The Tomahawk. [volume] (White Earth, Becker County, Minn.) 1903-192?, 1925-04-02
"A Different View Of tho
Chippewas' Distress. ="

Under the above caption. the
Waubun Forum, of Friday, March
Goth, devotes about a column and
a half under a spread head to q
communication from one L. E.
Dayton, manager of the Scher-
merhorn ranch near Beaulieu, in
which the writer criticises Mrs.
E. M. Moran and Miss Elizabeth
Chute of Minneapolis, representa-
tives of the Minneapolis Indian
Relief Committee who made an
exhaustive investigation of condi-
tions on this reservation last win
ter, for the nature of their report
on conditions as they found them.
Mr.. Dayton seems to be under
the impression that because be
was unable to secure Indianssto d.
the work he claims to have had so
much of, that the Chippewas as
whole must suffer. He states,
among other things, that there is
more suffering in the Twin Cities
than there is among the Chippe.
was. Perhaps that is so. but if it
is, the sufferers in the Twin Cities
have no huge tribal fund that
should be used to quiet suffering
among them, if they did have such
fund we venture that they would
be more successful in obtaining
relief from it than the Chippewas
have been, as the white man in
America, no matter of what race,
is not treated that way, it is only
the lndian-the only genuine and
original American, who is COM
pelled to submit to this tyranny
which is only one sample handed
out by the Indian Bureau. There
are always those in any commuui.
ty who shy from work, but that is
no excuse for deriding the Chip.
pcwas as whole and giving the
impression that there is no suffer-
ing among them. Such commune
cations as the one given such
prominence in the Wabun Forum
if they come from Superintendent
Wadsworth of the Cass Lake
Agency, denying that there is any
suffering or hardships among the
Chippewa people, is to be expect
ed, that is his business-uphol1ing
the Indian Bureau in its policy in
dealing with the Indians, no mat
ter what that policy may be. But
it is entirely outside scope of Mr..
Dayton's duties as manager of the
Schermerhorn ranch" to meddle
in the affairs of the Chippewas III
any way, he is outside bis pasture.
The Mahnomen Pioneer also
sees inert in the communications
of Dayton, Wadsworth, and others
in that it publishes comment on
the activities of these parties with
out giving the Indians side of the
question, on which do doubt they
are well informed. 1t is only fair
to the Pioneer, however, to say
that it publishes a notation that
Rev. G. H. Beaulieu, of LIE Sueur,
Minn., takes up the cudgel in
defense of the Indians.
1t is to be 'deplored, but it is
nevertheless a fact. chat there are
newspapers in the Indian country,
and the Waubun Forum is one of
them who, Notwithstanding that
large percentage of their popula
tion are persons Of Indian blood,
and that the merchants in these
towns reap a rich harvest when |
the Indians are fortunate enough
to receive a per capita payment,
who will seldom, if ever devote
any space to aiding the Indians in
any way or champion any effort
that may be made::to relieve suffer
ing among them. But on the
contrary they will devote unlimited
space to publishing the foolish
dribble of some sore-head who
little or nothing about Chippewa
Indian matters. From close as.