Indians Up

Ever since the Pilgrim Fathers fell first on their knees and then on the aborigines, the American Indian has been pictured not only as a shiftless ne'er-do-well but as a decadent, dying race. Many a generation of U. S. schoolboys has been taught a stern pride in the taking off of such die-hards as Rhode Island's King Philip (see cut).

Last week Indian-loving Commissioner John Collier helped explode the myth that these first families of America are vanishing. Said he: Indians are increasing in North America more rapidly than whites; Indians of the Western Hemisphere number 30,000,000. There were never more than about 900,000 Indians in the U. S.

Since 1900, they have increased from 237,000 to 361,000--up 52 1/2%.

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