The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-12-02
T1F NATIONS "OR K GATHERING

BUR past treatment of our Indian
wards has been humane but sadly lack
ing in intelligence and efficiency. Hard
ly any condition could have been bet
ter calculated TO promote barbarism
end pauperism than the system of Sc
gregation, first adopted as a police
measure and continued from misguided
mPtlVes or paternalism. That they have
not been utterly ruined by it speaks
losdly for the inherent sturdiness of
character in the North American In
dian.
Under the old policy. the Indian was
a social and economic anomaly. He
was encouraged to disregard the very
first law of natUre-that of providing
the means of subsistence for himself
and mis- offspring. His life was regu-
lated and circumscribed to the last de-
tail. When from sheer revulsion of
spirit he occasionally went on a ram
page we stigmatized him as a blood
thirsty savage and shudderingly hur-
ried out our troops to herd him back
To his confines. Like our incurables
and hopelessly insane, we deemed him
a useless cncumbTance. and while we
fathercd hiiu tenderly, fervently prayed
that We might be speedily rid of him.
Time and a more intelligent study
of this pitiful remnant of the former
lords of the land have brought about
a better understanding OF them and q
wiser attitude toward them. We have
come 10 know that the Indian is nat
urally of a peaceful disposition, that his
forbearanca under proVocatiOn is re-
m2rkable, that he has many inherent
characteristics which might excite the
envy of the proudest people and that
in his general makeup are the qUall-
ties that go TO the composition of an
admirable citizen if they be but given
fitting scope and proper direction.
The Indian problem which veXed our
Srandfathers has evolved itself into a
comparatively s1npis and definite prop
OsitiOn with encoura ging features in the
present and -hopefuf outlook for the flu
ture The task of ciViliZing these chill
dren of nature is no easy one. We
have 20 contend with the Indians I'M
cOnqueraEle dislike % the white man,
his temperamental aversion to novelty,
and other rats that conflict with the
4 character of the Caucasian. These are
Zoo strong to oe overcome in the adults
j mast middle age, and little moro than
tolerance of our efforts may be ex-
pected of the men and women in the
earlier stages of manhood. 1t is from
the more plastic maI9rial offered by tile
children that our government hopes to
mold the Indian of the future.
Our national family embraces some
thirg more than $50. 900 Indians. These
are domiciled in reservations scattered
all over the country west of the Mis-
sissippi. There are a few IN the lake
region and one little settlement in
North Carolina. Contrary to general
belief the Indians are holding their own
I'm numbers, and perhaps increasing
slightly. The resent enlightened pol
icy of the government is designed tC
set the Indian upon his feet to sever
The communal ties that bind him to his
tribe and to abolish his position as a
dependent upon the government.
Carefully, tenderly, we have led him
along the entering paths of civiliza-
ton. and now, while still watching over
him and directing his course, We are
practiCing him % work alone. The con-
traction of the ration policy and the
expansion of the labor policy are teach
ing our charges the value of individual
effort. and the opening of the reserva-
tons to white settlers is instilllng self
dependence and emulation.
We have during the past twenty
years Deen individualiZing the Indian as
the owner Of real estate by breaking up
the reservations which preserved the
old communal customs and habits and
establishing each Indian as an indie
pendent IandhOlder. This movement
has extended rapidly in recent years
and will soon embrace the last of the
old-time reservations. We are giving
the Indian the white mans chance and
asking him 60 assume the white man 5
RESPONSIBILITIES.
We are placing upon him the obliga-
lions of citizenship and looEing to him
10 help build up the frontier CommUn-
itv in which his interests lie. And 1t
is responding as a man of his strong
fiber might he expected to respond tC
any demand upon his manliness. We
are getting good results as we learn
TO appreciate the individuality of the
Indian and apply to his treatment {
yards,ick cut to the measure Of thai
individuality which is as pronounced
as that of any race on earth.
In the past the government has beer
constantly exercised to find the lndiaT
something To do, with the sole though
q keeping him out of mischief. Oul
resent policy is to direct his energies
- useful and profitable channels anC
10 on courage him To independent labor
IS against the old communal work witt
its lack of personal incentive and com
Detitive stimulus And the Indian i
making good in every field which h
has entered. Some of the best farm
in IN newly opened sections are illle
by Indians whose fathers loaIe
through life on the same soil.
The reclamation service employs hun
5reds Of Indians and welcomes ali 1t cal
get. for they have proved to be tn
best Iaborers available. Where the pas
generation Stunned the sandy waste II
sons are helping transform the deser
into a blooming garden. In mines. o
railrsad construction ana various othe
works throughout our growing western
land you will find them. And on thes
busy spots you will gain new an
hopeful view of the red race eprOOlen
When you see the Indian putting hi
weight with a will on a mattock o
sturdily swinging a pick you recogniz
him for q man to be respected and yo
wonder at the density of your past mis-
conception OF him.
But the pleasing picture that you
fancy forms Of the future of the Indial
is dimmed by a shadow in the back
ground-the sinister shadow of liquor
This is the greatest danger that be
sets his path to prosperity. It is
greater menace to him than to an,
other citizen of this country, for a.