Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1896-09-25


the ambition is at liberty to fence off as
much land as he chooses for himself.
This privilege has been taken advantage
Of BY the twsalthier and more powerful
members of the tribe to the injury Of
the poorer and weaker Indians. Under
allotment it is proposed to divide all
the lands held by the tribe into three
grades, according to desirability, and
to give to every man, woman and child
Of the nation an equal share, or 670
acres apiece, besides leaving enough to
give every freedman in the nation 40
acres. The Indian is to use his land as
he chooses and can even lease it for
term of not more than five years, but
all titles are to remain with the nation
for certain term Of years, at the end
of which o deed is given, either to him
or to his heirs. In the case Of the towns
which are scattered through the terri
tory, it is proposed to divide them up
Into lots Of equal size aud lease them to
those who have already built or desire
to build on them. .>0.
This; is the policy for which Chief
McCurtain has long commended. At first
he stood almost alone, but gradually be
drew followers to bis side, although the
majority Of his people. even those who
had been his warm personal friends, 90.
oused him Of becoming q traitor. The
trouble was they did not understand the
ways and methods Of civilization, and
they did not realize that II would soon
Sseccome 'impracticabls to hold all their
land III common as they had done for
yeasxs before s,'r'f' . ,E'"?-i e ai'&'.
s At the recent election the majority
Of the Choctawswere undoubtedly op-
posed TO- the allotment scheme, but they
were 90 anxious to defeat McOurtain
and bis policy that they were not con-
tent to put up one man against him. So
Grey selected three candidates, Those
ii favbrF 81 Allotment III rallied under
the McCurtain banner; aid when the
votes:wefS counted II was found that
he had been elected by a narrow mar
gin. Angry at their defeat at the polls.
some Of thu more desperate full bloods
organized q band and surrounded No
Curtains home, near Sans Bots, but
they found It protected by faithful
band Of his supporters and skunk of.
Chief McCurtain is not full blood
himself, but is what is, known in the
territory as "three-quarters blood"
lis grandfather, from whom he gets his
name, having been q Scotchman. In
intelligence he il head and shoulders
above the rest of his tribe. He has
good education and has travelled extern
sively; not only in this country, but In
Europe. He understands better than
most Of his fellow tribesmen what is
best for the Choctaws, and there is no
doubt that he has the best interests Of
the nation at heart "'T,s" So.
The Choctaw government is modelled
after our state governments. The chief
takes the place Of a governor and there
10 . Legislative body composed Of an up
per and lower house. Their judiciary
10 fairly we'll organized also. What the
Indians lack chiefly are schools. There
are few, but not enough. The young
Indians who are educated will be much
better able to handle the affairs Of their
nation than are most Of their fathers,
some Of whom cannot speak q word Of
English and have. very crude ideas Of
civilization.
JoH1 F. WnLoUaHBY.