The Tomahawk. [volume] (White Earth, Becker County, Minn.) 1903-192?, 1924-10-02
What Of the Indian.
Which Shall Die, He or the System2
(By Harry A. Mcclure, Associate
Editor of Outdoor Life.)

we are lOOklnS dG Gne weary,
bloody trail of the American In,
dian since his white benefactor
broke into his tepee with soft
words that said, Il love you,
brother American, but | will lob,
despoil, deceive and kill you till
your dead lie unhonored and your
living will be rotten with worms. -
We are looking at the Indian
trail of eighty.6ve years ago. 1t
is already bloody-bloody as we'll
with the scarlet Of a reputation
ruthlessly assassinated, as with
the actual blood of battle. The
white man has already demanded
that the Indian give up all right
to the lands that be bas held and
loved for centuries. He has en-
forced that ruthless demand with
the firebrands of warfare. And
then the white man has exemplifed
his civilized logic by crying to the
world that the Indian is bar
barous, treacherous, and uncWil.
ized," because in some instances
the Indian would not be robbed of
his heritage and his home without
a fight.
We are looking at the trail when
most of this is passed, eighty-five
years ago, when many of the In
dians had been confined to reser
vations, and the majority of the
rest lived a semi-nomadic life.
The United States Indian Bureau,
which did then and does now pro
trude like a cancerons growth,
from whatever angle you view the
Indian problem, was in the begin
ming of its existence. Yet it was
optimistically declared to be only
a TEMPORARY agency which would
fit the Indian for place in the
American community in a SINGLE
GENERATION.
Look up the Indian trail two
generations farther. In 1889 the
Indian Bureau, much increased in
power, having imprisoned practi-
cally all the Indians on reserva
tions, is still fitting the Indian for
a place in the American commun-
rity-a place dug out of the mire
of degradation. AT that time the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs
said, in his annual report: The
reservation system belongs to a
state of vanishing things aud must
soon cease to exist"
Yet after thirty-five years the
Indian Bureau has ceased to exist
to such a degree that the appro
priation it got from Congress for
1921-$15, ,346, 108-was more than
three times what it used in 1887.
1t has ceased to exist to such an
extent that by declaring Indians
incompetent" it assumes absolute
control over both their persons
and their property, answerable
only TO Congress that does its
bidding. No system of guardian.
ship ever accepted by enlightened
people has so far tempted a guard
ian that it allowed him to exercise
unregulated Jurisdiction over both
the life and the financial interests
of his ward.
The Indian Bureau, only a single
branch of the Department of the
Interior, has ceased to exist to
such an extent that it has in.
trenched itself with 5,482 employ
es, more than the number en-.
ployed by the entire Department
of State, and more than double the
number in the employ of the
whole Department of Labor. YET
in the actual school force of the
Bureau. wherein lie the truly
great possibilities for rejuvenating
the Indian, there are but 942
workers. The rest fall under the
head of superintendents, super
visors, clerks and any other CLASH
] tication to which a salary can by