The Savannah morning news., 1901-01-26
OUR INDIAN POLICY.

The uprising of the Creek Snake" In
dams and the disaffection among the
Choctaws has given rise to a new discus
sion Of the correctness and efficiency of
our Indian policy. Some Of the members
OF Congress are disposed to criticise Sc
verely that policy as a whole, and the
Dawes Commission and the Indian schools
in particular. Senator Pettlgrew says the
Indian school privileges are abused, and
Senator Jones of Arkansas says that he
knows Of many Indian" children attend
ing the schools who have "freckled faces,
blue eyes and red hair" which are de-
eidedly non-characteristic of the Indian
race.
In this connection it is OF interest to
Maj. r. II. Pratt. superintendent of the
Carlisle Indian Industrial School, in which
he declared that he did not feel especially
confident of the Indians future under the
governments present system of dealing
with him Instead of assisting the In
dian 10 be an independent and self-re-
spectng man we are teaching him to be
a pauper. We are handicapping him with
benevoence wen meant but injurious.
By giving the Indian separate schools,
says Mai Pratt, we force upon him con-
tinuance of his tribal relations. We em-
phasize to him that there is a line of de-
narration between races, and that lie
must keep on his side of that line. Then
we give him rations for long series of
years. issue clothing to him, give him
money and otherwise treat him as a de
pendent and irresponsible being. This
has borne the fruit of idleness, worthless
ness, disease and death. The schooling
has not shown itself to be of any pracu
cal benefit.
Maj Pratt agrees with the present Com
missioner of Indian Affairs that the In
dian9 and the country would both have
been better off had the Indian tribes never
been recognized, had there been no trea-
ties made with them, and had there never
been an Indian Bureau. For many years,
the Major says, his formula for solving
the Indian problem has been: ITO civil
lie the Indian, get him into civilization;
to keep him so. let him stay"
We have had the Indian with us during
the whole of our national life; indeed, we
had him before we were a nation. And
we have not yet solved the problem of his
benevolent assimilation" or any other
sort of assimilation. In Isolated cases we
have managed to tack thin veneer of
civilization upon him. but it is very thin
and easily comes off The case of 'Apa-
chez Kid" may be cited in Illustration
He was an educated Indian, but when he
returned TO the reservation from school
he reverted to his savage tribal customs
and became one of the most notorious
criminals and human butchers of the age.
And there nave been other and similar in
stances. How far from civilized the IN
dams are is to be seen in their ghost
dances and the uprisings like the one now
reported from the Indian Territory. 1t IS
no doubt true that the Indians have suf-
fered many injustices at the hands of the
whites. and have causes for complaint.
That, however, is merely a further evil
dence of the fact that, Notwithstanding
we have taken on new race problem in
the Far East, we have not, after a great
many years of close association, solved
the race problems at home.