The Indian of today, with few exceptions, having lost his aboriginal characteristics, the faith of his fathers and his whole life changed, is indeed, a fit subject for the educator, the philanthropist, and the social reformer.
Would one desire to understand this very peculiar race of red men, one should begin his study by observing the Indian of today. And his observation should cover the character, activities and condition of this Indian of modern times. He should regard him not merely through the cold, unsympathetic eyes of the scientist, who looks for survival of savage or primitive customs, but in a larger and broader sense. To begin with, everyone should realize that the survivors of the American race[[2]] are more in need today of protection and help than of scientific study. From a purely scientific point of view, the Indian has been pretty thoroughly studied the past fifty years. This statement of mine does not necessarily imply that there should be no technical study of the American Indian in these present days. But as between the work of the scientist and that of the humanitarian the Indian is vastly more in need of the latter than of the former.
In the belief that our studies of the American Indian have so progressed that one may now consider the race in its entirety, I have set myself the rather ambitious task of preparing a number of volumes treating of the American Indian of the present and past. After much deliberation it has occurred to me that the Indian of today should be first considered—hence this volume. At the outset, we find that generally speaking the Indian throughout the United States although maintaining much of his original speech, and in places some of his aboriginal characteristics, yet, as a whole, he is in the transition period.
Our native Americans are, and have been, a remarkable people. Their very manner of life, their striking and picturesque costumes, their peculiar color and their diversified languages seem to have challenged the attention of explorers, travelers, priests and scientists. It is to be doubted if there is another aboriginal race, on the face of the earth, concerning which more books, articles and reports have been published. In Europe, as well as in America, the Indian is celebrated in song and story, yet since the discovery of America his domination has gradually diminished, and the period of his greatest activity (since the advent of the white race) is very short lived compared with that of other tribes of men. From 1500 to 1700, he may be said to have controlled a sufficient extent of the United States and Canada, to dominate it. His power after the year 1700 rapidly diminished, and in 1800 we find that he did not control any large areas save west of the Mississippi and west of Lake Superior. Up to the year 1865, he dominated a large portion of the West, South West and North West. From 1880 down to the present time, his sun has rapidly declined and he may be said today to have passed out of the tribal estate, to have ceased to be a factor in national life as a separate race. He is rapidly becoming merged into our larger body of citizens, and while some thousands of Indians (perhaps 45,000) live and think in the past, the great majority of Indians, like the great majority of foreign immigrants, belong to the body politic.
ARTHUR C. PARKER
Iroquois. State Archaeologist of New York; Secretary Society American Indians.
So, we consider the majority in this study of the Indian, rather than the minority; leaving that fraction to the scientist.
If we are consistent in the statement that we shall begin with the present and work backward into the past, we must consider in this volume the activities and the life of the modern Indian, and the modern Indian being in the transition period presents us very little in the way of folklore and traditions. A careful study of the recent reports of ethnological investigators emphasizes this truth. The writers have invariably sought out the older Indians, for the very good reason that they knew much concerning the past. The greater number of Indians—the middle-aged and young, and the thousands of educated Indians—are not able to furnish material such as scientific investigators seek. A confirmation of my statement will be found in that excellent memoir, “Chippewa Music,” by Miss Frances Densmore. This was published by the Bureau of Ethnology in 1913. In this worthy publication, denoting much research, Miss Densmore is dependent on the older people for her information. Even these older persons, as they appear in the photographs accompanying the book, are dressed in garments such as are worn by white persons. Many of these Indians (as in the case of other tribes) keep a few old war bonnets, buckskin coats, moccasins, leggings, embroidered belts, etc., with which they adorn themselves on state-occasions, but their natural dress today, is European in character. Not only in Miss Densmore’s book but in the reports of other investigators in the United States, where a group of Indians are assembled, one observes more evidence of European than native American costumes. It is frequently (if not usually) necessary to ask the Indians to put on their tribal costumes, and sometimes they are compelled to borrow a garment here and there among their friends in order to make up properly. There naturally arises the pertinent question—are not modern Indians so saturated with civilization that their opinions of tribal customs of past decades should be accepted with due reserve? This important question should be considered by some one of our numerous writers on Indian topics.
The two maps presented opposite pages [25] and [35], will bring home to readers the tremendous shrinkage of Indian lands during the short space of thirty-five years.
The map, presented by Commissioner Sells in his report for 1913, as contrasted to the map of 1879, shows that the Indian reservations have been cut down to at least one-third. The population in the year 1881 will be found in small figures on each area given on the map. It will be seen by comparing the period of 1879 with 1913, that the Navaho have greatly increased, and also the tribes now living in Oklahoma (formerly Indian Territory). Others have either diminished, or show slight increases.