Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-04-22


by marrying into the tribe renders himself free
from the poll tax and other taxes which are
levied upon the outlander and his Industries
The proportion Of whites among the Choctaws
Is about one to four. Full-blooded Indians are
very few. II IL astonishing to find large num-
bers Of people in that country who call them
selves Indians. though they look white As
you or l. Ex-Governor Boyd of the Chicka-
saws u to all intents and purposes a white man,
with blue eyes. sandy hair and a forid COM
plexiOn He has the finest residence in that
region, surrounded by . model farm OF 1. 200
acres In the highest state OK cultivation.
Anybody out there who has drop of
aboriginal blood in his veins is eager to claim
the property rights to which an Indian he is
entitled As have said there are numerous
pretenders to tribal citizenship who make .
great deal OF trouble. Some of them are
banded together for the purpose Of maintain
ing possession Of lands. There are many
negroes mixed in with the tribes, who call
themselves Indians. Among the Seminoles and
Greeks there is much negro blood. In the old
days down south runaway slaves sought refuge
with them and intermarried with the Indians.
On journey through the Indian nation a short
time ago lost my way and made inquiry of a
person whom took for an Indian woman. She
replied civilly in English and in bidding her
goodbye asked what tribe she belonged to.
Her answer was:
"'I blongs to no tribe. Use a niger
THE Indians are very indolent. They are
not anxious to do anything but smoke, eat,
sleep and gamble. They are very fond Of the
great American game Of poker, and have .
weakness for whisky which is fetched surrep-
titiously into the territory by smuggiers These
smugglers are called 'bootleggers' They are
desperate fellows and occupy good deal of
attention at the hands Of the deputy marshals
The liquor they import is Of the poorest quality
but they can easily get IS quart for it. The
Indian, If he wants a this. will pay any price
for 1t. He does not realize the value of money.
He will spend all he has on fine carriage and
pair OF horses, though his squaw may be in
rags. The carriage is left out Of doors. ex-
posed to the elements, and in month or two it
is destroyed.
THE PEOPLE ARE IMPRovIDHNT.
"The people are very improvident. Their
tendency is not to eongregate in villages, but
to dwell much scattered. Apparently they
like to live alone. without neighbors near at
hand. Once in a while they have feuds.
which are prosecuted with the utmost vindic-
tiveness. They have some dishes peculiar to
themselves. One of them is called Tom
Fuller It is made of corn. which is beaten
in kind OF mortar. The mortar is a log OF
hard wood followed out. In this the grain is
reduced to the size of coarse ho.-.iny by pound
ing with pestie. The corn thus prepared is
boiled. allowed to ferment and finally eaten in
the form OF soup, without salt. L. has a sour
flavor and Is not at all agreeable 20 the palate
OF the uninitiated white man. They make all
OF their cornmeal In the same way by
pounding the corn in wooden morta-. Meal
that is ground in a mill after the ordinary
fashion they will not use. Another favorite
dish of theirs is stewed skunk. They regard
1t as a first-c!ass deiicacy. / have attempted to
go into house where it was cooking. but the
smell was too much for me.
ITO give You notion of the manner in which
the Indians are imposed on respecting money
a ms mt ps
due from the government which was made to
the Choctaws not long ago. The amount was
s3C0O,0C0. By the time this sum had passed
through the hands Of lawyers in Washington
and had reached the Indian nation only about
Sl.6O0. 900 OF 1t was left. On its being dis
tributed to the persons who are entitled to it.
less than S1,00O,00O was divided. The finances
of all the five tribes are in excellent condition
except those of the Cherol:ees, who are consid-
erably in debt The riches. men among the
Scminoles are the Browns. They have been
hereditary chiefs for generations and may be
said to run the tribe. Capt John Brown has a
great store stocked with Indian goods. He sells
a sort of scrip representing purchasing value at
his establishment. which passes current among
the people. The Indian nation has been
thoroughly Christianized. The Choctaws are
Baptists. l believe. They have hymn-bcoks
and Testaments in Choctaw. Revivals and camp
meetings are frequently held
'Tne Choctaw Indians are still plentiful in
Louisiana. The women come into the market
in New Orleans looking like Rip Van Wrinkles
COLLINS. with enormous bundles of goods on
their shoulders. Among other things they sell
prettily colored cane baskets. for which thew
get material from the canebrakes; also pods of
gUmbo, which they raise. ground for SOUP
These people used to fiatten the heads OF their
children. Though living on the Mississippi
river, not one of them could SWIM on which
account much fun Of them was made by other
Indians.
THEY FIRST SAW DE SOTO.
"The Choc.aws we're among tho first to see
De Soto. the discoverer of the Mississippi
Even at that early time they were agricultural,
living in houses. keeping stock and building
large terraced mounds. The first white man to
behold them was Cabaza de Vaca-anglice. Mr.
Bulls Head-who started with an expedition
from San Domingo via Cuba for the purpose
OF conquest on the mainland. eventually cross
ing the continent and reaching California with
three remaining companions.
1.-The whites encroached upon the Choctaws in
Mississippi and Alabama. a great deal of trouble
resulting. There were a number of big fights
Andrew jackson conducted war against these
Indians, and the latter nearly Occasioned serious
difficulty between the general government and
the two states mentioned. bee ause the states
did not treat the copper-colored people fairly.
Their transfer to the Indian territory was
eventually made by Gen. Scott Previously the
American board of foreign missions had sent
among the Choctaws Cyrus Bvington and other
good men, who accompanied the Indians to
their new place of residence. To them is due
much of The prosperity which the Choctaws
have since enjoyed. Bvngton wrote a die
tlonaryand grammar of the Choctaw language"
AN IGSOPANY, COOK