OUR INDIAN WARDS 203 



these picked Indians, once in unhampered possession 

 of their own property, lost everything they possessed 

 within a few months! 



The fate of these unfortunates has been to fall 

 back on the main tribal possessions, reducing pro 

 rata values by just so much. In view of these facts 

 the Bureau, in making the original allotments re- 

 quired by law, habitually holds something back in 

 reserve from each full share. Usually an original 

 individual allotment, upon which the Indian is sup- 

 posed to live, measures 160 acres of farm land, or 

 twice that if desert or forest land. They vary in size 

 according to the productivity of the lands and the 

 purposes for which they can be used, and the size is 

 generally restricted by the amount of land available 

 for that purpose in the reservation to which each be- 

 longs. Indians in isolated localities earn their living 

 in various ways, such as securing employment from 

 white men in the neighborhood, raising garden truck 

 and caring for a few head of stock for their own use. 

 Their income from this source is often supplemented 

 by gathering nuts and wild fruits, fishing, and other 

 similar activities. Generally speaking, allotments 

 have not been made in desert regions except where 

 water is available for irrigation. Much of this des- 

 ert land is very productive under irrigation. In 

 other localities where the land cannot be irrigated 

 the Indian earns a livelihood by raising sheep and 

 goats which graze on their allotments and adjoining 

 lands. The Nez Perce and Navaho Indians carry on 



