The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1909-09-03
INDIAN HEALTH
GETTING BETTER
MAJOR M'LAUGHLlN SAYS THEY
ARE NOT DYING OFFS.
WHITE BLOOD HELPS THE RACE
He Thinks the Half Breed Indian Is
Superior to His Parents and That
the Theory Of Inferiority of Hall
Breeds Is Mistake.

st. Paul, Aug. 28.-Major James Nc
Laughlin of North Dakota, inspector
for the federal bureau of Indian af-
fairs, doesn't agree with the statisti-
clans who believe the American In
dams are more numerous now than
when G. Columbus CROSSED the ocean
blue" He doesn't believe that half
breeds the world over are inferior to
pure-bred humanity and possess the
vices of both the mingled races. Incl
dentally, he doesn't think that the hui
man craving for salt is natural or nee
essary.
Numbers Not Increasing.
Talking about the redmen today at
the Merchants hotel, Major McLaugh-
lin said:
81 feel sure there can't be more In
dams now than ever before since the
country was discovered. Why, when
l came to the northwest forty-six years
ago there were estimated to be 10000
of the Sioux. Now there are only 3D.
900. The number of the Crows, too,
has diminished nearly onehalf. Whole
tribes along the New England coast
and out on the Pacific coast have dis
appeared entirely, as everybody knows.
Death Rate Lowered.
"But the Indian population, at least
in the northwest, Is not falling off by
any means as rapidly as 1t did. In
fact, taking the region through from
the Great Lakes to the Rockies,
should say that the Indian population
Is now about stationary. On the Dew
lis Lake and the Sisseton reservations
on all the reservations east of the
Missouri-the population is increasing.
West of the Missouri on the new res
ervations, there is still some falling
off each year. but the rate of decrease
is getting steadily smaller.
when the Indian ran wild, so to
speak, he got plenty Of fresh air out
in the woods and on the prairies, and
plenty Of exercise chasing the dinner
he had to catch or lose. At the camp
or village the tepee had window
open all night If it didn't have open
plumbing. The squaw and the pa
posses spent most Of their time out Of
doors, and the squaws were always
busy with their domestic duties.
Everybody ate fresh, wholesome food
and led as sanitary life as Medicine
Man Wiley. The Indians then were
robust enough. The Sioux were espe-
cially vigorous-the finest tribe phys
ically and mentally. think, Of all the
Indians in our borders.
Adjustment to New Conditions.
"But when these wild huntsmen
started to live upon reservations, to
sleep in close, badly-ventilated cabins,
to eat canned goods and the white
mans pork and bacon, together with
badly-cooked bread-why, then the
Indians health began to fail. The
first generation of the reservations
died fast. 1t has taken about thirty
years, as a rule, for the race to adapt
itself to civilization. But now. on the
older reservations, the change has
been made, and the Indians are begin
ming to get healthy and fairly prolific
III IUelT new
VIII Be absorbed"
"Our Indians aren't going to be
swept away by the whites as the mel
ancholy poets used to sing. The red
men will disappear, it's true, but be-
lieve that they'll simply be absorbed
into the white race through intermar
riage.
won't that produce, temporarily, a
half-breed race inferior to either
whites or Indians"
mistake. Certain halfbreeds, Of course
are worthless, like certain pure-bred
whites or Indians. But as a rule the
half-breed indian Is a superior man
both physically and mentally, to either
OF his parents.
Out Of Touch With Own Race.
tits been unreasonable to expect
any sudden civilization of the Indians
You're not going to be converted your
self, in any hurry, into the belief that
your father and mothers ways and
ideas were all wrong. Neither Is the
Indian. But he's now so far In sym
pathy with the whites and so out Of
sympathy with any general ideals Of
his own race that all future outbreaks
massacres, etc., are not to be thought
OF. It would be impossible to unite
even the warlike Sioux in any violent
opposition to the government. The
Indian now is too much Of white
man.
His Taste Changing.
Eyes. he even eats butter nowadays
and likes 1t in spite of the salt. But
when l first got acquainted with the
Sioux he wouldn't touch any salty
food, If he could possibly get food en-
tirely fresh. In his wild state he
never ate salt. I've heard of African
tribes selling slaves and ivory to gel
little salt as a life preserver, but the
Sioux Indians turned out first-class
Marathon runners and wild west rid
ers years ago without one salt cellar
in the whole tribe"
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