Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1895-02-01
WORK HELPS INDIANS.
1t Is tho Greatest OF Civilizins
Agencies.
wen. armstrong; Experience In Connec-
uon with the Aborigincs of the United
States Puget Sound Indians Who
Are self Supporting.

Gen. Frank Armstrong. assistant
commissioner Of Indian affairs, was an
Indian inspector for many years. and
IN that capacity learned 10y practical
experience much Of Indian character
and the methods employed in Indian
civilization. He has strong views on
this subject and they are not in accord
with those of his predecessors III office
He believes. first Of all, in making the
Indians self-supporting and able to
make a living for themselves, indie
pendent of the white men and the gov
ernment. He talked thus to Wash
ington correspondent Of the Philadel-
phia Ledger the other day:
The only way to educate an Indian
is to teach him to make an honest liv-
lng-to earn his own support. There
is not now enough attention paid to
the industrial part Of his education.
Some people, earnest and sincere, but
without practical ideas. think that all
you have to do is to PIT q pair of shoes
on an Indians feet in place of hi, moe
casins, teach him to say by rote which
is the longest river III the world and to
sing hymn and you have him civilized.
An Indian, like q white man, wants to
know where he comes in-what he is
going to get out OF it. Let him see
that by working he can get money and
buy things as the white man does and
he will soon civilize himself in the
right direction.
Take the Zunis and Pueblos. Pot
terry making is their business. They
like it and can make their living at it..
They have been reared to il through
generations Instead of teaching them
to farm send them a practical, wide
awake man who understands pottery.
Water pipes are needed all through the
country for irrigation purposes. Any
quantity of it can be sold. Teach them
how to make water pipe. not how to
farm. In other words find out what
pursuit an Indian is adapted to and
bring him up to a higher standard in
that occupation.
''Somc time ago l was up on Puget
sound. found that they had sent a
farmer up there to teach these Neah
Bay Indians farming, when there is
no tillable land to farm, as all the
lands are rocky and wooded. And yet
these Indians are self-supporting.
They 60 eight or ten miles out to sea.
They catch deep sea fish, and some
times they get a whale. They dry out
the oil and trade their catch for flour,
potatoes, what they like. A boat
builder would help these Indians. He
might teach them to improve in the
way they are going. A man who could
teach them to cure their fish, so as to
get the most out Of them, will do more
to civilize them than any other person.
"There is in general but one thing to
do. You must provide work for the
Indians. If the government would
give its attention for twenty years to
finding work for them there will be .
great change, and they will be able to
subsist themselves. Gen. Crook in
duced some of his Indians to raise bar
ley, rand they went ahead. 1 urged
that the government buy its barley en-
tirely from these Indians. When I
found there was more barley raise than
could be sold right there, instead OF
following the usual course and taking
the barley of the chief, I sent word
around that we would first take the
barley Of every poor widow and poor
Indian. The chief was left to the last.
He had his people and his horses and
his teams, and could care for himself.
The result was that the Indians were
encouraged to continue at bsrley-rais-
ing. Some Of these friends of the In.
dian want to take every military post
awsy from an Indian reservation. ]
don't believe in it."