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Show COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 11 part of an entire change in their mode of life being necessary for their welfare and happiness. The concentration of the Chippewas in Wisconsin and Minnesota upon the circumscribed reservations assigned to them by the treaties of 1854-5, besides redeeming a large body of lands from the incubus of the Indian title and vagrant occupancy, and throwing them open for settlement by the whites, must result in great advantage to the Indi-ans themselves, in giving them fixed places of abode, in bringing them under more easy and efficient control, and in enabling the department to apply, with greater effect and advantage, the means and instru-mentalities necessary for their improvement. This change of policy in regard to them, and the wonderful revolution that has taken place among the Sioux of Minnesota, respecting a radical change in their habits and mode of life, have already led to an entire cessation, it is believed, of the hereditary hostilities between these two tribes, in which nnmeronslives were annually sacrificed, in despite of the earnest efforts of the government for many years to prevent the wanton and inhuman slanghtei-. I would respectfully call your attention to the considerations pre-sented in the reports of tlie agent for the Mississippi Chippewas and the superintendent for the northern superintendency, in favor of atreaty with the Red Lake Chippewas and the Indians of the Red River of the North, for the extinguishment of their title to the lands which they own in that region, embracing, it is estimated, some thirteen thousand square miles. These lands, though remote, are represented to be fer-tile and valuable. They lie between our northerp settlements in Min-nesota and the boundar~l.i ne between us and the British possessions. The extension of our settlements in that direction has been stimulated and accelerated by the important and valuable commerce which has sprung up with the considerable population on the other side of the line, and which, for the benefit of our citizens, is entitled to protection and safe transit through the country of those Indians, but which cannot be given to it while the lands remain theirs. The importance of this route as a channel of commerce is seen in the fact that the Hudson's , Bay Company now transport over it the supplies required for their nn-merons trading posts in the Northwest. The Indians in question are not under treaty pledge^ and obligations, without which they cannot, of course, be brought under the necessary control and subjected to our modified reservation policy. The negot.iation of a treaty with them would, therefore, seem to be required, as well for their benefit and wel-fare as for the protection and advancement of the. interests of our oqn citizens. In the reports of Superintendent Cnllen and Agenk Brown, here-with, will be found most interesting accounts of a remarkable revolu-tion now going on among the Sioux Indians of Minnesota in regard to their dress, habits, and pursuits. In common with the other mem-bers of the great Dacotah tribe, they have heretofore been regarded as amongst the most wild and intractable, as. they have been among the most warlike, Indians within our borders or on this continent, and but very faint hopes have been entertained of their ever being domesticated and civilized. But, through the good management and unremitting |