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Show 16 REPORT OF TEE COM31ISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. I six $eservations in the State, containing'in the aggregate 68,668 acre Two of these reservi~t.ions, viz, the Allegany and Cattaraugus, , b longed originally to the colony of Massachusetts, but by sale and asslg n~entp assed into the hands of a company, the Indians holdi~~ag p c petoal right of occupancy, and the c o ~ ~ ~ praenfeyrr ed to, or the iudividn members thereof,, owning the ultimate fee. The same State of facts formerly existed in regard to the Tolia,wanda reserve, but the India! who occupy it hkve purchased the ultimate fce of a portion of t reserve, which is nom held in trust for them by the Secretary of tl Interior. The State of New York exercises sovereignty over the:ie reservations. The reservatious occupied by the Oneidas, Onondagi~ and Tuscaroras, have been provicied for by treaty stipulations betwe the Indians and the State of New York. All six reserves are held a11,,1 s. e. o-r- ~i is le le s, j11 bcctlpied by the Indians in common. While the Indian tribes of t L continent, with few exceptions, have been steadily decreasing in qour-hers, those of New York have of late more than held their own, as shown by an increase of one hundred in the present reports over t1.e reported number in 1871; and of thirteen hundred over the number em-braced iu the Uuited States census of 1860. On the New York reshr-ations are twe11ty.eight schools; the attelldance during some portio! of tlie past year exceeding elewu hundred, the daily averse attenll-ance beillg six hunclrecl aud eight. Of the teachers employed, fiftec ;Ire Indians, as fully competent for this position as their white associate An inclicat'nn of what is to be acoomplished in the future, in an ell catiqoal icoint of view, is found in the successful effort made in Auguit last tr establish a teachers' institute on the Cattaraugus reservation 5 C the ~eclucation of teachers specially fbr Indian schools. Thirty-eigllt ~@plicauattst ended, and twenty-six are now under training. The stati tics of individual wealth and of the aggregate product of agricultu~~l and other inelustry are, in general, favorable; and a co~~siderable crease in these regards is observed from year to year. Twenty thousari acres are under caltivation; the cereal crops are goocl, while noticeab success has been achieved in the raising of fruit. An lnstanoe is fur-e is is n 5. I- )r s-iil- (1 e nished, from the Tuscarora reservation, of one Indian who realieetlla profit ot) over $2.000 on the sale bf peaches alone during the past yell Favoryble reporbs are given of the annual fairs held upon one or mok of the~eservationsa, t which the displays of fruits, home manufactunr kc., Tere quite creditable. A subject of importance to many of tl Indians in New York is the proposed allotme~lto f the lands of Cat tp raugas and Allegany reservations. The Society of Priends,at Philh-delphia, have prepared a memorial upon the subject, and mill, it 's nuderstoocl, present the same with a proposed bill to Congress at i s next session. The Uuited States agent, Daniel Sherman, esq., in e. - pressing his views upon this matter, as set forth in the proposed bill, a that reservation, he says, I i copyof which mas furnished, remarlrs that the Tuscaroras have alreac y as gocd if not a better plan as to the division of their lands. ~ p d u The i proved lauds are practically allotted to the individaal adult Indians, idfes, wllo oafbuy and sell only as between +,hemselyes; two-thirds of their reserv hionis under actual enltivation, and the bdauoe, being timbered I&od,is owned by the in comrhpn. The ohiofa have appoiutod a oomamt,tee to protect the timbor, to ee t!rht po wasteis committed, and that none is used by the Indians, axcpt for fuel en8 bulld-log pU'1""GB. ThestJ brIiaas-ha~e~.b~.tre&myp rip mi t,l~-4it -.-it an~inityin clothing and other useful articles to the amount of $4,500. The Senecas on the Tonawanda, Cattarangns, and Allegmy reservations |