IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) // J (./ ^ "V^ ,% rM 1.0 1.1 ltt|2i us ^^ itt lU 125 I HioliQgraphic ^Sciences Corporation 4s 4^ s\ <^ 23 WKST MAIN STMIT «I»BSTFR,N.Y. I4SM r/1«) •7a-4S03 '^ A-Jif ,ttou-wooeen brought to bear by their friends that the Oovernmont could be induced to fulfil its own specific promises to grant them patents for their lands ; while the cupidity of their white neighbors was eagerly noting the increasing value of their possessions, and was urgently petitioning Congress to move them to the westward, and to open their faims to white settlement. Such a sad and but too frequent ca- tastrophe in the history of Indian prog- ress was happily averted. No more abundant results have been obtained in building u]) the party of Christianity and civilization among the Sioux than have rewarded the long la- bors of Bishop Hare and the little band of earnest workers who, for a period of more than seventeen years, have labored under his direction, and who now have their boarding - schools and mission chapels scattered over every part of the Sioux reserve. At this date from seven thousand to eight thousand among the people are counted as attendants upon the Episcopal Church. There are one thousand seven hundred communicants, forty native catcchists and nine native ministers, forty branches of the Wom- en's Auxiliary to the Board of Missions, Among Indians of this denomination alone during the past year about three thousand dollars have been raised for religious purposes. It is my purpose to draw attention to thesf facts only on account of their bearing upon the ques- tion of a new and progressive party among the Indians, and in order to per- mit a clear understanding of the precise conditions under which the recent out- break occurred. In these Christian Indians is to be found abundant food for a study of the germs and first awakenings of civil- ized life rich in variety and suggestion. They present all ])OS8ible differences of age, condition, and of moral and mental attainments. Here is the man from whose face the paint has just been washed, whose clothing is a struggle between civilization and barbarism, whose hair is still plaited, and into \ I THE MEANING Of- THE DAKOTA OUTBREAK. 44ft whoflo (larkoiiod mind 1 nvo fiiHen tlie first faint RleaniH of deHire f(ir the " new way ; " here is a native teacher, perhaps fairly taught in a reservatiun boardin^;- srhool, but only able tu HjM'ak Kn^lisli imperfectly, stnigfjling single-handed in a heathen camp to win converts tc» Chris- tian moi-ality ami civilize«l life ; while !iere, as the ripest fruit of Indian civih- .-^ation, is the native minister, or physi- cian, the graduate of an Eastern college, whose wife perlu4)s is a white woman, whose habits of thought and whose manners are those of a gentleman, and who stands on equal terms with the rest of the world. And yet in all this divei-sity to be found in the progri'ssive i)arty among the Sioux is clearly shown one control- ling principle — an awakened moral pur- post*, new-born, or well-iiiuly iiiodfl with them in former yeavH . . . ha«l been hroken — and hero they were ri^ht. They HUHjiected that prcHent promiHeH of ])ay for their laudH would prove only old oneH i'l now nhape. When mil(!h cowh wore i)>.)iuised — fovH having been proniiHed in previouH ajjree- mcutH — the Indiaim exclaimed, 'There's that Hamo old cow ! ' and demanded thnt no further Hurrender be expected until former proniiHeHlia«l been fulfilled. They were asHured that anew era had dawneci, and that all paHt promiHeu would be kept. So we all thouj^ht." The Indians were tiually induced by the moHt urf^ent preuHure on the part of the Commissioner to sij^n tlie agree- ment. Their expectations of the re- wards which were to follow, and which had been {glowingly depicted hy the Commissioners ran high. Then fol- lowed a series of delays and misfort- unes, some of which might have been pre- vented, while others were from purely natural causes. To jiresent them clearly and briefly to the reader I cannot do better than to quote the graphic lan- guage of Bishop Hare : The Indians understand little of the complex forms and delays of our (jovernment. Six niontlia passed and uotliing caiuo. Thri-u montlis more, and nothing came. • Hut in the midst of the winter's pincliing cold the Ind- ians learned that tho transaction had been de- clared complete and half of their laud pro- claimed OS thrown open to the whites. Sur- veys were not promptly made ; ])erhaps they could not be, and no one knew what land was theirs and what was not. Tlio very earth seemed sliding from beneath their feet. Other misfortunes seemed to be crowding on them. On some reserves their rations were being re- duced, and lasted, even when carefully hus- banded, but one-half the period for which they were issued, f In the summer of 1889 all the people on the Pine Ridge Reserve — men,women and chililren — were called in from their farms to the agency to treat with the Commissioners and were kept there a whole month, and, on returning to their homes, found that their cat- tle had broken into their lields and trampled down or eaten up all their crops. This was true in a degree elsewhere. In 1890 tlie crops, which promised splendidly early in July, failed * A bill was drawn np in the Senate onder General Crook's eyp, and psHscd, providinf: for the fnlfllment of tbe promiecs of the Commieaion, but it was pigeon-holed In the Uonae. t The amonnt of beef boaght for the Indian is not a fair criterion of the amount be receives. A etecr will lose two hundred poonds or more of its flesh during the co> ne of the winter. entirely later, because of a severe drouglit. The ])eician.-4 in many eases said died, when taken sick, not so much from disease as for want of food. I No doubt the |ieople could have saved them- selves from sutfering if imlustry, economy, and thrift had abounded ; but these are just the virtues whu'h a people nuirging from barbarism lack. 'I'lie nieasles prevailed in 1889 and were exceedingly fatal. Next year tho grippe 8wej)t over the people with appalling results. Whoop- ing eougit followed among the children. Hul- leniiesH and gloom began to gather, especially among the Jieatheu and wilder Indians. A witness of high character told me that a marked discontent, amounting almost to de- spair, prevailtMl in ntuny quartcs. The peo])le Haiti tlieir chililren were all dyi ig from disea.ses brougiit by the whites, their race was jieri.'-hing from the face of tlie earth, and they might as well be killed at once. Old chiefs and medi- cine-iiutii were losing their power. Withal new ways were prevailing more and more, which did not suit the older people. The old ways which they loved were passing away. In a word, all things were against them, and to add to the calamity, many hulians, especially the wilder element, had nothing to do but to brood over their misfortunes. While in this unhappy state the story of a Messiah coming, with its (ihost Dance and strange hallucinations, spread among the heathen part of the people. Tho Christian Indians, on tho whole, maintained their stand with praiseworthy patience and fortitude ; but the dancers were in a state of exaltation approaching frenzy. Restraint only increased their madness. Tho dancers were found to be well armed. Insubordination broke out on several reserves. The authority of the agent and of the native polico was over- thrown. The civilized Indians were intimi- dated. Alarm spread everywhere. From what has been already presented the precise nature of some of the condi- tions which brought about the disturb- ance among the Sioux will be apparent. I have endeavored to point out the shai-p diflferences and antagonisms which ex- isted between the Christian and the l^agan party, diflferences which became more and more shaii)ly accentuated as the party of progress advanced and prospered. The party of conservatism was driven more and more within itself, as it saw the progress of civilization without the reservation and within it. Then came the strange delusion of an Indian Messiah, with its promise of re- demption to the Indian race and the X This is doubtless true of all the poor, the poor in our cities, and the poor settlers in the west. The testimony regarding the existence of hunger is exceedingly con- flicting, but at Pine Ridge Agency at least it seemed to me conclusive that it was general and extreme. I THH MEANING OF THE DAKOTA OUTBREAK. 447 ■e ilrouRlit. id the phy- n\w\\ taken LM for want tavtjd them- uiiotny, uiiil ire ju8t tlif n harbarihin ^0 and were ri|)i)e swept \», Wliooj)- dren. Sul- r. cBpecially Indinnn. A me that a moHt to du- The i>L'Oi)lo rom diHi'a.s).<8 !IH |IHI'ihhil)|{ I'v might us I and medi- Witlial new tore, which le old ways I way. In a and to add pecialiy the but to hniod lis unhappy ng, witli its ionH, spread jople. The maintained itience and 1 a state of straintonly mcers were bordination e authority o was over- ere iutimi- presented the condi- disturb- apparent. the shaip which ex- and the , became tuated as iced and servatism hin itself, i^'ilization within it. ion of an ise of re- and the 16 poor in our 'be testimony aedingly con- it seemed to ime. di'Htructiou of the white invader. It came, so I learn through tlie last n'port of the Rev. Williai.iJ. Cleveland, the ex- perienced niiMHii>narv, who w now niak- inf^ a journey of iuvcHti^ation into the cauHeH of the upriKints' for the Indian Ki^hts AsHOciatiou, and who i^ivcH the Indian story as they tell it, "from the people who wear rabl)it-8kin blankctH (whoever they are), far west of the Yellow SkiuH, who are far west of the Utes." Mr. Cleveland does not know who the Indianu referred to are, but the writer surmises that they lue the Pueblo, or villaffe, Indians of New Mexico and Ari- zona. They use rabbit-skin blankets, live far west (»f the Utcs, and, moreover, hold tlio old Aztec tradition of Montezu- ma, their Saviour, returninj^ to free their race. It is one of their customs to look from their house-tops at dawn for the cf.minjT of Montezuma over the eastern moiuitaius. It is not impossible that this ancient tradition, which was liereto- fore «ron lined to the southwest and to certain tribes of Indians, 1)ecame. under peculiar conditions and circumstances, mitfrfitory and operative everywhere. Whether that is, or is not, the true solu- tion of the origin of this religious fanati- cism among the Indians, there can be no 8 long all of the and ranging 8 destroying idians by the jtain permis- 8 and protect I, pigs, chick- rs. Runners p, asking me lie coming of BW me, would ,ed Cloud and other chiefs made the same request of Agent Royer and Special Agent Cooper. The reijiiest was refused ; no white man was sent to them. On Sunday last Sitting IJuH's emissaries pre- vailed ; the Brules became hostile, stole horses and cattle, and are now on the edge of the Had Lands, ready for a winter's campaign. Many Indians who were friendly when I left the agency will join them. They have po.ssession of the agency beef herd of thirty-live hundred head of cattle. The presence of troops at the agency is being rapiilly justified. What I .state, investigation can Substantiate. There are two prominent events sub- sequent to the arrival of troops at Pine Ridge which have especially excited in- quiry in the public mind and to which I will refer. The first is the arrest and death of Sitting Bull ; the second is the affair of Wounded Knee. The limits of this article will only pennit an outhue of these incidents. Tlie arrest of Sitting Bull was, no doubt, a measure necessary to prevent further spreading of a revolt which largely emanated from him. Concern- ing his own dangerous intentions there can be no doubt. The evidence on this point is abundant and specific. The ar- rest was attempted under telegraphic instructions from General Ruger, at St. Paul, to Colonel Drum, commanding Fort Yates, the military post adjoining the Standing Rock Agency, under date of December 12th. It was the expressed wish of General Ruger that the military and the civil agent should co-operate in effecting the arrest. Fortimately en- tire harmony existed between Colonel Drum and Major McLaughlin. The agftnt wished to effect the arrest by means of the Indian police, so as to avoid unnecessary irritation to the fol- lowers of Sitting Bull, and at a time wh