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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (March 21, 1923)
T H E C H E M A W A A M E R IC A N THE TRUTH OF TH E MATTER (C o n tin u e d from pag e 2} In d ian s in A rizona and N ew M exico, for irrig atio n purposes and developm ent of dom estic and stock w a t er, $1,176,146.97. It was also claim ed th a t th e G ov ern m en t has not provided the Pueblo In d ian s w ith sufficient w ater for irrig atio n purposes. T h e records show th a t there is u n d er ditch in the pueblo co u n try 32,682 acres, w here as th e Ind ian s cultivated only 17,334 acres of th at i r rigated land, leaving 15,000 acres not under c u ltiv a tion. In ad d itio n to pro v id in g irrig atio n system s th e G overnm ent has co n stru cted , in recent years, 80 wells to supply th e Pueblo In d ia n s w ith dom estic and stock w ater, at a cost of about $90,000. It was contended by th e propagandists th a t but little m oney was being ap p ro p riated for these In d ian s, but it was disclosed in th e hearin g s th a t th ere are specific appropriations for the pueblos for th e fiscal year 1924 am o u n tin g to $86,000, and th a t the G overnm ent e x pended d u rin g the last fiscal year, $408,761.66, out of all appropriatio n s for the benefit of th e Pueblo In d ian s. I t was show n in the hearin gs th a t the Indian Bureau has caused to be added to th e pueblos of New M exico, by executive order, d u rin g recent years, a total of nearly 400,000 acres of land —to be exact, 397,193.27 acres. I t was also b ro u g h t o u t in the hearings th a t the I n dian B ureau is responsible for th e legislation contained in th e New M exico enabling act, w hich protects th e Pueblo In d ian s and th a t u n d er th a t legislation it will be im possible for any of th e Pueblo Iu d ian s or th e pueblos to lose title to any of th e ir lands after the passage of the N ew M exico enabling act of 1910. N o tw ith stan d in g the fact th a t th e Pueblo In d ian s have never ceded to the U nited S tates a single acre of lan d , and th at the ju risd ic tio n of th e F ederal G o v ern m ent was som ew hat lim ited, as is show n by th e de cision of th e S uprem e C o u rt in th e Joseph case (94 U . S. 614), until th e adm ission of th e T errito ry of N ew M exico into statehood, and th e decision of the S uprem e C ourt in th e S andoval case (231 U . S. 2 8 ), it will be seen th a t the G o v ern m en t has been m ak in g liberal appropriations for m any y ears for th e P ueblo In d ian s. As show n by th e hearings, th e G o v ern m en t has provided generously for th e education of the Pueblo children w ith o u t cost to th e Pueblo In d ian s. I t has furnished them farm ers and stockm en to e n courage them in ag ric u ltu re and stock raising; has provided a num ber of physicians for m edical service, in addition to providing fo u r su o stan tial hospitals lo cated am ong the pueblos, all w ith o u t cost to th e I n dians, as well as fu rn ish in g them w ith irrig atio n sys tem s on th eir lands. Also, it has m ade surveys for PA G E 3 fu rth e r im provem ent and extension of irrigation sy s tem s. N ow here lias it been show n th a t the G overnm ent or th e Indian B ureau has been negligent in p ro tectin g th e interests of these In d ian s and looking after th e ir w elfare. On the other hand, it appears from the h e a r in g th at the Pueblo Indians have been treated equally as well, if not better, than the average In d ian s of the U nited States, and th at annual ex p en d itu res for th e Pueblo In d ian s have averaged approxim ately $50 per capita of g ra tu ity appropriations from the T reasu ry of th e U nited S tates. Inasm uch as a recent act of C ongress has g ran ted to th e S tate of N ew Mexico an additional F ederal ju d g e , it is believed by your com m ittee th a t if th is ju d g e could be exclusively assigned to the hearing of the lan d -title claim s of the Pueblo In d ian s it w ould not only be the proper but the least expensive and m ost practical m ethod of relieving the situ a tio n . LOCAL C ertain rep orts of local m atters, crow ded out in th is issue, will appear n e x t w eek. T h e new dorm icory begins to loom up, as w orkm en are now laying brick on the second story. D ouglas Rose, of Pasadena, C alif., a sophom ore at O. A. C ., is sp ending the E aster holidays as a house gu est of S upt. and M rs. H all. H a rry F ro st as a declaim er seems to have taken Che- m awa by storm . H is effort at chapel S u n d ay n ig h t was received w ith g reat applause. T h e pho to g rapher is busy th is week ta k in g some six ty or m ore views of C hem aw a, p rep arato ry to the issue of the com bination an n u al and booklet for com m encem ent tim e. M r. Bent, disciplinarian, seem s to have gotten a “ new k ic k ” into our band. Since he took charge some weeks ago our band has never seem ed to play w ith so m uch spirit nor so well. M r. G reene acted very prom ptly on F rid a y to s u p ply the judges for th e D eclam ation C ontest, d riv in g to M onm outh, arran g in g for judges, and re tu rn in g all w ith in two hours. F ast w ork. An overflow of two or three barrels of fuel oil from the receiving tan k at the boiler house spread over th e pond below the barns and m akes an appearance of a lake of oil. A little oil on th e w ater m akes a big show ing. Cecelia S m ith, senior, gave her d em o n stratio n d in ner last W ednesday evening to six invited guests, consisting of M r. and M rs. H all, M rs. S herm an, Miss P eters, Miss W h ite and M rs. B rickell. It was a d e lig h tfu l d in n e r, splendidly cooked and served. A week previous A nna Ea R ance, also a senior, gave her dem onstration, w hich was h ig h ly com plim entary to h er ability.
