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THE "INDIAN PROBLEM " OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.


AN ADDRESS


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IRESBTERYOF BUFALO


AT THE


NORTH P!{ESBYTERIAN' CHURCH,


I3URFF~ALC, N..,SETE      BE    10. 1889,


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THE "INDIAN PROBLEM" OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.


AN ADDRESS
BEFORE THE
PRESBYTERY OF BUFFALO,
AT THE


NORTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCII,
BUFFATLO, N. Y., SEl'T1iEM'1lR 10. 1889,
ANDBEW S. DRAPER,
STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRIUCTION.
ALBANY:
JAMES B. LYON, PRINTER,
1889.




I




NOTE.
Recent annual reports of the Superintendent of Public Instruction have
alleged that the physical and moral circumstances of the Indians upon
the State reservations were unfortunate in the extreme and have urged
that this seemed largely due to the unwise policy of the State in continuing the reservation system. During the last summer the Presbytery
of Buffalo adopted, published and widely distributed, the report of a committee of that body, alleging that so far as the Cattaraugus, Allegany,
Tuscarora and Tonawanda reservations were concerned, the statements
of the Superintendent were not justified, and that the reverse of them was
true. The high source from which this paper came attracted for it wide
attention. I therefore felt justified in writing a letter to Rev. William S.
Hubbell, D.D., chairman of the committee of the Presbytery, saying that
I would be glad to address the Presbytery upon the subject if the way
should be opened. The response was a polite invitation to do so at a
special session to be held at the North Presbyterian Church, Buffalo, on
the tenth of September, at which meeting the accompanying address was
delivered. The extreme courtesy and cordiality shown me upon that
occasion are gratefully remembered and publicly acknowledged with
much pleasure.
As the result of a discussion which followed the address I am led to add
also, that the statements controverted by the Presbytery emanated from a
central office and were of general application and that each separate allegation was not intended, and could not fairly have been interpreted, as
applying with equal force to each reservation. That all are true as to
some reservations even the Presbytery does not deny. That some considerable progress towards civilization has been gained through mission
work has at all times been supposed. It is quite possible that this is more
largely so among the Senecas than elsewhere. That there are members
of all the tribes, and perhaps a considerable number among the Senecas,
leading circumspect lives has at all times been admitted. That the
general or predominant conditions, however, are as stated is proved I
think. Even that nearly or quite all of the controverted allegations apply
to the greater number of persons on the reservations in Western New
York, to a much greater extent than the Presbytery of Buffalo has
supposed, is also proved I think. Moreover, the main question is not as
to the exact circumstance of each Indian or each reservation, but whether
the general circumstances, the predominant conditions, are not such as
to indicate the wisdom of abandoning the reservation system.
A. S. D,
ALBANY, N. Y., September 14, 1889,
192561




I
il
0




ADDRESS.
MR. MODERATOR, AND GENTLEMEN OF THE PRESBYTERY OF BUFFALO:
Remnants of the Indian tribes formerly living upon the territory now constituting the State of New York still exist here, but
so live within prescribed limits, and mingle so slightly with the
people of the State, that their numbers or circumstances are
scarcely known, and affect but little the life-currents of the mighty
commonwealth.
It may be said that there are in round numbers about fiftysix hundred of these people within our borders. For a considerable time their numbers have been increasing rather than
diminishing. Less than 500 Onondagas possess about 7,200 acres
of land in Onondaga county, a few miles south of Syracuse; the
Oneidas, whose tribal organization has almost, if not entirely,
ceased to exist, live to the number of perhaps 200 in two small
settlements in Oneida and Madison counties, respectively; the
Tuscaroras, to the number of 400, have about 6,250 acres in
Niagara county; the Tonawanda band of Senecas number about
500 persons, and occupy about 7,500 acres of land, located in the
counties of Erie and Genesee; the Shinnecocks, who were subject
to the Mohawks, represented by about 150 persons who are called
Indians only by courtesy, have about 400 acres in Suffolk county,
at the eastern, end of Long Island; the St. Regis tribe still lingers
on the banks of the St. Lawrence, partly in New York and partly
in Canada, with about 1,000 persons and 14,000 acres of land on
our side of the line; the remnant of the great Seneca nation,
larger than any other fragment, numbers more than 2,000 persons
and owns more than 50,000 acres of land, in two parcels, known
as the Allegany and Cattaraugus reservations, and lying almost
wholly in the counties of Erie and Cattaraugus. There are a few
families representing other tribes, but those named comprise
all who make any pretense to the continued maintenance of a
tribal organization.




6
Upon each of these "reservations," as they are called, there
exists a governmental organization, more or less complete. In
some instances it is a mere cabal of " chiefs," who transact all the
business of the tribe and assume to represent it in dealings with
others, and who perpetuate their power indefinitely through a life
tenure of office and the selection of successors as vacancies occur.
In other cases there is a show of choosing officers through popular
elections, and there is a broader distribution of governmental power.
I think it may be safely said, however, whatever the system is,
that the advantages possessed by the party in power are so great
as to enable it to easily perpetuate its reign to an indefinite
period, except in rare instances, and in the face of some unusual
occurrences.
Our State government has, from the beginning of its existence,
recognized and treated these people in a dual capacity. It has
regarded the different tribes as separate and sovereign nationalities, and within a very recent period has entered into solemn
treaties with them as such, touching matters of mutual interest
and concern. It has also regarded them as dependents or wards,
unfortunate in their circumstances and deserving the pity and
help of the commonwealth. It is quite the fashion to say that
the Indian has been badly treated. There is no little truth in the
assertion. Our new civilization, setting in at the Atlantic seaboard
and pouring in an irresistible torrent across the country toward the
setting sun, has swept everything before it. If the original holders,
a simple-minded, crude and barbarous people, have suffered in
the readjustment, it is not strange. But it can not be truthfully
said that the State of New York has treated its Indian inhabitants
either unjustly or ungenerously. For many years it has recognized
and sacredly guarded their ownership in fee to some '90,000 acres
of the best lands in the State, being an average of perhaps eighteen
acres to every Indian of whatever sex or age. It has saved these
lands to these people, in spite of themselves, by interdicting traffic
and forbidding alienation.
With doubtful expediency it has almost supported them upon
these lands in general idleness. It has built and maintained their
roads and bridges. It has erected school-houses, supplied books
and utensils and furnished teachers. It has provided for the
higher education of any who would come and take.it. It has
furnished, at times, the implements of industry, and undertaken to




7


point the way to thrift and improvement. It has opened its
asylums to their pauper, idiotic and insane, and it has maintained
comfortable homes for their orphan and homeless children.
Beyond this, it has annually joined with the general government
in paying them stipulated annuities in cash, it has provided
by law that they should not be bound by their agreements, and it
has appointed and paid attorneys and agents to advise with and
protect their interests.
Perhaps with the same means, the same power, good purposes
and average sagacity, an individual could have done more than the
State has done towards the civilization and the Christianization of
these people; but it is confidently submitted that the entire policy
of the commonwealth concerning them has been characterized by
a purpose to be humane, just and generous to them. If an individual in an official place, whose duty it was to carry out this
humane policy in its true spirit and intent, has been weak or even
corrupt, if just the right thing has not always been done at just
the right place and in just the right way, if the beneficent purpose
of the State has not been manifest all the time, in every recess,
even if upon occasion justice has not been alert or has miscarried
and wrong has ensued, it still follows that these things are but the
inevitable incidents of all public administration, and it still remains
that New York has, with unstinted generosity, but possibly with
mistaken judgment, done what was thought best, through several
generations, to conserve the interests of her Indian children and
to lead them out of barbarism, by the light of intellectual and
moral development, into a life of material thrift and prosperity.
The general policy of the State has been very frequently and
generously supplemented by the moneyed contributions and the
philanthropic effort of people who believe in the common brotherhood of man and who would promote the weal of all the race.
Philanthropic effort is commonly aroused and directed by the
church organizations, and, as was to have been expected, many of
the different evangelical bodies have been, for years, represented
by mission stations upon our Indian reservations. In some cases
the State and the church have acted in close cooperation,
materially aiding each other in prosecuting the work. Upon all
occasions the general purpose of the State has been to favor and
encourage the work of the churches, and whenever, as an incident of its'general policy, it could materially assist a missionary




8


of one of the religious denominations, it has done so up to the
point of arousing the jealous antagonism of some other denomination.  With tribulations incident to all work, and amid
discussions which will always accompany any great undertaking,
the State, in its organized capacity, and the philanthropic disposition of her people, through its usual channels, has labored
for a hundred years for the moral and material improvement of
this people.
It is respectfully submitted tnat even State policy and philanthropic effort should show some substantial results, a development
somewhat commensurate with the time, labor and money employed,
or else there should be an investigation, a laying bare of the facts,
a frank, disinterested discussion, to the end that we may be
sure that the public policy is the wisest and best, and the private
philanthropy most intelligently and efficaciously directed.
The State Superintendent of Public Instruction, as an incident
to his general employment, is charged by statute with certain duties
concerning the Indian children of the State. He is required to
visit the reservations either in person or by authorized agent, and
ascertain the condition of the various bands, erect buildings
and establish and maintain schools of such character and
description as he shall deem necessary.
Three years ago, I entered upon the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and found myself charged with this
duty. It meant something. It carried responsibility. With a
purpose to carry out the manifest purpose of the statute and discharge the responsibility as best I could, but without any information upon the subject other than that which might be gained by
an active man from the current periodicals of the State, I took
up the work. Very soon after coming to the position, if not before
actually entering upon it, my interest was particularly aroused in
this special work through communications from an old and valued
friend, then and now a clergyman in this presbytery. The work
has been prosecuted with such vigor as I could bring to it, connected as it is with so many other obligations, and it has been
carried on in the light of such information as has come to me
concerning it. Finding the subject fascinating, I have been led
to investigate it somewhat extensively, and thus not only to
examine the circumstances existing upon the several reservations,
and inquire about the experiences of the years gone by, but also




9


to study the Indian character, with a view to ascertaining what
should be the course of the State in the premises. I have had the
advantage, also, of association and discussion with many of the
most prominent and disinterested friends of the Indian in the
country at the annual meetings of the Lake Mohonk Indian Conference, and think I have been in touch with the best thought of
the country upon this subject through such association, as well
as through the periodicals specially devoted to the subject, and
personal correspondence with numerous persons particularly and
prominently interested in it. From time to time, as required by
law, the annual reports of the Superintendent have adverted to this
subject, and have set forth the facts concerning Indian reservation
life, as it was believed they existed, and advised the course which
it was thought best to pursue.
The Presbyterian church has been zealous in its attention to
Indian missions, and the ministry and membership of the Presbytery of Buffalo have had perhaps a larger part in providing the
means for maintaining and in directing the mission work on the
Cattaraugus and Allegany reservations than any other denomination. I have learned that members of this denomination have
disputed my statements concerning circumstances on the reservations, and have criticised me for saying them. A year ago the
chairman of a committee of this presbytery, without any correspondence with me, wrote a letter to the Lake Mohonk Indian
Conference, of which I was a member, which, with the best intent,
could have no other effect than to discredit me. In the early
summer a report of this committee, approved by this body, was
printed and broadly distributed to the country, directly and
through the newspapers. This report, with singular self-confidence and complacency, attacked all I had said. Instead of quoting my own words and analyzing my statements, as would seem to
be the best method in discussion, it assumed to state what I had
said, in its own language, even at the expense of greater space, and
then disputed the whole. It laid down twelve propositions which
it said I had asserted, and then avoided all necessity for discriminating among these statements by sweepingly saying that none of
them were true. Some of these statements which it credited to
me I had never made, and the report therefore proved to its own
satisfaction more than there was occasion for. It even went on
and said things which so intelligent a committee must have known
2




10
would be personally disagreeable to me. It attributed an
improper and corrupt motive to men who think as I do. It
classed them as enemies rather than friends of the Indian, and
proceeded to say: " The red man in the Empire State owns nearly
88,000 acres of land. This fact makes him more enemies than do
all other considerations. White men want this land and are
determined to get it by fair means or foul." It "acquits" me personally, it is true, from the charge of corruption as it thinks
that I did not know what I was talking about, a consideration for
which I am unable to feel under any obligations to the
committee.
The right of criticism against any public officer is of course
conceded, and the eminent propriety of this particular body
speaking upon this particular question is likewise manifest. But
the critic must be fair and criticism must be just. The fact that
the critic is of high social standing, and particularly the fact
that the critic is a body of clergymen speaking for a large section
of a great church should lead it to speak with caution, with exactness as to its facts and with care as to its treatment of individuals
either in official or private station.
Time employed by a public officer in answering criticism upon
his official acts is seldom employed profitably. But the standing
of this body, the relations which it bears to the matter under
consideration, the strangeness of what it says, the fact that I,
through the greater part of my life, and that my fathers for many
generations, have been affiliated with the Presbyterian church,
and the fact that we ought to cooperate and not waste each others'
effort, sufficiently justify the request, as it seems to me, which I
made upon the chairman of the committee to which I have
referred, that the way should be opened for me to come here.
What is the result of the long-continued policy of the State and
the missionary work of the churches concerning these unfortunate
people? Let us see what has been said to draw attention to this
subject, what has been said in reply, and what the proofs show
the facts to be.
What I have had to say as Superintendent, upon the subject,
has attracted some public attention. That was almost too much to
hope, and I congratulate myself upon it. Let us see what it has
been.




11


In the annual report for 1887, after giving some statistics, this
reference is made:
" The qualities which civilization has admired in the primitive Indian
are not found in such of his descendants as are committed to our care.
Supple sinews and athletic vigor they know nothing of. Our reservations
very generally embrace lands as fertile as any in the State, and yet these
people lack the energy to gain a respectable subsistence. As would be the
case among any other people under like conditions, they are very commonly devoid of moral sensibilities. There is no law upon the reservations
and they are subject to no authority. Eking out a miserable existence,
they live only in the past, continually rehearsing the traditions of their
tribes, and longing for a return to original conditions. The only ambition
which is discernable among them is one to perpetuate their national or
tribal identity, and they reason that schools and churches are destroying
even this. There are, of course, some exceptions. Some embrace civilization, and show signs of thrift, moral character and general progressiveness. But observation and information received satisfy me that they are
a very inconsiderable part of the whole number.
" Under such circumstances, the problem of Indian education is a hard
one. It is difficult to secure teachers of character who are adapted to this
work, and are willing to live among such surroundings. It is said, and
probably with truth, that bad teachers have been employed at times,
Such children as can be brought into the schools come without regularity
or punctuality. The terms of school and the hours of daily sessions have
frequently been irregular. In short, these schools have encountered all
the obstacles which would be expected to come of the character and the
circumstances of the 'people among whom they are located, and which
would naturally beset schools carried on somewhat outside of the organized school system.
"The most positive directions have been given to superintendents upon
the reservations to employ none but teachers of capacity and character,
and to dismiss any who were lacking in either, as well as to observe regular
terms and full and regular hours of daily sessions, and to leave nothing
undone to promote the efficiency and good discipline of the schools.
"But the most that can be done will not avail much. The whole
arrangement is, in my judgment, wrong. If not wrong originally, it has
lived longer than it ought. The system of reservations should be abandoned. The lands should be divided among the Indians and conveyed to
them, to be inalienable for a period of twenty or twenty-five years. They
should be made citizens, and given the privileges and charged with the
obligations and responsibilities which go with citizenship."
The subject is treated as follows in the report for 1888:
" We have been trying to do something more than usual in the schools
upon the Indian reservations. The schools have been kept open through
regular terms and during regular hours each day. The appropriation
made last year has been Applied to the thorough repair of the thirteen
school-houses on the Allegany and Cattaraugus reservations, and three
new buildings have been substituted for dilapidated structures. The




12


teachers employed are certainly as well qualified as the average in our
rural schools. Books, maps, slates and all of the appliances of school
work are supplied, and everything is being done to make headway in
civilizing the unfortunate creatures upon the eight reservations.
"But the work is not very promising. After considerable personal
investigation of the subject I have formed the opinion that to prepare
Indian children for citizenship, something more than day schools are
necessary. That they have natural qualities and characteristics which are
capable of being trained, the results which I have witnessed at the Thomas
Asylum for orphan Indian children abundantly prove. The work there
is successful, however, because the children are so fortunate as to be
orphans and remain in the institution continually. It is necessary to have
entire control over them, to wash and comb and dress, and discipline and
teach them, before lasting good will follow. Upon the reservations they
are not compelled to attend the schools. Parents are commonly indifferent and frequently opposed to their going to school, for the reason that
the more they get of the white man's education the more danger there is
of the disappearance of the last vestige of the Indian tribes. Under such
circumstances the wretched home influences more than counterbalance
the work of the day schools.
" The fact is that this State has an 'Indian problem' upon its hands of
no small importance, and one which, being examined into, becomes
decidedly interesting. The passage of what has come to be known as the
'Dawes bill' in Congress, providing for the ultimate dissolution of
the great tribes in the West, for the apportionment and conveyance
of their lands to them in severalty, and for making citizens of them, ought
to force seriously upon our attention the question whether it is not
advisable that similar action should be taken concerning the remnant
tribes in this State. I apprehend that no one cognizant of the facts will
deny that something, and something radical and effective ought to be done.
"What are the facts? There are eight reservations, covering more than
125,000 acres of land, as tillable and beautiful as any in the State. Not an
acre in a hundred is cultivated. Upon each reservation there is a tribal
organization which assumes to allot lands and to remove settlers at will,
so that no permanent improvements are possible. In numbers they are
increasing rather than dwindling away. The reservations are nests of
uncontrolled vice, where wedlock is commonly treated with indifference,
where superstition reigns supreme, and where impure ceremonies are
practiced by pagans with an attendance of both sexes and all ages; where
there is no law to protect one or punish another; where the prevailing
social and industrial state is one of chronic barbarism, and where the
English language is not known or spoken by the women and children, and
by only a part of the men. All this is in the heart of our orderly
and Christian State.
" This state of things can not go on indefinitely. When anything is done
it should be something effectual; just what that something should be it is
not easy to say in a moment. The exact status of the reservation land
titles involves a good deal of history, and raises law questions of no little
difficulty; but still that can be investigated and determined. The State
is undoubtedly bound by treaties formally entered into; but when treaties




13
perpetuate barbarism and protect vice, they should be broken. These
people are not to be considered as equals; they are unfortunates; they do
not know what is best for themselves; they are the children of the State.
They should be given all that belongs to them, in full measure, pressed
down and running over; treaty obligations should be fulfilled roundly, in
equivalents if not in kind; but treaty obligations should not forever protect paganism in saying to Christian civilization 'Thus far only shalt
thou go, and no further.'
"I have referred to this subject with some particularity because I have
come to see and appreciate its importance, and in [the hope that I could
secure for it the attention of the Legislature. Investigation should be
made; action should be taken, which will be just if not generous, to the
tribes, and to every member of them, but which will result finally in the
breaking up of the reservation system, and in the absorption of these
wards into the citizenship of the State."
It is treated as follows in 1889:
" There are seven Indian reservations in the State. The number of Indian
z children of school age upon these reservations is 1,546. There are thirty
schools. The total enrollment in the schools during the last school year was
1,082. The average daily attendance was 420. The average number of
weeks of school taught was thirty-six. The total expense was $9,155.47.
" There has been much care exercised to make these schools as efficient
as possible. Several new school-houses have been erected. Most of the
others have been well repaired. The general equipment has been better
than that of the ordinary country school. The teachers have been selected
carefully, I think, having in view the special circumstances of the work.
Where any complaint or suggestion touching the entire subject has come
to my attention, it has had full consideration.
"My previous reports have pointed out the unfortunate circumstances
of the people upon these State reservations. The prevalent shiftlessness
and common immorality have been referred to in strong terms. Because of
these statements the Assembly, at its last session, appointed a special committee to investigate the whole subject, and the investigation has been most
intelligent, painstaking and exhaustive. The sworn proofs fully sustain
all that has been alleged. The indictment against the reservation system is
overwhelming. To say that the same conditions might obtain among whites
under similar circumstances might be admitted, but itwould be insufficient
answer. If such conditions are incident to any reservation system, then there
should be none. The United States government is breaking up the reservations in. the west, alloting lands in severalty, and opening the way to citizenship. It would seem that this is the sound policy to pursue here. Just how to
accomplish it, with justice to all interests, is a troublesome and complicated question, but it is in the hands of a competent and energetic special
committee, which will, I am confident, be able to solve it. Their report
will be looked for with interest and will call for the fullest consideration of
the Legislature.
"Incidentally the investigation has disclosed the fact that although provision was made for dividing the lands of the Oneida and Madison reservations among the Indians, and for conferring upon them the rights of




14


citizenship by chapter 185 of the Laws of 1843, and they have availed themselves of the provisions of that act, still there have been two schools maintained for them at the expense of the State up to the present time. As
soon as the fact came to my attention, the local superintendent was directed
to make no agreements touching the maintenance of buildings or the
employment of teachers which would involve the State beyond the spring
of 1889. There would seem to be no reason why these people should not
be classed with all others of the locality, be subject to taxation and enumeration in the ordinary way, and receive educational facilities in the common
schools. It was deemed best, however, in view of the fact that the schools
were in progress and the State owned the school-houses, which could not
be disposed of except by legislative action, not to discontinue the schools
abruptly. It is recommended that an act be passed directing the discontinuance of the schools, the sale of the buildings and the payment of the
proceeds into the treasury."
Now, what has been said should be taken together. The statements of fact and the logic, the general tone and manifest spirit
which pervades the whole, should be considered at the same time.
This would be more just than it is to select out a single paragraph
and give no thought to all the rest.
But let us consider the much discussed paragraph. It is the
one in the report for 1888, commencing with the question, "What
are the facts? " and purporting to state them.
This was strong and pointed language. It was deemed necessary to make it so in order fo arrest public attention and secure
legislative action. But no purpose, however meritorious, could
justify it, if it were not true. Neither would lack of information
justify or mitigate the wrong, if the statements were false. The
writer was bound to know whereof he affirmed. He spoke from
high vantage ground, and under the responsibility and obligations
of an exalted official and representative station.
This language was not the result of "a hasty generalization
from a brief visit to a portion of the field," as your committee
asserts. It was uttered after being a year and a half in office,
after reading hundreds, if not thousands, of letters bearing upon
the subject, after reading every word of the testimony taken by
the legislative commission which investigated the Onondaga reservation in 1882, and which has never been put in print because of
its vileness; after reports from the local superintendent upon each
reservation, and after personal visits to such of the reservations
as it was practicable to reach, including the one about which your
committee' has most to say, where seven or eight schools were
visited, and such information gained as was obtainable through




15


numerous conversations with Indians and the most reputable and
best informed whites in the section. It may be interesting to
know, moreover, that the language above quoted, and to which
you object, was taken almost word for word, because of its striking character and respectable paternity, from the report of a
committee, presented and adopted by the Lake Mohonk Indian
Conference in 1887, of which committee Bishop Huntington, of
Syracuse, a most interested and experienced worker in this field,
was chairman, and from whose pen the words first came. Again
it is repeated, nothing of this kind would excuse the Superintendent for promulgating or furthering statements lacking the elenment
of truth, but it does show that he had opportunities for knowledge,
that he improved them, and that he exercised some care, and did
not stand alone when he said what you complain of.
Your committee challenges these allegations at every point. It
is unable to find any grain of truth in them, any color of foundation for them. It says it drove through the greater part of the
Allegany and Cattaraugus reservations and found no native who
could not speak the English language, and that "We found nearly
all of the men at work, either farming, repairing roads, or peeling
bark for use in tanning." It adds: "All whom we saw are in favor
of schools, and we could learn of but one family who wished to
remain in ignorance, and this out of personal dislike to the
teacher." With strange assurance and questionable doctrine it
says: " Wedlock among the pagans is just as real under their ceremony as if it were Christian marriage, and the squaw is just as
really a wife." Such remarks as these appear in the report, viz.:
" It is thought by good judges among the whites on the border
that drunkenness and licentiousness are less common than in the
city of Buffalo;" "Rev. Mr. Hall asserts as his deliberate opinion
that these Indians are the superiors morally of the white men on
the borders round about them;" "No one there has ever heard
of such a thing as impure pagan rites." In short, if the committee is right, then, it seems to me, our practice is open to criticism. If the lives of the Indians average a little more circumspect
than those of the whites, we should stop sending missionaries to
them and pray them to come over and help us. Who is right?
In seeking an answer to this question' we must not narrow the
inquiry. The Superintendent was speaking of the reservations
collectively and referring to the circumstances of the Indian




16


population generally, with a view to determining and indicating
how the law-making power of the State should act in the premises. He did not say that the conditions upon all the reservations
were equally and alike vicious, much less did he say that all
Indians were lazy, shiftless, vicious and impure. No intelligent
mind could have understood him otherwise than as saying that
the predominant or general conditions of reservation life were bad,
so bad as to be a shame to a Christian State, and to call for early
and radical legislative action. If he was right generally, then it
is submitted that his action was justifiable.
By what means shall we decide whether or not his words were
justifiable? Mere conversations touching a single matter, at a
single point, are not very reliable, and certainly not conclusive
upon a general question. Any amount of negative testimony will
not suffice. You can not prove the innocence of the prisoner at
the bar by producing any number of witnesses to swear they did
not see him commit the crime. But we fortunately need not
depend upon such proof, for we have now any quantity of competent and relevant testimony upon the subject. The Legislature
h. as investigated the precise matter by a most competent committee and in the most thorough manner.     This committee,
instructed to investigate the Superintendent's assertions, aided by
the legal counsel of one of the ablest county judges of the State -
a man specially qualified by nature, training and experience for
this particular work - assisted by a stenographer, equipped with
the power to subpoena witnesses and require the production of
books and papers, labored nearly a year, visited all the reservations,
examined at great length, and under oath, a cloud of witnesses,
critically inquired into the legal bearing of the subsisting treaty
relations, considered the power of the State in the premises, and
in a report more comprehensive, exhaustive and able than any
other document ever framed in this State upon this subject, sustains in all substantial particulars the statements of the Superintendent, and recommends precisely the action which he had advised
from the beginning.
This report was in the hands of your committee when it made
its report to this body, but the testimony taken, covering
nearly a thousand printed pages is more recently from the press.
I can not but believe it would have materially modified your




17


opinions and changed your course had it been available before
action was taken.
Now, even at the risk of being a little tedious, let us see what
is shown by the preponderance of proof, the greatest quantity and
the best quality of evidence, in this volume of testimony.
LANGUAGE.
I had said that among these people the English language was
but little known or used by the women and by but a part of the
men. Your committee says that they have inspected the Allegany
and a part of the Cattaraugus reservations and found no person
with whom they could not converse in English. What are the
proofs upon that point?
A considerable number of the Indian witnesses called before
this committee were unable to testify except through an interpreter.,(See pp. 496, 659, 674, 685, 714, 719, 905, 930, 999.*)
As to the Onondagas, Dr. Sims, chancellor of the Syracuse
University, gave this testimony:
"Q. As between themselves, do you know what language they employ?
A. The Indian language.
"Q. The Indian language, exclusively? A. Yes, sir; I should say
generally" (p. 411).
Dr. Jonathan Neelant, a physician of thirty-four years practice
among the Onondagas, and who was twenty-four years superintendent of their schools, corroborates, this (p. 419). So does Rev.
Charles W. Lane, for seven years a Methodist missionary among
them  (p. 444). He says: "Their communications are almost
exclusively in the Indian dialect." He was asked " Can they
understand English?" and answered " Some of them, I think, can,
that is to hold conversation with them, they understand a few
words." "What proportion' of them can talk English?" was
inquired, and he replied: "0, not half of them, not to hold conversation, might ask them some few questions." He also said the
men talked English more than the women (p. 451). This is also
corroborated by Elizabeth Scanandoah, an Indian teacher in the
State school (p. 482).
On the Tonawanda reservation Luther Jack was asked what language they spoke in his home and said, the Indian language (p. 589).
Edward M. Poodry, upon being asked in which language the
* Figures in parentheses refer to pages of Report of the Special Committee of the Assembly, appointed to investigate the " Indian Problem."
Assembly Document No. 51, of 1889.
3




18


church services were conducted, answered that it was in the
Indian language (p. 627), and Rev. John McMaster said they sang
in that language (p. 695). Clara Tabor said that most of the
Senecas on the Tonawanda reservation "use their native tongue
at home, among their children" (p. 668). This was corroborated
by Wallace Jimison (p. 737).
On the Tuscarora reservation Emily G. Chew, an Indian teacher
in the State school, gave this testimony:
"Q. What language do your people use at home to their children? A.
My pupils' parents, do you mean?
"Q. Yes? A. Well, the majority of them, I guess all, use the Indian
language" (p. 602).
On the St. Regis reservation Dr. Charles McConnell, a physician of seven years practice among the tribe testified as follows:
"Q. Do the most of them speak English? A. Well, most of the men
speak English after a fashion.
"Q. Not so with the women? A. No; great many of the women can
not talk in English; that is generally the case; if you go to a house and
the man is not at home you can not make yourself understood unless you
can speak their language" (p. 872).
John Cook, a St. Regis Indian, was asked, "Do you speak
Indian or English at home?" and replied, "0, we all speak
Indian" (p. 885). Thomas Ransom, the clerk of the St. Regis
tribe, could talk no English and testified through an interpreter
(p. 905), and swore that he kept his books in Indian (p. 906).
Peter Garrow said that all the business of the tribe was done in
the Indian language (p. 907). Sidney G. Grow the superintendent
of schools, swore that the children get some acquaintance with
English in the schools, but that it is the common history of the
tribe that they soon drop it and use their native tongue (p. 916).
Testimony to the same effect was given by Mary Mullen (p. 920-1).
Rev. Father Mauville, a Roman Catholic priest, who has labored
most devotedly and successfully among this people, testified as
follows:
"Q. In what language do you conduct your services? A. Always in
Iroquois; in their own language.
"Q. You have learned that language? A. Since I have been here.
"Q. You find it necessary in your work? A. Absolutely necessary;
very few can understand anything English" (p. 931).
But let us come to the Allegany and Cattaraugus reservations.
James G. Johnson, a practicing lawyer at Salamanca, who swears




19


he has been familiar with affairs on the Allegany reservation since
1852, and was the attorney for the tribe from 1872 to 1880, gave
this testimony:
"Q. In what language do they generally conduct the councils? A. In
the Indian language entirely.
" Q. What is your idea about how many of them speak English on the
Allegany reservation, taking the men, women and children? A. Well,
they all speak some, I think, and understand some, but of those who could
understand common conversation upon matters with which they were
familiar, I don't think there is over one-third.
" Q. They usually, at their homes and among themselves, doing their
business, use the Indian language? A. Wholly" (p. 960).
Your own missionary, Rev. Mr. Trippe, says that in conducting
religious services here he speaks in English, but has an interpreter
(p. 970). David B. Jimison, said they spoke the Seneca language
at home (p. 995), and also that it was generally used among the
members of the tribe and in their religious services and in singing
(p. 100). The testimony of William C. Hoag, confessedly one of
the most progressive and substantial men of the Seneca nation, is
to the same general effect (p. 1007).
PHYSICAL CONDITION.
Upon nearly, if not quite every reservation, the committee called
physicians who had practiced among the Indians for years, and
inquired particularly as to their physical condition. I will not
occupy time to recite the result in detail, but will content myself
with recapitulating and referring to the pages where the original
testimony may be found. This medical testimony shows that they
are in no sense a hardy or robust people. Frequent indiscriminate
association between the sexes and with dissolute whites, intermarriage between relatives, the poor sanitary conditions in which
they live and the lack of proper food and suitable clothing, have
resulted in tainted blood and weak constitutions. The testimony
at pages 447, 843, 862 and 870 indicates that there is scarcely a
full-blooded Indian in the State. It is clearly shown that they
frequently have scrofula and are much subject to pulmonary
diseases.
It appears that it is unusual to have the services of a physician
when sick, undoubtedly for lack of money with which to pay.
One physician says they do not ordinarily call a physician even
in obstetrical cases (p. 870).  Several testify that many die each




20


year for want of medical service and proper care.  The forthcoming report of the State Board of Health, not yet out of press,
will show that small-pox appeared among the Senecas last fall,
when several deaths ensued, which the health officers think might
have been averted under fair sanitary conditions and proper
medical care.  This report also shows, incidentally, that at least
three of the victims were buried without coffins.
With singular unanimity the physicians speak of consumption
as being common. Syphilitic diseases are not uncommon. They
seem to mature young, grow fat at thirty or forty, are very
generally incapable of severe labor, and, with noted exceptions, of
course, they very generally die young. The testimony to this
effect will be found on pages 410, 418, 488, 750, 752, 757-8-9, 839,
851, 869, 870, 883 and 1173 of the report.
DWELLINGS AND HOME LIFE.
The testimony touching the nature of their dwellings and home
life necessarily throws much light upon the character of these
people.
Chancellor Sims was asked, concerning the Onondagas: " What
is the condition of their habitations; are there any comfortable
dwellings? " His answer was: " They are uncomfortable and filthy
beyond description; roofs were leaking, windows were open and
buildings dilapidated; dirt and discomfort are the characteristic
of nearly all of their buildings" (p. 408). Again he said: "There
is a little hamlet of a few houses together, which it might be
courtesy to call dwellings but I should say that most of the houses
are mere shanties" (p. 414).
Rev. Mr. Lane was asked, " What are their habits of life within
the house? Do they have meals at regular hours? " and replied,
" No, sir; a majority of them don't; I think there are families
there that if they have one meal a day think themselves pretty
well off, and many of them commence from the very foundation
when they get every meal" (p. 444). He was asked if they had
ordinary out-houses connected with their dwellings, and said,
"No, sir; they have not." "Never?" asked the questioner in
surprise, and he answered, " 0, some of them have, but I think
not as a rule" (p. 445).
Dr. Houghton was asked as to the sanitary condition of their
houses, and said it was poor (p. 487).




21


Dr. A. ID. Lake, for many years physician of the New York
Indian agency, and in charge of the dispensary among the Senecas
on the Cattaraugus reservation, was asked, " What do you say as
to their sanitary condition and their dwellings so far as you have
noticed them? " He replied, " Generally the sanitary conditions
and the surroundings in every respect are unhealthful. Of course
there are exceptions; I speak of it generally" (p. 750). Again he
said, "I believe a large number of them are living on improper
and, probably in most cases, insufficient food. I think their diet
is a very improper one, generally" (p. 752).
Mr. Frank Burgett, a resident on and near the Seneca reservation for thirty years, said, "They don't have very good houses;
not but a very few" (p. 1168).
Dr. G. V. W. Coxe, a physician practicing among the Senecas,
gave this testimony:
"Q. In going about among the families, how do you find them in their
homes as to being cleanly and about their food? A. As a rule they are
not very cleanly.
"Q. Are their houses composed of more than one apartment generally?
A. Well, most of them small shanties; there is a good many that have
only one room " (p. 1174).
Concerning the St. Regis reservation, Dr. McConnell says their
houses have generally but one room (p. 870), and Rev. Father
Mauville says but "very few of -them are clean in their habits"
(p. 938).
SHIFTLESSNESS.
Your committee says that upon its visit to the Seneca reservation it found the people generally engaged in industrial pursuits,
such as farming, repairing roads or peeling bark for tanning.
That must have been an unusual day. It would indeed gladden
the eye and relieve the State to see Indians making roads. The
volume of testimony before the committee is in sad contrast with
this pleasant picture.
In its report the legislative committee says of the Onondagas:
"They seem to be wholly without ambition to work, and the
present policy of the State does much to encourage them in doing
nothing " (p. 43).
The committee says of the Senecas:
"They are somewhat more temperate, more marriage ceremonies are
performed, their farms have improved slightly and buildings considerably,
a few more work, a few more go to school, their clothing and food are




22


better; but all this goes rather to prove their degradation and distress
then, than to establish the existence of a very high standard of excellence
among them now. As a class they are unthrifty, with some marked
exceptions" (p. 66).
Again it says, speaking of them generally:
"Here are in the State 5,000 people, the descendants of a hardy and
intellectual race, with scarcely a single artisan or person following or
learning a trade among them, excepting a very few unskillful carpenters
or cobblers, with an abundance of fertile land, and at least a considerable
number of them lacking food and clothing. No similar condition exists
elsewhere in the country, and something is at fault. A careful and conscientious examination of the whole question must result in charging such
fault to the laws, which respect and tolerate communistic ideas, Indian
customs and tribal relations among these people" (pp. 67-8).
Dr. Neelant says of the Onondagas: "With a few exceptions
they are a very indolent people; they are disinciined to continuous labor" (p. 418). Rev. Mr. Lane, being asked how many
thrifty farmers there were among them, said: "I don't believe
there are more than half a dozen; I don't know as there are that."
"Do they raise enough product of the soil to subsist," was asked.
"With the exception of one or two families they don't," he
answered. "Do they manufacture to any extent?"    "No, sir."
"Do they engage in mercantile pursuits at all?"   "Not very
much; they have two stores there; the most they keep is tobacco,
candy, a little bread, a few cookies" (pp. 443-4).
The testimony of Albert Cusick, an ex-chief of the Onondagas
and the Six Nations, is to the same effect. He says they do not
raise enough to support themselves and do not engage in the
industries to any appreciable extent (pp. 462-3) and so says John
White (p. 486).
Dr. McConnell has this to say of the St. Regis:
"Q. Are the men industrious? A. Not very.
"Q. Not given to hard work? A. They will not work; they will not get
up in the morning and work; they have work enough to keep them busy;
never provide anything for the future; if an Indian has ten or fifteen
bushels of corn he thinks he is pretty well fixed" (p. 872).
Howard Fuller testifies to substantially the same conditions
among the Senecas (p. 1157). So does Dr. Coxe (p. 1174).
Your committee makes considerable criticism upon my remark
that not one acre in one hundred was under cultivation. I was
speaking figuratively and strongly, and I hardly think anyone
could have understood me as assuming to give the figures with




23


exactness. I was saying that the Indians had an abundance of
excellent lands and were not putting them to good use. What is
the fact?
There are 30,000 acres on the Allegany reservations. The legislative committee says that not to exceed 3,000 acres are under cultivation. To use its exact words: "A dozen fairly good farms
would include all to be found."  It adds, "The average upon the
Cattaraugus reservation would be somewhat better, with more
land under cultivation and more good farmers;" but the fact
remains that a much greater proportion of the land upon these
reservations lies unsubdued and unused than upon any other reservation in the State (p. 59).
The fact must not be lost sight of that of the land upon these
reservations under cultivation to any degree, a very large share is
cultivated by whites under permission givenby the Indians for a
small amount of ready money.
Mr. William W. Newman, superintendent of schools on the
Onondaga reservation was asked, " Is all the good land on the reservation cultivated by the whites or Indians?"  He answered,
"Nearly all, I think is."  "Largely by the whites?" was asked
and he replied, "Nine-tenths or nineteen-twentieths is cultivated
by the whites" (p. 428). There are 7,200 acres on that reservation. Mr. Thomas D. Greene, State agent, was in doubt whether
100 acres was actually under cultivation by Indians.  Albert
Cusick (p. 459), Jaris Pierce (p. 477) and Dr. Houghton (p. 487)
substantially corroborate this.
Dr. McConnell says the same thing of the St. Regis (p. 871).
The following testimony, concerning the Senecas upon this
point is by Mr. Hudson Ansley, a lawyer at Salamanca and the
present attorney for the Seneca nation:
"Q. What would be your judgment as to about what proportion of the
land upon this reservation the Indians themselves actually cultivate; I
don't mean by that the pasture, but just what land they cultivate and
raise crops on; what proportion of the whole amount? A. Well, it would
be simply a guess; simply guess-work; I should not judge over one-twentieth part of it; perhaps not that; I don't believe there is one acre in twenty.
"Q. You have had quite an opportunity to judge by being over the land
a good many times? A. Yes, sir.
"Q. You have been up and down the river many times the whole
length of the reservation? A. Yes, sir; good many times.
" Q. What is the reason they don't work more of the land; it is fertile,
isn't it? A. Yes, sir.




24


"Q. Some of the most fertile land in the State? A. Yes, sir.
"Q. What is the reason they don't work more of it? A. Too lazy; that
is the only reason I know of " (p. 952).
James G. Johnson's testimony is to the same effect (p. 959).
Mr. Charles E. Gallagher testifies as follows:
" Q. What proportion of all the land do the Indians cultivate, plow and
plant, not including the pasture lands? A. 0, I don't know; I think it is
very small in comparison with the amount of land they have.
"Q. You have been along the Allegany south to the Pennsylvania line
across the reservation good many times? A. Yes, sir.
" Q. Can you tell me if you have known or ever seen any other Indian
farm except Will Hoag's? A. No; not what you can call a farm; there is
little plots of cleared ground.
"Q. An acre and a half? A. Yes, sir.
" Q. What proportion do you think they cultivate, of the whole 30,000
acres, in your judgment? A. Is that taking in the Cattaraugus reservation?
"Q. No; just this reservation here, the Allegany. A. I don't suppose
that one acre in 100 is cultivated " (p. 988).
Dr. Lake was asked if more than one-half of the lands of the
Senecas is uncultivated, and answered, "More than half; twothirds, easily" (p. 757).
Myron Silverheels, a Seneca, who says he has thirty-five acres
under cultivation, says there may be 1,000 acres under cultivation
out of 30,000 on the Allegany reservation (p. 1125).
Howard Fuller, of Salamanca, says that there is not more than
one acre in ten in cultivation, and he doubts if there is as much
as that (p. 1158).
Frank Burgett, of Red House (p. 1166), corroborates this.
James Frink, in the farming and lumber business at Red House
for many years, says, " I would say they don't cultivate more than
one acre in twenty, and Inmight be getting it large at that" (p. 1171).
Other testimony, to the same effect, is plentiful, but what I have
cited is sufficient for my purpose.
ALLOTMENT OF LANDS.
It is admitted that there is little to stimulate agricultural
industry among the Indians. The fact that all Indian lands are
held by the several tribes in common and that there is no individual ownership, that a thoroughly ignorant or thoroughly
corrupt cabal of chiefs gives out such allotments as it sees fit, and
has power to dispossess and eject a holder at any moment is not
calculated to promote improvements. Your committee knows of




25


no case where this power has been exercised. The testimony
shows, what every lawyer has known, that the title to the lands is
in the tribe, that the power to dispose of land is held by the
chiefs or council and that they exercise it frequently (pp. 412,
438, 442, 597, 619, 680, 727). It is undoubtedly true that they do
not in many cases dispossess an occupant for they do little which
involves the exercise of so much energy and vigor as such an act
would necessitate. Yet District Attorney Wood, of Genesee
county, swore that he knew of many instances of controversy over
lands where the chiefs decided that it belonged to one party and
at the same time gave a permit to the other party to rent the
same to whites (p. 637). Thomas Wood, a St. Regis Indian,
swears (p. 928) that the chiefs took some land away from him last
spring, and S. G. Grow refers to another case of the same nature
(p. 918).
William Patterson, clerk of the Senecas, showed the recent
record of the council removing widow Adelaide Jimison and
children from certain lands on the Allegany reservation (p. 1060)
and showed that such action was prevented only by the friendly
intervention of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. At least two
cases came to the attention of the committee where individuals
were despoiled of improved lands or products by the brute force
of more powerful members of the tribe (pp.. 874, 911)..
Reason would tell us that such occurrences as these, or even the
liability that they may occur, would hang like a dark cloud over
these simple people and facts, established by competent testimony
upon the witness stand, prove that the reasoning would be sound.
Whether the council actually removes occupants with frequency is
of small consequence. Possibly it would be well to recall that I
had never asserted that. But the fact is that the council has the
power to allot lands and remove settlers at will and that upon
nearly every reservation, in one way or another, it makes use of
this power to conserve its own selfish purposes with the result of
preventing any general and enduring improvements or betterments
to the soil.
ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES.
In this connection it is well to observe, also, that the Indian
law or usage concerning the disposition of any personal property
left by the dead is likewise productive of bad results. In some
cases it becomes common property of the tribe (p. 846). In many
4




26


cases it is dissipated without any administration. Very commonly
it is disposed of through an affair called "a dead feast" in which
relatives and neighbors gather at the house, have a feast and dispose of household effects, clothing or any other personal property
which may be found (p. 1073). Sometimes it is the subject of
action by the chiefs or council as the highest authority of the
Indian "Nation." Instances are not uncommon where the desires of
the deceased made known by verbal directions or written will are
disregarded (p. 901). Corruption is prevalent. The legislative
committee says that the methods they have for administering the
estates of the dead are "inefficient and often corrupt " (p. 74).
One does not need to be very experienced, in the world's affairs,
to know that this almost entire absence of protection to the rights
of property must, as generally, do away with incentives to gain or
save property and promote laziness, shiftlessness and degradation.
MORALS.
We must now consider the extent to which there has been
mental and moral development among this primitive people. The
testimony taker upon the legislative investigation is profuse upon
this subject. It is not very inharmonious, and, although it is almost
impossible to bring it within practicable compass for presentation
here, it is not difficult to draw confident conclusions from an
examination of it.
Mr. William A. Duncan, of Syracuse, secretary of the Chautauqua Assembly, who says he was the originator of the legislative
investigation of the Onondagas in 1882, gave this evidence
concerning the character of the testimony then taken:
"Q. Did that evidence contain some disclosures of very immoral
conduct? A. Yes, sir; not only immoral, but very disgusting.
"Q. We have understood that that was not printed because it was not fit
to print? A. Well, a portion of it they would have been obliged to suppress; when the testimony was given, all persons except the commissioners
were excluded from the room.
" Q. And that evidence was so bad that it had to be suppressed, some of
the truth, in order not to have the obscene stuff before the people? A.
Yes, sir; some of it was very revolting; so much so that I would dislike
to tell it to you, even in private; it was very disgusting."
That the situation there remains unimproved is showvn by the
testimony of Albert Cusick and Jaris Pierce (pp. 505-6), taken at
a secret session of the committee. Cusick was a chief of the
Onondagas, and then chief of the Six Nations, and deposed for




27
accepting Christianity. I have known him for fifteen years or
more, and have every reason to put confidence in what he says. I
can not, with propriety, reproduce it here, but I quote a reference
to it in the report of the legislative committee:
"Albert Cusick, another witness, says: 'The character of the young
people, especially the girls, was morally bad. They associate promiscuouslfy with Indian boys, and smoke and chew. Illegitimate children are
common.' Cusick and Jaris Pierce gave much more evidence on this
subject, which is too revolting in its nature to be placed in this
report" (p. 44).
This testimony is corroborated by Rev. Mr. Lane and others in
material particulars, and if it does not satisfy the incredulous of
the existence of a " nest of uncontrolled vice," then none would.
A low state of morals among the Oneidas is shown by the
evidence of William Dockstader (p. 513).
Nathaniel Kennedy, a Seneca on the Cattaraugus reservation,
was asked if there was much mixing of Indian and white blood
there, and replied, "Yes, sir; there is a little" (p. 735). He also
said Sunday was not observed generally (p. 746).
Dr. A. D. Lake, until recently physician of the New York Indian
agency on the Cattaraugus reservation, gave this testimony:
"Q. Have you had any opportunity to observe the morals, or moral
condition of this people, both men and women, respecting their relations
with each other? A. Necessarily in my profession as a physician I have
opportunity, more or less, to know something about that.
"Q. What do you say upon that proposition, from your observation?
A. I say the morals of the people, as a whole, are bad.
" Q. Have you observed whether or not there is more or less mixing of
white blood? A. There is.
"Q. And some intemperance? A. Yes, sir; to a very large extent.
"Q. Good deal of intemperance? A. A great deal."
John Kennedy corroborates this and alludes to circumstances
not widely differing from those said to exist on the Onondaga
reservation (p. 794).
Edward B. Vreeland, for several years principal of a public
school at Salamanca, and now engaged in the insurance business
there, says the average of morality and intelligence is very much
lower among the Indians on the Allegany reservation than it would
be among an equal number of whites similarly situated (p. 1036).
Henry O. Wait, county treasurer of Cattaraugus county, says,
"They are not a very good moral set of people."  "Are they industrious?" was asked.  "No, they are not," he answered (p. 1194).




28


James H. Foster swears that there is more negro than Indian
blood among the members of the Shinnecock tribe in Suffolk
county (p. 832) and John Nugent says the same (p. 841). James
Bunn says that the 140 people on that reservation, comprising
forty-five families, are substantially all related to each other and
that marriages between relatives are common (p. 844 and 848).
S. G. Grow, superintendent of schools on the St. Regis reseirvation, says: "The Indians, as a general thing, instead of getting
better, in a better condition, I think they are in a worse condition
and getting worse every year (p. 917).
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE.
Nothing which I have ever heard from any responsible source
has challenged my amazement more than the assertion of your
committee that, to use their exact language, "Wedlock, among the
pagans, is just as real under their ceremony as if it were Christian
marriage," and the "Squaw is just as really a wife." And you
will permit me not only to dissent from it but to object to it, and
say that there is no such thing as " wedlock " among the pagans
in the sense in which we understand the term.
Chancellor Sims was asked, "What about the social condition of
the Indians? " and answered:
"The social life among the Indians is a very peculiar life; they do not, as
a rule, recognize any sacredness in the marriage relations; there are no
marriages among them, a very large portion of them; family associations
are taken up by any man and woman together, without ceremony, living
together for six months or a year or longer, or for a lifetime, as it may be,
separating and reassuming such relations without any reference to marriage or children or anything of the kind; an illustration of their notion
of the family may be had by the answer given to our committee by one of
the best educated members of the tribe; I asked him the question; he
told us the story of having lived with a wife, and I asked him the question:
" Do you not think it is the duty of a man, who has lived with a woman
and raised a family of children, to do something for the support of his
children?" he paused for a moment or two and reflected on the question,
and then answered, " I don't know;" he was one of the most intelligent
of the Indians on the reservation; perhaps the most intelligent" (p. 408).
Again he was asked, " Is there any pretense, any form of divorce
among either class, pagan or Christian? " and replied:
"Not at all, they have no notion of the separation of families; the
Christians, while they profess their Christianity, are a fluctuating people;
they are pagans one year and Christians the next; if they want to separate
they go over to the pagan side and separate, so there is no occasion for
divorce" (p. 410).




29


This witness needs no corroboration, but the large volume in
hand is full of other testimony to the same effect.
Rev. Mr. Lane testified as follows:
"Q. Is there any law of marriage recognized? A. Not among the
pagans.
"Q. The pagans recognize no marriage relationship? A. No, sir.
"Q. They live promiscuously? A. Many of them do, some of them are
married.
"Q. Is there any marriage ceremony among the pagans? A. I believe
not.
" Q. Is there any mixing with the white people? A. Yes, sir; there is a
little.
"Q. Is there any such thing as divorce amojig them? A. No, sir.
"Q. A couple after cohabiting, tire of each other, they simply separate?
A. Yes, sir.
"Q. And make other arrangements? A. Yes, sir; the children usually
go with the mother.
" Q. Whether there is one or a dozen, the man steps out and is free; do
the chiefs take any steps to regulate this matter? A. I never heard that
they did.
" Q. You never heard a protest from the chiefs against this miscellaneous
living? A. No, sir.
"Q. Are the chiefs themselves guilty of it? A. I could not say positively, but my impression is, they are, some of them.
"Q. Are the women generally unchaste? A. In some cases.
"Q. There is considerable unchastity? A. Yes, sir.
"Q. Are any steps taken by the Indian authorities to prevent this, to
repress it? A. Not that I know of; you mean among the Indians
themselves?
"'Q. Yes, sir? A. No, sir; rather encouraging it."
Daniel La Fort, himself one of the pagan chiefs, testifies to the
same general effect (p. 473), and so does John White (p. 484) and
William Isaacs (p. 495).
Dr. Lake testified as follows, concerning the Senecas:
"Q. By applying to them the laws of marriage and divorce that apply
to the white people, what effect would that have upon their morals? A.
The same law applies to them now; the law of the State of New York as
regards marriage and divorce are just as much applicable to Indians of
the State of New York as to anybody else; the laws of the State in that
direction are extended by a special act of the Legislature over the Indians,
and they pay no more attention to it than they did before " (p. 755).
The   following is  by John    Kennedy   of the Cattaraugus
reservation:
" Q. Some of your people don't get married then? A. No, sir,
"Q. I suppose the Christians do? A. Yes, sir.
"Q. And the pagans don't? A. Yes, sir.




30


"Q. Do they separate sometimes? A. Very often.
"Q. And they get married again? A. Yes, sir; very often; sometimes
live together only two or three days, sometimes a month, then they
separate (p. 780).
"Q. Live with whoever they are a mind to? A. Yes, sir.
"Q. Live with one a little while and then another? A. Yes, sir; that is
Just the way.
" Q. Do the Indians who belong to the Christian party, do they marry
in a legal way? A. Yes, sir; generally.
" Q. But some of them also? A. Yes, sir; some of them.
"Q. There are a good many people that live together as man and wife
Just as they are a mind to? A. Yes, sir.
"Q. We had a witness on the stand yesterday that said he did not know
of a case where they lived together without a marriage ceremony, that is
not true? A. No, sir " (p. 789).
Dr. McConnell, of the St. Regis reservation, was asked if they
knew anything of divorce there and replied:
"Well, they sometimes 'quit,' sometimes leave each other, but there is
no regular divorce; one or the other party gets dissatisfied and skips
out."
The "Peacemakers" on the Seneca reservations were given
authority by chapter 374 of the Laws of 1859, to grant divorces.
Two specimens of the work of that august body, shown to the
committee indicate the ridiculous character of their proceedings
I think these were all there were of the nature of divorce proceedings in the records. In the first, a certificate by a woman who
does not sign her name but makes her mark is presented. It is
not verified. It asserts no ground for separation. It simply says:
" I have consented and agree to grant a bill of divorce to George
Gordon to live separate and apart from each other during our
natural lives. And I consent and hereby pray to the peacemakers
court to grant a bill of divorce without delay."  Upon this paper
the " court " granted a " divorce" to the parties. In the other
case a husband presents to the court a paper in which he alleges
infidelity against his wife and asks for a divorce. The paper is
not sworn to. No copy is served. upon the wife. She does not
appear in the proceedings. She does not admit the allegation.
She is afforded no opportunity to deny it. No proofs are offered.
She is condemned without proof and without being heard. A
divorce is at once granted by a "court" of which one of the
members is the father of the petitioner and the enterprising
young man is at once "married" to another woman (pp. 1128-9),




31


There is no justification for your supposition that the Senecas
are very different from the rest in this regard. The legislative
committee referring to them says:
" Marriage ceremonies among them have been in the past the exception
rather than the rule. The morals of the women in too many cases are
bad. The trouble here is, as with all the other tribes of the State, that
marriage simply consists in intercourse for a shorter or longer period, as
inclination suggests, and then separation. The offspring of such unions
are legitimate and inherit from their parents, and this custom is indirectly
sanctioned by the laws of the State " (p. 66).
There is much more testimony bearing upon this subject, but it
is superfluous to quote it further. It not only establishes the
practices which are common upon the reservations, but it points
out the ideas which are prevalent among the greater part of the
Indian population. Those of them who withstand the advances of
Christian civilization and some who have come, to some extent,
within such influence-by far the greater part of all -have no
comprehension of proper marriage relations.    Couples live
together just so long as it is agreeable, and separate at will. It is
the well understood plan and arrangement of the tribes. The
governmental organization of the several tribes make no effort to
repress it. It has always obtained among them. They believe in
it. The children of such unions always follow the mother. If
she is a Seneca or an Onondaga, they are Senecas or Onondagas.
It makes no difference what the father is. There is a kind of
completeness and consistency about their plan which appears
more and more plainly upon more thorough investigation.
Such miscellaneous associations, taken up or laid down at the
mere whim or caprice of the parties, without binding force, without responsibility or penalty in the matter, without the institution
which we call the " family " resulting therefrom, is not to be designated by the time-honored term " wedlock," much less is it to be
likened to Christian marriage which the law of the State makes
binding upon the parties and which the Divine law sanctions and
sanctifies.
TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.
Let us glance hastily at the kind and character of the government which these so-called "nations" maintain. Reservation life
commonly knows two parties, called the "Christian" and the
"pagan " party. Upon the Seneca reservation it seems that they
are coming to be called the "new party" and the "old party." In




32


every instance the " pagan," or " old " party, are in the majority,
controlling the public affairs of the tribe. In some cases the
government is administered by chiefs chosen for life, and in others
by a council chosen for a term of years. In either case the
pagans predominate and shape things their own way.
The chiefs of the Onondaga tribe transact all the business of
the tribe. If one of their own number die, they select a successor.
If a chief accept Christianity, they oust him and put a more
steadfast pagan in his place. The same conditions obtain, in a
different way, among the Senecas and St. Regis. In considering
this subject one thing is to be always borne in mind. The
"9 pagan ' or " old party " Indian lives in the past and believes that
the main business of Indian life is to regain the past. He
rehearses the stories and traditions of his fathers and plans continually for the perpetuation of tribal relations. There can be no
music in his life if his " nation " is to disintegrate and disappear.
This is the string that is played upon by the more astute of his
associates in the selection of officers and the management of the
business of the tribe.
There need be no hesitation, after reading the testimony taken
upon this investigation, in saying that the business management
of the tribes is generally corrupt. The committee says of the
Onondagas: " The government, as it now exists, under the control
and management of the pagan chiefs, is corrupt and vicious; law
and order are entirely foreign to it" (p. 42). Touching the
Tuscarora reservation, the committee says:
" It is quite apparent that if a chief becomes too modern in his habits
and manner of living, or desires a change of government to conform more
nearly with that of his white neighbor, he is regarded as a dangerous
person and is accordingly deposed " (p. 48).
Concerning the Senecas, the committee has this to say: " They
are pagans and Christians, like the other tribes, with the former
in the majority and controlling the elections " (p. 62). " The history of these Indians as well as that of every other tribe in the
State, conclusively proves that the chiefs and officeholders have
invariably barred the way to progress and improvement among
them " (p. 63). " Their tribunals of chiefs or trustees, or peacemakers, are inefficient and often corrupt" (p. 74).
Upon most of the reservations the chiefs receive moneys in
considerable sums for rental of lands, quarry privileges, etc, On




33


the Seneca reservations this amounts to perhaps $12,000 per
year" (p. 1178).
The money received by the chiefs does not go to the benefit of
the tribe, but is squandered. It does not maintain schools or
build roads or help the poor. Much is lost and never accounted
for by the treasurer (pp. 677, 786, 849). Much is expended in
senseless ceremonies and travels from one reservation to another.
The records of the council of the Senecas show thousands of dollars paid out on such entries as this: " September 25, 1876, Joel
Jimison moved and seconded that we make an appropriation of
$593.15 to pay officers and other debts " (pp. 1056-7). It appeared
in the evidence that the office of the treasurer of the Senecas was
kept in a hotel where liquors are sold (p. 1122). The witnesses
frequently speak of corruption in the councils. Mrs. Hattie Terrance, a native teacher on the St. Regis reservation, said she had
paid money to the trustees for their influence with the local
superintendent to procure her a position (p. 897).
The chiefs in council and the peacemakers frequently assume
to determine individual rights. Calling these tribunals " courts"
the legislative committee says, " They are many times ignorant and
incompetent and often venal" (p. 63; see, also, pp. 918, 948).
James G. Johnson, a lawyer at Salamanca, says this of the
peacemakers' court on the Allegany reservation:
" As it is conducted it is a farce; the first question that they settle is as
to which side the peacemakers are on, and this is generally determined
before the suit is brought; that is a political question; and the next thing
is how much it is going to cost to buy the other person; some of our
peacemakers are men of some education, but a good many not; sometimes
they have men that can speak English and write, usually not; often
not " (p. 961).
Again he says: "It is a matter of common reputation among
them that the council acts from two causes; one is from partisanship and the other from corruption" (p. 964).
Your own missionary, with all his intense devotion to them,
testified as follows:
" Q. Have you any information in regard to any corruption existing in
this peacemakers' court? A. 0, I understand from rumor that the
peacemakers are sometimes corrupt; yes, sir.
"Q. Current rumor? A. Yes, sir; on the reservation, that they are
bought and sold sometimes, and there have been cases in which the peacemakers decide one way and the jury of the chiefs, the council, decide
another; they reverse it when it is appealed to the council.
5




34
"Q. Isn't it generally understood that they are corrupt- this peacemakers' court? A. Well, I have known them to be very honorable men,
an honorable court, and then again it would seem to be sort of a tidal
wave of dishonesty sweeping over the reservation; they would put in the
wrong officers.
" Q. Isn't the honorable court the exception? A. Well, I don't know;
I think perhaps it is; according to the rumors on the reservation it is; I
have no practical knowledge " (p. 981).
It is useless to pursue this phase of the subject further and I
pass to one other matter, and then I shall have done with examining the evidence.
OPPOSITION TO SCHOOLS.
Your committee says "All whom we saw are in favor of schools
and we could learn of but one family who wished to remain in
ignorance and this out of personal dislike to the teacher."
I can not escape the feeling that your committee is not versed
in the arts of Indian diplomacy and is entirely too sanguine of the
qualities of Indian character. Let us see what the proofs are.
During my superintendency we have frequently had trouble
in getting land upon which to erect a new school-house (pp. 424,
766).  They pretend they favor the school, but insist upon
putting the school-house in an inconvenient, remote and inaccessible place. I observe that the president of the Seneca nation
refers to this and claims that the difficulty arises because they
can not give a title to a site acceptable to the State Superintendent, without a treaty. There is nothing of this. We desire no
better title for such purpose than they can give by simple resolution if they choose.
Superintendeat Hazard of the Seneca reservation testifies as
follows concerning the disposition of this same president of the
Seneca nation concerning a new school-house:
" After the appropriation wvs made to build a new school-house, I went
down there and tried to get the Indians interested in procuring a site;
asked them to call a special meeting; they said they would; in a short
time they wrote me they had selected a site; I let the matter rest until I
let the contract to build the house; in the meantime I saw Andrew John,
president of the Seneca nation, and he told me they had a very good place
for the building selected; I went there and found they had picked out a
lot back from the highway, near the railroad track, in a piece of woods
near Andrew John's house" (p. 766).
We ought to put a new school-house at a convenient and proper
place, and with plenty of idle land all around, there is no good
reason why we should not have it.




35


Of the Senecas the committee says: "The average attendance
in all the schools is light, and in some instances teachers, at the
expense of the State, have attended to give instruction with not a
single child present to receive it" (p. 75).
Rev. Mr. Lane says: " They tell their people right in the council-house, 'If you send your children to school they learn white
man's way; they get educated, and then they will look down on
the Indians" (p. 446).
The opposition to schools is also spoken of by Superintendent
Paxon, of the Tonawanda reservation (p. 709), and by Superintendent Hazard, of the Cattaraugus and Allegany reservations
(pp. 764, 766, 768, 777). The testimony of Superintendent Grow
and the witnesses, Louis Gray and Thomas Wood, shows the
same conditions existing among the St. Regis (pp. 902, 914, 931).
The testimony of the president of the Senecas clearly reveals
open indifference and covert opposition to the work of the schools
(pp. 1109, 1113, 1120).
The chiefs reason that schools will operate to overthrow their
power and destroy tribal relations, and they are commonly
opposed to schools.
The legislative committee says of the Onondagas: " The majority
of the Indians on this reservation are unfriendly to schools and as
a result do much to discourage the children in attending (p. 41).
It also says of the Tonawanda reservation: " The influence of
the pagan Indians is keenly felt against the schools here as elsewhere" (p. 50).
It is the common testimony that the influence of the pagan
chiefs is all against the schools, that attendance is irregular, and
that it is next to impossible to keep children in the schools without keeping before them some allurement, some prospect of reward
or material compensation for coming. It is also manifest that the
home associations, the degrading influences of that single room in
which all ages and sexes live and sleep, largely nullify the work
of the schools.
It is perhaps proper to say, collaterally, that this indifference
is not chargeable to the character of the schools. I risk little in
saying that the character of our Indian school-houses and their
appurtenances and equipments will compare most favorably with
an equal number of public school-houses in the surrounding
country. Great care is being taken to select teachers who pass the




36
regular tests applied to all teachers and who show aptitude for
this particular work. If members of this presbytery, or anyone
else, will bring to my attention, in a business-like way, any case of
incompetency or lack of character and fitness on the part of a
teacher in an Indian school, there will be a vacancy created forthwith. Local superintendents are under instructions to hold
regular terms and regular daily sessions and to leave nothing
undone which will promote the systematic efficiency of the
schools.
Instructions have recently been issued prescribing the exact
time when the schools shall be kept in session, and requiring that
no new teachers shall be employed until after reporting all the
facts concerning the suitableness of the candidate whom it is proposed to employ to the Department and receiving the approval of
the State Superintendent.
It is proper, also, to add that the State Superintendent can not
be everywhere and know everything. He has to depend upon
what comes to him in writing.  He can not accept as conclusive
all that comes to him in writing. He has to judge of it by what
he knows of the reliability of the writer and by the character of
what he says and the spirit in which he says it.  He is always
thankful for information from responsible sources, and will be
particularly obliged to any member of this body who will
aid him in making the most of the school-work on the Indian
reservations.
I observe that your committee criticises these schools on the
ground that religion is not taught in them. This is a criticism
which will lie with equal force against the entire public school
system of the State. We might differ some in discussing that
general subject, and we might not. It is enough to say that
neither you nor I can change that. We had better take circumstances as we find them and do things which are within our power
to make them better.
Long ago I officially expressed the opinion that the day schools
were not adequate to the task of reconstructing the Indian children
of the State, but that they should be taken into institutions where
they can be cared for day and night, washed, combed, disciplined,
educated, given religious instruction, as may properly be done in
institutions, taught habits of industry and thrift and kept long
enough to enable character to take shape and form and do away




37
with the probability of their returning to the conditions from
which they were taken.  But there are grave difficulties in the
way of bringing that about, and in the meantime you and I will
do well if we do all we can with the facilities and opportunities
that are at our command.
But let us return to the main subject we have been considering. I have not relied on what you or I have seen or heard, by
chance, in a casual drive, in broad daylight, through an Indian
reservation. A committee of clergymen, acting under the general
guidance of a missionary, who is so grandly and sublimely devoted
to the regeneration of the Indian as to feel and say that he
averages a little better than the whites (p. 978), would be likely
to come in contact with the exceptional, rather than the average
or predominant elements in reservation life. Moreover, familiarity
with the Indian character, universal experience in dealing with
this people, show that they resort to all the arts of diplomacy
and strategy, so commonly and with such cleverness and astuteness, as to make slight acquaintance or casual observation
altogether unreliable as sources of accurate information. The
Onondagas once, through their council of chiefs, assured me, in
the most solemn manner and in the most gratifying terms, that
they wanted good schools and wished to advance education and
Christianity, but they would not grant the right to erect a schoolhouse within a mile of an Indian home, although there were
eligible places in abundance.  The judgment of respectable
whites is commonly as favorable to the modern individual,
who passes for an Indian, as circumstances will warrant. The
athletic and manly qualities, which history recognizes in some
of the finer specimens of the early tribes, the power and
novel character of the Iroquois Confederacy here in New
York, the fact that they were the original occupants of the soil
and have been largely dispossessed, their ability at masquerading, together with the liberal help of the novelist, combine to
envelop this individual in a vapor of sentimental admiration which
must largely disappear under the sunlight of truth. In learning
about him, it is of the highest importance to be on the guard
against imposition and to view him in the same light and apply to
him the same tests which long experience in affairs has shown to
be essential to the determination of the truth, concerning men of
whatever color.




I have relied upon the sworn statements of numerous persons
better informed upon this whole subject, than any others in the
State. The long list of witnesses comprises many of our most
prominent philanthropists who have investigated the subject for
the good they might do; some of our public officers who have come
into official relations with it, many professional and business men
who have had dealings with this people, farmers who have lived
upon their borders, clergymen at their mission stations, teachers
employed in their schools and many of the more promiment
Indians themselves. The witnesses were frequently reluctant, and
many times they were unwilling. They spoke upon the demand of
the highest authority of the State and under the solemnity of an
oath. Their names were taken; the full record was kept. If any
spoke maliciously, if there was any false swearing, they may be punished for it. And what a story it is and how much of it still
remains untold! It is one thing to have substantial reasons for
knowing that a thing is true, and it is another thing to prove it in
public by competent testimony on the witness stand.  Consider
what these witnesses say and then contemplate what human
reason and experience tell us would ordinarily accompany all this,
and we have a picture outlined and filled in, that is a shame to a
Christian State, and claims an early and trenchant remedy.
Your committee says: " Many encouraging signs appear in the
church life of these four Indian settlements. This feature of the
case is almost unnoticed by Judge Draper, yet it is the prime
factor in the problem." I am not disposed to dispute the justice
of this criticism.  It refers to a phase of the subject which may
be entitled to more prominence than it had gained in my mind.
But although it may have been overlooked it certainly has not
been belittled.  If you have imagined that I Was disposed to
undervalue the church work upon the reservations, or ignore it as
a great factor in working out the regeneration of this people, you
should be undeceived at once. Nothing could be farther from the
truth and I know of nothing to justify the inference.  It is quite
true that I have thought your missionaries too confiding at times.
Even an Indian can hardly be mean enough to cheat a minister.
This fact affects their general judgment. That is but human, and
I am not disposed to find fault with them for it. But I have said
and would say nothing to disparage or discourage that work.
What I have intended to say and what I do say is, not that we




39


have too much gospel, but that we have too little law upon the
Indian reservations. I do not say that the work of the church is
ineffectual or unavailing, for I do not believe it, but I do say that
the policy of the State is a mistaken one, and it should be quickly
and radically changed.
I find it quite the custom to say that the Indians "average
about as well as a like number of whites under similar circumstances." This was a common remark of the witnesses before
the Legislative committee. Just what is meant by this is somewhat doubtful. If it is intended to mean that a like number of
persons taken at random from the Caucasian race would permit
themselves to fall into "similar circumstances" of pauperism,
vice and degradation, I dissent from it. The common history of
the race disproves it. If it is intended to mean that the dregs
of white society would be no better if put in the same situation, it might be admitted, but it would prove nothing. It might
deepen the shame of the depraved white, but how and in what
would it help the depraved red man.
Let us leave sentimentalism out of the matter. Let us care no
more for the color of a man's skin than the color of his eye. Let
us not spend much time in mourning over the past unless we can
thereby help the future. Let us confront the present situation.
We have more than 5,000 human beings within our borders, who
live separate and apart from us. They are slowly increasing in
numbers. They live in the past and are trying to regain the past.
They commonly speak a language of their own. They have, generally, no idea of the value of property. Having possessions
they will barter them, so far as they can, for the least
pittance of ready money. They are frequently imposed upon by
unscrupulous whites, and have no way and scarcely manifest any
disposition to defend themselves. They are not thrifty or industrious. They are ordinarily ignorant. There are none of them
liberally educated, and there does not appear to be a skilled arti'san in the whole number. With excellent lands, they will not cultivate them enough to sustain life.  They show little or no aptitude for business. They are poor in the extreme, and commonly
degraded. They live for the most part in one-room huts. They
have done nothing whatever to build up the institutions upon
which the temple of human liberty must find its foundations.
They have no comprehension or appreciation of the sacred char



40


acter of the family relation. Vice is prevalent, and there is no
police power.  It is true that the long and laborious work
of the missionaries has induced some to accept the Christian religion, and to begin to live in accord with its teachings.  It is true that a very few have begun to show thrift,
and to accumulate property. But it is likewise true that the great
majority are "pagans," and determined to remain such, carefully
avoiding and repelling all influences which may open the way for
the advance of civilization.
It is the duty of the State and the church alike to educate the
intelligence of these people, to arouse their ambition, to inspire
their thrift, to stimulate their industry, to cultivate family and
social relations among them, and to develop the dormant moral
nature which we believe the Creator implanted in their breasts.
Why has this work gone forward so slowly? Not because of
the indifference of the church so much as the unwisdom of the
State. How is it to be hastened?  Universal experience shows
that labor and the bearing of responsibility are essential to the
development of the higher nature of men. One of the greatest of
divines has well said, "If it were not for labor men could not
relish so pleasantly, nor sleep so soundly, nor be so healthful, nor
so useful, so strong, nor so patient, so noble, nor so untempted."
When we tell an Indian to work or starve like a white man; when
we show him that if he will accumulate property we will protect
his rights in it, and when he commits a crime we will send him to
jail for it, he will begin to prick up his ears. When we stop
praying him to do us the honor of sending his children to schools
which we maintain for him, and compel him to care for and educate his children through the means held out to him, just as we
try to do in the case of his troublesome compatriot of the Caucasian or the African, or any other race, we shall begin to make an
impression upon him. When we make it to his interest and
advantage to be a good citizen, and punish him if he willfully
chooses to be a bad one, we will be preparing the ground for
gospel seed.
I once asked Rev. Mr. Hall, for more than fifty years a zealous
missionary among the Senecas, what evidences of progress had
manifested themselves in that time. He answered that when he
came among them the cattle and swine and fowls lived in the same
room with them, and that they did not do that now. That change




41


is undoubtedly to the advantage of the Indian, and it may not be
to the disadvantage of the hogs and the hens, but it is insisted
that, surrounded as these people are, this is not moving rapidly
enough towards civilization, when there is no necessity, under a
wiser policy, of going so slow.
The Federal government has had in hand an Indian problem of
much larger proportion than ours, and it has had great difficulty in
dealing with it. It deals with nearly 200,000 Indians upon reservations. Many of them are really worthy the name, and not a few
are very dangerous characters. The Indian bureau has very commonly been in a badly-crippled condition, and the Indian service
has too frequently been the refuge of dilapidated politicians who
would be tolerated nowhere else. But more has been accomplished by the United States through a wise general policy in
solving the larger problem, than by the State of New York in
solving the smaller one. It has at least exacted respect for its
authority. It has compelled tribes to behave themselves. It
has extended the police power into the reservations and
punished crime. It has not only set up schools, but it has
required attendance upon them. It has provided by law for
breaking up the reservation system, and for the allotment of lands
in severalty, and it is making substantial progress towards the
dissolution of the tribes and the absorption of their members into
the citizenship of the country.
It seems to me there is but one course to be pursued here.
After a hundred years of trial the reservation system stands
overwhelmingly condemned. It but protects and perpetuates
all that is opposed to Christian civilization. The fiction that
we have five or six independent and sovereign "nationalities"
within our State, entirely surrounded by our own territory and
institutions, must be discarded. If it were a fact it would not
be consistent with some of our most cherished beliefs. But
it is not a fact.  If these tribes were ever entitled to be
called "nations," and to exercise sovereign powers, they certainly are no longer. They have ceased to exist as such. The
logic of events has changed their state. Their crude theories are
manifestly opposed to their own interests and abhorrent to our
civilization. Their system of government is but an ignorant and
corrupt sham and pretense. It should have no recognition as a
government at all. As individuals they have become wards of the
6




42


State. They have lands of considerable value, which they own in
common. They should be treated with thoughtfulness and tenderness, with firmness and generosity, having in view all the facts
which enter into their history and all the circumstances in which
they now exist. Their estate should be administered in the way
which will best promote their own advantage and the common
good of the State.
The best opinion -of the State must determine what is to be
done in the matter. It is useless to parley with them. It is folly
to wait for their approval. It will never come. The main ambition of their controlling spirits is to turn the hands back upon the
dial and reestablish the old order of things. The State has
undoubted authority in the premises, and it should exercise it. It
must help those of them who want help, and it must help the
greater number in spite of themselves.
Fortunately the subject has been much considered by many of
the most thoughtful and disinterested persons in the country, and
among such there is an agreement which is substantially if not
entirely unanimous. So strong is this opinion and so much does
it represent, that it has already produced corresponding action
on the part of the general government. A division of
Indian lands in severalty and citizenship, with all that the
term implies, for the Indian, is the ultimate and necessary
sequence of the situation.  It may be well to prohibit the
alienation of his real estate for a term of years, in order to
further protect him, and it may also be well to condition some of
the rights of citizenship for a time, but there should be little
delay in opening the way for that consummation. Cease to treat
him as a red man and begin to treat him as an ordinary man.
Give him an individual ownership in real estate, encourage him
to labor for the accumulation of personal property by protecting
his rights in it, give him the power to protect himself on the one
hand, and, on the other, make him conform to the necessities of
social order and public comfort and convenience. Teach him to
acknowledge the trend of events and adapt himself to the circumstances and the institutions of the country in which he was born.
Do the best we can for him, and expect that when the State withdraws its hand, and ceases to regard him in an exceptional light,
the strongest will eventually be at the top and the weakest at the
bottom, just as in the case of his Caucasian brother. Expect,




43


also, as we have the right to expect, that the necessity of labor,
and the checks and the incentives, which organized government
places upon human action, will improve his physical condition,
sharpen his wits and prepare his heart for the regenerating
influence of the gospel of salvation.
I must speedily conclude; I know I have drawn heavily upon
your patience.  But perhaps it is pardonable.  It is seldom I
have an opportunity to balance accounts for long sermons.
I thank you most sincerely for your courtesy and your attention. I am jealous of your good opinion. As a public officer,
I want your cooperation in my work. Both as an official and
an individual, I desire to cooperate with you in yours.  It is
more than doubtful if we are as far apart in our views as we may,
either of us, have imagined. It is more than likely that greater
facilities for consultation would have produced substantial agreement and concord of action between us. We must not disagree
to the hindrance of our common purpose. That we may not, I
assure you of my readiness at all times to advise and to act with
you to the furtherance of our common christianity and to the
upbuilding of our magnificent commonwealth.




THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN


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