Thirty-Third Annual Report Collections – Page 2 of 2

Indian Territory Under the Curtis Act and Subsequent Legislation

Education. Under the Government supervision which has been exercised for three years great improvements have been made in the schools among the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws and the antagonism with which Government oversight was at first received is growing less. Normal schools and examinations have raised the grade of teachers, manual training has been encouraged, school funds have been honestly and fairly disbursed, and better schools have cost less per capita than under the old regime. A few towns have been able to raise funds by taxation to support public schools, but as a rule the 119,000 white children … Read more

Indian Industries

Second session, Wednesday night, October 16, 1901. After the singing of some Scotch songs by Mrs. Hector Hall, the conference was called to order at 8 o’clock by the Chair. Mrs. F. N. Doubleday was introduced. Indian Industries. Mrs. F. N. Doubleday, New York. Let us begin where I left off last year, when I had been speaking to this conference about basket making and other Indian industries. Before I had reached the door Commissioner Jones came forward and wanted to know what could be done to preserve them; how there could be cooperation through Washington. Miss Keel has been … Read more

Indian Agents and the Spoils System

Third session, Thursday morning, October 17. Hon. William Dudley Foulke was then introduced as the next speaker. Indian Agents And The Spoils System By Hon. William Dudley Foulke. I cannot conceive of any time more favorable for effective work than the present. There is now at the head of the Indian Bureau a man whom you know well, and in whom you have confidence. There is at the head of the Interior Department a man whom I know to be conscientiously desirous of doing his duty, whether to his own advantage or disadvantage, in regard to the red man as … Read more

Dr. Lucien C. Warner, New York

Dr. Lucien C. Warner, New York. It has been my privilege to spend about two weeks in traveling through the Sioux Reservation, and I want to speak especially of the Standing Rock Agency, where there are about 4,000 Indians. It is a grazing country, where it is impossible to raise any crops. Grain and vegetables do not succeed oftener than once in three years. There is no water outside the river and wells, and the water of the wells is often so mineral that it destroys the grass. If you were to give land in severalty and fence off the … Read more

Clothing and Other Goods Rejected at New York Warehouse

The failure of the Bay State Clothing Company, who had the contract for suits of clothing for the boys, to furnish garments equal in value to the samples submitted was an occasion of much difficulty at the New York warehouse, commencing in the month of September. The quality of the cloth used was, perhaps, up to the standard, but the goods lacked finish and were not equal in weight, while the material used for lining was inferior, and the garments were made in a slovenly and cheap manner. The inspector in charge, Mr. Dewitt C. Whiteman, passed the first delivery … Read more

Address, Colonel Pratt, Superintendent Carlisle School

I feel greatly honored by being allowed to speak after my chief. I shall not talk long. If I had prepared a paper to read here, as I had intended, after listening to what I have heard I would not read it. I invite the attention of the older members of the conference to the fact that in the earliest days, when we had long discussions on land in severalty, I advocated the allotment of alternate sections to Indians and whites. I have never changed my mind about that. All said here tonight has been helpful to that view. The … Read more

Address of Hon. William A. Jones, Commissioner of Indian Affairs

I asked General Whittlesey to read to you the resume of the work done by the Indian Office during the last year, as he had already been furnished by the office with data bearing on the subject. However, upon listening to the reading of his paper I notice one important omission of what has been done, and that is the inauguration of a system for keeping records of marriages, births, and deaths. This I consider one of the most important steps taken for some time, and it was largely owing to the persistent efforts of Dr. Gates, secretary of the … Read more

Address of Hon. James Sherman of New York

Chairman House Committee on Indian Affairs. Mr. Moderator, for there seems to be so much of the Christian spirit in this conference that I think I may address you as such, without meaning in the least to criticize what in legislative parlance we would call “the steering committee,” I desire to say that the position in which they put me first, to speak yesterday morning, then in the evening and then this morning, and at last to be introduced at 14 minutes before 10 this evening reminds me somewhat of an anecdote I heard of a German member of an … Read more

Address by Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler

Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler. Good friends, I have been asked to add a few words of parting before we turn our faces homeward, and they must be words of hearty congratulation on the splendid success of this conference. My deafness has prevented me from drinking in your streams of eloquence, but my very much better half has quick ears to hear, and she has told me that your speeches have been a perpetual feast, and that all the proceedings have been on the highest plane of effectiveness and usefulness. If I have not ears to hear, I have eyes to … Read more