The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1886-01-14
Tho White Indians.

An 1ntolllgcnt Indian L, Gently, in re-
porting the marriage Of an Indian oc-
toroon to white man. said: "If this
process goos on, wo will soon have, tho
whitest race. OF Indians you over did
sce." Tho accomplished daughter of
tho old missionary. Dr. Robertson,
married n full-bloodod Creek. Her
sister has secured money at the East to
establish q seminary among tho full
bloods, and it has been n question
whcro tho seminary could bo located
to meet the object aimed at. Parties
stepping from Ito train 1T Vintia,
within tho Cherokee nation, tho only
railroad crossing in tho Indian Terri
tory. com monty ask, "wherc arc tho
lndiansP" On being told that those
they SEQ about them are Indians, they
reply. mo. They arc not Indians;
these arc white men,"
BY marrying an Indian maiden, tho
white man secures all the rights of In
dian citizenship. Tho "hcadright" of
the girl helps tho matrimonial con-
tract. 10 hunters for land, those look
ing for wido ranges for cattle or agri-
culture, the temptation is very strong
to take tlis snort out to get an xlcnt
of soil they could never hopo to secure
in any other way.
The encouragement given 10 tho
whites on tho part OF marriagcable In
dian females is quite observable. They
think that by marrying white mon they
gain socially. aud havo n prospect for
an easier and better earcdrfor life. And
they think rightly. In all depressed d
civilizations, women hayc Il hard time
of it. The Indian men do not like this
constant raiding through their land
and capturing tho most attractive Of
their race. whom they would WOO and
wed, but they cannot help themselves,
and retaliate by stealing tho affections
of white girls and marrying them.
White girls entering an indian rescr-
vatlon are very soon picked up; not so
often by full-blooded Indians, but af-
ter the process of intcrmarriage has
commenced, not SO seldom by hall
breeds, quadroons and octoroons.
Whlte persons who marry into In
dian blood almost invariably remain
on Indian soil. Tho white man, in de-
tense of Indian ideas of communal in-
tereSts and Indian questions, us related
TO the whites, becomes moro intensely
Indian than the Indians themselves. 1
think the tierceSt defenders of the
TRIBAL system are white men who by
marriage have become Indian citizens
and arc making money out of it. The
lurge crops OH Indian lands are invar-
iab'y raised by white men. Four
iifths OF the mechanics are white men,
brothcrs-in-law TO the Indians. So
on Doth sides the process of dilution of
Indian blood goes on until it becomes
very thin, while Indian habits and In
dian characteristics still remain.
The common notion among Indians
is That Indian blood never runs out,
and that wherever tho slightest trace
OF it can be found, there The fullest
rights OF land and privilege follow.
For man who has onc-sixtccnlh or
nc-thirty-sccond part of Indian blood,
tho claim for his right us an Indian is
asserted rs strongly as for the full
blood. a whito man has married an
Indian girl, a light blonde, Of one
thirty-second Indian blood. His chill
drcn will be onc-sixty- fourth Indian.
The family consists of five members.
On account of that onc-thirty-sccond Il
Indian blood, that family of five, To-
Gated on tho border of tho India IN
land, is entitled, by equal division of
tho tribal land, to five times 995 acres
or a, 975 acres. -Ohiwaukec sehtincI