Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1894-04-27
INDIAN TERRITORY.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE COUNTRY AMI
PEOPLE.

people suppose That lanleQuah is the
capital Of the Indian Territory and the
place where the tribes all meet in general
council. 8'rhis a mistake. Each of the
1--WE civilized nations. Cherokee, Chloe
taw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole, has
its own permanent seat Of government.
Iahlequah is the capital Of the Cherokee
Nation only. The governor, elected f, r
a four years term, still retains the old
title of chief. and the Indian Legislature
is called the council, but in reality the
Cherokee Nation is much like State.
No one can form any true idea of this
country by merely passing through 1t on
the railroad, for the typical Indian rare
ly lives where he can be disturbed by the
engine. Much of the land in the Chero-
kee Nation is called the public domain"
1t consists of rough rolling prairie and
forest country. Any Cherokee can take
up and cultivate as much of this land as
he wishes he can sell it to another Indian,
but not to white man. Many white
people really own property in the Nation,
evading the law by hiring citizens to
hold their claims for them.
Every person who has any Cherokee
blood or who is married to Cherokee
is citizen of the Nation. Almost every
Cherokee who has a large farm builds
log cabins or rude box houses of two
rooms and rents them to white people
who work the land on shares, generally
raising little but corn and cotton. The
majority of these renters are truly "poor
whites" and both their farming and
house keeping are the worst possible.
They live upon corn bread and molasses,
pork and black coffee the whole year,
suffer half the time from illness and
waste enough to keep thrifty family in
comfort. a common and very truthful
prOverb among them is, "Poor people
have poor ways" and these ways their
Indian neighbors have too often learned.
Many white men who have Cherokee
wives and also many half-breeds have
built themselves large and comfortable
houses which are well furnished. Or
gans, books and pictures are found in
all the homes of the educated Cherokees.
Every Cherokee farm house of the
better class has its peach orchard and
large vegetable gardens The front
yard is well filled with roses and other
Towering shrubs, while the most beauti-
full vines are trained over the piazza.
Those full-blOods who speak little or
no English live in small settlements re-
mote from the railroad or in lonely clear
ngs in the forest. They raise nearly
all they need for food and spend some
time in hunting and fishing. The women
are industrious. but seldom work in the
fields They spin. knit and weave cloth
for the bright-colored hunting-shirts
which are much worn by the men. They
also make very elaborate patchwork
quilts. In May and June the women
and children pick great quantities of
strawberries and blackberries, which
they exchange in the towns for dry
goods and groceries. OF course, govern
ment rations, blankets and scalpng
knives have no place In this country, and
the only tomahawk the writer ever saw
was tied with ribbon and hung up as
a parloI decoration.
The CheroKees nave a large school
fund. the interest of money for land in
the Eastern States which they sold many
years ago. With this they support l0O
al in Pr
and also two excellent seminaries at
Iahlequah. Most of the teachers are of
Indian blood. While the seminary build
ngs are very handsome and substantial,
the most part, poor. some of them being
mere cabins with puncheon seats and
rude wooden shutters instead of glass
windows. During the cold weather they
are made uncomfortable by firepaces
with "stick" chimneys.
There is still much need of mission
work and several denominations are in
the field, the Baptists and Presbyterians
having done the most work among the
full-blOods.
Saloons are not allowed, but great
quantities of liquor are secretly brought
into the country by the whiskey ped
ders, with the same results that follow
its introduction into any other locality.
The Cherokee language is soft and
musical, but very difficult. Few white
people learn it. Tradition says that in
early times a Cherokee and white man
met on the road. The Cherokee gave
the usual greeting of "O-se-yu," mean
ing SLOW do you do?' The white man,
not comprehending, replied; II see you.
too" Then the Indian, who understood
a little English, thinking himself ridi-
culed, angrly exclaimed "Ske-na UNA
ka, (which, literally translated, means
"Devilish white man." "You skin my
neck and I'll skin your neck, too" cried
the white man growing furious. The
timely arrival of a friendly interpreter
alone prevented fight.