OCR Text |
Show EXTRACT FROMTIIE REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTEBIOR. Treaties hsve been concluded with various Iudisn tribes as follows: With the Kiowa., Comanches, and Apaches, October 21, 1867 ; the Cheyennes and Arm- ~ahaes ;O ctober '28, 1867; the Tsbeguaehes and six other bands of Ute Indians, March 2, 1868; TheChorokees, April 27, 1868; the Mountain Crows, May 7, 1868: the northern Cheyennes, andArspahaes, May 10, 1868; and theNavajoes, June 1,1868. The foregoing treaties have been ratified. The following treaties, concluded wilh various tribes since July 1, 1867, have not been ratified ; With the Siouxnation, (differebt bauds,) 29th April, 1868; the Ossgea,29th May, 1188; the Chippewas of Swan creek and Black liver, Jnna 1, 1868 ; the Bannocks sod Shosha-nees, July 3, 1868 ; the Gros Vertras, July 13, 1868 ; the River Crows, July 15, 186H; the Cherokees, July 19, 1868; the Blackfeet, Beptexnher I, 1868; the B~nnoclra, Shoshonees, and Shwp-eetera, September 24, 1868. The leading stipulations of the treaties which have been proclhimed provide for gsrthaing the respective tribes upon distinct reservations, and for securing, in due time, to each Indian a title to a separate tract of land. Clothing, goods, nbd farming implements are to be fur-nished. and school and mission houses.. e.e. snc.v buildiop"d.. mills. k c . . are to be erected. When by s tempomry oconp8tion of the Indian hunting grounds, or the eonstmetion of mil-wsys over them, we partially deprive the Indians of their accustomed mesue of subsistence, . we should afford them s reasonable indemnitv. Our treaties, however, will not be wartlt the paper upon which they are written, if Congresd,does not furnish the means of executing '- them. We bsve no just ground of reproach against moat of the tribes for the non-fulfilment of tbei; txeaty stipulations. It ia a significant fact thst during the winter of 1867-8, when more than 27,000 Ipdisns were subsisted by us, not a single act of depredation or vialenoa waa reported. It is believed thst peaceful relations would have been maintained to this hour had Congress, in accordance witb the estimates submitted, mads thanecessn~appropriations to enable this department to perform engagements for whieh the public faith was pledged. A costly Indian war, with all its horrors, would hsve been avoided. The lands within the limits of reservations set avert for Indians who hsventsda soma DIO- . A . gressin the arts of civilized life should not be held in common. When surveyed, the title in severalty to small tracts, designated by specific subdivisians,.should be rested in indivi-duals, \<ith no vower of slienatin-a them exeapt to members of the tribe. The e"o vernment should gnsrantee to the Indians the perpetus1 and exclusive ijght to remain in the undis-turbed possession of the reservation, and prohibit, by the severest penalties, the settlement ofwhite persons within it. Tire latter trespass oporl the land of the Indisn, and ofteneom-pel him to abandon his home and seek another in a. distant wilderness. So long as this pre-carious tenure exists, the Indian believes that he has but a temporary right, which is to be divested by the adsancement of the whits population, and the lsbors of the .gents in his behalf will be greatly embarrassed. We have striking examples of the high degree of civil-ization whieh the Indians may, under propitious influences, attain. The Cherokees, Choo-taws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Seminoles, residing within the Indian eanntry westmf Arkansas, have given sridenceaf their cspscit,y for self goventrnont. Inslitutions are organ-ized under which their civil and politics1 ri.ght s have for mm.y y.e am been as well vroteeted as in any part af our oountry. They hsve adopted measures for the formetian of s territo-rial government, with a view to their ultimste ildmissian as amember of our Federal Union. Such facts should stimulate us to constant snd strenuous efforts in reclaimio-e the wild tribes and instructing them in the arts of civilized life. Althoogh our progress is slow and beset with formidable di&culties, n just reg& to our obligations requires us to persist in the work. , The lransfer ofthe Indisn bureau to the War Department has been suggested. Our eape-rienee during the period when the Indians were under milit~ryc are and gua~dianshipa ffords no ground for hope that any benefit to them or the treasury would be secured by the meas- |