The Tomahawk. [volume], July 25, 1918, Image 1

About The Tomahawk. [volume] (White Earth, Becker County, Minn.) 1903-192?

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
Vol. XVI.
Justice and Fair Dealing for
every Indian who desires to
become a good Citizen.
THE TOMAHAWK.
Official Organ of the Minnesota
Chippewas.
GUS H. BEAULIEU, Founder.
Ecittd by THE TOMAHAWK PUB. CO,
White Earth Ageicy, Minnesota.
Eniered at the Poatofflce at White
Earth, Minn., as mail matter ot the
Second class.
SUISCMPTIOI: $1.50 PER TEAR IH Wild
One of the most egregious feat
ures dominant at the bearings or
sessions of the so called investiga
tion was te seeming unrestricted
annoying intrusion of Benjamin
Caswell, interpreter for Messrs
Linnen and Wadsworth, and in
cluding others of his iVkvwhenever
some of the prominent, progressive
mixed blood members of the res
ervation sought to elicit informa
tion concerning the merits and
purposes of the investigation
and this vapid display of egotistic
pedantry was carried on with the
apparent sanction of the said
Lionen and Wadsworth. Verily,
"a fair and impartial investiga-
tion." Such an investigation took
place long ago, on that fatal day
when the Son of Man was arraigned
before the court cf Pontius Pilate
and the hideous cry of the rabble
horde screamed, "Crucify Him,
Crucify Him, prevailed.
j.
Do Toll 'Em Some
More.
It is related that on several oc
casions during last week's sessions
of the LinnenWadsworth in
quisition*', h*M at the government
boarding school assembly hall,
with an average daily attendance
of about thirty, mostly of the
"warehouse" and indolent and in
competent element, the statement
was repeatedly made by Mr.
Wadsworth something after this
fashion, that "the last Congress
passed a law,' understand a law,
appropriating $10,000 for the use
and purposes of the General Coun
cil, I am telling you this because 1
want you to know that somebody
else is spending your money for
you besides the government," etc.
Bight you are, and the charming
part of this delightful proposition
is the fact that the many good
friends of the Minnesota Chippewa
Indians, in Congress, provided, in
spite of the streneous efforts of the
Indian bureau officials to the con
trary, that "the said sum is to be
immediately available," and the
disposition thereof is subject to
the approval of "the president and
secretary of the General Council
sad certified to the Secretary of
the Interior and as so approved
sod certified to be paid," (Public
No. 159 65th Congress, H. K.
8696). Thus it will be seen that
this particular appropriation is not
subject to the annoying and detest*
able prevaricating policy of the
Indian bureau and, presumably,
this if the very particular point
which to manifestly grates on
Mr. Wadsworth's nerve.
And THS TOWAHAWK would
respectfully suggest that while
Mr. Wadsworth's mental {acuities
are waxing warm with delusva
extravagance concerning the mat
ter of expenditure (by somebody
else) of Indian tribal money that
fae relate also the fact that it was
fchrsstb the initial efforts of the
Legislative Committee, General
Council, Mian**** Chippewas,
that the item of $185,000 inserted
in the Indian appropriation bill,
marked reimbursable, from Chip
pewa tribal funds, at the instance do it.Pioneer Press.
of the Indian bureau, was stricken Yes, and there are hundreds of
_--
woul-d have been eliminated
tirely had not the officials of
Indian bureau plead and begged
before the Indian Senate Commit
tee that the Indian bureau had al
ready "made provisions and con
tracts' for the several Minnesota
reservations and that it was actual
ly necessary to have the sum
provided," etc. The Senate Com
mittee finally yielded, and this at
the instance of Senator Frank B.
Kellogg, of Minnesota, sanctioned
by the members of the Legislative
Committee and with the explicit
and distinct understanding, on the
part of the Indian bureau officials,
that in the future this particular
annual appropriation from Chip
pewa tribal funds, "must be re
duced materially if not eliminated
altogether." Thus it will be seen
that the energetic and timely act
ions of the Legislative Committee,
in behalf of their kindreds, the
Minnesota Chippewas, practically
sounded the death knell of future
exorbitant appropriations from
their tribal funds and likewise
succeeded in having the item of
$185,000 shaved down to $175,000^
making a clean saving for the'
tribe of $10,000. Again in the
fall of 1916, through the timely
and energetic efforts of the Execu
tive committee of the General
Council, the officers of the Indian
bureau were forced to comply
with the Indian's demands for
check scalers in re-classifying the
timber involved in the former
Mille Lacs case, which resulted in
gaining for the Chippewa" Indians
over two hundred thousand ($200,-
000 00) dollars additional over the
previous award of damages in that
case.
Furthermore, Mr. Wadsworth
could, while relating the matter of
expenditure of Chippewa tribal
money, relate something concern
ing the vast expenditure of some
$5,000,000 or more, of Chippewa
tribal fuuds within the past twenty
five years or so. This prodigal
squandering of a nation's heritage
was conducted under the auspices
of the Indian bureau and, today,
there seems no material benefit in
evidence to have warranted this
vast expenditure from ths Chip
pewa tribal fund. By all means,
Mr. Wadsworth, do tel 'em the
whole story concerning the expen
diture of Chippewa tribal funcs
please do.
1^
Joins
Unloosens His English.
Asked If HI I Sank In Plaii United
States, i Start ii Oratory.
Among the fifty Marine recruits
leaving for Paris Island tonight
will be George Skinaway, Govern
ment Indian policeman, Xaytah
wasus, Minn.
When he approached the re
cruiting officer at the local station,
he handed him a slip of paper and
stood silently at attention.
"Do you speak English?" ques
tioned the officer.
(xeorge replied:
**gir, I not only speak the lan
guage, but I spsak it perfectly. I
am the direct descendant of a great
American family, and their motto
was liberty and freedom. I am here
to enlist my services in the cause
which they founded and to defeat
i i
THE TOMAHAWK
the threatened eucroachment
autocratic slavery."
OFFICIAL ORGAN O THE MINNESOTA CHIPPEWAS.
Truth before Favor."
from the bill in its initial consid- other Indian boys who, like Geo. Harper. And, as may be sup-
eration by the Indian committee Skinaway, have enlisted in the posed the component part or this
of the House. This exorbitant military and marine service of the poor, demoralized and deluded
sum of Chippewa Indian money country, many of them are now in element are taking a most decided
en- the trenches on the French*fron*t
the fighting for "liberty and world
A Lamentable Farce.
Developments so far which have
strongly revealed themselves in
the initial sessions of the Linnen
Wadsworth inquisitional which
took place at the Indian boarding
school assembly hall last week
have manifestly emphasized the
predictions of THE TOMAHAWK to
effect that the whole proceedings
is rankly permeated with biased
prejudice, distorted with uncon
cealed partiality and that it is,
sumed-up in a nut-shell, a frantic
effort on the part of the Indian
bureau to camouflage or more
properly speaking "white-wash"
any aud all discrepancy on the
part of agency officials in the man
agement of agency affairs, trans*
gressions of incompetent employ
ees and, last but not least, to dis
credit and impeach the principles,
honest purposes and the personelle
of the Legislative Committee of
the General Council, Minnesota
Chippewas. And in seeking to
establish credence favorable to
these pernicious objectives the in
vestigators have, as usual on such
like occasions, found no difficulty
in enlisting the servile co-opera*
fcion of the "warehouse" and non
progressive element, especially
such as are residing at Pine Point.
In fact the present Indian bureau
frame-up bears such a strong
resemblance to the notorious
BurchGraham et al gang pro
ceedings which took place here a
few years ago, directed mainly
against a certain number of pro
gressive mixed-blood persons who
were striving to better the deplor
able condition of their fellow
kindred, the Minnesota Chippe
was, that it would not be far amiss
to class both as a part and parcel
of the same cabaliatical category.
There seems to lurk throughout
each successive sessions the same
sinister tsctics, and manifest biased
prejudices which made infamous
the BurchGraham fiasco. Practi
cally toe self-same pernicious ele-
White Earth, Becker Cunty, Minnesota, Thursday, July 25. 1918.
of ment, including the Rev. Charles
Wright, of White Earth "purity-
The recruiting officer let George roll" fame, was present at the
W W 1 _.^ A 1 ft
The most notable
the contemptible
initial sessions,
absentee being
stand in the Indian bureau's con
tentions in the premises loudly
Democracy," a principle which is decrying the mixed-blood and
denied the people of their race,
especially in the matter of tribal
and trust funds, and mainly
through the insistentand contempt
ible dominence of the Indian bu
reau. The treatmant of the Min
nesota Chippewas in this respect
is. to say the least, a national dis
grace and the sooner the pernicious
influence of the Indian bureau is
abolished, especially on the White
Earth reservation, the better will
it be for the moral, financial and
economic interests of the people
thereof. If a man is competent to
fight for his country he is certainly
competent to take care of what
property belongs to him or the
members of his family, further
more the man who comes loyally
forward, be he Indian or other
wise, and offers his serviceshis
life if need be, to uphold the honor
and integrity of his native land is
entitled to far more honor and
consideration than the political
protegee who occupy swivel-chair
positions in the Indian bureau
service and who would fain deny
him and his people the wonted
privilege of "life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness," more es
pecially Liberty.
progressive members of the reser
vation the honest aims and pur
poses of the General Council, in
fact, everything that savors of
progressive and industrious pur
suits and as loudly proclaiming
the continuance of the demoraliz
ing agency "warehouse-ration
system, likewise the alms-house
agency boarding school system.
And THE TOMAHAWK reiterates,
in the most emphatic terms, its
previous contentions to effect,
viz: that the progressive, law
abiding, tax paying citizens, mem
bers of the reservation, who num
ber over four fifth of a population
of 6,200 people, can not hope or
look for a "fair, just and impar
tial investigation", in a verbal
sense, concerning, present prevail
ing deplorable conditions only
through the stable and liberal
medium of a Congressional inves
tigation, all arguments to the
contrary notwithstanding.
Versatile Windmill.
A windmill in Europe prinrin prnln
to flour for a baker and then mixes
and kneads It into dough.
Hold Up Your Head.
A pig's nose is nearly always In ths
ground. I
Citizen Indians.
In What way Would a General Declara-
tion of Citizenship Affect the Indians.
(By Dennison Wheelock, in American
Indian Magazine.)
"H is unreasonable to expect all
Indians who are given patents in
fee simple for their allotments to
to be successful in view of their
limited training in handling their
own business affairs for in fact
many of them sell their land and
squander their money in drink.
However, this is not an argument
against making the Indians citi
zens and giving them their prop
erty to do with as they see fit. 1
cite the case of a certain Oneida
Indian who ran through his money
until he had only twenty-five cents
left and no one would loan him
any money. This-lndian managed
to get to Milwaukee, Wis., where
he got a job. By application and
industry he rose to a position of
responsibility. This shows what a
worthless Indian can do for him
self if the medicine of necessity is
supplied to him. Another Indian
whose patent in fee simple was re
fused by the Department because
he was clearly incompetent and in
capable of managing his own
affairs was permitted to sell his
allotment for $900.00 cash. The
money was deposited in a bank to
his credit and was drawn out in
$10 monthly installments upon
checks isssued under the supervis
ion of the Commissioner of Indian
Affaias. This man was a heavy
drinker and practically every time
(Continued on 8th. Page.)
wmn
iMHM
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us.
We're right here every day in the year (except Suuday) to supply you
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TheB.L. Fairbanks
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4
Published in behalf of, and
to secure the welfare of the
Indians of the United States.
POCKET
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Come in and get acquainted.
6E0. J. JOHNSON, Prop.
White Earth, Minn.
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Supplies
MAGAZINE
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