'J2 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 66 



The fnll-blood Indians, however, and those who could not be 

 legitimately recognized as mixed-bloods, were under the protection 

 of the United States Government. They had no right or power to 

 alienate their property without the Government's consent ; and when 

 the attention of the authorities was called to the wholesale depriva- 

 tion of the Indian of his land and timber, due steps were taken not 



Fig. 87. — C h i p p e w a mixed-blood, 

 French-Indian, looking strikingly like a 

 Japanese. 



only to prevent the continuation of such deprivation but to recover 

 for the Indian all property that was taken from him illegally. Com- 

 missions were appointed to investigate the conditions ; "the Indians 

 were thoroughly questioned as to their genealogy and blood mixture, 

 and in the course of years hundreds of actions were brought before 

 the courts for the recovery of their property. 



As these cases proceeded and the defense developed, it became 

 evident that tlie most urgent and important ])rol)lem was to deter- 



