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Show reservations where it. has sot 'been carried on before, This indicates that they are beginning b appreciate the advantage of that industry as a means of support. IMPROVED HOMES The bureau is giving special attention to the bettering of home conditions throughout the servicb. Believing' that sub-stantial houses, well.ventilated and constructed, with due regard to ,sanitary requirements, are the best preventives against disease and the highest incentive to good morals and industrial advancement, the superintendents have been instmeted to lend their best efforts to 'induce the Indians to use every possible available, resouice in the building of good homes, +table to their means and needs. A special campaign for better homes in the Navajo country, Arizona and New Mexico, has aroused great interest among these independent p d nomadic Indians. By the .judicious use of re-imbursable funds, augmented by their own efforts and the utili-zation of native building materials, the Navajos are building a , considerable number of good homes. While the movement is only in ita infancy, the interest shown is so great that it may be confi-dently predicted that the next five years will show a rapid change from the present dirt hogan to a class of homes of which the Navajos may well be proud. On the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho, using funds derived from the sale of the bottom landscovered by the American Falls Rwervoir, over' 100 houses have' been built on the allotted lands. A large number of these people heretofore lived under very primitive coudi-tions, but they are now taking pride in their new homes and the outlook is very promising for better health and better living generally. With a comfortable home, the Indian, like everyone else, finds it much easier to work and improve his economic condition. The Indians of the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Reservations have made an unusual record in home building, having progressed' so far that, taken generally throughout the territory occupied by them, their house* and outbuildings are equal to if not better than the average among the white people of the community. This splendid showing has been made possible by two factors: The fertility of the lands allotted to the Indians and the willingness of the Indians to so use their lands or dispose of surplus lands as to make it possible to finance the home building. In the campaign for better houses, the superintendent in charge made a survey of the assets of each f a d y and pointed out to the members of the family the ways and means to be used, and in almost every instance the family has been quick to follow his advice. |
