The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-30
LIN AIMED INDIANS,
 HARD ID C|VL|zE Tribe on Iowa Reservation Near to Primitive Character WON'T ACCEPT EDUCATION Big School House Stands Half Empty and They Will Not Permit Agent
 to coerce chIIdren-WIlI
 Not Learn.
WON'T ACCEPT EDUCATION

Marshalltown, Iowa.-Along the banks of the placid Iowa river in Tama county. is located tho Tama Indian reservation of Musquaki Indians numbering four hundred men, women and children The savages live on eight acres of land apiece and till the soil, fish, hunt and live in peace among the hills, groves and meadows which skirt the banks of the river for several miles. There they enjoy the wild life of their forefathers, relishng the dog feast, zealous in the medicine dance, marrying and divorcing as did their fathers before them, long before a Chris tan civilization spread beyond the banks of the Mississippi, without church or a school or a single communlcant of Pro- testant or Catholic faith
 For years devoted missionaries minis tered to their physical wants and tried to make the story of Christ appeal to their ears, but they steadfastly clung to the superstitions of their warriors of a hundred years ago.
 Musquaki's Dull.
 The Indians of the Musouaki tribe. while in the midst of civilization, show less capacity of grasping the idea of edu- cation than any of the Indians in the United States
 It has been reported to the interior de- partment that no more typical example of the primitive Indian is to be found in this country than in this tribe of four hundred members who live in the heart of one of ha ,aof
 These Indians have remained upon the Tama reservation forty years, being d remnant of the powerful Sacs and Foxes. who were a terror to the whites in the Mississippi Valley, and, in fact, of every other band of Indians whose path they chanced to cross.
 The name Musquaki was given to the tribe by the Smithsonian institution and the chief of the tribe carries in buckskin sack about his neck the original draft or treaty, made with the Fox nation in 1S1o. This heirloom is handed down from chief to chief, and is as zealously guarded by that dlgnitary as if it were his life.
 The most important industry among the Tama Indians is farming. For a time white men assisted In tilling the land, but for four or five years no white man has been permitted to do a days labor on iiitiieln idlib III Idllid tOuiil9. E<dCA IH- dian is permitted to farm on his own &C., count and receive the reward of his own labor. Some Indians have the knack of saving, and one in particular, George Jesus by name, has property and lands valued at s20.000, and is reputed to be the wealthiest Indian in the world.
 Red Man Is Obstinate.
 The Indian agent at the Tama office is confident that the Indians with handling could be relied upon to do all farm work on the reservation, and many bucks could soon become independent. The chief draw back at the reservation is the obstinacy of the red man regarding education. He will not send his children to school, nor will he allow the Indian agent or the teachers to make them go.
 hK ebeieanInrgGw ertetaonShrdlutaoihr
 A great school house built years ago at large expense has only about half the rooms occupied. Much trouble has been engendered in the past as result of the compulsory education of the Indian.
 Nearly all of the Indians live in wig wams and wicliups, many of which are in plan sight of passengers on the Chi- cago and Northwestern railway trains as they pass the reservation.
 The wickiup Is for winter quarters. It is oval in shape. ten to twenty feet long, and eight to ten feet nigh in the center. It is covered by a mating woven by the squaws from rushes gathered from along the rivers
 Every time frame house is built by the government there is a powwow and dance and feast by the Indians, who re- fuse immediately after tie house warm ing to enter the building, much less live in it, preferring the wigwam and wickiup. They rarely taste of beef, preferring 1r1r o1,g elyt ,Ir o,,1 relish skunk as negro does possum, and dogs are numerous on the reservation, be- ing raised and fattened for feasts, dances. powwows and other special occasions.