REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I919 I5 



flict of jurisdiction between the state and federal governments 

 respecting Indian affairs. Beyond this the Indian tribes claim a cer- 

 tain independence and have asserted the right to regulate their own 

 internal affairs. Certainly the Empire State can well afford to make 

 a thorough study of this situation and provide the needed relief to 

 these nations once so powerful as to be courted by the foreign 

 powers that sought to colonize America. 



The Indians chiefly affected by this commission are the Onondaga 

 nation, near Syracuse ; the Oneida tribe near Oneida ; the St Regis 

 Mohawks in Franklin county; the Tonawanda Seneca Band in 

 Genesee and Erie counties, near Akron ; the Tuscarora tribe, near 

 Lewiston, Niagara county; the Seneca Nation on two reservations, 

 one near Gowanda and one near Salamanca. 



Each tribe has a somewhat different status but all are regarded as 

 wards of the federal government and all fall under the provisions of 

 the Pickering treaty of 1794-95. This treaty pledges the Indians 

 immunity from disturbance and interference in the possession of 

 their lands. While the Indians are regarded as " wards " we have 

 not been told when they became wards or how, for when the 

 treaties were drawn these Indians were regarded as competent con- 

 tracting parties. Somewhat later they were denominated ward.?. 

 If they are wards of the federal government the question arises as 

 to what right the State has to legislate for them and how it can force 

 the Indians on their several reservations to obey state law. The 

 government has been disposed to let the State care for the Indians 

 in the matter of schools, highways, enforcing the sanitary code, and 

 in cases of the poor and indigent. There is now some question as to 

 the right of the State to do this, though the moral propriety of the 

 fact is not impeached. The Indian Commission is charged with the 

 task of bringing about a well-understood status and in eliminating 

 the causes of dissatisfaction and the barriers to progress. If the 

 Museum through its department of archeology can be of assistance 

 in clearing up this vexatious problem that has troubled the adminis- 

 tration of Indian affairs in this State for so many years it will be 

 felt that a practical good has been accomplished. 



The members of this Commission are Assemblyman E. A. Everett, 

 chairman ; Senator Loring F. Black, vice chairman ; Speaker Thad- 

 deus C. Sweet, J. Henry Walters, De Hart H. Ames, Attorney Gen- 

 eral Charles D. Newton, Charles D. Donahue, Peter McArdle, Dr 

 Robert W. Hill, Dr Matthias Nicholl jr, Chief David R. Hill, 

 Arthur C. Parker, secretary. 



