The Tomahawk. [volume], October 07, 1926, Image 1

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

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

                
Vol. XXIV.
THE TOMAHAWK.
Official Organ of the Minnesota
Chippewas.
£n;«rcd at th£ Postoffloe at White
Barth, Minn., aa mail matter of the
second class. /
IvwVfrtittt ,/
Chippewa Matters
at Washington
A question of vital import
ance to the Chippewa people has
arisen in th e Department. It re
lates to the future distribution
of the funds arising under sec
tion 7 of the Act of January 14,
1889, and the persons who are
entitled to participate therein.
From 1889 down to about 1907
the uniform custom was to enroll
children born to those persons
enrolled and allotted as members
of the triheThv the Commission
appointed under the Act of 1889
by the Indians. When
a child was born to an enrolled
member evidence in the form
of a birth or doctors certificate
and supporting affidavits was
filed with the Agent and the
name of the new born child
placed on the money payment
roll. The same practice obtained
with reference to their grand
children and great-grandchild
ren. In 1917 the then Agent of
the White Earth Agency dis
covered an old regulation of the
Indian Office promulgated in
1904 relating to the distribution
of tribal Indian property gener
ally. Under this regulation the
following prerequisites were
necessary to participate in the
distribution of tribal funds:
T. The woman must be recog- j
nized by the /tribe as belonging
thereto. v 1
2. The child must be recog
.nized by the tribe as belonging
thereto.
3. The family so found must
be identified and affiliated with
the tribe of which the mother is
„a recognized member.”
The Agent undertook to apply
this regulation to the money
payment roll of the Chippewas.
He did not realize that by
agreements of 1889 all of the dif-,
ferent bands or tribes of Chippe
wa, Indians were consolidated!
and were given equal rights in<
the consolidation common prop
erty. He did not realize that af
ter 1889 there was no tribal <rnv
ernment. Since 1889 there has*
never been any chief of all the
Chippewas in Minnesota nor any
form of tribal government, and
therefore no way by which any
person born since 1889 could be
recognized by the tribe com
posed of all the Chippewas in,
Minnesota or could be identified'
with such a tribe. This Agent
issued citaions upon the enrolled
parents of a large number of
children who had been enrolled
upon the money payment roll to
show cause why the names of
their children should not bej
stricken from the roll on the]
stated ground that they had not]
been recognized bv the tribe and
had nor, neen ir7pnt.ifinH nnd affil
iated with the tribe, impos
sible conditions. The situation
became that the Gener
al Cohncil, a purely voluntary
organization, instructed Web
ster Ballinger, its then attorney,
to intervene on behalf of the
Chippewa people for the protec
tion of the rights of their child-J
ren and grandchildren. Mr. Ball
inger did so with the result that
on February 17, 1919, the
Solicitor for the Department ren.
#dered an opinion holding in sub
f stance that ihe children, grand
children, great grandchildren
I etc., of the original enrollees, en
rolled pursuant to the agree
ments entered into under the
i Act of January 14, 1889, were
I entitled to share in the funds
arising under section 7 of the
I Act of January 14, 1889; that
they took distributive shares in
'l 3 2
Just foe and Fair Dealing for
every Indian who desires to ,
beoome a good Citizen.
The Tomahawk
Published Weekly at /
White Earth Agency, Minnesota.
SUBSCRIPTIOI: 11.50 PER TEAR IR ADVAICE
L. A. WESTON, Publisher
Advertising rates made known oi
application.
ANNOUNCEMENT
Last week we purchased The
Tomahawk from the B L Fair
banks Estate and our intentions
are to continue the publication
of this newspaper,'and endeavor
to make it one of the leading
weekly newspapers of the coun
ty. At present it will remain the
same size as it has been but we
plan on doubling the size and
making it eight pages each issue
in a short time.
As many of the readers of the
Tomahawk know we have pub
lished the Waubun Forum in the
neighboring- village of Waubun
the past eight years arid live
there. Anyone having business
to transact with the Tomahawk
can either call on or write us in
Waubun or call at the Toma
hawk office in White Earth
where they will find Mr. Sweet
representing us.
We shall endeavor to hold the
goodwill and patronage of the
present subscribers of The Tom
ahawk and try to increase the
number of them by publishing a
weekly newspaper that they can
not afford to be without. If you
like and enjoy leading our news
paper tell others about it. If it
doesn’t suit you tell us. Adver
tise in the Tomahawk; bring us
whatever commercial printing
you may need done, and let us
publish your legal notices.
—tr I
membership but as issue of en-,
i the funds not by reason of
irolled and recognized members
of the tribe. As a result of that
[decision the citations issued up
jon the parents were revoked and
cancelled and the names of a
■lumber of children that had
been stricken from the rolls were
ce-instated. That ruling has been
jmiformally followed down until
fa few months ago.
f Recently a case arose in which
the present Solicitor for the De
partment prepared an opinion
in which he held that rights in
and to the funds were limited to
“recognized members of the
tribe.” This decision was so rev
olutionary of the practice that
had theretofore prevailed that
it w T as not approved by the Sec
retary. Instead the Secretary
transmitted to . the Attorney
General of the United States
the two opinions with a request
to be instructed which one to
follow. The matter is now pend
ing before the Attorney General.
If the ruling contained in the
Patterson opinion should be ad
hered to it would result in a com
plete revision of the money
ment roll. No children born since
1889 could participate in the
distribution of the annuity or
per capita payments, as no child
bom since 1889 can show recog
nition by the tribe composed of
all the Chippewa Indians in Min
nesota, nor can it show identi
fication and affiliation with such
a tribe. The Chippewa people
well know that they insisted for
years upon the recognition by
the department of some kind of
tribal government, but the De
ipartment consistently refused.
to"&(*Cflra TfTsm~ anysficir recog
nition. Finally m 1913 a volun
tary society known as" the Gen
eral Council was organized. The
Department refused to fecognize 1
this council, although Congress
for a few years appropriated
money for its support. In late
years there have been many vol
untary societies called councils
that have sprung up, but the
Department has uniformally re
fused to recognize any of them.
The Department has at all times
administered the estate of the
Chippewas under the agree
ments of 1889 withouKconsult-
Official Organ Of Thle Minnesota Chippewas.
'Truth before Favor,”
White Earth, Becker County, Minnesota, Thursday, Oct. 7. 1926.
YOUTHS SPEND
NIGHT IN LAKE
V 1
Fourteen Hours In Water After
Boat Tips—None The Worse
' > For Experience
Ed Snetzinger, Jr., and Elmefc
Betcher, son of Charles Betcher,
spent fourteen hours in the
water of Snetzinger Lake Thurs
day night of last week, and are
none the worse for their expert
ience, although the thermometer
was below the freezing point all
night.
Their boat tipped over abou>6
4 o’clock in the afternoon ancf
they remained in the water un
til 6 o’clock the following morn
ing, when they were found by
neighboring boys who were look
ing for them.
Owing to the marrihy condi
tion of the bottom of the # lake
they could not wads' ashore al
though the water was shallow
enough for that. Their crys fotf
help were heard but as thei4
were different parties hunting
throughout the country it was
thought that they were signall
ing to each other. The parents
of each of the boys supposed he
was at the home of the other so
their late absence from home
caused no worry until it was
found that neither was at the
home of the other, and then a
systematic search was instig
ated.
After they were taken out of
the water and taken to their
homes a physician was summon
ed and he found nothing wrong
with them. Monday they re
sumed their wbrk throßhiiig r -bt(b
it is safe to say that they will
not want to repeat the exper
ience right away. —Mahnomen
pioneer.
! , n‘ . 'ifFl
png the Indians or affording
■them any form of recognizee
government. The effect of the
Patterson decision, if it shoulc
be sustained, would be to limit:
rights in and to the funds to the
original enrollees f as they are
the only persons who could show
tribal recognition which ocCuret
prior to 1889, the children am
grandchildren being excluded. Ii
the mean time the greater porj
tion of the estate has been dis
bursed under the ruling con
tained in the Solicitor decision
of 1919 re-affirming the prac
tice theretofore existing since
1889. A reversal of that ruling]
at this late day would give rise*
to a claim against the United]
States in excess of $5,000,000. V
Webster Ballinger discovered
this situation and is now
ly trying to protect the rights
of the children and grandchild-1
ren of the original enrollees. lnj
this matter alone he is rendering!
services to the Chippewa peoples
for which he can never be com-j
pensated but of inestimable val-j
ue. J
No action has been taken byj
the Department on the con-j
tracts employing Webster Ballj
inger to represent the Whites
Earth Indians and Rogers and]
Larson to represent the Indiana
off the\ White Earth
tion. It is understood that' the:
contract with Webster Ballinger
is regular in all respects and will
be approved, but complications
have arisen with reference to
the other contract which is caus
ing delay. Under the jurisdic
tional act the suits are to be filed
by both attorneys or sets of at
torneys, and therefore Ballin
ger’s contract is being held up
until the other contract is got
ten into shape. If his contract
{should be approved he could do
nothing until the other attorney!
or attorneys were employed.
WAUBUN STATE
BANK CLOSES
■ ■ 11 %
Institution Was Unable to Wea
ther Shrinkage in Deposits
and Adverse Crop
Conditions.
The Waubun State Bank, in
Mahnomen County, failed to
open its doors on Tuesday morn
ing, due to the actidn of the
board of directors, who volun-
Itarily suspended when thev
found the reserves depleted to a
point of danger, with no hope of
immediate relief.
The bank was capitalized at
.$15,000, with H. A. Krostue,
president; and P. J. Peteisson,
. cashier.
[ In an interview with H. A.
Krostue, the following statement
-was given the Record editor:
“The closing is due to the fact
that our deposits have shrunk
during the past eight months
from $190,378.66 in September
.of 1925, to at the pre
sent time. Of this but $9,000 was
local commercial deposits, and
the combined local deposits was
only $15,000.
“We had $65,000 of crop mort
gages but the adverse weather
conditions has made it impos
sible for our farmers to get their
grain to market and pay off
these obligations.
“We were only carrying $l5,
,000 of real estate collateral, and
this did not embarass us; but nc
bank can long continue when the
cash is being steadily withdrawn
and nothing coming in to re
ylace it. i
“Agriculture conditions have
been such that the money with
drawn has been spent for neces
sary living expenses, and practi
cally none of it was returned to
the bank as a reserve.
“We had very little public
money and not a dollar of paper
carried for officers or directors.”
The statement made by Mr.
Krostue is but a repetition of con
ditions which have embarrassed
many banking institutions dur
ing the past two years. The peo
tple as a whole are not saving
any part of their earnings, but
are gradually eating into their
reserves, where these were avail
able, and where there has been
no reserves they have been in
creasing their indebtedness to
maintain a standard of living
and expenditures which was es
tablished during the hectic per
iod following the closing of the
world war.
This newspaper has stated
many times—and we again re
peat—that it is a great thing to
keep “the country on wheels”
as we have been doing, but the
cost is a tremendous one and
when the bill is finally paid—as
it must be, we shall have leam
led a lesson in finance which will
I not soon be forgotten.—Detroit
YEAR BOOK OF
AGRICULTURE READY
Congressman Knud Wefald
just received word from the De
partment of Agriculture that
the new Yearbook of Agricul
ture for 1925 is ready for dis
tribution. The Yearbook for
1925 is the latest one out, and
has just come off the press. It
can be procured by writing to
Congressman Wefald for it. 11 is
address is Hawley, M inn *
will be glad to send it to anyone
directly or indirectly interested
in farming who writes him for
it. It is sent out free. •
i Congressmen Wefald states
[that the 1925 Yearbook is sta
tistics on farming and farm pro
ducts. It also contains the Re
port of the Secretary of Agri
tcultuge to the President on the
[Agricultural situation, and num
[erous articles on the various
[phases of farming written by ex
perts in the Department. Mr.
; Wefald states that he also has a
[few copies of the 1923 and 1924
Yearbooks left, and these will be
sent free to those who request
them so long as the supply lasts.
EVERY FOURTH PERSON IN
MINNESOTA. HAS A CAR
Motor vehicles registered in
Minnesota up to Sept. 15 were
609,280, or one for every fourth
person in the state, according to
figures given out 6y Secretary of
State Mike Holm. Total license
receipts were $9,686,615. Total
registrations in 1925 were $576,-
472 and total receipts $9,773,643.
The number of cars registered
so far this year is nearly double
the number registered in 1920,
three times as great as in 1917
and 14 y 2 times as great as in
1914. With more than three
months of the year left, it is be
lieved certain that license re
ceipts for 1926 will exceed $lO,-
000,000.
The average passenger vehi
cle tax, which was $16.40 in
1925, is $14.54 in 1926. The ta:c
rate was reduced from 2.75 to
2.4 per cent, but this has bee i
partially offset by the fact that
people are buying higher priced
cars. More than 50,000 car 3
have been junked or removed
from the state, according to re
ports made to the secretary of
state, hence nearly 83,000 cars,
mostly new, have been brought
to the state and registered dur
ing the year.
DEER SEASON OPEN THIS
FALL NOVEMBER 20 TO 3 )
With the opening of the small
game season many hunters also
turn their thoughts to the big
game hunting season and the
question is asked as to when tho
season opens. The law provides
that the season for killing deer
shall open on the third Saturday
in November of each even num
bered year, and that it shall bo
open for ten days thereafter.
This makes the season open on
November 20, this year, and
close on November 30, or in ef
fect an open season of 11 days.
This provision of the law gives
everyone two week ends in which
to hunt.
The recent proclamation of
Governor Christensen closing
the season to the killing of does
and fawns in Itasca county,
makes it necessary to seek for
an antlered buck when hunting
big game in that county. Moose
of both sexes are fully protect
ed, and a heavy penalty attached
if conviction of killing a moose
is attained.
Monthly School Report
District 112
PRIMARY GRADES (I—2)
Enrollment 43
Percentage of .Attendance 85
Cases of Tardiness 4 «
Perfect Attendance: Francis
Fairbanks, Oliver Blue, Richard
Smith, Ruby Fairbanks, Wilfred
Fairbanks, Floris Monroe, Fran
cis G. Beaulieu, Bertha Warren,
*nd Charles Potter.
INTERMEDIATE GRADES
Enrollment 51
Percentage of Attendance 87
Cases of Tardiness 11
Perfect Attendar c : Hubert Wil
liams, Madeline Vanoss, Anna
Command, Margaret Bellcour,
lona Roy, Harold Fairbanks,
Mayferd Beaupre, Milo, Lawrence
and Mildred LaChapeile, Allen
Smith, Jerome, and Dorthea Blue,
Sophia Warren, Ruth VanWert,
Pearl Fairbanks, Edward Leecy
and Charley Monroe.
GRAMMAR GRADES (6-7 8)
Enrollment 15
Percentage of Attendance 89
Cases of Tardiness None
Perfect Attendance. Victor Beau
lieu, Irene Fairbanks, Ethal Fair
banks, Florence Fairbanks, Cyn
thia Leecy, John Smith, and Mar*
garet VanWert.
Publinhed In behalf of, and
to Sboure the welfare of the
Indiana of the United State*.
ADMINISTRATION
IS ENDORSED
Washington,' D. C.,_Demo-
S a a 1 a. predictions 2111(1 forecasts
that the Quiet Man at the White
House would suffer at the sena
torial primaries have been dis
counted by the voters themselves
at the polls. With that fine sense
or the responsibility and obliga
tions of his office, for which the
President is noted, holding to
the belief that in the election of
coordinate officers of the govern
ment the people of the country
are entitled to make their choice
free of any direction or inter
ference in the contests.
It was natural for the sena
torial candidates, and they were
within their rights, to urge their
allegiance to the President as
one of the primary reasons for
their return, and this had its
effect at the polls. In attempt
ing, however, as lias been done,
to construe the nomination of
certain candidates as victories
or defeats for certain legislative
measures which the President
has endorsed, the political diag
nosticians have gone a bit afield.
The truth is the renomina
tions were made by the people
because wholly apart from the
attitude of the Senators on the
World Court, the feeling was
current they were one with the
President in sympathetically
supporting his general conduct
of the affairs of the nation. In
short, only one conclusion can
honestly be reached, that the
people in their renominations
have once again made evident
their confidence in the President
and the character of the Admin
istration.
(SHOW NO MERCY
The Minneapolis Tribune
takes a strong: stand in the fol
lowing editorial which does not
mince words. “The Tribune be
lieves that the time is ripe to
make clear that the peaceful,
lawabiding motorist has some
rights on the highway. And
there is but one way to do that—
to reply to the drunken driver
with the mailed fist. It is use
less to expostulate with the
drunken driver, or to read him
lectures, or to plead with him to
be careful. The only thing to do
is to let him know that he must
accept the full responsibility for
his drunken acts, and that no
evasion will be tolerated and no
mercy shown. What he .does he
must pay for. An example should
be made of the Monday tragedy
which will cause any future
drunk to understand that he
cannot insolently burn up the
streets, ride rough-shod over and
into innocent people, hurl other
cars into iron lamp posts, widow
wives and orphan children, de
story, maim, and kill with im
punity. Let the full rigors of
the law be visited upon any
drunken wretch whose behavior
thus outrages every normal in
stinct of decency and humanity,
“And yet, despite the sentiment
to forcibly express by this big
metropolitan paper, there have
been and still are some people
who dally, toy with and tempo
rize and help to nullify the work
of public .officers who do their
duty and put them up to con
tumely and disrespect by stories,
near hints and insinuations
when all they do is to do their
duty for you and i, an act for
which we should applaud them
and for merit well shown show
our appreciation and support. In
telligent, able law enforcement
never was as essential as it is to
day. In one direction alone, the
decent citizen may as well for
get buying that fine car for his
family for it may be the hears®
that will take them away from
him. There are dangers enough
without exposing them to this
fearful road danger that exists
today when every car that pass
es is a potential threat of de
struction. ..