REPORT OF THE BOARD OF INDIAN COMMISSIONERS. WASHINGTON, D. C., January 26, 1894. SIR: As required by the act of May 17, 1882, the Board of Indian Commissioners respectfully submit their twenty-fifth annual report. A BACKWARD LOOK. In presenting this twenty-fifth annual report it seems appropriate to review, briefly, the work of the board, and to give a condensed summary of the results attained in the last quarter of a century. The Indian policy now accepted as the settled policy of the Government, and sustained by the common sentiment of the American people, was inaugurated by President Grant at the beginning of his first administration. Upon his recommendation, Congress enacted the law, approved April 10, 1869, providing for the appointment of the Board of Indian Commissioners, then called the Peace Commission. In his first annual message, December 1869, the President said: From the foundation of the Government to the present, the management of the original inhabitants of this continent, the Indian, has been a subject of embarrassment and expense, and has been attended with continuous robberies, murders, and wars. From my own experience upon the frontiers and in Indian countries, I do not hold either legislation or the conduct of the whites who come most in contact with the Indians blameless for these hostilities. The past, however, can not be undone, and the question must be met as we now find it. I have adopted a new policy toward these wards of the nation (they can not be regarded in any other light than as wards) with fair results, so far as tried, and which I hope will be attended ultimately with great success. The Commission of citizens appointed by the President under the above-named act of April 10, 1869, to cooperate with the administration in the management of Indian affairs, was organized in May, 1869, and has from that date continued its services, without pecuniary compensation.* The regulations issued by President Grant authorized the commission to inspect the records of the Indian Office, and to obtain full information as to the conduct of all parts of the affairs thereof; gave to its members full power to inspect Indian agencies, to be present at payment of annuities, at consultations or councils with the Indians, and to advise agents respecting their duties. They were * For laws and regulations relating to the board, see Appendix. 3 |