OCR Text |
Show the schools of that tribe, not exceeding in any one year for the respective tribes the amount expended for the scholastic year ending June 30, 190& the following amounts have been set aside for the use of schools in the respective tribes : Cherokee Nation .----_----.- $120,336.98 Chickasaw Nation .--.--_--------:-----..---.-1-45--,4.7-1-.-8-9 - ...----.. Cre& Nation ---...--.--------:.- .-..-..-......- .-8-3,.14.%..8-2 --- Choctaw Natlon ~-~~~~. .~. - - -1-24,-967-.35- - - Seminole Nation --..----------------' .23-,7-88..0.0 .-------.... Total ...-.-----.--.--..-~-...49~7,70~7.84 ~' ~~..---...... An appropriation of $150,000 was made by the Congress for main-taining, strengthening, and establishing tribal day schools for In-dians and noncitizens for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1906. This , amount, supplemented by tribal funds and surplus court fees, en-abled the Office to establish and assist 884 day schools, as follows: Cherokee Nation; 316 ; Creek Nation, 161 ; Choctaw Nation, 206: Chickasaw Nation, 185, and Seminole Nation, 16. Of these, 7.59 were attended by white and Indian children and 125 by negro chil-dren. The enrollment was 10,832 Indians, 43,011 whites, and 6,104 negroes. Discussing conditions in the Territory which hinder the establish-ment of a first-class system of district or day ,schools, Superintend-ent Benedict says : Flrst. Nearly all the lands belonz to the Indians and are nontaxable no long as owned by tbem. - - Second. Every one of the 800 day school bnildinzs have been erected bv orl- - - - rate, voluntary donations or subscriptions, and the majorlty of them are cheap box houses which can not be kept comfortable in winter weather. Third. No public funds of any kind have ever been available, either for building or furnishing country schoolhouses In the Territory; hence the ma-jority of .them are supplied with. ciude, homemade benches and with but few If any school appliances. Fourth. The Territory is threaded with numerous streams, which are spanned by no bridges, oftentimes rendering I t imposslble for pnpils to get to school. Fifth. During the months of 'October and November many boys and girls are kept at home to pick mttou, and In the spring they must hoe and chop cotton. The cotton crop Is largely responsible for the ignorance which prevails among the children of the tenant class thruont the South. One of the principal difficulties encountered in the administration of schools for Indian children is absenteeism. Indian parents seem not to realize as their white neighbors do the necessity for compell-ing their children to take advantage of their educational oppor-tunities. The superintendent suggests that when the new State is formed an effective compulsory school law should be enacted and made applicable to the entire scholastic population. Considering the generally unsettled conditions of the Five Civil-ized Tribes during the last gear, the schools have accomplished good |