AN AMERICAN INDIAN. 
n I S PAST, II IS PRESENT, AND IIIS FUTURE. 
Is He Making Any Progress ? 
Mr. Noble Redman is the only person who has a 
legitimate claim to the title of thoroughbred Ameri¬ 
can. The rest of us are but scrubs and grades. Some 
of our pale-faced citizens may not like that statement, 
yet it is true. Run your pedigree back but a few 
years, or at most, centuries, and it will land you on 
the other side of the water. Mr. Redman’s fore¬ 
fathers occu- 
less generations, maintained certain distinct types 
and languages, which were due to differences in food, 
climate and personal habits. Up to the time of Colum¬ 
bus, the American Indian was not influenced in blood, 
language or culture by any other race. At the time 
of the early white settlements, it was thought that 
the whole continent teemed with an enterprising and 
aggressive race. It is now generally thought that 
these estimates were greatly exaggerated. A conser¬ 
vative estimate puts the number of American Indians 
at the time of Columbus at 500,000, and it has never 
been greater since then. In 1822, the Indian popula¬ 
tion was 471,417 ; in 1870, 313,712 ; in 1880, 300,543, and 
in 1890, 248,253. Of the 1890 population, 50,806 Indians 
paid taxes as citizens, 133,417 were on reservations, 
while 50,055 are classed as civilized, but non tax pay¬ 
ing. The citizen Indians are scattered over 44 States 
and five Territories, and their numbers increase from 
year to year, especially of late years, since extra 
efforts have been made to educate boys and girls. 
VVe hear much of Indian tribes. Scientists say that 
there are now 32 distinct stocks or families of Indians 
remaining out 
pied American 
soil when your 
ancestors were 
many colored 
savages, roam¬ 
ing through the 
forests of 
Europe. Your 
ancestors came 
here and stole 
Redman’s land, 
and weakened 
him with bad 
liquor and gun 
powder. That 
was the “ civil¬ 
izing influence” 
your ancestors 
first brought to 
bear on him. 
You might re¬ 
member that 
when you base 
your claim to 
the title of 
“American” on 
the fact that 
your civiliza- 
t i o n is of a 
higher type 
w* raw 
of 53. These 
differences in 
tribes were, as 
stated, the re¬ 
sults of differ¬ 
ent foods and 
locations. 
We have no 
space here to 
give a history 
of the Indian’s 
wrongs or 
rights. Our pur¬ 
pose is to show 
only his busi¬ 
ness side. In 
1890, 57,960 In¬ 
dians received 
subsistence 
supplies, while 
185,574 received 
none. In 1891, 
the Govern¬ 
ment appropri¬ 
ated $7,127,394.- 
69 for Indians. 
It is estimated 
that the ex¬ 
penditures for 
food and ra- 
than his ! 
The last cen- 
IMPROVEMENT IN A YOUNGER GENERATION. AN INDIAN’S NEW HOME. Fig. 237. 
tions average 
$8 per year for 
sus report gives 
a whole big 
book to the In¬ 
dians, with an 
interesting ac¬ 
count of their 
origin, their 
history so far 
as known, and 
statistics re¬ 
garding their 
population, 
property, etc. 
In a few words, 
it may be said, 
that it is sup¬ 
posed that the 
Indians are of 
European ori¬ 
gin. The first 
settlers prob¬ 
ably came from 
Europe by way 
of a land con¬ 
nection which 
once existed all 
over the north- 
ern Atlantic. 
Once here, they 
slowly scat¬ 
tered over the 
country and 
through count- 
A FEWoSTEPS UP INTO CIVILIZATION, A PUYALLUP INDIAN AND SQUAW. Fig. 238, 
110,000 reserva¬ 
tion Indians. It 
costs $2,000,000 
per year to 
maintain the 
Indian schools, 
and about $175 
per head to send 
girls and boys 
to the East¬ 
ern boarding 
schools. In 
1890, the In¬ 
dians earned 
$64 2,000 in 
labor for the 
Go ver n m ent, 
nearly half of 
which was for 
growing and 
hauling farm 
products. In the 
same year, the 
Government 
maintained 246 
Indian schools, 
with an enroll¬ 
ment of 16,377 
pupils. This, it 
must be remem¬ 
bered, was on 
the reserva¬ 
tions — n o.t 
