Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-04-04

on the face of the globe none are more thor
oughly self-willed than Indian children. AL
kinds OF Juvenile misconduct go unpunishe6
and each child grows up in the way that seem'
to it most agreeable. Relieved of this house
| hold care the squaw really has a great deal o.
spare time on her hands II she is industri
| ousiy inclined abe does more or less bead and
porcupine work; otherwise she gossips with
her cronies and passes the days much as some
| OF her white sisters do. / have yet to meet 9
squaw who felt as though she was being i'm.
posed on by those combinations of natural dig.
NIFTY and Unborn laziness termed by the initiated
bucks. The squaw has much influence in
| tribal matters and her force is almost invaria-
Oily exerted to secure war and not peace. Quite
number OF the young men who vent out last
winter confessed to me that hey we're COM
PEELED to 60 because Of the sentiment worked
up by the squaws
THE CIVILIZED INDIAN.
The truly civilized Indian may be a most
estimable character, but he is less attractive
than any other kind Of manhood existing within
my knowledge. His clothes never At him, and
his shoes-though he be the third generation OF
educated red man--are always provocative OF
awkwardness There are at least two descrip-
tons Of civilized Indian-one content to earn
meager livelihood, the other a cunning plot
ter against the peace Of all mankind that he,
to be treacherous. and it has been my expe-
rience that when an educated and so-called
civilized Indian desires to be deceitful he is in
finitely more SO than any Of his savage brethren
enormous amount Of missionary endeavor that
has been conferred on the tribes Of the north
west it is somewhat difficult to understand
their high average OF unreliability. To my
mind the Sioux nation never had but one great
chief whose principal virtue was veracity. That
chief was Spotted Tail, and although he was
not popular with the government every one
had to recognize his exact integrity.
BLUNT AND rRusHFUL SPOTTED TAIL.
He hated circumlocution and in his savage
way cut more red tape than was sometimes
pleasing. A commission, charged with the task
of procuring certain lands from the Brules.
would invite old Spotted Tail to pow-wow
and when all things were ready the chairman
would say: I'VE have come from the Great
Father to see the leader OF the Sioux and the
many valiant warriors. Our hearts are glad and
we greet You as our brothers Above us is the
blue sky, which covers the white and red men
OF the land, and there's the sun, which shines
for all. We love you and your people, great
chief"
And then spotted Tail would say something
| which, if literally translated into English,
would nearly parallel the slang term rats. "
Before the commission could possibly recover
the old chief would say: You have come here
| to try 70 get more of our lands. What part do
you want and how much are you willing to
pay?'
Spotted Tail was the best business manager
| the Sioux ever had and the firm commenced to
decay when he was killed by Crow Dog. He
kept every promise he ever made to the gov
eminent or to individuals and he insisted on
being fairly treated. And yet spotted Tail was
not good Indian when measured by the
white mans standard, and, furthermore, he
did not believe in encouraging religious
effort. At various times in his busy career he
had imbibed more or less of Scriptural truth
" he had paci0 IN tail
OF 1t the rendition was always unexpectedly
original. Standing in the midst of group Of
army officers one August afternoon the old
warrior said in answer to a remark about good
Indians: Good Indian no good; good white
man no good; no good man any good. People
who talk straight read to ME out of book
they say the Great Spirit wrote. 1t tells there
was once good man-only one good man. He
went out among the whites and they killed him.
Good man no good!'
THE SOLDIER AND THE INDIAN.
From the middle ground l occupy-perched
on the moral fence. as it were-I have seen
enough to convince me that, in a temporal
sense the soldier is the Indians best friend.
When starvation has made the red man gaunt
and weak, when it pinched the dusky cheek of
Indian womanhood and melted the children TO
tears, the soldier has most frequently come to
the rescue.
When the semi-barbaric element so strong
among the white men Of the frontier, raided
the Indians hocks and herds and sought the
Indians land and life, who has been the nomad 9
protector but the soldier.
Why, even now the greater proportion Of the
soldiers who served in this last campaign SYM
pathize heartily with the Indian. An officer of
exalted rank. who commanded one Of the brav-
est regiments on the reservation, said TO me:
This whole proceeding is an outrage. The gov
eminent SO treats there Indians that they can
do nothing else than fight and then it orders us
out here to kill the victims of its duplicity. l
have" said he, "been fighting Indians for
many years, and personally have nothing on
which to base any ihiny like affection for them,
yet there are times when | feel like throwing
aside the uniform that honors me with its COW
ering and donning in its place the blanket of
the savage. Then l could high. and be sure
that my cause had just foundation"