INDIANS IN AMERICA

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21859, 23 July 1934, Page 12

INDIANS IN AMERICA

POVERTY-STRICKEN TRFEES PROBLEM IN UNITED STATES PLEA FOR "A NEW DEAL" [rnoM ouji own coiuucspoxdknt] NEW YORK, Juno 23 "There are in the United States today some .'150,000 Indians. The majority of them live on resetvations, for tho most part in the Western States. They subsist chiefly by grazing and smallscale farming; a small percentage of them engage in forestry operations. On paper, tho Indians aro estimated to possess property worth 1,500,000.000 dollars (£ 00,000,009 at pari; individually, ihey live in a state of incredible poverty, being, in many tribes, never far from, actual starvation." This astounding statement by tho Commissioner of Indian Affairs comes at a time when criticism of tho immense cost of tho first year of tho New Deal is developing as the Congressional elections, in November, draw near. The commissioner makes an eloquent plea for a "New Deal" for the Indians. Although, since 192-1, they enjoy the franchise, two-thirds of their numberstill remain wards of the Government, and may not make contracts, borrow money or hire a lawyer. They have no control over their tribal funds. Their education system is so ill-advised that their illiteracy is "still over 30 per cent. Their death rate is double that of the whites. "To-day," ho says, "they represent utterly helpless human material, at the mercy of the white man and his Government." Land Transactions The land administration, it is stated, has failed to benefit the Indians since they made peace with the whites. It is based on the principle of allotment, which, in turn, is based on tho idea of "whitening" the Indian, which, until now, has taken a very destructive form. Every Indian —man, woman and child—gets a definite tract of land, oil a reservation. It is held in trust by the Federal Government, taxfree for 25 years, at the end of which neriod it becomes the property of the Indian, outright Tho provisions of tho allotment laws make a sale almost mandatory, with the result that tho Indian loses his land, selling it "for a song," or parting with it to some sharp dealer. Since 1887, when the allotment laws became effective, two-thirds of tho Indian lands have passed to tho whites. Although those lands were guaranteed to the Indians by solemn treaties for ever—"while tho sun shines and tho rivers flow"—tho Government has allowed whites to "homestead" surplus Indian lands at extremely low prices. By these processes tho Indians have been forced to lose 90,000,000 acres. They own to-day 47,000,000 acres, 20,000,000 of which are desert, or semi-desert.

The "whitening" phase of the allotment law has failed. The Indian has not "gone white," as its framors hoped. The attempt has bewildered, demoralised and impoverished him. Ho cannot control his local problems; his funds are dissipated mainly in tho barren administration of real estate. Ho is automatically ruled by a long-rango authority from Washington. Ho has never received genuine encouragement to acquire competence or tn absorb white civilisation or Christianity. Psychologically, the white man has crippled him. Comparison With Canada

Canada has treated her Indians better than the United States, tho commissioner says. Canada gavo her Bed Men educational facilities, and then let them live as they chose. The result is that the Indians retained their tribal institutions, moulding them to meet modern conditions as they saw fit. They have increased and prospered in greater proportion than their American brothers, and in reasonable comparison with their whito fellow-Canadians. They keep their children at homo. Under tho American system Indian children, at tho ago of six .years, a/e taken from their parents and sent to a distant boarding school, where they speak only English and live as uprooted beings, revisiting their homes only once in three years. Tho children are taught contempt for their parents' mode of living. Shame of.race, thus acquired, acts as a bar to them throughout their lives.

A "New Deal" is under way for the American Indian. Legislation now before Congress aims at repeal of tho allotment laws, and cessation of further alienation of Indian lands. Tho repurchase of lands already lost is contemplated. Tho sale of Indian land to whites will bo forbidden. A revolving fund is proposed, to aid in capitalising individual and group enterprises.