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Show Miss Indian ArsHcq Encounters Loneliness, Stereotypes, Militants WASHINGTON, D.C.--(AIPA)-T- he 20th Miss Indian America sees her role m ambassador of the Indian people as often merely listening with patience. On her travels as Miss Indian America, Maxine Henrietta Norris misses her parents and boyfriend, tries to gently push her way through a web of stereotypes about beauty queens and Indians, and is very much getting her own thoughts in order. When the old Papagn queen on her travels she mbMm, gets lonely You just cry. But there are many compensations which she is eager to point out. You 'don't forget anybody you already know. You just appreciate the new people you meet And it's such a small world that you're always meeting people youve met before. Sure I miss my boyfriend. And yes I think of him all the time. But if we care about each other, its 20-ye- ar okay. Maxine, in town on an official visit which includes stops in the offices of key congressmen and senators, pivotal Indian agencies in the bureaucracy, and Indian organizations around town, is in the company of two chaperones from Sheridan, Wyo., where she was crowned Miss Indian America last July 29. On this d day she was wearing a dress adorned with 11 eagle feathers representing the 11 districts of the Papago Nation. When she left Papago country a tribal flag was presented to her, which she occasionally wears about her shoulders. She also carried an eagle feather fan given to her by a Canadian Indian friend. On her feet are not moccasins but the customary cowhide sandals of the Southwest. She sees four basic bends among all Indians today. First," she says, were Indian. Second, all ef ns have the same common problems. Third, were all striving toward the same goals to relieve those problems. And fourth, were all getting involved, getting educated and meeting people Cram ether reservations and urban areas. purple-and-gol- Open Letter To Parents Dear Parents, want to call your attention to a particular problem that I have with quite enrattees. As you al I a few know we have a program that provides work for Junior High and Senior High School students for two hours a day after school We have a lot of youngsters that apply for a job on this program, but the problem is that they are a little bit too choosy about the type of work that is assigned to them. We only have a bmited number of jobs. I am trying to point out . to you that this is all we have but still I ol there is a considerable amount of youngsters who say: "I don't like this want jobr or "I dont want that job, I something elseP. Would you parents please talk to your children and explain to them that when they are offered a job, that is ALL we have. I wish I could place each student on the type of job he wants but, as I already sad, we do not have that many work stations. My desire is to place each applicant on a job, and it would help if the students would cooperate and take tie job offered to them. Maybe you parents could help me in convincing the ' youngsters not to be so choosy because there is very little to choose from. Please talk to your children and let's put them to work. I know the extra income will help th many cases. Sineerly yours, Dimitry Arnes . NYC Project Director Im not out for feathers and bells. There is anew era among Indian youth of today. I want my Indian old people to know there is a hope that the young will ' do good for the Indian people." She intends to work on her reservation when her studies are done. have received from many opportunities my tribe and others far scholarships. I take that as a sign of obhgation-y- ou just feel that inside." Her most nagging and continuous problems in her role is the web of stereotypes she encounters in other peoples' minds, both Indians and s she says. are non-Indian- "Non-Indian- s, unfortunately silly because of their naiveness about Indians, " she observes. "And some of the militants also approach me as a stereotype. They dont know I wasn't selected for beauty. They dont approach me as a person. And Pm the kind of person that wont let something happen without a basic justifiable reason." She had one brush with militant recently in Santa Barbara, Calif., who protested the activities of some Boy Scouts whom die was invited to visit. The Scouts were performing Indian dances, wearing Indian garb and doing Indian artwork as part of their Order of the Arrow. Maxine tells it this wav: "At first I was angry at what the Scouts were doing. Then I watched and talked a little. One boy was making fried bread and another was doing a sandpainting. He had made three triangles, one red, one white and one black, which met in the center with the colors all mixed up in this funny shade. I asked him what it meant. He said the triangles represented the red, white and black people coming together. I told the Scout lasders, Its good that you're learning the background of Indian ss you're just doing it far show. There's a meaning far every song people-unle- and every dance. You can see the impact children want of Indians on society-the- se to be Indians. You can't keep the truth from them. Integrated schooling shows the continuing problems ef the minorities, mid that is why there is so much rebellion among all youth today. Later I went to the Navajo Nation Fair and I was on afloat. I heard some militants saying, 'Theres that girl who likes the Boy Scouts. You just have to keep on going, to see the humor side of it alL Thats the only way to survive. "Indians today are dying, and they can't make it to hospitals. Indians are starving or dying from malnutrition and swollen bellies. Babies are dying from diarrhea because of water problems. We were getting dont like it. educated-a- nd a change be seeing you'll for Indian people ahead. " She doesn't consider herself a fan of women's liberation, but she is dear in her own thinking. "For Papago women, men are the shrine. But the women ore really the leaders. The men are the spokemen and warriors. Whatever men learn, they learn from their aunts and mothers and grandmothers or some female." Moving about Indian country, she notes, she meets common people, directors of programs, covncHmen and mixed-bloo- d outcasts. .. They're all the me to same if they're people who feel concerned about Indians. These are the people who inspire me." WASHINGTON VISITOR Office ef Kdurstien bin Henrietta Norris, - -- J liana dwtig a bhftg somhu at the HEW recently. Mtes Indten Amorim XX, Marino met with (Irit to right Prior Mtthiad, WMhm Dammart, FrariUMtfetttfch, andFrinal SwriL One of Mim fen Nnrcrrrinn- from her s can-d-e attitude toward thfoga." - AIPA Newaphste NCAI Elects New Slate ef Officers - - TULSA, Okla. (AIPA) New top officers and area board members of the National Congress of American InHlM (NCAI) elected during its 90th convention here Nov. 1 are as follows: President, Mel Tonasket (Colville), Omsk, Wash.; First Vice President Ernest L. Stevens (Oneida), Phoenix, Ariz.; Secretary, Catherine White Horn (Osage), Muskogee, Okla.; and Treasurer, Raymond Goetting (Laguna-CaddoAlbuquerque, N.M. Eleven area vice presidents, each elected by caucus from one of the 11 ), administrative areas parallel to the Bureau of Indian Affairs structure were: Walter Moffett (Nez Perce), Kamiah. Ida., Portland Area; Clarence Jackson (Tlingit-HaidaKaiki, Alaska, Juneau Area; Matthew Calac (River Band of Rincon), Pauma Valley, Cal., Sacramento Area; James Ely (Flathead), Billings, Mont., Billings area; Joseph Chase (Mandan-SiouxHoliday, N.D., Aberdeen Area; Juanita Leaned (Arapahoe), Oklahoma City. Okla.. Anadarko Area; John Shaw (Osage), Burbank, Okla., Muskogee Area; Peter Homer Jr. (Mojave), Phoenix, Ariz., Phoenix Area; Victor Sarridno (Laguna Pueblo), laguna, N.M., Gallup Area; Victoria Gokee (Lac du Flambeau Chippewa), Mrilmi, Wise., Minneapolis Area; and Eugene ). Begay Sarasota. Fla., Southeast Area. ), Area Director Changes Imminent ), Top sources at the Interior Department and the BIA state that seven of the 11 Area Directors are slated for imminent transfers, and that only a handful of the seven are scheduled for assignments in the capital. The four Area Directors expected to stay in place are John Artiehoker Jr., Phoenix Area; Walter Olson, Albuquerque Area; Anthony Lincoln, Navajo Area; and Janies Canan, Billings Area. (Navajo-Chippewa- Bt Onsets ATTBinON-C- er IT h tfcg HI HH TTpvnil jfMfllVil vi commmMm SBtffkw Cur owMfi to lock (os tfcoir ood oo vokidos to pot gn cops coos vkoro tkoy coooot bo roocbod oosHy. m in. OFFICIAL DECLARATION-O- hs wvhg National Bushwes Week test msrih was rigned by Ifoft tn riggJWHamStte employees ef the Tribe left to right Unde Phwwhmee, Shsnmu Mmtheent Alima Demon; Boa Warden; Francos Peowagup; Peggy Vfoden, trieaurer of As Roosevelt Business and Prafesafoual Womens Ohms hone Ceeh, preridsnt efths Roosevelt BPW Cheb; WBhurta Tattoos Priay Henwcke; Undo Garda; Kay Slxkflters Edith Christensen; Mariana Muffins and CeesBa Jetts. Hw annual week b apausared by the Bmiusn and Fkolaaahual Womens CWbs asms the eonutiy. |
