The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1908-05-08

Special Correspondence Daily Leader.
Washington. May schoolcraft
and Hale. Bancroft aud Powell. an
\ have written and told about the
! American Indian and nave added TO
/ the general knowledge on the subject
Other American ethnolosists OF lesser
note have added to the comfy OF the
subject and with others have conch-
ded that the only good Indian Is the
l dead indian But is their estimate OF
the aborigine a fair one? That is a
question that should not be answered
until the Indians side of the case has
been heard and when has the Red
mans side eeer been presented9
Doubtless no one is better qualified
to tell the story OF the indian han the
indian himself Thus an article pre-
pared by a Chickasaw Indian who did
not have TO die TO be good enough to
represent large constituency in the
lower house OF congress Is not only
timely bur long felt literary wana
1t seems that the Redman's story of
! himself has been deiaved entirely to
long Representative Charles Il. Car
tel also thinks SO and now proposes
to break silcnce in defense of his
red brothers.
ITO begin with. says Representative
| Carter "iet us understand that the
Aborigne as discovered by the great
( Genoese navigator wnen ne landed on
the sunny shores of San Salvador was
a thinking. feeling and Intelligent be-
! ing, subject TO just such impulses,
just such whims and traits OF charac-
ter as other persons of similar de
gree OF intelligence and civilization.
Now do not misunderstood me. We
should allow ourselves to drift; into
the error Of imagining The real Indian
as merely ignorant people They are
wildly different from the uneducated
individuals of any other race. and
have nothing in common with such
people as the Chlncse coolie or the
peasantry OF Europe"
Reared with the fun blood Indian
and cdueated in his schools. J feel safe
in saying that my opportunity to be-
come acquainted with the real life OF
this individual has far exceeded that
of the ordinary person. He was my
friend and associate. yea, my bed-fel-
low for many years. and during my
youthful days ] knew few playmates
other than tull blood Indians Their
old women fed me their tOncheposhfa
from their earthern bowles and horn
spoons Their old men made and
strung my bows and feathered and
spiked my arrows. Their young men
have been my comrades IN the chase
and my bunkies on the COW ranch
Their young women have been my
swoethearts in health and comforters
In sickness. They have all been my
faithful friends as only an Indian can
be. anL many Of them have upfolded
to me ungrudgingly their innermost
nature and traditions"
The tribe of Indians from which
come however. are not band of
blanketed wandering nomads. The
Chickasaws have, for years, been con
sidered as civilized Indians. and
can recall only q few isolated eases
of Chickasaws wearing blankets or
bnck-skins during my lifetime, but the
reservation OF my tribe was bounded
on the west by the fierce and warlike
Kiowas, Canmnches and Apaches alld
on the north by the Shawnees, Potia-
watomles and Kickapoos, so that my
early life was spent ia very close con
tact with the Indian on his native
heath.
Il have seen the Indian in his saw
age and uncivilized state, ana / have
met him as the peer OF the race proud
Anglo-Saxxon vieing with his pale
face brother in all the present day
commercialism and professionalism |
nave seen him IN the thrilling excite
ment OF the wierd medicine and war
dance. bedecked in his iridescent paint
and panoply OF war feathers anxious
and thirty for the blood OF his fell
loaman. Thel- again ! have met the
Indian lawyer, cunningly and suavely
conienIing for the rights of his clent
AS the doctor, as the trained inrs5
sympathetically Administering 10 the
wants Of the sick and diving keenly
responsive 10 every pans and pain of
his patient Some years ago while ON
trip away from home 1 was stricken
with thc sever and taken to q Catholic
hospital where / was detained for six
weeks. One OF the trained nurses in
this hospital was a young Pottawato-
mie lady Of fun Indian blood. AS
soon as she discovered that an Indian
Nas one of the patients she immediate
/ ~ tuoh 'H"i - "i ny '"N'Ni "
moi believe that any man was ever
more tenderR and scientifically cared
/ tor than l. The surgeon in charge
informed me that She was one Of the
best nurses he had ever seen; that
sho took more interest and seemed
to sympathize more deeply with the
patients than any girl In Tie hospital
I'm short il has ceen nay good Tor
tune TO view the indian from almost
every conceivable angle and stand.
lpoiut
Yet II you expect an accurate de-
tailed portrayal OF Indian character,
fear ysu will be sadly disappointed
and know YOU would despair With eS'
haustion before had one-half finished,