The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-22
THE RED MEN AT WORN.
How Much They Earn from the Govern.
ment-YnrIety Of Their IndnstrIes.

" INV ooNCEn
OF Their Industries.
WASHINGTON. Nov. 19.-The capabilities of
"Lo" for playing football. as illustrated in the
case of the Carlisle pupils, have perhaps excited
wider attention or late than any signs he has
given of a disposition to work. Yet these lat
ter are apparent not only in the records Of that
school. as to the pupils on farms and In house.
holds. but in those of the Indian Bureau.
Under the system now In vogue. as explained
by Commissioner Browning. II an Indian is
willing TO 20 70 work upon tho trnrt allotted
TO him. the Government helps him to build O
house, gives him a team and farming tools,
with wire for fencing and grain for seeding,
besides the advice and supervision of a farmer
to help him in getting out his crops.
Then II aids the red men also by employment
OF various sorts. Apparently it gives for labor
and for supplies bought each year we'll along to-
ward a million dollars. For example. in the
various schools. out OF 1910 superintendent,
teachers. and other employ ees. last year more
than one-third, ..or 705. were Indians. and thei-
salaries aggregated S14s. 700. Then. among the
persons employed at agencies other than those
at the schools. are found no fewer than 1,434
Indians, with wages aCGregat.nG S25S. l4O. or
nearly half the amount paid TO white employ
ees at agencies. These two amounts together
make ever $500, 900 for Indians. and since it
is said that "a still larger amount Is paid them
for miscellaneous work and for supplies raised
by themselves" we have a very good aggregate.
Tie variety of the e~mploymcnts which the
Indian. or, rather, whi,h n few of them, are
taking up Is also n good sign. 1t would
hardly 10 TO have them depend on agriculture
alone. and. Indeed, they have no inherited apti-
tude for it. But they earn money by hauling
goods for the Government. They are begin
ming to compete for supplying farm produce,
and one Indian not long ago obtained the con-
tract for supplying corn to the mt
schools. Commissioner Browning adds to these
industries cutting hay, working on irrigating
bitches, raising and selling beef cattle. logging,
cutting ~cordwood. digging ginseng root. sheep
shcaring. laboring as ranchmen. carrying t 9
hod, and working on railroads. To these may be
added the selling OF fish. berries. wild rice.
maple SUGAR; and in Wisconsin. frogs legs.
On several reservations Indian women ha We
been taught TO III AXE pillow lace, through.Miss
Sibyl Carriers efforts. and some of them are
trous i'll work. The Indians ai.o earn money hy
making moCcasins, gloves. pottery, pipes, blank
cts. and bead work. although 1t is thought that
this source Of revenue may be decreasing. On
the other hand, large amo lnts OF land are
leased by the tribes. and large sums are de-
rived from that source. This cannot be rcck-
oned properly an Industry but it is a valu-
able employment of capital.
There are some Indian traders. there are
some self.supportinC Indian mechanics. aud
there, arc lnaian clerks IN stores. There are II
few Indian physicians slergymen. engineers;
- " NHN Nt'' o VI
Carlisle School has been referred to. and the
Flandreau School. in South Dakota. which re-
Gently introduced il. reports that the boys who
went out during the vacation to farms earned
from So per month to sl.5o per day each.
In tho Governments extension OF the civil
service rules over the Indian Bureau employees
1t recognized that the Indians would be practi-
ca,,y oarreu oTI ~ nu'tlns them throuGh a
comparison with whites. Hence il spared Them
this necessity. and even where they were can
didatcs for the offices OF Superintendent teach
or. teacher OF industries. kindergartner. or
physician, u omp tive examination was not
required, The test or fitness being such as was
approved by the Interior Department and not
disal: proved by the Civil Service Commission.
1t Is said that in the large majority OF cases
Indians employed at the agencies are faithful
and Jealous. Many are policemen and Judges
of tho Courts OF Indian Offences on the rcscr-
%vationS. One agency has 10! Indians en-
pioyed, one has ~. another -, two have 81.
twenty-five have over 20, and nineteen have
The .~"mp!oyments pursued at the indus
trial schools stand, In some respects. by them
fitting the rising generation to work. Com
missioner Browning finds a sufficient %illustra-
ton Of mis- In tlle eyhi ,it OF the Atlanta Fair,
tO.which over thirty Indian schools contributed.
The aGwing rooms and tailor shops sent nee
dlewors; from catching and ]darning IN
and cloth suits for ladies. with cruChettlug,
knitting, and clnhr"ilery. Samples q lace
was were added. The other schuol shops fur
nisiled harness, brides, shoes, AMI tin ware,
ana spe linens OF joiner, blacksmith, and waA-
harrow and r9pd scrnper. and u m",ri OF u
ship, There Wire Chippewa rush mats, Nay
aio blankets. Pueblo pottery. framed photo
art work by Carlisle students. and over ali
hung II birchbark canoe. = -
In n report on the di ching or irrigation work
of the Grow reservation from superintendent
Graves. tits said that about % per cent. OF the
work has been done by the Indians, and from
10 To 10 per cent. By whites In ,crmaGricd in
the tribe. Logging is an important industry
on some reservations. For example. the Me-
nnmOnees alone cut and banked II 900. 900 Feet
Of logs last winter.
One source of Indian occupation not vet men
toned is the show business. PermIssious are
generally refused TO take Indians for this pur-
pose. but y was different when Buffalo Bill
Cody and his partner. Nate Salisbury. applied.
and last spring they received the right 10 take
roo redskins from the DakOtas, New Mexico,
ana Oklahoma, givingR bond OF $4,000. for
the purpose. A privilege TO take 100 Indians
on q similar bond was also given to the 10
illogical Society of Cincinnati for exhibitions in