The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1918-03-12
MORE LAND FOR 10
THE POOR INDIAN
IS BEING SOUGHT
Misguided Friends Of Zuni and
Navajo Indians Are Asking En-.
largement of Reservations ;
G. of G. Protests to Jones.

There has been q "plm uu, movo-
mppt ON TOR suuc time un the part
Of certain Indian supcl. Hfrrdeuts and
those who act Gs if th't .rlt that tn"
Indian ip better than inu white q
60 have the government scr aside large
additional territory adjacent to- la
diam reservations in New NuN.co. nota-
hly che ZuBi and NavDjn T~o-orya'ious.
II rs alleged that the claim was
made that these Indian needed more
land for grazing purp"-" Tho mat
ter was considered Of sufficient IN
portaucr To he taken uu Oy the ham
her of Commerce, which made H care
I'm inv stipatiun and tuAt. mailed an
official protest agains' ih' enlarge
mont Of these Indian fo.'r,ttIuus 20
Senator \. A. Jones ut Wu-hiu2ton.
The letter shows that the Nlvuio res
~crvation now is larger 'han the state
of Connecticut. Rhode Island, Massa-
chusetts ana New Hampshire COM
bined. and that the HunI indians al
ready are In poSscssiou oi more than
thcy can possibly use. The letter also
sets forth how such q measure. II sue
cossful. would work 70 hardship ON
white settlers and ISL % direct ten
dcncy to retard the Development or
the sections in question.
The complete text 'i the protest
here follows,
Hon. \. \. Jones,
United States Senate
Washington, g.
Dear senator Jones.
ON receipt Of YOU wiz, to-day wired
YOU as foIlows
Albuquerque Chauboi of Conn
mercc H. strongly opposed tu the pro-
posed Navajo and Zuni additions az
outlined. We believe the stock Wa,cr.
and irrigation developments conducted
10y Indian irrigation sclyic" are excel
iitnt ANA that this work should Joe
pushed rather thar To make additions.
rlc,,so obtain suspension of 1o}iou.
Letter follows
As indicated bon our wire this Cham.
her is heartily ia favor uf strengthen
ing the financial indepoudcnce ana
lettering tho living conditions of the
Indians by the Development of Their
reservations The admirable work oi
the United States indian irrigation
service IN developing stock water and
irrigation facilities on the Indian res
CREATIONS in Sew MeNicu meets with
universal approval NJ our cEizcns We
IAN to understand, however why ad-
dliIuuol Lands are necessary for IN"
n-c nf tho Indians when such u large
proportion OF tho lnud- already ~
served are und,,elopcd.
According tu the Water supply Pa
per. $50 re- cnt', published hy the Uni
tod states peolrgical survey tho cow-
biucd arcn of the navajo reservations
q d HWH. D. A.It.f &c. a.stH|fHt.
lent tu 81 400 suuaro miles. This area
g. larger than Connecticut Rhode ISL.
and. Nh lchusct- and New lIpwp-
shire combined, and extends over an
area Of about lgO hy l4O miles.
The figure given Tor the population
OF the g reservations is 81 ass Indians
and 51l whites o. other words ti~ero
would appear tu be i10 acres Of reSer-
Walton per capita Of population. IN
the face Of this fact. II is certainly not
at first sight apparent why additions
are necessary To properly accommo.
date tho Indians FOR whose benefit che
existing reservation u maintained. In
the case ~ tho proposed Huni add
ton, it H. our understanding that there
are a. pISscnt about 1900 Zunis, and
4 that the Indian irrigation service has
|Nil'hAN 'l'A'h lNl''lF y iANNNlf hh'''
than the Indians are able TO utilize.
We understand mat the lands in
cludcd within ttre proposed addition
consist Of arid valleys with tillanl,
soil -intersperscd with high rocky
mcsas. These tillahle valleys woulf
hardly seem 10 be a necessary addi
Ition 20 the Indian reservation wher
they already have more agriculture
lands than they can use, on the Other
hand. these lands are being rapidly
developed az dry farming homestcads
The recent prosperity of the imme
Idlate;y adjacent DRY farming town OF
lRamah would Seem to establish Thu
lcontentinn, and Il seems also that th'
Interests OF hat community could
hardly help but boz adversely atfectc,
Iny turning this lard over to the In.
dians.
In view az the foregoing facts thi'
Chamber believes hat the establish.
meut Of these proposed reservation al.
ditions is unnecessary from the stand.
point Of the Indian q inimtcul to the
expansion and Development Of n%rricul
mral settlements and the live stock boz.
durry This chamber would th,r"
fore appreciate b. very mu"h n ,"'
viii place uur pru'r-r before the com
missioner ~ indian affairs SEQ
that ii pets his careful consideration
VERY truly yours
: ~Albuuucrduc Chamber of Commerce.
o. \. a. McMtilou. president,
by Aldo Leopold secretary