The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1907-02-10
INDIANS ARE INCREASING
IN The u. s. OF AMERICA
CBy Fred J. IIaskluD

\ rayoritc theme for orators is the
jathctic passing of 10, the poor Indian.
It will no doubt be a disappointment
to wollmeaning speakers who have
made the sorrows of the noble red
man the topic OF their torrid ololuoncc
to learn that instead of declining fur
ther numerically he is actually in.
creaslng IN numbers That is what
the statistic aus say The str' ls.h
of Indian "a al rats is shown Ivy the
fact that the 10 persons nov in Nir-
ginia whu can prove their los en-
from Pocahontas and her English
husband. Iohn R,iic. still ha D., :hc IN.
dian hair AMI d gE cheek bo1as.
It has never been definitely deter
mined just what was the greatest
number of Indians In America when
they were unmolcstcd and at the
height Of their power i'm this great
country. Some authorities claim that
the number could not have exceeded
a million, others assert that it could
not have been more that 100000. and
still others content that there was
never more than 100000. At the pres
cnt time there are about 2S4OOo mem
bers Of the red race I'm the United
states. There are Indians in eighteen
states and three territories Nearly all
the tribes are west Of the Mississippi,
In fact, most Of them are beyond the
Missouri There are 1856 reservations
i'm all In the northwestern part of
New York there are about 5000 des-
cendants of the great warrior tribes
living on eight reservations.
Today there are $4,000 Indians who
wear citizens dress i'm whole or in
part. and 10000 who can read and
spcal, English. There are $4,000 In
dian families now living in comforta-
Bile modern dwellings. when the gov
crnmcnt first began supplying the In
dians with houses it often proved a
difficult matter to keep the old war
riors in them. They would take pos
session in the best of faith, but the
call of the wild would soon prove too
insistent and they would stable their
horses in Uncle Sans nice little
houses and go back to their tepees.
But when an Indian once gets in
stalled in a house he doesn't like to
have any changes made in it. No mat
ter how large his family may grow
or how much money generous Uncle
Sam may give him, he insists in re
naming in his original one-story shan
ty.
The Cherokees, who tracked lie So
ta's footsteps for many weary days,
while he was marching through the
southern forests and swamps, and who
later welcomed Olgethrope to Georgia,
are the most advanced in civilization
and the most eager for education,
spending 100000 a year on their
schools and colleges. The Chickasaws
have five colleges with 400 students,
maintained at a yearly cost OF si7,-
GOO. They also have l3 district schools
which cost them $4,000. The Choc-
taws have $50 schools, in some Of
which the higher branches are
taught. The Seminoles, one of the
smallest tribes have two schools.
The Creeks have ten colleges and G5
common schools, with a total attend
ance of $500.
The Indians make quite a strong
religious showing They have $40
church buildings and a total member
ship of about 10000. Two Indian
chiefs who became converted To the
Methodist faith and who We're later
licensed to preach were, Ma-Nunc'o
,and Between-the-Logs Father Neghan,
quet is said to be the only living In
dian who is a Roman Catholic priest
This able man studied in Rome and
.
tongue of his fathers, the war-like Pot
tawatomies. Upon his return to this
country he said mass IN :ho big church
Of Oklahoma, whl N was the fir'.
mass ever given by . fUll.L,ood ir,
dian on American soil. IL is nov
working among his people in Oklaho'
D
ma and Indian lluitogy.
Charles Curtis, wha entered the
United States sarat' as senator
from Kansas, will De the 'rs, repre-.
sentative Of the American Indian in
| that body. Mr Curtis Is not of pure
blood lineage, but his mother belongs
to the Kaw tribe. lie and his five
children have received allOtments OF
rich Shawnee county land, in the set
/ tlement of what Uncle Sam thinks he
owes TO the race who held this coun