The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1904-04-15
INDIAN MUST WORK
OR ELSE STARVE
y
Uncle Sans Policy Is to Make
Poor 10 Earn His Living
Hereafter.
he Has TO 60 TO SCHOOL
3ural School System to BE Established
in Indian Territory-Effort to
Teach the Red Man to
Hustle for Himself.

NI!skogec, l. T., special: The in
diam question has resolved itself into
tvyo alternatives. Either the Indian
must be educated and take ms place IN
the struggle for existence along with
The white man, or he must be NAM
tanned as a ward of the government,
at government expense, a euro 10 the
tourist. until he dies a natural national
death. the last survivor of the abo-
riginal inhabitants of America.
The commissioner of Indian AFFAIRS
has elected that the fate OF the In"
| dian shall be the former course, winch
| in a measure explains why $3,l6l,4S3
was spent last year for the support OF
, Indian schools. He believes that ehefe
is innate ability in the race ana lhal
rudimentary education ana cohstaht
environment of educated whites VIII
bring this out and max the lndlan
an intelligent and thrifty citizen.
The indian Appropriation Dill carries
an item of 500 coo for the estaDiish-
ment of schools in indian leiii'oiS'
This is for a rural school system ~
addition to the Indian national schooiss
The Droposed statehood measure pro-
yides a fund Of So, 600, 900 for a schooi
system for Indian territory WHEN II
comes in as a state with Okidioiiia,
Oklahoma has q separate school luh"
even larger than that. In Indian ter
ritory this is regarded as the most !lh-
portant item in the entire Dill.
The First Thing to Learn.
The Indian needs practical educatlon
the art Of making a living from the
acres allotted to him under the most
adverse circumstances. After that he
must be taught to work. An effort Is
being made to instill in him the IDEA
that he must work or starve. indian
officials who have made a study OF
this problem say that this viii eliminate
the indian, but that it will create a
man. He must be protected only SO Tar
as will give him confidence IN hlinseii;
and nature and civilized conditions will
do the rest.
OF the civilized tribes the Cherokees
have undoubtedly made more advance
ment along educational lines than any
Of the others, When they lived in
GeOrgia it was an interesting fact to
know that before the territory sur
rounding them had been made into
states. these Indians had adopted q
constitution making offices elective,
passed strict temperance laws, ac-
knowledged a Christian religion and
abolished polygamy. They were the
Only llluidH ndLlul 70 lINtitt III alpha
bet OF their own and the first to estab-
lish a school system. In the early days
of their western history they set up a
printing press and started Il newspaper,
which is maintained to this day. Last
year 100 teachers were employed in the
Cherokee nation and 6,1ST pupils were
enrolled, at IL cost to the nation of
$~1l0,S1S.
Schools of Other Tribes.
In the Creek nation there are nine
boarding schools, in addition to the day
schools in rural neighborhoods, six of
which are exclusively for negro and
others admitting them. The enrolment
for the year was 2,557 and the cost of
the schools was $13,358.
In the Choctaw nation there are ter
boarding schools supported by the
pupils enrolled, there having been Al
OF them last year. There are. ITS day
schools i'll which are enrolled 3,06;
Choctaw children, who are being edu.
Gated at a cost OF $l19,561 annually.
IN the ChickaSaw nation the school:
are more inadequate than in any of tn,
other nations. The Chickasaws contro
! their own school expenses. The coun
, ell often makes no appropriation TO
schools, but permits the school authori
/, ties to incur Indebtedness regardles.
of ther inability to pay This has gon,
on unit! even now there is q specia
l Session Oh lne cOunGIl on TO pfOFlQ
t money for school teachers who hav
!, been holding warrants that the natiol
: would not pay for two years. The en-
s rollTnent in this nation last year wa
only LIB, but the expense was S119,5 61
g or more than that of the Cherokee ma
s t!on, where there We're five times a
4 many children enrolled.
e The average salary of a teacher T.
h Indian territory is $40 per month. ]
great majority of eachers are wome.
but it is difficult at times to secur
enough teachers to fill the places, an
the supervisor who has charge of tn
e school has often to send to the state
s for others. But the conditions sur
d rounding an Indian school are vastl
s different from those of white schoo
e Children in white schools come fror
homes where a good moral ~inf1uenc
d has surrounded them and their in
a heritcd tendencies make for the ur
lifting of moral character. AS soon a
they are let out of school the Indian
return to their camps and their viii
d life and associates. An effort is be
Ie ing made to bring the Indian UP to tn
n same standard of morality and SUI
le round him with the same moral in
$ f%iuences as the whites, but the India
may be extinct before he assimilate
them.