Orvil Dryfoos Conference

The Dartmouth community spent the weekend of May 13-15 examining world cultures in conflict during the seventh Dryfoos Conference on Public and International Affairs. The conference was established in 1964 in memory of the late Orvil E. Dryfoos '34, former Dartmouth Trustee and publisher of TheNew York Times.

Dartmouth students from every continent representing nearly 30 nations participated in the conference, along with guest speakers, Dr. Martin Kilson, professor of government at Harvard, and Chief Peter MacDonald, chairman of the Navajo Nation.

Participants explored the cultural confrontation theme in a variety of contexts ranging from confrontations between ethnic and racial groups to conflicts between generations and between the sexes. Special sessions considered problems of cultural differences in Europe, the Third World, and Canada and the United States. Music, art, poetry, drama, and film were used, along with panel discussions, to look at the problems of cultural interaction from many angles.

In his keynote address at the conference dinner, Chief Mac Donald called for self-determination for Indian Americans which includes laying claim to land, water, natural resources, and the special federal assistance funds theoretically reserved for Indians. "Indians must start doing things for themselves that others have been doing for us," said Mr. MacDonald.