The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1906-02-09
INDIANS ARE NELL PLEASED
POLICY OF COMMISSIONER
LEuPP IS SATISFACTORY
DO NOT WANT TO Be WHITE MEN
Ordering Reds to Cut Their Hair
and Forsake Old Methods
Was a Bad Mistake

All the o!d-time Indians to whom
have been explained the policy OF
Indian Commissioner Leupp and
''it's better to make a good Indian
out of red man than to make bad
white man of him. have expressed
themselves as overjoyed at the turn
of affairs have taken in their favor.
Not one of 500 Indians wants 70 be
like white people. and the policy
which IN the past has been pursued
by the Indian department and which
gave the Indian partial education,
according to the views of the white
man, but failed to provide him with
any work or any way of putting his
education to use, has proved very
unsatisfactory both to the Indian
and the white man.
To begin with, the Indian does not
want to work. Through dire neces-
sity some of the Indians have been
forced in the last three or four years
to work in order to eat, but that
move has never been popular either
with the old-timers or the modern
Indian. In fact, the worst "blanket"
Indian on the reservation is always
one of the best educated ones to be
found. AS an example of the short
coming of the Indian where work is
concerning it is pointed out that
Z there has never been but one Indian
clerk at the agency offices, although
a law makes it imperative upon the
Indian agent to give any position
which he may have to an Indian,
provided one can be found who is
competent and willing.
And even that one who worked as
a clerk was only quarter breed In
dian and came from a Minnesota
tribe instead of from the Sioux
tribes. There are dozens-in fact,
hundreds-of fairly we'll educated
young "bucks' on the reservation
every one of whom is competent to
hold clerical position in the agency
office, but none of them will except
position of that kind. They pre-
fer to remain idle, dong a days
work here and there, raising a few
cattle and horses for sale and living
a Observation-Disclosures.
Indian Commissioners Leupp does
not believe in making the Indians
cut their hair. 1t was the most un-
popular order ever given by an In
dian commission, this one to have
all the "bucks" cut the hair short,
instead of permitting it to grow
long and either hang loose or be
braided down their backs,
1t was part of an Indians religion
and part of bis bravado to wear long
hair. A portion of it, the scalp lock,
was always there for any enemy
who proved himself the better man
to come and take whenever he want
it. That habit even extended to the
old white frontiersman and today
many of these old-time scouts and
hunters wear, neatly curled on the
topo their heads and tucked away
under the hats scalp lock for any
person who is man enough to come
and take it. 1t belongs to the best
man. And in the old days when an
Indian lost his scalp lock he was
disgraced. There was nothing left
for him to do but to die.
So the order issued by Commis-
sioner Leupp's predecessor in Office
was the greatest insult, from an In
dian standpoint, that could possibly
be offered. But because their rations
had been cut off by the government
and such work as the Indians would
do was refused to those who vet
wore long hair many of the bucks
cut off their scalp locks. This was
confined almost whollyto the younger
generation, very few of the older
men, among whom the traditions Of