FLOOD10384 ‎(2)‎

• County: Statewide
• Title: Natural Resources of Colorado
• Date: 1/1/1963
• Prepared By: US Department of the Interior
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

~ Bureau of Indian Affairs Programs

In addition to its resource development and
conservation activities on Indian lands, the
Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of
the Interior also provides the Indian people on
reservations with services in the fields of edu-
cation and training, welfare aid and counselling,
and law enforcement.

Education

Most of the Indian children from the Ute
Mountain and Southern Ute Reservations attend
public schools. Of a total enroHment of 367
students during the 1960-61 school year, 344
were in public school, 21 in Federal schools, and
2 in mission schools.
The Bureau operates a dormitory at Ignacio
for over 200 Ute and Navajo children enrolled
in the nearby public schools. Financial aid is
extended through contracts with two public
school districts enrolling the dormitory residents
and other local Indian children.
An adult education program has been orga-
nized at Towaoc with primary emphasis on im-
proved academic skills, business practices,
improved home living and useful leisure time
activities. A new activity of interest is the
revival of Ute basketry.
The Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Tribes
are assisting their youth through scholarship
aid for higher education. Agency school census
reports for these groups showed 14 students
attending colleges and non-Bureau vocational
schools during fiscal year 1961.

Employment Assistance

In Denver, the Bureau has one of the eight
field offices which it maintains in larger cities
throughout the West and Middle West to assist
Indians in training for and finding employment
opportuni ties.
A trained staff at this office assists Indians
from many reservations throughout the country
(including those in Colorado) by providing

guidance and counseling services in job place-
ment, in locating suitable housing and in adjust-
ing generally to urban life away from the
reservations, Those who have the necessary
skills are usually employed immediately; many
of those who lack these skills are enrolled at
Government expense in vocational schools for
training prior to job placement. Through the
Denver office the Bureau now has contracts with
nine schools to provide vocational training for
Indians in 20 different courses.

Welfare
The Bureau has a welfare program on the
Southern Ute and Mountain Ute Reservations
in southwestern Colorado. A social worker
is stationed at the Consolidated Ute Agency
with headquarters in Ignacio. In addition, the
Mountain Ute Tribe employs a social worker
who is stationed at Towaoc.
The Ute tribes have considerable tribal income
from natural resources on the reservation,
principally oil and gas, and in 1962 each member
of the Southern Ute Tribe received $700 divided
into monthly payments while each member
of the Ute Mountain Tribe received 12 monthly
installments totaling $1,575. Advice and coun-
sel are given by the social workers to the
families, when necessary, in planning con-
structive use of their own and their children's
funds. Other social services are provided
to Indians with family problems or any other
serious social problems.
Child welfare services are provided on both
reservations, including supervision of' foster
home placements, planning for adoption, and
securing appropriate institutional care for handi-
capped children through the State and private
agencles..
Law Enforcement
The Bureau furnishes the Ute tribes with
technical help in conducting their law enforce-
ment activities on the reservations.

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