The Washington herald., 1922-02-05
Hoaxed California Indians
! Here To Press Land Claim
Want Pay for 7,50o,0 900 Acres Coded to U. S. by
: "l8 Treaties" Of 1S5l-Poverty Has
Depleted Tribe.

though there are shiftless Indians
as well as shiftless white men.
Many OF them have abiding places
only on sufferance, being allowed
10 squat In n nook or corner here
and there on white owners ranches,
living in shacks that the rancher
wouldn't think good enough for a
chicken house or kennel, and given
this privilege chiefly because they
are handy to have around when
there is work to doF
Educational Facilities Poor.
Though the ONCE of Indian Az
fairs has responded to the appeals
of the Indian Board Of Co-opera-
tion and tried to provide schools
and school privileges for the In
dians, there still are about 2,0O0
of the 1000 Indian children of
school age without educational
facilities. This Indian Board of
Cooperation, which has been ac-
tive for over ten years IN trying
and trying successfully to better
the condition of the California In
dams is an organization of white
friends of the Indians, whose exc
cutive representative, Frederick G.
Collett, is to be credited with the
unearthing of the lost treaties and
realizing their value to the In
dians. Collett has spent his entire
time for nearly twelve years in
helping the California Indians, both
by his activities here at Washing
ton and in California, where he
knows and Is known by every
group of Indians.
One of the most interesting and
stimulating things, for the Indians,
that he has done has been awaken
them to help themselves. That Is
how II came about that the eight In
dian delegates are here. sent by
their own people. The Indians, in
their campaign for self-help, have
organized Indian auxiliaries of the
Indian board of cooperation. They
have fifty-three auxiliaries through
out California, with a membership
at the latest accounting Of $500 In
dams, and q drive on by the In
dians themselves to organize all
their people, not only to strive for
belated justice in the matter of
the treaties, but for mutual benefit
in home affairs and the relief Of
distress among their own people.
Mission Il Costly.
One must know the condition OF
the California Indians to under
stand what organization means to
them, and what sending their dele
gates here means. They have sent
them at a cost of $3.50 each, for it
Is a long trek to ano from Wash
ington, and they want them to make
ii decently and self-respectingly.
While some of the Indians are fairly
well-to-do, as Indians go in Cali
fornia, and prosperous even accord
ing to the white mans standard,
most of them are poor, very poor,
and with precarious livelihoods: so
that those working for day wages
as well as the more comfortable
have contributed to the undertak-
ing. They take pride and satisfac-
tion in doing this, as they take pride
in coming before Congress, not ask
ing for gifts, gratuities. doles, help,
but for an honest settlement OF
their claims, for justice instead of
charity.
The California Indian has been
in an exceptional position in rela-
ton to the government, for in wait
ing for the fulfillment of the treaty
promises he was left to live or die.
and the very fact that this was So,
that he had to meet and SO far as
he was able survive the sufferings
and privations Of long neglect, has
developed a self-reliance that the
reservation Indian has lost. He
may have lived miserably, but he
lived by his own efforts; and as a
result he is better fitted today to be
given what is his due and allowed
to 60 his way than most Indians.
CitiEens, Though Evicted.
The California Indian is a citi-
Guadalupe Hidalgo, although he
hasI been eyicted from the lands he
held under the Spanish grants
which that treaty was supposed to
secure to him. For many years the
rights Of citizenship were denied
him, and not until the Indian Board
of Cooperation, through the ef-
forts of Mr.. Collett, established his
right to vote, to school privileges,
to care at county hospitals in i'll
ness, to public relief in indulgence,
helplessness and old age, did he
receive any of the benefits accorded
the whites. He was held. instead.
accountable for his misdeeds under
the law, but denied its advantages.
As, for instance. when three In
dians were furnished whisky by
bootleggers. having been trained in
the white mans vices, got into a
row, and one Indian had his chin
shot away by another. The man
- .A@4 q,
ly arrested and put in jail, accord
ing to the law. The wounded man
was left uncared for to die in his
cabin, and had almost bled to death
before the county authorities could
be persuaded that 1t was within
their duty to give him medical
care. The shooting and the Offend
er were affairs of the local govern
ment, but the injured man was the
affair Of the Federal government.
1t was argued, until the citizenship
Of the Indian finally was admitted.
Very much on the same ground an
Indian woman who had both arms
broken was left uncared for eleven
days; although her case was re-
ported to the county authorities,
before the county health officer
gave her any attention.
Children Also Suffer.
Through this .same reluctance 70
accept responsibility toward the
Indian the Indian children fell be-
tween the local and Federal gov
ernments. They were denied ad-
mission to the public schools be-
cause, it was argued, there should
be Federal schools for them, and
where they were not herded~ on
reservations they were left with