St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-09-24
INDIANS WHO WORK.
Only About rs Per Cent OF the
Reds Receive Govern
ment RatiOnS.
HAVE LEARNED TO LABOR.
Some of the Tribes Earn
Large Sums Of Money
Each Year.
HAVE LEARNED TO LABOR.
CHANGING THEIR HABITS.
Al the Umatilla Agency in
Oregon Are the Great
Indian Farmers.

The American Indian has become so
far subdued and civilized that the Sec
rotary of war recently thought 1t safe
to order q concentration OF government
troops near the great railroad centers.
stating that the presence of so many
was no longer needed on the frontier,
says the Washington Star. The
United States army Is no
longer an 'lndian police" as it
has been called so often. 1t is more
likely to be summoned to Quell a rio
than to put down an uprising. The
secret of this change in "Lo" is that he
has been taught the white mans ways
and has been convinced that it is better
to labor in the fields than to indulge in
ghost dances and to 20 on the warpath.
His occupation as a disturber of do
nestle tranquility is gone. Hereafter
he is a factor in agriculture and COM
merce.
DIR. Dorchester. the late superintend-
ent Of Indian schools, has said that it
was the duty of the government to
teach the Indian to work the fields and
to engage in other industrial pursuits.
Some tribes he found which had been
converted very easily to this new life.
They were people who had been accuS-
toned to a certain amount of toll tor
many years. But the nomadic tribes
were more difficult to handle. Indians
of middle age. belonging to
these stribes-even some Indians be-
tween twenty and twenty-five years of
age-could not learn new habits easily.
The chief efforts of the Indian bureau
for many years have been directed to
training the younger Indians. Now that
these are becoming the leaders of their
tribes the effect OF this training is
noticeable in the great increase of
try among the Indians.
Maj. Powell. the chief of the bureau
of sthnology. writing about the Indians
some time ago. said: More than two
thirds of all the Indians now wrest from
the soil and from industrial occupations
the means of subsistence without aid
from the general government. having
abandoned hunting, fishing and the
gathering of native vegetables, except
as a pastime and for occasional sun
plies. Two-thirds of them are actually
engaged in civilized industries, and
are fighting their industrial battles
with success. One-third have not &C.
complished this much and SubSiSt IN
part OH native products. in part Oh civil
lied industries and in part on the
charity of the government. All have
learned to work to soIne extent, and all
have learned the utter hopelessness Of
contending against the forces of civil
~lzation, and have abandoned the eX-
pectati0n and generally the desire to
rptprn tO thpir nrjn,nuol annhttinn ~
Influence OF Government Rations.
So small is the number now living on
government charity that less than 25
per cent receive government rations
today. Only the aged and the blind
among the Indians west of The Rockies
and Chief Joseph's band of NeZ Perces,
which have a special treaty, now draw
rations from the government. Every
Indian agent is opposed to the rations
scheme. THE Mojaves. with half a
chance, will come out all right in the
end" says George A. Allen, the
agent at the Colorado River
me to suggest here that as long as
rations are issued to Indians they won't
do anything for themselves" George
Ii. Monk, agent at the Fort Hall agency
in Idaho, says that a large proportion of
tIC llluldltS w absolutely uOIIll1E UllL
run horses. gamble, eat. sleep and
drink. ut is a difficult matter to make
any impression upon this class so long
as subsistence is issued to them," he
says. There are iealousies among the
Indians at the Flathead agency. Mont.
because some receive rations and
others do not. IA regular issue
of rations or supplies is a detri-
men to industry. advancement
to independence and ~self-support."
says Peter Roman. the agent. Writing
of the Indians at the Mescalero agency,
the agent says: "They appear to be
advance in civilization is very slow, and
will be as long as the government gives
them good blankets, clothes to wear and
plenty of food to eat" These are but
samples of the letters which come to
the Indian commissioner constantly.
But the appropriation of money for the
miscellaneous support of the Indians
has decreased 80 per cent in the last
nine years, and 1t is growing less and
less, fortunately for the Indians.
There are ABOUT It's, 900 Indians out
side The five civilized tribes, and thew
earn about 81. e0O, 900 a year from the
this they receive about $3.50, 600 for
products of Indian industry. But Uncle
Sam is not their best customer. They
make nearly 81 900. 0G0 year from the
sale of their products to others. And
they carr a great deal besides by the
transportation of freight and by dav
labor of various kinds. The government
pays the m also $3.50, 900 a year for cut
ting and banking logs. There is an In
dian police which draws more than
500, 600 a year from the public treasury.
Indian employees at agencies draw
500, 600 a year, and employees at Indian
schools almost as much. Farmers and
interpreters and judges of Indian courts
are the other Indians on the govern
ment pay roll.
Health of Indians.
Who would believe an unauthoritative
statement that a band of Indians con-
tanning less than 1000 men and women
made $3.50, 600 in a single year cutting
and banking logs? Yet that is what the
Menomonee Indians of Wisconsin made
in the year 1893: and they could have
made more if the government had per-
United them to cut more timber. Their
surplus energies sought an outlet in the
cutting of the waste timber into shingle
bolts; but this occupation was denied
them, because it was found that some
of them cut green timber for the pur.