OPEN FORUM

Prizewinning letters

Each week the Paci-
fic Tribune will present
a book to the writer of
the most interesting, en-
tertaining and _ topical
letter published on this
page. Contributors are
urged to keep their let-
ters to a reasonable
length.

The prize-winning let-
ter in our last issue was
written by C.R. Vancou-

ver, B.C.

OAPs in New Zealand

A. E. PHILLIPS, North Van-
couver, B.C.: Is it true that in
New Zealand the senior citizen
is pensioned at 60 years of
age? That a married couple at
60 receive a total pension of
$1,800 per year and that the
state provides all medical serv-
ices, including hospitalization?
That, in addition, they may
own property to the value of
$1,400, a home and personal
effects, life insurance, without
a reduction in pension?

I am also given to under-
stand that in New Zealand
two people can live well on
$20 to $25 per week, they have
no extra costs because of the
year-round mild climate of
their country.

What’ argument ean any
Canadian government have
against raising pensions to the
New Zealand level?

The present miserable raise
of $5 per month is an absolute
disgrace. Organized labor, in
concert with the CCF and LLP,
must insist that the plight of
the old age pensioners be taken
up as an issue in the forth-
coming federal election.

Won’‘t accept ads

S. K., Vancouver, B.C.: The
action of the Mount Pleasant
News in refusing a paid ad-
vertisement submitted by Van-
couver - Kingsway LPP con-

stituency committee, on the

question of higher assessments
on private property and the
need for ratepayer action to
prevent tax increases, may be
of interest to your readers.

The reason given by the
Mount Pleasant News is that
at no time would it accept ads
of any nature from the LPP.

We in this area are of the
opinion that the Mount Pleas-
ant News is falling short of
its declared purpose as an in-
dependent paper to. keep the
public informed on matters
concerning public interest —
especially when the informa-
tion is in the form of a paid ad.

Disappointed in CCF

A. G., Vancouver, B.C.: I was
disappointed to.see the CCF
taking up the discredited Hox-
sey cancer cure battle at the
point when Lydia Arsens left
off. I thought when Lydia got
defeated last election we had
heard the last of such non-
sense in the legislature.

U.S. authorities issued a pub-
lic warning last April about
the phoney Hoxsey treatment.
Copies may be obtained by
writing to the Food and Drug
Administration in Washington.

Dwindling of the caribou herds, on which Eskimos and
northern Indians depend, is a problem now being probed by

government wild-life experts.

Canadian Eskimos to get

vocational training course

NEW and — for Canada —
A — unprecedented plan for
vocational training of Eskimos
has been announced by the de-
partment of northern affairs.
The training program, sche-
duled to begin this month will
bring 30 of Canada’s most nor-
therly citizens to central Al-
berta.

The Eskimos, all from the
Western Arctic will receive
medical and dental examina-
tions on arrival in Edmonton.
Then they will go to Leduc, 18
miles away, where the three-
month course will be ‘taught.
Once trained, responsible jobs:
will be awaiting the men at
sites on the DEW line.

The Eskimos will be train-
ed in the operation and main-
tenance of heavy equipment
such as trucks, tractors, rot-
ary snowplows, and bulldozers.
They will learn how to repair
both diesel and gasoline en-

gines. Many Eskimos are me-
chanically inclined, and those
selected for the course are men
who show particular promise.

Since some of the trainees
are not proficient in English
instructions in basic English
will be an important part of
the curriculum.

The present course is part of
a long term plan te prepare
Eskimos for new  employ-
ment opportunities
North. The plan is of particu-

lar importance because game

is becoming scarce in some dis-

tricts, and many Eskimos must

leave trapping and hunting for
wage employment. Without
vocational training they would
be confined to unskilled jobs.

Plans are under way for ad-
ditional courses in Eastern and
Western Canada to train 120
more Eskimos making a
total of 150 — within the next
twelve months.

in the

Hal Griffin

AN ECHO of an old prejudice that once

was widely held in parts of this pro-
vince was heard the other day when
Cyril Shelford, Socred MLA for Omineca,
raised the plight of the Sekani Indians

in the legislature. The Sek-
ani Indians, it was claimed,
were lazy and_ shiftless,
worked only when it suited
them and were looked down
upon even by neighbouing
bands.

This 1s the most vicious
kind of racist argument, for
it holds the victims of the
white man’s policy to blame
for the consequences of the
injustices done to them.

When the fur traders first
penetrated to the Pacific a
century and a half ago the
Native Indians were still in
the Stone Age. Along the
coast and the Fraser and
Skeena valleys their highly
developed neolithic culture,

evolved over thousands of
years, enabled them to make
great sea-going canoes, to
erect cedar longhouses and
to create an art that com-
mands our admiration. In
one respect their culture was
unique among primitive peo-
ples, for the resources of
the sea provided them with
a food surplus without agri-
culture. But it was still a
Stone Age culture, thous-
ands of years removed from
the culture of the white men
who supplanted them.

The white men corrupted
the Native Indians with their
trade practices, decimated
them with their diseases and

destroyed their primitive
economy. They offered them
nothing except a conscience-
salving charity, a religion
that too often failed to prac-
tice what it preached and
an education that fitted the
Native Indian for nothing
better than menial jobs. The
Native Indians were treat-
ed as second class citizens
in their own country. Is it
the Native Indians who have
failed or we who have fail-
ed them?

The Indian peoples who
suffered least in adjusting
themselves to the white
man’s civilisation were those
like the Haida and Kwak-
jutl, fishing folk who adopt-
ed the white man’s boats
and gear. Those who suf-
fered most were the peo-
ples of the Interior, and par-
ticularly the northern In-
terior. The encroachment
of civilisation on their trap-
ping grounds and the de-
cline of the fur trade it-
self has destroyed a tradi-
tional pattern of life and

there has been little to take
its place.
x 5 es Os

Back in the early thirties
when I first saw Tagish and
Teslin and Lower Post they
were isolated settlements
where the traditional pattern
of Indian life persisted. It
was existence never far re-
moved from poverty, but
then, the whole northland
lived on the borderline of
poverty in those years.

No one can turn the clock
back. The Native Indians
cannot preserve inviolate
what remains of their tradi-
tional patterns in face of the
changes transforming the
province.

The question is whether
they are to be given the
fullest opportunity to par-
ticipate on equal terms in
the new industries. Will
they be encouraged to take
pride in their own heritage,
to retain their own identity
and culture? The answer
to that, it seems to me, must
come from us.

MARCH 29, 1957 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 6|

Speaking
briefly

NO, NO NOT THAT!

Val Peterson, U.S. federal
civil director, has’ urged con-
struction of $23 billion worth
of underground shelters in
major U.S. cities to protect the
population from attack by
hydrogen missiles.

Peterson conceded that the
cost was a terrible financial
burden, but said he saw “no
alternative—other than peace.”

tte
HOPE SPRINGS
ETERNAL

“Russia’s need for an edu-
cated populous may bring
about a Soviet downfall.”—U.S.
Senator Henry M. Jackson.

ey Re
LOOKING BACKWARD

“War is a very rough game
but I think that politics’ is
worse.” — Field Marshall Lord
Montgomery.

I remember that just before
the invasion of Normandy our
regiment received a visit from
Monty. After the inspection
Monty hopped up on a jeep

and asked us to gather around. ~

This is the gist of what he
said: I come here to see the
men I am going to lead and I
come here so that you can see
the man who is going to lead
you. After a few variations of

this theme he hopped down and —

rode away.

One of the enemies we were );
facing at that time was a man F

called Von Speidel. He was
Hitler’s chief of staff.

The gunner in my tank crew _
in Europe for a while was 2 |

chap named Jimmy Gillis and
we talked frequently about
what we planned to do after

the war, Later on he was trans- |

ferred to another crew and I
heard that he was killed in
action . . . I wonder how he

would feel if he could know ©

that one of our “allies” is the
same Vion Speidel, now com-
mander of NATO ground forces
in Europe,

“Tell me thy company and ”

I will tell thee what thou
art.” — Cervantes Don Quixote.

% i at

NAUGHTY HILL

Do you know that there is
a place in San Francisco called

- Russian Hill. Civic leader J. E

Prisin Zano suggests that it be
renamed for some civic leaders
some one dead and non-contro*

versial. This same Zano could

really have a whale of a time

for himself along the Alaskan

coast.

R. CARLOS

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