Albuquerque weekly citizen. (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1891-19??, 1903-12-19

MD BECOME A USEFUL CITIZEN

40 intetlol mas lne lOiiONlnb 10 SAY
concerning Inuian education:
There are only two phases of the
indian question. one, that the Ameri.
taH Indian shall remain in the coun.
~ as survival of the aboriginal
inhabitants study for the ethnolo-
ie, toy Tor the tourist. vagran
~ the mercy OF the state and contin-
nat pensioner upon the bounty OF the
people. the other; he shall be educat-
ID 10 work. live and act as a reput-
able. moral citizen. and thus become
soif-supportinG. useful member OF so
Ciety
The latter Is the policy OF the pres
.ui administration OF Indian affairs.
npo n carried to is legitimate con.
huston will settle for all time the
indian question Such settlement
viii he an honor to the government
and credit 20 the Indian, he will
insn pass out oi our national life as a
Is~ntcd feathered crowned hero OF the
novelist 20 add the current OF his free,
original American blood 10 the heart
@, this great nation.
To educate the Indian in the ways
of civilized life, therefore, is to pre-
serve him from extinction, not as an
indian. hut as a human being. As a
seperatc entity he can exist encysted,
~ II were. in the body of this great
D6tion The pressure for land must
diminish his reservations TO areas
ha tset ~.
allotted TO him, SO that the balance
may become homes for white farmers
who require them To educate the
indian ii TO prepare him for the abol.
ishmeni of tribal relations. to take his
!aud in severalty, and in the sweat of
BIS brow and by the toll of his hand
g. carve out. as his white brother
has done. home for himself and
family
Practical education Is what he most
lr.piircs the knowledge Of how 10
takc q living. even under adverse cir
rums'anc,s "he first stcp II the ac-
c0'-emeut OF the English language.
-act Itc'ligcntly the ordinary affairs
o. I'e 20 dispose oi the produce of his
arm or the increase OF his nerds. In
dian schools are therefore limited In
textbook instr oction to the ordinary
common school branches. Higher
mathematics, geometry and astron-
omy have no place In the curriculum
Of schools supported by the govern
rneut for Indian children.
Common sense dictates II Is unwlse
70 turn the whilom children OF the
forest out upon farm with only those
rudiments of an education which.
while sufficient for the average white
struggle for living, are inadequate
TO enable red child to wiring an
existence out Of frequently ungener.
GUS sell and under adverse conditions.
The government must, therefore, ad-
vance a step further toward paternat-
ism. II you will, and teach its Indian
wards how intelligently TO plant ana
cultivate crops ana reap the harvest
While doing this II must also instill
love for work. not for works own
sake, but for the reward which II WI,
bring
by the issuing OF rations and the
payment OF annuities. lease money
and grass funds. the incentive to work
has been removed, the government
freely giving to the red men that fol
which the white the black and the
yellow must toll early and late. These
istter do not work unless compelled
~ necessity to do so; neither will the
Indian Rations were necessity In
the past but that day has gone ex
cept for the old, infrm and physically
II capacitated. The absdrdity OF the
government spending hundreds OF dol
lars To educate an Indian TO work
then after teaching the necessity
sending him home 10 ais reservation
10 be supported in idleness, Is all toe
manifest 1t were far better not I,
educate at all if education Is 10 be nul
ified by unwise gratuities
Give the Indian white mans
chance Tducae him in the rudi
ments OF our language Teach MIN Il
work. Send him 20 his home, and
tell him he must practice what h'
has been taught or starve. II will in
generation or more regenerate tbs
race IL will eXterminate the Indian
but develop the man. Protect him on
~ so far that he may gain confidence
in himself. and let nature and ciyi
lizsd conditions do the rest.
Indian schools are carrying out IN,
above policy in the face OF many diff
cultias. Whether this policy is th'
best, time alone will determine. Re
suits attained at present indicate tina
IL is correct; that pursued through
few generations acquired habits will be
come fixed ana be transmi led by here
dity. thus establishing charerisfC
which distinguish the sturdy whit
citizen.
Indian education is hampered on tn
one side by the misguided sentiment
IL friendship of those who place tn
Indian apon toe lofty pinnacle, wh'
contend that the white mans treat
ment Of him, in the present aud in tn,
last. Is cruel and inhuman, ( nd on tn
other side, by those who, In thei
creed for his lands and money, &C