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Show i; i A Long Wait For Utah ndians I '4 l The plight of the American Indians 's generally understood, and most white men share empathy with them. Little known is the plight of the Shivwits tribe located in the sun and fun of Utahs Dixie. The Deseret News team of Robert C. Mitchell, Brent Clement, Maxine Martz and Wanda Lund bring the problem to light. Photos by David Conley. I ! No one will light a Christmas tree on the reservation again this year. ' !i Theres no electricity. Utahs Shivwits Indians, centered on a 27,000-acrstretch of desert 11 miles southwest of St. George, are at the bottom of the totem pole. They live in filth too poor to find housing with toilets, running water and electricity. And some are finding it tough to climb out of the e rut. There are suitable homes in St. George, but the cost of renting has soared out of sight, according to Anna B. Taylor, chief worker in charge, Services Division, Regional Office of the Division of Family Services, St. George. About half of the Shivwits are on welfare, and only two or more in the area are employed full time. They want their children educated, but how's a child going to settle down to his studies when he cant even have a bath, when he cant have a light to study by at night, when he cant have whole some food because there's no refrigeration? questioned Uriel B. Todd, assistant manager of Bradshaw Ford Mercury,' Inc., St. George. He served 'as branch president of a Shivwits group, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints, and has championed their cause for years. Some 160 Shivwits and descendants, the majority of whom have left the reservation, are to divide the judgment money resulting from losses sustained historically, Todd explained. I feel for those Indians. We tell them theyre going to get all this money, and theyve been waiting since 1956 when they were terminated for something to happen. Then we promised them the $1 million in 1966 and here it is 1970 and theyre still waiting. The Shivwits, with four other Paiute Indian bands in Utah, were removed from under direct federal control on the assumption they c ld adapt to the white mans culture. Meanwhile the six or seven families fighting it out on the reservation haul water from Santa Clara and St. George, eight and 13 miles away, respectively, each day to bathe and drink. In the summer, when the temperature climbs to 112 degrees Fahrenheit, theyll sit in the shade sipping on ice and wrap wet sacks around perishables to prevent spoilage. 1956. through, as we present lawyers the run- And, Theyll still be standing on our necks, said Stewart Snow, who served as tribal council chairman until two months ago. We have so mainy dying off Many local residents, with some justification, blame the Indians for their own situation, spending what money they do have foolishly for steaks instead of hamburger, for alcoholic beverages instead of reasonably priced transportation. Federal Money May Soon Come To Lift Shivwits Indians Up jobs. Death is as desolate as life. ance programs, with direction, supervision and conscientious interest in the welfare of these people, Morris said. Under the chairmanship of John S. Boyden. Chairman of the Utah Indian Affairs Board, each of the five bands of Indians (including the Shivwits) deprived of government land has selected a three-ma- n committee of tribal members to residents in work with three local areas to determine distribution of expected funds. Morris said it is quite likely the money may finally be paid in the spring n Morris said some of the Indian girls have taken nurses training, and a few have some vocational training, but they are unable to compete in the white mans world. Nearly all the Shivwits are receiving Morris public welfare to stay alive, said. If we could create jobs and train, them, they could be He said since the government terminated its direct responsibility over them they have been pretty much on their own and have had to rely on local city officials for assistance. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-da- y Saints provided land on which they could build homes, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs has been correlating assist- - of 1971. Other tribes affected are the Kanosh in the Fillmore area, Koosharem in the Richfield area, Indian Peaks and Cedar City bands near Cedar City. Morris has been working with David H. Allred, Salt Lake City, state representative for the Economic Development Administration (EDA) in attempting to get public funds to assist the Shivwits. We have been working quite closely to get a program crystalized to get federal aid to supply culinary water and irrigation water from the Gunlock project New Interior Nominee Got Polluter Donations By JACK ANDERSON tall Christmas tree strung with glittering baubles from the special inter- ests. As N !man, Chair- - he raised from the and for the campaign He held on to enough of ! ' Republican a tional I Mr- - Anderson this campaign greenery to in-- I tercsts are cheering Mortons appoint-- f ment as Interior Secretary in charge of the nations, natural resources, parks, J rivers and lakes. His past coziness with i the despoilers of nature, meanwhile, I should be aired by the Senate Interior I Committee at his con iv.r I : healings. For example, he collected $300 for his 1968 campagn and another $ 00 for his 4 1 1970 campaign from the Forest Products I Political Education Committee. Morton, 1 1 in the National Tim-ibe- r turn, Supply Act which was narrowly defeated this year after conservationists II f showed how' it world increase the timber L cuttings in our national forests. i ware across the border from Mortons native Maryland, contributed $1,500 to Morton in 1968. The DuPont incourse, have contributed heavpolitics and pollution. Morton also picked up $250 from Spiros Skouras, a shipping tycoon, whose freighters and tankers help foul the waters and beaches that the Interior Department is supposed to protect from oil chairman Thomas spills. Nichols, whose company also has a bad pollution record, gave $300 in 1968. The amiable, giant has usually put his mouth where his money is. He has battled against air pollution control, upheld the oil depletion allowance and voted with the billboard lobby to knock out highway beautification funds. The League of Conservation Voters claims Morton has voted wrong, or not Voted at all, on just about every conservation issue that has come before the House. Morton's office told us that Rog has taken nothing with strings attached. Hell go into this Interior job as free as the mountain air. The spokesman reminded t lat he had raiseu a big ruckus over Walter Hickel's nomination. Despite his ties witli tire riespoilers. he turned out to be the best Interior Secretary since the late Harold Ickes. We were wrong about Hickel. We could also be wrong about Morton. of ily to both terests, d to Congress. get himself Now the oil, lumber and billboard jj who lives in Dela- Reynolds DuPont, WASHINGTON Rogers C. B. Morton will be installed in the Interior Department next month like a While some of the Indians are amenable to moving to wherever the job opportunities are, others prefer to stay on the reservation. We want to raise cattle, farm and build good homes, Snow said. Our ancestors roamed these hills and our people are buried here. He is confident that if some help could be secured, the Shivwits could be trained in various skills. Some of them still make moccasins, belts and gloves out of deerskins, and a few have worked in a tent factory in Cedar City, he said. Thev are good with their hands. ance. Once under protection of the federal government, the Shivwits were left to shift for themselves in a white mans world in 1956. They were promised money for loss of thousands of acres of land taken from them, but they are still waiting for the remuneration. Each of the Shivwits should eventually get about $10,000, said Morris, but the goverment just hasn't got around to paying yet. Officials have wanted to be sure that the Indians would be able to handle the money wisely, and local committees have teen organized to help supervise the funds, since the Shivwits have no experience in money management. Crucial needs right now, while the Shivwits live undr ; conditions far worse than those in big city ghettos, are for housing, water on the reservation, vocational training and opportunities to fill Yet lack of income Is the major problem, Mrs. Taylor said. If the Shivwits had decent homes with electricity and water, Im sure they would do better. Those that live in town live up to their neighbors and their kids fix up to attend school. Theyll shower at school and have their clothes cleaned at a laundromat. Morris said. just north of St. George, He praised Brigham Young University for work done on surveys of social and economic needs, and said Utah State University and the University of Utah also had been cooperative. alcohol. And for the few remaining Shivwits Indians, living in incredible poverty and despair, the realities are grim indeed. This may account for increasing alcoholism. a major social problem in the area. What is desperately needed is restoration of the dignity and confidence they once enjoyed as contributing members of society. And according to George C. Morris, Salt Lake City attorney, who has served as legal counsel for the Shivwits for more than 20 years, they may be able to find motivation with the proper assist- v A A 19 Words are the white mans song, McFee believes. They want to talk but they dont do nothing. The Shivwits themselves are disenchanted with promises for anything, including an estimated $1 million in judgment money theyve looked for since Perhaps the realities of life seem less harsh when the mind is blurred with 15, 1970 and haven't received any help yet. We wait and wait and wait and can't get anything. Todd is concerned with the plight of the Indians and appalled at lack of public concern, an attitude that has branded him by some area residents as an idealist! Hes pushed for project after project but has gained little headway. For example, a project to bring water to the reservation was killed several years back by county commissioners opposed to setting a precedent that would compel them to assist with similar projects elsewhere. Even if the money comes we wont get near as much said Wesley McFee, should, tribal council chairman. The will get most of it for doing all ning around. Tuesdoy, December DESERET NEWS, Bright spots in the otherwise gloomy picture include the possibility of planting and harvesting sunflowers. An eastern concern would buy all the sunflowers the Indians could raise, but it would be necessary ij purchase some harvesting equipment and have enough water for the crop. Another idea is to develop a mobile home area for retired persons from the California and Nevada areas. These people need personal motivaMorris said. tion, help and supervision, They are not managerc. They like to fish and hunt, but they dislike having to buy licenses because they hunt for food, rather than for sport. They live from day to day, simply because they dont have anything to look forward to. Some of the younger Shivwits are determined to help their people, but they need training and education and someone to point the way. After direct federal supervision of the Shivwits was terminated, a Salt Lake City bank held title to the lands, but that trust relationship is in die process of being terminated. The trustee is transferring title to the lands to a corporation organized in behalf of the Shivwits, called the Shivwits Land Corp. Questioning of the Indians regarding how they would spend the money indicated they would use it to improve their living conditions, for education for themselves and their children, to pay off debts, buy small businesses, or invest the money at interest. Very few of them wanted to spend the money to improve their community, it was noted. Life for Younger Shivwits are often discouraged by the lack of job opportunities, despite training. McFee, for example, trained through the Manpower program as an auto mechanic but had to settle for a caretaker job. reservation Shivwits is Shivwits jus! a jumble of junk. story A Hit, Miss Chronicle Many get an education and are acsaid Mrs. cepted by whites, almost, Taylor. In their frustration they turn to alcohol and take no pride in their belongings. Si I ; i .. But the Indians w ere here long before ., The Shivwits Indians are one of five To many Shivwits the judgment White Man showed up, and ancestors known who Southern bands the as Paiutes money .offers hope for a society with opin awardof the will of the share Paiutes may have been in this re$7,253,165 part portunities, a new Mecca on the reservation with homes they can be proud of and ed to various Indian tribes in 1965 by the gion many hundreds of years ago. occupations of their own choosing. Indian Gaims Commission. residents ot St. George--recaEarly-daMeanwhile they live in circumstances that the Shivwits were always con- - The other four bands of Southern unparalled among the nations Indian Paiutes are the Kanosh near Fillmore, sidered poor and they came into town tribes, many of whom are being helped the Koosharem near Richfield, and the ' from the reservation to do menial jobs, by their white brothers. . , Indian Peaks and Cedar City bands near or beg. One case in point is a family of six Cedar book. WPA City. as The written a Utah, weather-pockecrammed in a in the 1940s, says cf the Shivwits: After the judgment was awarded, a trailer. Most farmers would spray twice before using the home for a chicken count was made of all the members of The Indians rely for a livelihood upon the tribes who had a right to share in the coop. government work and the sale of ' That tally showed a total of 397 money. baskets, gloves, purses, belts and moccaTricycles, bicycles and dolls are in ihe five bands of Southern Paiutes, sins. Food supplies are purchased in St. sprinkled across the barren desert floor with 184 of them Shivwits. between stacks of refuse, garbage, and the Indian children attend George unwashed dishes and junked autos. And Only a few of these still live on the d summer 27,000-acr- e reservation west of St. white schools. no one would doubt Mrs. Taylors word winter houses of when she said: It used to be that you George, where the Shivwits were located sheds and could count on having a Shivwit in the sometime after 1865. Some Indians lost frame or rock have replaced the old hospital every week. In the summer it their land at the time of termination, but brush tepees. was diarrhea; in the winter, pneumonia. the Shivwits stili retain theirs. The Shivwits also were referred to as Digger Indians. A notation in the Utah Finding out much about the history of Their bellies are full most of the time Historical that Quarterly indicates and they have the Shivwits is a proposithanks to welfare digger was the name given to a small., clothing on their backs. But few are tion, with brief snatches included here and there in old journals and historical tribe npar St. George because it was the being shown a better way of life. t accounts as far back as 1776 when only Paiute tribe practicing agriculture. What these people need is not food, Escalante made his journey through In time the name was applied to toys and dolls to pacify the conscience of Utah. everv tribe known to use roots extensivea public who only thinks of giving at Historical journals sav it was Shivly for food and hence to be diggers. As Christmas time, Todd said. They need money for a central better living project wits Indians who killed the three men the root eaters were supposed to reprethat will help them obtain what they who left Maj. John Wesley Powell's sent a low type of Indian, the term the really need: water, electricity and sew- party in 1869 during the first trip down speedily became one of opprobrium, states. notation the Colorado River. human facilities dignity. age , ll y , d , Willow-covere- one-roo- Fa-tha- Mint Has No Definite Shipping Dates I am very concerned abcut the 1970 proof sets, which I ordered a year ago from the mint in San Francisco. About six months ago they acknowledged the proofs would be coming shortly. When they didn't I wrote them again but no answer. D. B., Salt Lake City. The acknowledgement you got didnt indicate the delivery date. Their policy is to accept advance orders for proof sets commencing November 1 of each year for filling during the next calendar year. The 1970 coins could not be struck prior to Jan. 1 as the Coinage Act says all coinage for any year must be struck in that calendar year. The Mint, because of production uncertainties, does not meaningful or definite shipping dates. Many customers will have to wait more than a lull year, as you have already, for coins. Proof sets are made during the entire period from Jan. 1 to Dec. gl. Your order number is C480515. If yours happens to be struck this month for instance, then itll be a bit longer before you get. They Admit Error My husband has a checking account S.L. bank. In August we got a bank credit card in the mail, which we never applied for. We used it fo buy some tires and thought we'd be billed for it. Instead, they withdrew the amount from our cheeking account without notifying ns. Then, not knowing this, niy husband wrote a cheek which bounced. We think they owe us an explanatii or an apology and should clear up the bounced check at a with the firm to whom we gave it. D.L.P., Bountiful. You were among 20 people who rereived unsolicited credit cards in error the bank admitted. They thought theyd gotten in touch with all concerned and asked for a keep or reject form to be filled out. No matter, you now nave a telephone apology and explanation. They will also explain the bounced check. Claim Being Reviewed You moy write to Do it Man, Box I was injured at TOD, Tooele and later retired on a disability in November. The home I live in has been sold and we can't find a place to rent, mainly be- -, cause I have six minor children. Abo we have ben waiting for word from Social Security about disability payments but have gotten no answers. Can you help us B. P., Salt on both of these problems ? Lake City. Delay in social security is normal government red tape, it appears. Your file is presently being reviewed at the main disability claims office in Baltimore. Final determination will be made and you will be notified by letter. Soon we hope. An encouraging factor is if payment will your claim is approved be retroactive to January. As for the home problem, we have given you the name of a realty firm which may be helpful. Also the name of an apartment house group. Good luck. Not Organized Yet My husband is in the Navy and recently left for Vietnam. Ive Iren trying a servicemans wifes club in our area. I've heard theres one named Waiting Wives. Can you help finj one Mrs. K. A. J., Provo. here? to find Sorry, not organized yet. But there are quite a few in the area besides you who want to get one started. We've given you the name of the S.L. Club President but for security reasons can't print. Anyone eLe can contact the American P.ed Cross in S.L. and get details. The S.L. group has about 67 girls who meet once a month.' They have a monthly bulletin, a copy of which will be mailed to you. Perhaps you and the S.L. officers can get a Provo area group organized. Depended On Premium My husband tool; out an insurance policy way hack in 1932 when he was 4(1. lie died this year. Why isut it worth f 257 Solt Lake more than the Lake City. City , Utah 84110 $50.00 paid? A. C. F., Salt . Your husband was formerly insured with another company which merged with another one. In an effort to be of greatest service to the insured of the first and insolvent company, all were for yearly renewable term insurance. That means the insured had to increase the premium each year as he became older to maintain a permanent amount of insurance. If this was not done the insurance decreased every year. This was what happened to your husband. Since your husband was paying a premium of $1.00 a month at age of 84 when he (Led, he only had $50.00 of insurance. This amount was paid to you. rein-sur- tell (Editor's Note: We're sorry the number ofanswer end the volume of mail make it impossible to euestions. or no legal medical oicsticn. Please, every envelopes as Don't sna stamps or arswers can i.i.y be g.ven in this column. Only goes., lions cf eineral interest will be answered. Oive ycur name, address and telephone number not tor publication but to help Do-l- t Man help you.J |