Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1886-07-29
MR. R. !. ownN,s RRMARKs.


Following is n synopsis of Agent
r. l.. Owcn's address before the
National Teachers association re-
Gently held at Topeka, as taken
from q local paper;
President Calkins then intro
duccd Il. j.. Owen who read very
interesting paper of u'ich the
following is q synopsis
The speaker said tha, the word
Indian had q difference in mean
ing TO different people and while
some of our remaining American
Indians arc barbarians, Others of
them are educated and refined and
worthy TO enter any society which
the world affords
You have asked me to talk upon
the five civilized nations as the
result of race education.
As in my early geography | saw
the five rases of men pictured each
by a single head from the Cauca-
sian, the Indian, the Mongolian,
the Malay aud the african races. SO
from the five Indian nations | choose
the face of the Cherokee nation
to present to you, hoping thus to
give you by single portraiture n
fair likeness of the family. will
tell you of the Indian precisely as
have seen and know him. The re-
suit of this race education, as shown
by the five civilized nations, is
very wonderful when we compare
their lives with the lives of other
savage communities thrown in
contact with civilized nations. 1t
took the Briton five centuries
to accomplish what they have at
tained in one century. In the space
of one single life these nations have
come out of heathcnism into the
light of Christian life. The Indian
possesses great individual pride,
and while some pretend to despise
the white man yet they secretly
admire him. Thus they are slow to
take the white mans advice or
accept his ideas. When they do
accept an idea they make it their
own. On this account Christianity
was long unknown TO them, but
now the five nations are extremely
religious and there are over 800
native preachers among them.
The treatment that the Cher
okees received at the time of their
removal across the Mississippi and
since has been such as to cause mis-
trust, as much injustice has been
done them under the guise of civil
izing the untutored Indian.
Speaking of Ninita, an Indian
town in the territory, of / 900 in
habitants, he said "look at Kan
sas town of the same size and you
will see Ninita. The people dress
the same, read the same papers,
listen to the, same teachings, the
same preaching, follow the same
customs and the boys talk base ball
and the school girls chew gum.
You must leave the city to find a
distinctive feature. Passing into
the country we find the Indians
farming as they do in Kansas many
of them having good farm houses.
The full-blood Indians occasionally
! live in good houses but more gen
orally in log houses. Even these
tend their farms and have imple-
ments of agriculture. BY actual
census made six years ago out of a
population of 10000 only five indi-
viduals were found who maintained
themselves solely by hunting and
fishing. Many Of our Indian fami-
lies are well-to-do and have from
five to a hundred head of cattle and
all the wagons and horses they
need.
The Cherokees have state
printing house in which is printed
the non-partisan organ of the ma.
ton. Here also are printed all the
blanks, reports, etc.
Let congress increase ten fold
the appropriation of the wild men
who unlike the civilized tribes
have not the means to educate theil
children, and out of these people
will grow in a few years a class o.
intelligent and useful citizens al
many already have become, and bt
absorbed into the great body o
American citizenship where al
races Of men can and do meet OF
! the level of common right anC
eternal justice.
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