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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (March 21, 1923)
PAGE 2 T H E CHEM AW A A M ER IC A N The CHEMAWA AMERICAN P u b lish e d W ee k ly a t th e Salem In d ia n T ra in in g School C hem aw a, Oregon, H A R W O O D H A L L , S u p e rin te n d e n t A d d ress all com m unications to R u th y n T u rn ey , M a n ag e r E n te re d a t th e Chem aw a, O regon, Postoffice as S econd- Class M ail M a tte r S U B S C R IP T IO N - - - 5 0 Cts P E R A N N U M THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER Pertaining to Pueblo Indians E m otional and sentim ental people, th o u g h well- m eaning, often are th e au th o rs of a lot of harm . They arriv e at conclusions w holly at variance w ith facts be cause they do not in v estig ate carefully or fully enough before they take action, or because they are p re ju d ic e d , or em otionally blinded to the u n d erly in g tru th in the m atter. D u rin g the past w inter the In d ian B ureau has been m ade the targ et of m any vicious and w holly u n w ar ran ted attack s by people, who, th o u g h they may be w ell-m eaning, are certain ly poorly inform ed. P ro p a g an d a has created a m ost harm ful state of public mind in m any sections of th e c o u n try , especially in regard to the treatm en t of the Pueblo In d ian s who dwell m ainly in New M exico. T h is has proved harm ful in the tr u est sense of th e word, as d istru st has been created both in the m inds of the In d ian s and the w hites, and for the purpose of allaying suspicion we are pleased to set forth the tru th as borne o u t by th e governm ent records at W ashington, D .C ., as th e resu lt of the hearin g s before th e C om m ittee on Indian Affairs and re ported to th e H ouse of R epresentatives, as follows: T h e large am ount of p ro p ag an d a th a t has flooded th e m ails, new spapers, and m agazines can not be pass ed w ith o u t com m ent. N o th in g to com pare w ith it has heretofore been seen in connection w ith In d ian legis lation pending before Congress. T h is propaganda has been insidious, u n tru th fu l, and m alicious and will resu lt in great harm to th e In d ian s of th is co u n try if it is perm itted to be continued. Som e of th is p ro p a gand a is n o th in g more nor less th a n crim inal libel. T hose responsible for it have attem p ted to destroy the confidence of the Indians in the In d ian B ureau and the officials who are by law charged w ith th e ir g u a rd ia n sh ip . T h ey have not only m aligned and attem pted to destroy the character of these responsible G o vernm ent officials, but they have severely im pugned the m otives of M em bers of Congress. T h e hearings before this com m ittee have dem onstrated that these criticism s are w ith o u t foundation. Some of those who are responsi ble for the propaganda them selves appeared before the com m ittee as w itnesses, and th eir testim ony discloses th a t false and slanderous statem ents against the ex ecu tive officers of our G overnm ent were w ithout fo u n d a tion or justification and not a single charge contained in som e of th e m ost sensational of the published sta te m ents, w hich were a p art of th e propaganda, was sustained by any com petent evidence before your com m ittee. On the co n trary , those responsible for these published statem ents disclaim ed any intention of co n v ey in g th e sole im pression th a t was possible for the average th in k in g person to reach after read in g such publications. T hose responsible for th is propaganda deserve the strongest condem nation from all fair-m in d ed people. I t was contended in th is propaganda th a t the health conditions of the Pueblo In d ian s w ere deplorable and th a t they w ere receiving b u t little assistance from the G o vernm ent. T he facts as b ro u g h t out in th e h e a r in g s show th at the G overnm ent is o perating four h ospitals am ong the 8,000 Pueblo In d ian s, w ith a total bed capacity of nearly 100; th a t th ere are m ain tained am ong the Pueblo In d ia n s 8 physicians, in ad d i tion to field m atrons and nurses. I t was also show n in th e hearings th a t there has been a su b stan tial increase in the population of the Pueblo In d ian s d u rin g the last year, and th a t the health of these In d ian s is fairly good. T he propagandists attem pted to m ake it appear th a t th e Pueblo In d ian s were sta rv in g and w ere in serious need of assistance. T h e records disclose th at only 2 of the 18 pueblos, San Ildefonso, and T esuque, w ith a total population of approxim ately 240 out of the 8,000 Pueblo In d ian s were in need of any assistance, and th at th e G overnm ent had provided them w ith am ple funds to m eet th eir needs. I t was also contended th a t b u t little had been done in the past for th e Pueblo In d ian s by the G overnm ent. T he testim ony before y o u r com m ittee show s th a t d u r ing th e last 10 years th e G overnm ent has expended m ore th an $8,000,000 for the In d ian s in N ew M exico; th a t approxim ately $250,000 is being expended a n nually (o u t of g ratu ity appro p riatio n s from the G ov e rn m e n t), for educational w ork am ong Pueblo Indians; th a t tw o splendid boarding schools are being m ain tained for them at A lbuquerque and S anta F e, in addi tion to a large num ber of day schools, and th a t p ra c tically all of th e Pueblo In d ian children have excellent educational facilities. It was claim ed in this propaganda th a t the In d ian B ureau had done n o th in g for these In d ian s as to irri g atio n , w hereas th e records show th a t d u rin g th e last 15 years th e G overnm ent has expended for th e Pueblo (C o n tin u ed on page 3 )
