The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1897-11-05
FUTURE OF THE RED MAN.
Differing Opinions from Two Edu-
Gated Indians ON the Subject.

expressions as to the future of the red
man from Indians who are in every
way competent to speak for the race.
The general reader, in view of the grad
ual but steady elimination of the In
dams from the American population
and the consequent simplifcation of
the Indian problem, may be surprised
to learn that there are educated In
dams who look to the absorption of
their race as the final solution of the
Indian problem.
In speech delivered near Muscogee,
in the Indian territory, recently Hon.
Wylie Mcintosh, full-blooded Creek
and a member of the house of warriors
of his tribe, uttered the following lam
entation:
mo more will be heard the whizzing
of the feathered arrow, met in its
flight by the bullet from the white
mans rifle. The war song is hushed for
eternity, and the smoke of the council
fire hovers no longer over the children
of the forest. These are gone.
"The white man now goes unarmed
BILE foe, seeking everywhere to plant
his vine and fig tree and rear civ
ilized home. Outside of the five civilized
tribes of Indians there is no resistance
offered to his taking possession, and he
only waits for the peaceful signal of
his own government to enter and pos
sess."
q how e. L
first awakes to the consciousness that
a new race, a new nation, of which he
is a part, is born, because we have felt
it; but who can know and feel the ag-
ony of man who stands at the grave
side Of a race, of a nation of which he
is part, and delivers its funeral ora
ton? Mr.. Mcintosh summed up the
philosophy of the situation as follows:
"The fact may be a sad one, but it
is nevertheless a fact, that there is no
longer place on the soil of the union
for an Indian as an Indian. The pathos
of his situation should and does ap-
peal to all great men, but the logic of
fate is not moved by the prayers of
fallen race nor their destiny averted by
d tear 1Or Inelr cQQ.
In a recent issue of the Forum Simon
Pokagon, very intelligent Pottawato-
ME Indian, discusses with much full
ness of information "The Future of the
Red Man." His conclusion that the red
man has about reached the end of his
tether is the same as that of Mr.. Nc
Intosh, but, while the latter believes
in the humiliation of the remnants of
his race, Mr.. Pokagon believes that the
remnant will be absorbed by the comi-
nant and conquering race.
Mr.. Pokagon gives a historic review
of the relations of the white and the red
man. He stoutly maintains that the red
man was not originally the fierce and
relentless savage that he grew to be;
that he was kind and helpful to the
first Europeans who visited the con-
tinent, but that his gentle and friendly
nature was changed by the treachery,
cruelty and avarice of the European
adventures. 1t is very interesting
suggestion, and some future historian
of the red race, anxious that it NAV
be justified for its long and courageous,
if disastrous, conflict with the white
race, will trace those earlier relations
of the two peoples out of which grew
the policy of vindictive conquest on the
one hand and heroic resistance on the
other. In the final paragraphs of his
article, after doing what he could to de-
fend the course pursued by his race, Mr..
Pokagon reached the following conclu-
sion, which is best stated in his own
peculiar way: IS
II am frequently asked: 'Pokagon.
do you believe that the white man and
the red man were originally of one
blood?' My reply has been: I do not
know; but from the present outlook
they surely will be- The index finger
of the past and present is pointing to
the future. showing most conclusively
that by the middle of the next CEN
fury all Indian reservations and tribal
relations will have passed away. Then
our people will begin to scatter; and
the result will be a general mixing up
of the races. Through intermarriage
the blood of our people. like the waters
that flow into the great ocean, will be
forever lost in the dominant race. and
generations yet unborn will read the
history of the red men OF the forest
and inquire: Where are they?'"
Nothing could be more pathetic than
the opinions here quoted of Hon. Wylie
Mcintosh and Simon pokagon on the
extinction of their race and the prob
able future of the small remnant of
it that survives. According to the CEN
sus of 1890 the entire Indian popula-
ton numbers only 249,273 souls; aud
where they once had the whole coun-
try as happy hunting ground, from
ocean to ocean and from the northern
to the southern lakes, they are now
confined to $4,000 square miles of res
ervations. Comprised in the five tribes
of the Cherokee nation are G6.289. IA
PA of whom are classed as "colored
people" New Mexico, with 20,521, has
the next largest number. South Dakota,
with 1885, being next. Arizona has
16.740 and California has 1928. The
Civ Nations CT o+bo-