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Show 116 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. I ! in custody, and added that they would not be sufficiently punished at t,he agency. He accordingly recommended that they be turned over to the troops and punished by colifinement at hard labor at some mili-tary prison so far from their home that they would not be able to keep in communication with their friends. He suggested that three of the ringleaders-Denet Lakui, To1 Zhin, and Glahdy-who con-tinued to defy the authorities, be imprisoned for twoyears, and Wins-low, Tsosa Begay, and Ush Tilly for one year. He added that these prisoners belonged to the vicious, criminal, and worthless clan among , their people; that the members of their clan had been guilty of the greatest number of crimes and misdemeanors committed by- the Na- I vahos, and that the suggested punishment would be for the best in-terests of this particular clan 2nd also of the tribe. I reported the matter to theDepartment in letter of December 13, 1905, with the recommendation that these Indians be taken by the military authorities to Alcatraz Island, California, and punished by confinement at hard labor for the terms suggested by the superintend-ent ; arid I added : . . I make this recommendation in one sense with regret, for I am always strongly in favor of employing the civil rather than the military agencies of government to execute justice among any Indians who are far enough advanced to understand what civil authority means when not visibly supported by arms. Among Indians who are citizehs by virtue of accepting allotment I have always insisted that the civil machinery alone should be brought Into operation for disciplinary purposes, and that the use of troops should be only as a posse where the constabulary found itself unable to coee with the situation. , In the case before us, however, the offending Indians are not only noncitizens, but among the most ignorant and lawless people with whom the Office has to deal. They live remote from civilization, in a mountainous region almost never pene-trated by whites because of the perils confronting a stranger there, and have always maintained an attitude of contempt toward the Government except when f~ced with the insignia of war. The great body of Navaho Indians, while unprogressive in the common acceptation of the term, a r e friendly and well-disposed toward those white pmple who treat them decently. But it is obvious that this particular group needs td be taught a lesson which can be administered In no better way than by a practical demonstration of the power of the Govern-ment to exercise fowe when it becomes necessary to substitute force for gentle methods. The removal of the ringleaders in the recent trouble to a remote wint would be surrounded with an atmosphere of mystery likely to be veryimpres-sive to those who remain at home. The humane treatmelit of the prisoners, whlch wlll, he made apparent,on their return, the compulsory instruction in labor which all six will receive, and the reports of their own experiences and that of their fellow-prisoners which will he brought back by the three released after one year's servitude, will unquestionably have a great effect thmout that part of the reservation as well as upon the victims of discipline themselves. All the prisoners will have very interesting stories to tell their friends of the railroads and steamboats and populous cities they have seen, and of other won-ders calculated to convey to the absolutely untutored Indian mind its only con-ception of the number and power of the whites; and these will go a long way |