Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1916-12-29
Continued from last week.

Furnishing the tTlDe is not the LrutH.
There must have been mistake in
the Interpretation, or the chiefs did
not hear Alright. I had only peace and
friendship in my heart. [ said that [
did not blame the killing of Mr.. Nogen
Oh the tribe"
This statement failed to break
Thunderbolt's mask Of stolidity,
though some OF the other Indians
slightly relaxed their menacing atti.
tude Hardy took off his hat to show
the red scar above his temple, and
spoke again:
II do not blame the killing Of tfr.
NOgen or the tribe; nor do I blame
the tribe for the Wr0ngdoinS of the
bad~hearted Indian who Shot me in
the head five days ago. The came
man, or another man With q bad heart,
tried to shoot Inc, after sundo"n to-
day, as | came up the trail oye'' on the
other side of the brOken-tOppeG noun
tain"
Oinna's Interpretation was met by Il
cultural "Cgh!' of surprise evI.l from
the chief. He asked shrewdly: "If the
L0ncknife does not lie, is he rot afraid
to he in my camp? It is the nearest
to the trail"
Hardy smiled ana held out his open
palm to tie chief. Il trust Ti-OWa-
konZa and lis people. There is only
one bad Indian, and even he may come
to feel good in his heart toward me
when he learns that l am the friend of
the tribe"
Still the old chiefs face remained
inscrutably imnIUbile. He pOndered,
and at last made another sharp GuerSs
The Lcngkn1fe claims that ne is a
friend Why then, did he say at the
council that he will do the way Nogen
did and make my people dig stones
and dirt from the big holes, without
giving them any trade goods for their
WOrk?'
Hardy's clear eyes dimmed for
moment, and then sparkled with cODl-
prehensiOn. He answered With an
earnest sincerity of tone that com
PEELED belief:
81 now see that at the council Red
bear miStOOk much of what [ told him
to say, or else, in their anger Ti-OWa-
kOnza and his Subchjefs failed TO I'M
derstand Alright the Interpretation. The
place where stones are dug is on In
dian ground. 1t belongs to the tribe.
No white man has any right to make
your people Gig stones. If they are
III hn
trade goods for their work.
The response to this statement was
unmiStakable The moment that Oinna
had Interpreted it the last trace Of
menace disappeared from the bearing
OF the Indians, and even the chief
other query:
did the L0ngknife say he would
stop the issue to the tribe of all gov
eminent goods and that he would take
away from the tribe all their lands
and give them to the white mcn%
At last the real cause of the failure
of the council was disclosed. Either
Intentionally or through stupid blum
daring, RedbGar had made the chiefs
furious by a twisted Interpretation
that had given the exact reverse Of
what had been intended. With tie
key TO the situation in his hands,
Hardy ut once began to make clear
what he had tried to tell at the coun-
Gil. He explained why the issues Of
goods would cease the following
spring, and what was meant by an III
lotting of tribal land in Severalty. He
added that if there was gold on any
of the reservation land it would be
well for the tribe to sell that part Of
what they owned; otherwise bad
white men would, sooner or later,
come in and steal it.
More than half convinced of Har-
dy's sincerity, though with still a lin
Gering suspicion, Ti-0Wa-ll0pZa eX-
planned in turn that the tribe WAS not
only willing TO allot the farming land
of the reservation and sell the min
eral land, but Il treaty to that effect
mad been agreed upon by the tribe, the
previous year. All that remained to
be done was for the white chiefs at
~ dSIiuStOu W agree Oh lilS INlIc "
be paid for the mineral land and for
delegation OF tribal chiefs to go to
Washington and put their marks on
the treaty paper.
= question or two from Hardy
brought out the angry complaint that
when Nogcn began to dig stones he
told the chiefs there would be no
treaty, and that the tribe must dig
the stones for him, or they would re-
ceivc no more issue goods. Chief Van
ard plymouth Oupont) had tried to
get lJogen to give trade goods TO the
young men and women who had dug
hOles. But Nogen would not allow it.
Then Il bad Indian had shot NOgen,
and Van had shot the killer. The tribe
did not blame Chief Van. But they
had felt bad toward NOgen and they
had felt bad toward the new agent be-
cause they thought he would do as No
gen had done. Now they would like
the new agent. No Indian would wish
TO kill him when it became known
what bn intandpd tO do for tba tr.fhA