The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1903-05-08
DIVORCE COURTS ARE
POPULAR WITH INDIAN
Regards Divorce Laws as Onl,
Wise Ones the White Man
Ever Enacted.
oAcOMA THEIR PARADISE
Divorce, Formerly Unheard of, Is Be.
coming Very Common of late
Some Reds Have Trouble
With Their Squaws.

Il Chamberlain, S. D., May 6.-Forbiddet,
by the Indian bureau to use red paint or
to wear gaudy blankets, the Indians have
accepted one of the tenets of civilization
with much JOY. It Is the divorce. They
believe now this is the only good law thel
white man ever made, and so heartily are
they entering into the spirit of obtaining
divorces that II the present increase con-
tinues more divorces will be granted to
Indians than to whites.
Without respect for m of the orders of
the Indian agent or the laws of the United
States, the Indian has become convinced
that the divorce court was ~inaugurated in
order that he might nave as many wives
| as he wishes. Oacoma is the divorce par
ad.se for the Indians. In h last Year
more than sixteen applications have been.
| filed, while a year ago an Indian divorce
was unheard Of.
/ Wearing huge sombreros, greasy and
dirty, with a pair of oyeralls Tapping
about his ankles, and a blue checked cot
ton jumper, soiled from weeks of wear, a
~strapping Sioux suck walked into a law
yer's office and demanded a divorce.
Wife Was Too Much MARRIED.
eagle Bay here said. "Frency,'" the
Interpreter, indicating the, INDIAN wants;
divorce from Pipe Eagle Boy"
/ light" grunted the Sioux In approval.
''He say Pipe Eagle Boy a wildcat,
scratch and bite,'' continued the interpre-i
ter In, English. "He' say he go to his,
wigwam and find no Pipe Eagle Boy. The
moon sets and the sun rises, but Pipe,
Eagle Boy no come home"
Stepping forward excitedly. the Sioux,
held up one hand and, turning dow one
finger at a time until he had Indicated six,
grunted a cultural monosyllable to HIS
interpreter.
Eagle Boy say Pipe Eagle Boy have.
six husbands before she marry him." said.
the interpreter.
The lawyer then filed an application for
divorce for Eagle Boy, alleging that Pipe
Eagle Boy had too many husbands when
she married Eagle Boy.
Burnt Prairie, a Heap much warrior
of the Cheyennes, testified proudly In,
court recently tina he had thirty-six
wives and wanted to divorce the thirty
sixth because she was lazy and did not.
provide a suitable quality Of food for
him. He secured the divorce on the,
ground Of cruelty, neglect, and incom-3
patibility of temper"
Marry According, to- Law.
The government officials and missions.
aries have demanded thai the Indians:
marry according to the laws of the state.
The Indians protested that tribal mar
iioSSS al llSlll, pul lle 5OPSI lllttHL
insisted, and the Indians learned of the
divorce attachment o, South Dakota laws.
Now they will be married in no other
way. 1t is the proud boast of every In
dian that he was married by a minis
ter as every civil official authorized to
perform marriages is called by them.
The Indians point with pride to other
bucks who hav had four or five wives
and been freed from them by law. For
meriy, when an Indian tired of a squaw
he sold her to some other Indian for a
pony, a blanket, or a bag Of flour. Now
he divorces her.
The Wife is now selected by the buck ac-
cording to tribal customs, but he immedi-
ately starts with her for the nearest JUS
tice of the peace or missionary:
Lawyer Argues for Indians.
Lawyer ]. e. House, who has had much
70 do with Indians, says regarding the
granting of divorces to them:
Il see no reason why we should pro-
hlbit a person from receiving the protec-
tion of laws that you grant to others of
different color. r. now have a case of the
kind. And old Indian married, or, rather,
took under the Old customs, a young
woman. She is still young and has
sought q companion near her own age, in
another part of the country, and has been
living with him for a year. The Indian,
now old, asks a divorce on the ground of
desertion. Should we close the. divorce
courts to him?
THE Indian divorce7is no different and
is granted on the same ground as a d.
Vorce to a white nal or woman. 1t is one
OF the incidents of citizenship, for the
Indian is rapidly assuming the dress, hab-
Its, manners and perhaps vices of the
white NAM"