Senator WHEELER. Do you give the Indians the preference in doing carpenter work?

Mr. HUNTER. We do, if he has had sufficient training; if he is a capable man.

Senator WHEELER. If you have a foreman, a white man, that is a skilled man as a carpenter, can you not employ Indians to do most of the carpenter work?

Mr. HUNTER. No; I do not believe we can. We have some Navajo Indians who are excellent carpenters, but they are few. We have a great many Navajo Indians who know something about carpentry. We work them in as best we can. We are always glad to give them employment if they can do the work.

Senator WHEELER. What are your recommendations with reference to this reservation?

Senator FRAZIER. Your recommendations are included in this report, are they?

Mr. HUNTER. Yes, sir.

Senator FRAZIER. You need a road between Fort Defiance and Chin Lee, as I understand it?

Mr. HUNTER. Yes, sir."

Senator WHEELER. How much money will that take?
Mr. HUNTER. It will take about $60,000.

Senator WHEELER. What kind of a road have you got there now?
Mr. HUNTER. We have a trail.

Senator WHEELER. Can you improve it probably with Indian labor and do it for less than that?

Mr. HUNTER. I hardly think so, Senator, because we need heavy equipment in building that type of road.

Senator WHEELER. Is that road located where it is possible to get State help?

Mr. HUNTER. I do not think so. We may get the National Park Service interested, because it goes to Canyon De Chelly, a national

monument.

Senator WHEELER. There is no road that goes there?

Mr. HUNTER. No real road. There are trails.

Senator ASHURST. There will be available on the 1st of July of this year a sum of $500,000 for construction of roads on Indian reservations. It might be that the commissioner could set apart for that road enough to construct part of it this year and part next year. I suggest you look into that.

Senator WHEELER. That has been allotted to the various reservations.

Mr. SCATTERGOOD. There are vast demands for that.

Senator WHEELER. I do not think the burden ought to be placed on the counties and States to build these roads, the inland roads, on these reservations. That ought to be done by the Government. In these Western States, like Arizona and New Mexico, it is impossible, with the great areas of public land and Indian reservations, for the States and counties to build these roads. It ought to be done by the Government.

Senator ASHURST. We hope ultimately to increase that fund to $1,000,000 a year to take care not only of the roads in Arizona and New Mexico, but in other States where no Federal aid is available.

Mr. HUNTER. There is hardly anything that would promote the interest of the Navajos more than good roads.

Senator ASHURST. I want the Indians to know that it was through the warm support of the chairman, Senator Frazier, Senator Wheeler, and the other members of the Indian committee that we were able to get the first $250,000.

Senator WHEELER. Have you any road machinery?

Mr. HUNTER. Yes, sir.

Senator WHEELER. What equipment have you?

Mr. HUNTER. We have two caterpillars-one 60, one 30. We have an Adams grader and an Austin grader. We have rotary scrapers and various other equipment.

Senator WHEELER. You could do a good deal of the road work with those, could you not?

Mr. HUNTER. Yes; but we need more equipment. We do not have enough. We have too many roads. We need more equipment. Senator WHEELER. Do you keep the equipment you have going all the time?

Mr. HUNTER. We try to.

Senator WHEELER. Who operates your tractors?

Mr. HUNTER. One of our tractors is run by a Navajo. The other by a white man.

Senator WHEELER. These Indians can run tractors?

Mr. HUNTER. Some of them can. Those tractors are expensive. They run from $3,000 to $5,000 each. So we can not take any chances on them.

Senator WHEELER. You can pick out some good Indian and send him down there to run the tractors. We were in the Mesa Verde Park and we found they were employing Navajo Indians there. The superintendent of the park said he would rather have Navajo Indians than any other class of workers he could get. We were agreeably surprised certainly to hear him make that statement. Senator FRAZIER. Any further questions?

Senator WHEELER. What efforts do you make to provide work for these Indians off the reservation where they want work? Have you taken it up with any of the different organizations, like the railroads, to get them work on sections and to get them work in the town of Gallup and in the coal mines, sawmills, and so forth?

Mr. HUNTER. We always try, Senator, to find work for them as they need employment, in the lumber mills, along the railroad, and highway work. However, we do not have any one man to see after that, but we help them in every way possible. Of course, where they want employment we always give them every assistance we can. Senator WHEELER. Are there any sawmills around here, located near this reservation?

Mr. HUNTER. A great number of these Navajo people have been employed at McNary at different times.

Senator WHEELER. Not nearly as many as should be employed at. McNary.

Mr. HUNTER. No. Of course, during the past year or two very few

Senator WHEELER. They are employing mostly colored people there.

Senator FRAZIER. Do you think it would be advisable to have a man especially designated to look after the employment situation here, to get work for them and follow up and see whether they can hold their jobs and to help these people in other ways?

Mr. HUNTER. I think it would be justifiable.

(Witness excused.)

SENATE COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS,

Washington, D. C.

DEAR SIR: In accordance with your request I am transmitting herewith a copy of my report concerning the chapter organizations of the Southern Navajo jurisdiction.

Sincerely yours,

JOHN G. HUNTER, Superintendent Southern Navajo Agency.

SOUTHERN NAVAJO AGENCY,

Fort Defiance, Ariz., September 28, 1930. Washington, D. C.

The COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS,

DEAR SIR: I have previously reported to your office the chapter organizations of this jurisdiction. These organizations, 28 in number, include every section of our country and take in practically the entire population of the jurisdiction. The officers of these chapters consist of president, vice president, and secretary, who are elected by the popular vote of the people of the respective districts. Without exception the Navajos endeavor to elect their ablest and most outstanding leaders for these places. Much responsibility with reference to the success of the organizations in promoting the interests of the community, relating to industrial progress, improvement of health conditions, education, law and order, and all phases of interest, is placed on these chosen leaders, and their favorable reaction to this trust and responsibility is worthy of much praise.

The organizations hold monthly meetings, and the day of the month on which an organizations meets is designated by the number of that organization. For instance, Klag-E-Toh, Chapter No. 1, holds its meetings on the first day of each month, unless that day falls on Sunday, in which event the meeting is held the following day. These meetings are always well attended by the people, and we always try to arrange for a representative from this office to be in attendance, although the meeting itself is conducted by the Indian officers.

We have five agency farmers and stockmen, who in connection with their ordinary duties act in the capacity of chapter advisers. Each of these men is held responsible for the progress of the work in his district, which district includes five or six chapter organizations. Through these organizations we are afforded the opportunity to make the right kind of contacts with the Navajo people, and are thereby permitted to systematically and effectively carry out any program which will promote the interests of our Indian people. The Navajos are a reasonable, open-minded people, and they eagerly cooperate in carrying out any plan for their advancement.

In addition to the monthly meetings in the local districts we hold a special meeting of officers at the agency every three months. This allows us to get together on a general program for the reservation and greatly facilitates our success in educating the Navajos along all lines of activity. A great deal of friendly competition has developed between these organizations, and as time passes the organizations are noticeably becoming stronger and more effective.

A part of our program is to build a chapter meeting house and a community laundry and bathhouse in each of the 28 districts. At this time we have three such units practically completed and five others are under construction, while many other chapters are making plans to begin building these houses at a very early date. I believe within the next year or two at the most that every organization will have its own meeting house and community laundry

and bathhouse. In each case the people of the district contribute all labor required in this construction work, except that the agency furnishes a skilled foreman to direct the work. The ordinary meeting house has dimensions of about 30 by 60 feet, while the community laundry and bathhouse averages about 20 by 30 feet.

During the past year these chapter organizations have contributed a great deal in promoting the interests of the Navajos. For the information of your office I am submitting herewith a report of work done by these organizations in carrying out the various community projects, which includes building community houses, road construction, developing irrigation projects, etc. This report is based on carefully kept records of work actually accomplished, the results of which may be verified by investigation. The period covered in the following report is from July 1, 1929, to June 30, 1930. In order that the aggregate amount of work contributed by these people in this community development may be most easily comprehended I have reduced it all to dollars and cents, using the minimum wage ordinarly allowed for the type of work performed.

Total, Greasewood Springs Chapter.....

1,876.85