| OCR Text |
Show REPORT OF THE COMXISSIOXEB OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 547 are necessary for the oerfection of the former in order to the DroDer dis-tribution of "the htte;. It must be apparent to any one that -it is a source of annoyance.and disconragement to the Indians and all others to attemot farming without fences.hence mv efforts to oartially remedv this thB present Sear; but, owing'to scarcity of suitable rnaieriarialan;~ the necessity for wonorny in its u.se, this great want cannot be fully met till a saw-mill for the manufactnre of lumber for fencing and other purposes IS erectibd. Thorough1.y iulpreslied wit11 thinidea I sbllght, n ~ d , through the kindness UP the De~ar tme~wl ta s .granred, i~nrlrority:i n11 means to ~urchase a saw-mill. to which. throueh mv 'intercess<on it aadeda griit-mill and shingle.machine. owing t; the Acarcity of means I was com~elled to do the freiphtina of this machinery (over 20 tons) with my <mployBs over a way ahichuit is a misnomer- tb call a roatl. This was more expensive and laborious than I had anticipated, and I fear I shall not be able to get it all freighted, with necessary supplies, before the so-called road is closed. I shall, however, have the saw-mill on hand, and hope, if the proper facilities are afforcled me, to have it in operation this winter, and be prepared to ntihze its products on the agency in the spring. ' THE INDIANS' WEALTH, COhTITION, ETO. &I havealready intimated, the Indiansseem tobe well disposed; some charges of stealing horses hare, it is trne, been made against them ; thus far, howev*, no satisfactory er~delice has beeu produced implicating our Indians in the matter. The principal chief. Tabby-To-kwana (son of the late very iudnential and popular chief Lowi-Et) suit several others have set a good example, both with regard to industry a~l dg eneral con-duct. Unfortuna,klt~h e nominalchief exercises very little eoutrol over the meat bodr of the tribe. and there is a dis~ositionto break un into s111ni1b n~l~lt;ic,r rr:~ls erliii;g to becoine lead& or sub-cteirfs.; th& the 11uiry of tile tribe is dtstroged and the dificnltg of its luan;lgrmunt ert- I~aneed. LIa~innh all IIO remlarir~ternreter.a 11r1t he Luc11;lns rhctusel~es being unable to Fount, I hate beeu miable tb ascertain with any degree of accuracy their number. From the most reliable data withiu my reach I estimate the number of Incliaus that make this agency their headquarters at YO0 ; this estimate itlcludes some of whatuare"called Sheberets aud other bauds of Utes, in various ways connected with ours. I hare recentlv secured an intermeter and hope to.be able, bv his as-sistance, to hav6 a con~pletee nuneration of ali the Indiana that visit this agency. These Indians seem to 11i1~en o settled or definite notion in reiard-to religion, thongh the^ hare, a general notion that there ili a supreme being or Great Spirit, that made and superintends the gov-ernment of.the'world-have, some of them, a general notion of a resurrec-tion and a hereafter, while others ridicule the idea; they also beiieve in an eGil s ~ i r iwt ho. in some war. hw influence aud control over the ac-tious of ;leu, but he i r u o t i o ~ ~ s ; ~ s aal~l tIh~. irbavouuands ;lvage nation^ an11t ribe5, arc exceedin~isv agae. There seems never tohave been angthing more done for them than to keep them quiet and peaceable, hj- partially feeding and clothing them and amusing them with trinkets Xo schools or missions have ever been attem~te(flo r their enlightenment. civilization. or Christian-izarion. 31L11yo f them express a &sire for sLhools, and I ;m~co nident that \!.ere t l~r i r]~ l~ysic:wtl ants properly eared tbr, rhrir pl~ytiicaln eces-iti it!^ met. ~. l~ooalnb1 1 missio~~msi chr lwintn)duerd vith the most brn-etieial re&~llx. Ul~tilt his is done;'hoaever, 1 cantlot rewlumencl r l l~i r iutroduction, as I am satisfit.d rhc rxpcndirl~rc of time aud ruone. in this direction would be without my aiiequite results. d |
