, 1891-02-10
FUTURE OF THE RED MAN
AN INTERVIEW WITH INDIAN CON-
MISSIONER MORGAN.
He Says That the Aborigines Have Not
Had n Fair Show. but They Are De-
~veloPins the Arts of Peace with Some
Derrea Of Snccraa

WASHINGTON, Jan. l2.-''Is there hops
for the American Indian" This was the
question which I put to Indian Commits
sioner Morgan. Yes, there is" was his
reply. II am glad you nave asked me this
question. Readers Of the reports of Indian
troubles in the daily papers nave no doubt
concluded h ri the Indian is without ex-
ception a ~wretched, lazy, malicious Great
ure, supported entirely by the government
and making no progress whatever in civil.
cation. But the facts are that we are gaining
ground every year. Elevating the Indian is
of necessity IA slow process, and we must
have patience. You cannot change the char
acter and customs of a people in a single
generation. The Indian is without much
a~daptability. Evolution works at a snail's
pace with him. The work of civilizing
him, OF teaching him to be self sustaining
and moral, Ii attended with a thousand
difficulties. Our Indian population. which
is estimated at about 10000, and almost
stationary in point of numbers, Is widely
scattered. The Indian reservations com
prise 1871 900 square miles, an expanse Of
territory almost as great as that in the
German empire Agreat obstacle is found
in the strange languages still used by most
Of the tribes.
"Our system Of dealing with them,
while perhaps the best that could be de,
vised for present purposes, Is vicious. We
set up over them agents to whom are
given semi-despotic power, and pay the
agents such small salaries that it Is almost
impossible to get good men. Thousands
Of Indians are kept on their reservations
practically prisoners. The issue OF rations
and annuities tends to produce pauperism.
We isburse each year millions OF dollars
worth of supplies by contract, and many
frauds exist, Notwithstanding all vigil
ance, the Indian invariably getting the
worst OF II. The most serious difficulty of
all Is found, not In the Indians and their
conditions. but in the white people with
whom they are thrown in contact. On
the frontiers the Indian is generally hated
and despised. He is looked upon as u fair
prey by every trader, ~adventurer, scala
wag. The white people who hang on the
borders Of the reservations, those who
have allied themselves by marriage with
the tribes. and even those who have been
from lime TO time in government employ,
have in many cases presented to the In
dians n type Of character and a practical
philosophy Of life on a par with, II not in
ferior to, their own. Added to all this is
the natural conservatism of the Indian.
Like all s~emi-barbaric peoples, Ire clings
tenaciously to old customs and notions,
and It IS very hard indeed to make him see
new lights.
Notwithstanding all these difficulties
we are making Roadway. The outlook is
encouraging. There is some hope for the
American Indian. The best thing in the
present situation is the settled policy of
the government TO break up tribal rela-
tions, and to induce the Indians to settle
upon their own homesteads, to incorpo-
rate them into the national life, and to
deal with them AS individuals and not as
tribes or bands. At almost all the agen-
piaa yvhara The IanHa buva haap dFvf1aI Tar
this purpose, the Indians are taking their
allotments and making for themselves
crude homes and farms. Some people ap-
pear to imagine that the Indian does no
farming at all, and such will be surprised
to learn the truth. No one should eN-
pect rapid progress in this direction. In
dlans who ave lived to be 40 years old.
say, without performing any manual labor,
do not offer promising material for the
making of energetic, thrifty farmers. On
the other hand, many are too young to
realize the necessity Of working for them
selves, and their Inherited tendency is
toward the hunt.
Last summer we had about 40,O 600 In
diAns under instruction In farming at the
various agencies. Forty-six thousand
acres were plowed. and at nearly all the
agencies the need Of a greater supply OF
lumber, seed and agricultural implements
lnulChNtS tuuL AaELhluB On Int lnCIedSe.
Here and there the Indians try to make
the soil productive under circumstance
which would discourage even a white
nan For instance, on the Colorado river.
where the country is arid and agriculture
without irrigation almost impossible, the
ndian select patches for themselves on
the low lands, and dig holes In the ground
from ten 70 twenty inches apart and from
eight to fifteen inches deep, and therein
rruvW NI. v-hnnV - -a1- "A.. ~. -
gate the growing crop by carrying water
in vessels from the river and pouring 1t into
the holes. In this way they actually Guilt
vate three or four hundred acres, and raise
quite n crop every year.
AT Cheyenne river the Indians have
tried very hard to raise good crops, but the
drought hns been against them. They Gull
tivated about $500 acres, but did not get
much 70 show for their labor. These In
dians nave almost without exception built
themselves log houses, and the majority of
them have stables. As a ruiz the Indians
are easily discouraged. 1t is new business
for them, and they quickly lose heart II
bad luck attends their efforts. To show
that even an Indian will sometimes persist
in well doing ! cite the case OF the Mandans
and Gros Nentres of Dakota, right up there
in the region where the troubles now exist.
These indians tried farming for three
years with poor success on account of
drought, but each year they broke new land
with the pillow, and the following spring
tried IL again. Finally they made a very
fair crop, raising 1900 bushels OF corn, 5000
bushels Of potatoes, 500 bushels of beans,
etc. Their wheat crop did not turn out
well. About 5000 acres are under %cultiva-
ton at this agency. At Pine Ridge agency,
the seat Of the war, the Indians raised in
1889 nearly 5000 bushels of wheat, corn,
potatoes aud other crops. At Rosebud
fairly good progress has been made, not
withstanding the scarcity of proper tools
and implements for farming operations.
For 300 farmers. scattered over an area of
90 by 1876 miles, the government supplied
twenty-five cultivators and forty plows,
and expected the farmers to support them
selves.
"You nave doubtless read a great deal
about Standing Rock Indian agency in the
newspapers during the past two months.
One would naturally suppose Standing
Rock the center of n wild region, in which
a few brave white men took their lives in
their hands in an effort TO protect the
country from the incursions of bands OF
savages. Perhaps not one reader in a thou.
sand knows thnt this agency is surrounded
by Indian farms and grazing fields. Five
thousand acres are under cultivation. and
each year sees new land broken by the
pillow, though the climate is not favorable
for the growing Of small grains. Not far
Through the Weary Hours