1969 March 16 - "The American Indian - a New Awareness and Readiness,"

Image Suffers; Indians Take Warpath

1969 March 16, The Cincinnati Enquirer 

      Los Angeles - A gentle uprising against the stereotype picture of the American Indian as (1) a blood-thirsty savage or (2) a slovenly, a lazy drunk is being launched nationwide by the Indians themselves.

      "We feel the Indian is intelligent enough to compete at all levels," says Earl Old Person, head chief of the Blackfeet.

      "But too often he doesn't get the chance because too many people, once they learn he is an Indian, immediately picture him as the type Indian they see on television or in the movies."

      Old Person and a dozen other chiefs came here .. for the kickoff of a campaign -- sponsored by the National Congress of American Indians -- to improve the image of the American Indian.

      When the group finds something it considers derogatory -- in a TV commercial, say, or a newspaper story, or a motion picture -- it plans to send an official written complaint.

      "Nothing violent, nothing pressure-group, just a polite mention of what we regard as offensive," explained John Belindo, a Kiowa who is executive director of the Indian congress.

      In keeping with this nonviolent approach, there wasn't a ceremonial head-dress in sight, nor a war whoop to be heard, at the news conference.

      Belindo was a model of sartorial elegance - dark blue shirt, gray tie with red stripes, Old Person wore a conservative brown suit, white shirt, matching tie.

     The campaign and its slogan, "The American Indian - a New Awareness and Readiness," will feature TV spot announcements and billboards in such major centers of nonreservation Indians as Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Dallas, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Washington DC, San Francisco, Oakland and Oklahoma City.

1969 March 16, The Cincinnati Enquirer