and promotion of Indian interests, but there is no mystery about their work, and they do not receive money from Indians.

There is a large camp of Sioux at the mouth of Cherry Creek, on the Cheyenne River reservation in Dakota, which should be broken up. There are several men in it, who, in accordance with the agent's uniform policy, and under his direction, have tried to leave the camp in order to live on separate allotments and engage in civilized industry as a means of self-support. In every case the men making such efforts have been attacked with abuse and violence by the savages of the tribe, under the direction of the chiefs. Their animals are slain or maimed, and their other property destroyed, and the men themselves beaten until they are forced to relinquish all effort at improve

ment.

It is an abominable and outrageous state of things, but under the existing system and methods there appears to be no remedy. Of course, the agent can cut off the rations of these hundreds of Indians, but that would be idle and useless. They would simply take care of themselves, roaming about, and living off the country around the reservation. That would soon be intolerable to the settlers. There is no reason for the Government maintaining these Indians and at the same

time permitting them to act in this way. The present condition of affairs is an absurdity and a nuisance. The agent should be directed to give notice that the camp is to be entirely broken up and abandoned, that no one will be permitted to live there any longer, and that the Indians must scatter, settling wherever the agent wishes them to go.

An adequate force of United States soldiers should be at hand to enforce the order. If any chief, or big man, resists or opposes, he should be arrested, put in irons and snatched off the reservation, and sent to some prison where he will have to work. There is more savage foolery and stupidity in the Cherry Creek camp than in any other company of Indians of which I have any knowledge. They number about 550. They were among the hostiles who surrendered with Sitting Bull, and are known as Hump's band of the Minneconjou Sioux. The Cheyenne River reservation is entirely too large; it should be divided and some of the land sold for settlement by white men, whether the Indians are willing or not.

One of the greatest hindrances for Indians who wish to improve, acquire property and become civilized, is the influence of the old order of things in the matter of tribal possession. When the people lived by hunting, and operated as a tribe,

as they often did when hunting the buffalo, common possession was a reasonable right. There was no such thing as personal property in food, or, indeed, in anything else, except, perhaps, articles of clothing actually on one's back. Under such a system, civilization is, of course, impossible. It is now a potent instrument, in many tribes, for the repression of all the young people who wish to improve and advance. I have seen instances of it when educated young Indians had married, built themselves a house, and laid in a stock of provisions for the winter, flour, meat, vegetables, fruit, sugar, coffee, tea, salt, soap, etc. While the young man is away at work, the old chiefs of the tribe, and their retainers, will come to the house and eat up, and carry away, every vestige of food, and every article of clothing and furniture, leaving the house bare and the young people utterly destitute. This practice illustrates very well the chance that many educated young Indians enjoy, "to work for the lifting up of the tribe," to quote a phrase which is used much more in the East than on the reservations.

Even when this kind of robbery is veiled, as it often is, under the forms of friendly visiting, it is none the less effective in repressing efforts at self-support; and on many of the more important reservations the practice of visiting and feasting wherever an industrious Indian has acquired any

thing, is one of the strongest barriers in the way of any advance toward a better order of things. In many instances there is no possibility of preventing such spoliation until the laws of the country are extended to include the Indians.

I think that the feature of treaties, and of Congressional legislation, which provides that the consent of the Indians must be obtained before any important changes can be made in their condition, is likely to be a source of difficulty and trouble for the Government, in some cases, within a few years. It is my opinion that this provision will have to be set aside and disregarded, in some cases, in the interests of the Indians themselves. Some tribes have steadfastly set themselves to maintain existing conditions, and to prevent any steps toward the abolition of the tribal organizations, or of the present reservation system. If our National Government is to protect the Indians, it should govern them. No more agreements depending upon their consent should be made with them. The business men of the country should acquaint themselves with the Indian situation, so that future measures affecting Indian interests may be intelligently devised for the security of the Indian's rights. Then, when the changed conditions of the time plainly require the abrogation of some features of existing treaties,

in order to give to the Indians opportunity and security which they cannot now have, these features of the treaties should be abrogated.

Every particular reservation and tribe or company of Indians will have to be examined, studied, and dealt with by itself, at least at first. The Indians cannot be understood, nor successfully managed and controlled in detail from a distance. That is the fatal defect of the present system and methods. The men who control are too far away, where they can have no adequate knowledge of the essential facts and determining conditions of daily life on the reserve. It would soon come to the same thing if any of our Eastern philanthropists, or the officers of the Indian Rights Association themselves, were put in charge of Indian affairs at Washington, if the present system of control and administration of details from a distance were continued. The work of civilizing the Indians, or preparing them, as far as possible, for life in the new order of things (upon which they must soon enter whether they have any preparation or not), must be done on the reservations. It cannot be done at Washington. I have no doubt that the business men of the country, if they became interested in the subject, could devise means and methods for the accomplishment of the work. (Of course, as I have elsewhere made clear, the