Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 January 1879 — THE INDIANS. [ARTICLE]

THE INDIANS.

Report of the National Board. The Board of Indian Commissioners has just held its regular yearly meeting in Washington, and ha,? prepared its tenth annual report, to be submitted to the President. This report contains a comparative statement showing the "condition of the Indians in 1868 and 1878. From this statement it appears that one-half of the Indians have discarded the blanket and donned civilized garb; that about one-half have moved out of their lodges and wigwams into houses, the number of which has increased nearly three-told in ten years; that the number of pupils in Indian schools has more than doubled, and that nearly onesixth of. our Indian population can read; that about one-eighth are members of Christian churches; that the number of acres of land cultivated by the Indians is about five times as great as ten years ago; that the production of wheat has increased nearly fivefold, of corn seven-fold, of oats and barley nearly four-fold, and of hay nearly nine-fold ; and that the Indians own about three times as many horses and mules, six times as many cattle, seven times as many swine, and about seventy-five times as many sheep as they did ten years ago. They now own more than two head of sheep for every Indian man, woman and child in the United States. The Board remarks: “ This exhibit of results is certainly encouraging, and it presents a strong argument against any radical change of policy. However that maybe, it is certain that at such a rate of progress, if continued, the feathered and blanketed savage who now 7 fills the public mind whenever the Indian is mentioned must soon disappear, and the fat contracts for beef and flour cease to exist, except in the sad memories of lucky contractors.” The board renews its approval of the plan to concentrate the smaller tribes on large reservations, thus continuing to sanction the reservation system and the isolation of the Indians. Considerable space is bestowed on the subject of allotments of land to individual Indians who make improvements thereon, and the plan of issuing patents in fee simple, but withholding the power to alienate the title by sale, mortgage or long leases, is urged. At a conference of the board and the representatives of the religious bodies, a memorial to the President and Congress was adopted, to be presented by a committee consisting of the Rev. Drs. Cutting, Lowrie and Strieby, and Friends Janney and Taturn. It will recommend and urge three measures: 1. That courts of Jaw be established in Indian reservations, with jurisdiction in all cases where both parties are Indians. There is no tribunal to try such cases, except iu some tribes a rude form of administering justice. It may be remembered that all the assassins of Hole-in-the-Day, a famous Sioux chief, who was friendly to the whites, and restrained his people from taking part in the Minnesota massacre of 1863, were well known. They were never brought to justice, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs declining to interfere in a cose where only Indians were concerned. 2. That common schools be provided for Indians the same as for white children under some regular system. 3. That the Homestead law be so modified that an Indian may select his homestead within the limits of the reservation to which he belongs.