The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1905-05-16
INDIAN VS.. LAWYER
CHIEF NO lsHIRT APPEALS TO
THE GREAT FATHER.
Asks That Indians Be Allowed to
Negotiate Their Own Leases
With White Men.

OulSl NO OHlIl, VI lHe " ndlllld lu-
dian reservation, has returned from
Washington, ID. G. His mission
there was to lay certain grievances
before the president. On his way
east No Shirt met MS old time friend,
Charles Crewdson, the well known
writer on western Indian life, and Mr..
Crewdson promptly volunteered to help
him prepare his address to the presi-
dent, says the Spokesman Review.
~ expected" said Mr.. Crewdson,
who was in Spokane the past week,
that No Shirt would give me the
outline of his complaint, and that
would have to do all the writing,
but when the old chief dictated his
story found there was nothing left
for me but to take his dictation. 1t
was a remarkable piece of Indian ar
gument and eloquence.
Mr.. Crewdson had a complete copy
of No Shirts address, which in part
is as follows:
My Great Father: You are my
great father; we ourselves are chill
dren of yours; you have hold of us
with one hand--with one hand you
hold your own child, the white chill
drcn, and with the other hand you
have hold of us red tribe of Indians.
Now, you know yourself this world
is the only thing that is raising us
Both of us tribes are standing on top
of this earth, the whites and the reds
Now you whites are standing on one
side of this mother earth, and we
stand on one side, too; we both have
food raised by this mother earth
which keeps us living all the time.
Ii you white people do justice with
us and what is right we will follow
the rule ourselves according to your
instructions, and then we will live
better than | am living now.
Chief No Shirt then told the history
of Indian allotments on the Umatilla
reservation and vigorously objected
to the Indian agents controlling leases
of Indian lands. He asked the presi-
dent that the Indians be allowed to
negotiate their own leases with white
men. This man who is stealing
from us, his name is Mccoy" said
the chief.
The chief further asked that the
lands of dead Indians be turned over
in trust to their nearest relatives, to
be managed by them for the benefit of
the children.
His next complaint was the failure
by the government to pay to the In
dians an annual allowance of $50 each
for lands relinquished by the tribe
about ten years ago and sold at auc-
tion to white bidders. after the first
payment, said Chief No Shirt, 1--WE
never had another dollar since. Now
| think this myself: If you white peo-
pie sell your property you would want
the money for it. The white people
get our land and we ought to get our
money. There is lot of Indians dy-
ing off since that land was sold ten
years or more ago, aud think that
money should be drawing interest,
and, still further, it should be COM
pound interest. Quite many of us
are old now and making very hard
living, and think we ought to draw
some payment again and it would be a
great help to us. Also there are lots
of children who are fatherless, and if
this money was to be paid to them it
would be great help to them. Why
is it we can't have any use of this
money? They have the use of the
lands, think that is as far as will
say about that.
Chief No Shirts next grievance was
the agents interference with his
fencing about 400 acres of land for
pasturage.
Another trouble: 1t is about this
dead heirs land. The white lawyers
in Pendleton get after the Indians to
hire them to settle these disputes about
the land. If the white lawyers would
let Us Indians alone we, ourselves,
would settle all these troubles in our
own tribes better than the white man
lawyers and judges settle them in
their courts. The white man lawyers
in Pendleton, like snake; they try case
before judge in Pendleton, then they
80 next time to big court in Portland;
the lawyers get all the Indian S money.
I'VE have more troubles, great Fa-
ther Roosevelt, but will not tell you
any more of them in this letter; you
are busy man. / ask you to help my
people, great father, because no one
else will help us. The white people
near my peoples reservation want our
land; | believe you will be just with
my people.
''This is ALL"