OCR Text |
Show COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 5 unwilling to relinquish their present residences, as are all the other bands of the same Indians ; and it may be necessary to permit them all to remain, in order to acqui'e a cession of the large tract of country they still own east of the Mississippi, which, on acconnt of its great mineral resources, it is an object of material importance to obtain. They would require bnt small reservations ; and thus permanently settled, the efforts made for their improvement will be rendered more effectual. The Chippewas who reside in Minnesota, west of the IIississippi, are not, it is understood, desirous of ceding any portion of their country west of that river; nor is such a cession at this time deemed absolutely necessary, so far as the wants of our citizens are immediately con-cerned; yet, in view of the rapid spread of population in that direc-tion, and of the future interests of the Indians themselves, it is be-lieved that an early opportunity should be embraced to circumscribe their limits, and to concentrate them upon permanent locations, as recommended for their brethren on the east side. There are also bands of Chippewa Indians residing in the region north of the head-waters of the Mississippi, who, from the imperfection of former treat-ies, do not participate in their benefits, and are therefore in a very destitute condition. Some arrangement should be made to secure to , them the means of subsistence and improvement. It having been found that the country proposed to be given to the Winnebagoes, by the agreement made with them last year, for an exchange of lands, would, in many respects, be an improper location for them, it was recommended by the department that the agreement should be so amended as to assign them a location on the southern branch of the Crow river, to include Red Cedar Island lake. The amendment which was adopted by the Senate authorized the assignment of this location to them, or one further west, as might on examination be foundmost advisable. A reconnoissance of the country west haring thus been rendered necessary, the arrangements for the nermanent establishment of these Indians. nnfortunate~lv f,or them., have not yet I~r t nco n~mnmatril. The iliflicul~iesc onnecte~lw ith our relations aith the Sioux Indians ~ ~ ~ ~~~- of Xinnesota were, a year ago, as explained in the last annual report, of a serious character, but they have happily been surmounted. Con-gress having, at its late session, confirmed to these Indians the resei-vations originally intended for them by the treaties of 1861, measures were prompay adopted for concentrating them thereon, and for com-mencing a system of operations calculated to domesticate and improve them. s During the past season articles of agreement and convention were concluded with the Omaha, Ottoe and Missouria, Sac and Fox of Missouri, Iowa, Kickapoo, Delaware, Shawnee, Kaskaskia, Peoria, Wea, Piankeshaw, and Miami Indians, all residing within the central superintendency, and in the newly organized Territories of Nebraska and Kansas. These tribes possessed lands bounded on the east by the western boundaries of the States of Missouri and Iowa, and lying be-tween the parallels of 37O and 42O 40' north latitude, embracing, in the aggregate, nearly 15,000~000o f awes; all of which, with the ex- |