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Show 54 OOM?dISSIONER OF INDIAN AE'FAIRB. At the outset this ofice set its face strongly against any exhibit which, with spectacular shows ' of dances, sham battles, etc., would resemble a "Wild West" show. Early Indian life did not consist in ' dancingand fightingany more than our life of to-day is made up of quar-rels and amusements. The industries which bring food and clothing absorbed most of the attention then as they do nowadays, and it was believed that auch industries adequately presented would form a more novel as well as scientific and creditable exhihit than the other sort, which had been almost outworn hy Wild West and similar shows which had gone from one end of the country to the other. Moreover, such shows are a positive detriment to the individual Indians who take part in them, retard Indian civilization generally, are inconsistent with the announced policy of the Department, and chiefly gratify an idle curi-osity or pander to a desire for sensationalism. It was decided to adopt, with much modification, amplification, and improvement, the scheme undertaken at the Chicago Exposition, and to plant a Governulent Indian school with its industries on the Expo-sition grounds and to off3et it by a portrayal of primitive Indian home life and avocations. Under thecharge of S. M. McCowan, auperintendent of the Chilocco school, Oklahoma, and a full corps of employees, a model Indian school of 150 pupils has been in actual operation, which exemplifies the Indian school system of the Government, and in and around it are adult Indians living in the old way in the old-time habitations and pnr-suing the handicrafts of their forefathers. A detailed account of what has been done and hok the enterprise is managed is given in the fol-lowing extracts from report of Superintendent McCowan: In order to carry out to the full intent the ideas of thelawmakersasexpressedand defined in the appropriation act, it became necessaryto construct a suitable building. Accordinglpa building 40 by 208 feet, with a rear addition to be used as recitation roomand concerthall, wasdulyconstructedatanexpenseof $17,000. Thispricedidnot include the inside carpenter work, wiring,and plumbing, which work it was t,hought desirable to bave accomplished by student labor. The exhibit scheme embraces a contrasting exposition of the old Indian and the young, the old life and the modern, the stages of evolution from the old life to the new, as developed through the Government's adminiatrativsandeducstionalpolicies and processes. To carry out this scheme the following-namedgroupsof old Indians werecollected: Apache 15, Arapaho 23, Comanche 5,,Maricopa, 5, Navaho 21, Cheyenne 17, Pawnee 21, Pima 7, Pueblo 24, Pomo 2, Sioux 35, Chippewa 20, and Wichita20. Inaddition to the old Indians, 150 students were brought here from Chilocco, Has-kell, Genoa, Fort Shaw, and Sacaton Indian schoole. This number included a very fine Indian band of 40 pieces. The firat floor of the school building is divided by a wide hallway into two long comparhnents which are subdivided into rooms or booths. On one side the booths are filled with representative Indians from the various tribes at work at their native industries, as nearly as possible in realistic fashion. There are 16 of thew booths occupied by old Indians. Beginning at the south end we have some Pueblo women |