Morning journal and courier., 1893-05-03
THE CHEROKRBs.
Interesting Story OF This Strange Ma
ton Within Our Nation.
IFrom the Philadelphia Daily Evening Tele-

In all this broad country, writes cor
respondent from Tahlequah, l. T., there Is
not a man 30 much to be envied as the
Cherokee. Uncle Sam has made him rich
for all time to come. II he has Q care in
the world Il is not apparent on the sur
face. He Is not so highly civilized that IL
becomes oppressive to sustain the strain.
He knows nothing of high and low tariff,
and the money question has been reduced
to a discussion of the government annui-
ty. There are only two questions upon
which he feels deeply, and these are the
distribution of the money which will make
the nation rich and the preservation of the
nations sovereignty.
The life of the Cherokes Indian will be
ideal IL the American nation does not force
him from his present territory, and his
white brother rob him of the money which
justly belongs to him. Since the begin
ming of this century the Cherokees have
south aad southwest. In all, their pos
sessions by the various grants from the
government aggregate eighty one million
acres. Now they have been reduced TO
less than FIVE million acres. By the sale OF
the Cherokee Outlet the last dollar which
will ever come to the nation by the relin-
quishment of lands will be received, and
until tine white has absorbed the Indian
blood the Cherokees will continue to live
as a tribe and own the land in common.
This is the fight which the nation hence
forth must make, and as a people they are
thoroughly alive TO the situation.
1t was In order to preserve their individ
uality that Principal Chief Harris and the
national council took the initiative In call
ing q general council of the Ave friendly
tribes. The Cherokee alone does not feel
able to make the fight for the perpetui;y
of his title and his race. 1t must be the
common concern of all, and If the Indian
has a friend 1t will be within the next de-
cade that he must come forward TO show
1t. The laws sgains. intruders must be
enforced to the letter, and the territory
which remains must bs zsslously guarded.
In the complete sovereignty which the five
tribes now enjoy there Is absolute safety
save from the constant tendency to inter
marry with the whites. There are now
less than twelve thousand full-blood Che
rokees out of a total population in the ma
tion of twenty-eight thousand. The
whites who are here as citizens will havs
an abundant opportunity for acquiring
wealth, and the mixture of Cherokee and
white blood makes thrifty people.
But with the distribution of a cum of
money almost equal to that which the Uni
ted States government paid for the Lonisi-
ana purchase comes the turning point In
the nations history as il exists to day, and
eyery citizen of the nation, be he white,
full blood, half breed, or negro, recog-
nizes the necessity for building a high
wall about the small territory which re-
mains. There are few in the nation, like
Rasselss In the Happy Valley, who are dis
contented, but the danger Is all from with
out. If the nation opposes the introd1c-
ton of railways, aud frowns upon those
who come to establish new religions and
introduce new customs, those conversant
with the conditions existing will not find
fault. These only mean the first step to-
ward an influx of outsiders, and a pro-
gression which is forced by the outside
world means ultimate bankruptcy and au-
Inhalation.
Left to themselves, the civilizipg ipfiu-
ences already at work will bring all these
things In good time. There are fine schools
and academies, and the people are far
from illiterate. Tahlsquah, old and quaint,
had educated and refined people when the
capital site of Kansas was pasture ground
for the buffsloes. There were only few
of these families, to be sure, but now the
nation is filled with homes which have ed
ucated people in them. And all these peo-
pie new ask ia to be let alone. They rec
oRnizs their helplessness, and it is the
earnest wish of every man of intelligence
in the nation to make such show of pro-
gress that the congress of the United
States will assist them.
There are only three established church
es in the nation. These are Methodist,
Baptist and Presbyterian. The Cherokee
is not burdened with an ultra religious
sentiment, and the enthustesm Is largely
confined to the female population. He is
too easy going in his way, the climate is
too soft, and nature has done too much
for him to give his religion any intensity;
but the moral standard Is high for all that.
And If anything more is done In the way
of conversion 1t will come through these
three churches. Catholics and Episcops-
llans have been barred, and the other de-
nominations will fird the field already COW
cred. There are no lsbisls in the Chero-
kee Language, and to this unfortunate fact
the Episcopslians can attribute their ex
clusion from the nation 1t was all due to
a Methodist interpreter, but the indics
tIons are that the church lost through 1t
its last opportunity for foothold.
Some twenty or thirty years ago there
was an Episcopal evangelist who desired
to establish mission at Tahlequah. Be
fore any aliens can come into the nation 1t
is necessary for many forms to be OBJ
served, and the evangelist. was compelled
to explain his belief and object IN coming
to an interpreter, who in turn was to In
form the council. The word Episcopal
cannot be pronounced In the Cherokee
tongue, and the interpreter gravely in
formed the council that it was a church
without q name" It was the opinion of
the wise men that q church which had
done any good or could do any would have
been given a name, and the clergyman was
told that he could not teach his doctrine in
the nation. The Catholics were excluded
because of the prejudice which the Pre-
teatant denominations had engendered, and
thus the spiritual guidance of the Chero-
KEGS hsd been left to three denominations.
And to the churches, too, the Cherokees
owe their two political parties. The wisest
man in all the nation cannot explain just
| now how the division came about, but q
Baptist preacher by the name of Jones
| is held responsible. This man Jones Will
| always be remembered, for he was the
| only white man who could ever master
| the Cherokee Language. He built semina-
ries and had hold on the people which
made him a power in the nation. As the
| story goes, Jones was a man of great am
bition. Being white man, he could not
be chief, and he had been unable to con-
troll John Ross, who was chief for forty
| four years, or William P. Ross, his
newhew, who succeeded him. Up to this
time there had been only one party, for
| the regime of the Ross family had not
| been questioned. In Louis Downing, q
| full blood, Jones saw his opportunity.
Jones had with him the Confederate ele-
| ment of the Cherokees.
Downing had served in the Union army
| and had distinguished himself as q sol
dier. Jones promised to make him chief,
| and Downing took with him many of
the full-bloodsd Cherokees who served In
the Union army, and q combination was
formed with the Confederates, which re-
suited in Downing's election in 1858 as
| chief. Since that time one of the politi-
| cal parties has borne his name. Down
ing served for eight Year,, and, although
now dead, his party is still in control of
the government. It is the ambition of
every man in the nation eligible to the
Office to be chief. Personal popularity
counts for much. There is an election
every four years. Every male citizen over
the age of eighteen is entitled to vote,
and as there Is nothing to make a perma-
nent political Issue, the leadership natu.
rally drifts to the strongest man in the
| tribe.
| The Cherokees are suspicious, and watch
their legislator closely. II he makes q
mistake he is called to account, and 1t fire.
quently occurs that the same senatorial
district elects one nationalist and one