The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1939-08-07

'ured herself that we weren't
zone was hunting for, she was
search Of interesting subjects. II
was a tiny place with two stores,
where there was room for only one,
and postoffice. The rest Of II was
made up of government employees
houses and the shacks OF the In
dams. Evidently this particular
reservation headquarters was not
one of the pets of the district head
quarters office. for the whole town
had somewhat the appearance of
being run down. True. there were
a new hospital and a new Indian
school, but most of the other build
ings were badly in need OF repair
and nothing seemed TO be done
about it. The Indians. unable or
untitled to make a living off the
land, had their shacks scattered
about the edge of the town. Some
of them were tiny, but rather neat,
taxpayer houses, while others were
just wall tents. falling apart from
mildew and rot. Some, scattered
about in the woods OF the bottom
land, were mere novels made up
of framework covered with will
low saplings.
Most of the Indians do little work
but live on their allowance from
the government. There isn't any,
thing for them to do. Though their
allowance is small and they some
times have rather large families
to support, many Of them sink al
most all Of il into radio or a car,
or both. Parked outside Of one of
the shacks we saw brand-new
1889 model car in the thousand
dollar price range.
Argument Follows
Sometime later when Bob visited
the missionary and was shown
about the tiny museum by Mrs.
Missionary, he brought up that
point and promptly found himself
in an argument. The lady is an
avid Indian fan and feels that the
red man should have everything
that money can buy. whether they
can afford it or not. Bob's ques-
ton was merely in search Of infor-
nation. but when exception was
taken to 1t he brought out several
other points concerning the plains
Indian which he had picked up
from historians, both official and
otherwise, along the way. 1t
would have been an interesting
and Informative discussion, IL the
lady had not lost her temper when
few saliant facts were brought
into the case.
We have found this tendency all
along the line with students OF
Indian culture. Several times we
have tangled with minor authori-
ties on just such points Of culture
and almost invariably they either
fold up or get mad when facts are
brought in. AS a result, instead
of learning the things We really
wanted TO know. both sides go off
"half-cocked" and no one learns
anything. We don't put ourselves
up as authorities. In fact, we are
very ignorant of most OF the In
dian culture, but in our knocking
about we have picked up some
first-hand facts from recognized
historians and snthropologists. and
/ idealists. who refuse 10 recognize
them. ar. hardly fitted for infor-
native lectures on Indian culture.
Heavy Winds Continue
Back at the farm after that
stormy morning. Louise felt re-
freshed and ready to go, but the
wind was still much too strong for
US to make any progress. Seas
washing into the bank where the
canoe was lying called for us TO
make a periodic inspection of the
spot, for heavy seas will wash al
most as much bank away a. the
current. Twice We moved the
canoe to safer ground and even
moored with an extra rope. just in
case the whole bank went down.
The pigs were a constant source Of
worry, too, for II was impossible
to keep them away from the boat.
The smaller ones merely shifted
and grunted around this intruder
on their runway, but the old sows
tried TO push it out Of the way.
These huge hogs are unbelieyably
strong, and had we not put on
the two strong mooring ropes, they
would have undoubtedly pushed IL
into the river.
In an effort to teach them that
the spot was unhealthy, Bob and
Louise spent some time down on
the landing hurting big CHUNKS Of
soft mud at the sows as they came
within range. That turned out "a
be a bad idea. The clods didn't hurt
the pigs any. but eyerytime one
was hit II let out grunt and a
squeal. That was a signal for al
the rest TO hurry over and see whs,
the excitement was about. Before
long the whole herd, or flock, OF
|lW Lax! LAKE