The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1915-08-26


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male reservation Indian is frequently
as assured of livelihood at the age of
fifteen as he is later in life.
The practice of polygamy still ex-
lists, though to a comparatively slight
extent, among American Indians. Ac-
cording to the enumeration of 1910
there were 494 Indian males living in
polygamy, and in 81 cases more than
two wives were reported. OF these pO-
lygamous males, 327 were Navajos.
Proportion of Mixed Bloods.
Of the total Indian population of
the United States in 1910, 150,053, or
56.5 per cent, were reported as full
bloods, and 93,423. or 1872 per cent, as
mixed bloods. For the remainder no
information on this point was given,
but it is probable that the majority
were of mixed blood. OF the mixed
bloods, 5000, or over "a per cent.
represented a mixture of white and
Indian blood. The largest proportion
of full bloods was found in New Mex
leo, where it was SO per cent of the to-
tai population. Other states in which
the proportion were high were Utah,
with 95.1 per cent; Arizona, with 94.2
per cent; Colorado, with 93.4 per
cent; and Mississippi, with GIG per
cent. The lowest percentage of full
bloods in any state having an Indian
population Of at least 1000 was found
in North Carolina, 1871.
Fccundity and Vitality.
An interesting and significant fact
brought out by the statistics is that
children born of mixed marriages are
more numerous and more likely to
survive than are those born of mar
riages between full-blood Indians.
For all classes of marriages for which
data on fecundity and vitality were
tabulated the proportion resulting In
no children was Sc per cent; for mar
riage between full bloods, 1917 per
cent; and for mixed marriages, 6.7
per cent Furthermore, the figures
show that the greater proportion of
white blood in any class of mixed mar
riages the smaller the percentage of
sterility.
Another tabulation shows that the
average number of children born of
mixed marriages of ten to twenty
years duration was 81, while for mar
riages between full bloods the cor
responding average was only As.
With reference to vitality of Off
spring, the statistics show that for
all classes of marriages the proper
tion which the number of surviving
children formed of the toal number
born was 74.7 per cent; for marriages
between full bloods, 697 per cent;
and for mixed marriages, 70 per cent.
The greater the amount of white blood
represented in any class of marriages
the greater the proportion of surviv-
ing children.
The section of the report relating
to fecundity and vitality concludes
with this significant statement: THE
results of the studies on sterility, on
fecundity, and on vitality all point to-
the increase of the mixed-blood In
dams is much greater than that of
the full-blood indians. and that un-
less the tendencies now at work un-
dergo decided change the full bloods
are destined to form a decreasing pro-
portion of the total Indian population
and ultimately to disappear alto
gether."
School Attendance.
The enrolment of pupils in Indian
schools is increasing much more rap
idly than the Indian population. In
1890 there were 246 such schools with
an enrolment of 1897; in 1900, 329
schools, with an enrolment of &c.
I'll; in 1910, 3S9 schools, with an en-
rollment of 1880 These figures,
which were taken from the reports Of
the office of Indian affairs, do not,
however, cover the attendance of In
dams at other than Indian schools.
The total school attendance OF mem
bers of this race in 1910, as shown by
the last census, was 49,543.
To quote from the report: CAS- COM
pared with the whites and negroes in
the United States, it appears that the
Indian youth between six and nine
years attended school in 1910 in small
err proportions than the children of
either the white or negro race, that
those between ten and fourteen sur
passed the negro, and that those be-