“Thus was settled a question of far-reaching importance to the Indians and particularly to those who have not sold their homesteads. Congress cannot take away from the Indians this right established by the Supreme Court. But Congress can repeal all the restrictions on the sale of all Indians’ land and expose them to their own ignorance and improvidence; if the present tendency continues, this backward movement will be completely consummated in a few years, and at present there is nothing in sight to indicate a change of policy.
“In a recent primary campaign in Oklahoma there were sixty candidates for Congress of both parties, from whom eight members were to be selected. Nearly all of these aspirants for seats in Congress solicited support on the promise that if elected they would work for the removal of all restrictions on the sale of all Indian land of the Five Civilized Tribes in Oklahoma, and for the ‘emancipation of eastern Oklahoma from Federal supervision.’ And they were all in earnest for they knew that to be elected they must favor that policy, and the sentiment that sent the winners to Congress would exact a strict compliance with that agreement.
“It has been said by members of the Oklahoma delegation in Congress that the Indian question is a local question with which the rest of the country has no concern, and that the people of Oklahoma should be permitted to work out their own policy toward the Indian and solve the question in their own way.
“To a limited extent only is this true. The Indian question is a National problem which we assumed when we as a nation appropriated their land, took them under our protection and arrogated the right to control their destinies. We made definite promises to them and mutual agreements with them, in reliance upon which they consented to changes in their forms of living which the exigencies of our rapidly growing nation demanded. If in the next six or eight years these 40,000 full-bloods and more than 60,000 mixed-bloods and freedmen shall have frittered away their great estate and half of them are paupers, it will not be a State question merely—it will be a National scandal.
“A prophet need not draw deeply for inspiration to see in 1919 the Oklahoma delegation rising in Congress and demanding of the Government:—‘What of your stewardship of these Indians, these children of nature, whose vast property they entrusted to your protection? Fifteen years ago they owned in fee simple—by the same title that we own our homes—an estate which today is worth a thousand million dollars, and one-half of them are paupers. Look upon your work for just one generation. Their property was hedged about by every conceivable legislative protection. Treaty after treaty and statute after statute were enacted to secure the Indian against his own improvidence and helplessness by you, the Government, the only power in the world which could protect or despoil him at will. Then you began only a little while ago to tear down this protection and to expose him to perils with which he was inexperienced. You withdrew a little protection here, you tore down something there, time after time, and by your own deliberate acts the Indian was invited to pauperize himself until today he is a wanderer upon the earth. Did your previous one hundred years of experience with the Indians teach you nothing, that you might avoid rewriting some of the miserable chapters of history we have been trying to forget?
“‘He who in 1904 was the independent owner of broad acres of hill and valley, of billowing prairie, timbered mountain side and shady streams, has not land enough on which to erect a shelter against the storm, nor money to build it. His land is making thousands of fortunes annually and supporting millions of thrifty white people who know nothing of the Indian’s sacrifice and care less.’
CHEROKEE MALE ACADEMY NEAR TALEQUAH, OKLAHOMA
Burned a few years ago. The contrast between this dignified structure, and the glaring, modern school buildings has caused much comment.
“It seems clear that further removal of restrictions should be discouraged. Under the present law any land of the Five Civilized Tribes other than homesteads may be sold under the watchful eye of the Secretary of the Interior. There should be no objection to this method. True, before the Secretary will authorize a sale he investigates the proposed transaction and he must be satisfied that the Indian wants to sell, that he understands the deal, that the consideration offered is adequate and that it is actually paid to the Indian, or to the Department, for him—in other words, that the Indian is not defrauded.
“To say in the face of the experience of the past eight years that this supervision of the Indian is an unwarranted, unreasonable interference with the rights of citizens of a sovereign State, is the shallowest sophistry. Under the wise policy of the Interior Department the consideration paid for lands of a restricted Indian is received by the Department and expended in the construction of improvements on his homestead and for farm implements, livestock and other necessities of life. Or the money is turned over to the Indian in small instalments, the exact course to be pursued in each case being determined by an investigation of the Indian’s capacity and needs. In this way his money is not foolishly spent and he is not cheated by unscrupulous white men who too often take advantage of the Indian’s ignorance and improvidence. Certainly this cannot be objected to by the good people of Oklahoma who have no desire to see the Indian plundered.