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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



our traditions, in fact, will not permit the 

 adoption of a drastic course that would 

 cast the Indian upon a world for which 

 he is ill-prepared. 



Yet I am of the opinion that it would 

 be better, far better, to sever all ties be- 

 tween the Indian and the government, 

 give every man his own and let him go 

 his own way to success or destruction, 

 rather than keep alive in the Indian the 

 belief that he is to remain a ward of the 

 government. The advocates of the sink 

 or swim policy may be reckless. The ad- 

 vocates of the almshouse policy are surely 

 doing harm. 



Is there, then, no way out? IMust we 

 go blunderingly on without goal and 

 without policy? 



KILLING "rut ORPHAN ASYLUM^ IDE;a 



The way out is gradually and wisely to 

 put the Indian out. Our goal is the free 

 Indian. The orphan-asylum idea must 

 be killed in the mind of Indian and white 

 man. The Indian should know that he is 

 upon the road to enjoy or suffer full ca- 

 pacity. He is to have his opportunity as 

 a "forward-looking man." 



This is not my dictum, for the govern- 

 ment has been feeling its way toward this 

 policy for nearly 40 years. This is the 

 rationale of the whole of our later con- 

 gressional policy, of the liberality of Con- 

 gress toward the education of the Indian, 

 of the allotment system, of limitations 

 fixed upon disposition of property. If 

 the course of Congress means aught it 

 means that the Indian shall not become a 

 fixture as a ward. 



It is the judgment of those who know 



by Indians of the Creek Nation from oil : 

 Samuel Richard, $94,000; Jeannetta Richard, 

 $90,000; Seeley Alexander, $57,000; Lessey 

 Yarhola, $73,000 ; Eastman Richard, $93,000 ; 

 Thomas Long, $35,000; Ella Jones, $31,000; 

 Nancy Yarhola, $29,000; Johnston Wacoche, 

 $27,000; Miller Tiger, $23,000. 



Some of the Bad River Indians have re- 

 ceived as high as from $14,000 to $16,000 for 

 the timber cut from their allotments. 



On the other hand, we must not forget that 

 many of the Indians have lands which are 

 little better than sand hills, that even though 

 these tribes have vast herds of sheep and the 

 wealth of the tribe seems large, when divided 

 pro rata shares it would be but a small sum 

 which could quickly be expended for sub- 

 sistence. 



the Indian best, and it is my conclusion, 

 after as intimate a study as priacticable 

 of his nature and needs, that we should 

 henceforth make a positive and syste- 

 matic effort to cast the full burden of in- 

 dependence and responsibility upon an 

 increasing number of the Indians of all 

 tribes. 



I find that there is a statute which sig- 

 nificantly empowers the Secretary of the 

 Interior to do this in individual cases. 

 That authority is adequate. And as soon 

 as the machinery of administration can 

 be set in motion I intend to use such au- 

 thority. If year by year a few from each 

 of the tribes can be made to stand alto- 

 gether upon their own feet, we will be 

 adding to the dignity of the Indian race 

 and to their value as citizens. To be mas- 

 ter of himself, to be given his chance — 

 this is the Indian's right when he has 

 proven himself. And all that we should 

 do is to help him to make ready for that 

 day of self-ownership. 



PREPARING THL INDIAN TO STAND ALONL 



Viewed in this light, the Indian prob- 

 lem is incomparably larger today than it 

 was when the Cherokees were gathered 

 up from the Southern States and sent 

 into the unknown across the Mississippi. 

 In 1830 the problem was how to get the 

 Indians out of the way. Today the prob- 

 lem is how to make him really a part of 

 the nation. 



This blend of wisdom, dignity, and 

 childishness, this creature of a non-com- 

 mercial age, has been brought into a new 

 day when all must live by conforming to 

 a system that is as foreign to him as the 

 life of the Buddhistic ascetic would be to 

 us. Slowly through a century and more 

 of torturous experience he has come to 

 see that it is not our purpose to do him 

 harm ; but he must learn to find his place 

 in an economy that antagonizes every tra- 

 dition of his ten thousand years of his- 

 tory. 



How, then, are we to get into the mind 

 of this soldier-sportsman the fact that the 

 old order has passed away, and that the 

 gentleman of today earns his right to live 

 by his usefulness ; that the American 

 cannot be a man and a ward at the same 

 time ? 



