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Show REPORT OF THE BOARD OF INDIAN COMMISSIONERS. 93 Mr. MF. KCII. YM. I hear what Umapine says, ami it is right to speak his heart; but do not tank'' u;> vour mind until you know our want about this reservation matter. We came here to use, our tongues and our hearts ; we did not come here with soldiers; we came as friends, as brothers. I'MAIMNK, ( to Mr. Brunot.) You brought the mind of the Great Father from Wash-ington. I am poor, and I speak ; I know nothing; you are a long way ahead of us. Yon say we are far behind you ; that is all right, andVe do not mind if you tell us so. Mr. MEACHAM. I heard Umapine's words, and they do not make me feel bad; and the others have all heard his words. He left oii' talking just where I did in my other speech ; that the Indians have gotten away behind ; some so far behind you can hardly see or hear them ; some are so close to me I can hear them talk, and some are ever with me. I look away ahead of me and I see hundreds of red men who have gone ahead of me. How did they get there I Let every one ask his own heart, how these Indians got ahead of the white man ? They learned it from the book. They did did not get there by digging camus. I say this with a good heart. We have read books and they tell us the history of the red man. From the books we learn truths ; they tell ns that knowledge is power. The more man can do, the stronger he is; it has always been so, and always will be so. The weak people who have no books have always given away to the stronger who had books. No matter what color they were, no mat-ter what religion, in what country. We have seen these things. You have had some-thing in your eyes. It has been a dark night with you ; you could not see, and do not know why your people are dying out. The white man has learned it from the book. The white men are not all bad men ; there are a few bad ; they have bad hearts and double tongues, but the great men of the white man's race have a heart for the In-dian. You" should not open your ears to bad men's talk ; you should, open your ears to the advice of your friends. We want to give you the benefit of what we learn from the books. We do not want to steal your lands. We will not allow it to be done ; but we want to talk about what is best for you, and that is why we talk about books, because they tell what has been good and what bad, for the white man and the red man. We propose to make our knowledge useful to the Indian, and not use it to cheat. Now, we want you to look straight in our eyes, and be satisfied that we are your friends, that we are honest, and will do you justice, and will protect you with the power of our Government. We will allow no man to steal your lands. You have a beautiful country, and if left to yourselves you could not keep it twenty- four hours. If you get a doubt on your mind and think sometimes the President is not your friend, we want you to get on the top of a hill and look all over this country, and you see no white man's house. The white men have come to reservation lines. It has been like a high fence; they could not get over it. Why? Could you keep them off? Could you protect yourselves for one moment without a government to protect you? This country would have been covered with white men's houses, farms, orchards, and railroads, just like Walla- Walla. You know I talk straight. General Palmer and Governor Stevens, in the treaty with Walla- Walla, agreed with you that you should have this country that no white man should make a home on it. The President has kept his word; he has paid the money he agreed to; he has done his best to protect all your rights. If you have had little troubles, it is like the point of a stick ; he could not help that ; but the great things he has promised he has done. As he did for the promises of Stevens and Palmer, so he will do for this commission. We come here with the same kind of a paper, the same authority, with good hearts, to say good words, straight, not ou the white man's side and crooked on the Indian's side, but only what is right. We want your people to think on the things we are telling you, and see if we have told any lies whether we have talked straight about things that are past. We judge what men will do in the future by what they have done in the past. This way of judging things is sometimes hard to take into our hearts, and we want to throw it away, but it keeps coming back to us, that what has been before may be again. We told you we did not want to hurry you ; we say so now. We have not talked anything to deceive you. We do not look on you as though you were children. You have hearts and cau think ; you reason, and the things we have talked about here to- day was to get your minds on the road to the business we came here for. You all know what this council is called for. We have had nothing. Umapiue talked true. The white people do want all your country. If we say they don't wanb it, we know we would tell a lie. The white men have wanted this country for ten years. They have built cabins all around it. You know this. They are watching all the time. They have talked to you much about it. Some of them have talked good and some bad. All your men have been afraid a long time ; at last they talked to the President about it six or eight years ago. He did not hear them then. He wrote no letter about it then. Tho white man kept on talking, until the President wrote a letter to Congress about it. Congress is com-posed of the men who make the laws. Congress passed a law, and that law reads as follows : |
