The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-01-18
Reported Order Compelling indians
to ForsWear Paint and Cut Their
Hair Is Revolutionary.
This the Opinion ofThose Who Have .
Been Intimately Associated With
the Red Race.

If the government insists that the In
dams in it's charge shall cut off their long
hair, abstain from the use of paint and
the gaudy habiliments of savagery, the
aborigines will dig up the Ratchet and
shed their blood IN resisting SO sudden a
wiping out of racial characteristics.
This Is the opinion Of J. B. Bottineau,
pioneer and scout. Not only is Mr.. Bot
tineau connected with the red race by
ties of blood, but for years he has been
counsellor and attorney for the Turtle
Mountain band of Indians. Nominally
resident Of Minneapolis, he calls Wash
ington his home, for his clients business
demands that much of his time be spent
at the national capital. -
Mr.. Bottineau says an attempt at strict
enforcement of Commissioner Jones' re-
ported order means revolution what
ever happens. go.
An Arbitrary Order.
Said Mr.. Bottineau to-day:
I think the order of Commissioner Jones,
as reported in press dispatches, the most
arbitrary and uncalled-for action that has
been taken by the interior department in
many years. I firmly believe that it will
provoke a revolution if it la enforced. How
can it be otherwise? The white man has
pushed the red man back and back from the
land he formerly occupied, and has penned
him up on reservations which now being
wrung from him by INSCRIPTIONS schemers
without a recent -murmur from the In
dians The red man knows how to fight; he
49, 4 r&no &o1 &11k Qoa% p,1t5 fhn 0G
man also knows when he is whipped. He
realized long ago that it was useless for him
longer to war with the whites, and has SUBS
mitted to- almost any proposition made him.
either willfully or under the influence OF fire
water, cop1ously administered by the civilized
persons who would bargain with him.
Sacred Traditions Menaced.
/ The mandatory order that the Indians hair
be clipped, his paint abandoned and his blan-
ket and treasured ornaments thrown aside
for the plain garb Of the civilized is in my
opinion, the last straw. But the smile is not
perfect, I see, because, instead Of. breaking
the red man who Is offended, it will, fear,
make him again the warrior. There is moth
ing more cherished by the Indian than his
traditions, and among them are those OF his
habits of dress and person. Everything that
the older red man wears indicates some
thing. The blanket is the dress of his fore
fathers as far back as tradition records and
those same ancestors wore their hair long.
and in braida, and daubed paint on their
faces and bodies on OCCASION. 1t is a Gus
tom which the survivors of the aborignes
will insist upon observing when they wish
and, it appears to me with justification.
But perhaps more to the point that will be
considered by the white man, I think the or
der entirely unnecessary at this time. The
American citizen who Is familiar with the
Indian to-day will bear me out in the state
ment that the progress towards securing the
abandonment of those customs, "relics of the
barbaric STAGE they have been called, IS
very satisfactory. In fact, it is much moro
rapid than those who remember the savage
warrior Of few years had dared expect.
While older Indians would resent and resist
attempts to sweep away traditional customs
by one peremptory order, the natural tendency
of the younger generation is toward civiliza-
ton. The younger generations wear their
hair short, wear the coat and trousers Of the
white man. do not paint their faces. They
go to school. They have little desire to paint
| and to wear the blanket and other ornaments
that were cherished by their forefathers.