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Show Proves Indians Not Dying Race Big Increase in Population In Decade Reported in Census Returns. WASHINGTON. The American Indian not only is making a liar out of those who called his a dying race, but he is steadily moving toward a wholly self-supporting status. The Indian population in the United States rose in 1940 to 361,816, a 6.2 per cent gain over 1930 and a long step up from the 270,000 of the 1900 census. Four and a half centuries ago, when pale-face conquerors first came to North America, 846,000 Indians In-dians are estimated to have roamed over what is now the United States. The once great Indian empire all but obliterated by governmental administration ad-ministration which Secretary of War Stanton in 1862 called a "sink of iniquity" now is composed of 200 tribes with landed estates totaling 54,839,278 acres in 24 states. An Auspicious Era. Floyd W. Larouche, field representative represen-tative of the Indian service, says: "There has come a resurgence of Indian culture, economy and spirit . . . the fruits of which no man can foretell. "Instead of being at the end of the trail, as the sculptor saw him a few decades ago, the Indian now is entering en-tering a new and auspicious era one in which he has more to hope for than at any time since the white man landed on this continent." To the Indians once savage enemiesthe ene-miesthe nation now looks for a contingent of its defenders. More than 12,000 of them volunteered volun-teered for service during the World war, and all native-born Indians were made citizens by congress in recognition of their patriotism in an act that automatically subjected them to the conscription statute of 1940. Since the last tomahawk was laid aside a half century ago, the red-man red-man has contributed figures like the late Will Rogers, humorist and actor; ac-tor; the late Charles Curtis, vice president of the United States; the late Zane Gray, author of many Western novels; Acee Blue Eagle, noted artist, and Jim Thorpe, gridiron grid-iron immortal and Olympics champion. cham-pion. Long Crusade Succeeds. But it is to the "public conscious ness ol Indian needs, aroused during dur-ing the past decade and a half," that Larouche traces "the essential foundation foun-dation for the Indian's new era." The Indian reorganization act of 1934, now the basic law of Indian administration, "grew out of a long crusade," he says, adding: "Investigations and revelations of public spirited men and women in the early 1920s led to an impartial inquiry by the institute for government govern-ment research. Under the direction of Lewis Merriam, a comprehensive report was published and led to significant sig-nificant improvements in Indian administration ad-ministration in 1929." Later a complete legislative reversal re-versal of 50-year-old policies was successfully urged by Prasident Roosevelt, who said in requesting adoption of the 1934 law: "Certainly the continuance of autocratic rule by a federal department depart-ment ... is incompatible with American ideals ot liberty. It is also destructive of the character and self-respect of a great race." The Federal Indian office now spends around $33,000,000 a year and has 8,412 positions many filled by Indians. Indian education annually annu-ally costs approximately $10,000,000 and approximately $5,000,000 goes each year for operation of 79 hospitals hos-pitals and 14 sanatoria. |