REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 1923 79 
schools, they should have refused these benefits and fought against 
them as trespasses. And, recognized, as being needed, the Indians 
should, themselves, have supplied these things. For many reasons 
they did not or could not do it. 
In receiving these benefits of the State they tacitly accepted the 
regulative authority of the State, and though they now deny this in 
words, yet they affirm it in action by using and benefiting by these 
institutions. In fact, until recently, these Indians did not deny the 
right of the State to extend its laws in this direction, and the State 
for 100 years legislated for them upon the assumption that it had a 
right to extend its laws where it extended its protection. 
Suggested Remedies 
It will be seen from the foregoing facts that the situation of the 
New York Indians is complex, and that in view of the relations of 
the State to them, a conference with federal authorities is both neces- 
sary and imperative. 
All persons dealing directly or indirectly with the New York In- 
dians emphatically assert that something must be done immediately 
to prevent the demoralization of the Indians and the impairment of 
the rights of the State. 
While the Indian Commission was not created to determine the 
status of the New York Indians, it was created to confer with the 
federal authorities, specifically the committees of Congress, with re- 
gard to this status. A determination of this status is immediately 
needful. 
The Indian Rights Association, an organization of long and rep- 
utable standing, said in its Sixty-sixth Report: 
To cure as far as possible the present evils of administration over 
New York Indians and to provide for a future equitable settlement, 
we submit that sovereignty over them should be first determined by 
the Federal Court. 
The Secretary of the United States Board of Indian Commis- 
sioners, Malcolm McDowell, wrote: 
The New York Indians are under the guardianship of the United 
States or they are not. There is one place in the whole world where 
definite and final answer to the question can be obtained and that is 
in the United States Supreme Court. What it might say will settle 
the question. Then when it has spoken and you know whether the 
United States or the State has jurisdiction you can go ahead on a 
practical program and help the Indians. Until that question is 
definitely and finally answered we will continue to run around in 
circles. 
