Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-08
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

! which Injuns miss out on Indians
know their God in the clouds and in the
winds. even as did the biblical prophets,
who never heard of eleCtrons.
But last week another great scientist
was installed as president of that Eng
llsh scientific organization, which holds
no Indians, and he shows beyond a
doubt that science can prove that there
IS q soul.
In the meanwhile, the Indian, all the
time, has seen God in clouds and heard
Him in the wind and never stopped TO
wander down SunbeamS or to lose him.
self in the Milky Way. seeking the Gre
ator OF the Happy Hunting Ground and
the stars of the heavens.
x y
OF course. it must not be inferred
that because SCnle indians have become
wealthy through striking OIL all are so
we'll provided. Last year ii required of
Cove. nment rations not less than $751;
600 TO keep the Indian body and soul
together.
1t is the Osages who are lucky. Some
years ago the Usage tribe bought from
the CherokeeS vast acreage, tor which
they paid SIPS an acre. That now proves
to be rich oil land. Some of the Osages
have taken allotments of it, but they
get only surface rights; the profits from
The oil go to the general tribe, and
the annual shares per capita amount 10
about $4,000. Some families have in
comes exceeding 100000 year. 10,
the poor Indiani''
But oil is not the only source of
wealth for poor "Lo" Thousands of the
Indians have so grown in salf-depend-
ence that they have abandoned tribal
relations and set up as farmers and
stock raiSers, with the advantage of the
training they received at Federal farm
schools. Eighty-five per cent of the
Five Civilized Tribes have thus become
independent and self-supporting. and
5ooOO others have done likewise These
own 100000 horses, 100000 cattle and
$4,000 sheep. About 1880 of them
are farming $4,000 acres. and 3l,725
are using 20000,G00 acres for pasturaee.
Forty thousand families borrowed from
the Government $4,693,000 to set up in
business ION their own" and they have
repaid $3.3l0,514. The Government al
lows them six years to pay loans gotten
10 BUY live stock and four years for
otner loans. Now they have organized
themselves into farm clubs and are TAX
ing their full share of prizes at the To-
cal fairs
When an official of the Indian Bureau
was asked why 1t was that, as new gem
eratlCnS of Indians came. it was still
necessary that they should continue to
be Government wards; why should thew
not be educated to become self-reIiant
now that they have full rights as citi-
Gems? MS reply was that their ancestral
haDitS mad been in hunting and fishing.
ana only in one century had there ever
oeeI an effort to give them the ciyiliza-
Ton which We whites have developed
through thousands of years.
while the progress made toward the
arts OF civilization i'll one century have
Deen very encouraging it NAV not he
forgotten that the training of the cen
turtles in the art of fighting came not
amlSS within the last decade. during
the World War. when 10000 served in
our Army and 1900 in the NAVY.
We have heard much of the Kentucky
white man, who. glehanded. captured
$50 Germans, after shooting down some
20 or 80. Brave hero! But here is the
story of one Indiana full-blooded
Choctaw, named Joseph OkIahombi,
private of Co. ID, 14lSt Infantry; HON.
In Bismarck, Okla.
This is a translation into English of
the official French grounds for award
ing this private the Croix de Guerre:
Under violent barrage, dashed to
the attack OF an enemy position, cover
ing about 2l0 yards through barbed-
wire entanglemcntS. He rushed on ma
chine gun nests capturing III prisoners
He stormcd a strongly held position
more than 80 machine guns
and a number of trench mortars
Turned the captured guns on the enemy
and held the position for four days, in
spite of constant barrage of large
Droiectiles and of gas shells. Crossed
no mans land many times to get in
concerning the enemy and to
assist his wounded comrades"
For once the Germans would have
agreed with Gen. Sheridan, who de
nlared, THE only good Indian / ever
saw was dead" But Oklahombi was
very much alive. and so are the 350.O00
Indians now made vote casters for Chief
White Father of America. Long may
hey live!
(CopyriEht A92s. by Paul v. CoIlins1