Chapter 6, "Disputable Truths: The American Stranger, Television Documentary and Native American Cultural Politics in the 1950s." Dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1996, Pamela

8/6/2019 Chapter 6, "Disputable Truths: The American Stranger, Television Documentary and Native American Cultural Politic

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Wilson, Pamela. "Disputable Truths: The American Stranger, TelevisionDocumentary and Native American Cultural Politics in the 1950s." Dissertation,University of Wisconsin, 1996.

CHAPTER SIX: ALL EYES ON MONTANA: TELEVISION ANDTHE CULTURAL POLITICS OF REGION

Questions of intercultural power and cultural control--based upon regional

culture, race, ethnicity, religion and economic factors such as land

ownership--gathered force and erupted in the political controversy surrounding the

reception of The American Stranger. The documentary, produced with the

unprecedented cooperation of various Indian tribes, political interest groups, and

localized community activists, was filmed primarily in Indian communities in Montana.

This national report foregrounded the localized knowledge of Montana's Native

Americans and their supporters, blaming federal "termination" policies for the social

and economic conditions on Montana's Blackfeet reservation and the "landless

Indians" living on Hill 57 in Great Falls. Termination efforts were subsequently

challenged by a coalition of American Indian interest groups and sympathetic

non-Indians, drawing upon the public indignation and call to arms aroused by The

American Stranger.

The content of The American Stranger was significantly influenced by the

involvement of regional tribal leaders and Montana activists, and the documentary

was subsequently appropriated as a powerful discursive tool in their ongoing

struggles on behalf of Indian rights and local grassroots interests. The single

broadcast, along with subsequent localized screenings of the show's kinescope,


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became the focal convergence for a host of ideological and political public debates

surrounding the "Indian question."

Why was The American Stranger particularly relevant to Montana activists,

tribal and citizens groups? Although tribal groups are scattered throughout the nation,

the U.S. government has institutionalized Indian Affairs as a "land" issue, subsumed

under the Department of the Interior and its parallel Congressional committees

(Interior and Insular Affairs). "Indian affairs" has also generally been considered a

regional (Western) issue, since the majority of land at stake was in the West due to a

history of continued westward relocation and removal of Indians beyond the western

boundaries of white settlement. In the late 1950s, Montana's ranking Democratic

Senator James Murray was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior and

Insular Affairs, a committee split along party lines between those sympathetic to

populist interests (including Indian constituents) and those with strong allegiances to

Western land-based business interests.

The coalition that united Indian and non-Indian citizens of Montana in political

and social action around Native American issues was essentially formed in 1953-54,

when citizens groups from around the state rallied to express support for the

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes threatened by the Flathead Termination Bill.

This coalition was a loosely woven and informal confederation of localized, state and

regional groups--tribal, religious, partisan and non-partisan--which found themselves

coming together in various configurations over and over again during the postwar

years on a number of social and political issues. Well-connected to State legislators

and Montanas Congressional delegation, and heavily Democratic in their party


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affiliations, many of these groups had the constituency to gather a great deal of

populist clout when called upon to do so. This Montana pro-Indian network included

localized groups, such as Great Falls Friends of Hill 57 or the Montana Citizens

Against Termination, which were chartered to address a particular local social and/or

political need specific to their communities, as well as (on the other extreme) regional

chapters of national organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Organization

and American Friends Service Committee. Other groups included those with a

long-term organization but for which the specific projects varied according to the

needs of the community or region, such as the Cascade County Community Council in

Great Falls or the Business and Professional Womens Clubs (with local and state

chapters), and those which existed primarily for other purposes but which took a

political stand upon and became involved in issues which they deemed relevant to

their mission, such as the Montana Farmers Union. The projects of the organizations

and individuals in this network ranged from humanitarian benevolence within the

community to active political lobbying at the state and national levels. An important

regional organ was The People's Voice, a Helena-based statewide leftist newspaper.

Many Democratic newspaper editors also served as conduits for community activism.

Many of these Montana groups were spearheaded by women activists, a notable point

in a political world which consisted almost entirely of men at the Congressional level

and in federal agencies, as well as in government-sanctioned tribal leadership.1

For example, the Montana Farmers Union was actively involved in the fight

against Flathead termination. MFU Vice-President Dick Shipman of Lewiston,

Montana, was a central player in the 1954 hearings on the Flathead Termination bill


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before the joint session of the House Subcommittee on Indian Affairs and the Senate

Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. In his statement at the hearings, he

described the circumstances of his own cultural heritage as a (white) neighbor and

friend of the Indians of Montana:

My family came to Montana in the early 1880s, and my father ranched incountry where the buffalo still grazed. The Indian problem was not anewspaper item, but was an important factor in the daily life of theMontana cattleman. I grew up in Indian country. My ranch and theregion it lies in are rich in Indian tradition. . . . On my own account then, Ispeak here today as a neighbor and friend of the Indians of Montana. Ihave come to know and respect the American Indian citizens of mystate. Their economic future and the well-being of my whole state will beinjured if the Federal Government withdrawal from the FlatheadReservation.

This is the view of both the organizations I represent today. TheMontana Farmers Union includes almost one half of all the farm familiesin the state and our members are deeply concerned with the fate of ourIndian citizens. I am also here [as a representative of] the Association onAmerican Indian Affairs. . . .Our opposition to withdrawal rests on threegrounds: moral, economic and legal. In our opinion, withdrawal isindefensible on any one of these grounds.

Morally concerned about the effect that termination would have upon the honor and

integrity of our country, Shipman asserted that they as individuals, a nation or a

government must act in accordance with ageless principles of moral law rather than

to violate such principles of public morality in the name of the United States

Government.

Speaking as a non-Indian, white American, and specifically tothe fellow white

Americans on the Congressional committees, Shipman also expressed white shame

at the actions carried out by a white Government:

When the intentions of the Government became known to the Indians ofthe Flathead Reservation last fall, an elder tribesman stood up at his


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tribal council meeting and said, It has now become clearly understoodby us that a treaty with the U.S. Government means nothing. I readthose words with a feeling of shame.

Later, he added, I say we must all share the blame, that we should learn from the past

and not make the same old mistakes again and again. Speaking of anti-Indian racism

(a rare topic of white discourse during this period), Shipman noted that too many of

our white Americans are unready to welcome the Indian into full and equal

association. The State of Montana, for example, has no law guaranteeing the Indian

protection against discrimination. It is not the Indians fault that in the towns and cities

of his home state he is sometimes denied service in hotels and restaurants and

generally is given employment only when no suitable white person is at hand.

Shipman entered into the widely-argued debate as to whether federal

consultationwith tribes was an adequate alternative to gaining their consentto policy

changes affecting their futures; he urged a greater partnership with Indian tribes in any

planning for change regarding their futures:

The Indians have been told that this thing will be done to them. Theyhave been told that it was so decided for them in Washington. They havebeen told to get ready for it overnight. Such things are not in the traditionof this land of freedom. Let me assure this Committee that there is nomystery or question as to how the Indian people feel about the proposedbill.

They are opposed to it, and more; they are disillusioned, and they arebitter. They cannot understand why the great American Governmentcould strike such a final and irrevocable blow against them. They havemade their own consultation among their people, and you will hear itfrom their own spokesmen that the vast majority of Indians living on thereservations are opposed to termination. All the Indians of Montana areapprehensive and fear that this is only the beginning and wonder whowill be the next to be liquidated.


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Shipman provided a detailed historical account of the circumstances by which the

Little Shell Band of Chippewa, who composed most of the population of Hill 57 in

Great Falls, had come to be there. He described the conditions on Hill 57:

Some 50 families, among whom there are 287 children, live in huts andshacks under slum conditions of the worst sort. There is no water supplyon Hill 57; no sewage disposal, no electricity. Tuberculosis anddysentery are prevalent. the Indians who live here are sub-citizens onthe edge of a beautiful and prosperous city; eking out a hand-to-mouthexistence. The churches and civic groups of great Falls call Hill 57 amajor social problem, a disgrace to their city. . . .This condition is notpeculiar to Great Falls--it is a common situation in many citiesthroughout Montana and the Dakotas.

How did Hill 57 relate to termination? Shipman explained, I am opposing the present

legislation because I fear that if it is adopted, in the course of time Indians now on the

Flathead Reservation may be compelled to live in some other Hill 57. Not only the

friends of the Indians of Montana, but the taxpayers generally, are fearful, he added.

In addition, Shipman spoke of the formative coalition of mostly-non-Indian citizens

groups that had begun to mobilize against termination:

Fortunately, there are many groups of citizens in Montana who are aliveto this problem and are determined to do something about it. As part oftheir effort they are opposing the present bill under consideration heretoday. It is the desire and determination of good Americans to see thatour injustices to the Indians are ended. This determination has neverbefore been as urgent or as widespread as it is today. . . . Civic,professional, farm and labor representatives . . . [have] made knowntheir opposition to the proposal. . . .

He continued:

[At a recent meeting in Great Falls] State, county and city officials fromwelfare, health and taxing bodies, joined with representatives of 35 civicorganizations, church representatives, farm and labor leaders of thestate of Montana in unanimously passing a resolution opposing thewithdrawal program. Many similar meetings have been held in our statesince the proposal became known, and all of them have been widely


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publicized in the press. The proposed separation of our Indian citizensfrom federal supervision has become on of the key public questions inmy state.2

Shipman and the Montana Farmers Union delegates also garnered the support

of their colleagues nationally, resulting in a 1954 Resolution on Indian Affairs adopted

by the National Farmers Union, the text of which read:

We oppose the withdrawal of federal jurisdiction over Indian affairs,because to do so would be a revocation of commitments and moralobligations entered into by solemn treaty between the United Statesgovernment and the various tribes. These commitments includeprograms of health, welfare, and education which the individual statesshould not be asked to finance.

The NFU Resolution continued:

The rights of Americas original inhabitants in their lands and theresources of these lands should be protected by continued federaltrusteeship. We shall continue to oppose the revocation of treaties andthe abandonment of the Indian to rapacious, selfish groups who wantthe resources on Indian lands. We must continue to guarantee theIndians rights to preserve tribal culture and civilization from enforcedassimilation. This is the basic right of self-determination which webelieve should be accorded all people elsewhere. 3

Even many Montana Republicanswere against the Flathead termination bill, though

no doubt for different reasons, as this article from a Young Republican publication

exhibited:

Because of the implications not only for Montana Indians but forMontana taxpayers, this bill is deserving of careful inspection. On firstglance the purpose of the bill. . . seems to be to remove all legaldistinctions now existing between Indians and other U.S.citizens--seemingly a desirable thing. Scrutiny of the bill, however,brings to light many serious problems which have grown up over aperiod of years. Not only does the bill attempt to dispense with them inone fell swoop, but it also allows only two years for all thisproblem-solving to take place. Because the drafters of this legislationrecognize the impossibility [of meeting this deadline], a great deal of theproblem-solving is left to the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior,


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which for practical purposes means the Bureau of Indian Affairs. . . . Thediscretion of the latter has not always merited public confidence.4

The coalitions and activism on behalf of Native American political causes which

were energized during the 1953-54 Flathead termination hearings forged

deeply-rooted collaborative relationships between many white and Native American

groups which were subsequently re-activated during the maelstrom which followed

the November, 1958, broadcast of The American Stranger. This television

documentary foregrounded the social, economic and political situations of two

Montana Indian reservations and the urban Indian community in Great Falls--a

television representation which many Montanans of both races proudly embraced as

their own. The letters and memoranda about the NBC documentary which circulated

among local Montana activists, their legislators, nationwide television

viewers-turned-activists, regional and national interest groups, tribal groups, and the

federal agencies are remarkable--for their sheer volume as well as their intense

advocacy of tribal and community interests. The archival correspondence from the

papers of Blackfeet Tribal Secretary Iliff McKay of Browning, Sister Providencia of

Great Falls, Congressman Lee Metcalf of Helena and the grassroots organization

Friends of Hill 57" (led by Richard Charles, Max Gubatayao and Sister Providencia,

all of Great Falls) provides us with intimate insights into the deeply interwoven

relationships between these various individuals and the many organizational interests

they represented.

For many residents of western Montana, especially those living in the city of

Great Falls and on the nearby Blackfeet Indian Reservation headquartered in


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Browning, the broadcast of The American Stranger on November 16, 1958 effected

momentous changes in their collective endeavors to address some of the social,

cultural and, especially, economic problems that plagued their communities during the

harsh fall and winter of 1958 and early 1959. Although their ideological interests may

have differed, along with their personal styles of self-expression, the social actors

represented in these documents shared a commitment to localized social/political

action and a common desire to improve the living conditions for the Native Americans

who lived on Montanas reservations and in urban ghettos such as Great Falls Hill

57." The voices of these letters convey a rich narrative, structured around the impact

upon their lives--and the lives of their communities--of a single television program: The

American Stranger.

In addition to direct responses to the broadcast, a second wave of social action

occurred as a secondary reaction to the show. Localized movements spun off from the

impetus of the broadcast: inspired, aroused and energized by it. The spectacular rush

of nationwide interest, spurred by the supplementary efforts of grassroots activists,

aroused local Montanans to get involved in the political and humanitarian process. As

one Great Falls-based circular prodded, WHAT CAN WE DO? NBC's Indian

Documentary was astonishing in its power to generate action-impulses in the viewers.

. . . Keep on writing the stations when programs show the Indian in a favorable light. .

. . Start working on your Congressional delegation for a new Indian policy statement

for the Indian Bureau from Congress, for Congress must share the blame [with the

Bureau of Indian Affairs] for present conditions. It alone has plenary power over the

fate of Indian tribes.5


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Ironically, many of the Montana residents whose lives and interests were

represented on the television documentary were unable to see the original broadcast,

since television set ownership and access to reception in the sparsely-populated rural

West were limited by many economic and geographical factors. For this reason,

efforts to get kinescope copies of the broadcast for circulation in the heartland began

even before the original broadcast. "The shining mountains were a barrier to reception

but we have hopes of an educational-film copy of The American Stranger which can

be shown on the reservations and in schools," Sister Providencia wrote. Requests

came from individual letter writers, tribes and community-based agencies urging wider

viewing opportunities. Former Shoshone tribal council member Reuben Martel wrote:

"I believe that the Indian himself should be alerted to the Indian Bureau's method of

termination and therefore I was wondering if your film would be available to Indian

tribes and on what terms. I believe Indians everywhere should see this film."6

A flurry of requests and attempts to procure a kinescoped copy of the

documentary began a few days prior to the broadcast and continued for months

afterward. After a number of requests to NBC through the offices of Montana's

senators, NBC made a number of kinescopes to satisfy the needs of local and regional

grassroots activists. Early in 1959, kinescopes began circulating in Montana. That

winter and spring, the film was screened for the Blackfeet tribe at a special council

meeting, before the Montana State Legislature at Helena, at open community

meetings in Great Falls, and in other regional communities where racial and ethnic

segregation and integration were perceived as problems.7 Screenings of the

kinescope to community, church and women's groups in the Great Falls area were


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used in conjunction with other public education efforts and community relief drives to

collect food, fuel, money and clothing for the native population on the Blackfeet

Reservation and Hill 57 during 1959's severe and life-threatening winter of extended

below-zero temperatures. The kinescopes, in great demand, were shuttled around the

state to various tribes, schools and church groups and used as tools for political

organizing. Sister Providencia reported that one was to be sent to several Canadian

tribes as well, "to give them some courage to speak up for their own interests from the

example of the Indian councilmen in the picture." NBC reported receiving hundreds of

requests for the kinescope, and interest groups such as the NCAI and AAIA circulated

their copies among their members around the country. Requests for the kinescope

were even received from corporate interests, such as employees of the Rocky

Mountain Gas and Oil Company, who had heard there were "parts of the film

damaging to the oil interests."8

In the following pages, I want to allow the voices of Montanans involved in the

elaborately interwoven crises and concerns which arose during the winter of

1958-1959 to be heard--that is, to allow their letters to express in their own words what

they were experiencing and the actions they took in the wake of the broadcast. In this

section, I use the model of an epistolary novel--in which the narrative is produced by

the letters themselves--as a technique upon which to model my presentation of this

material. I will try to only interject my own voice (as master narrator) into this account

to contextualize, provide missing details, or to summarize material I have chosen to

omit due to constraints of length. I find the drama which occurred in the Great Falls

and Browning area of Montana that winter of 1958-59 to be fascinating in its energy,


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its advocacy efforts, and its ability to bridge the diverse ideological and social

formations to unify these social agents into a politically powerful regional bloc. It was a

social and cultural drama unified by a television program, a media event which

provided the impetus and political energy needed to sustain a regional, and ultimately

national, social movement.

VOICES FROM MONTANA

Just following the broadcast of The American Stranger on November 16,

Robert McCormick began to receive reports in Washington from his consultants in the

Montana political trenches about the localized response to the documentary,

especially in Great Falls and on the nearby Blackfeet Reservation. Richard Charles,

secretary of the Friends of Hill 57 activist group in Great Falls, was one community

leader who kept McCormick informed of the Montana political climate:

Enclosed is a letter written to you by Sister Providencia today. This weekhas been so hectic that it doesnt seem strange that she should beasking me to mail her personal letters. Also enclosed is a letter fromAssistant [Interior] Secretary [Roger] Ernst to Senator [James] Murray. .. . Sister wanted me to tell you that . . . the Business and ProfessionalWomen, the Farmers Union, the YMCA, and the Lethbridge, Alberta, TVstation, plus two other groups, have asked for film copies of thisprogram. The state Farmers Union president has talked of nothing elsesince he saw your program. He calls it the best in 20 years.

Charles continued with Sister Providencias feedback:

Sister also wanted me to tell you what I thought of the show. I certainlyliked it. I was amazed that anything so topical and controversial shouldbe broadcast to the nation. I am used to such things being swept underthe rug. Iliff McKays performance before the camera was excellent.Thats the best speech Ive ever heard him make. The scenes in theBlackfeet Council room were excellent. Some of the kiddy shots wereterrific for human interest, especially the clean plates at Heart Butte. I


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have heard that children who saw the program were much impressed.The roundup scenes at Browning and the real estate scenes at Polsoncombined excellent photography and excellent commentary. . . .

He added his own commentary:

I have been tramping around Hill 57 about once a week for nearly four

years. Never did I think that these familiar scenes would be put on the

national screen, accompanies by macabre music. Indeed that which has

been whispered in corners is now shouted from the rooftops. And this is

what all of us here have wanted all these years. I believe this is the best

publicity background to push public opinion toward a new Indian policy.

In Great Falls, the program was carried by KFBB (CBS). It was amusing

to have the lead man [Van Doren] say, We dont usually bandy

Murrows name around this network! This should have sugarcoated the

pill for KFBB. . . . [italics added]9

Enclosed with Charles letter was a letter from Sister Providencia to McCormick, her

initial response to the televisual piece for which she had played so instrumental a

backstage role. Her personal reaction reflects insights into the effective aesthetics of

media construction:

This will be in serial form as I try to gather impressions of The AmericanStranger. . . . These are the things that remain with me: the Americanstranger walking on the barren plains in an age of two cars in everygarage; the fishing for food and not for fun; the child who made the signof the cross; the pinched faces of the children at table; was it Mr. VanDoren who quoted the psalm? The direct and relentless hammering ofthe interviewer--a new prophet surely in the land of surplus production. .. the creativity of Iliff [McKay], the magnificent radio voice of BlackieWetzel, the whole background of "Indians at work" against which youpitched your explanation and your biting commentary. . . .


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The Sister continued with commentary on the shows appeal:

Above and beyond the documentary aspects, the artistic editing and

musical arrangement, the tremendous human appeal--to me, thegreatest single achievement of The American Stranger was the elementof revelation. It was so new--so virgin a field, a story that has neverbefore "gotten through" to the American public. No article, no magazineillustration, no argument has ever done what television has done--givenus proof beyond dispute, beyond prejudice, beyond stereotype. It livedand breathed in a way that was a tremendous compliment to youbecause it was apparent that you had won the Indians' confidencecompletely.

Of the reception, she wrote:

One sister said that she could hear old Last Stars heart beating. FatherByrne and Congressman Metcalf were very effective in their own way,but the message of the show belonged to you and the Indians and thecamera. The viewing out here was not too successful because of thetelephone relay, but the sound effects were perfect. We could not seeHill 57 and its macabre props but we heard more than enough of yourhack-saw comments.

Sister Providencia also directly confronted her own exclusion from the text of the

broadcast, an exclusion that was remarkable to many who knew her centrality in the

cultural and political affairs of Western Montanas Indian communities.

I was so gratified to have the Hill included, but my mother called me fromMissoula, Why werent you out there? She said to tell you that thefamily kept waiting for the appearance because the TV Guide hadmentioned my name. My only comfort in the barrage of demands are thewords of one professor, We did not need a prima donna. Everyoneknows why Robert McCormick is so well-informed. One of my formerstudents phoned me all the way from Denver to ask why I was not in theshow.

She provided a local perspective about the pre-broadcast efforts to get on the

Montana schedules:

It is still an unsolved puzzle why KFBB here consented to order theprogram. Three weeks ago they were adamant--We dont have thetime. Then Tuesday the Friends of Hill 57 sent out about . . . 200 letters


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putting the pressure upon New York NBC to make a kinescope.Wednesday night, KFBB phoned me and said crossly, We are puttingon your Indian show--had to cancel two programs. . . . Then

unexpectedly the Great Falls Tribune consented to run a news item andBillings TV came in so that with Butte and Helena all Montana saw it,and Idaho saw it too, and so did Wyoming. . . . Metcalfs office called metwice, joyfully. Mrs. Madigan and NBC-New York phoned conference onThursday. . . .

The lively nun also discussed the localized activism which had arisen surrounding

(and as a result of) the television show:

A prominent church woman wants to get up a caravan to go down toBillings and pound tables at the [BIA] Area Office. . . She is on a hungerstrike. The students said, Sister, lets get letters going. Lets dosomething to take advantage of the mood. Women phoned, What canwe do? or Im writing to Mansfield . . . . Iliff said that he had to go to CutBank to see it. . . . He agreed with me that the editing was marvelous. Hesaid, If anyone had told me a year ago that this program would bepossible I would have said that they were crazy. That Mr. McCormick willhave his ears burning for a few nights because the Bureau will be rakinghim over the coals. But he told me that he wanted that to happen. theBlackfeet had about 35 minutes of the show.

When we talked of What now? he said the place to put the finger was

at the Area Office and Assistant Director [Reinhold] Brust--the power to

turn loose funds or to apply for a deficiency appropriation come January

was entirely in his hands. . . . [so] Congress needs some prodding. 10

Immediately following the broadcast, Great Falls community leaders began

gathering signatures on a petition to demand that the federal government take

responsibility for the conditions of poverty and hunger on Montanas Indian

reservations. The following petition was sent to BIA Commissioner Glenn Emmons

from a coalition of Great Falls citizens, spearheaded by the Friends of Hill 57 and


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drafted by Richard Charles. Note that, like the documentary, it too plays upon the

suffering of children:

The recent television documentary, The American Stranger, broughthome to us who are already aware of them the scope and seriousness ofthe problems which face you in regard to the general assistance needsof Indian families.

The enclosed petitions are an affirmation from Montana citizens thatthey will support you in your efforts to meet these needs by initiating oractivating Federal programs for general assistance. We do not agreewith your advisors, and certainly Robert McCormick's documentary didnot support them, that other forms such as tribal relief, categoricalservices, or surplus foods are meeting the needs of thousands on theallotted reservations.

We know that the hunger of the Heart Butte children is duplicated in the

other reservations of Montana as well as those of North and South

Dakota and in Idaho. We know that the Federal Government has the

resources and the authorization to give the children more than one meal

a day.11

As part of a massive political campaign nurtured by the interest aroused by The

American Stranger, Charles also wrote to BIA Area Director Percy Melis (Billings Area

Office) and the BIA Superintendents of all of Montanas reservations, with copies to

Montanas Senators James Murray and Mike Mansfield:

Enclosed is a copy of the petitions sent to Commissioner GlennEmmons on behalf of the Indians of Montana who need and haveneeded a general assistance program that is adequate. The newstimulus was the television program from New York called TheAmerican Stranger. It told very vividly the problems of Montana Indians.

The covering letter to the Commissioner further explains the reasons for

the petition, and we would be very obliged if you would send us your


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reactions. It is our intent to support the Bureau in realistic planning for a

deficiency appropriation, if necessary, come January.12

In a letter to Representatives Lee Metcalf and LeRoy Anderson, Charles explained

further:

At the bottom of each petition form was the sentence: "Uncle Sam, youwere a stranger once and the American Stranger' took you in." SisterProvidencia dreamed that one up, and it refers to the CBS [sic] TV showof 16 November.

We hope to prod the Indian Bureau into asking for a deficiency

appropriation in January to cover general assistance programs on such

reservations as the Blackfeet and Fort Peck. Above all, we hope that

during the coming session Congress will issue a new directive on Indian

policy, which will make such general assistance programs automatic.

Sen. Murray's resolutions 85 and 3 were such a directive.13

Senator Murray replied to Charles:

Many thanks for sending me a copy of the impressive petition to

Commissioner Emmons regarding The American Stranger. This petition

was immediately called to the attention of the NBC news editor who is in

Washington gathering comment on reaction to the program.14

In the midst of the flurry of local political activism, a very personal letter from

Sister Providencia to Iliff McKay reveals the nuns fear of what might happen to the

Blackfeet Tribe should her respected friend and tribal leader decide to accept a job

offered him in Helena, the state capitol, during the Tribes period of crisis:

I am trying to resign myself that if you must leave the old reserve [to takea job in Helena], you must leave. Robert McCormick told me that five


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days up there was almost more than he could take--he found theunmitigated griefs and frustrations so insupportable. I said, "What doyou think that the past four years have meant to a man like McKay who

is so sensitive?". . . .

I keep telling myself that you can be near enough to keep a hand onthings, that you are idled by the impasse, that you have to do something,that your nerves have had more than they can take, that no great harmcan come to the tribe and its interests, that the people does not deserveany more of your patience and support and every kind of aid. I keeptelling myself--but it is whistling in the dark. It is like burying you. It is as ifthat was our last talk together and I say, "He was happy and relaxed thatday." At least it is a joyful memory. Now, why is all this? . . .

She also discusses the local actions and reactions, both political and

humanitarian:

The petitions go merrily on. The first batch was sent on the eve ofThanksgiving. A man returning from the Coast said that Spokane,Portland, Seattle all saw it and the talk runs high. It intrigues me that theflood of mail from the general public has hit squarely at the Bureau . . .not a doubt in the public's mind where it wants the responsibility.

I am getting an enormous amount of clothes again, even though weshipped about a dozen or more boxes. It would have cost us $26 byparcel posts, etc. Mrs. McCormick even sent some. There are six largeboxes waiting for the next opportunity.

Will keep you posted and you keep me posted . . . especially on the

offer. God keep us all.15

Sister Providencia also wrote a letter of thanks to the AAIAs Oliver LaFarge for

his organizations role in planting the seeds that got the television show started in the

first place:

I have the heartiest congratulations for the Associations contacts withRobert McCormick. The American Stranger has had the mostremarkable effect where such an effect was most unlikely--in the Westitself. People keep telling me, "I learned so much." [One] delegate to theWest Coast said that in all the cities he visited there was much talk of the


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broadcast. It is possible that we shall have a re-showing in Montana. Weare deeply indebted to NBC for the miracle.

I do hope it means that relief is in sight from the abandonment policy. It is

going to take years to rebuild the spirit and gains of the Indian

Reorganization Act. I pray to God every day that the awakening is not

too late for the Plains Tribes. Thanks to you, the public is awake. 16

On the bottom of the copy of this letter that she sent to McCormick, Sister Providencia

commented, The Blackfeet are on the verge of collapse. Only two people are working

at the Tribal Office. No relief will start until January. Iliff McKay has been offered a job

at the State Welfare Office in Helena, ironically. Ominously, she added, If he goes. .

. . as if shaking her head in doubt, fear and bewilderment.

The correspondence to McCormick from his Montana consultants kept the

postal service busily occupied. To the Montana activists, McCormick was not merely a

journalist who had come seeking a story, but was instead perceived as a fellow activist

who had the resources of the television media at his disposal. The two-way

relationship between McCormick and his Montana connection became very personal,

and lasted for years. In this letter written several weeks after the broadcast and just

before the public eruption of the NBC-BIA feud, McCormick wrote to the activist nun:

So much has happened since our American Stranger show that Isimply cant take time now to tell you all of it. The mail response hasbeen fantastic. I have had about 200 letters, our New York office hashad at least as many, Metcalfs office is deluged--and I am told theIndian Bureau had to assign three clerks just to sort theirs. So far as Iknow, the reaction has been practically unanimously good--with thenotable exception, of course, of the Interior Department. So far mypeople are standing solidly behind the program and me. I expect to becalled upon to talk to many members of Congress about what I learnedand also to furnish various committees with kinescopes of the program.


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He also addressed her earlier comments about being left out of the show:

The only thing wrong with it, as far as I was concerned, was the fact that

you were not in it. I debated with myself for some time about whether I

should use your name and finally decided against it on the theory that

since you did not actually appear in the film, I would seem to be reaching

too far if I simply rang you in. But your contribution to the program must

be obvious to you and to everyone who saw it. Your dedication to the

problem was an inspiration to me and will continue to be.17

The Great Falls-based Friends of Hill 57" team of Dick Charles and Max

Gubatayao, together with Sister Providencia, continued to build upon the swell of local

sentiment aroused by the television broadcast. In early December, they sent this

Indian Information circular to local and regional members of the Friends of Hill 57:

Did you see The American Stranger on NBCs Kaleidoscope, Nov. 16?The stranger was the Indian of today on the reservations and in cityenvirons like Hill 57. We saw Menominees of Wisconsin in forestryoperations, Flatheads and their Christmas tree business, Blackfeet andtheir cattle. We heard Congressman Metcalf, Father Byrne and BobMcCormick against termination.

COMMENTS

Indians of Hill 57: This is the first time that the truth about Indians hasbeen told. KFBB-TV (here): No program ever brought so many callsand letters--all favorable!

Washington, D.C.: NBC has entered the show in all national awardcompetitions.

Congressman Metcalfs office phoned that they have a thousandletters.


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The Bureau of Indian Affairs put on three extra people just to SORT themail.

QUOTABLE QUOTES

Robert McCormick, the commentator, was introduced by that $64,000quiz champ, Charles Van Doren, who opened the show with thatquotation by Ed Murrow about TV which we quoted in our last letter. . .

RESPONSE OF THE FRIENDS OF HILL 57 TO THE STRANGER

Mrs. Margaret Enyart of Great Falls wanted a delegation of citizens fromhere to go to the Indian Bureau Area Office at Billings to talk over thequestion of getting Federal assistance. Mrs. John Hall, City Council,suggested taking a petition of 2,000 names to show that the citizenswould back up favorable action on the part of the Bureau. Over 400petitions developed by Thanksgiving week, but a good old Montanablizzard stopped us cold--and I mean COLD--so the signatures weremailed to Commissioner Emmons in Washington and a copy to the AreaOffice.

The Bureau has not yet turned loose the $25,000 of relief money fromtribal income nor made the $50,000 general assistance grant asked bythe tribe. Come January, if the Blackfeet must have a hungry Christmasas well as Thanksgiving, there is always the chance of a deficiencyappropriation--if the Bureau sees fit to ask for it. The TV performer, IliffMcKay of the Blackfeet, told the Tribal Council recently that 2,800tribesmen will qualify for relief when there is a relief program. He askedus to keep going on the petitions to the Commissioner. ARE YOUWILLING? . . . .

WHAT CAN WE DO?

NBCs Indian documentary was astonishing in its power to generate

action-impulses in the viewers. The sincerity and concern of Robert

McCormick had a lot to do with this. Dr. Nutterville tells us to keep writing

the stations when programs show the Indian in a friendly light. Max says

to start working on your Congressional delegation for a new Indian

policy statement for the Indian Bureau from Congress, for Congress


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must share the blame for present conditions. It alone has plenary power

over the fate of Indian tribes. More on this in our next letter.18

That same week, Max Gubatayao sent a circular to Catholic priests across the state of

Montana:

Dear Reverend Father: Please excuse this circular letter form and theshape that our newsletter is in. We are on a very short buckskin string inthis communication with you.

My work as a pharmacist at Columbus Hospital here in Great Falls hasbrought me very close to the now-famous television program, TheAmerican Stranger. The polio babies shown in the film have receivedheavy doses of vitamins and other treatment . . . from our department. .. . I heard from the sisters who know people in your part of Montana thatthe lay people are very disturbed by the sufferings of the children on thereservation. . . Conditions have not improved since the show, althoughwe have hopes. Our organization helps reservation Indians who are outof work in Great Falls, as well as Hill 57.

After his introduction, Gubatayao made his plea:

Do you think your people could get some clothes and maybe food up to

the reservation in the near future--until the Government decides to

move? Mrs. Robert Engellant [of Heart Butte School] writes: One boy in

my class has to use baling wire to hold his shoes together. The size

needed in childrens shoes is 13. . . . Mrs. Gene Ground [of Starr

School] writes, If you have any clothes for boys I could surely use some

for nine- and ten-year-old boys. I have one boy in my class who is 13

and has no jacket or coat. He is quite tall. I will go tonight and say the

rosary for the baby that died during the blizzard. I wish I could write a

book. We can only realize their pitiful state when we enter their homes.


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They are brave and courageous and very charitable to one another. . .

.19

In her letter to Senator Mansfield during this period, Sister Providencia explicitly sets

forth her goal for a policy change as a result of the television-related activism:

It was very kind of you to intercede on behalf of film copies of TheAmerican Stranger. I did not have in mind a copy for the school; I was

just simply frantic at the idea that no kinescope at all would remain afterthe initial showing--such a dictum had been given from NBC New Yorkto KFBB. . . .

She wondered about Mansfields reaction to the show:

We are really anxious to know if you were able to see the program. Afield man from here was on the coast and said that so many people weretalking about the program in Spokane, Seattle and Portland. You willsoon have a bulletin telling that the Bureau of Indian Affairs inWashington had to put on three clerks (horrors--ECONOMY!) just to sortthe mail they have received. . . . It seems that no one viewed theprogram and remained unscathed. We are astounded at the change ofviews here about Indian need.

The Sister continued with fuel for political action:

It is very marked, in my mind, that the general public knew where to gowith their demands for action--to the Bureau itself. They want the Indianinjustices remedied and they want the Federal Government to do a job.

Here is all the ammunition you need for a policy change, and I amdelighted to hear you will take up the subject soon with the Montanadelegation. I pin my hopes that a policy declaration, no matter howinnocuous. . . will come in time to save the tribes. That is why it shouldbe one of the first orders of business, because then the emphasis ofadministration will be dragged off the super-deluxe, city-centered IndianBureau programs to the desperate needs of the reservations. . . .Everything depends upon a rapid clincher of the mounting [public]sentiment and a swift dike against the pounding waves of tribaldisintegration.20

In Mansfields absence, the nun received a reply from one of his legislative assistants

on U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations letterhead:


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Senator Mansfield is in New York attending sessions of the UnitedNations General Assembly as a delegate, and in his absence we wish toacknowledge receipt of your good letter and the enclosures. . . . I do not

know whether the Senator had a chance to see the TV program, TheAmerican Stranger, but I know he certainly has received considerablecomment through the mails from various parts of the Nation. This is onething that should really help in bringing the Indian problem to theattention of the entire country.

As soon as Congress convenes, a new resolution along the lines

suggested by you and your associates will be one of the first things

considered by the [Montana] Delegation. . . .21

Yet the economic disintegration continued to haunt the Blackfeet Tribe and its

members during its period of severe economic depression, as reflected in this letter to

Sister Providencia from an elderly Blackfeet woman prior to the mid-December

reprieve when oil lease money came through:

Dear Sister: Was just thinking of you this evening thought I would dropyou a few lines how are you hope you are fine. As for me not so good. Ihad bad luck my husband died shortly after we got back from GreatFalls. I sure am in a bad fix no wood no food our council wont help meout I think I am going to freeze in the house I rent, and I sure would like itif there was is a way you could help us all out. For one thing pray for usall. Not just us all my people sure need food and wood. Well sister I amgoing to close hoping to hear from you soon. Please answer real soon.Your friend, Mrs. Agnes B. Wells22

On December 10, the Blackfeet Tribe opened sealed bids on oil leases and realized a

$1,600,000 income. In a personal letter to McKay written two days later (on the date of

the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe), Sister Providencia wrote:

Is this really it? Does the oil lease surpass your hopes? Has Our Ladyheard our prayer? I am fervently hoping that the answer is YES, and thatthe people can be helped soon. Why didn't the Public Health call for aGreat Falls doctor who could tell them something of the after-effects ofmalnutrition and spur that lazy outfit to help you get food?


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Your answer was terrific to their academic pronouncements, and yourletter to the area office response is a McKay masterpiece--which issaying something if you were not already too conceited. Could I have a

hundred copies?

Now that we are in the money can anything be done about sendingRichard Charles some money to ship your clothing from here?

Lots of love to all, Sister23

The good Sister also wrote an effervescent letter to McCormick:

Your Moccasin Telegraph may have told you already that the BlackfeetTribe is saved, thanks to "The Stranger" and our prayers and Indianstamina. We finished our nine days of prayers to the "Sun Lady" ofGuadalupe on December 12. . . . That morning, as you will note from theclippings, a $100 per capita payment was announced from the oil leasesof Dec. 10. Yesterday the orders were paid out . . . not 3 months fromnow [as] in BK--Before Kaleidoscope.

She told of local and national responses to the broadcast:

On the next Monday came word from the Senators' offices that theyhave started to work on a new Res. 3; and this week, the Bureau clearedthe way to get surplus clothing for the tribes. It was over the radio thatboxes of clothes are pouring into Browning (some of this from theenclosed letter from Max to 45 parishes in western Montana where thecurrents boil with talk about "The Stranger".) . . . .

The activity is unprecedented in Indian country. We are getting a specialrate from the railroad on boxes shipped from here . . . 200 poundsyesterday for $2.83. Most astounding of all was news in the paper thatHavre was giving a Christmas party for Rocky Boy Indian children. FromHavre! . . . where there are signs in restaurants, "No dogs and Indiansallowed."

In addition, she noted the palpable changes in attitude:NO ONE WHO HAS SEEN THE AMERICAN STRANGER IS EVERUNFRIENDLY AGAIN. To me, this is the biggest tribute to the power ofthe show, right out here where blood is scarcely dry on torn scalps (ashistory goes), and we who know our own people and their attitudes afteryears of work for Hill 57 are in a position to essay the change. It is thiswhich is sufficient to gain you the award so coveted. I imagine it isalmost enough just, to be nominated. Now people are saying, "You


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know, he is better than Edward R. Murrow. " Why? They listen for yourname since Nov. 16.

Anticipating a Congressional hearing, Sister Providencia offered her support:

You probably are just waiting to be called for descriptions of what yousaw--and we are getting some terrific pictures from Rocky Boy to backyou up statements about Blackfeet. We have stacks of testimonials tosend also. One woman said to me in the hall just now, "What are wegoing to do for Robert McCormick?" I said, "Endorse the Peabodynomination." She said (the girls!) "Give me a week after Christmas andI'll get five or six organizations going.

Once again, she commented upon her absence from the broadcast:

Enough of this or we'll ruin you for sure. As for the desperation theweeks before the show went on. . ."How can I tie this thing together bymyself?". . . It was enough that I refused to help you that I should havehad no mention. Moreover, events have proved that three right-handersin a row would have been one too many, especially before their onlymeal. God took pity on your disaster-dizziness and made earnestnessout of desperation so that it has taken the Bureau 31 pages to expresstheir emotions. We are helping to prepare a rebuttal of the rebuttalswhen you have to appear.

In closing, the Sister reviewed the despair just prior to the celebrations:

A merry a Christmas to you and yours as you have given me by lancingthe wound of a dying people. For the last six months, as you know, meresurvival was in question.

P.S. The following was the worst before positive results began to show:

1) The Tribal office was closed down to all but two employees; 2) Iliff was

considering an offer from the State Department of Welfare to work for it

in Helena; 3) Three such letters as the following had come in a week:

[quotes letter from Mrs. Agnes Wells of Browning, Montana, dated

December 10, 1958] When I called Iliff about this and asked if we could

try to scrounge money from here he said, "I have been out there twice


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with fuel and food. It is a need without bottom. There are six people with

her. They have nothing." Mrs. Wells is a great-grandmother. 24

The same week, a national wire release from Washington announced the result

of politicking on behalf of the Blackfeet in Washington as a result of the documentary:

WASHINGTON (UPI)--Montanas senators announced Mondayinstitution of a relief program for the Blackfeet Indians, one of thesubjects of an hour-long television broadcast recently. Senators JamesMurray and Mike Mansfield said the Interior Department advised themthe program will be instituted just as promptly as possible by the IndianBureau. The Interior Department also said it has found a way wherebyexcess blankets or other suitable items not needed by other federalagencies may be channeled to the Montana tribe.

The program was described by the Democratic senators as involving

the relief of distress. Bureau officials reportedly are working with the

General Services Administration to determine types and amounts of

goods available. In Browning, Tribal Secretary Iliff McKay said showing

of The American Stranger by the National Broadcasting Company had

resulted in a flood of letters and packages.25

Richard Charles wrote to McCormick, sending him this local newspaper article, and

adding: "Iliff McKay has commented that nothing has come of this so far. He imagines

they'll crash thru with the wool blankets next summer." Charles also sent McCormick a

front-page story in the Christmas Day issue of the Glacier Reporter, which read: Tribe

issues $100,000 on per capita payment. It was estimated that approximately

$100,000.00 worth of store orders in $25 and $100 amounts were issued to local

individuals and reservation families since December 11. Nearly all families made wise

use of the orders for Christmas. Charles continued: I might add that several of these


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news items from the 4 and 18 December issues reveal considerable social

disorganization in the Blackfeet tribe. When I made a study of tribal relief among the

Blackfeet in January and February 1958, I encountered a good deal of black

pessimism, irritation and even desperation in the Blackfeet people. I am convinced

that tight credit and no federal general assistance has resulted in this

disorganization.26

Just before Christmas, Richard Charles wrote to McCormick with some good

news:

Enclosed are copies of letters showing the activities of Montana citizenssince The American Stranger. The momentum grows rather thandecreases. We have reliable reports that at least five towns havealready responded to Max Gubatayaos appeal in Western Montana, forclothing for the Blackfeet. Sister Providencia was sent a copy from NewYork (of the show), so that the children of Heart Butte will seethemselves in a Christmas show to stop all Christmas shows. One oftheir teachers was here yesterday and said that the children were dyingto see it. Bravo for NBC!27

Charles enclosed a copy of a letter he had just penned to Emmons. A handwritten

note on the copy to McCormick reads, Signatures now total 800 from Montana

viewers of the telecast:

Enclosed are more signatures for the petition sent to you on 24

November 1958, in regard to the citizens' desire that the Bureau take the

general assistance load off the tribes, such as Blackfeet and Fort Peck,

where the program has proven completely and humanly inadequate. I

am also enclosing a duplicated copy of the original covering letter. You

will probably be receiving additional signatures since the winter

difficulties are impressing people with the need of Bureau intervention.28


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At the end of the year, Charles finally received a response from Emmons with

reference to the original petition. Enclosed were two copies of the Interior

Departments Statement rebutting the television documentary, plus a letter that read,

We appreciate your letter of November 24th referring to the recent television

commentary, The American Stranger. There are many problems to be faced in

connection with meeting the real needs of Indian people which require an approach

other than general assistance. We were deeply concerned at the presentation of

Indian affairs in this recent television program. We are enclosing for your information

two copies of a statement concerning this program prepared by the Department of the

Interior, not only because of its specific answers to some of the statements made on

television, but also because it tells something of why many Indians are in need and

what their Government is trying to do to help them. Thank you for your demonstrated

interest in the welfare of Indians.29

Mansfield received a more lengthy letter from Emmons in response to the

Montana petitions: This is in reply to your letter of December 11, 1958 which

forwarded a letter from Mr. Richard A. Charles concerning general assistance needs.

We appreciate sincerely Mr. Charles' interest and support for an increased general

assistance program. We believe that a general assistance program for Indians should

take into consideration all resources which are available, and that it is reasonable to

expect Indian tribes with substantial resources to make some provision for their needy

members who are not eligible for state or local assistance programs. The Bureau is

then able to concentrate its assistance funds to meet the needs of members of poorer

tribes. This is the policy which is followed, and accounts for the fact that the Bureau


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has a general assistance program on some Indian reservations in Montana and not on

others. When a tribe considers that its available resources are not sufficient to permit

tribal assistance to needy members, careful and thorough consideration will be given

to its members.

Mr. Charles refers to the television program, The American Stranger. In our

letter to you of December 29, 1958, we enclosed a copy of the statement which the

Department of the Interior prepared in reply to this program. Another copy is enclosed

herewith for your information. It is our intention, within the limits of our funds and taking

into consideration other resources available to Indians, to meet the legitimate needs

for assistance of needy Indians on reservations. We recognize also that there are

many needs which are not met through an assistance program. Bureau programs for

education, vocational training, and development of opportunities for employment

attempt to meet some of these needs. There are other complex problems to be

considered in meeting the needs of Indians which involve personal attitudes as well as

material resources, and we do not claim to have definite answers for all of them. We

assure you however of the desire and the intent of this Bureau to further the welfare of

the Indian people.30

As Charles wrote McCormick about his letter from Emmons: I received a reply

from the Indian Bureau to my letter, which accompanied 200 more signatures on our

local petition, which was a follow-up on your program. The tone of the letter was rather

condescending, and assumed that I knew very little about this Indian business. At the

same time they sent me two copies of their reply to The American Stranger. I am sure

that you are familiar with this reply, which I think is absurd. In this official reply the


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Bureau contends that Hill 57 serves as a labor pool for Great Falls. Actually only eight

of 55 family heads on the Hill work in Great Falls as construction workers. the majority

of these people are casual farm workers and have always been casual farm workers.

Some of these families went as far as Eastern Washington last summer, to work in the

potato fields. The Indian Bureau reveals its ignorance of the situation when it claims

that the Hill 57 people form a labor pool for Great Falls.

Further, the Bureau reply to your telecast says that some of the people on Hill

57 are Canadians, and some have never lived on a reservation. Right now five out of

the more than 50 families on Hill 57 are Canadian subjects. Now whether any of the

people on Hill 57 have or have not lived on reservations is not the point at issue. The

present policy of the Indian Bureau favors urbanization as the chief solution for Indian

problems. For 65 years Hill 57 has been an experiment in Indian urbanization. The

process has been a failure for the majority of the people. That failure is the real point at

issue. We will continue to inform you of Montana developments.31

After the new year, the grassroots efforts began anew. A Friends of Hill 57

circular mailed out in early 1959 was titled: GREAT FALLS ENDORSES THE

AMERICAN STRANGER AND U.S. SENATORS RESPOND!!! and began, During

December, 1958, the Friends of Hill 57 conducted a letter-writing campaign on behalf

of the truth in the Kaleidoscope documentary about Montana Indians. The Junior

Friends addressed the envelopes. . . . Here were some recurring phrases in the

letters to the Senators:

When Congress convenes you will be hearing about Kaleidoscopestelecast called The American Stranger. It concerns Montana and howthe Indians are becoming wandering strangers because of termination


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policy. We want you to know that the people of Montana are sayingabout McCormicks story, It is all true.

The circular also reprinted the replies of some of the Senators, including these:

Senator Joseph S. Clark, Pennsylvania: I. . . assure you that I shareyour deep concern about the plight of American Indians. The arearedevelopment legislation which I sponsored in the last session ofCongress and which was vetoed by President Eisenhower would,among other things, have made possible technical and economicassistance programs for Indians. . . . While it may not be accurate toblame all that is wrong with our Indian policies on the EisenhowerAdministration, there is no doubt that since 1952 there have been greatsetbacks in this field. . . . Meanwhile, I am sending your letter on to theSenate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee for reference when theyschedule action on legislation to help Indians. You may count on myactive support of worthwhile proposals.

Senator Thomas H. Kuchel, California: As a member of the SenateInterior and Insular Affairs Committee, I have an opportunity to study alllegislation affecting Indian Affairs and I am, moreover, sincerelyinterested in promoting their welfare. I have received a number of lettersfrom others concerning the Kaleidoscope presentation and have as aresult obtained a statement from Department of Interior with reference tothis program. . . . After you have had an opportunity to study theDepartments presentation, I would be pleased to have your furthercomments in order that I may present them to the Committee.

Myer Feldman, Legislative Assistant to Senator John F. Kennedy ofMassachusetts: I think I can assure you that this problem in one inwhich the Senator is very much interested and feels, as you do, that wehave an obligation to improve the level of life which many Indians haveand a real responsibility in developing programs which will enlarge thewelfare opportunities and protect the personal rights of AmericanIndians.

Senator John Carroll, Colorado: Thank you for your letter. . . . Yes, I am

familiar with this [television] program and I know that the Senate Interior

and Insular Affairs Committee is greatly interested in this study. I am

taking the liberty of forwarding your letter to the Committee.32


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In early January, the tragic deaths of the three Running Rabbit children

stunned the region, as Gubatayao wrote to McCormick:

The most recent news item which has been headlined throughout thisarea is the death of the three Running Rabbit children on the BlackfeetReservation. They are cousins of the Running Rabbit children at theColumbus Hospital. One of these children you will remember arrived atthe hospital with Polio and weighed in at seven pounds at the age ofnine months . . . a rather severe case of malnutrition it would seem. Nowhis three cousins have died and no one seems to know the cause ofdeath.

Enclosed is a copy of the Great Falls Leader with the story. The weatherreport from the Tribune gives a temperature of -25 for Cut Bank. It alsoadds: "The weatherman, however, holds out some hope for moderatingtemperatures later in the week. Probably Wednesday, but not before."Yesterday the news broadcasts continually reported the storyessentially as given in the Leader. I must have heard it at least five timesduring the day. . . .

Iliff McKay is trying to get the facts of the story complete. His firstcomment was, "We'll have to shore up the welfare." He also reports thetemperature went to -32 in some areas. The reports state that themother of the children is being released from jail to bury her children.She was in for child neglect on a thirty-one day sentence. We wonderhow many days Glenn Emmons should get. The story does not makeclear whether the children were living on the reservation. If they did thenthe Federal Government is very much involved. We hope that whateverthe facts may be a complete investigation of the incident is made by allconcerned and that it does not fade away as merely a once-notedheadline story.

Mr. Charles has written to the Editor of the Glacier Reporter and asked

him to send you some issues that back you up in your TV story. Perhaps

you have them already. He will write to you later himself.33

Theodore Last Star, one of the elders who spoke his native language in the film, sent

McCormick a telegraph saying, They starve like I told you on the television that we

sure hard up. For Last Star, the deaths were yet another piece of evidence in the


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Blackfeets case against the government. McCormick replied, Dear Chief, I deeply

appreciate your telegram about the Running Rabbit Children but I am distressed to

see you are back in the hospital. I certainly hope you get well quickly--if you are

sick--and that I can see you again sometime. I enjoyed immensely talking to you and

you made a great contribution to our television program.34

Early in 1959, Sister Providencia received a letter from M.C. Betwee of the

Michigan District of Kiwanis International, stating that McCormick and Meyers of NBC

had referred him to her. He requested: I would appreciate any corroborating

information as well as suggestions for action that such an organization as Kiwanis

International might take to help redress what appears to be an appalling situation.

Sister Providencia decided to use this opportunity to draft her most definitive overview

on the issue in her letter to Betwee. Her letter is full of evidence to support local truths:

testimony, examples and statistics:

It was an honor to receive your request for any corroborating information to

that given by Robert McCormick on Kaleidoscope's telecast, The American Stranger.

The National Broadcasting Company probably referred you to this city because Great

Falls was headquarters for the program's production last October. Mr. McCormick and

others of the production crew must have told the television personnel in New York that

our city was a crossroads for Indian migration, and that the Columbus Hospital which

appears in the film was a front-line station in more ways than one for the Indians as

they struggled for survival.

I heard from friends during July that a television newscaster was making a tour

of the reservations throughout the West. Then I learned that Mr. McCormick intended


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to do a documentary on Flathead and Blackfeet and Menominee because of

contrasting resources and termination history. It was said that he was doing his

customary thorough job of research.

My relations are not direct with the hospital although I live next door to it at the

College of Great Falls where I teach anthropology among other subjects.

Consequently, I know many Indian people. It happens that our students at the College

of Great Falls helped to discover Hill 57, the city's Indian fringe area, for the city and

for Montana. Mr. McCormick discovered it for the nation on the telecast. In spite of

common opinion that the Hill colonies are atypical, it may be stated that the students

have done amateur research among a comparable number of families in almost as

much misery in five other Montana cities. Hill 57 is a symbol and a warning. It is also a

state of mind among Indians who are separated from their lands.

As for conditions among the tribes on Indian-owned, trust land, I know four of

the seven reservations in Montana first hand: Flathead, Blackfeet, Fort Belknap, and

Rocky Boy's Reservation. Years of missionary travels have taken me to reservations

in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. NBC could have produced The American Stranger

in any one of these states where there are allotted reservations. But only very recently

has the disorganization been evident to such a degree as in Montana among these

other tribes. It is interesting to place this statement against Senator Murray's newest

report of Indian land sales--that one million acres of the two million acres of lands sold

in the whole United States were processed for Montana reservations.

Television shouted the things that we have been whispering with our weak

voices from Montana since 1955. Do you remember Disney's Lilliputian watchman


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spinning himself dizzy with "THERE'S A GIANT ON THE BEACH"? Our giant was the

monstrous distress of the Indians undergoing Federal emancipation.

People of Great Falls have produced at least five research studies on the loss

of lands and services. Enclosed is a bibliographical sheet with a list of these studies as

well as the names of recent publications which will contain confirmation of many

general and specific statements made by Mr. McCormick and others during the

program. You might send to the Glacier Reporter, Browning, Montana, for the

December issues of its weekly newspaper. The December 18 issue, in particular,

carries an editorial which confirms what I call the Grand Canyon of consumer needs

among 3000 Blackfeet Indians. The Christmas per capita of $25.00 from tribal oil

leases was a pitiful token.

In spite of local protests, of local Indian Agency reports about need, the

impasse remains unchanged at the Washington level. Chief among people of Great

Falls who have foreseen the developments on the reservations and have written to

Washington, D. C. about them for the past three years are the following: Mr. James

Flaherty, President of the Great Falls Paper Company and former President of the

Montana Chamber of Commerce; Dr. Catherine Nutterville, former head of the State

Mental Health Clinic in this city; Miss Dorothy Bohn, Community Council Board

Member; Mr. Richard Charles, Secretary of the Friends of Hill 57, a philanthropic

group of private citizens of Great Falls. This group contains many members of the

Business and Professional Women's Club of the city, and many professional men.

There has been constant effort this past summer to call attention to the

consequences of Government withdrawal of services to Indians and of safeguards to


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land loss. The students of a class in Native Cultures of North America who took field

trips to the reservations afterward collected signatures for a petition to Commissioner

Emmons on behalf of the Blackfeet who were exposed to a polio epidemic. The

argument was that resistance was low because over 2,000 Indians had been cut off

from general assistance in March. Jobs were few for the students. They understood

support difficulties for the parents and the inadequacy of the surplus food program.

Moreover, the local Montanans wanted to see a halt to land sales, not only

because they were ashamed of the pressures that were forcing the Indians to sell for

food, but because of reasons important to the eventual assimilation of these people.

Out West an Indian without land is nothing. The old-time chiefs made sure that the

young tribesmen were impressed with this lesson, and I think that it carried over to the

white man who lived in Indian country. Even today a landless Indian has no status, no

place, no future.

The value of land as economic ballast is quite evident, is it not? Whether the

ownership is in trust to the allotted or whether the share is held for tribal lands, there is

leverage toward self-support, toward development and self-confidence. Far more than

the economic symbol, it remains a sine qua non for acceptance. The Westerner is so

constituted that the matter of land ownership makes or breaks an Indian in his eyes

socially, politically, and legally--as indeed it does.

The NBC telecast team saw these values instinctively after talking with people

not only on the reservations but in the towns of Montana. For reasons such as these

they made much of the scenes on Hill 57, the refuge of the disinherited. More than the

misery of slums caused them to make the music background funereal.


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Permit me to list some of my contacts with the Indian question during the past

few days to illustrate how wide and how deep is the distress of which The American

Stranger skimmed only the surface, as one of our professors remarked after he had

viewed the program. Sister Providencias letter continued with a list:

1. Some of the Friends of Hill 57 took me out there to the Hill to look in on some

new arrivals reported to be living in a cabin with a dirt floor. It was 26 below zero that

morning. Three babies under five years of age were on the bed. Three adults were

stirring around with some little food that the Friends had brought them, and some little

wood that the other Indians were sharing with them for fuel. They were Canadians

blown in with the blizzard of December from fields farther north where they were

working at a farm job very familiar to the Indians of the Plains in this age, called

'picking rocks. I discovered twenty visitors in all on the Hill, most of them from the

Canadian Indian reserves near North Battleford. This makes them neighbors to you in

Michigan, Mr. Betwee. They said they had come almost a thousand miles to pick rocks

in Montana because they can get $5.00 an acre from farmers here while the price is

50 to a dollar in Canada. Moreover, Canada also has a termination policy which

makes the times very hard on the reserves.

When I discussed the situation with our Welfare Department, the director said

they had made no contact for help, [and said] And all our own people on Hill 57 starve

because they share with them. All this is pertinent to The American Stranger, and the

plight of local agencies as well as local Indian families. Jobs are fewer for our own

native people in agriculture partly because of this competition from the North, at lower

wages than formerly. I told the welfare worker for Hill 57, The Interior Department has


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published its reactions to the Kaleidoscope program in a 30 page report. It asserts that

Great Falls uses the Hill for a labor pool. She replied, I wish that it did.

2. Upon our return to the hospital where we hoped to get clothes from the

storerooms of the Ladies of Charity for the migrants, I met Indians from Browning on

the Blackfeet Reservation. They said, Things are a little better because of the per

capita payment from the oil leases, but the welfare for the winter won't start until

January. It will be $6.00 every two weeks for a single person and $15.00 every two

weeks if there is more than five kids in a family. Right now we have only the surplus

food that lasts two weeks out of the month.

3. The ambulance driver from the reservation said, The $25.00 oil payment

per capita sure helped a lot. The kids I used to see running around my place in thin

summer jackets now have warm ones.

4. We were still in the clothes cupboard when a telephone call came from a

local Indian construction worker whose aunt was in the city for the holidays. He said,

The first cash she has seen since March was the $25.00 per capita. She did not have

enough for clothes. Her money is all tied up in the cattle since her husband died. You

know the Bureau would not let the Tribal Council borrow the money to make the

payment for Christmas before all the records were completed. Each one of us had to

give $5.00 out of the $25.00 as interest to the store for the Tribe's credit slip. The bank

charged $2.50. Some white men went into town and bought those credit orders from

the Indians for $10.00. If the Tribe had been able to pay the interest it would not have

hit some of those poor people so hard. I can name you five families at Heart Butte that

were like my aunt--no cash since March. No work.


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5. A recent letter from a Councilman on the Fort Belknap Reservation where

the family assistance program in winter is carried by the Indian Bureau, and not by the

Tribe, as on Blackfeet and Flathead Reservations: Do you know any way we could get

the Bureau to increase the General Assistance funds for those reservations that are

not allowed to take part in the Farm Surplus program? Such as Ft. Belknap and Rocky

Boy.

6. A phone call from a Rocky Boy's Reservation mother: I have a list of the

families that have been cut from 20-30% on their welfare this winter. Do you think

there is somebody in the Falls that could help us get it back? Things are very rough.

None of the young people over sixteen get counted in because they are employable. A

family of six gets $52.00 every two weeks."

7. A missionary called from that vicinity who said that he had been taking a

religious census on the reservation and was simply appalled. He was trying to arrange

to have a photographer come with him to the miserable homes.

8. A clipping from a Minot, North Dakota paper of Christmas week was brought

by a local Chippewa Indian: A large delegation of Turtle Mountain Indians mobbed the

Indian Agency Office in Belcourt today . . . claiming starvation conditions existed on

the reservation. The date was Christmas week, The Rolla Star: Supt. H. P. Mittelhotz

told the group that he had been informed last Thursday that food grants would be

brought up to State Welfare standards in January, also February and March."

9. From the Coeur d'Alene Reservation in Idaho: I think that we will get to use

some of our Claims money for land purchase from our members who want to sell. We


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regulations on the distribution of $1,250,000 to the Crow Tribe from the Yellowtail Dam

payments. His realistic safeguards bear out Mr. McCormick's statement about the

ease with which Indians fall victims to sales pressures. The regulations were a

masterpiece of administrative understanding and foresight and were commended

widely in Montana.

Here is some work cut out for you, Mr. Betwee: Promote letters to Congress

from your organization's membership, for it is Congress that has plenary power to

assure the survival of the Indians.

One final testimony from an Indian who traveled widely on the Plains last

summer to contact his people about their Treaty Claims case: If they holler any more

about the truth of the pictures they saw with their own eyes, I am going out and take

some worse than those. McCormick did not show the worst conditions. He went right

down the middle. Thank you very much, sir, for your interest. I hope that you will

permit the National Broadcasting Company to use this letter, especially if it will help to

win the Peabody Award for Mr. McCormick. I hope that it will give both you and NBC

enough busy work with the bibliography so that I can go back to Hill 57 and talk the

Canadian Indians into applying for transportation back home. What disturbs me most

about the Indian strangers of the 1950's is this: They won't ask.

For a person with your social work background, this fact should take some of

the exaggeration out of the word survival and put real sting into it. The reluctance is

understandable. I myself do not know how to answer the question, To whom shall

they go?"35


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Sister Providencia enthusiastically sent a copy of her letter, which in fact

represented the views of the entire Great Falls activist community, to McCormick. It

was signed Joyfully yours, Sister:

It took all this time to complete this job and get complete clearance on it,so do as you please. Wouldn't it be nice to get some copies to sendout--a marvelous referral today f

Documents

Chapter 6, "Disputable Truths: The American Stranger, Television Documentary and Native American Cultural Politics in the 1950s." Dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1996, Pamela