Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

Shawnees, 89 Iowas, 346 Mexican Kickapoos, 550 Pottawatomies, 457 Sac and Foxes, 580 other tribes.

The different nations comprising the Union Agency and commonly called the "five civilized tribes" have each regular constitutional governments. The legislative power, called the national council, consists of a senate and house of representatives which exercises the usual functions of State legislatures. The supreme executive power is vested in a chief elected by the people and who has the same authority as governor of a State. The judiciary consists of one supreme court, three circuit courts, nine district courts. The school system is very complete. The Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Moravians, Episcopalians and Catholics have missions among them.

Dr. Timothy Hill writes: "The tribes of the five nations, Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks and Seminoles, may be called Christians. These tribes are not wasting away, but are increasing, some of them are increasing rapidly. Leaving the five nations, we find a mingled class of broken remnants of other Indian nations, some of whom are civilized and educated, but the greater part are Pagans, almost within sound of the church bells in which we worship. There are some 15,000 of these people left to grope their dark way."

In the Cheyenne Agency are 3 missionaries and 102 Indian church members In the Kiowa Agency are 208 Indian church members and 1 church building. In the Osage Agency is one church building. In the Ponca Agency are 3 missionaries and 2 Indian church members. In the Quapaw Agency are 9 missionaries, 213 Indian church members and 3 church buildings. In the Sac and Fox Agency are 3 missionaries, 56 Indian church members and 2 church buildings.

The missionaries in the Cheyenne Agency are Mennonites, and the Indian Agent reports that "They are the most earnest workers I ever saw engaged in missionary work."

The Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions reports in its Creek Mission 3 ordained missionaries, I ordained native, licentiate, 3 churches, 178 communicants, 2 male and 8 female missionary teachers, 3 boarding schools with 190 pupils. The boarding school at Wealaka has 100 pupils, and the superintendent says "A more contented, happier, better-behaved company of children I have never seen. They study well, work well, and play with a vim." The Seminole mission reports I ordained missionary, 2 ordained native ministers, 2 licentiates, 2 male and 6 female missionary teachers, 9 native teachers, 2 churches with 65 communicants, 45 boys and 18 girls in boarding school. The Choctaw Mission has had one ordained minister and his wife in charge of Spencer Academy, a high school for boys, with from 80 to 100 pupils, but the school has this fall passed into the control of the tribe.

The Agent of the Ponca Agency reports: "The Ladies' Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church has recently placed a missionary in this field in the person of Mrs. Gaddes, who seems in

every way fitted for this important work. The Society proposes to erect a building and make this a permanent missionary station."

The Agent of the Cheyenne Agency says: "These Indians are a religious people in their way, and do not seem to doubt the immortality of man. A strange sight is their medicine dance. A number of braves enter the medicine lodge their bodies naked from their waist up. They gash their arms and legs, and pierce holes in their chests, pass ropes through the holes and suspend themselves from the center of the lodge until their struggling tears the flesh loose. They dance day and night without food and water until exhausted."

The Indian Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, reports 4,850 Indian church members. In Iowa are 380 Sac and Fox Indians in the Sac and Fox Agency. There are two teachers among them of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions.

In KANSAS the Pottawatomie and Great Nehama Agency reports 966 Indians and 305 of mixed blood. There are 76 Chippewas and Munsees, 138 Iowas, 235 Kickapoos, 430 Pottawatomies and 87 Sacs and Foxes. There are 2 missionaries, 215 Indian church members and 2 church buildings.

The Indian Agent reports of Pottawatomies that many have an intense devotion to a religious dance they seem to have adopted as a means of expressing their belief in the justice and mercy of the Great Spirit, and of their devotion to him, and are earnest in their convictions as to its affording them eternal happiness.

The Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions reports one missionary and his wife and 20 members. The Moravian Church has also a mission among them.

In MAINE are 410 Oldtown Indians.

MICHIGAN has 9,572 Indians and 5,700 of mixed blood. They are in the Mackinac Agency, and there are 9.500 Chippewas and Ottawas, and 72 Pottawatomies.

There are 4 church buildings and 3,000 Indian church members.

MINNESOTA has 5,885 Indians and 820 of mixed blood. They are in the White Earth Agency and about two-thirds are Chippewas and the others Pillagers.

There are 8 missionaries, 1,480 Indian church members and 12 church buildings. The Protestant Episcopal Church has extensive missions among them.

MONTANA has 12,642 Indians and 421 of mixed blood. In the Blackfeet Agency are 2,000 Blackfeets, Bloods, and Piegans; Crow Agency, 3,870 Crows and Cheyennes; Flathead Agency, 450 Flatheads, 480 Kootenais, 886 Pend d' Oreilles; Fort Belknap Agency, 700 Assinaboines, 852 Gros Ventres; Fort Peck Agency, 1,072 Assinaboines, 2,332 Yanktons.

In the Flathead Agency are 1 missionary, 1,650 Indian church members and 1 church building. In the Fort Peck Agency are 1 missionary, an excellent Industrial Boarding School, and 38 Indian church members, under the direction of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

The Agent of the Crow Indians reports: "During the

four years I have been in charge of this Agency no missionary work has been done on this Reservation. There is a large field of labor for those persons who feel they are called to do this particular kind of work, but I canI do not not say it is a very inviting field to labor in. think there is any Crow Indian who feels that he needs to be saved. Still I think some attempt should be made to occupy the field."

The Agent of the Fort Belknap Agency says: "Nothing has been done toward giving religious instruction to our Indians, and not much can be done until they have been taught in the schools and have enough to eat. They will not take much stock in the white man's religion while their stomachs are empty."

NEBRASKA has 3,566 Indians and 770 of mixed blood. In Santee and Flandreau Agency are 178 Poncas and 1,086 Sioux. In Omaha and Winnebago Agency are 1,188 Omahas and 1,214 Winnebagos.

There are 7 missionaries, 367 Indian church members and 5 church buildings in the Santee Agency, and 3 missionaries, 85 Indian church members and 1 church building in the Omaha and Winnebago Agency.

The Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions reports among the Winnebagos one missionary and his wife, and among the Omahas 2 male missionaries and their wives, and 3 female missionaries, 61 communicants, 54 scholars in the girls' boarding school. "In hardly any other Indian mission has there been more marked proofs of evangelizing labors resulting in civilizing the character and the industry of the people."

Among the Santees the Protestant Episcopal Mission has three churches and two schools. The American Missionary Association has a large Normal school and 210 pupils, of whom 20 are students of theology.

NEVADA has 7,357 Indians and 9 of mixed blood. In the Nevada Agency are 3,600 Pah-Utes, 157 Pi-Utes; Western Shoshone Agency, 300 Western Shoshones, 3,300 wandering Indians.

Some mission work is being done by the Baptists in the Nevada Agency.

NEW MEXICO has 32,087 Indians and 75 of mixed blood. In the Pueblo Agency are 7,762 Pueblos; Navajo Agency 21,003 Navajos, 2,139 Moquis Pueblos ; Mescalero Agency, 462 Mescalero Apaches, 721 Jicarilla Apaches.

In the Pueblo Agency are 19 church buildings and 7,762 Indian members belonging to the Roman Catholic Church.

"The Mescaleros have five gods, or Great Spirits. They believe that their medicine men hold direct communication with these spirits. No missionary has taken up his abode among them."

In NEW YORK are 4,970 Indians and 2,890 of mixed blood. They are all in the New York Agency. On the Allegany Reserve are 856 Senecas, 79 Onondagas, 4 Tonawandas; Cattaraugus Reserve, 1,303 Senecas, 49 Onondagas, 151 Cayugas, 9 Tonawandas; Oneida Reserve, 170 Oneidas; Onondaga Reserve, 298 Onondagas, 73

Oneidas; Saint Regis Reserve, 944 Saint Regis; Tonawanda Reserve, 539 Tonawandas, 22 Cayugas, 20 Cattaraugus; Tuscarora Reserve, 414 Tuscaroras, 39 Onondagas.

In the Allegany Reserve are 100 Indian church members. In the Cattaraugus Reserve are 1 missionary and 150 Indian church members. Among the Oneidas are 1 missionary, 60 Indian church members, and 2 church buildings. In the Onondaga Reserve are 112 Indian church members and 2 church buildings. Among the Saint Regis Indians are 65 Indian church members and 1 church building. In the Tonawanda Reserve are 22 Indian church members and 2 church buildings. In the Tuscarora Reserve are 104 Indian church members and 2 church buildings. The Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions reports in the Seneca Mission 2 ordained missionaries, 4 churches and 269 communicants.

NORTH CAROLINA has 3,000 Indians belonging to the Eastern band of Cherokees. They are civilized and industrious. The Methodists, Baptists and Friends are carrying on missionary work among them with good success, many of the band being members of these churches. In OREGON are 5,119 Indians and 199 of mixed blood. In Grande Ronde Agency are 33 Clackamas, 86 Rogue Rivers, 121 Umpquas, 516 remnants of other tribes; Klamath Agency, 763 Klamaths and Modocs, 156 Snakes; Siletz Agency, 907 of 18 different tribes; Umatilla Agency, 240 Walla Wallas, 340 Cayuses, 150 Umatillas; Warm Spring Agency, 396 Warm Springs, 235 Wascos, 70 Teninos, 61 John Days, 69 Pi-Utes. There are also 800 Indians not under an agent.

In the Grande Ronde Agency are 3 missionaries, 756 Indian church members and 2 church buildings. In the Klamath Agency are 260 Indian church members and 1 church building. In the Siletz Agency are 15 Indian church members. In the Umatilla Agency are 1 missionary, 506 Indian church members and 2 church buildings. In the Warm Spring Agency are 1 missionary, 62 Indian church members and 1 church building.

The Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions reports at Umatilla one native missionary. The Roman Catholics have a boarding school and a priest in the Grande Ronde Agency. The Methodist Episcopal Church has two missionaries in the Klamath Agency. The United Presbyterian Church supports one missionary in the Warm Spring Agency.

TEXAS has 290 Alabamas, Cushattas, and Muskokees. In UTAH are 2,664 Indians and 10 of mixed blood. In the Ouray Agency are 1,252 Utes; Uintah Valley Agency, 508 Uintah Utes, 514 White River Utes. There are 134 Pah-Vants and 256 Goship-Utes not under an agent.

In the Uintah Valley Agency are 380 Indian church members. The Agent of the Ouray Agency reports: “There has been no missionary work done among these Indians since the establishment of the agency except by the Mormons."

In Washington Territory are 10,942 Indians and 165

of mixed blood. In the Colville Agency are 600 Colvilles, 295 Lakes, 300 O'Kanagans, 350 San Puells, 315 Methows, 792 Spokanes, 434 Calispels, 442 Cœur d'Alénes, 150 Nez Percés; Neah Bay Agency, 523 Makahs, 253 Quillehutes; Quinaielt Agency, 61 Hohs, 85 Queets, 102 Quinaielts, 5 Chepalis, 35 Oyhuts, 16 Humptulips, 16 Hoquiams, 16 Montesanos, 12 Satsops, 71 Georgetowns; Nisqually and S'Kokomish Agency, 560 Puyallups, 190 Chehalis, 180 Nisquallys, 120 Squaxins, 380 S'Klallams, 201 S'Kokomish; Tulalip Agency, 467 Tulalips, 142 Madisons, 85 Muckleshoots, 222 Swinomish, 248 Lummis; Yakama Agency, 1,272 Yakamas, Klickitats and Topnish, also 2,000 Yakamas not on Reserve.

The Roman Catholics have prosperous missions in several of the agencies. The American Missionary Association reports in the S'Kokomish Agency 49 church members.

WISCONSIN has 7,902 Indians and 2,021 of mixed blood. In the Green Bay Agency are 1,595 Oneidas, 133 Stockbridges, 1,308 Menomonees; La Pointe Agency, 3,656 Chippewas. Also 930 Winnebagos and 280 Pottawatomies not under an agent.

The Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions reports. in its Lake Superior Chippewa Mission 2 ordained missionaries, I ordained native, 1 licentiate, 3 female missionary teachers, I church, 73 communicants, 53 pupils in boarding and day schools. "The work is attended with much discouragement, as these Indians, like all other branches of the Chippewas, and, indeed, nearly all the scattered fragments of our aboriginal tribes, have been disheartened, and rendered unimpressible, often morose and sullen, by the abuses which they have suffered at the hands of the Government and of white settlers."

The Roman Catholics report among the Menomonees 2 churches and a boarding school, and the La Pointe Agency one church and 2 schools.

WYOMING has 1,841 Indians and 15 of mixed blood. They are in the Shoshone Agency where there are 870 Shoshone and 971 Northern Arapahoes.

There are 3 missionaries, I church, 1 Indian church member. The mission work is under the direction of the Protestant Episcopal and Roman Catholic Churches.

SCHOOLS. The United States Indian School Superintendent reports that for the year closing June 30, 1885, there were $887,276 02 expended by the Government for Indian education in supporting 200 schools which had an average attendance of 8,143.17. These amounts were supplemented by contributions from religious societies and others. There were 84 boarding schools and 86 day schools under agency supervision, 7 training schools and 23 other schools in States and Territories.

A mission boarding school with an average attendance of 35 pupils is maintained by the Friends on the Allegany Reservation in New York, at an expense of $4,000 per year; and the Roman Catholics have a mission boarding school, with an average attendance of 35

pupils, on the Pottawatomie Reservation in the Indian Territory.

The Indian Boarding School at Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been conducted by the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church, but commencing this fall is conducted by the Government.

A successful school is being conducted at Cherokee, Swain Co., N. C., under a contract with B. C. Hobbs of the Society of Friends.

New York State furnishes 27 public schools which have an attendance of 563 Indian pupils. An Indian orphan asylum, supported by the State, has an average

of 86 inmates.

At a cost of $9,382, religious societies have maintained 31 mission day schools with an average attendance of 452 pupils, in the following Agencies: Cheyenne River, Dakota, American Missionary Association, 8 schools; Devil's Lake, Dakota, Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, 2 schools; Fort Berthold, Dakota, American Missionary Association, I school; Fort Peck, Montana, Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, 3 schools; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Roman Catholic Church, 1 school; La Pointe, Wisconsin, Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, 2 schools, and Roman Catholic Church, 4 schools; New York, Protestant Episcopal Church, I school; Nez Percé, Idaho, Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, 2 schools; Pottawatomie, Kansas, Moravians, 1 school; Rosebud, Dakota, Protestant Episcopal Church, 3 schools; Santee, Nebraska, American Missionary Association, I school; Yankton, Dakota,

Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, I school.

These are all supported without Government assistance.

There are outside of the Union Agency-the agency of the five civilized tribes of the Indian Territory, 261 Indian schools. Of these 200 are boarding and day schools, supported in whole or in part by the Government, 28 are boarding and day schools supported by the State of New York, and 33 are boarding and day schools supported by religious societies. These all have an average attendance of 9,314 pupils.

The seven Indian training schools report as follows: Carlisle, at Carlisle, Pa., 38 employés, 475 pupils, cost last year, $79,852; Chilocco, at Chilocco, Indian Territory, 26 employés, 152 pupils, cost, $33,000; Forest Grove, lately removed to Salem, Oregon, 25 employés, 189 pupils, cost, $33,160; Genoa, at Genoa, Nebraska, 24 employés, 86 pupils, cost, $27,434; Hampton, at Hampton Va., 119 pupils, cost, $20,944.93; Haskell, at Lawrence, Kansas, 34 employés, 240 pupils, cost, $51,408.65; Lincoln, at Philadelphia, Pa., 163 pupils, cost, $27,254.46. The total annual cost to the Government amounts to $273,054.04.

Dr. M. E. Gates, writes: "Appropriations for Indians should be rapidly decreased along all lines that lead to pauperism, and increased along all lines that tend toward educated self-support. Guard the rights of the Indian, but for his own good break up his reservations."

[graphic][merged small][subsumed]

Relation of the United States Government to the Indians.

By Pres. Jas. E. Rhoads of Bryn Mawr College, Pa.

When the United States first formed a government, the right of the Indians to the territory they held was recognized, and treaties for the cession of land or for the assignment of Reservations for their use seemed to imply that the Indians owned the land in fee simple.

But the courts now hold that except when Indians have had lands confirmed to them by a distinct treaty they have a right of occupancy only, and not a fee simple title. For a long time our Government made treaties with the Indians as if they were inferior and weak yet independent nations. But since 1872 Congress has forbidden the formation of treaties with them, and all agreements now made with bands or tribes are in the form of laws.

All of Pennsylvania and many other large tracts of land have been bought of the Indians, but much of it has been obtained by violence or fraud. At the present time the Indians hold a peculiar and anomalous relation to the Government; being neither citizens nor foreigners they are sometimes called its wards.

The 260,000 Indians, exclusive of those in Alaska, occupy about 143,000,000 acres of land, most of it lying west of the Mississippi. Of this vast domain, however, only 17,000,000 acres are tillable; the rest is fit for pasturage only, if good for anything. This land is held by This land is held by original occupation, by treaty cession, or by Executive orders whereby certain tracts are set apart for the use of particular tribes by order of the President. If the Indians would make an intelligent use of their lands many of them might become rich, yet it must be admitted that too often when Indians have brought land under good cultivation it has been cruelly taken away by white invaders.

With certain exceptions, Indian Reservations ought to be surveyed, their boundaries defined, and then they should be laid out in sections, except in the case of some sterile districts which can be used only for herding. Every Indian willing to do so, and all who are fit should be strongly urged to it, should be induced to select a portion of land as his own, should receive a certificate of allotment for it from the Government and at a specified period have a clear patent for it. Such Indians should have every proper aid to cultivate the land and derive a profit from it. The remainder of the lands should be held as a reserve for grazing cattle upon, for allotment to the children should the tribe increase, and for sale to the United States at a just price when the Indians are consenting to it.

The Indians should have their personal safety secured and their property defended against trespass or robbery just as fully as if they were citizens. A clause in the Indian appropriation bill for 1855, places the Indians under the laws of the United States to some extent, so

that an Indian who injures or murders another can now be tried for the offense before a United States court. A comprehensive bill like that known as the "Coke Bill," regulating these questions of land and law ought to be passed by Congress. Citizenship should only be conferred upon Indians who are fully prepared for it. All the Indians are now peaceable and likely to remain so, except a few Apaches, whose leader, Geronimo, has just surrendered to General Miles.

Be

Congress appropriated this year about $5,500,000 for the Indian service. Most of this is simply interest due, or payment in food, clothing and education, for lands ceded to us by them. Under the President, the Secretary of the Interior through his subordinate, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, directs the expenditure of these funds and all matters touching the Indians. sides these officials at Washington there are about sixty Indian Agents. These are officers resident among the Indians, each having one or more tribes under his supervision. The Department of the Interior purchases all supplies, ships them to the railway terminus nearest the Agency for which they are designed, issues orders for the regulation of the Agents, protects the legal and property rights of the Indians, carries into effect the laws against the sale of intoxicants to them or against intrusion upon their lands, and establishes "Courts of Indian Offenses" governed by rules of its own devising. The Agent lives among his Indians, receives all supplies and certifies to their correctness, has his Indians to haul them from the railroad to the Agency, distributes them according to regulations and takes receipts for all expenditures. He must gain and hold the confidence of his Indians, advise them, urge them to work, help them to do so, distribute implements to them, see that they are dealt with fairly by the traders, make a census of them yearly, induce them to send their children to school, plan the school buildings, make contracts for their erection, select the teachers and see that they do their duty. He must organize a police force of his Indians and by their help administer the "Court of Indian Offenses." He must struggle with fraudulent contractors, bear with the petulance and ignorance of his Indians and their unwillingness to be civilized, keep complicated accounts, suffer the malignity of whites and Indians who hate Indian progress, and finally, perhaps be sued before a United States court, if his explanation of his honest expenditure of Government funds does not satisfy the Treasury clerks.

As rapidly as it can be safely done, the food and clothing supplied to the Indians should be withdrawn, and the funds applied to other and more effective measures for their civilization, as the education of the children, the purchase of stock cattle or of implements, and the improvement of their homes.

There are about 50,000 Indian youth who ought to be in school. Of these about 20,000 will have been in school at least one month of this fiscal year. The Government should press on until all these youth receive a

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »