The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1888-08-02
10TH fo GIVE UP THEIR LANDS.
4 Great Assemblage Of Sioux Braves nj
standing Rock Agency - Dusky Orator.
Advise Rejection 0f the Treaty for the
Opening Of Their Reservation.

Advise . Rejection Of the Treaty for the
Opening Of Their Reservation.
STANDING Rock AGENCY, DIT, July 25.-
All Is excitement on the Sioux Reservation.
Never since the granting OF the great tract
nf land to the Indians at the close Of tho
Sioux war have the Indians Deen 50 thor
Onghly awakened or the white settlers so
deeply interested. 1t has been supposed
by a great majority of the reading people
that the Sioux Reservation, containing
q, 2,AW,EW acres of land, was opened for
settlement by the recent act Of Congress,
but the clause making it necessary to Sc
cure the consent Of three fourths OF the
Indians may keep the land from the public
domain for many years. The commission
appointed BY President Cleveland to con-
fer with the Indians arrived here ycster-
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 rcserva-
tion. Mondays council was kept secret
from the whites. The Indians selected
Chiefs Gall, John Grass, Mad Dear, 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.
He advised the Indians to be careful
in what they say to the commission,
and, no matter what is said, to make
no decision until mature considera-
ton. He said: 1.-THE treaties made before
by the whites have been broken by them.
think these men sent out by the Great
Father to make this treaty about our land
have come for some purpose. The Gov
ernmcnt will support us for twenty Ave
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 us field General led all the
brilliant maneuvers during the. Custer
campaign for which Sitting Bull was
gwen credit. He is unquestionably the
finest living Indian or.tor and his speech
Is pronounced by the interpreters to be the
most eloquent ever delivered on the reser-
yation. Among other things he said, in
alluding TO the arrival of the commission
crs and the proposed new treaty:
I'VE should listen to the whites and learn
what they care 10 OfYcr and then We SHOULD
without foolish speaking think what we are
willing to give. When | was ut Fort X &C
many years ago there was treaty made
with us. In this treaty the whites made
grca. promises. They told us that we would
have many cattle and that our horses would
cover the plains. / returned in q few years
and learned that we were again deceived.
They did not keep their word ard we we're rs
fools. When they made that treaty they told
us that our lands went north 10 The river OF the
Cannon Ball. Now they tell us ii goes no fur
ther toward the great north light than the
Cedar Creek. Again we are deceived. When
fhp mis- sinners have 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 Iast l have not complained.
believed the Great Father was honest
and have acted with a 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 and apart tmeaning severaltyD. We
want grazing lands Our reservations hsve
been growing smaller and smaller, and
soon we Will be without u hunt.
ing ground Our bunaloes Rave been
killed BY the whites, and now they want our
land. They come, ! hear, with two papers :
one TO take our lands and one 10 keep them
they tell Us We must sign one or the other and
our names will be counted This is the frst
| time ever knew that an Indian can be made
! 10 sign paper against his wili.'
AItcT spccCHcS Uy RUNNING hutclOpP.
High Bear and others and the reading Of
the proposed treaty, which was printed in
the Sioux language, Mad Bear addressed
the circle, ana called upon all opposed &c
| giving consent TO the treaty to rise. Every
Indian in the circle sprang to his feet with
Q whoop.
The commission consists of Captain
Pratt, of Carlisle, Pa. Rev. c. d. Clevc
land, Of Dakota, and Judge Wright. oi
Tennessee, the latter being prominently
| mentioned for Commissioner Of Indian
| Affairs. They arc men OF extensive cx
pcriencc among the Indians, and it il
thought that they will be able to show
the objccting warriors that the pro
posed treaty, II accepted, will prove last
ing benefit to their race. The treaty aims
to open one half of the reservation, or about
| 1900, 900 of acres, to settlement, and to ad
vance s, 600 600 for the purchase of farm
implements and stock for the Indians, who
| are 20 select farms Immediately upon
the ratification of the treaty. The land Il
be settled will be sold to actual settlers q,
fifty cents an acre, and it is estimated tha,
the funds thus raised will be over s ,OOO, ,OOl
! which shall be placed at interest to the
credit of the Sioux Nation. 1t is the mos
! important step toward the development o
the Northwest taken for years
! as it means the immediate build
ing Of the Chicago, Milwaukee 4
st. Paul and the Chicago n Northwestern
roads to the Black Hills.