8
THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN.
(Continued from page one.)
hearts will lia'en to our words and assist
us in protecting us by g od laws, and re
quiring ihe same to be enforced.
There are four principal things wtiich
the Indians desire the help of the Govern
ment, viz:
lt. Th it the fishing an 1 hunting
grounds of ll.eir fithers he reserved for
them and . their children, and that the
whiles who have driven theui off of the
same be ordered .by the 'government to
leave them.. The Indians' Chief me h id
of support is by li hing aud hu ting , and
that is the nly wiv in .t of tliem cm live,
as only a small number are educate I suf
ficiently to go out into the towns of the
land an 1 c6m pete with whites.
2nd. The Indians of Alaska pray t'l it the
United States Government will Bet apart
certain reservations for them and their
children where they and their children
can each have a home allotted to them,
the same privi ges that the iidians.nf the
United 8ta'es enjoy . We ask. this in re
turn for a'l of Alisk which has p is-sed ia
to the 'hands of the whites, without a
murmur from us. We have given up a
great deal and now we only ask the great
and good Father at Washington to give us
back a little of the land, in return for the
much we gave him, and protect us from
the encroiohments of grcdy white men
who would drive us into the Sea in order
to advance their interests.
3rd. Many of the Alaski Indi in are
poor and destitute, and have to, beg from
their friinds in order to live. We ask the
government lo help the old and the desti
tute, and to establish Industrial B mrding
schools amODg the Indians of Alaska so as
to' fit them for citizenship and self-support.
, We need schools and education as much as
the Indians of the United Sta'es. We are
now a part of the United Stales, and we
'want to learn how to live like the good
' white men and adopt their laws and cus
'.toms There are hundreds of Indian b tys
" and girls in Alask who never saw a
school.. Only a few are able to attend the
mission schools, aud the oue small gov
ernment school at Sitka, and the mist of
the children mu -t groAf up in ijjn ir.mce
superstition an I poverty. Weas't that il,e'
United States will help the Al iska Indians
just s it he'ps th South D ikota Indians
and those of other psrts of the cou ,trv.
We have never gone on the war path or
given the gverntnent any trouble, and we
feel we can app a ju -t'y f ir lielo m I pr,).
teoti m as we bvong to Washington ju-t as
much as any other Indians living iu the
StaUs.
4i h. We ask th t laws will ba m vie and
enforced which wi 1 compel the I idia'isof
Alusk i tn give up their heathenish and
superslili ills customs am mg tli-inselves as
we want to live like white people and be
governed by white man's liws. One evil
custom, (as well as many others) I desire
to speak abou. Th.it isin case of deat h, of
a hu band or wife, the parents of the o ie
dead siezes all i he prop Tty, s i t'.e iinma
diate surviving members ol V e family, in
cluding the children, are left destitute and
beggars This is a very u -just cmt-im and
works lurdsnip aud misery amo ig the In
di in-s.
There are m my ether evil an 1 supersti
tious customs still in exis:pr.ce among our
peop'e, and we the Chiefs want the white
min's law t ) help us stop them.
Therefore, I h ive com9 to Wa h'ngtnn to
speak and to 1 ty our case before tin C n
gresMiien of the government, to implore
their aid in giving the Alask i Indians hi.mes
and schools ami pro'eding Ihem by 1 .w
from cue encroachmeut of avaricious while
men.
his
(Signed) Chief Johnson X
mark.
Interpreter:
Ji shua Johnson
Johu Dennis
Witness to the above
Thos. W. Po'ter,
Supt.8alemInd.Scb.