1
THE WEST SHORE.
Thirteenth Year.
JANUARY, 1VS87.
Nl'JUlEU 1.
THE INDIAN SCHOOL AT CHEMAWA.
Olt nearly a century
the government of
the United States
has pursued a policy in
- regard to the aboriginal
inhabitants of this coun
try so unphilosophical in
principle and so unjust
in practice that this pe
riod has been very apt-
X ly characterized, by
U. a gifted writer, as "a
century of dishonor."
While it has consid-
ered them as mental
ly nnable to take care
Sjjjv of themselves and unfitted for
citizenship, the government
has, on the other band, dealt
with them as responsible business men,
and has not scrupled to take advantage
of that very ignorance which it recog
nizes as a reason for according them
special governmental tutelage. Tho of
ficial position in this reppect is an anom
alous one, and has resulted in the eijxu
diture of much treasure and the 1wh of
many precious lives.
As a fundamental principle the gov
ernment has recognized tho tribal own
ership of lands, ami, in pursuance of
this, has negotiated with tho various
I A
-
tribes, from time to time, for tho acquisi
tion of their titles. Commissioner rcjv.
resenting tho government have made
treaties with numerous tribes, by which
the Indian titlo to tho lands over which
those tribes havo roamed for genera
tions has been " extinguished," with tho
exception, usually, of a largo tract which
has been reserved for their occupancy in
common. In these negotiations tho In
dians have been outrageously cheated.
Millions of acres havo boon purchased
for a consideration so ridiculously inad
equate as to amount to almost no con
sideration. Promises have been mado
that have not been, and could not be, ful
filled, and there is scarcely a tribe, that
does not feel it has boon most egregious,
ly cheated. The Indians have been ed
ucated to the belief that they owned the
country, and, as a natural consequence,
they look upon tho sharp practice by
which they wero inveigled into jxirtiug
with their birthright, as little let than
robbery. This, and tho reservation sys
tem, has brought thoin into the muno
frame of mind toward tho government
that tho tramp and anarchUt j
toward tho world -that it "owe them
living." In this it is impibl to say
they are not, in a measure, jwtifioL It
is tlm logical roiiult of rmr policy in !!