Allen’s
place. Mr. Bowman, with his wife and daughter,
came from Rocky Boy, Montana.
The Red Cross is organizing a First Aid class for
the employees and their families to meet for two
hours each week. Over twenty-five attended the first
meeting of the class.
In the group taking welding there are about 34
young men. A complete course in welding consists
of putting 400 hours into the course. Of the many
students, both white and Indians, there have been
about 100 placed in jobs for national defense.
There are 33 men from many different reservations
in the radio class. Their instructor is Mr. Parkhurst.
These classes are held in the lower part of the Cath
olic Church, and will continue for at least three
months.
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