The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-12-03
HOW TO TREAT THE INDIANS
Facts and Suggestions from the Annual
Report of Commissioner Atkins.
to Earn His Living-The Recent Out
breaks in the Southwest.

TO the Secretary of the Interior his annual re-
port for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1885
The Commissioner prefaces his report with the
statement that sit requires no seer to foretell or
foresee the civilization of the Indian race as q
result naturally deducible from knowledge and
practice upon their part, of the art of agricul
ture, for the history of agriculture among all
people, and in all countries, intimately connects
it with the highest intellectual and moral devel-
opment of man" He continues
1.-THE increased interest in agriculture mani
tested since the opening of last spring, and the
preparations on several reservations for still
larger increase of acreage in farming, are among
the hopeful signs of Indian progress. This
brings me directly to tho consideration OF the
practical policy which, / believe should be
! adopted by Congress and the government in the
management of the Indians. 1t should be in
| dustrlously and gravely impressed upon them
| that they must abandon their tribal relations
| and take TO lands in severalty. The government
| should, however, in order to protect them, re-
tain the right to their lands in trust for twenty
five years. or longer but issue trust patents at
once to such lndisrns as have taken individual
holdings. When the Indians have taken
| their lands in severalty in sufficient
quantities land the number of acres in each hold
| ing may and should vary in different localities,
according to fertility, productiveness. climatic
ana other advantages) then, having due regard
|
Indians, the remaining lands of their reserva-
lions should be purchased by the government
| and opened to homestead entry at so or rs cents
per acre; Inc money paid by the government
Tor their lands should be held in trust in per
cent bonds, to be paid, as Congress may provide,
| Tor the education civilization and advancement
or the red race, reserving for each tribe its own
money. II this policy were adopted systematic
| any oy the government, it would be strange if,
IN five years from its Inauguration and estab.
lishment there should be an Indian of any
tribe in the whole country who
would refuse to accept 80 favorable
and advantageous measure. Every step taken
every move made, every suggestion offered,
everything done with reference to the Indians
| should be with view of impressng upon them
that this is the policy that has been perma
nently decided upon by the government in ref
| erence to their management They must aban.
don tribal relations they must give up their su,
perstitons; they must forsake their savage hab.
| lts, and learn the arts of civilization. They
must learn to labor. In word, they mnst
| learn to work for a living, and they must under
| stand that it is their interest and duty to send
their children to school When the farm and
the school have become familiar institutions to
the Indians, and reasonable time has interviewed
| for the transition from semi-civilized state to
Indian be prepared to take upon
himself the higher and more responsible
duties and privileges which appertain to Ameri-
| can citizenship. There are in the United States
exclusive of Alaska about 100000 Indians; Of
that number there are in the FIVE civilized tribes
in the Indian Territory, 1000 There are in
New York, 4,97O; in North Carolina, 3, 100, and
there are some in Dakota, Nebraska Kansas.
| Wisconsin and Minnesota, and few in Califor-
| MIA and the Northwest who are civilized, and
| still others who can lay some claim to civiliza-
| ton. Many others on the reservations have cast
| off the blanket and are adopting the fashions
| and dress of white people, but among all these,
| except among the Indians of New York and
| North Carolina, few in some of the Northwest
! ern States, and part of the FIVE civilized
tribes in the Indian Territory, is a very
! Nearly all who are called blanket In
| dians, have never titled the soil to any extent.
and fully half Of the Indians of the United
States, exclusive of Alaska, as yet have declined
| to commit themselves to the life of the farmer.
| Exclusive of the land cultivated by civilized
tribes, the number of acres in cultivation by In
dians during the present year is AS. 23l, an in
| crease of l8, 473 acres over last years figures"
| The Commissioner presents at some length
| the several theories advanced by friends Of the
Indians as to the best policy to pursue to pro-
| mote their welfare, one being to concentrate
| them within the Indian Territory; another s
that the tribes should be diffused over as large
space as practicable, with view of bringing the
Indians more directly in contact with higher
type OF civilization, while another is to remove,
with The exception of those who have taken
lands in severalty. all of the Indians in Mnneso.
| ia, Wisconsin and Michigan, to the Red Lake and
! White Earth reservations those in Montana,
Idaho Wyoming and Dakota to the great
Sioux reservations, and those in Nevada, upper
| California, Oregon and Washington Territory to
| the Yokama reservation, while the Southwest
| ern Indians might be concentrated upon one or
| two existing reservations in that locality. The
Commissioner makes no definite recommends
| ton as to any of these theories
Reports of the Indian agents at agencies
where courts for the trial of Indian ofenses have
been established, show that they have been en-
tirely successful, and in many cases eminenty
useful Referring 10 the Indian police the Com
missioner says
'"To'a great extent they have met the necessi-
ties of the situation, and have proved valuable
aids to the Indian agents in preventing tres
passing and robbery by lawless whites, and in
suppressing disorder violence and incipient re-
volt among the more restless of their own peo-
pie Many instances of surprising fidelity to the
trust imposed upon them under circumstances
which would swerve many white man from his
duty, might be related of these Indian police"
Under the head of "Cash Payment to Indians"
the Commissioner says the sum of 1922 1888 was
paid in small sums to Indians during the last
fiscal year. Referring to the Indian outbreaks
in the Southwest the Commissioner says;
"On the 18th of last May, portion OF the
Chiricahuas, numbering forty two men and
ninety-two women and children, succeeded in es-
Gaping from military control, while the remain
ing portion remained peaceably at Camp Apache.
OF those who escaped eight men were killed by
Apache scouts, and thirty-one women and chill
dren were captured, and are now held at Fort
Bowie The others have been roaming through
the country, committing murders and depreda-
TONS and pillaging upon and terrorizng the
citizens. In view of the outbreak in May,
and precautionary measure against any col
fusion that might be made between those off and
those remaining or the reservation. as we'll as to
assure peace and quiet to citizens, it has been
deemed advisable to place all the Apaches tenn
porarily under the charge of the War Department.
that department to have full authority to pre-
scribe and enforce such regulations for their man
agement as may be deemed proper. This office
heartily sympathizes with the efforts OF the War
Denartment to control the rebellious
and warlike spirit of the Chiricahua outlaws and
to prevent recurrence of their raids upon white