OCR Text |
Show REPORT OF THE COMbIISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 37 Under date of September 15, Agent Furnas reported the arrival of the whole Ponca nation upon the Omaha reservation, the Indians giving as areason tbat they had no ageut and nobody to care for them. They were destitute of everything but meat, of which they had a surplus, tbeir buffalo hunt having been very successful; and an the Omahas had no meat, but a surplus of corn, a eatisfactory exchange to some extent could be made; but the united stock was insuffieieut for both. Should it be found expedient and desirable, as now seems probable, that the reservation for the Winnebagoes should be abandoned, and that tribe located upon the Omaha reserve, it is respectfi~lly suggested that the Poncas may well be included in the same arrangement. As to the capa-city of the Omaha reserve to suitably accommodate the three tribes, I have no doubt, and the friendly relations existing between them are such that no trouble ou that score is to beappreheuded. On the score of economy, such an awange-ment is evidently desirable, since a single agent would suffice for the three tribes, and but little if any increase would be required in the number of other em-ployes now engaged at each agency. I propose to make a more thorough in-vestigation of the desirability and practicability of carrying this suggestion into effect before any definite action is had. Thereports of the agents at the reserves to be abandoned are naturally to some extent biased by the apprehensious they may entertain in relation to the continuanee of tbeir respective agencies. The Shawnees, who number about eight hundred and sixty, have advanced well in civilization, a large portion of them owning andcultivating their lands in severalv, and but for the vicinity of the Missouri border, the farmers would have realized a fair return from their labor. They have, however, been so often olundered b"v the merillas of the border. that their success has been vervlimited ;he past year. 1)is~eucionrh are, to nonx extent, arisrn in this iribe,*growiz~g out uf tbr f:~llowit~egt .ire of let^: Thrir treaty of 1854 provided thnt those of thv tribe who ~tlould2 0 elect rniel~ttnkea nd hold land in seseraltv. while for those vho were unwilling to avail &emselves of this privilege it w&'provided that an equitable portion of their reserve should be set apart to be held by them in common. Itis now claimed by the latterclass that the former; by the mere act of taking land in severalty, severed their cunuexion with the tribe, and that the latter class should be recognized by the government as constitutingthe tribe. I can find no warrant for this claim, either iu the language of the treaty or in the cotemporaneous records of this office pertaining to the negotiation of the aame; aud it ia strenuously urged by the other party that no one of the indi-viduals who chose to take land in severalty so understood the treaty, or would have accepted the privilege granted them by its terms had they supposed it liable to such construction. A question somewhat collateral to this has grown out of the right asserted by the State to tax the lands held in severalty. In many instances these lauds have been assessed for taxes, and sold for their pay- I ment. This question is being adjudicated by the courts of Ihnsas, and the agent of the tribe has been instructed to cause an appeal to be taken to the United States courts, in case the decision of tbe State courts is adverse to the Indians. The report of the agent of the Delawares does not, I regret to say, enable us I to present that evidence of progress which might reasonably be expected in the I case of a tribe, owning and occupying a large tract of very fertile land, and drawing a large annual interest from its trust funds. The comparatively small areaof land which they have under cultivation indicates that, with all their ad-vantages, the majority of the tribe are still too much attaehed to shiftless and improvident habits of life. I n conuexion with this si~bjecth, owever, it would be unjust to omit the fact that a large portion of the men of the tribe are en-listed in the United States army, where they have distinguished themselves as faithful soldiers. Their absence from the reservation in the service of the coun-try may account, in a great measure, for the failure to put more land under cul-tivation this year. |