Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

seen the Exposition and its surroundings, no difficulty would have been experienced in getting from their respective tribes delegations of any size desired, including the best men.

The delegations present are, on the whole, well equipped as to camp and outfit, and are most excellent types of their several tribes, and the Indian encampment affords an opportunity for the student of aboriginal Indian life never before presented. It was soon found, however, that this feature was of comparatively little interest to most visitors, who, having seen one or two camps, had seen them all. In other words, the real differences and characteristics of the Indians were of slight interest to the average visitor. A scientific exhibit appeals to but a small percentage of those who attend the Exposition. The greater portion of the people coming to the Exposition visit the Indian Congress, and express the fullest satisfaction. However, what they really want is amusement. They prefer to see the Indians, in their full Indian dress, on parade, conducting their ceremonies, and their dances, or engaging in sham battles. All of these are being provided so far as practicable, and the eager crowds are often larger than the grounds can comfortably accommodate.

For many weeks after the encampment opened the weather was extremely trying. Great heat, accompanied by dry, hot winds, made camp life anything but pleasant. Close upon the heated period came a week of cold, heavy rains, which made it even more disagreeable. But with the coming of clear, cool weather the camp has taken on a new aspect, and conditions are more favorable in every respect.

Indian school exhibit. From the opening of the exposition on June 1, the work of the Indian Bureau has been represented there by an exhibit in the Government building similar to that prepared for the Atlanta and Nashville expositions. It presents mainly the effort of the office to educate Indians, and for lack both of space and facilities does not undertake to show what progress, outside of the schools, Indians are making in adopting the habits of thought and life, as well as the occupations, which pertain to civilization.

The attempt is made to set forth the aim, scope, and success of Indian schools, both intellectually and industrially. Certain schools were asked to send samples of the regular work of their pupils in schoolrooms and shops. The exhibit is necessarily incomplete in that it can indicate the training given Indian youth in domestic arts and in farming, gardening, care of stock, etc., only by photographs. But the trades are well represented. The course of instruction is shown, and the age and experience of the Indian workman are given. There is blacksmith and wheelwright work, from a bolt to a farm wagon; woodwork, from sloyd to a finely finished cabinet; leather, from the sewing of two pieces together to a complete harness and well-made shoes; needlework, from patchwork and darning to fine embroidery, drawn work and "real" lace,

and complete suits for men and women. Tinsmithing, printing, and painting are also shown.

Class-room papers, from kindergarten exercises and first attempts in English to geometry, physics, bookkeeping, typewriting, and stenography differ little from those that would be furnished by white schools of similar grade, except for early deficiencies in the use of English and perhaps a rather unusually good average in drawing and penmanship. A new feature of interest is some excellent "studies" in oil by a young woman of the Winnebago tribe who is under careful training and gives promise of becoming an artist of unusual ability. The subjects are taken from Indian life.

Interesting sets of photographs give interior and exterior views of schools, and sets of floor plans and elevations of buildings now in use show the provision which the Government makes for housing its Indian school children.

Fewer schools are represented than in former exhibits, so that the work of each school may be more fully presented. They are: Nonreservation training schools at Genoa, Nebr., Lawrence, Kans. (Haskell Institute), Carlisle, Pa., and Carson, Nev.; reservation boarding schools as follows: Winnebago in Nebraska, Seger Colony and Riverside (Kiowa) in Oklahoma, Oneida in Wisconsin, Crow Creek in South Dakota, and Hoopa Valley in California; also day schools on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations in South Dakota and among the Mission Indians in California.

Under the supervision of Miss Alice C. Fletcher special attention has been given to the installation of the exhibit. For decorative purposes, and also to differentiate the Indian educational exhibit from those of white schools, specimens of native Indian handicraft have been added— blankets, matting, plaques, baskets, pottery, beadwork, articles cut from red pipestone, etc. Out of these a "cosy corner" has been fashioned, and fine color effects have been secured which arrest the attention. The taste and skill displayed in the workmanship of these articles give unmistakable evidence of the native capacity which is ready to respond to the Government offer of instruction in new avocations. They show the aboriginal soil upon which education sows its seeds.

EXHIBITION OF INDIANS.

During the past year the Department has granted authority for the taking of Indians from their reservations for exhibition purposes, as follows:

September 10, 1897, to C. L. Timmerman, secretary of the Morton County Fair Association, to secure a reasonable number of Indians from the Standing Rock Reservation, N. Dak., for exhibition purposes at the State fair held at Mandan, N. Dak. In this case no bond was

exacted, as the fair was under municipal control, and assurances were given (and faithfully observed) by responsible officials in charge that the Government would be at no expense whatever in the matter, and that they would hold themselves responsible for the proper care and protection of the Indians while at the fair, and would insure their safe return to their homes at its close.

January 22, 1898, to Messrs. Cody (Buffalo Bill) & Salisbury to take 100 Indians from the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations, S. Dak., for general show and exhibition purposes during the season of 1898. A bond in the sum of $10,000 was given by this firm.

April 23, 1898, to Mr. George P. Gifford, secretary of the Milwaukee Carnival Association, for permission to secure from 100 to 200 Indians from reservation under the La Pointe Agency, Wis., in order to exhibit "a well-established representative Indian village" on the lake shore at Milwaukee, Wis., during the celebration week of June 27, 1898, commemorative of the fiftieth anniversary of the admission of the State of Wisconsin into the Union. No bond was required in this case, as assurances from the officials in charge of the celebration were given that the Government would be at no expense whatever, and due care would be observed to protect the Indians from immoral influences, etc., and to return them safely to their homes. In several other cases authority was granted for Indians to attend industrial exhibitions or local celebrations.

As stated in previous reports, whenever engagements with Indians for general exhibition purposes are made their employers are required to enter into written contracts with the individual Indians obligating themselves to pay such Indians fair stipulated salaries for their services; to supply them with suitable food and clothing; to meet their traveling and needful incidental expenses, including medical attendance, etc., from the date of leaving their homes until their return thither; to protect them from immoral influences and surroundings; to employ a white man of good character to look after their welfare, and to return them to their reservation without cost to themselves within a certain specified time. They are also required to execute bond for the faithful fulfillment of such contracts.

As usual, several applications for authority to take Indians away from home to be exhibited have been refused. Unless great care is exercised in granting such privileges the Indians taken are liable to suffer from neglect or bad treatment.

COMMISSIONS.

Chippewa Commission.-The Chippewa Commission, which now consists of but one member, D. S. Hall, has continued its work of allotting lands to hippewas in Minnesota, and of removing to the White Earth Reservation such Indians as can be induced to make their homes there.

During the year ending August 31 last 565 allotments of 80 acres each have been made by the commission, as follows:

[blocks in formation]

On White Oak Point Reservation, to White Oak Point Mississippis... 22
On Winnebagoshish and Mississippi Reservations, to White Oak
Point Mississippis..

367

Changes have been made in allotments previously assigned Indians, as follows:

[blocks in formation]

The Indians induced and helped to remove to White Earth are: Leech Lake Pillagers, 30; White Oak Point, 5; Mille Lacs, 24. Seven houses, costing $75 each, have been built for removed Indians, and five others are in process of erection.

Considerable effort has been put forth to induce the Mille Lac Chippewas to go to White Earth, but with only meager success as yet. Commissioner Hall hopes that quite a number will remove thither this

fall.

The expenditures made by the commission between September 1, 1897, and August 31, 1898, are:

Salary with traveling expense and board of one commissioner ... $4,745.00 Salaries of one allotting and removal agent, interpreter, and clerk 1,500.00 Salaries of regular employees, 1 allotting agent and clerk, 1 team

ster, and 1 tinsmith....

Salaries of surveyors on various reservations

2, 023.55

924.50

Salaries of irregular employees, such as acting removal agents and laborers....

113.00

[blocks in formation]

Paid for rent of a warehouse at White Earth and offices wherever

required....

144.00

6059

-3

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

Paid for feed and drugs for team and repairs to harness and wagon,
and for fuel and light and repairs to office and barn.
Paid for transportation and board of removals, visiting Indians
and reimbursements of traveling expenses of allotting and
removal agents

301.40

Total.

795.30

14, 017.49

Crow, Flathead, Northern Cheyenne, Uintah, and Yakima Commission.— The Indian appropriation act approved July 1, 1898 (30 Stats., p. 571), contains the following provision:

For continuing the work of the commission appointed under the act of Congress approved June tenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, to negotiate with the Crow, Flathead, and other Indians, fifteen thousand dollars, the same to be available for the payment of salary and proper expenses of said commission from and after the date when the appropriation of ten thousand dollars made by the act of June seventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, was exhausted, and said commission shall continue its work and make its final report thereon to the Secretary of the Interior on the first day of April, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, and upon that date the commission shall cease.

In the annual report of last year I stated that Samuel L. Taggart, of Dubuque, Iowa, replaced Charles G. Hoyt as a member of the commission. Mr. Taggart has since been appointed a special agent of this office and Mr. Hoyt has been reinstated as a commissioner; the other members of the commission are Benjamin F. Barge and James H. McNeely.

February 5, 1898, the commission submitted to the Department an agreement made with the Indians residing on the Fort Hall Reservation, Idaho, for the cession of a portion of their surplus lands. The agreement was referred by the Department, February 12, 1898, to this office for report, and on the 21st of that month this office submitted a draft of a bill for the ratification of the agreement. It was introduced into the Senate (No. 4073, Fifty-fifth Congress, second session) and was favorably reported by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. A full history of the matter is contained in Senate Doc. No. 169, Fifty-fifth Congress, second session.

The commission also concluded an agreement with the Uintah and White River Utes by which they sold, ceded, and relinquished to the United States necessary lands for the use of such of the Uncompahgre Utes as might conclude to remove to the Uintah Reservation. This agreement was submitted by the Department to the Senate January 21, 1898, with recommendation that it receive the favorable action of Congress (Senate Doc. No. 80, Fifty-fifth Congress, second session), but no action appears to have been taken thereon by Congress.

The commission is still in the field, and it is trusted that it will complete its work by the 1st day of next April.

Five Civilized Tribes Commission.-The Curtis act, referred to hereafter, added largely to the duties of the commission to the Five Civilized

« AnteriorContinuar »