The Chemawa American, November 10, 1920, Page 4, Image 4

PAGE 4
T H E CHEM AW A AMERICAN
Facts A bout Oklahom a In d ian s
p articu larly to th e state of O klahom a, would be m ore
th
a n can now’ be estim ated.
By C A T O S E E L S
H ere I am pleased to say th a t P resident Cantw ell of
U. S. Com m issioner of In d ian Affairs
th e S tate A g ricu ltu ral College at S tillw ater, is g iving
(C o n tin u e d from last issu e)
to th e Chilocco In d ian School splendid co-operation
by
way of personal advice and now and then the brief
E astern O klahom a is now q u ite gen erally well s u p ­
detail of m em bers of his faculty for like service.
plied w ith pu b lic schools to w hich, as a rule, In d ian
All our w ork in O klahom a, as elsew here, is dealing
children are cordially ad m itted , and o u r efforts for
increasingly w ith th e individual in terest of the I n ­
some tim e have encouraged th is atten d an ce, for we
dians.
To this e x te n t it becomes m ore specialized and
have great faith in th e public school system as an
effective agency for sh a p in g th e rig h t beg in n in g s of m ore laborious, but its com pensations are g reater be­
our dem ocratic life. T h ere is good statesm an sh ip in cause it brings us nearer the condition of personal
self-support
O ur m odern civilization is in no sense
the law w hich p erm its the use of federal fu n d s in
clannish or tribal; it is individualistic; it is predicated
paym ent of tu itio n for th e atten d an ce of ch ild ren of
non-taxed In d ian s in th e public schools, and we em ­ upon equal rig h ts and o p p o rtu n ities to all. It com ­
m its us to th e principle of education for all at public
ploy this legal provision w herever practicable. I am
expense,
and it should be o u r h ighest public obligation
glad to say th a t of th e tw en ty th ousand children of
these tribes w ho atten d school nearly seventeen th o u s­ to see th a t all classes of actual or prospective citizens
are elevated to the level of in tellig en t self-m aintenance
and are now in th e public schools.
and m eanw hile to protect th e weak and incom petent
O utside of the F ive Civilized T ribes and principally
from acts of im position.
in W estern O klahom a, schools are m ain tain ed u n d er
T h e w ork of th e schools for a generation has
thorough organization on th e C heyenne and A rapaho,
Kiowa, Osage, Pawmee, Seger, and Seneca reserv a­ moved the In d ian s everyw here farth er from dependent
tions, several schools on o th er reservations having conditions and we are daily e x ten d in g recognition of
th eir individual com petency. In m any m atters of
been recently closed because of adequate public
in
d u stria l and financial interest to th e In d ian s, we
school facilities in those localities. All schools in
operation are well atten d ed and th eir work is c o n d u c t­ are ex p ed itin g and liberalizing adm inistration by allow ­
ing su p erin ten d en ts in the various ju risd ic tio n s to de­
ed u n d er th e com plete and uniform course of stu d y
prom ulgated in D ecem ber, 1 9 1 5 , w hich o u tlin es and cide as to th e com petency of th e In d ian and to tak e final
grades the academ ic w ork and prevocatonal and vo­ ad m in istrativ e action w ithout approval of the bu reau .
cational courses from th e first to the te n th grade for T h is p ertains largely to grazing, farm ing, and some
kinds of m ineral leases, as well as to num erous o th e r
use in all g overnm ent In d ian schools.
local tran sactio n s, and serves, w ithin proper bounds,
T h e Chilocco In d u strial School
to encourage in itiativ e on th e p art of the In d ian s as
In the n o rth ern p art of the state ju s t across the state well as to facilitate and econom ize office procedure.
line from A rk an sas C ity, is situ ated at Chilocco, O k la­ I t is an instance of w hat pervades o u r purpose as a
hom a, one of th e finest non reservation schools in the w hole, to hasten as rapidly as is justifiably possible
service. T h is p lan t is ideally located in a m agnificent th e release of all In d ia n s from federal supervision and
farm ing country and has a large farm and p astu re tu rn them over to th e various state governm ents as
splendidly adapted to diversified ag ricu ltu re. T h e capable an d tru stw o rth y subjects.
p lant is m odern and properly equipped. Its clim atic
Patriotism
conditions and soil possibilities are sim ilar to those
w here its stu d en ts reside, who are principally from
No reference to th e In d ia n s of O klahom a should
O klahom a
F u ll vocational courses, in clu d in g the
fail to recognize th eir rem arkable w artim e service. It
ten th grade, are given in hom e econom ics for the girls,
is estim ated th a t from th e F ive Civilized T ribes alone
and for the boys in the m echanic arts and trad es but
m ore th an 4,000 In d ian s entered the m ilitary and
w ith special stress upon ag ricu ltu re and stock raising.
naval service and th a t 200 m ade the suprem e sacrifice.
L arge classes of b rig h t, progressive stu d en ts are g ra d ­ I have heard of no more b rillian t achievem ents in
uated each year, and the attendance is usually beyond b attle overseas th a n are recorded of some of these
th e norm al capacity.
splendid young A m ericans and those who rem ained
I have been m uch interested in th is school and am a t hom e were active upholders of th e flag in every
convinced th a t th e conditions there offer a g reat o p ­ way th a t they could give assistance. T h e purchase of
p o rtu n ity for th e In d ia n s of O klahom a to have an
m ore th a n ten m illion dollars w orth of liberty bonds
educational in stitu tio n the equal in all m odern esse n t­ and over eight hun d red thousand dollars w orth of
ials of state ag ricu ltu ral colleges, and I am ta k in g all w ar saving stam ps, besides large donations in m oney
the steps to have it so co n stitu ted
Its capacity should
and service, th ro u g h the Red Cross and o th er relief
be increased to at least 800, w hich w ould necessitate agencies, stands to th e everlasting credit of these
considerable additional b u ild in g . T h e best obtainable tribes, and to other In d ian s in O klahom a likew ise loyal
stock and equipm ent are being procured, and I hope and générons.
soon to see here an in stitu tio n of le arn in g th a t will
In my in tim ate w ork w ith th e In d ia n s for nearly
furnish am bitious In d ian boys and girls practical and
eight years, I have continually gained firm er faith in
scientific train in g in farm ing and stock raisin g and in
th e ir racial ability to m eet th e tests and rise to th e re ­
all th e requirem ents of sanitary and cu ltu red hom e­ q u irem en ts of our civilization, and th e In d ian s of O k ­
m akin g . S uch a school should draw m any stu d e n ts
lahom a w’ill, I am su re, never co n trib u te less th an a
from other states who are able to pay th e cost of better
large m easure of lead eish ip to this progress.
education, and its value to the In d ian s at large, and
C onclusion