Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-05-14
Our Unsatisfactory Relations with
the Indians.

ReCent events nave attTacte0 attention anew
to the ill-def1ned status Of the relations between
the Indians and the Government. Questions
are constantly arising which look In vain for
undlsputed settlement by existing law. The
Supreme Court, In its decision upon the status
of the Indians. In the case Of the Cherokee Ma
ton against Georgia, pronounces them domes-
tic, dependent nations "They are In a state
OF pupilage. Their relation to the United
states resembles that OF ward to guardian"
1t Is In accordance with the view that the Gov
eminent stands In the relation of parent or
guardian TO the Indians that many of its meth
o0s OF dealing with them have arisen some of
them, perhaps, having no express foundation
In statute law. They are removed from Mace
to place, and confined within the limits as
signed them. They cannot make contracts in
dependent Of the representatives of the Gov
eminent; trade with them Is controlled under
the statutes by the latter; trespass by some of
them upon property held In severalty by others
Is made punishable by the withholding of sup
plies, and In cases where chief Is the trespas-
ser, by deposition from chiefship In the
same line Of action, when Indians have left
their reservations even peaceably, they have
been treated as truant boys to be recaptured
and brought back to school again in disgrace.
A decision which should declare that truants in
their right to liberty and the pursuit of happi-
ness might lawfully defy the minions of school
despotism would consequently be about as un-
expected as decision like that In regard to the
Poncas, which permits the Indians to roam at
will. Whatever else may be denied of them
1t cannot be asserted that they are not per-
sons. SO an application for a writ of habsas
corpus based on this fact, carried to its logical
results, overthrows the whole reservation sys-
tenn. Every dissatisfied Indian in Indian
Territory may now go north, south, east
or west, wherever it pleases his fancy.
the only limit to his excursions consisting I'm
the fact that he will be shot down at sight II he
advances In certain directions. The Indian
law Of blood for blood, coupled with the fact
that this new class Of tramps Is almost certain
to be ill-treated by the whites suggests that II
the permission to roam Is fully utilized there
win be no lack of stirring news from the Indian
country and vicinity. 1t Is necessary both for
whites and Indians that the latter remain upon
the reservations assigned them. They may
need to be considered so far In the light of ma
tons that the violation Of agreements to stay
at home shall be construed as an act of hOst1l-
1ty Justifying the use of military force to COM
pei the return Of the runaways. What with
the Ponca matter the unceasing attempts to
break up nations Of Indians and open the terri
tory to settlement and In the other direction
the efforts OF the civilized tribes to magnify
their privileges as nations, especially In the
matter Of exclusive right to decide who are
Indian citizens, there is every prospect that
Indian territory and its people viii receive
fair share of newspaper discussion In the Inn.
mediate future.