OUR INDIAN WARDS 



213 



which title was wrongly assumed were sold to later 

 purchasers in good faith. Eventually 12,000 per- 

 sons concerned with 3,000 claims which ranged in 

 size from town lots to half a dozen acres shared 

 pueblo lands with their 8,000 Indian owners. 



This impossible situation occasioned many out- 

 breaks of sympathetic protest, and local courts over- 

 flowed with cases which seemed impossible of solu- 

 tion. In 1924, however, Congress appointed a board 

 to adjudicate all claims with instructions that none 

 should be decided against the Indians except by 

 unanimous agreement of the Commissioners. Many 

 cases carry back to the original Spanish grants. 



Pueblo lands are held by the Indians in com- 

 munal ownership and occupancy. Under Indian 

 Bureau supervision, they conduct their own govern- 

 ment and their own petty courts. Many are the com- 

 plaints of individuals and societies against govern- 

 mental repression of ceremonial dances and other 

 customs descended from prehistoric times. 



The rapid increase of Indian wealth is shown 

 in the following table compiled from Government 

 figures : 



INCREASING VALUE OF INDIAN PROPERTY 



