6
THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
HONORING THE INDIAN.
Rodman Wanamaker proposes that a
colossal statue of an Indian be placed at
the entrance to New York as a compan
ion piece to the Statue of Liberty. The
matter is receiving considerable favor
able discussion.
Mr. Wanamaker's idea is artistic- and
appropriate; it appeals to one's continen
tal sense. The statuesque independence
of the Indian, the nobility of the Red
Man, as we learned from him in our
boyhood from the tales of "Leather
Stocking" and other stories; his inter
mingling with the tradition of our ante
colonial days, his reserve and dignity
all these matters make the Indian a fit
subject for memorialization at the East
ern gateway of the country.
True, the Westerner, who has fought
the "treacherous redskin" in his pioneer
days, is not apt to enthuse to any great
degree over this Wanamaker proposition.
But after pushing the Indian from pillar
to post, as we have by the very laws of
racial supremacy; after doing more than
even this requires by robbing him of
patrimony and rilling him with vile
whiskey, inciting him to crime and de
predation; after adding these processes
to those that naturally operate for his
extermination, it would seem but poetic
justice that we erect the statue as a re
minder of his better qualities. Portland
Telegram.
A GOOD LAW IF IT
COULD BE PASSED.
William H. Andrews, delegate to con
gress from the territory of New Mexico,
has introduced a bill prohibiting the
sale of alcoholic stimulants or ardent
spirits within 25 miles of an Indian
reservation.
The bill if passed will make prohibi
tion cities of many cities in the United
States.
The bill in part as introduced is as
follows:
Every person, except an Indian, in
the Indian country who sells, exchanges,
gives, barters or disposes of any spirit
ous liquor or wine to any Indian under
the charge of any Indian superinten
dent or agent, or introduces or attempts
to introduce any spiritous liquor or
wine into the Indian country or in or
upon an Indian reservation or within 25
miles of any Indian reservation or In
dian settlement, shall be punished by
imprisonment for not more than two
years and by a tine of not more than
$300.
We already have a similar law applic
able to the State of Oregon which does
not allow even hard cider to be sold
within two miles of any Indian School
within the border of the State of Oregon.
iaVE-FOOT BOARD HEWN BY AN
INDIAN TO BE EXHIBITED
Tacoma, May 11. (Special.) The
broadest board, so far as known ever
made by the Indians of the Paci tic coast,
will be placed on exhibition hy the State
Historical Society as a part of its exhibit
at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacitic exposition.
The board was hewn from a cedar tree
by an old chief of the Clalla'm Indians
about 100 years ago, and is tive feet two
inches broad and ten feet long. It is
the property of John S. Baker, of la
coma, and was secured from the xN'eah
Bay Indians about seven years ago by
Secretary W. H. Gilstrap, of the . State
Historical Society. The board is about
two inches thick and was used for a
sacrifical board.