Glacier County chief., 1939-12-01

bitter of peace and war;" he said. After
cine men was the principal cause OF
the Indian wars extending over many
years, Captain Butler wrote:
TO this day, the warriors must stay
their arms until the medicine man de-
cides for war by pronouncing the
medicine good The medicine man has
this advantage over the chief, that
while the latter must wait for his sane
ton, he can raise war party at any
time. He is. therefore, potent factor
in the problems of Indian politics.
Like his own gods he can be placated
by gifts. His lodge is generally kept
full Of meat. and he is used by ambi-
tious chiefs and young men to further
their plans for advancement, and
counteract those of their rivals.
The medicine men are naturally
opposed to schools for the Indian
children. Education and enlightenment
would put an end to their occupation.
education and civilization of their
people. They know that the result Is
sure to be the solution of tribal unity.
Severalty of possession of the land and
the consequent destruction of their
authority.
The tribal system is the basis of an
aristocracy, and its abrogation reduces
them from the position of leaders to
the common level.
They will be found arrayed against
the partition of the land. as they have
always opposed per capita payments of
annuities and commended for their pay
ment in gross to themselves as repre-
sentatives of their tribe"
At this point in the essay Captain
Butler turns to discussion of a sit
uation which was prominent in the
public mind during the late seventies
and early eighties.
mo doubt" continues Captain But
Ter. there have been dishonest Off
cials and greedy traders who have re-
funds appropriated for Indian uses, but
the robes of their own people are far
from SpotleSS in such matters. 1t is
known that in cases where annuities
were paid to the chiefs, not more than
10 percent of the amount received by
them reached the profane vulgar of
the tribe. Traders probably received a
good portion Of the 80 percent. but as
the chiefs were the disbursers, it Is
fair to assume that they had the
chiefs share-which no doubt was
also the lions"
Helped Destroy Buffalo
1t is apparent from Captain Buffers
essay that the medicine men, besides
welding a powerful influence, were
also cognizant of a developing situa-
ton in which white men were pressing
against them for possession of their
hunting grounds. The Indians were
attracted to the advantages gained
through trading with, palefaces and
became destroyerS of the buffalo.
When a market for furs was Gre
ated by the settlement of the country
the Indians had an additional incen-
tive to the pursuit of the chase They
discovered that they had a money
making business which enabled them
to indulge their appetites for articles
of foreign production. The introduc-
ton of firearms increased their de-
structive power, and the slaughter of
fur-bearing animals was unremitting
Indians have killed hundreds of thou
sands of buffalo for the robes in sea-
sons when the flesh was not good
for food" he wrote.
1t was when the bearing animals
began to disappear that the Indians
cupidity and improvidence sacrificed
his supply of food, and his squaws and
children starved in the winter Land
Indian"
Out of this situation wherein was
created uncertainty and confusion. the
influential medicine men began to re-
wise their philosophy. Labor was de-
graduation to the Indian. The supply
of trinketS and firewater brought in
by white traders was ineXhaustible
but as the hunting grounds of the In
dams became exhausted they tres
passed on the grounds of other tribes,
thus exciting intertribal wars, bloody,
cruel. relentless and interminable. Or |
he moved further into the wilderness,
and. If he were strong enough, boldly |
invaded the territory of other tribes, |
dispossessed them by force and occu-
pied their country.
MANY and bitter complaints have |
been made by the American half |
breeds Of the Red river country of the
destruction of the buffalo on the |
American side of the line by British
Indians and haH-breeds who hunted
on our territory in the spring and fall.
The British half-breeds killed from
SO 900 to $1,000 buffalo In a season on
United States territory.
From the Red river of the north