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Show REPORT I OX THE / COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE ~NTERIOR, OFFIOE OP INDIAN APFAIRS, October 1,1891. SIa: I have the honor to submit the Sixtieth Annual Report of the . Commissioner of Indian Affairs. A SETTLED INDIAN POLICY. C A variety of eanses have of late couspired to stimulate public in- f terest in the subject of Indian idministratiou, and to provoke a very widespread discussion of the so-called Indian problem. As was to be expectecl, there has been a great diversity of views expressed, and many discordant theories advanced as to its proper solution. I think, . however, there is coming to be a very general consensus of opinion as to the essential elements that should enter into the settled policy of the Government in all its dealings with these people, and I venture tosug-gestthe most important of t,hem here with a view of furnishing a test of the present administriltion. (1) Comprehensiveness.-It is important that any theory shall rest pri-marily upon a careful induction of all pertinent facts. No two reserva-tions are exactly similar, and no two tribes present the same condition. The Indians, while alike as belonging to one common race and as sus- . ' ' taining to the United States Government the general relat,ion of wards, differ among themselves very widely in language, manners, customs, religion, and environment. They represent a great number of distinct. phases of human development. 1. Some are yet very degraded, living a mere animallife with few of the characteristics of humanity, while others have already become absorbed .into onr national life and are not distinguishable from their fellow citizens. Some still live by hunting and fishing; others,like the Nav- 3 |