The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-15
PASSING or < PEOPLE.

passing of Indian tribal government, which was intended to end on the 4th of the present month though the time may be extended This refers to the rive civilized tribes" as they are de- signated, in all of whom our own state feels an interest. They are the Greeks, Cherokees, Seminoles Choctaws and Chicasas, all of whom at one time oc- cupied some portion of Alabam- Their enforced repatriation from their homes here, and their settlement in what is now Indian Territory, are matters of history, and we never read it without l a feeling almost of shame for the white man and his government that forced them to leave the graves of their ancestors and journey, like the ancient descendants of Israel. to land which their fathers never knew.
 But all that is past and much of the sting of it has long ago gone from them. Years ago they forsook their in herited savage ways and took on the ways and habiliments of civilization They were under the control and pro- lection, so-caiIed. of the United States, but were allowed to maintain tribal form of government. They had their National Councils and in many respects they enjoyed a certain degree of inde- pendence. Under those conditions, and in spite of the many wrongs and inn positions practised on them by un- fact that our government has not al- Fways treated them with fairness and justice-in spite of all this they long since put off practically every trace of savagery or anything approaching it. They have built up towns and cities, l have good schools and other institu- tions of learning, and in almost every respect they have fairly adopted and put into practice all the best attributes Of our modern civilization.
 All this upward advance has taken place under their tribal form of gov l ernment, but when that ceases to exist, as 1t soon will certainly do, as a matter
 of fact they will no longer be Creeks or Choctaws or any other tribe They are not really to be longer regarded and referred to as Indians, to come down to their real standing. They will be American citizens. entitled to all the rights and privileges of any other citizens of our Territories. That they will continue to regard themselves as Indians. and that they will still re- tain certain tribal feelings is not to be doubted. but in law and government they will all be Americans.
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 of things will doubtless be good. That result will, as we view 1t, be their final absorption and the extinction of them as race as far. as these five tribes are concerned. Already long step has been taken in that direction. Accord ing to the most accurate reports the five tribes named now number only about S6,0o0 persons, and of these it is claimed that no more than 25.O0o are of pure Indian blood. The remainder are of every shade, from almost pure Indian to almost pure white. Many of them in times past intermarried with the negroes and that shade of mixed blood is not uncommon, though there is less of that form of miscegenation l ACN NhAN luSTe are no uner specimens of intelligent and cultivated manhood and womanhood anywhere than, can be found among those who are of mixed white and Indian blood. This admixture of the races will go. on and in two or three generations there will be few fuIl-blood Indians among these five tribes.
 Although to the Humanitarian there is something really pitiful In this pass ing away of a people or race who were our predecessors on the American con- tinent, it is doubtless for the best. The Indians as separate and distinct peo- pie cannot much longer exist in the | United States They are continually being crowded on every side. The area of their domain Is becoming more and more circumseribed each year. There will soon be no room for the red man as a separate and distinct race Ex- tinetion or amalgamation-one or the other-is bound to come. Well will it be for them If they accept the decree of fate and become American citizens. The example of the five civilized tribes must teach them what they can be- come if they accept what destiny has plainly in store for them. They can not escape what is fixed.