The Republican journal., 1919-06-12
THE INDIANS.

1t would be interesting to know how
many Indians were living in the territory
of our present Union when the Pilgrims
landed on the Massachusetts, shore. Prob
ably there were several millions, They
lived tribal and in some degree pa
tri archal life. About 800 years ago they
owned this country by centuries of pos
session which they believed their fore
faith ers had inherited from the Great
Spirit, If ever land was owned in fee
simple" the Indians owned this. Here
they had dug clans and dredged oysters
on the Atlantic coast, had caught fish in
rivers and lakes, hunted game in the for
-ests, killed buffalo on the prairies and
planted corn on sunny slopes, unmolested
by the white man. The story of their
dispossession through the agencies of
glass beads, New England rum and gun
Do WIDER, is a shameful and tragic one
Today the Indians of the United States
are, with comparatively few individual
exceptions, the wards of the nation"
living on reservations. Their govern
me Mt and business affairs are under the
control of cabinet officer, the Secretary
of the Interior. The manner in which
the government at Washington does not
do things is to 'flet George do them"
Accordingly the Secretary of the Interior,
years ago created what is known as the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, The Bureau
has list of all the Indians in the United
States and the roll contains the names of
about 300, 600 men, women and children.
We do not mean that there are 800, 900
people wearing red blankets, paint on
their faces and feather head dresses, but
that there are on the Indian rolls the
names of 100000 people, some of these
as white as we are, some with golden
hair, some are presidents of banks, two
are United States Senators, two are Rep
resentatives in Congress, one is Registrar
of the Treasury, and some of them have
fortune of more than a million dollars
which they have accumulated in bust
ness Thousands of them are thrifty, in
dustrious, capable and law abiding per-
sons and are spoken of, by the people of
the States in which they are, as being
white Indians" while the lazy, vicious
and ignorant are spoken of as being "real
Indians" 1t is considered to be desirable
and not dishonorable for man to be en-
rolled because he then becomes govern
he OF oil 80 l.,
and is credited with his share of the
tribal fund. The land allotment is 800
acres to the man, and the same amount
TO his wife and to each child, if he has a
family. The government holds several
million dollars of tribal funds and the
money accredited to male adult Indian
is often $4,000 or Sl2, 600. 1t is his but
he cannot get it. One Indian invested
500, 900 u Liberty Bonds and the Depart
nent of the Interior collected the inter-
est wien it became due and gave the
indian credit for the amount received
The Osa ge tribe which has about 4, 800
members, as people, are said to be the
richest in the world, the average annual
income Of each adult male being about
81, 900, The government holds the bag
and the Indian is not allowed to do more
IN the management of his share in the
tribal ealth than to make requests con-
Ger ming his needs and desires. Members
of Congress who have personally studied
Indian problems at short range, tell us
that 90 per cent of the Indians are in the
white Indian" class, and advise that
these people be allowed to come into
possession of and to manage what be-
longs to them, to do their own planning
and to become citizens of the United
States. There are more than 1T, 600 In
dia us in the State of Oklahoma, and they
have been made citizens of the State
They have the same suffrage rights in
State affairs as do the whites. This ex-
pl aims how men listed as Indians by the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, are legally
representing their constituencies in both
houses Of congress, and in justice to them
it should be stated that their ability and
us efulness is freely admitted by their col
lea CUES and by the people of their State.
Hh e Bureau is not progressive. 1t has
been in rut of routine for many years,
but notwithstanding that fact the Indian
pr o blem mas resolved itself into two prop
ositions: First, what should be done fol
the so-called white Indians" and, il
vi ew of the facts, the answer to this
sh ould be obvious Second, what course
theirs, That is rather abstruse prob
lem which should be separately discussed
WE MUST PAY.