Extract from tabular statement, showing articles of subsistence received or to be received, rations as issued up to date, and amount required to make the issues according to Article 5 of treaty of February 27, 1877, in fiscal year 1891—At Cheyenne River agency, Fort Bennett, South Dakota.
| 3 | 5 | 7 |
|---|---|---|
| Name of articles. | Quantity allowed to 100 rations up to date. | Quantity per 100 rations as allowed per treaty 1877. |
| Pounds. | Pounds. | |
| Bacon | 3 | 16⅔ |
| Beans | 3 | 3 |
| Baking powder | 1½ | ... |
| Beef, gross | [a]100 | [b]100 |
| Coffee | 2½–3 | 4 |
| Flour | 45 | 50 |
| Sugar | 4¾ | 8 |
| Salt | 1 | ... |
| Soap | 2 | ... |
| Mess pork | 3 | ... |
| Hard bread (in lieu of bacon) | 25 | ... |
| Corn (in lieu of flour) | None. | 50 |
[a] Net. [b] Net, or 150 without bacon.
Rations as fixed by treaty of 1877: 1½ pounds beef or ½ pound bacon; ½ pound flour and ½ pound corn; 4 pounds coffee, 8 pounds sugar, and 3 pounds beans to every 100 rations; “or, in lieu of said articles, the equivalent thereof, in the discretion of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.”
STATEMENT OF AMERICAN HORSE
[Delivered in council at Pine Ridge, agency to Agent Royer, and forwarded to the Indian Office, November 27, 1890. [G. D.] Doc. 37002—1890.]
American Horse, Fast Thunder, Spotted Horse, Pretty Back, and Good Lance present, with American Horse as spokesman:
“I think the late Sioux commissioners (General Crook, Major Warner, and Governor Foster) had something to do with starting this trouble. I was speaker for the whole tribe. In a general council I signed the bill (the late Sioux bill) and 580 signed with me. The other members of my band drew out and it divided us, and ever since these two parties have been divided. The nonprogressive started the ghost dance to draw from us. We were made many promises, but have never heard from them since. The Great Father says if we do what he directs it will be to our benefit; but instead of this they are every year cutting down our rations, and we do not get enough to keep us from suffering. General Crook talked nice to us; and after we signed the bill they took our land and cut down our allowance of food. The commission made us believe that we would get full sacks if we signed the bill, but instead of that our sacks are empty. We lost considerable property by being here with the commissioners last year, and have never got anything for it. Our chickens were all stolen, our cattle some of them were killed, our crops were entirely lost by us being absent here with the Sioux commission, and we have never been benefited one bit by the bill; and, in fact, we are worse off than we were before we signed the bill. We are told if we do as white men we will be better off, but we are getting worse off every year.”
“The commissioners promised the Indians living on Black Pipe and Pass creeks that if they signed the bill they could remain where they were and draw their rations at this agency, showing them on the map the line, and our people want them here, but they have been ordered to move back to Rosebud agency. This is one of the broken promises. The commission promised to survey the boundary line, and appropriate $1,000 for the purpose, but it has not been done. When we were at Washington, the President, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Commissioner all promised us that we would get the million pounds of beef that were taken from us, and I heard the bill appropriating the money passed Congress, but we never got the beef. The Commissioner refused to give it to us. American Horse, Fast Thunder, and Spotted Horse were all promised a spring wagon each, but they have never heard anything of it. This is another broken promise.”
In forwarding the report of the council, the agent says: “After American Horse was through talking, I asked the other men present if his statement voiced their sentiments and they all answered, Yes.”