San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-08-30
INDIANS NOT DYING

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s fon in the United States on the part
Of people more or less remote from a
reservation to engage in mysteries over
the fate of Lo, the poor Indian who was
pictured as dying race, doomed to I'm
timely extinction by the white man.
: AS a matter of fact. the Indian is not
a dying race although civilization made
heavy inroads before methods were
worked out for his regeneration and
protection. Just what the Indian popu-
lation of this country was at the time
Of the establishment of the first colonies
will never be known. Vague estimates
are all that we have. Some tribes were
almost wiped out in the Indian wars
while others were forced from their
hunting grounds and died in large NUM-
bers from starvation, illness and disease
It might have been possible to have
saved many thousands of Indians had
conditions not been what they were but
the white mans desperate struggle for
life in new continent left him no time
for any other considerations and the
savages so harassed him that he de-
voted little thought to saving them but
much thought to their determination.
That was in the primitive days of the
/, country.
! . Later on, seeing the pitiful plight Of
/ the Indians, unable to cope with our
4 civilization and methods of earning a
livelihood, the American people through
the government, took steps to save the
. remaining remnants of the various tribes
and while conditions are far from ideal
\ we have made some little Roadway
In most tribes, the tide has been turned
and the Indians are not dying out. In
( the case of some tribes, they have beer
wholly absorbed into Our race through
\ 1ntermarriage and education until they
1 no longer exist as distinct race. Fol
/ the most part however, the Indians o.
the United States are confined to GER
/ tain designated areas in certain states
/ They are much more widely scattered
. than is popularity believed.
h Aside from territorial Alaska, there
are approximately $4,000 Indians il
/ the United States. OF this numbei
about one-third are no longer under gov
q hiiSht NOiillOl' having emerged l1On
guardianship and having taken over the
lands and provided for their own liveli
I. hood. Most of them exercise all of tn
4 rights of full American citizenship ant
y most of them, be it said, are very gooc
[ citizens. The Pueblo or town Indian
of New Mexico for instance, have al
Il ways been American citizens since thi
\ government took over that territory, tina
right being guaranteed to them in tn
treaty of Guadalupe with Mexico. 70
many years they. did not exercise til
franchise, contenting themselves with
form of local self government whic
was not interfered with.
There are more than 100000 indians
however, still under the care of the gov
cKnment even to their lands. They ar
wards of the federal state and they fo-
peactically the only Indian problem thu
we have left. Through process of edr
cation among the young, it is believe
that these Indians can largely be turne
, into good and useful citizens in tn
f. next decade at which time they will b
allotted lands and other property an
wall be turned loose to conduct the
own affairs.
Indians are now distributed in Mi:
! sissippi. Florida, North Carolina, Ne'