OCR Text |
Show X REPORT OF THE CO3<3fISSIOXEE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. Of course at the beginning it must be expected that on some of tho reservations a majority of the Indians mill be opposed to taking lands in severalty. They are loath to give up their savage customs, and'view with usp pic ion any innovation upon their nomadic mode of life. They are utterv igr~oranot f the intent or effects of the act, and in many in-stances their minds are poisoned by false sta,tements and their fears alarmed by selfish white men both on and off their reservations. But I am gkatified to state that the more the severalty act is discussed among the Indians, the more they come to understand its operations, and the rnorc they see members of their tribes accepting individual holdings and having houses erected, and farms fenced andcultivated, the more they are grounding their opposition to the act and signifying their wish to accept its provisions. Where but a few years ago only individuals could be induced to receive homesteads, now whole tribes, with scarcely an exception in the tribe, are not ouly ~ i l l i n gb ut anxious to have allotments, while many of the more advanced and better-informed In-dians hail the a06 as the dawn of their emancipation from the bonds of barbarism, which for centuries have held their people in an iron grasp. That there are exceptions to this even among the more civilized Indians is true, but it is undeniable that a personaland selfish motive has been found to lie at the bobtom of nearly every such instauce of opposition to the allotment act which has yet come tothe knowledge of the Office. In the main this opposition comes from or is instigated by squaw men and half-breeds, whose chief interest in the Indian is to drive sharp bargains with him and to make money out of his ignorance, unsospect-ing confidence, an,d characteristic liberality and hospitality. Other'forms of opposition are met with in various quarters, but now that the policy of allotments in severalty has been determined upon a11d adopted, and can be changed by nothing less than a. revolution'in pop-ular sentiment throughout the United States, I can not understand why white citizens should continue to agitate the subject of.the impro-priety and illjustice of this le,w. This agitation, so far as it has influ-ence, is powerless for the repeal of the lam, and tends only to disquiet the more ignorant class of Indians. Surely regard for the welfare of the Indian himself ought to pot estop to such agitation; even if a patri-otic respect for the almost unanimous opinion of the American people has nqforce with these agitators. FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES. The most potent element of opposiiion to the allotment act is found inthefive civilizedtribes pf theIndian Territory. They are excepted and excluded from the provisions of the act, yet are busy trying to prejudice others against it, and are using their utmost endeavor topreveut whole tribesofIndians from agreeing to acceptits provisions. In a recent con-vention, to which representatives of all tribes in the Indian Territory were invited, special eEort was made to manufacture a hostile senti. |