The Progress., 1888-08-11
10TH TO GIVE up THEIR tANDs,

10TH TO GIVE Up THEIR LANDS.
Great Asssa4blago OF sioux Braves 1t
Standing Rock Agency - Dusky Orators
q Advise Rejeetion Of the Treaty for the
Opening OF Their Reservation.
STANDING Rock AGENCY, D. T., July 25.-
ALE IS excitement on the Sioux Reservation.
Never since the granting OF the great tract
OF land to the Indians at the close of the
Sioux war have the Indians been so thor.
oughly awakened or the white settlers so
deeply interested. 1t has been supposed
by great majority of the reading people
that the Sioux Reservation, containing
,OOO, 600 acres of land, was opened for
settlements by the recent act of Congress.
but the clause making it necessary to se-
cure the consent of three-fourths of the
Indians may keep the land from the public
domain Tor many years. The commission
appointed by President Cleveland to con-
Ter with the Indians arrived here yester
day and will hold conference with the
Sioux chiefs and 5000 of their followers
Without regard to the merits of the
proposition made by the Government.
and with no definite understanding Of
the proposed treaty, the tribes gathered
here oppose the opening of the reserva-
tlon. Mondays council was kept secret
from the whites. The Indians selected
Chiefs Gall, John Grass, Mad Bear, Big
Head and Running Antelope for their ora
tors at the conference.
John Grass, the Chief Justice of the
Sioux court, was the first to speak
Tie advised the Indian g5 81 careful
49, slh2g s2g 70 sn-ission,
and. no maCte1s etS Is sS make
no decision un.l. mature -
ton He eaid: The treaties rlsa before
by bae whites ha, . s-.4 6rotx5r 1v them.
|, think these men sent Fat by the Great
Fa1her to make this treaty 6eae eur land
nave come for snr3E purpose The Gov
ernment will suppp.E Us for tvyrq,ty-five
years, and after that time we will have to
pay taxes and will be poor"
Chief Gall followed. Gall is the hand
soonest and most commanding Indian of
the tribe and as field General led all the
brilliant maneuvers during the Custer
campaign for which Sitting Bull was
given credit. He is unquestionably the
nnest living indian orator and his speech
IS pronounced by the Interpreters to be the
most eloquent ever delivered on the reser-
vatlon. Among other things he said, in
alludlng to the arrival of the commission
ers and the proposed new treaty:
we should listen to the whites and learn
what they care to offer, and then we should
without foolish speaking think what we ara
Wiling to give. When I was at Fort Rec
many years ago there was treaty made
with u.s. In this, treaty the wh:tes made
great promises. They told US that we would
have many cattle and that our horses would
cover the plains. I returned in a few years
ana learned that we were again deceived.
They did not keep their word and we were as
ma 6a hat
us that our lands went north to the river of the
Cannon Ball. Now they tell us it goes no fur
ther toward the great north light than the
Cedar Creek. Again we are deceived When
the commissioners have come out they have
made us many big promises. They would
not tell US what the Great Father said but
would talk to please the Indian heart We
believed them, but we have lost much of our
lands and our children have been hungry.
In the past I have not complained.
believed the Great Father was honest
and have acted with good heart, but unless
this treaty with US is fair and we are told the
truth my heart will not be good. We can not
accept land apart (meaning severalty) We
want grazing lands. Our reservations have
been growing smaller and smaller and
soon we will be without hunt
ing ground. Our buffaloes have been
killed by the whites, and now they want our
land. They come, hear, with two papers
they tell US we must sign one or the other and
our names will be counted This is the first
time ever knew that an Indian can be maoe
to sign paper against his will.''
After speeches by Running Antelope,
High Bear and others and the reading of
the proposed treaty, which was printed in
the Sioux language, Mad Bear addressed
the circle, and called upon all opposed to
giving consent to the treaty to rise. Every
Indian in the circle sprang to his feet with
a whoop.
The commission consists of Captain
Pratt, of Carlisle, Pa, Rev. C. d. Cleve-
land, of Dakota, and Judge Wright, of
Tennessee, the latter being prominently
mentioned for Commissioner of Indian
Affairs. They are men Of extensive ex-
perience among the Indians, and it is
thought that they will be able to show
the objecting warriors that tAe pro-
posed treaty, if accepted, will prove last
ing benefit to their race The treaty aims
to open one-half of the reservation, or about
II, ,OOO, 600 of acres, to settlement, and to ad-
vance 81, ,OO0, 600 for the purchase of farm
and stock for the Indians, who
are to select farms Immediately upon
the ratification of the treaty. The land to
be settled will be sold to actual settlers at
fifty cents an acre, and it is estimated that
the funds thus raised will be over s., ,00O, 900
which shall be placed at interest to the
credit of the Sioux Nation It is the most
important step toward the development of
the Northwest taken for years,
as it means the immediate build
ing of the Chicago, Milwaukee &c
ST Pa111 and the Ghicaon 2r Mort