THE INDIANS.
SPEECH OF AN INDIAN CHIEF.
At a Fourth of July celebration held at Lidgerwood, Dakota, a novel feature of the exercises was a speech by Magayohi (Chief Star), in the Sioux dialect, which being translated reads as follows, and which shows that if all the Sioux Indians were as intelligent and as well disposed as this chief, the Government Commission would have little trouble.
“This land which lies about us was once the property of my people; you have now possession of it and have made yourselves homes and are rearing your families on the land which formerly belonged to my forefathers. I have no complaint to make of this fact, for it is perhaps better as it is. Our desire is to become like the white man; to learn to cultivate the land and to make a living from it; to learn to read and to write and to transact business; to learn the principles of government and become citizens; to acquire title to 160 acres for each member of our tribe. We have faith in the Great Spirit and in the Great Father at Washington, and believe that in time your people will teach my people to be like you; the negro’s skin is darker than ours, and you have made a man of him; we ask the Government to do us the same justice.”
FORT YATES, DAKOTA.
FROM MISS M. C. COLLINS.