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Show 6 COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. THE INDIAN AND THE WAR. The peculiar conditions applicable to each separate band or tribe of Indians caused their registering for the military census under the act of May 18, 1917, to be aasigned to this bureau. There were instances where the registration could be handled by the State authorities more expeditiously and with less expensg than by this bureau and the highest degree of cooperation existed in' order that the work would be a success. The Secretary of War placed the Indian Service upon the same plane with the States and it had con-trol of this branch of the work. All of our employees were required to serve as registram and as members of the registration board with-out compensation, and but little expense was incurred in carrying on this work. The draft of those Indians who are citizens was handed by the local boards appointed by the President and in order that the claims of the Indians to exemption might be given consideration and presented in proper form, superintendents were instructed to appear on their behalf and assist them in every way possible. The growing attitude of the Indian towwd the world war is a credit to his race. A well-nigh limitless devastation and conflict is bringing to him its profound lesson that the highest authority and best social welfare must spring from a free and self-governing people. This awakening is especially noticeable among the younger generation, largely the product of our Indian schools, who are quick to catch the spirit of a new era. Reports on He indicate that a large number of voluntary enlistments have been made in the Army, Navy, and National Guard, or in some branch of the Military Establishment, by Indian students and ex-students alone. Many of the schools report 20 to 30, some from 40 to 50 enlistments. Among them is represented practically every tribe. Several enlisted for the aviation service and some were admitted to o5cers' t r a i ~ n g camps. A former student at the Carlisle School, Ernest Kick, was among the early accessions to the Princess Patricia Regiment of Canada and gave his life in the trenches of France. Sylvester Long Lance, a graduate of that school, is a lieutenant in the same regiment and received wounds in valorous action. Requests were repeatedly made for permission to form exclusively Indian organizations which, under the regulations of the War Department, could not be encouraged as proposed, but were significant of the loyal and active interest among the Indians. I am deeply impressed by all that has come from the Indian's serious heart and mind in this time of incomprehensible strife and am sure that among the compensations that must follow will be his clearer vision of what constitutes urell-organized society. |