But that is exactly what was
done.
In the Handbook of Amer
ican Indians, published in 1910
by the Bureau of American
Ethnology, it is stated that
upon the coming of the White
Man there were 918,000 abor
igines within the present con
tinental limits of the United
States including Alaska, and
that in 1910 there were 403,
000, including all degrees of
admixture.
The Commissioner of Indian
Affairs in 1924 reported that
there were 320,497 Indians in
the United States of all degrees
of Indian blood, and that of
these, 162,602 were full blood
ed. The figures as to the lat
ter are much more apt to be
correct than the . number of
persons claiming to be Indians
for mere legal reasons. Thus,
it is seen that on the basis of
those figures there remainsbut
18 per cent of the original full
blooded population.
Oi the 320,497 legal Indians
reported in 1924, the Indian
blood of some is as low as one
sixty-fourth of 1 per cent, of
many more only twice as great
and so on down to the full
bloods. This fact, coupled
with the census report of the
number of Indians for 1920, or
265,683, is significant since
from these figures it is obvious
that in 1920 there were over
50,000 persons of Indian blood
in the United States whose ad
mixture was indiscernible to
the census taker, or when not
claimed for legal reasons, which
fact, coupled with the evidence
of the gradual amalgamation
of the races in the past, would
seem to indicate beyond the
peradventure of a doubt the
ultimate solution of the Indian
problem—complete absorption
of the Indians.
During the late war the
psychiatric test was applied to
thousands of Indians, white
men, and negroes, with the re
sult that no inherent discrep
ancy was found to exist be
tween the mental capacities of
the red and white races, while
the American Indians, unlike
Asiatics, showed a greater
power to resist mental strain
than the whites
Is not this mental quality
pn the part of the red race
but evidence of that spiritual
poise that has come to it from
a philisophy of life that makes
God not an anthropomorphic
deity but a universal, omnipres
ent, benignant force in nature?
Is it not that philosophy that
given to the Indian his ability
to stand fast; that integrity,
that fundamental something
that can be trusted which lies
at the roots of his race—that
something in human character
to which faith may be pinned?
There are those who believe
that it is this thing that gives
to the Indians not only their
staunchness but their selfre
spect, their dignity, and their
tremendous strength of mind.
The inherent dignity of the
Indian has often been miscon
strued as stolidity, if not sheer
stupidity. Analyzed, the un
derstanding of the white man
often shows him to be the
more stupid of the two.
In the reformation of the
existing statutes and practices
with respect to the Indians
there must be a departure from
the old methods. Provisions,
including legislation, designed
to benefit the Indians must
have regard to Indian charact
er, Indian understanding, and
Indian sensibilities, and be de
signed to gratify the wishes of
the Indians more and those of
the whites less than in the past.
It must be recognized that
however loyal and uncomplain
ing they may be, however little
they may ask, the Indians by
nature are not the same as the
white men. In the soul of the
red man course cross currents
still uncharted by the white
man’s mind. These the In
dians themselves should be al
lowed to mark out for the
guidance of those whose dif
ferent viewpoint of life often
leads to the most extravagent
blunders.
A long time now we have
been thinking of the Indians
as a romantic race. We read
Prescott and Parkman and
Cooper, visit the Wild West
shows, and in our minds pic
ture them only as befeathered
savages of the past. It is time
now to think of them with
less sentiment and more reality.
Let us visit their country—
what little of it is left to them
and see them as they really
are—citizens bending over the
national hoe and plow in a life
and death struggle with nature.
Let us think of their young
men in olive drab upon the
firing line in France—not mere
ly as painted warriors upon the
warpath of a century ago- Then
we will have in our minds a
true picture of the Indians.
Then let us ask if the yoke
they bear is not too heavy
even for this patient people.
For once—the first time—let
him confide to us what is in
their hearts. Let the Nation
hear what they have to say
as well as what come from the
departmental bureaus and out
of the debates of Congress.
That is the first step, it is
submitted, that should be tak
en in recognition of the cit
izenship of this people who but
recently have contributed so
freely of their loyalty and
blood to the defense of this,
the land of their forefathers.
Then—then only we may be
able truthfully to say to our
sister nations—for all that is
taken from the Indians they
receive ample consideration.
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