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Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN
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J-, 0U5 H. BEAULIEU. Publishet White Earth Agency, Minnesota. Entered at the Postofflce at White Earth, Minn., as mail matter of the second class. SUBSCRIPTION: S1.50 PER YEAR M'ADYAnCl The Chippewas of Minnesota, upon written promises made to them that certain reforms would take place among them, and es pecially upon this reservation, voted the Democratic ticket ven strongly during the last presiden tial election. No reforms what ever have been made, anJ condi tions have grown worse, if any thing, upon this reservation at least. Cato Sells now has \e*- than a year to the next election make good the promises of the national Democratic committee referred to. The forestry reservation in this state contains some of the fines* agricultural land that could be found anywhere, yet it continue** to lay idle for experimental pur poses. The public at large are losers by not being able to enter upon the lands and make farms thereon, but the Chippewas are the greater losers because the land, bout three hun4fed thousand] icres wifti valGaWWeJt$^ thereon, has not been solct under the agreement made with them in 1889. The United States, under the Act of 1889, coded to the Chip pewas of Minnesota all the reser vations they were then occupying, and then created itself a trustee by the same act to sell this land and pine timber for their benefit, but instead of doing this it created the forestry reserve referred to without due compensation to the Indians, and also allowed much pine timber land to be entered un der the homestead and pre emption laws of the Uuited States. The whites are now clamoring to have the lands opened to settlement, and the Chippewas should appeal to Congress to do so. C. Congdon, Sen. Xnute Nelson, and E. E. Smith, Republican na tional committeemen for this state, and a host of others, will be can didates for the nominauon of dele gales at large to the Republican national convention to be held at Chicago this year. Of the per sons above named Mr. Congdon is the best known among the Chip pewas, an acquaintance he formed during his incumbency of the office of assistant United States district attorney for Minnesota twenty-five to thirty-five years ago. During Mr. Congdon's ad ministration he established the custom of prosecuting not Indian* for introducing liquor into Indian reservations, but confined himself to the prosecution of the actual white violaters of the law who sold the liquor to the Indians, but after he resigned from the office the custom was changed. It was also the firm of Billson & Congdon that defended the Leech Lake Pillager Chippewas in 1898, after the Bear Island battle, and for this work they charged the In dians nothing The Chippewas of Minnesota hhould now show their appreciation of Mr. Congdon's friendship to them during iheir time of trouble by voting solidly for him as delegate at large to the Kepuhhcan national convention, next March. S \3 Justice and Fair Dealing for every Indian who desires to become a good Citizen. A: V JUm. THE TOMAHAWK. SENATOR CARROLL PAGE. But MiW isJioTSbe bol -business.! for he is president of the Lamoille County Savings Band & Trust Co., is a director of the Swanton Sav ings Bank & Trust Co., of Swan ton, Vt., and of several lumber and other corporations. He also be irs collegiate honors, for he is an L. L. D. of Norwich Univer sity. Besides being a successful busi ness man Sen. Page has been very prominent iu public affairs in his state besides ha\ing held many other offices, he has been govern or of Vermont. He is, as his pic ture above indicates, a keen, wide awake, fair and conscientious man. Indian mterests will receive fair treatment while Sen. Page is on the Indian committee of the sen ate. Congressmen Who Ap preciate Sioux Sup port. Senator Johnson and Represen tative Gandy,.both of South Da kota, are going to show their ap preciation of the almost unani mous vote cast for them oy the Sioux of their state, by support ing and working for the passage of the Right of Nomination Bill, it is stated, which will give the Indians of this country the right to nominate their own, Indian agents and other employee*. There seems to be no doubt that there will be a vigorous campaign dur ing the present session of Con gress to put through cither this bill, or one which will terminate the Indian office and place the In dians of the various states who re quire it under the supervision of trustees who shall be appointed by judges of the United States dis trict courts, and who shall be re quired to give suitable bonds and amenable to the judges within the districts where the Indians are lo cated over whom these trustees are placed that these trustees will ,r Vol. Xl II. White Earth, Becker County, Minnesota, Thursday, January S. Among the members of the sen ate Indian committee who is al ways on the alert against any schemes from which Indian inter ests might suffer, or fair dealing generally, is Senator Page of Ver mont. Seuator Page is not only a prom inent public man but a successful one in business as well. His fath er was engaged in the hide busi ness as early as 1835, and retired from it for a brief period in 1846 on account of ill health, but sub sequently re-engaged in it. In 1864, Sen. Page, then only twenty one years of age, bought out the business and has remained in it ever since then. to be led into the old rut by some of the subordinates of the office, we are unable to state, but it is charged that one or the other of these two things is the cause of his failure to improve conditions among the Indians. In this con nection the question naturally sug gests itself, is Acting Commission er Merritt deceiving Commission er Sells, or is he unable to control the ring in the Indian service? Mr. Merritt made a statement to the publisher of THE TOMA HAWK two years ago, relative to Supt. Howard, which leads us to believe that he has been unable to control conditions here, and possi bly at all the other reservations from which the Indian office has received complaints, and, there fore, the burden is placed upon Commissioner Sells for not correc ting the causes whiqh have rriade hu administration unpopular, not only with Congress, if our infor mation is true, but likewise with the Indian? of the country. THE TOMAHAWK. be placed in an attitude somewhat different than that of guardians towards minors, and their appoint ments will be made only upon the petitions of the majority of the Indians who may desire them. Information is also received to the effect that the Indian bureau at Washington is even more un popular with Congress than it was during the Valentine administra tion. Whether this is due to the lack of administrative ability on the part of Commissioner Sells, or that he has simply allowed him 6elf Truth before Favor." If thejndjans upon the variousllor ^other purposes. -^freserv*tida throughout tfcV^bun* try, who have been complaining about the superintendents upon their reservations, have as much cause for cVmplaint as those upon this reservation, it would be far better if the Indian office were abolished than that the causes of complaint should continue to ex ist. Not only will the Sioux of South Dakota watch anxiously the efforts of Senator Johnson and Represen tative Gandy to secure the passage of the Right of Nomination Bill, but all the Indians throughout the country will do likewise. Daniels Plays His Last Card. Shades of the Solemn and Lone some Pines! Whare Indian trea ties were negotiated for the pur pose of violation and spoilation. Now in this year of 1916, the same gang, reincarnated, that broke treaties for spoils, raised the ques tion of the validity and constitu tionality of the Clapp Law. Like Alexander of old they weep be cause their fields of conquest are vanishing with the Pines and be cause now the site of their former operations are changing into fer tile fields and cottage homes and they are not wanted and don't de rive so much spoils, but some others get a little benefit, they wash their hands like Pilate of old and feign that they have twings of conscience over the Indians' treatment, but it is hard for this gang to fool the people now that are awake. Tuis same gang of spoilators are of the same links in a crooked system and there has been no change in the least, but only A clumsy attempt to disguise their wolfish apparel. Now they want to shed their responsibility like a rattlesnake creeping out of its skin. Can they do it? A thousand times NO.Mahnomen Free Press. Secretary Lane May Be Appointed Supreme Court Justice. Secretary Lane has been men tioned by the public press as the probable successor of Justice La mar of the Supreme Court of the United States who died recently. No better appointment could be made for United States Supreme Court Justice than Secretary Lane, and we believe we voice the senti ments of the Indians of the coun try/when we say we hope he will receive the appointment although for selfish motives they would probably prefer to have him re main as secretary of the interior as he has made a remarkably good official in behalf of Indian inter ests. The Minneapolis Tribune of last Friday suggests the name of Ex President Taft as the successor to Justice Lamar, and states that the country would be pleased with his appointment. The country repu diated Mr. Taft for president in uncertain terras, and why should his appointment as Supreme Court Justice now please it? It is not believed it would. A Bill Creating a commission to enroll the Indians into two classes, and tContinued frfl^UaiJsstwU FoJitictJly speaking, when we J. C/ C/ refer to status, Indians can only be, either, citizens or not citizens If they are citizens their status is fix MI by the Constitution of the United States. There can be no dispute cr question as to their rights, privileges and immunities as such citizens. It is only when the Indians are not citizens of the United States or as the courts have it "are domestic subjects," that any question arises or confus ion prevails in reference to their status or when, as the platform of the Society of American Indians declares, "the Indian has no defi nite or assured status in the Na tion, does not know who he is and what his duties or privileges *ue." The general allotment act of February 8, 1887, by Section six thereof, accorded citizenship to the allottees* and Indians adopting civilized life in the following Ian guage: *'That upon the completion of said allotments and the patenting of the lands to said allottees, each and every member of the respec tive bands or, tribes of Indians to whom allotments have been made shall have the benefit of and be subject to the laws, both civil and criminal, of the State or Territory in which they may reside and no Territory shall pass or enforce any law denying any such Indian within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law. And every Indian born within the territorial limits of the United State* to whom allotments shall have been made under the provisions of this Come in and look over our line of CORSETS" they are sure to please. Published in behalf of, and to secure the welfare of the IndianBsfijthalkDited States. act, or under a*y law or treaty, %toripttu1*-*l*l +A&9* born thm the terr.tor.al territorial limits of the United (Continued on 8th. Page.) We are Headquarters for the GOTZIAN SHOE For Hen and Women Fairbanks Company States who has voluntarily taken up, within said limits, his resi dence separate and apart from any tribe or Indians therein, and has adopted the habits of civilized life, and every Indian in Indian Territory is hereby declared to be a citizen of the United States, and is entitled to all the rights privi leges, and immunities of such citi zens, whether said Indian has bepn or not, by birth or otherwise, a member of any tribe of Indians within the territorial limits of the Uuited States without in any man ner impairing or otherwise affec ting the right ot any such Indian to tribal or other property. (24 Stat. L. 390)." Under this act as originally parsed, the lands and reservations of a great many of the Indian tribes of the United Stites were allotted to the members thereof and made citizens. But by the act of May 8, 1906, the above section was amended as to defer citizenship to the end of the trust period in the follow ing language: Sec. 6. That at the expiration of the trust period and when the land? have been conveyed to the Indians by patent in fee, as pro vided in section five of this act, then each and every allottee shall have the benefit of and lie subject tc the laws, both civil and crimin al, of the Stato or Territory in which they may reside and no Territory shall pass or enforce any law denying any such Indian within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law. And every Minnesota. StL