The Word Carrier of Santee Normal Training School (Santee, Nebraska), 1923-01 - 1923-02

              the Word Carrier
OF
SANTEE NORMAL TRAINING SCHOOL.
VOLUME   LII
HELPING THE  RIGHT, EXPOSING THE WRONG
NUMBER  1
SANTEE, NEBRASKA.
January -February, 1923
FIFTY CENTS PER YEAR
Our   Platform
For Indians we want American Education ! Wc
want American Homes ! We want American Rights !
The result of which is American Citizenship! And the
Gospel is the I'ower of God for their Salvation !
Indian in the Home Journal
There is now running in the Ladies Home
Journal a story by Zane Grey, entitled "The
Vanishing American," in which the hero is a
most unnatural and improbable, if not impossible, Indian. And who can guess what Mr.
Grey's idea may be of the vanishing of the
original American when the Indian population of the United States has increased 13,500
during the last ten years.
Last year Mr. Grey wrote a wonderful
stoiy in the Home Journel, entitlad "The
Call of the Canon." He pictured the western
country most realistically in his writing but
in this later story his romancing on the Indian is ridiculous.
Peyote Law in South Dakota
All good people will be glad to know of
the law against Peyote recently passed by
the South Dakota Legislature, as follows :
Eighteenth Session, Legislative Assembly, State of South Dakota
Senate Bill No. 23
Introduced by Mr. Mertens.
A BILL
For Au Act Entitled, An Act to Prohibit the
Traffic in, and the  Possession of Peyote,
Botanically Kuown as Pophophora William-
sii, and Commonly   Known as the  Mescal
Button, and Any Compound, Derivative, or
Preparation Thereof, and  Providing  Penalties for the Violation of This Act.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of
South  Dakota:
Section 1.
That it shall be unlawful for any person,
firm, corporation or association to sell, fur-
nish, or give away, or to offer, sell, furnish,
or give away, or to have in his or its possession any Peyote, botanically known
as Pophophora Williamsii and commonly
known as the Mescal button, or any compound derivative, or preparation thereof.
Section 2.
Any person who shall violate any of the
provisions of this act shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor and upon convietion thereof
shall be punished by a fine of not less than
Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00), nor
morethan Fifteen Hundred Dollars($1500.00),
Or by imprisonment in the county jail for not
more than one year (1) or by both such fine
and imprisonment.
Making American Life His Own
Indians and white people are living more
closely together and having more common
aims and purposes as each year passes. On
all-hands it is recognized that the solution for
the so-called Indian problem is not in separation and segregation, but in amalgamation
with the common American interests, the
adoption of American points of view and habits of life, the mental, moral, and even physical idontification with American life.
The mingling of Indian and white boys and
girls in public schools is an educational development of prime importance in the America-
-»«* s\ n    i t    _    nn      *?OOT^
Indians. On the Flathead Reservation is an
other successful mingling of white settlers
and Indians in-the school life. The school
children of 4000 white people and 2700 Indians have mingled in twenty-nine out of for
ty-six public schools of the area — Rodney W.
Roundv iu the Southern Wrokman.
The American Indian and Government Indian
Administration
By
Assistant I
vluar Meritt,
■dian Commissioner.
The Pueblo Indians with their Backs to the Wall
In a population of over a hundred million
(Speech delivered by Mr. Meritt before the Maryland
Federation of Women's Clubs at Baltimore, Md.,Nov. 1, 1022.)
mere eight thousand is a paltry number. It
is hardly enough for more than a good-sized
village or a tiny city. In a community like
New York or Chicago eight thousand could
disappear and hardly be missed. And when
the eight thousand are not white people with
votes, but merely Indians, their number
seems the more insignificant.
There is a bill now before Congress affecting the property rights of eight thousand
Pueblo Indians in the State of New Mexico.
It is not surprising that this bill received
practically no attention in the Senate. It
was brought before tbe Senate by Mr. Bur-
sum, of New Mexico, on September 11. He
explained that it affected the titles to about
five thousand homes in his State. Some of
these titles were granted by authorities under the Spanish Government, others by authorities under Mexican Government. Some
of the claimants to lands which the Indians
also claim base their right to the land on
peaceable possession for twenty years. On
assurance that the bill simply provided a
method for quieting these titles by suits at
law, and that it was recommended by the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and also
agreed to by the parties to the controversy,
it was, in the most casual manner possible, !
"reported to the Senate without amendment,
ordered to be engrossed for third reading,
read the third time, and passed."
Now it appears that the Pueblo Indians are
I very much disturbed at the passage of this
! bill.   Representatives of twenty pueblos have j
| appealed to the people of the United States•!
I against this bill,  which, they declare, "will.
i destor.v our common life and will rob us of ,
everything  which we hold  dear—our land,
our customs, our tradition."
Evidently the bill is not at all agreed to by '
the Indians themselves. Nor is it agreed to
by certain white friends of these Indians. It ■
is true that the bill provides chiefly for a le- |
gal method of settling disputes as to the titles
of these lands; but that does not at all tell the
whole story. There are two features which
seem to us on their face certainly doubtful
and probably objectionable. One feature is
the transfer of jurisdiction. This transfer is
twofold. It transfers jurisdiction over some
of the administrative questions from the
Bureau of Indian Affairs to a court of law
which by its very nature is not suited to
i settle administrative questions: and it transfers jurisdiction over some of the most important questions from Federal courts, which
are removed from prejudice, to State courts,
which are much less able to deal with local
Indian questions with prejudice. The other
feature, is that of establishing ownership of
hind by virtue of possession without color
of title. If this bill is passed, undoubtedly
Indians will be deprived of land, and even of
the right of proving superior title.
The Pueblo Indians are not nomadic. The
lands they possess are not like other Indian
reservations. As their names indicates, they
inhabit pueblos, or villages, and have a kind
of civilization of their own.
Certainly  the  House of Representatives
n'ization of the Red Man. Of the 83, 633 In
dian boys and girls eligible for school attendance 30, 000 are now in the public schools.
The main object in this mingled life is for
young people growing up together to have
more friendly feeling for one another. Recently all the Government schools on the  Crow
Reservation in Montana have been closed, to- j should not pass this bill,
gether with  the Mission  day  schools.    The       It is not merely the rights of these few In-
enterprise  has been  a success  in which  the j dians that are at stake; it is the honor and
enthusiasm of the white people of the Reser- | good faith of the United States.—The Out-
cation has been joined to the good will of the   look.
There has been so much misinformation
and misrepresentation printed and spoken
about, the American Indian and the administration by the United States Government of
Indian Affairs that I believe it desirable and
timely to make a statement regarding Indian
matters, the accuracy of which can be substantiated by the official records of the Government, the Statutes of Congress, and decisions of our courts.
I have been connected with the Federal Government twenty eight years and nearly seventeen years of that time has bfen devoted to a
careful study of every phase of the Indian
problem. 1 have visited and personally inspected Indian schools and resarvntions in
every part of the United States, and have had
official conferences with Ind.au delegations
from a large number of Indian reservations.
I therefore believe that I speak with some
knowledge of the American Indian and the
problems of Indian adminstration by our Government.
Historical
The Indian Bureau was established March
11, 1824; the office of Commissioner of ludian Affairs was created in 1832, and in 1849
the Department of the Interior was estabbsh-
• ed by act of Congress and the Bureau of Indian Affairs transferred   to fcaat  Department
I from the War Department, where it has since
remained.
President Jefferson, in one of his messages
l to   Congress, correctly   forecasted   the   right
j policy for the Indians of this coutry in the
following language:  "In truth, the ultimate
I point of rest and happiness for them (the Indians) is to let our settlements and theirs
meet and blend together, to intermix and become one people. Incorporating themselves
with us as citizens of the United States is
what the natural progress of things will bring
on ; it is better to promote than retard it. It
is better for them to be identified with us and
preserved in the occupation of their lands than
to be exposed to the dangers cr being a Separate people."
Important Indian Laws and Court Decisions
Under constitutional authority and since
I the foundation of our Government the Indians
' have been treated as wards of the Government
| and the United States has acted as the guard-
i ian of all restricted Indians.
Section 441  of  the Revised   Statutes pro-
, vides that  "The Secretary of the  Interior is
charged with the supervision of public business relating to the Indians."
Section 463 of the Revised Statutes read:
"The Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall,
under the direction of the secretary of the In-
! terior and agreeable to such regulations as the
President may prescribe, have the management of all Indian affairs, and of all matters
ari'ing out of Indian relations."
The power of Congress to control and administer the affairs of restricted Indians has
been recognized since the inception of our
Government. The Secretary of the Interior
and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs are
charged by law with the duty of acting as the
guardians of the property of the Indians and
as the protectors of their rights. (West vs.
Hitchcock, 205 U. S., 85.)
The Supreme Court of the United States has
repeatedly held that Congress has the right
to  determine  when   the   guardianship  over
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