The sun., 1900-05-21
INDIAN TERRIToRY. NOT JErrERsoy,
TIE Protest. Of Heel" at tAs
Proposed Change Of Name.

To THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.-Sir. NY pA,s
face brother Moon. whose name Il borrowed
from ono OF the lights Of the Great Spirit want,
to have our last stand changed to the nam,
OF ono Of your Great Fathers. jefferson l.wn,
at the suggestion OF this Great Father LONG
ago in tho Kingdom OF Ponemah. tha, our
people. Cherokees. Choctaws. Chickasaws and
Creeks, ceded our lands which now mako tNe
States Of Alabama and Mississippi From
tho White City where our Great Father and
his paleface counsellors are now gathered
we get the news that when the name Indian
Territory shall be changed 20 that Of JcHer.
son our tribal organizations will not be af.
fected: that our rights shall not be impaired
that we shall worship the same Great Sprt
in our own way, and that we shall have our
own councils as We have had
In your yeSces Say OF wSsh iEa po Sa wsa Toe and
Won come 10 us in your last stand and ask N,
TO take the name OF Great Father who was
mighty In his day among the paiefac"s You
ask US to give up our name. We are, fcN as
precious stones where once we were Ike tho
leaves When the name OF tho Great Father
shall be fixed upon the tepees and hunting
GROUNDS which your people and the books
You Nfite call Indian Territory, what shall
our s1uaws and pappooses say when asked hv
the paleface missionaries who come here 10
sSsI ,fsGn thss sns@ say q they yns' sTes 'e"
They may have the same right under your
law to wear moccasns and beads. and ride
wan wan. as they have. done but the name Of ,her
last stand will no longer be theirs. They will
not be Indians, They. viii be Jeffersohs. a.
the palefaces Of my pale brother Moons State
Nv People stili believe that the ch,d,ns
Of the Great Spirit y IN tho thunder and ther.
creed as It nailed Sssv Ss The snDS n r.
ditions Of their tribes.
Tho area. Spirit tho Creator.
flashing light through all the Hsavsns <
In the sky the sun, that listens,
And the moon. ecllpsed and dying
Owl and eagle. crane and henhawks
And the cormofant. bird OF magics )
All were written in these figures,
For each hgufe had Its meaning.
Each It's separate song recorded.
What do they know Of Jefferson, except thsl
he was one Of the Great Fathers? You have
your reservations, and great wigwaps. and
totems toy to Your big chiefs il You want 70 To- prs. r.
serve the name Of the Great Father Jefferson
why don't you do 1t as you have kept the names
Whom Unneyo You Ma have % Worshipped' W "OA' ''D'''
Once when was shown your White Wigwam
on the Potomac your people told me that not
far away. in the reservation where pocahontas
there Is the wiawam OF the dead Great Father
jefferson. They told me you call II Monticello.
Ana yet wnen asked 10 go 10 III, WAS tOlQ mat
your people did not own IT, that you had pei
mitted 1t to be sold TO paleface from one Of ths
tepees on Manahatta, whose totem records
the history Of one Levy.
Why don't you call Monticello Levy II
would be as consistent as for you TO come TO our
Indian Territory and call 1t jefferson,
You have tried TO teach our pappooses a new
language. You have tried TO teach them new
songs You have built college where youtake
our young bucks and where you have taught
them games called football and baseball and
these bucks come back TO us bearing strange
manners. and speaking a strange language,
Now you want our last stand 70 change i's
name. We are your ancients. One OF your
palefaces, mighty man, has told Of the
Far East, and how the camel said. There are
three Of US me. the date palm. and the Pyra-
mid All others are modern"
And so we come TO you, in the sunset Of our
people and we saw 10 you:
There is one of us, the Indian. We are the
twilight Of what was your morning star ! pt
us alone,> little while and You shall not see
us"
Leave us the name Of our race for the land In
which we have gathered to sing our death song
DowN-AT-THE- HEEL,
tSon Of Seminoe.
TAHLEoUAH. I. T, May 10