OCR Text |
Show 23 action, the representatives of the United States renewed their efforts to protect the Pueblo lands from trespass. The Territorial Court, again, found the statute inapplicable to the Pueblos. This time, an appeal was taken to the Supreme Court of the United States which, in the United States vs. Anthony Joseph, 1877, affirmed the position of the Territorial Court and set a precedent that would be followed until it was overruled by the Sandoval decision in 1913. An excerpt is cited from the 1877 case as an example of the point of view of the period. It states in the introductory remarks that the history of the Pueblo Indians will show they have been a pastoral and agricultural people have lived in separate communities where they have maintained their own local government, and then, by giving comparisons that show how much the Pueblo Indians are like European- Americans and, thus, how unlike the Indians of the United States "in general," the Court proceeds with the differentiation: Since the introduction of the Spanish Catholic missionary into the country, they have adopted mainly not only the Spanish language, but the religion of a Christian church. In every pueblo is erected a church, dedicated to the worship of God, according to the form of the Roman Catholic religion, and in nearly all is to be found a priest of this church, who is recognized as their spiritual guide and advisor. They manufacture nearly all of their blankets, clothing, agricultural and culinary implements, &c. Integrity and virtue among them is fostered and encouraged. They are as intelligent as most nations or people deprived of means or facilities for education. Their names, their customs, their habits, all similar to those of the people in whose midst they reside, or in the midst of whom their pueblos are situated. The criminal records of the court of the Territory scarcely contain the name of a pueblo Indian. In short, they are a peaceable, industrious, intelligent, honest, and virtuous people. They are Indians only in feature, complexion, and a |