The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1913-07-14
THERE ARE MORE INDIANS
Red Men Can No Longer Be Styled
"the Vanishing Race"

Increase of about 10000 between 1900
and 1910, according to the Indian cen
sus for 1910, which has just been
made public by the census bureau at
Washington. The census also shows
a steadily increasing proportion of
half breeds, fully 35 per cent of the
Indians in the United States now be-
| ing of mixed blood. The increase
noted has been chiefly among Indians
of mixed blood
The total number of Indians in
the United States in 1910 was 265, 6S3
and in Alaska 1881. Ten years be-
| fore that time there was 248,253 In
dams in the United States and 3d.
354 in Alasa. Between 1890 and 1900
there was a decrease in the Indian
population. which has now been
checked.
The 1910 census was the first
which attempted to show the proper
| ton of fullblooded Indians to half
breeds. 1t shows that 56.5 per cent
of all the Indians in the United
| States are of full blood, 35.1 per
cent. of mixed blood, and for S.4 pre-
| cent. information was not obtainable.
More than nine tenths of the mixed
breeds are a mixture of white ad In
| dian, or 5000. Only 1855 persons,
who have a mixture of negro and In,
dian blood were reported, while 1898
were reported as having three strains
in their blood. The report expresses
| the belief. however. that the figures
representing the mixture of Indian
| and negro bloods are too low, mas
much as there is a disinclination on
the part of Indians to admit that
they have negro blood.
Although more than half the In
| dians in this country are full-blooded
Indians, the percentage of pure
blood is higher in some districts
than in others. The states of Utah,
New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and
Nevada, show proportion of more
than So per cent. full bloods. A very
high percentage of pure blood is
found also among the Sank, Fox and
Choctaw tribes in Iowa and Missis-
| sippi.
With the exception OF Oklahoma,
| the states with a large Indian popu-
lation show a higher percentage of
pure-blooded red men. In Oklahoma,
which has larger population of red
men than any other state, the proper
| ton OF full bloods is only 1866 per
cent. This is due to the fact that
| the possession of valuable lands by
the Indians has induced many
whites to marry Indian women, so
| that persons with a very small pro-
portion of Indian blood have been
able to obtain membership in a tribe
| and participate in the division of
lands and moneys belonging TO the
five civilized tribes in Oklahoma.
There are in the United States
ESQ Indian tribes representing SO
linguistic stocks. or these tribes
about n possess more than 500 men,
bers each, while AZ are represente,
by only one member each. The larg-
est tribe in the United States, is the
Cherokee, which has 31,4S9 members.
Next come the Navajos, with 22,455;
the Chippewas, with 20,214; the Cho-
claws, with 1897 and the Teton
Sioux, with 1924. In Alaska there
are Sc tribes, representing seven dis
tince linguistic stocks. The largest
tribe has 1850 members.
Oklahoma contains more than one
fourth of all the Indians in the Unit
ed States. while there are seven 9TH
er states that have more than 10000
Indians each. All of these states
with the exception of Wisconsin are
west of the Mississippi, North Caro-
lima has the largest Indian popula-
ton OF any Eastern state, the cen.
sus showing 1851. New York ranks
next with 6046. There are Indians
in every state in the Union, but Del
aware, New Hampshire, Vermont and
West Virginia have less than so each
The census figures show a greater
increase among pure-blooded Indians.
the former having more children
than the latter. The census figures
would indicate that in proportion as
the white blood increases among In
dams, so do their families increase,
and that there is also a lower death
rate among mixed-breed Indians than
among the full bloods.
Unless the tendencies now at
work undergo a decided change"
says the census report, the full
bloods are destined to form de
creasing proportion of the Indian pop
ulation, and intimately to disappear
altogether"
over one half of the Indians in
the United States or Sis per cent
we're under 20 years Of age when the
census was taken The fact that
stands out most prominently is the
high proportion of young persons
among the mixed bloOds as compared
with the full bloods. similar diff
ference is also noted between the full
tribal bloods and the mixed tribal
bloods.
OF the total number OF Indians re-
ported in the United States, sos per
cent we're males and AL per cent.
females. The proportion of males in
the white population generally is a
trihe larger. Among the full-bloOded
Indians the proportion between the
sexes is almost equal, while there is
preponderance OF males among
those OF mixed blood. The latter fact
is probably accounted for, however.
by the tendency to report as white
Indian women Of mixed blood who are
married to white men.