Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1885-08-20


AS shown by the following ar
ticle from the Gainesville Register
the utterances of Chief Bushyhead
were not destined to "waste their
fragrance on the desert air:"
Chief Bushyhea9 in an inter
view at Kansas City said: "Sooner
or later it will best for the Indians
TO own their own lands in sever
atty" These words contain the
solution of the Indian problem in
a nutshell and coming from one
high in authority and an Indian
himself is worthy careful consid-
Grafton. The imperfectness, OF
rather indefiniteness, Of titles to
lands in the territory is a great and
constant source of trouble. No
member of tribe can be said to
have a title to the land he occupies
as il is held in common and, as we
understand it, If abandoned can be
occupied by any other member of
the tribe without further ceremony
than that of enclosing it. He can
not ALLEVIATE his land however ad-
vantageous q sale might be to him.
The experiment of acting as guar
dian of the tribes by the government
has proven to be unsuccessful.
IL has cost millions of money and
has not been the means of teaching
the natives self-government and
rasing them to a higher civilization
as was hoped. We do not wish TO
rob the Indian Of one single right
he now possesses, either in law or
equity, but we would like to see
some step taken which will settle
a very vexatious question. We
believe the most feasible way of
accomplishing this is to allot the
lands to the Indians in severalty,
giving to each one 100 acres. This
is sufficient for their maintenance
and will leave something like two.
thirds Of the Indian Territory to
be disposed of. We do not advo-
cate the idea that the government
shall take this by force, for we
think it has no right TO do tn ).
We do believe however that it
should either purchase the remain
ing land at fair valuation and
open it TO settlement, or that it
should empower the various tribes
to sell this surplus domain TO actual
settlers at a fixed price. The
money thus realized would amount
to s50,000,000, which divided
among the Indians would give TO
each one about $500. The lands
set apart for the Indians should be
so dispersed as to mingle together
the natives and the settlers, giving
the former some personality and
thus breaking up the tribal rela-
tions-the greatest of impediments
to the elevation of the race. The
holding OF property in common
destroys all personality and pre-
vents the growth OF that laudable
ambition to excel, which is the
secret of individuals and indirectly
of all peoples success. The am
bilious individuals of all nations
have made their histories. To
guard against the tricks of un-
scrupulous men, the right to alien
ate their land should be denied the
Indians for a number of years
until by education and the example
of their white brothers they have
learned to estimate the advantages
Of individual property. Again the
development of the territory is re-
tarded by the lack of collection
laws. Those laws adopted by the
states generally in both criminal
and civil cases should be made the
laws Of the country. Such a
course would we believe be in the
end better for the government and
the Indian. To the former it gives
freedom from a knotty question;
to the latter independence, self
reliance and individuality.
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