The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-10
BELLIES OF INDIAN TRIBES
Many Pretty Maidens in the Red
Mans Territory.
Sought for ms Prizes i'm the Matrf-
moninl Mnrkct-Their Grace and
Beauty the Result of an Inter-
mingIing of Blood with whites.

In romantic novels. in tales Of existence
In forests. and in wild weird North
American stories generally the Indian
maiden has by no means been ignored
among the persons of the drama The
Indian girl since the time of Pocahontas.
and Indian girls generally have been de-
picted as creatures of beauty and joys
forever. There are, in all probability,
many pretty Indian girls. and some beau
THU ones but these are few and far be-
tween. The men are handsome for their
physique and stslwart bearing. but the
woman among the Indians is almost ever
drudge, and female drudge can hardly
be said to be lovely specimen of her
sex.
There are some very pretty Indian
girls in the Indian Territory. but their
loneliness comes because of the inter-
mingling of white and red blood, the op-
portunities Of education. and their asso-
citation with white people. There are
few of these beauties in the Indian Ter
ritory. Many of them are well-to-do in
the worlds goods, are Intelligent and ac-
complished, and sought after for mar
riage by young men who could easily Sc
cure brides in the East equally as in
telligent, rich. and fairly favored.
Referring to this class of young Indian
women a writer says the girls of the In
dian Territory are to all intents and pur-
poses on the same plane with white wo-
men of education and refinement. except
that some strain of the wild, strong In
dian blood runs in their veins and gives
to them tinge of richer color, a brighter
eye. more lissome grace than their
white sisters POSSESS
Reckoned in fractions of blood these In
dian beauties are more Caucasian than
aboriginal American. All of them, how
ever, are Indians. politically and socially;
they hold firmly to their membership in
the tribes. Many of them are one-quarter
or one-eighth or even one-sixteenth or
one-thirty-second Indian; but the red
strain is the stronger and shows, if not
in some lingering richness of color or in
the molding of the face. still in an indie
Unable fascination and grace. the heritage
of a forest people. Among them one may
find perfect blondes. with the Indian
strain still salient and palpable. And al
though they have succumbed to the cor
set of an alleged civilization, in almost all
cases they have their less trammeled an
cestresses to thank for the blessing of
well-nigh perfect figures. And one other
of woman's best gifts they possess; clear
and low voices, with not a trace of the
gutteral intonation which is common to
all original Indian tongues. So rarely is
it that one of them marries an Indian
that such an event is commented upon in
the Territory as a remarkable thing.
Intermarriage with whites in the Cher0-
kee, Creek, Choctaw, Chiekasaw, and
Seminole tribes has fiourished to such an
extent within the last quarter century
that the full-blood element is now on the
verge OF extinction. The old men of the
tribes are becoming alarmed, and have
passed laws against intermarriage some
of which are very severe-almost prohib-
tive. in fact.
The Chickasaws are the strictest regard
ing intermarriage. a law recently placed
on their statute books requires any white
man applying for a license to marry "a
Chickasaw girl, first, to produce evidence
that he has resided in the Chickasaw ma
ton two years; next to furnish credentials
as TO his good character. and third. to pay
81. eco for the marriage license. This must
be done if the ceremony is performed ac-
cording to the Chickasaw laws, and the
girl is welded according to the custom OF
her people. OF course, the girl has, and
sometimes takes, the privilege of clipping.
at the cost of losing her right in the tribal
in the eyes OF her relatives. Her head
right is something worth considering. A
right in the ChickasaW nation is valued
at from 5000 to $4,000, and in the Chero-
kee, Creek. and Choctaw nations from So
600 to 5000. The intermarriage laws of all
the four nations named are about the
same, excepting that of the Chickasaw
nation, charging Sl,000 for a license while
the others only ask so.
There is good reason for these laws
Many fortune hunters, attracted by the
wealth of the Indian maidens, have in
the past married into the tribes and gain
ed control of large tracts of land fostered
outlaws. and raised bad families. There
We're few happy marriages, and not until
the wise men of the tribes met and pass
ed act making every white man show
his credentials before a license was is
sued was there betterment of these con-
ditionSs The character of each applicant
was carefully examined before he was
admitted. For several years thereafter
respectable and Industrious white men
married into these tribes and their chill
dren married whites. 1t was so on down
the line until today the eighth. sixteenth.
and thirty second part Indian predomi-
mates. OF pure bloods there will be none
within a few years.
Still this open-door marriage policy.
while il admitted no bad characters, was
fraught with many evils The women
possessed a desire TO marry white men,
hence it was easy sailing for fortune
hunters This class of men fenced in
large tracts of the public domain. or land
belonging to the redskins in common.
used the land for cattle ranches, and con-
verted the minerals into cash. Many men
became millionaires at the expense of the
tribes They were known as galvanized
Indians or 'squaw mem
Five years ago the evil was partly rem
edied by the tribal councils DISTINGUISHING
all "squaw men" who thereafter married
into the tribes. This checked the influx of
for time, and then II be-
came as bad as ever. Early this year the
Chickas saws took another hitch in the in
termarriage situation by raising the IL
The average imam girl of today is pos
sessed of an excellent education. The Fed
eral Government spends nearly 100000 an
nuaIly in educating the youth of the five
tribes.
The Indian maiden who has the reputa-
ton of being the belle OF the Territory Is
Miss Tookah Turner. whose Indian name
is Pretty Whirling Water She has not
only beauty. but Possesses the accomplish
ments of the finished product of fashion,
able school She Will come in for a large
slice of the fortune of her father w. C.
Turner. of Muskogee, a millionaire cattle
man. Miss Turner is a Cherokee. Another
Cherokee belle is Mrs. Rachel Davis Bra
iy of the Georgia Cherokee branch. She
but she belongs there by ancestry, as she
Is of the famous Ross family. the head OF
which, Joshua Ross was for forty years
thief of the tribe and was one OF the most
intelligent and progressive Indians Of his
time. The Ross family is said to be the
richest Indian family in the country. and
The aggregate OF their wealth mounts We'll
mp into the millions. Another Of the Ross
family who is notable for beauty is Mrs.
DR.. Thompson.
OF the Creek beauties the young grand
daughter of Pleasant Porter, the present
chief. is an example. She is an heiress to
considerable wealth besides what her tri-
bal right and land Inheritance viii give
her Miss Leota Crabtree. Ch!tto Mekko
N the Indian nomenclature of her tribe.
. nnnt hnl nrattN Indian girl Thnmgh sh-.