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About Weekly Chemawa American. (Chemawa, Or.) 189?-198? | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 1901)
CHEMAWA AMERICAN. 3 President Roosevelt's Message. What He Says Concerning The -Indian (Question. We give below that partof the President's message relating to the Indian. The Presi dent deals with this question trorn the standpoint of one, who is thoroughly con versant with the subject and his knowl" edge has not been gained from reports, but from actual contact and knowledge of the people he is discussing. The breaking up of tribal funds, stop ping the leasing of Indian allotments, mak ing the marriage law conform with those of the whites, endorsement of Industrial Education and the pushing it to the front, the abrogation of the ration system, pro tecting the Indian from the liquor traffic, and the treatment of him as an individual, like awhiteman, are alike thesalient feat ures of the message arid the question. In' the above points he covers thegrouud fully, and if his recommendations are carried out to their' fulfillment the most important aad advanced step in the' solution of the prob lem will "have been made. Treatment of Indians. In mv judgement the time has arrived when we should definate'y make up our minds to recognize the Indian as an indi vidual and not as a' member, of a tribe. The general allotment act is a mighty pulverizing engine to break' up the tribal mas?. It acts directly upon the family and the individual. Under its provisions pome 00,000 Indians have already become citizens of the United States. We should now break up the tribal funds, doing for them what allotment does for the tribal lnnds-that is, they should be divided into individual holdings. Tnere will be a trans ition period during which the funds will in many easps have to be held in trust. This is the cpse, alfo, with the land". A flop phonld be put upon the indiscrim inate permission of Indians to lease their allotments. The effort should be stead ily to make the Indian work like any oth- . er man on his own ground. The mar riage laws of the Indians should be mad the same as those of the whites. In the schools the education should be elementary and largely industrial. The need of higher education among the In dians is very, very limited. On the reser vations care should be taken to try to suit the teaching to the needs of the particular Indian. There is no use in attempting to induce agriculture in a country suited only for cattle raising, where the Indian should ae made a stockgrower. The ration sys tem, which is merely the corral and the reservation system, is highly detrimental to the Indians. It promotes beggary, per petuates pauperism and stifles industry. It is an effectual barrier to progress. It must continue to a greater or less degree as long as tribes are herded on reservations and have everything in common. The In dian should be treated as an individual like the whit. man. During the change of treatment inevitable hardships will occur, every effort should be made to minimize the hardships; but we should not, because of them, . hesitate to make the change. There should be a continuous reduction in the number of agencies. In dealing with the aboriginal races few things are more important than to preserve them from the terrible physical and moral degradation , resulting ' from the liquor traffic. We are doing all we can. to save our own Indian tribes from this etfil. Wherever in international agreement this same end can be attained as regards races where we do not possess exclusive control, every effort should . be made to bring it about. . ' The Chemawa American in a recent issue begins an editorial with the signifi cant old adage, "Mind yourown business." We believe that this 'is a lesson which many people oughtto learn and practice, and college students are no exception. The failure of many persons in life can be traced to the fact of their departing from their own sphere in meddling in the -private affairs of others. - Is it. not true that the unassuming, unofflcious, "little-to-sav" person who is most generally respected and loved? But, the impertinent none will esteem, and justly so. ' Ex.