OUR INDIAN WARDS 225 



like, under the control of medicine men, constitutes 

 the Indians' ceremonial religion. It is knit into the 

 fabric of his family, social and industrial life. 

 Christianity never wholly eliminates it as a conscious 

 influence. 



Raising and reaping the products of the soil 

 was manifestly the Indian's principal natural means 

 of sustenance, and upon this from the beginning the 

 guardians of the Indians concentrated. To make 

 him self-supporting as a farmer was to solve the 

 problem. The success of the Bureau's efforts can 

 only be measured by results. 



In 1922 a movement known as the Five Year 

 Programme was inaugurated in the Blackfoot Res- 

 ervation which may solve the problem of industrial 

 self support. A reservation Farm and Livestock 

 Association composed of all adult members of the 

 tribe is divided into chapters which are set into com- 

 petition with each other for records of production. 

 With each chapter under its own Indian officers, sea- 

 sonal campaigns in stock and crop raising cause un- 

 usual interest. Auxiliary chapters of women com- 

 peting in gardening, canning, dairying, chicken rais- 

 ing and other less arduous pursuits involve the entire 

 reservation in activity. 



One of the greatest drawbacks to Indian farm- 

 ing has been the custom of visiting in summer, leav- 

 ing garden, farm and range to shift for themselves. 

 Under the new programme both men and women 

 pledge themselves to stay on the job. Chapters are 



