Great Falls tribune., 1921-04-27
The HQski11 Letter = nsssss,aa ss:sa
SPARE THE PUEBLOS.

Mexico did the same when that country
became independent of Spain ana
when the United States took posses
sion Of New Mexico in 1916, the treaty
we made with Mexico once more con.
firmed the Pueblos in the possession OF
their land and made it impossible TOT
them to sell it. That is why the
Pueblo remains today as I curious ana
beautiful survival Of primitive America
Value of Pusbios.
More and more the Pueblo is being
appreciated by artists, scientists ano
by Americans in general who travel
When he holds one Of strange dances:
hundreds, sometimes thousands OF
spectators come to watch. Every year
regiment Of learned scientists goes
to New Mexico to study the Pueoios,
and another regiments OF artists goes
to paint them. An art colony mas
been formed at Taos. An interesting :
development in this connection Is .Las
some young Indians have learneu
from the artists how to paint and nave
shown high ability. They have never ever
learned business, and they do not thhe
to modern agricultural machinery. OUT
they learn how to paint readily ana ~.
stinctively. They are a race OF artls.s .s
and dreamers. They have no desire
to become citizens and engage IN pnsi.
ness. They have no training for sucn
a work and no aptitude.
That these Indians should be pre-
served a. thev are and allowed to live
their natural lives, for their own sake
and for the sake Of science and art
and the travelling public is a point
~ nlw fn 1AnAf1nR,
For the sake Of New Mexico, too,
they should be left as they are. More
and more money is brought into that
state every year by persons who are
attracted By the picturesque and his,
torical features Of the state, and OF
these the Pueblos are one Of the most
interesting. Hotels are being built t.,
accommodate the growing thronx OF
tourists to that country. and companies
are organized to show them the sights:
Excursions to the Pueblo dances and
festivals are one Of the chief attrac-
tions which these companies have to
offer.
Whence, then. comes the demand that
the Indians be given citizenship? There
seems little doubt that it comes primar-
ily from certain powerful persons VINO
have cast covetous eyes upon the In
dian lands. These lands are tiny patches
upon the xreat extent Of the southwest,
but they are rich and valuable. 1t is
now impossible to buy them. But when
they have been divided into individual
allotments, each Indian will have the
right to sell his own. He will not want
to sell. but the white men know how
to get around that difficulty. The In
dians will be encouraged to 60 into
debt. and their lands will be attached
and sold. The methods Of accomplish
Ing this have been brought to a high
degree Of perfection in taking their
lands away from the Mexicans. These
people are being rapidly converted from
contented small farmers into poor IA
borers. 1t is easy to get them in debt.
A drouth and the loss of q crop fur
nishes an opportunity. Sickness. fu-
nerals, marriages. are all occasions TOT
lending money. Sometimes the thing is
done fairly. Sometimes the Mexican
is induced to sign papers he cannot
read. Sometimes he barters away his
home when he is drunk. :.
All Of these methods can be applied
to the Indian more easily than to the
Mexican because the Indian knows even
less Of business and is even more OF
child. Soon the Pueblo lands will have
passed into the hands of land specula-
tors and the Indians will have, gone
forth to struggle for living as labor
ers. Soon the great communal houses
the dances and feasts and ceremonies
the pottery and baskets. and jewelry
Of silver and turquoise. will be no more
The traveller, the artist and scientist
will look in vain for that living vision
Of the past. which is always so curious,
" interesting. The last vertigo of II
will have been crushed. The. steam
roller Of civilization will have finished
Its work for the red man.