FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 1969
PAGF 6
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
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Lincoln Indians have trouble
with housing, steady work
by Connie Winkler
Nebraskan Staff Writer
- - Like other poor people In Linciln the 300-400 Indians
".".live in poor housing have trouble finding steady work
and are trying to find their 'place in the American
middle class jungle.
' - Like their middle class counterparts, the Indians
,.. are concerned about their children, their families and
their futue - but there isn't enough money.
Yet, the situation for the Indians in Lincoln is getting
better. They are adjusting to the American middle class
culture. Lincoln Action Program, Head Start, the Salva-
Hon Army, churches and missions and Lincoln citizens
t', all are concerned about and working with tre In-
dians.
Mrs. Hulda Roper, a Lincoln policewoman, began
working with the Indians 15 years ago. Indian children
v were not attending school and the Indians were getting
in .rouble with the police, Mrs. Roper said. She and
the school attendance co-ordinator felt the Indians should
be sent bck to the reservation. But upon checking condi
tions at the reservation, they decided to help the Indians
here in Lincoln.
WORKING WITH the Lincoln churches Mrs. Roper
started collecting clothing and holding family parties
for the Indians at the recreation center in the Belmont
area. She also started home nursing and cooking classes
for Indian women. Now, the Indian's are maintaining
their own activities, but when they do need something
they still come to Mrs, Roper. "People like the Indians
here and are willing to help. The Indians, in turn,
feel they have friends here," she said.
There is a real need for alcohol education among
the Indians said the recipient of the Good Neighbor
and Distinguished Citizen awards. "I think we should
have an alcohol education center in Lincoln where In
dians can go to learn about handling alcohol in their
" lives." j . , .
'. Mrs. Roper feels that Indians start drinking because
; of their early childhood experiences and the frustrations
1 of living on a reservation.
"I WOULD like to see more on-the-job apprenticeship
" training and a greater variety of government training
programs for young Indians," she said. "Government
' programs such as Manpower are helpful but nothing
Is available now until July," she added.
The Indians also need good housing there aren't
many low cost houses in Lincoln in good repair, she
said. Indians usually have large families and it is hard
to find low rent houses large enough for them. "We
should have passed the Minimum Housing Ordinance
last year to bring Lincoln housing up to better stan
dards," she added.
"When we do move an Indian family Into a nicer
home, in two or three days another family has moved
in," she continued. "They share whatever they have
and usually it isn't very much." Even when an Indian
leaves jail he can find a place to stay at any Indian's
home, she said.
Roger Welsch, a teacher at Nebraska Wesleyan,
is an adopted member of the Omaha tribe In Llncon
and considers himself a friend of the Indians. "Folklore
Is my first love and I first became interested in the
Indians professionally," said the author of two books -on
Nebraska folklore.
WELSCH IS acquainted with the two Indian clubs
in Lincoln - the Little Warriors and the Lincoln Indian
Club. These are made up of members of the Omaha
tribe. There are also Winnebagoes, Pawnee, Oglalla and
Rosebud Sioux in Lincoln, although these have no formal
. groups, he said.
Indians in Lincoln don't differ from other poor
f eoples, their problems are not just a matter of being
ndians but also a matter of being poor, he said.
. "Because they are discriminated against they tend to
be poor and suffer the problems of the poor."
Most people's first reaction to the Indians 13 one
- of paternalism and this has to be avoided, Welsch said.
Z "Indians are human beings and can be humiliated by
paternalism and condescending charity," he warned.
Indians in Lincoln are helping themselves and
."developing within the white culture, but they are main
I taining significant features of their own culture, he said.
-They have a great treasury of music, customs, stories,
" costumes and religious ceremonies and they are trying
to keep these while adjusting to our culture. "It is
disgusting that we should try to change the Indians."
HE FEELS that too often the white community
isn't aware of the outstanding Indian citizens in town.
He cited Clyde Sheridan, who was awarded an outstan
ding civil service award while working at Veterans
Hospital and is now the recreation director at the Salva
tion Army center.
Too often whiles hear about the drunk Indians;
alcohol does have an effect on Indians, but often the
white man encourages the problem, Welsch said. For
example, at Pine Ridge reservation in northwest
Nebraska, the Indians have laws against drinking on
the reservation, but the white man builds bars and
pawn shops on the edge of the reservation.
Indians drink because they have so much more
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to seek release from, he said. They can experience
a cultural shock just trying to adjust to a new culture.
Such a minor problem as adjusting to the white man's
eye contact makes the cultural adjustment more difficult,
he said. The Indians' drinking problem is also a matter
of visibility Indians don't have anyone to take them
home when they are drunk, he added.
In the area of employment, Welsch feels programs
are needed to help individuals help themselves. "The
programs will cost money, but whatever it costs it
is worth it. Once the Indian is trained he can find
a job, get off the welfare roles, start paying taxes
and set an example for other Indians."
THE FOLKLORIST disagrees that the reservations
should be done away with. The reservations are impor
tant pieces of real estate and a cultural anchor for
the Indians. "For many the reservatioo is also a retreat,
but many of us need a retreat now and then," he
added.
The white man must be patient, he continued. It
took hundreds of years of deliberate planning to reduce
the Indians to dependency on the government. He feels
Indians are regaining stability. History courses in
Nebraska are no longer looking at the Indians as "noble
savages," he said. In the courts Indians are clearing
up old iniquities with a battery of lawyers.
"I think the Indians are progressing very nicely
they shouldn't try to become white men." There
is already too much exposure to the white world in
the schools, he said.
The major factor in the Indian problem is the whie
man, Welsch concluded. The white man needs to be
educated that Indians have a rich culture that is valad
and should not be erased even though it is different.
Mrs. Dixie Dakota, whose husband is a Sioux, works
with the Indians as a planning aid for Lincoln Action
program (LAP) "Indians have been given the worst
shake of all the minorities," she said. Their numbers
are smaller, but they are the most prejudiced against
in the labor force and given some of the worst housing
for their typically large families.
INDIANS, AS WELL as being nonverbal, are proud
and are not going to humiliate themselves by asking
for better housing or whatever they need, she said.
"Indians haven't made a move as a united group to
demand and ask for what they want and whites should
be encouraging them to unite as a group, she con
tinued. ...
They have trouble getting welfare because they are
not residents because some move back and forth between
Continued "on page 7
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