The Irish standard., 1905-01-28

l
! to participate under penalty. But
do we force our young men? No, we
never do so, anu we have never done
so. They are not obliged to be there
ii they do not wish it; they are as
free 10 be there and to take part in
them as they are not to do so, as free
us You are to make them the object of
your drrision.
Our dances have Il certain meaning
| know. us | belong to the town of La
Islcttu. y. NJ. We dance ut Christmas
to Shcw that we love and adore the
newborn God: for in times of old the
Indian did not know how to pray. and
he was using those means to present
his alteration and respect to the Holy
Child We dance on New Years Day
as IL compliment to our newly-elected
officers, for we elect our officers every
year. Sometimes. but not every year.
we dance in February to pray to God
and ask from the Supreme Being a
prosperous year. In March. after
cleaning the irrigating bitches, we
dance to shcw our joy ut having fin
iShed our first labor. Some years we
dance also in September in tlankSgiv-
ing for the good crops. Besides these
dances already referred to, we have
others OH some special feast days. The
Americans dance ut least every Satur-
day night, aud in most eases for the
benefit of one person and the pcrdition
of Il dozen others. l have seen balls
OF the worst kind conducted by Ameri-
cans, more scandalous and immodcst
| than the most savage dance ever held
by Indians in New Mexico
Well, gentlemen. do all the good you
Gan to wlomsoeyer you like, but do
not injure the poor Indian. DO not rob
him of what he possessed. Wise as
YOU are. you do not give him what he
ll;ls Il right to; but instead YOU have
taken from him all he had. even be-
fore you had ever met single Indian
And what have you taken from him?
lis land, his house and liberty. YOU
cannot deny that this country has al
ways been ours Since when, will you
ask: It's for you to ascertan we will
sec it, with all your wisdom, you will
be able to find it out. See if YOU can
discover from what year we have been
in possession of our lands.
You. Americans, claim that the GOV
crnmcnt has given us Il certain
amount of land which you call ''reser-
vatlon." Is it true? AS an honest
nation. speak the truth, and you must
answer that the government has taken
from lis all the land we had and in
return, us Il "Tata Grande.'' has given
MS Il large stretch, called ''rcserva-
iion.' What do You say? Is it true
on not:
How would you like it. Americans.
it we. Indians. would be bold enough
I" 90 to Washington and take posses
sion of all the money in the treasury,
|
| tWrnty-tlollAr gold coin. saving that it
is the will of the good Indians that
N'dl should be the recipients of such Il
GREAT concession. Indeed. you. wise
Americans. have done this very thing
with us. Indians
Now. let us come to the most i'm
| portant question that will ever inter-
est Il tribe of Indians in New Mexico
Wise as you are. you should look i'm
IN" future and be convinced that never
will the Indians of New Mexico pay
taxes on that which has always been
his We never got our lands from
YOU; they were always ours. and
should remain ours. unless you should
want land. lnli;,ns and all.
But you will say that this is due to
the laws. not to the Americans, and
that we must obey them. Yes.
know that is the law. but | know. too
that YOU make new laws every day,
Now. suppose yourselves on the other
side for Il moment, and consider how
You would like it if we. Indians, would
begin to make laws to suit our own
convenience. rs you do to suit yours,
ana If YOU We're obliged to obey them.
But YOU will say, become citizens,
ana thus YOU he among those who
make the laws or take part in the
making of them. TO that point, my
friends. let me answer that one savage
lndian among Il thousand wise Ameri-
cans would be Of very little use. ex-
crpt as an object of curiosity; and if,
percmncc he should mix with your
kind. he would forget his own people
and help YOU run down the Indians.
1t is better to leave the Indian
alone: look out that he does not kill
You. and if he does. then woe to him.
and kill him also. Eye for eye, and
tooth for TOOTH 1t would be we'll for
y0u to observe the golden rule Do
not NEEDLE with his private affairs.
Take care not to form any prejudice
against his customs. creed. dances,
religion. amuscmcnts, etc But do not
Interfere so long as he does not hurt
you. iou may dance with him. laugh
with him. but you cannot live with
him. The wise man and the savage