Newspaper Page Text
VOLUME VI
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TO THE MEN OF AMERICA
(By Rose Trumbull, Scofctsdale, Arizona)
You talk of your breed of cattle,
And plan for a higher strain,
You double the food of the pasture,
You heap up the measure of grain
You draw on the wits of the nation,
To better the bran and the pen
But what are you doing, my brothers,
To better the breed of men?
You boast of your Morgans and Herefords,
Of the worth of a calf or a colt,
4nd scoff at the scrub and the mongrel,
As worthy a fool or a dolt
You mention the points of our roadster,
With many a "wherefore" and "when,"
But, ah, are you conning, my brothers,
The worth of the children of men?
And what of your boy? Have you measured
His needs for a growing year?
Does your mark as his sire, in his features,
Mean less than your brand on a steer?
Thoroughbredthat is your watchword,
For stable and pasture and pen
But what is your word for the homestead?
Answer, you breeders of men!
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS
WASHINGTON
March 31, 1920.
Mrs. F. W. Haman,
President, San Diego Women's Civic Center,
San Diego, California.
My Dear Mrs. Haman: I have received a copy
of the resolutions adopted on January 9, 1920, by
and, from inaccurate statements therein, I cannot
feel that your organization gave the matter careful
consideration.
Confusion as to the legal statues of the Indian
rests largely with those who have not studied the
subject. The general allotment act of 1887, pro
viding for the allotment of lands severalty, with
the amending provisions of the Burke act of 1906,
made the issuance of a fee-simple patent the
primary legal requirement for citizenship of In
dians, but also provided for the citizenship of any
Indian by his voluntary separation from tribal rela
tions and the adoption of the habits of civilized
life. The later act of June 25, 1910, also provides
for the allotment of lands to Indians from the
public domain with the issuance of a fee patent
as provided for in the case of reservation allot
ments.
Under my administration the Indian Bureau has
made special effort to extend citizenship to the
Indians and prepare them for its duties and responsi
bilities. In the declaration of policy issued April
17, 1917, I announced that every Indian as soon
as found to be competent to transact his own busi
ness affairs would be given full control of his
property and have all his land and moneys turned
over to him, after which he would no longer be a
ward of the government. In furtherance of this
movement, on March 7, 1919, I instructed the super
intendents of the various reservations as follows:
"You are requested to submit to this office, at
the earliest practicable date, a list of all Indians
of one-half or less Indian blood, who are able
bodied and mentally competent, 21 years of age
or over, together with a description of the land
allotted to said Indians, and the number of the
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"Work is a Splendid Tonic -o Dissatisfaction"
RED LAKE, MINNESOTA MARCH, 1920
allotment. It is intended to iss le patents in fee
simple to such Indians."
Under this broadened policy Indians, both mixed
and full-bloods, are being released from govern
ment supervision as rapidly as tlfeir condition war
lants. Whenever an Indian is foiind to be as com-
usual vocations of life, he is given a patent in
fee, full control of his lands and ,Wneys, and made
a citizen of the United States. AJtout 225,000 allot
ments of land have been made to Indians and during
the last three years 10,956 fee-sfiiple patents have
been issued, or 1,062 more thail in the ten years
preceding. I
I have, however, gone further Ind taken the posi
tion that the citizenship of Indmns should not be
based upon their ownership of Jands, tribal or in
severalty, in trust or in fee, But upon the fact
that they are real Americans, ami favorable report
has been made on a bill introduced in congress hav
ing for its purpose the conferring of citizenship on
all Indians but retaining control of the estates of
incompetents.
I am fully convinced of the ^isdom of this re
striction and that competency Jmus precede the
control of property otherwise great injustice would
follow to thousands of Indians.
In this connection I said in myjjast annual report:
"Of the large number of Ijidians still under
the supervision of this bureau, it should be under-
"-st-oocl TKSTni^re^Than "?5*DW ^fe^uatea^praclTcally
the same as the reservation Navajo, Hualapai, Hopi
and Apache, whose property cannot now, nor for
many years to come, be wisely allotted. There
are thousands of full-bloods and near full-bloods
whose landed interests and whose personal posses
sions and prospects are suggestive of a capacity
for independent self-support, but who are not quali
fied to withstand the competitive tests that would
follow a withdrawal of federal guidance. To aban
don these at the point in their progress where ele
mentary requirements are shaping into self-reliance
and a comprehension of practical methods, would be
to leave them a prey to every kind of unscrupulous
trickery that masks itself in the conventions of
civilization.
"I shall not be outdone by anyone who would
hasten Indian progress by the extension of release
and obligation to those who are ready for this status,
nor shall I be swerved from what I believe to be
a course of just aid and protection to the less for
tunate and less progressive Indian."
It is not necessary in establishing the patriotic
and heroic part of the Indians in the world war to
make such unwarrantable statements as that they
purchased over sixty million dollars worth of Lib
erty bonds. I feel that their actual investment of
$25,000,000 in this way is a magnificent showing.
No one questions the war-time evidence of the
Indian's Americanism or that it carries great weight
in the plea for his citizenship, and you are advised
that a bill approved by this bureau, which became a
law in October, 1919, provides that Indians who
served in the military or naval establishments of
the United States during the war against Germany
and who have been honorably discharged may be
NEW S
petent as the average white mail to transact the wisdom in the withdrawal of federal supervision
granted full citizenship by courts of competent
jurisdiction.
Few things have been more obstructive to Indian
welfare than the professional agitator who claims
the abolishment of governmental supervision as
the salvation of the Indian. There would be no
over all Indians at this time. The result would be
that a large number of old or incompetent Indians
would soon be fleeced of their property and thrown
upon the states as paupers and mendicants and pub
lic protests against neglected conditions would
surely and shortly follow. Such procedure would
be unwise, unjust and indefensible.
The Indian service has been aided by sincere and
sane criticism, for which it is grateful, but its work
is too often seriously impeded through misrepresen
tations to the public by speakers and writers of
superficial knowledge or excessive zeal, and what
is more unfortunate, by selfish adventurers of
both the white and Indian races who are chiefly
concerned for personal gain and who seek a condi
tion that would enable them to profit at the expense
of those who, if unprotected, would be duped by
their clever rapacity. These go to the people, per
haps with imposing testimonials, and with ready
made resolutions to be presented in fluent and
picturesque rhetoric, probably followed by a collec
tion to cover "necessary expenses." They should
meet with a conservative reception. The public
less than careful and impartial inquiry.
The Indian is moving forward. He is progressing
numerically. His population is greater than at any
time in the last half century. He is improving in
health and knowledge of how to keep well. He is
accepting hospital facilities that have been more
than doubled in the last seven years, as shown by
an increase of 10,000 patients treated annually.
His medicine men are retiring from practice. Fifty
thousand Indian families live in permanent homes
and take an interest in sanitation. The women are
becoming better housekeepers their babies are
better cared for, and infant mortality is decreasing.
The Indians are growing in knowledge and gen
eral intelligence. Three-fourths of their children
eligible for attendance are enrolled in some school,
federal, state or mission. Nearly two-thirds of their
entire population speak English and about one-half
read and write English. Their gain in the use of
civilized speech has been remarkable in the last
seven years.
Too much has been said about" Indian school
graduates going back to the blanket. Any assump
tion that more than a negligible percentage of such
students are non-progressive is unwarranted. In
some instances where pupils not long in school
have returned to backward home conditions the
results have been disappointing but by no mean'
an entire loss. If these boys and girls carry
more than a speaking use of English into
still under the thrall of barbaric ignoranc
have started a lifting force and planted
able seeds of civilization. Considering
previous environment, habits and
(Continued on Fourth
MAY 13 WO
NUMBER 8
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