While much, though not enough, is being said about the fact of hunger and malnutrition in the Nation, most commentary is without specific reference to precisely who it is that is hungry. American Indian tribes are generally ignored in the national inquiry concerning hunger and malnutrition.

It is known that race and ethnic difference intensify the burden of poverty. Negroes, for example, comprise 11 percent of America's households but account for almost one-third of poverty households: they probably also comprise a disproportionate share of those who are hungry. Although the evidence is mixed, there are signs that American Natives, also, are among the last to receive help in obtaining an adequate diet.

FOOD FOR FIRST CITIZENS

One such indication, which combines the effects of poor diets and poor sanitary and living conditions, is the health status of the American Indian.

The infant mortality rate for Indians, for example, is one and a half times that of the rest of the United States; the death rate of infants between one month and one year old is three times the United States average. Nearly

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twice as many Indian mothers die in childbirth as mothers in the rest of the country. Deaths from tuberculosis and gastritis among Indians are five times more frequent than in the United States as a whole. Twice as many Indians die from influenza and pneumonia as do other Americans.

And these are just mortality rates. Incidence rates are even more alarming. Proportionately, 49 times as much amoebic and bacillary dysentery strikes American Indians as the rest of our population. The incidence of tuberculosis among Indians is more than seven times the national average.

Despite higher death rates, the American Indian population is growing, and it is basically very young. By latest estimate there are approximately 450,000 Indians living on or adjacent to reservations. The median age of such Indians is only 17 years as compared to a median age of nearly 30 for the rest of the country. The birth rate among American Indians is twice that for all other races in the United States, but the average age at death for Indians is 44 compared to 64 for the remainder of the population. (The average age at death for the Alaskan native is alarmingly lower --34 years.)

The median school years completed by American Indians is approximately eight (although it ranges as low as 2.7 in Arizona and 4.3 in New Mexico). The median income of a reservation family (between five and six members) averages between $1,500 and $1,700 a year-less than 60 percent that of non-Indian rural families in this country. On many reservations, poverty afflicts be

tween seven and eight out of every

Only 136-less than one in fivehave sanitation facilities. In 1960, 84 percent of the reservation inhabitants were considered "in pov. erty" by Federal standards. Infant mortality among the Standing Rock is two and one-half times the rate for the rest of the United States and death rates attributable to certain diseases of early infancy are five times as high. Deaths from tuberculosis of all forms is 122 times as high and deaths due to influenza and pneumonia are four times as high.

Of the reservation's population, some 2,314 persons are receiving federally donated surplus commodities. The Standing Rock tribe pays for transporting the commodities from a central warehouse in Jamestown, North Dakota some 180 miles away, to the tribal headquarters in Fort Yates where they are stored in the basement until they are trucked to eight distribution points on the reservation.

That nearly half the Standing Rock Sioux are receiving food aid reflects both this country's sense of responsibility and the unspeakably high rate of poverty among American Indians. Behind the Standing Rock food participation figures lies a modern day tragedy.

Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture makes some 23 food groups available for distribution in this country, the Standing Rock Reservation distributes only 12 of these commodities. Several reasons might account for this: less than the full number of available commodities are ordered, cultural dietary differences exist, adequate storage facilities are lacking, and tribal financial resources are extremely limited. None of these are as important as the fact that with distribution of only 12 com

modities, there is no way in the world that Indian families at Standing Rock can be assured an adequate diet. Even if all foods. that were available were distributed, a recipient would still not be obtaining recommended allowances of two out of eight basic nutrients. The full U.S. Department of Agriculture package of 23 items falls short of recommended allowances in calories and Vitamin C. At least part of the reason for the poor health status of Standing Rock Indians is obvious.

The Standing Rock Reservation is not the worst example of a low level of commodities being provided to American Indians. On the Crow Reservation in South Central Montana, where 63 percent of the 1960 population was in poverty, only nine commodities are distributed to some 2,373 of the tribe's 3,800 members. Furthermore, many tribes in Montana discontinue commodity distribution during periods of seasonal work when members leave the reservations for farm labor work. What those tribe members who do not leave the reservation eat during these periods is unknown. They must find food or starve. Assuredly, they are not receiving food assistance.

Generally speaking, the picture is somewhat better on other Indian reservations where a larger number of commodities are distributed. Except where private food outlets are close by, only commodities are distributed on Indian reservations. Some reservation Indians in Nebraska and Minnesota participate in the food stamp program. The Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota attempted a food stamp program, but when participation

dropped by 50 percent, it was decided to return to the surplus commodity program.

On the Black Feet Reservation in Northern Montana, where some 70 percent of the 1960 population was in poverty and where 1961-62 nutrition surveys found 77 percent of the diets of Indians either "poor" or "very poor", some 3,639 of the reservation's current 6,500 inhabitants are receiving 15 food group items (17 separate items altogether).

On the Pine Ridge Reservation in Southwestern South Dakota, where some 74 percent of the 1960 population was in poverty, some 6,576 of the reservation's 11,000 inhabitants are receiving 17 food group items (18 separate items altogether). On the neighboring Rosebud Reservation, where 88 percent of the 1960 population was in poverty, some 4,442 of the reservation's 7,100 inhabitants are receiving 20 food group items (21 separate items altogether).

The Navajo Reservation, largest of all in terms of size (more than 15 million acres) and population over 119,000 by latest estimate), occupies a large chunk of some of this country's most picturesque yet barrent land in the great Southwest, taking in large portions of Arizona and New Mexico. Truly among the first Americans, direct ancestors of the Navajo are believed to have migrated to this country from Asia across the Bering Strait when it was a land bridge. Like other American natives, the Navajo have suffered greatly at the hands of the white man. In 1864, a military expedition under the command of Kit Carson slaughtered all of the Navajo sheep, destroyed their fields, and herded the Navajo fam

ilies to the Bosque Redondo (near Fort Sumner, New Mexico) where they were forced to remain in a futile four-year experiment of "civilizing" them.

In the last five years according to officials at the Cuba City Hospital on the Navajo Reservation, there have been 28 cases of marasmus (a severe nutritional disease generally limited to under-developed countries) among Navajo infants of which some 14 have died. Infant mortality and death rates attributable to diseases of early infancy are twice as high among the Navajo as for other racial groups in the United States. Deaths from tuberculosis are over five times the national average. Deaths due to gastroenteritis and similar diseases associated with living in unsanitary conditions are 11 times that of the United States average. (Only one-fourth of the estimated 20,000 homes on the Navajo Reservation have sanitary facilities.) Respiratory and digestive system diseas's accounted for over 4,100 or one-fourth-of all hospital admissions in the Navajo area in 1968.

Approximately 81 percent of the Indians on the Navajo Reservation were considered to be in poverty in 1960. The median family income for all persons in Arizona in 1960 was over $5,500. For Arizona's American Indians, it was less than $1,500. The median school years completed of all persons in Arizona in 1960 was 11.3 years. For American Indians there it was only 2.7 years.

Of the Navajo Reservation's population of almost 120,000, only 22,204 less than 19 percent-are receiving Federal surplus commodities. Unlike the Crow and Standing Rock Reservations,

where only a fraction of the available commodities are being distributed, there are 19 commodities distributed on the Navajo Reservation. In addition, a special supplemental package for mothers, infants, and young children, consisting of eight fortified and enriched food items, is being distributed to 412 recipients.

Thus we have the case of the Navajo Reservation, where a nearly adequate subsistence diet is provided to only one-fifth of the reservation inhabitants, while on the Standing Rock Reservation, the nearly one-half of the inhabitants who participate in the commodities program are underfed and undernourished. Not only, then, are American Indians in general discriminated against in food programs; there is a marked difference in food services provided various tribes and reservations which can only be viewed as unequal and discriminatory treat

ment.

In this Nation, at this time, it is unconscionable that anyone must be hungry or undernourished; it is an unspeakable crime that American Indians, who have been victimized by the greatest injustice in the country's history, should be deprived of food programs which provide, at best, only partial nutritional requirements.

America-with its wealth, power, and scientific and technological skills-can put a man on the moon. Should the Nation not also be expected to assure adequate food for the descendents of its first inhabitants?

WILLIAM PAYNE Mr. Payne is a Program Analyst for the Office of Civil Rights Program and Policy of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.