The Indian Symbol Report

Following President Kemeny's financial review, the remainder of Thursday morning's meeting and part of the afternoon were devoted to the report of the Indian Symbol Study Committee, presented by Robert D. Kilmarx '50, committee chairman and now a Trustee of the College. The Council had requested the study in January after hearing a protest about the symbol from the Native American students at Dartmouth.

The report, summarized by Mr. Kilmarx at some length when the Council met, had been distributed in printed form in advance. With only slight amendment it was approved by the Council and sent to President Kemeny as recommendations for College action. Although focusing on the Indian symbol, the report considered the entire range of Dartmouth's modern commitment to the education of Native Americans.

The report's central finding was that use of the Indian symbol was steadily diminishing—a development it applauded—and that it would be "inappropriate to recommend the official abolition of an Indian symbol that was never officially adopted at Dartmouth." Instead, the committee stated its belief that "this issue ultimately can best be resolved by programs of communication and education designed to increase understanding of the underlying problems involved, rather than by official fiat."

The committee reported that it had found during its six months of study that the Dartmouth Indian symbol had its genesis in the mid-1920s in the Boston sports pages, and that it had never been officially adopted by the College. In supporting its gradual disappearance as even an unofficial symbol, the committee said it "was not simply giving in to another minority demand.' There has been no demand on the part of our Native Americans. Rather, they have asked for understanding. The Indian symbol may have made sense for Dartmouth at one time; it does not now. It is an idea whose time has gone by."

Referring to a trend away from the symbol in response to Indian concerns, the committee listed examples of voluntary curtailment or elimination of the use of the Indian as a symbol or synonym by several diverse groups during the past year. These included The Dartmouth, WDCR, the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, the sports information office, many alumni clubs and classes, the Dartmouth College Athletic Council, and many local merchants.

The popular undergraduate singing group formerly known as the Injunaires now call themselves the Dartmouth Aires, while, according to the study report, several local merchants have said that they would not reorder stock with Indian symbol imprints once current stocks were depleted.

The committee's proposal that there be a gradual phasing out of the Indian symbol was less than had been hoped for by the Native American students and by Stuart Tonemah of the Kiowa-Comanche tribe, former student counsellor and now Director of the Native American Studies Program, who spoke after Mr. Kilmarx's presentation and said he viewed the report as "unacceptable" since it did not advocate immediate and official abolition of the Indian symbol. However, he congratulated the committee for "an outstanding job" and in appreciation of its commitment to understanding he presented to Mr. Kilmarx a plaque inscribed with an Indian prayer and to each member a printed copy of the prayer.

Beyond the question of the Indian symbol, the Council committee considered the nature of Dartmouth's commitment to Native American education and the extent to which the College could reasonably go in fulfilling it. The committee's views on these broader issues were contained in the specific recommendations of the report, which were as follows:

(1) The Committee suggests that in the future very thorough studies of [the Dartmouth commitment to Native American education] and the more specific issues raised in this report be made before largescale and continuing commitments are made. The College must be cautious in undertaking what may prove to be more than it reasonably can accomplish with resources at hand or clearly foreseen.

(2) While the Committee recognizes the laudable reasons behind matriculating larger numbers of Native American students at Dartmouth, we recommend that any artificial goal for enrollment of such students be dropped immediately. Instead, regardless of numbers, Dartmouth should seek to enroll only students with a reasonable chance for academic survival with, when necessary, the supplemental services now offered.

(3) Concomitant with the dropping of numerical targets, we recommend the dropping where possible of the "one-quarter Indian blood" requirement which the Committee finds unrealistic as a Dartmouth standard.

(4) The appointment of a Native American to the Admissions Office staff should be considered. It is hoped that such an appointment would entail considerable study in the field for the recruitment of qualified Native American and perhaps other minority students. Native American appointments to the faculty consistent with a Native American academic program are necessary. The naming of a Coordinator of Indian Programs appears to be desirable.

(5) Our Committee applauds the approach which has been adopted by the faculty in establishing a new Native American Studies Program at Dartmouth and believes that the attempts which have been made to integrate this program into the regular academic curriculum are extremely wise. We feel that it would be unwise, particularly in a period of budgetary restraints, to undertake a wide proliferation of new courses. We believe that it is highly desirable that the program has been designed to appeal to non-Native American students, as well as Native American students, since the former can gain a great deal by increasing their understanding of the Native American experience.

(6) The Committee highly approves of the plan to provide a Native American Center and views this action as further clear evidence of College commitment to the personal needs of Native American students at Dartmouth. Such a facility is very desirable particularly if, as expected, the number of Native American students at Dartmouth significantly increases over the years.

(7) Based on our thorough study of the Native American program at Dartmouth, the Alumni Council Indian Symbol Study Committee finds it inappropriate to recommend the official abolition of an Indian symbol that was never officially adopted at Dartmouth. The Committee is sympathetic with issues raised by Native American students regarding the use of the Indian symbol. We are personally pleased to see that the use of the symbol is diminishing at Dartmouth and we applaud efforts to this end. We feel that this issue ultimately can best be resolved by programs of communication and education designed to increase understanding of the underlying problems involved, rather than by official fiat.

In addition to the findings and recommendations reported above:

(8) The Committee recommends the appointment of a Visiting Committee with continuing review and advisory responsibilities for Dartmouth's Native American Program.

A good part of the Alumni Council sessions was given over to reports from the standing committees of the Council, with special interest shown in the interim report on the 1972 Alumni Fund, which has a record goal of $2.75 million. Robinson Bosworth Jr. '37, chairman of this year's campaign, will be succeeded as Alumni Fund Chairman by outgoing Council president Norman E. McCulloch Jr. '50.

The next meeting of the Council, its 125th, will be held January 11-13, when the Board of Trustees will also meet. A joint session is planned.

Prof. Donald L. Kreider, newly appointed Vice President for Undergraduate Affairs, spoke at the AlumniCouncil banquet.