Arizona republican., 1919-03-12
GOVERNMENT HELPS
 SOUTHERN INDIANS
Christian science Monitor


 Students of American history, as well as all of those interested in the past, present and future of the Amer ican Indian, will be pleased to learn that Cato Sells, United States Com missioner of Indian affairs, who has been persistent in his efforts to ame- liorate and improve the condition of the red man, and who has been sue 1 cessful generally speaking, is about to turn his attention to the lOng-neg- lected Southern Indians, particularly the Seminoles and Choctaws. While both of these groups have long been represented among the civilized tribes a large remnant of each has been, so to speak. outside the pale since Jack sons celebrated raid against the Sem inoles in 1918. Before that time the Seminoles were all up in arms against the constituted white authorities. whatever the government might be. They rose against the Spaniards: they proved an obstacle to colonization un- der French occupation. and they car ried on a series of costly wars againsr the United States between 1885 and ! 1S42
 Their leader, Osceola. although one of the bitterest foes the white man ever encountered in North America, is ! remembered with admiration and re- | spect for his qualities as warrior and 1 his remarkable integrity and inde- ! pendence of character. When the | Seminoles lost him they lost a leader whom they could not replace; the ! tribe, as such, was subdued, 8 large 1 part of it being sent to reservations in, to Ind Tc fnrs 1 ly 400 of it's members escaping to the Everglades, where they have subsisted l on fish, game and the products of a l crude system of agriculture ever since. 1 The Choctaws, who like the Seminoles l are of the Musllhogean family or na- ! ton, are a rebellious tribe. They, too, { have been divided, some mingling with 1 the civilized tribes of the former h. . dian Territory. some forming towns | in portions Of Louisiana and north | western Florida. In common with ! other Southern Indians. including the | Seminoles, they have long seen the l futility of rising in arms against the i whites, but. nevertheless, they have never wholly accepted the situation 1 and have never encouraged the mis- sionary or the school teacher.
 Preliminary to going among them 1 himself, Commissioner Sells has chos ! en as an advance courier, Frank F. 1 Brandon, an educated Indian. who has served the government as a soldier and l otherwise, faithfully and intelligently | in the Philippines. In his instructions | to Mir. Brandon the commissioner says:
 q am persuaded that sympathy is
 the first and most important element in our efforts to induce Indians to ac
 cept educational and industrial op-
 portunities. and that is particularly
 true of the Seminoles in Florida. greatly desire them to realize our in
 terest in their welfare and I believe
 that your experience and the fact that you are an Indian will enable you to
 accomplish the betterments necessar-
 fly involved in their advancement. For
 this reason 1 have requested you to
 undertake bringing about a co-opera
 tive and constructive attitude among
 these people.
 The accomplishment of this task will require, as the commissioner puts it, a
 display of sympathy, warm and deer
 enough to win the confidence of an eX
 tremely sensitive and independent
 people, but what he has set out to dc
 is not impossible, i he shall succeed
 in enlisting as his agents men like MT . Brandon, who feel that sympathy nat urally. but who are also possessed of
 patience, tact and judgment.