Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-19
THE TERRIBLE WHITE MAN

In two current national magazines
onnear articles by John Collier, both au-
,,5irabIv written from the standpoint OF
tbe interest which they are certain 10
arouse. but a shocking indictment OF
tbe "white man. of New Mexico who. to
use Mr.. Golfers words, is "plunderlng
the Pueblo Indians"
No one who has visited the ancient
nueblos of New Mexico, who has VIII
messed the art and quaint handlWork oil
the ancient peoples who lnhabit them'
could fail to be in accord with those en-
thusiasts who are today pleading Tor the
preservation of their institutions.
The history of the Pueblo Indians Is a
long one,--so long that we do not know
how MANY centuries it covers. Their an
Gent and picturesque Pueblos were un-
disturbed until the white man" imposed
his civilization upon them. Gradually
sometimes by peaceful and sometimes by
forceful means, the white man encroach-
ed upon the lands which Spain decided to
the Indians under what are now known
as "Pueblo Grants" so that in places
hanlets, villages and towns like Taos
and the townsite of Bernalillo have been
built up on some of these original grants.
To all these encroachments there has
been, over period of two hundred years,
at times passive, and at times aggressive
resistance on the part of the habitually
docile Indian. Finally the case for the
Indian was carried to the Supreme Court,
which ruled that all titles which alienated
a single acre of land from the Indians
were null and void. And now, to quote
Mr.. Collier, it is contended that "all this
loot land must be returned to the Indians
its rightful owners"
It was to meet this grave situation,
created by long chain of circumstances
that the Bursum Indian Bill, so-called,
was finally introduced in Congress and
passed by the Senate. The bill was the
result of careful preparation by the gov
ernment, the committee on Indian Affairs
and representatives of claimants who are
now known as "squatters." The avowed
purpose of the bill, and we have no doubt
that this is its true purpose, is to quiet
title and to preclude a continuance of
the friction that has existed for so many
years between those who have acquired
title either through peaceful negotiation
or unlawful encroachment. The very
terms of the bill require a claimant to
have had adverse possession for at least
twenty-five years, and it does not, as Mr..
Collier implies, require the courts "to
pIOCGSd IOI IlWIII, W JIe COull1HdllOH Ol
every land seizure whether committed
under Spain or Mexico or the United
States, yea, even the trespasses of the
year 1922" The bill does not, even in
effect, destroy single Pueblo, nor rob"
the Indians of single acre of land which
hey have occupied during the last twenty
two years.
The establishment of a national art
gallery through the preservation of the
ancient Indian Pueblos is one thing. The
dissemination of misleading propaganda,
which can only have the effect of alienat-
ing two erstwhile peaceful peoples is an
other If the Bursum Indian Bill contains
any serious defects, more good will be
accomplished in the desired direction,
namely, the protection of the Indian
through constructive legislation, by ami
cable adjustment, than by arousing hos
tility between the two peoples.