Felipe and probably in other pueblos. In these surveys we have had the heartiest cooperation of the General Land Office.

"It should always be remembered that in asking the question, 'What has been accomplished?' the board's work is but the beginning of the operations contemplated by the act. Theoretically the board's operations as to a particular pueblo are over when its reports are filed, but actually they are by no means over, especially in so far as the representative of the Department of the Interior on the board is concerned. Mr. Fraser, who has been designated by the Attorney General to bring the suits to quiet title after the board's reports are filed, is experienced in Indian matters and is in every way cooperative with the board. The closest sort of cooperation is necessary between him and the board during the whole course of our joint operations."

CHEROKEE INDIANS OF NORTH CAROLINA

Assistant Secretary HENDERSON

By direction of the board, Assistant Secretary Henderson visited the Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina in March, 1927, to obtain certain information regarding conditions there. Following are extracts from his report to the chairman on this jurisdiction:

"The band of Eastern Cherokee Indians residing in North Carolina is now passing through one of the most important periods in its unique history. The Board of Indian Commissioners has shown an interest in the affairs of these Indians for a number of years and urged the passage of legislation to change the peculiar status of this part of the tribe which refused to move to the West with the rest of the Cherokee Nation in 1838. By the act of June 4, 1924, Congress authorized the winding up of the affairs of the band, providing for a final enrollment of its members, an allotment of the community lands, and the individualization of the rest of the tribal estate.

"These Indians live in the southwestern end of the State about 60 miles from the resort city of Asheville. These mountain people, around 2,800 in number, are to be found in the counties of Swain, Jackson, Graham, and a few in Cherokee. The Government maintains a boarding school and agency at the settlement of Cherokee, 5 miles from the station of Ela, on the Murphy Branch of the Southern Railway running westward from Asheville.

"The home of the band is one of the most beautiful mountain regions in the eastern part of the United States. The Great Smoky Range of the southern Appalachians, the highest in the East, borders the Indian country on the north and west. The hills and mountains rise abruptly from the narrow valleys to elevations from 3,500 to 6,000 feet above sea level. Some peaks of the region attain the height of 6,600 feet. The country is heavily wooded; it is estimated that only 3 per cent of the area is cleared. The small tracts of land available for cultivation are narrow strips along the wider portions of the valleys. Because of its scarcity fair agricultural land is highly priced considering the value of crops it will produce.

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The Indian lands of the agency total 63,160 acres. The reservation proper, the Qualla Boundary, comprising 50,818 acres, is located in Swain and Jackson Counties, and here, in one of the most picturesque and mountainous districts of the region, most of the Indians of the band reside. There are about 50 separate and smaller tracts scattered about the mountains, which have an area of 12,342 acres. Some of these land parcels are as far as 50 to 70 miles from the headquarters at Cherokee, and, because of the lack of adequate roads in the more remote parts of this rough country, many of them are very difficult to look after.

"The Indians within the Qualla Boundary reside in four rather well-defined districts. Along both sides of the Ocono Lufty River in the southern end of the reserve is Birdtown, the residence of a considerable number of Indians. North of this section along the river is an area which was known in the old days as Yellowhill, a community of Cherokees residing in the neighborhood of the boarding school and the hamlet of Cherokee. Soco Creek flowing westward from Soco Gap enters the Ocono Lufty near the village at Cherokee. For several miles up the Soco valley are scattered Indian homes constituting a large group of the tribe. This district was formerly recognized as having two parts known as Painttown and Wolftown, these, with Birdtown, deriving their names from Cherokee clans.

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'Eight or nine miles up the Ocono Lufty to the north of the boarding school and near the Tennessee line is the sequestered mountain valley of Big Cove. This opening among the mountains is the residence of a number of Indian families, some of them the most conservative and backward of the tribe. The Big Cove country is one of the most inaccessible in that part of the mountains and during certain portions of the year can only be reached on foot or horseback unless a ride can be obtained on a spur of the lumber railway running in that direction.

"The Eastern Cherokees have always been a self-supporting, independent people. When white men first saw them they lived in permanent huts or camps in the mountain valleys, supplying their needs by hunting and fishing and raising corn, beans, and other produce on small farm patches. They proved to be one of the most intelligent tribes encountered by the early whites.

"To-day the Indian still clings to his mountain home. His house is a rude, unpainted hut, sometimes of log construction, of two to four rooms, with a stone fireplace built in one end. The furniture of the home is mostly of a crude variety, much of it often being made on the premises. A cookstove, a dining table, some chairs, and a bed or so constitute the family possessions. The housewife usually keeps her cabin clean and neat, but some of the dwellings are not in the best sanitary condition.

Many of the Cherokee homes are perched on the steep hillsides overlooking the valleys below. A rude barn and a shed or two are to be seen a short distance away. At every house there is a small but well-fenced garden, where the family obtains its supply of beans, potatoes, onions, and other vegetables. A small field of 3 to 5 acres is planted to corn or other crops. A patch of an acre or so is fenced as a pasture for the family cow.

"The Cherokee farmer raises several varieties of corn, one is used for hominy and several others are ground into meal. Corn bread, hominy, beans, and potatoes are important articles of the Indian diet. Many families raise a few hogs, which are butchered and the meat cured in the home. The house

wife churns butter, cans fruit for winter use, and obtains honey from hives kept near by. Chickens are seen at every farmyard. In season, the Indians gather berries, grapes, apples, and peaches, for this is an excellent fruit country, and berries and grapes grow in profusion.

"It is surprising to see under what adverse conditions the Indian carries on much of his farming operations. Some of the patches or fields slant upwards at an angle of from 50 to 60 degrees. Much of the farming is done with a hoe, small hillside plows with blades as small as those of the ordinary cultivator are in common use, and in some places the slopes are so great that a horse, if it can be used, has great difficulty in pulling a plow across the field. Some of the mountain-side pastures look dangerous for grazing stock.

"The bottom lands along the streams are not great in area, but seem to be of good quality. It is really surprising to see what good corn can be raised on the hilly lands, samples of some of the ears are as large and well formed as any raised in the best parts of the Middle West. The Indian has farmed these same patches for years and, because of the smallness of the cultivated area and difficulties connected with farming in such rough country, it has been almost impossible to rotate crops to any extent. Much of the corn raised is ground into meal, some at a mill near the agency and some at old-fashioned Indian-owned mills propelled by water power.

"About 300 families earn the major portion of their living by farming. It has been estimated that there are but 15,000 acres of agricultural lands, and of this amount 9,000 acres are devoted to grazing.

"Fruit raising offers one of the best means for profit among the Cherokees, a region of only limited resources but one excellently adapted to the growing of varieties of apples, besides peaches, grapes, and berries. With the idea of starting all the Indian families to raising apples and peaches, Superintendent Henderson has distributed thousands of young trees free of charge during the last 10 years. It has been the policy to persuade each family to take care of at least 50 fruit trees. Over a year ago there were around 15,000 apple trees and some 2,000 peach trees growing on the Indian farms. One-third of the apple trees at the time were reported as of bearing age. Grapes and berry plants have also been distributed; over 1,100 grapevines are now growing on Indian lands.

"The grape vineyard attached to the boarding school is reported as being exceptionally good. Strawberries grow in such quantities on the school lands that enough are canned each year to supply the pupils throughout the winter.

"There is a nursery maintained near the agency from which several thousand trees and plants are distributed each year. A nurseryman looks after this work and gives the Indians instruction in spraying and care of the growing trees. If the Indian will follow instructions, as he should, considerable quantities of apples will be ready to send to outside markets in a few years.

"The North Carolina Cherokee has to do some real work to support himself and family very well in the location he is in. Though his wants are simple, he must live in a frugal manner to keep the family in clothes and food throughout the year. Besides farming the family adds to its income from other sources. The women weave baskets, make pottery, and do some bead work. This handicraft brings to the reservation around $10,000 each year. The colored cane and white-oak baskets have a ready sale. Some of the men perform day labor, working at the lumber mills, as section hands on the railroad, and at other jobs.

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Lumbering has been one of the important industries in western North Carolina. The timber on the Indian lands is hardwood, 25 per cent chestnut, 20 per cent oak, and a good part of the balance is made up of hemlock, poplar, basswood, and hickory. There are around 35,000,000 board feet of timber, valued at nearly $2.000,000, covering an area of 57,000 acres. Some Indians obtain permits from the agency to cut timber, which they transport to points on the railroad for sale. This enables them to obtain ready cash at times when in need of funds and it also helps to remove a portion of the timber that has become mature.

"The report of the last school year showed there were 573 Cherokee Indian children eligible for school attendance. Of this number, 515 were reported as attending some school, 37 in Government nonreservation schools, 356 at the agency boarding school, 92 at the two reservation day schools, and 30 in public schools. Eligible children not in school numbered 58.

"The largest single activity of the Government among the Eastern Cherokees is the conducting of the boarding school located near the settlement of Cherokee. The buildings of this institution are beautifully situated among the trees on high land overlooking the Ocono Lufty River. A small picturesque campus or athletic field lies on the lowland in the front part of the school land bordering the county road, which skirts the river at this point. A handsome stone wall closes in the main part of the grounds along the river road. The general aspect of the place is very attractive.

"The school plant is fairly well equipped. It has, besides the usual school and dormitory buildings, an auditorium, shops, a hospital, an office building, and quarters for employees. This coming year $62,000 will be spent for new construction work, a new school building, another girls' dormitory, an enlargement of the dining hall, and the remodeling of the old school building into another dormitory for boys. A dormitory for the larger boys has been completed but a short time. A new water reservoir on the mountain side above the buildings is about to be connected up and a new hydroelectric plant on the river above the school has sufficient capacity to supply all the needs for electric current for years to come.

"With the completion of the building program during the ensuing year the needs as respects buildings at the institution will be well met. There are several things that are still required, however. Three of the more important ones are the enlargement of the school hospital, the installing of a central heating plant, and an increase in the area of school lands for farm purposes. All of the many buildings on the campus, except the shop building and a few minor structures, are of frame construction. When the new buildings are completed there will be such a crowding together that danger from a general fire will be very greatly increased. The land area occupied by the buildings of this plant is relatively small for a school of the size. A central heating plant to replace the many furnaces now in operation will be a very justifiable expense. The superintendent hopes to find some means of acquiring more farm lands for the institution. Money was appropriated for this purpose a few years ago, but the tribal council refused to approve the sale of a near-by tract of good land for the reason that the tribe should not alienate any farming areas, even though the property in question was to be used by the school in connection with the education of the Indian children.

"Health conditions in this primitive mountain community are reported as not the best; tuberculosis and other diseases are prevalent. One of the greatest health needs is the employment of a field nurse to visit the homes to give instruction in hygiene and stimulate a greater interest in better living. The

routine duties of the doctor and other members of the staff prevent the performance of much of this important work. The school doctor is kept busy looking after over 300 pupils at the boarding school and making calls at all hours of the day and night to different points on the reserve, often rather difficult to reach. The 20-bed hospital, primarily for the needs of the school, should be doubled in size to better meet the needs of the whole agency. The superintendent recommends the providing of isolation wards for the treatment of contagious and infectious diseases, a maternity ward, and a section for the care of tubercular patients. The latter he considers one of the most urgent needs.

"The Cherokee as a rule are a law-abiding and worthy people. They stay within their own communities and devote most of their time to obtaining a meager living by working their farm plots. The days when they could go into the mountains and bring back ample supplies of venison and skins for moccasins are past. The streams near their homes no longer abound with fish, no longer do they grind their meal in the old wooden mortars. To-day they dress and live in much the same way as their white neighbors; their clothing, household utensils, and part of the family food supply are purchased from the general store in the nearest hamlet."

The report reviewed the history of the Eastern Cherokee band. It showed that the early home country of the Cherokee Tribe covered a large mountainous area extending from southwestern Virginia down into northern Georgia and Alabama. Following the settlement of the South Atlantic States by the whites the Indians became engaged in wars lasting up to 1835, when a treaty was negotiated for their removal west of the Mississippi. Many of the Cherokees living in the mountains of western North Carolina fled from the troops engaged in transporting the Indians westward. After some negotiations this small part of the main tribe was permitted to stay in the East. Following some years of effort, Col. William H. Thomas, a trader among the Cherokees, prevailed upon the Government to set aside for the eastern refugees the share of moneys due them for being dispossessed of lands and improvements as guaranteed by the treaty of 1835. By the act of July 29, 1848, Congress directed that the names of those Indians remaining in the East be ascertained and $53.33 was placed in the Treasury to the credit of each Indian enrolled.

With the interest on the money so obtained, Thomas purchased lands for the Indians from time to time up to 1861, in order to provide them with permanent homes. The lands now occupied were acquired by these purchases. As the laws of North Carolina prohibited Indians from owning real estate at that time Thomas held title to the property in his own name. At the end of the Civil War he became involved in serious financial difficulties which brought on insanity. It was then necessary for Congress to step in to recover the lands for the Indians. An award was made in 1874 returning the lands to the tribe and later the band incorporated under the laws of the State in order to hold title to its landed possessions, the law prohibiting Indian land ownership having been repealed.

The report continues as follows:

"Ever since the band was first settled formally on the present lands they have been held in common. It is believed that Thomas had in mind at one time the creation of individual allotments for the tribal members, but this plan was never carried out by him. Each family now occupies a well-defined area, the possession of which is recognized by the other members of the community. These pieces of real estate are inherited and may be sold within the band. Many of these little holdings have been occupied by the same families for several generations.

"Although this communal ownership has been fairly successful, there has been a movement in existence for some years to establish individual land holding in the tribe, to bring about equalization of land possessions, and create a greater interest in the improvement of the homes and farm areas. After considering the matter for some years Congress finally passed the act of June 4, 1924, to authorize a final enrollment of the individuals entitled to membership in the band and to allot the lands. This is the most important legislation affecting the band that has been passed since it was separated from the main part of the Cherokee Nation in 1838.

"As the title to the Indian lands was held by the corporation known as the Eastern Band of Cherokees it was first necessary for the organization to transfer the property to the Government. This transfer has been completed and the title to the lands now rests in the United States.

"The next step is to determine the individuals having tribal rights before proceeding to allot the lands. This complicated enrollment work is now being carried on at the agency headquarters by a commission of two members, the superintendent, and an examiner of inheritance in the Indian Service. For years there has been contention as to the right of a large number of persons to be placed on the rolls of the band. On various occasions the tribal council has challenged the rights of numerous individuals to be on the rolls. Some claimants have at times engaged counsel and made strenuous efforts to gain admission to the tribe.

"Since the removal in 1838, rolls or censuses have been made of persons of Cherokee blood residing east of the Mississippi. Not all of the rolls were made for the same purposes, some were censuses of the Cherokees living in the East and others were of the individuals purporting to be members of that group of Indians known as the Eastern Band of Cherokees. The names on these rolls are of great assistance in a determination of the present tribal membership.

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"The survey, appraisement, and division of the communal lands will be a difficult piece of work. The topography of the country, rough and mountainous, will not make the survey work easy or inexpensive. Then there comes the greater difficulty of dividing up the lands so as to locate the present occupants on their own farms, as far as possible, as well as attempting to give contiguous areas to other members of the family. The amount of agricultural land is so small and so scattered up and down the valleys and along the hillsides in such irregular patches that it is exceedingly difficult for one to figure out how it can be done in a satisfactory way.

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"The law provides that members of the band may apply for a tract or tracts of land to the extent of 30 acres. If any member fails to receive his full share of lands the difference may be equalized by payments made from tribal funds. In the same way for those receiving an excess of their proper share of lands their apportionment of tribal funds may be reduced to adjust the allotment. The whole business is going to be difficult and complicated and it will probably take a number of years to work it out after the enrolling has been settled. "Some people well acquainted with this band look on this winding up of its affairs with misgiving. They fear tracts of land will become alienated as the years go by, white settlers will move in, and the tribe will eventually lose its old home lands. This is in the distant future. In the meantime these mountain farmers will have property they can call their own, an estate they can improve, and a chance to work out their own salvation unhindered."

CHOCTAW INDIANS OF MISSISSIPPI

Assistant Secretary HENDERSON

In March of 1927 Mr. Henderson, assistant secretary, made a trip to Mississippi by direction of the board to obtain information about conditions at the Choctaw Indian Agency, the headquarters of which is at Philadelphia, in that State. Following are parts of the report filed on this superintendency:

"The Choctaws in Mississippi now number approximately 1,515. The most of them reside in five contiguous counties in the east central part of the State. Neshoba County, whose county seat is Philadelphia, the site of the agency headquarters, has the largest Indian population, estimated to be 415; Leake County, directly to the west, has 254 Indians; and Kemper County, on the east side of Neshoba, has 200; Newton County, directly to the south, has a population of 243; and Scott County, to the west of Newton and south of Leake, has 45 Indians in its northeastern corner. The Indians in these five counties number 1,157, according to the best figures obtainable. Nearly 80 per cent of the Indians of the State live within 30 miles of a point a few miles west of Philadelphia.

"Of the 358 remaining Indians in the State, there are 102 reported as living in the counties of Hancock and Harrison on the Gulf Coast, 75 in the former and 27 in the latter. Northward of these is a small community of Indians in Jones and Jasper Counties, numbering 68, all but 10 being in Jones. The Indians near the Gulf are 150 or more miles south of Philadelphia and those in Jones County are about 65 miles south of that town. Over to the northwest in the rich lowlands of the 'Delta,' between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers, are 72 Indians reported to be in the counties of Coahoma, Tunica, Tate, and Sunflower. The rest of the Indians in the State, slightly over 100 in number, are scattered widely, not over 10 in any one county.