Los Angeles herald., 1890-05-21
A PROTEST FROM THE MoJAvEs.

there Tor an Indian school. NOW 1t is
well known that the great bulk of the
Mojave Indians-and that the most in
dustrious and hopeful class of them
have for years been living at The
Needles, where they work for the Allan
tic and Pacific Railroad Company, earn
good wages and are perfectly content to
stay. There are not less than five hun
dred of these Indians, including
women and children, at The Needles
most of the time, whilst at Fort Mojave
there are only few of the most worth
less and LATEST of the tribe, who remain
there because they can live on the gov
really desires to benefit the Moiaves it
will establish the school at The Needles,
where the best part of the tribe is, and
where there are enough bright children
to make it worth while to establish such
school. Mojave is, we believe, twenty
miles away from The Needles, and it
is idle to suppose that these Indians will
give up their advantages of employment
on the railroad for the purpose of going
to live at Mojave so as to enable their
children to attend the government
school. We have received from the
chief men of the tribe spirited protest
against the action of the Indian depart
ment at Washington, and strong plea
in favor OF locating the school at The
Needles which we herewith append.
NEEDLES, California, May 10, 1890.
To Colonel James j. Ayers, Los angeles:
DEAR SIR-The Mojaves, who live at
Needles, California, ask you to do some
thing for them. Washington says the
Indian school must be at Fort Mojave.
The Mojaves at Needles, California,
work for the railroad company here !;
they are born here; their children are
all born here; and they want to live
and die here. We want our children to
be educated like the white mans chill
dren, but we want our children to live
with their fathers and mothers like the
white mans children. The Indian loves
his children just as well as the white
man, and the Indian children love their
father and mother same as the white
children. We Indians at Needles, Cal
ifornia, make our own living working on
the railroad, and we are contented and
satisfied here. We can't get any work
at Fort Mojave; there is no work there.
We want to stay in Needles, California,
where our children, our wives and our
work are, and we ask you to try and get
Washington to give us school at Needles,
California, where we live.
We had big meeting last night, and
we then named the Mojaves whose
names are signed below to write to you
in the name OF the five hundred Mojaves
in and around Needles, California, to
ask your aid in our behalf.
[Signedl A-HAU-Ho-MA-RA, Chief.
CHER-E-MA-HAI, Captain.
SA-TAP-KA, Captain.
MA-oRK-CU-NEEL, Captain.
JACK jones', Captain.
(Interpreter)
(Per Dr. Booth.)
No appeal could be more forcible,
direct or sensible than this. 1t states
the case exactly and concisely. These
five hundred Mojaves have been at The
Needles for many years. They want to
stay there and they want to have their
children with them. Why should not
the government send the school to them
instead of establishing it at a place
where there are no children to educate
Why, too, should the government adopt
in this instance a policy that would
tend to turn Indians who have showr
their desire to work, and who have ir
part conformed to civilized usages, bach
into their old ways of idleness and say
agery? They will surely not be as goo(
Indians at Mojave as they are at Th'
Needles, Certainly not as useful or az
self-supporting.