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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 1903)
28 THE ILLUSTRATED BEE. j October 4, 1900L MH.MBIjjPJyUHJil II 1 111 111 WHIM I l I H im mil I I ' TVWMVVMMMWVIfVII y:w : , . . fa ''r. ; 'X-'.: 1 - Tin II I I II 'r V4- -if ,. J 1 4 i V 15 ft The Wilson Bteam li o i 1 e r Company was es tablish in 1882, but was not incor porated until 15)02, when J. M. Wilson was made presi dent of tlie com pany and J. Morris .Wilson secretary and treasurer. ISoth are the most pleasant of gentle men, and should you need anything in their line they will be very much pleased to hear from y o u, a n d guarantee that all work will be done in a most satisfac tory manner. The Wilson Steam Boiler Works. 19th and Pierce Streets. Omaha. Noble Red Man in New To fCitpyrtprht. litua, by T. C. MHIuro.) It imi't "Ii! Ih puor Indian," ny more Nor Ih the white man'H ciiHtomnry menial picture of the noblo red man. wniMi1 In u dirty bUnkct. with red earth on hi Juwl and the tall feathera of t-UKles Htuck In hlH hiilr, any longer correct. liiKleal, It In now "to! the new Indian," lid the picture imit It chanRed from one of aboriginal plrturei(iienea to that of civilized conventionality the denoendant of a hundred braves clothed in frock coat and trined troum-ni, hlKh hat, boiled shirt, landiiiK collar and cravat and patent It-ather ahoea. And the bow hail irlven way to the Hteam plow, the lcee t the houae and the war pny to Ike work horae. It la a Chang. accordliiK to the scientist and otherx who have atutlied the ludluna for. years, that haa come about, with one or Iwn exception a, for ituirunce, the Chero Iwea within tb laat deexto, or eve tea, and tkat haa been wrouKhf alaaoat aimiU taneoualy In tribcai not hWrvqueotly aep aralnd from one another by hundreds of mllva. Tho onh axplaiurioo they can offer for thla sudden transition from a aeml-bnr-bario stato to one of modernity this utter confound lag of thos who hare held that no Indian count bo civilised, and that the only good Indian In the dead Indian Is baaed on logic Kor over n oentury, says the scientists, the Indians of America have been systematically subjected by tho gov ernment to the processes ot civilisation. They opposed it. fought it all along, and as InHiHtently decreased in numerical strength and power. They were peraiatent in clinging to tradition; but now, after all theae years, they have aeemlngly arrived at the concluHlon in their own way that to be aaved they, the remnant of once pow erful tribes, muHt conform at lattt to the white man's way. it la simply the natural law of self-preservation asserting Itself. Hrvolnllea Amous; the Sis Natloaa. lie that as It may, the seientbtta who are noting the change with wonder have found no aharper content between two successive generations of Indians than that displayed by the Six Nations on their reservation in Canada, whither they emigrated a hundred years ago front New York statu, in order to throw in their lot with the Ilrltlsh. These Indians were among the first to come within the Influence of the white man, but it is only within the last few years that both Christiana and Pa nuns among them have discarded the blanket and the feathered head-dress for troupers and felt hats. The change has been so universal that it would seem to be the result of pre concerted action, but the Indians and tho agents deny that such is the case. On the other hand not a few of the braves have secretly admitted that the women had a great deal to do with the tribes' abandon, merit of the costumes of their forefathers. "Our women." said one of the buck re cently, "got hold of the illustrated women's papers and magaiinea and saw all aorta of white women's clothes in them. Then thpy got to thinking the blankets and an oc casional calico slip ware not good enough for them, and longed for the dresses they'd seen In the magasines. Weil, you know the wosnen of the Bis Nations have always run the tribes and elected the chiefs, and lb is selves white women's dresses. "When they got dressed up in them, they saw that our blankets and their cloth skirts didn't go well together. Well, the women have always governed tho Six Nations, and before lonjr we were wearing store clothes. Just like tho white men." It Is true that the Mohawk women took the lead In adopting modern dre.-s, and they hare become such iki)lful sewers ami follow the fashions so closely that they rival the white women of adjacent tiwns in satorial matters. On the 24th of last May, when the Six Nations gathered in llrantford to celebrate the king's birthday, the wives of the pro vincial officers who were present expressed their astonishment at finding hundreds of full-blooded and half-breed Indian women and girls parading before them in tailor cut coats, shirt-waists and cloth tklrts of walking length, with their hair done up In the approved styles beneath up-to-date millinery creattrna. The adoption of the white man's garb, tbe agent says, has made the Bis Nations turn with greater energy to the white man's ways of living, and everywhere Im provement has been noted In the towns and on tho fa ruin, where barn raisings are numerous, modem Implements multiplying and, in several cases, steam plows being used. But while many of the white man's ways entered Into the makeup of the Six Nations Indian when he put white man's clothing on his back, some aboriginal customs atlll so they got s.wln machines and made cling to him. Thus it comes about that whenever a Mohawk or Iroquois brave wants to summon bis wedding guests he se cures a purple grain 01' corn, pusses quietly among a crowd of his fellows and slips the grain for a moment Into the hand of him whom he desires as n guest at the festivi ties. The Six Nations bride has not yet fallen in love with the printed wedding card, even though her mother Is deeply offended whenever anyone refers to her, In the good old Indian way, as a squaw. Dlxcera Have Fallen in Line. Another striking example of the new In dian is found in California among the Dig gers, long considered the most degenerate of the North American red men. Many a Digger still lives on worms and graHshoer pies, but he is usually of I lie dying generation. The large majority of the memla-rs of the present generation lias departed absolutely from the revolting ways of their fathers, and ore living in the white roan's way. This is true of as many ftill Mooded Diggers as of those that have white blood In tlielr veins, and ndlther class Is small, numerically. These Diggers have lieen more successful In hgrtctiltural pursuits and in cattle rais ing than their white nelghlors. This Is especially true of the half-breed desreni ants of nigger women and early California miners, who, failing at gold hunting, took up ranching. There are many wealthy men among them, who tour Kurope and buy works of art to decorate their homes, which stand on sites where once their Tathers grubbed up roots for breakfast. It la a peculiar fart thnt these full blooded and half-breed families do not readily take to the luxuries of the white man in some respects. No matter how large ana autnstsxiusiy TurnuuVed 11 homes may be, the bediooms are alwayj titled out with almost Spartan simplicity. The men sleep on small hard cots, over which sheep skin or blankets are spread. No mattresses, sheets or spreads add to their comfort. An American, who once spent a week at the home of one of these Digger ranchers and wine growers, says: "His home was supplied with every civilized article of comfort and adornment. The young rancher himself was a college graduate and had traveled extensively. He could dijeuss literature as intelligently as he could speak of rattle rabing. and his tastes were every' bit as refined as those of his American neighbors. "One day an old Indian squaw appeared and stopped at the house for several days. Her hair was long and bedraggled, her face black and wrinkled, her dress con sisted of au old gingham mother hubbard and a blanket, and her bare feet were wrapped In cotton bandages in lieu of stockings. 8he could not even speak Kngllsh beyond a few laconic expressions picked up from miners and trappers. Sne was a "type of the old Digger squaw of years tro, " "Who's the old woman? 1 asked. " 'My aunt,' replied the young man. She came down here to rest up after a long spree. The tribe's just had a feast to cele brate the chief's marriage, and they all got pretty sick on white man's Are water. They don't understand the rt of mixing cocktails yet." Most of the new style Diggers, however, have severed all relationship with their barbarian relations, and give their blankets tribesmen scant courtesy. The New slaakaa Indiana. The Alaska Indians have also shown a remarkable tendency to adopt civilized ways within the last teu years. In Cali fornia there are many full-bloods from Alaska tribes studying in the public schools, and several have entered the State uni versity, where they have shown remarkable intelligence. A Swedish trader named Sandalin, whose post is at Kamtschatka, has been instrumental in sending down to San Francisco numbers of children of prominent chiefs, all of whom have become cultivated citizens of this country. Other have come of their own volition, and have returned to spread enlightenment among their own people, and now the Indians around Fort Wrangle. Kodlak, Sltha and Kamtschatka are anything but barbarous, and the traveler in the far north sees whole communities of red men who wear the garb of western civilization with the ease of the occidental himself. Keif Handlers of California. I.Ike their far-away brothers In Alaska, the full-blooded red men of South Cali fornia are also fast acquiring new ways. These Indians were Christianized a cen tury ago by the Spanish padres. Father Jumpero Serra was especially active In converting the red heathens. But convert ing them to Christianity and bringing them into a state of slavery meant snout the same thing with him. Thus, the peons of the early missions were civilised only In that they were not hostile to white men. 'They titled the soil for the monks as the villains of medieval times did for their baroTiial masters, but education did not enter Into the contract. On Oie contrary, it was avoided as dangerous. It was left to the Americans within the last two decudeM to teach the Southern California Indians real civilization, which, they did by throwing open schools and col leges to them, and now they form a part of the population worthy of respect and con sideration. Most of these civilized peona are ranchers and fruit raisers. From their old Spanish masters they took Spanish, names, so many are known by such names as Rodriguez, Vallejo, Ramirez and San chez, which gives the superficial tourist the impression that these pure red men are the children of old Spanish settlers. They are not so energetic or partial to academlo studies as the reformed Diggers up state, but in their own way they are Just as thoroughly civilised. In Arizona, New Mexico and parts of Colorado another phase of Indian civilisa tion Is visible. Here the bucks still go ts town In blankets and long hair; it Is in their home life that the change is most ap parent. They live In comfortable wooden houses, farm the land by white man's methods, have the latest patented kind of plows, harrows, sowers and reapers, drive about in modern farm wagons behind spans of mules harnessed according to eastern methods, and keep themselves Informed of the rise and fall of the markets. When working on their farms they dress in tho ordinary overalls and jumpers of the Amer ican farm hand. These are a few examples of the evolu tion of the new Indian. So widespread has been this change from the old to the new that when the promoters of the Indian shows to be given at the 8t. I,ouis ex hibition made their contracts with the In dians they stipulated In their agreements that the noble red man should appear ex clusively In the garb that Is Inseparably connected with the Indian and not In frock coats and top hats JOHN O. SAXTON. Doing the Red Man S. M. BroHiu. agent for the Indian Rights association, has discovered a new" and profitable "graft" In the Choctaw Na tioi. Indian Territory. A dozen marriage brokers are making a good thing out of finding white husbands for Choctaw maid ens, and Choctaw maidens for white for tune hunters. Kvf ry girl In the nation will receive SJO acres of land when allotment is made, and In addition is entitled to about Jft.500 as r.ne share in the tribal funds on deposit In tho Vnited States treasury. This makes each girl'r fortune upward of 15,000. Nearly all of them want white husbands, and there are no lack of white men who are willing to take them. The brokers contract to find them white husbands for a fee of from IS to U00. Tlie brokers then advertise In eastern papers and collect ISA to 2T4 from eaelt white man for whom they find an Indian bride. Many marriages are arranged without either of the principals having seen the other until the day of the wedding, but la every case the broker sees his two fees be fore there is any wedding. Mr. rtroaius will report the matter to tho Indian Rights association.