The Indian Question

by Francis Amasa Walker

The Indians within the limits of Dakota Territory are the Sioux, the Poncas, and the Arickarees, Gros Ventres, and Mandans.

Sioux.—There are probably, including those at the Red Cloud agency, at present temporarily located in Wyoming, about 25,000 Sioux under the care of government at eight different agencies.

The Yankton Sioux, numbering about 2,000, are located in the extreme southern part of the Territory, on the east side of the Missouri, about fifty miles from the town of Yankton, upon a reservation of 400,000 acres, nearly all rolling prairie, set apart for them by treaty of 1858, out of the tract then ceded by them to the United States. They have not been much inclined to work; and, although there is good land within their reservation, they are poor, having still to be subsisted in a great measure by the government. It is but due to say of the Yanktons, that, while other bands of Sioux have been hostile to the government and citizens, they have uniformly been friendly, even to the extent of assisting the government against their own kindred. They are now giving considerable attention to the education of their children, having six schools in operation, with an average attendance of three hundred and sixty-six scholars.

The Sisseton and Wahpeton bands have two reservations,—one in the eastern part of the Territory, at Lake Traverse, containing 1,241,600 acres, where are 1,496 Indians; and one in the north-eastern part of the Territory, at Devil's Lake, containing 345,600 acres, where are 720 Indians, including a few from the "Cut-Head" band of Sioux. These two reservations are provided for in a treaty made with the bands in 1867. These Indians were a portion of the Sioux living in Minnesota at the time of the outbreak in 1862. Many of them claim to have been, and doubtless were, friendly to the whites during the troubles referred to; and when the removal of the Sioux took place in 1863, as noticed heretofore under the title of "Santee Sioux," they went to the western part of Minnesota and to the eastern and northern parts of Dakota, near their present reservations. They are quite generally engaged in agricultural operations, under the system adopted while they were on their reservation in Minnesota, by which the individual Indians receive pay in goods or supplies for all work performed, only the aged, infirm, or sick being supplied with clothing and subsistence gratuitously. So far as these Indians are concerned, the scheme has been decidedly successful; and it should be extended to all the tribes and bands now on the "feeding-list," so soon as practicable. There are four schools in operation for the bands at Lake Traverse, attended by one hundred and twenty-three scholars. An unusual degree of interest is manifested of late in having their children educated. By treaty made with them in 1867, the amount of funds to be appropriated annually for their benefit is at the discretion of Congress. For the present year, the sum of $75,000 has been appropriated for the benefit of these Indians. They also participate in the proceeds derived from the sales of the Sioux lands in Minnesota, which furnish a considerable revenue yearly.

The Oncpapa, Blackfeet, Lower Yanktonai, Upper Yanktonai, Sans Arc, Upper and Lower Brulé, Two Kettle, Minneconjou, and Ogallala bands are located at five different agencies, viz.: the Upper Missouri, or Crow Creek agency, on the east side of the Missouri; the Grand River agency, at the mouth of the Grand River; the Cheyenne River agency, at the mouth of the Cheyenne River; the Whetstone agency (so called from its former location at the junction of the Whetstone with the Missouri Rivers), on the White River, about two hundred and twenty-five miles west of the Missouri; and the Red Cloud agency, at present on the North Platte, about thirty miles south-east from Fort Laramie. The Indians at these agencies number in the aggregate about 22,000. They have a reservation set apart for them by the treaty of 1868, containing about 25,000,000 acres, lying west of the Missouri River and north of Nebraska. Prior to this treaty, these Indians had for years been engaged in acts of hostility against the government and in depredations upon the white settlers. Claiming to own most, if not all, of the Territory of Dakota, and portions of the Territories of Montana and Wyoming, as well as the western part of Nebraska, they used every effort to prevent the settlement of the country so claimed, their hostility being especially directed against the Union Pacific Railroad. The military operations of 1867-68, however, convinced the Sioux of the hopelessness of opposing the progress of the railroad, and the settlement of the immediate belt through which it was to pass, and disposed them to accept the provision made for them by the treaty of 1868. With the exception of the main portion of the Ogallala band, at the Red Cloud agency, and a considerable body of disaffected Indians from all the bands, known as the "hostile Sioux," of whom "Sitting Bull" and "Black Moon" are the principal chiefs, these bands are all within the limits of the reservation set apart by said treaty of 1868. A few at each of the agencies on the Missouri River have shown a disposition to engage in agriculture; but by far the greater part of them remain "breech-clout" Indians, disinclined to labor for a living, and accepting subsistence from the government as the natural and proper consideration for the favor done the government by their consenting to remain at the agencies assigned them. If they have any suspicion that this thing cannot last forever, and that the time will soon come for them to work or starve, the great majority do not allow themselves to be influenced by it, but seem determined to put the evil day as far off as possible.

Poncas.—The Poncas, numbering 735, have a reservation of 576,000 acres, near the confluence of the Niobrara and Missouri Rivers, in the south-eastern part of the Territory, provided for them in their treaty with the United States, made in 1858. They are quiet and peaceable, are inclined to be industrious, and engage to some extent in farming; but from various causes, principally the destruction of their crops by grasshoppers, have not succeeded in supporting themselves without assistance from the government. They are well advanced in civilized habits of life, and have shown considerable interest in the education of their children, having three schools in operation, with an average attendance of seventy-seven scholars.

Arickarees, Gros Ventres, and Mandans.—These tribes number 2,200, and have a reservation set apart for their occupancy by executive order of April 12, 1870, comprising 8,640,000 acres, situated in the north-western part of Dakota and the eastern part of Montana, extending to the Yellowstone and Powder Rivers. They have no treaty with the government, are now and have always been friendly to the whites, are exceptionally known to the officers of the army and to frontiersmen as "good Indians," and are engaged to some extent in agriculture. Owing to the shortness of the agricultural season, the rigor of the climate, and the periodical ravages of grasshoppers, their efforts in this direction, though made with a degree of patience and perseverance not usual in the Indian character, have met with frequent and distressing reverses; and it has from time to time been found necessary to furnish them with more or less subsistence to prevent starvation. They are traditional enemies of the Sioux; and the petty warfare maintained between them and the Sioux of the Grand River and Cheyenne River agencies—while, like most warfare confined to Indians alone, it causes wonderfully little loss of life—serves to disturb the condition of these agencies, and to retard the progress of all the parties concerned. These Indians should be moved to the Indian Territory, south of Kansas, where the mildness of the climate and the fertility of the soil would repay their labors, and where, it is thought, from their willingness to labor and their docility under the control of the government, they would in a few years become wholly self-supporting. The question of their removal has been submitted to them; and they seem inclined to favor the project, but have expressed a desire to send a delegation of their chiefs to the Indian Territory, with a view of satisfying themselves as to the desirableness of the location. Their wishes in this respect should be granted early next season, that their removal and settlement may be effected during the coming year. Notwithstanding their willingness to labor, they have shown but little interest in education. Congress makes an appropriation of $75,000 annually for goods and provisions, for their instruction in agricultural and mechanical pursuits, for salaries of employés, and for the education of their children, &c.

MONTANA.

The Indian tribes residing within the limits of Montana are the Blackfeet, Bloods, and Piegans, the Gros Ventres of the Prairie, the Assinaboines, the Yanktonais, Santee and Teton (so called) Sioux, a portion of the northern Arapahoes and Cheyennes, the River Crows, the Mountain Crows, the Flatheads, Pend d'Oreilles, and Kootenays, and a few Shoshones, Bannocks, and Sheep-Eaters, numbering in the aggregate about 32,412. They are all, or nearly all, native to the regions now occupied by them respectively.

The following table will exhibit the population of each of these tribes, as nearly as the same can be ascertained:—