FROM THE WAR-PATH TO THE PLOW 



8'7 



make a dress, and nurse a sick man or 

 animal. 



SOWING SEEDS OF A^^IBITION 



In one thing we are short — the art of 

 inducing ambition. This largely depends 

 upon the genius of the teacher to fire the 

 imagination of the pupil, for, after all, 

 the true teacher is an inspirer, and the 

 only thing he teaches his people is to 

 want something. That is the first step in 

 all civilization. 



We need teachers in the Indian Serv- 

 ice, men and women with enthusiasm and 

 with sympathy, not learned, but wise. We 

 are to control less and to help more. Pa- 

 ternalism is to give way to fraternalism. 

 The teachers we need are helpers, farm- 

 ers, and nurses, who may not know how 

 to write ideal reports, but do know how 

 to trust and secure trust. There is no 

 way by which an Indian can be made to 

 do anything, but experience justifies the 

 belief that there are many ways by which 

 he can be led. 



To turn the Indian loose from the 

 bonds of governmental control, not in 

 great masses, but individually, basing this 

 action upon his ability to watch his steps 

 and make his way, not in any fool's dream 

 that he will advance without tripping, but 

 in the reasonable hope that he will de- 

 velop self-confidence as he goes along; 

 to destroy utterly the orphan-asylum idea, 

 giving charity only to the helpless and in 

 gravest emergencies ; to teach the Indian 

 that he must work his way, that the gov- 

 ernment will no longer play the part of 

 Elijah's raven ; to convert the young to 

 our civilization through the creation of 

 ambitions and desires which the blanket 

 life cannot satisfy; to organize each 

 group of Indians into a community of 

 sanely guided cooperators, who shall be 

 told and taught that this government is 

 not to continue as an indulgent father. 



but as a helpful, experienced, and solic- 

 itous elder brother — this program we are 

 adventuring upon. It may be inadequate, 

 but it is surely a long step on the road 

 which the Cherokees took. 



PROTECTING THE INDIAN FROM HIS 



ENEMIES 



To carry out this policy there should 

 be continuity of purpose within Congress 

 and within the Department of the In- 

 terior. The strength of the Administra- 

 tion should be turned against the two 

 enemies of the Indian — those who, out of 

 sentiment or for financial reasons, keep 

 the Indian's mind turned backward upon 

 the alleged glories of other days and the 

 injustices that have been done him, and 

 those who would unjustly take from him 

 the heritage that is his. 



The demands now being urged that 

 reservations shall be broken up to make 

 way for white men who can use the lands 

 to better advantage should be resisted, 

 unless it can be shown that the Indians 

 under proper stimulus will not use these 

 lands, or that by the sale of a portion the 

 Indians would be enabled to make greater 

 use of the remainder. The Indian is no 

 more entitled to idle land than a white 

 man. 



But speculation is not use ; and the In- 

 dian must be regarded as having the first 

 call upon the lands now his, at least until 

 white men are willing to surrender their 

 lands when not used. Idle Indians upon 

 idle lands, however, must lead to the sale 

 of the lands, for the pressing populations 

 of the West will not long look upon re- 

 sources unused without strenuous and 

 efl'ective protest, and the friend of the 

 Indian who would give him his chance 

 and would save for him his property is 

 he who keeps in mind the thought of his 

 future instead of his past, and that future 

 depends upon his willingness to work. 



