Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-09-20

principle in dealing with the Indian. 'Y on
can never make the Indian farmer,
declared one. Another propounded the
theory that the real life work of the
American Indian was to be a soldier.
"All of which," said Mr.. Carter, when
discussing the subject after the debates
were over, merely illustrates the fact
that a very great number of people know
very little about the Indian. The too
general tendency is to visualize the In
dian as a narrowly defined type and to
lay down a single set of rules for him.
The fact is that there are as many diff
ferent kinds of Indians in the country as
there are different kinds of whites There
are agricultural Indians and non-agricul-
tural Indians, smart Indians and stupid
Indians. Industrious Indians and lazy In
dams. The Indian problem is not one of
class, but of the individual. 1t Is
real, living human problem.
The federal government does not In
the past seem really to have had any
fixed policy with relatio to these So
called wards. If it ever did have such
policy it has not always been consistent
in the pursuit of its course. In recent
have been directed largely toward the
conservation of the Indians landed and
other estates. While perfectly proper
to conserve the Indians property. too
much paternalism discourages initiative
character, and character building
should never be subordinated to prop
erty. financial or any other interests.
If we would get results We must ap-
peal to the man in the Indian. We
should devote our supervision to the de-
velopment of his manly qualities-of
which he has many-give him to under
stand that he must help himself and
rely on himself just as fast as it is pos
sible so to do.
Il think I can illustrate what 1 mean
by story Chief John Meyers of the
New York Base Ball Club told to our
congressional committee in Chicago last
fall; and. by the way, John Meyers Is
one of the brightest, most practical red
men it has ever been my good fortune
to meet. Meyers was asked to give his
ideas of educating the Indian.
" I can tell You of my own experience,
said the chief When I was transfer
red from an Indian to a public school
the first change impressing me was
with regard to playing marbles. l had
played marbles in the Indian school:
When l came to the public school
soon found out if 1 did not want to lose
my marbles to the white boys it was UP
to me to see to 1t personally and alone
that the white boy didn't fudge.
There was no authority to which
could appeal for protection. l had &c
protect myself.
g In the Indian school we were taught
that We mustn't fudge and docilely we
had obeyed. but in the public school
was on my own responsibility with ref
erence to this marble game thing. II
wasn't long before I reached the point
where didn't have to watch the white
boys and keep them from Judging They
knew l would not stand for it. They
were watching me. had really begun
to assimilate the white mans aggressive
civilization was looking out for my
own affairs
Perhaps the moral Of this story is not
OF the very best. but it does make plain
the thought that the present system OF
Indian education should be directed
more to development of that sense OF
personal responsibility which is essen
tial in good citizenship. Training in