Great Falls tribune., 1921-04-27
Washington, d. G., April 23.-There
are several thousand individuals in


are several thousand individuals in
this country who are about to have the
boon of American citizenship con-
ferred upon them by the congress Of
the United States, ana VINO protest
vigorously against that honor. They
protest on the simple ground that they
cannot compete. with other citizens Of
this country In the grand game known
as business. They know that to be-
come citizens means for them to be-
come paupers. Most Of the people
who are urging citizenship upon them
know this, too.
These "aliens" are not foreign born.
On the contrary, their ancestors have
been here for several million years,
and came originally from Asia By way
OF bering Strait. These people who
are trying to escape citizenship are
the Pueblo Indians Of New Mexico.
The measure which threatens to
thrust it upon them is the Indian
Citizenship Bill, introduced into The
last congress and likely to be passed
BY this one. 1t provides that the
Indians, who are now wards Of the
government. shall be made citizens,
and that their property, which the
government, has held in trust for
them, shall be divided among them
to be used as they please. The bill
makes exceptions Of several tribes
which are supposed not to be qualified
for citizenship, but it makes no ex-
ception Of the Pueblos, despite the
fact that they are considered by many
to be utterly unfit for citizenship, and
have made a special plea to be ex-
cused from it.
Friends Of the Pueblos are max
ing determined effort to have these
Indians spared the burdens of citi-
zenship. They are doing this not
! only for the sake of the Indians, who
will almost certainly lose his lands if
he is not protected by the government,
but also for the sake Of the country
at large, which, with the breaking up
Of the PUEBLO villages, will lose a
treasure of the greatest historical and
scientific value, one which has given
pleasure to thousands of Americans
and will give pleasure to thousands
more. The Pubelos are valuable as
Yellowstone National Park and Niagara
Falls are valuable They are picture
sque and charming in themselves, they
afford wonderful glimpse of America
as 1t was before Columbus came, and
an opportunity to study primitive men
who have kept their customs and be-
liefs unchanged through four centuries
Of contact with Spanish and American
civilization.
The Disappearing Indians.
Practically every other Indian tribe
in America has lost its original char
acter, and inevitably so. The Navajo.
who was q manauder and nomad,
has become a peaceful sheep herder.
The Apache, who out-fought and out
generated the soldiers of Spain and
Of the United States for two centuries
has become a dirty idle fellow with a
perpetual thirst for firewater. Some
Of the Oklahoma tribes have become
SO civilized that you can scarcely tell
them from white neighbors. So some
Indians have degenerated. some have
| died out, some have been absorbed BY
intermarriage. some have gained q
| foothold in the civilization that over
whelmed their tribe. Only the Pubelos
have remained as they were. And
| the reason is simple. The Pubelos
were sedentary Indians Of a native
civilization here. They had already
! built three story communal apartm ents
and they cultivated the land by an
| learned from them, they made pottery
and cloth, not only with skill but with
an art which is admirable.
| These Indians were not warlike and
| needed nothing but the permission to
live in their strange houses and cult
vate their lands. They were capable
of remaining part Of civilization with
out change. This fact was appreciated
by the Spanish colonial administrators
who confirmed and protected the Pueb-
los in the possession of their lands.