PA G E 4
T H E C H E M A WA A M E R IC A N
F a c ts A bout O klahom a In d ia n s
(C o n tin u e d from page 1)
D uring the last seven y ears nearly 2,000,000 acres
of unallotted tribal lands have been sold, th e tribal
affairs of the Cherokee and Sem inole n ations practically
closed, and the C reek, Chickasaw and C hoctaw tribal
relations are fast ap p ro ach in g dissolution. F o llo w in g
the disposition of tribal property and the term ination
of tribal affairs our ad m in istrativ e w ork in eastern O k
lahoma relates chiefly to restricted In d ian s who, by
my order of A u g u st 6, 1919, rem oving unco n d itio n ally
restrictions on all allottees of one half In d ian blood,
now num ber only 21,213. T h eir allotm ents com pris
ing 2,683,819 acres are restricted as to alienation and
subject to governm ental supervision. T h e d istrib u tio n
of tribal funds, in clu d in g paym ents in equalization of
allotm ents made to the F ive Civilized T ribes, now e x
ceeds $26.000.000,00.
R evenue From Oil and G as
These In d ian s have also shared in the recent m arvel
ous re tu rn s from oil and gas in th e great O klahom a
d istricts, and up to 1919 there has been collected for
th e benefit of th eir individual m em bers from leases
and royalties ap p roxim ately $32,000,000,00. Incom e
from other sources to th at date sw ells th eir receipts of
individual moneys to $60,000,000.00. More than 40.-
000 oil and gas m ining leases ol restricted Indian
lands have been made, and th e production of oil alone
on such lands from Ju ly , 1913. to Ju ly , 1919, in c lu
sive, am ounting to 157,000.000 barrels, retu rn ed a
reven u e of approxim ately $20,000,000.00. Since only
about 15 percent of their allotm ents is now restricted,
the m ineral re tu rn s from all allotted lands are m uch
greater than these figures indicate.
P rotection of In d ian M inors
T here are about 27,000 full-blood In d ian s in the
Five Civilized T ribes, a large num ber of w hom , w ith
o thers of the restricted class, will need governm ental
direction for some tim e in the m anagem ent of th eir af
fairs, and it is my policy to give th e property rig h ts of
such In d ian s as these adequate protection, for I long
ago discovered th a t w herever there are incom petent I n
dians there will be found the u n scru p u lo u s ready to
despoil them of th eir possession.
E arly in my official term it becam e ap p aren t th at
som e of the county ju d g es in w hose courts w ere a d
m inistered guard ian sh ips of m inors and estates of d e
ceased In d ian s were not alw ays m indful of th is tru st.
M any guard ian s were appointed w ith o u t regard to
their fitness; insolvent bondsm en w ere accepted; lands
of m inor In d ian s were sold on appraisem ents in flu
enced bv prospective purchasers or for in adequate
prices; guardians were excessively com pensated; u n
reasonably large fees were paid to attorneys, and the
p roperty of In d ian children and estates of decedents
were being wasted under co rru p tin g influences.
I im m ediately took steps to reform this condition.
N um erous conferences were held w ith county judges
and others interested. T hey recognized the debasing
practices connected w ith this im p o rtan t branch of I n
dian adm inistration and earnestly co-operated w ith all
my efforts to effect a system of probate procedure th a t
would adequately protect our Indian w ards. S u g g e st
ed rules adopted by the county judges w ere approved
by th e president of the state county judges association
and afterw ards officially adopted and prom ulgated by
th e justices of the suprem e co u rt of O klahom a.
U nder these rules th e U nited States could appear
in the probate courts only by its attorneys, w hich
necessitated the establishing of a corp of legal rep re
sentatives know n as probate attorneys, each assigned
to a particular probate d istrict
T h ere are tw enty of
these probate attorneys, one of them being a w om an.
T h ey have m any difficult problem s w ith w hich to
cope, especially as to having proper disposition m ade
of fu n d s belonging to individual In d ian s, as in th e oil
d istrict, w here large incom es are not infrequent. T hey
have been the m eans of p reventing m uch wasteful e x
travagance and incom petence by th e ir supervision of
probate cases, by checking reports ol g u ard ian s, re q u ir
ing new bonds, and in prev en tin g iosses to dependent
Indian estates w’ortli m illions of dollars. T h ere is no
more im p o rtan t function of the w ork of the com
m issioner of Indian affairs than th a t involved in the
protection of th e estates of m inor In d ian children and
in seeing th at the property of decedents is conserved
and descends to those who are ju stly entitled.
C itizenship F or T hese In d ian s
T o become a citizen and voter is a laudable am bition
upon the p art of the In d ian and a condition m uch
desired by his w ellw ishers am ong the w hite people.
As a race the Ind ian s in O klahom a are m uch m ore
entitled to the privileges of citizenship than are the
num berless im m igrants th ro n g in g our ports and seek
ing adm ission into our A m erican body politic. I
have deeply sym pathized w ith this aspiration of the
In d ian s in O klahom a and elsew here th ro u g h o u t th e
co u n try and at every justifiable op p o rtu n ity have
given them fullest support for em ancipation from
governm ental control.
(T o be co n tin u ed n e x t issu e )
D iscovering that one of the tires of his auto was
flat, John M ason, a K en tu ck y m an, investigated and
found th a t it had been p u n ctu red by a gold scarf-pin
set w ith three diam onds. A jew eler assured him
th at the pin was w orth $300.