OCR Text |
Show REPORT OF THE COMXISSIONEE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. V tribes anil bba(1s of Indians embraced in the bill now occupy thirtt$-si9 reserrations, containing 21,9'o,507 acres of land, under charge of twenty agents and the necessary attendant corps of teachers and other enlploy6s. Upon tlle reclnction 1)lvposed in the hill the>- will occn]>~n- ine re&er-rations, c-ontainil~g4> 239,052a cres, nnder the. charge of nine agents, all of V ~ O I I I are nolr l,ro\-i<lecl for by lam. A reduction of t~ventyfire r e s e rnt io~~iusl d eIe\-en agencies mill thns be effected. Tllere will be restored to t l ~ ep nblic cloniain 17,G4!2,455 acres of land, and an allnual saying in agency expenses to the a~nonnt of $120,000 n-ill be effected, after milking a liberal allo~vancefo r an increase of teachers, farmers, &c., at the aeveral cousolidated agencies. Since the prese~iltation of tlie bill to the conllnittee a more particular investigation of the snbject has convi~~cemde that further consolida-t. ions of like character are not only possible, but expedient and advisa-ble. There is a vast area of land in the Indian Territory not yet occn-pied. Into t,his shonlcl, and may, be gat.herecl the major portion of the Indians of Sew 3Iexic0, Colorado, and Arizona. The Klamath Indians of Orego11 can, nith material admnt,age to themselves and the govern-ment, be .reiooved to Yakama Reservation, in Washington Territory, to n-hirh reserxatio~ti~le Ba,nuocks and Malheur Indians will also be imme-cliatelj- sent. This policy shonlld also be pursned mith the Indians of JVestn?~I );lkota, JIo~ltanaI, daho, and other sections; the paramount ol~jec1t 1ei11tpo locate them on goodagric~~lt~~ralltaon wdhsi ch permanent title ean be gil-en, and to snstain and aid them thereon nntil they become eelf-sul~porti~~p. A~noogth e no st radical defects of the policy formerly pnrsned with the Inclia~~hass been the frequent cha,nges in their location which have been made, and the fact that the method of distributing the annnities which they hare recei7-ed under various treaties has, in general, encour-aged them in idleness and dependence on the government, lrhereas they should have been used in locating them in permanent homes and in educating t.hem in agricultural and other civilized pursuits. But a small proportion of the lands now occupied by the Indials is utilized for any purpose. TlleJ- are, in the main, dependent upon the charity of Gon-gress for the little aid that is given to assist them in agriculture1 p~w-suits, and in many cases the meager amount given, ho~verer honestly eupe~liledi, s nasted on acconnt of its insnfficieue>- to acconlplish the desired en~ls. In my jndgment, pernianent homes, sufficient aid to en-able them to build houses, edtivate the soil, and to subsist them nntii they hare lmrreated their fist crops, will mean them entirely from their old methods of life, and in the course of a fern years enable them to be-come elltirely self-supl~orting. A practical application of the nierely common-sense neth hods named above hax-e, vithin a co~nparativelyb rief period, enabled the Sisseton Sioux of Dakota, the Chippewas of White Earth, Minnesota, and the Santee S i o ~o~f rS el)raslia, uot only to pro- /"du ce sufficient grain for their on-11 use, but a lavge s~ul,lusf or sale, and |