Omaha daily bee., 1895-09-28
THE RED MANS CLAIMS.
Poor Lo Comparatively Rich for the
state of His Civilization.

The poor Indian" of whom Pope sang
somewhat pathetically, may not be a more
enlightened creature, speaking in a general
sense, than he was in that poetic time, but
he is, individually and in aggregate, pos
sessed of too much wealth to allow intelli-
gent humanity to regard him as poor" in
the general acceptance of that term, says the
Portland Oregonian. While 1t is true in
many Instances that he has been deprived
of his ancestral lands by no greater right
than that. Of might, it is also true that many
tribes have been made wealthy by the pay
ment of enormous sums for land to which
they had no better title than that acquired
by occupancy as hunters and ferocity as war
riors.
1t is pure imagination to suppose that
the entire American continent belonged a
few hundred years ago to Indians. Their
numbers upon the discovery Of the continent
could not have exceeded LOCO, 900, and they
were divided into many hostile tribes, war
ring continually upon each other for the
possession Of hunting grounds. That such a
title in land is not held to be good, even by
our indulgent government, to its citizens, is
fully attested in the law which requires a
man to live on and cultivate" for a term of
years a designated number of acres before he
can acquire a title thereto that he can de-
fend in law. The Indians, even when they
held undisputed sway, had reduced but little
of the great continent to possession in any
proper sense of that term. Their wigwams
and patches of corn were occupied and Guilt
waited one year and perhaps deserted the
next, and their title to the land thus occu-
pied was based solely upon force. More
than this, a claim to a continent, possessing
vast areas and resources awaiting the devel-
opment of civilization, merely as hunting
grounds and battlefelds, is one that cannot
stand for a moment before reason.
Nevertheless, the Indians claim to such
s. a., ln oon prnpnu and ngp annOr1iOo
to the estimate of civilization, has been con-
coded. and various tribes have been paid
enormous sums of money in consideration of
waving their claim of ownership, while other
large sums are on deposit with the govern
ment. bearing interest, against their future
need. Many of them receive rations in pay
ment of interest on money invested for their
benefit. Some are quite rich, and many now
wretchedly poor have squandered large sums
paid to them for the eXtinguishment of their
titles to lands which they could not occupy.
The Chickasaws, for example, numbering
about 5000, have money invested for them
in Washington to the amount Of 81, 30S, COS,
and are accredited owners of 1850, 600 acres
of land, a lar ge proportion of which is arabic.
In other words, every man, woman and child
of the tribe or nation has $3.50 in money and
$50 acres of land. The Osages are richer still,
while among the tribes of the great north
west millions of dollars have been distributed
within the past few years for wide acres Of
land that they could not use.
The condition of the Indian is not all that
the humanitarian desires. Still, they whose
sympathies do not obscure their judgment,
must admit that it is a great deal better in
general than 1t was when they depended en-
tirely upon their hunting grounds for susie
nance, and held these only by the varying
fortunes of fierce and cruel war. To dispute
this is to deny to civilization the measure of
success, even though it be small, that has at
tended its efforts to smooth the pathway of
a fading race to inevitable oblivion. Consid-
ering that he is a savage and overmatched
at every point, and that he, in common with
other races and peoples, is amenable to the
great law Of the survival of the fttest, the
Indian has not Jared so badly. Indeed, it is
no exaggeration to say that, as a whole, the
Indians are in far better condition than
they were before they knew the white man.