Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1901-08-24
''The Indian our Brother. 9

published from week 10 week by the News
THE Indian Our Brother"
When our forefathers came to
America, they found it tenanted by an
uncivihzed race. now known as the
North American Indian, the condition
Of whom to-day is sad and pathetic.
They have been the victims of the
white mans greed for land, until now
they have but little left, where once
they owned the continent. Their vii
lagos bordered our northern lakes and
rivers. dotted the rolling prairies,
penetrated the far off rockies of the
Pacific Slope Contrast their happy
healthful rowing life, with the un-
speakabIe monotony Of the reservation.
upon which they are practically prison
ers and even there small tracts, they
can keep only until the white man
wants them. Time after time their
lands have been taken and they have
been driven away because that partic-
uidF SpOL udd DtCoIilc NdtudpiS III Wv
eyes of the white man. Each time
they have been promised that i'll their
new homes they would be left undis-
turbed. Yet whenever white men
came to be their neighbors there fol-
lowed encroachment, aggression, per
haps open warfare and then another
removal.
The tale of the wrongs. the oppres-
sions, the Staying Of the Indians would
be volume in itself. However it
makes little difference, where one
opens the record of history of the In
dian every page and every year has it's
dark stain. The story of one tribe is
the story of all varied only by differ
ences Of time and place.
The history of the relations of our
government with the Indians is a
shameful record of broken treaties and
unfulfilled promises Much that has
been done, in reference to the Indian
seems TO be wanting in recognition of
the fact that he is a man. Of whom
Bishop Whipple has said, The North
American Indian is the noblest type of
heather man on earth. He recog-
nizes a Great Spirit; he believes in
immortality; he has Il quick intellect;
he is clear thinker; he is brave an
fearless and until betrayed, he is true
to his plighted faith"
That he is capable of cultivation
civilization and refinement by the
same means and through the same in
fuences that have produced these re-
suits in the white race can not be sue
cessfully controverted, because it is
now being daily demonstrated in the
various Indian schools and colleges of
the country.
The most formidable enemy with
whom the Indian has to contend, the
greatest obstruction in his road to
civilization and pecuniary indepen-
dence is the Intoxicating liquor with
which the white man supplies him.
The law now says that it shall not be
furnished to him, but the penalty for
violating the law amounts in most
cases to no penalty at all.
Another important matter connected
with the dealings of the government
with the Indians is their financial sup
port. Most people are under the inn
preston we are annually spending
large sums of money out of the public
treasury for the support Of the Indians.
1t will doubtless be a surprise to such to
learn that no little part of the money
appropriated by congress- for the In
dian Scrvic~ belongs TO them and that
we are to that extent merely. render
ing unto Caesar the things that are
Caesars The amount is about 81 per
capita yearly or fraction less than >
cents per day, The pay of the army
amounts TO about 81, 900 per annum for
each soldier and the principle business
of the soldiers is to prevent Indian out
breaks We then limit the Indian to .
cents a day making him sufficiently
hungry and desperate to commit dcpre-
dations that the soldier may have
something to do to earn his pay. This
We dignity with the title of statesman
ship!
Every crime committed by a white
man against an Indian is concealed or
palliatod. Every otfense committed by
an Indian against Il white man is
borne on the wings of the post or the
telegraph to the remotest corner of the
land, clothed with all the horrors with
which Imagination can invest it. How
ever great the nernleNitN and dinicnlty