“Old, experienced traders among the Indians have repeatedly informed me that they had lost less money on long-standing Indian accounts, aggregating large sums, than in their comparatively small dealings with the white people in their neighborhoods. One successful trader among the Sioux who, in the early nineties, lent some $30,000 to the Indians near him in anticipation of a payment they were soon to receive, said afterward: ‘I did not lose more than $150 on the whole transaction, and that I lost from a half-breed who did not live on the reservation.’ The same testimony is borne on all sides, and the universal comment is that, until they were taught how to cheat in a trade, very few of them ever thought of doing so. I have seen Indians at a Government pay-table, after receiving their annuities, walk up to the Agent or some employee with so many dollars held out in their palms, to repay a loan which the creditor had forgotten all about. These instances, I ought to add, were observed among Indians of a pretty backward class, who were acting simply in obedience to their natural impulses.”
Mr. Leupp states frankly in his preface:—
“The Indian problem has now reached a stage where its solution is almost wholly a matter of administration.”
Because he served in various Indian capacities for almost twenty-five years with organizations as well as Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and as in that latter office it was his duty and privilege to regard the subject in its broad aspect, an extended review of his book is entirely proper.
Under Chapter II, “What Happened to the Indian,” he discusses what we all know, the end of the “buffalo days”, and the beginning of the ration system. He maintains that this encouraged idleness. Along with the ration and reservations systems sprang up the educational plan for the benefit of Indians. At first there were few government schools, and many denominational. The Government increased its appropriations to support these sectarian schools until in 1870 it was $100,000, and later the amounts were much larger. This brought about an unfortunate and unnecessary dispute between the denominations, the Protestant and the Catholic. Hard feelings were engendered, and instead of working together in amity to Christianize and educate the Indians, all these worthy people were engaged in a dispute as to who should receive the most money from the United States Treasury! We may imagine the feelings and opinions of the brighter Indians as they viewed this unchristian and uncharitable dispute. The Government had to withdraw support from all denominational schools and as a result many closed their doors while others struggled along. Comparing the Government school system and the denominational, Leupp says:—
A FULL-BLOOD SIOUX GIRL, 1888
“In dimensions, in scholastic scope, and in material equipment, the Government school system as it stands today is an enormous advance on the old mission school system; but in real accomplishment as proportioned to outlay it does not begin to equal the latter, and in vital energy it must always be lacking. The reason for these differences is not far to seek. At the base of everything lies the fact that, except in magnificence, no governmental enterprise can compare with the same thing in private hands. The Government’s methods are ponderous, as must always be the movements of so gigantic a machine. Its expenditures are from money belonging to the public, and therefore demand a more elaborate arrangement of checks and balances and final accounting than expenditures made from the funds of voluntary contributors. In spite of the now universal application of civil service rules, the whole business is under political control in the sense that the appropriations and the laws governing their use must be obtained from Congress, and that the school system is only a branch of one of the executive departments. This circumstance, while not necessitating the intrusion of partisan considerations into the settlement of any vexed question, does militate against the highest efficiency, because it requires that a great deal of ground shall be traversed two, three or a dozen times on the way to a clearly visible conclusion, involves harassing delays and temporary discouragements, calls for tedious consultations over petty details which one mind could dispose of more satisfactorily, and keeps the administrative staff always in a state of preparation to repel gratuitous interference.”
Of the four books, the one that appeals to me most of all is that written by Helen Hunt Jackson. Bishop Whipple, long a friend of the Indian, wrote the preface to the edition of 1880. Page [7] is worthy of preservation.
“All this while Canada has had no Indian wars. Our Government has expended for the Indians a hundred dollars to their one. They recognize, as we do, that the Indian has a possessory right to the soil. They purchase this right, as we do, by treaty; but their treaties are made with the Indian subjects of Her Majesty. They set apart a permanent reservation for them; they seldom remove Indians; they select Agents of high character, who receive their appointments for life; they make fewer promises, but they fulfil them; they give the Indians Christian missions, which have the hearty support of Christian people, and all their efforts are toward self-help and civilization. An incident will illustrate the two systems. The officer of the United States Army who was sent to receive Alaska from the Russian Government stopped in British Columbia. Governor Douglas had heard that an Indian had been murdered by another Indian. He visited the Indian tribe; he explained to them that the murdered man was a subject of Her Majesty; he demanded the culprit. The murderer was surrendered, was tried, was found guilty, and was hanged. On reaching Alaska the officer happened to enter the Greek church, and saw on the altar a beautiful copy of the Gospels in a costly binding studded with jewels. He called upon the Greek bishop, and said, ‘Your Grace, I called to say you had better remove that copy of the Gospels from the church, for it may be stolen.’ The bishop replied, ‘Why should I remove it? It was the gift of the mother of the Emperor, and has lain on the altar seventy years.’ The officer blushed, and said, ‘There is no law in the Indian country, and I was afraid it might be stolen.’ The bishop said, ‘The book is in God’s house, and it is His book, and I shall not take it away.’ The book remained. The country became ours, and the next day the Gospel was stolen.”