Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-17
WOMAN IS EXPERT
ON INDIAN QUERIES
Mrs. Winifred E. Allen in In
terror Department Answers
Numerous Posers.

When Westerner wants to write
a rip-loacing tale. full Of blood and
thunder. of the bad. bold Indian days,
he writes East TO get his information
about the redskins from a Washing
ton woman. Twenty-Five years of as
sociaticn with prmeval Americans
and their welfare have fitted Mrs.
Winifred T.. Allen FOR her task as
librarian for the Bureau of Indian
Affairs Of the Interior Department,
and for 10 years now she has been
answering queries from all quarters
about Indians.
Mrs. Allen finds that interest in the
Indian is increasing steadily, and at
tributes this to the enlarged study
given this subject in the schools and
70 the fact that women's clubs over
the country are taking up this work
Tie majority of the people who write
about Indian matters. seeking infor-
nation, are writer's of fiction and
articles or historians. but the curious
supply their quota. In return for
kindnesses in looking up data. authors
often send the bureau copy of their
work.
posers Are Numerous.
All Imaginable kinds of posers come
In the mails seeking solution, ranging
from legitimate questions to uncover
some fact about Indian life to mere
idle questions to support some vague
theory Some are like this: my uncle,
Sam Doe, had his arm shot off in an
engagement with the Indians some
time in the sos. somewhere in the
West. Can you tell me all about it?"
Contact is maintained with the Blu
reau of American Ethnology in the
Smithsonian Institution so that par
ticularly knotty questions requiring
the answer of a specialist can be re-
ferred. If the question be involved,
or require an extensive answer, the
writer is referred to the home town
library and a special volume. AS
many of the inquirers live in rural
districts without library facilities, a
large amount of letter writing devolves
upon Mrs. Allen.
So much interest in Indian music
has been evidenced among women re-
Gently that Mrs. Allen has gotten out
a small pamphlet, with a photography,
to throw further light on this subject.
Several other pamphlets on various
topics for public distribution have
been prepared.
A veritable mine of Indian lore is
contained in the countless books that
are stacked row on row in the Indian
Office library. Mrs. Allen takes pride
In knowing that original historical
material, dating back to 1924, can be
found in her Office. Created over a
century ago, the Indian Bureau was
with the War Department until estab-
lishment of the Interior Department
in 1S49. These records are available
and contain valuable material
Mrs Allen recalls some of the big
tasks: in research that have been hers
one 10 answer request for infor.
nation about manual training among
the Indians. and another from medi-
cal officer of the Canadian government
seeking data on smallpox among the
American aborigines. These required
days and days of careful reading.
This woman, who stands pre-emi-
nent among. her sex in knowledge of
the Indians, likes the purely historical
aspect of the work best. She delights
in reading good detective stories. and
DeruSes the books ON adventure for
boys which publishers might send. To
her daughter, Peggy, in her teens. she
leaves the reading of books for girls,
dealing particularly with the Indians.
Indians i'm Congress.
One of the questions that crop up
with recurring frequency concerns the
origin of the Indians. Mrs. Allen re-
counts the findings of scientists that
they came from the Phoenicians, the
Ten Lost Tribes of Israel (which is
now pretty well eXpioded'): the Mon
golianss the Egyptians. the Greeks
and from Australasia. Personally. she
thinks that the Indians may represent
different migrations to this continent,
pointing out that in the far North
west the Indian there approximates
. the Monaghan, which is not true of
those along the Atlantic seaboard.
Again the question Of art, she thinks.
may give an index, inasmuch as the
Indian in the East has practically no
art. while in the Southwest it bears
distinctive traces of the Egyptian.
Yet another question that interests
numerous correspondents is il there
are Indians serving in Congress. in
the home Of the Great White Father. >
Mrs. Allen is able TO tell these that
Senator Curtis of Kansas is an en-
rolled member of the Kaw tribe: Rep
resentative Carter of Oklahoma is an
enrolled member of the Chickasaw
tribe and that Representative Hast.
ings of that State is a member of the
Cherokee tribe. Ex-senator Robert L.
Owen of Oklahoma is member of the
Cherokee tribe, also.