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Show f -rX A M I'? 4 -VI ? 4 f 3SsS'g.;s - Jb'lesobe served again as interpreter and attracted ,CS? ... . j .. Vf.;li aF2TZZ2Z42r CO&ZXGf&ajKER? the attention of the chairman, -Senator Ku-kwood m - s I V: of Iowa, by the impartial manner in which he fj , . J , ?i 7 V C'A S s" performed his work. S 4 K a V V Jjflp-Bsyf. J2HS When Senator Kirkwood became secretary of ' x. AaVX fe! 7 s;,.. -?;V-sv the interior in 1881 he called La Flesche to Wash- V ! I i ! . ington and gave him a position in the office of trlv S, 1 x A J J-" L J ""' Indian affairs, a position which he held for more ''yvF'Vt ao'OWJ pA than thirty years During this time he continued A nr A Czr&nnT' rFt7?7?Z VncernooJ I fcmv-. . : &K' with his education and in 1S93 was graduated .jdlluuu. uj. irurwa to-: from the National university law school. He also By ELMO SCOTT WmISUim WW Y SF.y the Illinois legislature In 1919 H M designated the fourth Friday In C' 1 September as American Indian day fc3i arid the governor of Illinois on IjEj July 28 of that year approved the I measure, establishing the day as J la state holiday, a decidedly for-KgJ for-KgJ ward step was taken in paying a Yt?C,sT 'ust triDUte t0 a race wnicn na3 LHB I greatly enriched our national tra-ditions. tra-ditions. " The first celebration of Ameri can Indian day in Illinois, which brought together representatives from 14 tribes, saw also the first meeting of the Indian Fellowship league, an association asso-ciation fostered by various civic and patriotic organizations in Chicago. The purpose of the leagTie was the promotion of more cordial relations rela-tions and a better understanding between the two races by bringing to the attention of the whites the many accomplishments of the Indian and by giving the Indian a better idea of American Amer-ican life as he must live it in order to become an effective citlz.en. Since this first celebration seven years ago, the event has been observed annually in Illinois and the idea of American Indian day has spread to other states. Although it has not yet become established as a general holiday, it is indicative of an increasing interest In the Indian and that interest has been added to by various large gatherings of red men from time to time in recent years which have attracted national attention. atten-tion. Notable among these have been the big reunion held In Tulsa, Okla., in 1924, under the auspices of the Society of Oklahoma Indians, which was attended by more than 10,000 members of 13 tribes in the United States, Canada and Mexico; the meeting of the first national Indian congress at Spokane, Wash., in 1925, where 30 tribes were represented; and the big pow-wow at Lawrence, Kan., last year when Indians from all parts of the country gathered for the dedication of a new stadium at Haskell Indian institute. Dr. Hubert Work, secretary of the interior, slo was the principal speaker at the Haskell . dedication, declared that the event was a forecast f further development of Indian progress. He Pointed out the fact that the stadium project, which was financed entirely by Indians, especially t!'e older Indians, was the first united effort of te red race to advance in modern sports. Since one of the greatest battles In the educational campaign among the Indians has been against ill ealth and disease, he looked upon the fact that Indian realized the wisdom of providing for Physical education as significant of even greater Progress to be made by the red race in the coming fears "hlle at all of these gatherings there were enough .councils and ceremonials, barbecues and -nat've games, native songs and dances, tepees Mid tribal costumes to be reminiscent of the old 8 when the Indian ruled the continent, yet the "inking fact about these meetings was that they dominated by a new style of -'noble red '"aii" ani that the underlying purpose of all was r the representatives of the various tribes to nfer on how the Indian shall meet the problems 'J modern life when he, as a part of the citizen-. citizen-. P of the United States, is confronted with em. In the old days the Indians' leaders led .em in ways of war. jn these days they are ' 'UlI:g thejj- Jvrethren in ways of peace. f evs us -eve striking contrast between the ' .I",1 rfd ld style and new style, can ' S""ttn than in Lhe case of two Indians whose j"'l,aiis appear .0re. One of them is Kicking l,r of the Miu;&',,fi;ou Teton Sioux, a typical It' : 7 V i. ' ) war leader of the old days, and the other Is Francis Le Flesche of the Omaha tribe, who was recently given the honorary degree of doctor of letters from the University of Nebraska, Kicking Bear (Mato-Bear; Wanartaka-Kicking), born in a Sioux tepee somewhere in the Dakotas, fought with his people, the Miniconju Sioux, against the white man In the early Plains wars and was among those whom the campaigning of Gen. Nelson A. Miles drove across the Canadian border in the Sioux war of 1876-77 after the Custer battle. In 1S79 Kicking Bear returned to the United States and surrendered to Miles, and he and his people were placed on the Cheyenne river reservation In South Dakota. Late in the eighties an Indian fanatic in Nevada, named Wovoka or Jack Wilson, began preaching the coming of an Indian Messiah, who was to wipe out the white race and restore the land to the Indians. Delegations from various tribes visited him and were taught the ghost dance. In 1890 the ghost dance religion had spread to the Sioux and Short Bull of the Brules and Kicking Bear became its high priests. When some of the agents for the Sioux' lost control of their charges during this religious excitement, troops were ordered into the country and the so-called "ghost dance war," the high-lights of which were the killing of Sitting Bull and the Wounded Knee tragedy, followed. Upon the arrival of the troops some of the Sioux stampeded to the Bad Lands and defied the soldiers, and Kicking Bear was the principal leader of these hostiles just as be had been the leader in the ghost dance. Eventually, however, the hostiles were overawed by the number of troops in the field and were forced to come In to the agency and surrender to General Miles, who was in charge of the military. Kicking Bear and Short Bull with several others were held as hostages for the good conduct of the Sioux and later sent to Fort Sheridan, 111., as prisoners of war. So Kicking Bull goes down in history as the principal leader in the last gesture of defiance against the white man made by one of the old-time old-time type of Sioux war leaders. Frances La Flesche, also was born in an Indian tepee on the plains of Nebraska. He was the son of Estamaza, head chief of the Omahas, and although as a boy of fifteen he was riding to the buffalo hunts with his people and living an aboriginal life, even though it was spent on the reservation of the Omahas, - his footsteps were turned in the paths of peace. He attended a Presbyterian Pres-byterian mission school on the reservation and there laid the foundation of his later education. In IS7S-79 he accompanied the Ponca chief. Standing Bear, on his eastern tour aud interpreted inter-preted his presentation of the wrongs his people had suffered in the removal from their homes i;i Sc-uth Dakota. During an investigation of the I'onca removal by a committee f the senate, La Jb lesclie served again as interpreter and attracted the attention of the chairman, Senator Kirkwood of Iowa, by the impartial manner in which he performed his work. When Senator Kirkwood became secretary of the interior in 18S1 he called La Flesche to Washington Wash-ington and gave him a position in the office of Indian affairs, a position which he held for more than thirty years. During this time he continued with his education and in 1S93 was graduated from the National university law school. He also became interested in the study of the history, religion and folklore of his tribe, the Omahas, and collected a great amount of material on the subject sub-ject which was published by the bureau of American Ameri-can ethnology of the Smithsonian institution. He has made ethnological collections for a number of Institutions of learning and is a member of several sev-eral learned societies. It is such Indians as Francis La Flesche who are the "noble red men," new style. Others of his kind are Dr. Charles A. Eastman of the Sioux, noted as a doctor, author and lecturer; the late Dr. Carlos Montezuma of the Apaches, another physician, writer and lecturer; Rev. Joseph K. Griffis (Chief Tahan) of the Kiowas, a minister and author; Dr. Sherman Coolidge of the Arapa-hoes, Arapa-hoes, who holds a high position in the Episcopal church; Chauncey Yellow Robe of the Sioux, who recently initiated President Coolidge into his tribe and who is head of an Indian school at Rapid City, S. D. ; Chief Red Fox (Skiuhushu) of the Blackfeet; Thomas L. Sloan of the Omahas and a host of others, all of whom have risen high In their respective professions. Most of them have been actively engaged in the fight waged for citizenship for their people and they have seen their efforts rewarded in recent years. The struggle for citizenship has been a long one. As far back as 1S17 provision was made in a treaty with the Cherokees by which any member of the tribe who desired might become a citizen of the United States. The United States Supreme court ruled that the Fourteenth amend-' ment to the Constitution did not confer upon ' the Indian, by severing his tribal relations, the right to become a citizen. No general law provided pro-vided a means for citizenship of all Indians until 1SS7 when congress passed the general allotment act, which provided for the allotment of lands in severalty and declared all Indians born within its limits who shall have complied with certain conditions, to be citizens of the United States. The broad citizenship provisions of this act were modified by congress when on May 8, 190G, It passed the Burke act. Since the enactment o this , law the issuance of a fee simple patent has Iven the primary legal requirement for citizenship of Indians, It rests with congress to determine when and how the tribal relation may be dissolved and the guardianship brought to an end and whether the emancipation shall at first be complete or only partial. The Supreme court of the United States has stated that "citizenship is not Incompatible with tribal existence or continued guardianship, and so may be conferred without completely emancipating eman-cipating the Indians or placing them beyond the reach of congressional regulations adopted for their protection." The progress of the Indian in modern times has been greatly aided by the United States board of Indian commissioners, first organized in 1SG9 under a law which provided for the appointment by the President of ten "men eminent for their ' intelligence and philanthropy to serve without pecuniary compensation." The present board In composed of George Vaux, Jr., Philadelphia, chair-man; chair-man; Warren K. Moorehead, Andover, Mass.; Samuel A. Eliot, Boston; Frank Knox, Manchester, Man-chester, N. H. ; Daniel Smiley, Mohonk Lake, N. Y. ; Hugh L. Scott, Princeton, N. J.; Clement S. Ucker, Savannah. Ga. ; Flora Warren Seymour, Chicago; John J. Sullivan, Philadelphia; Malcolm McDowell. Washington, secretary ; and Earl Y. Henderson, assistant secretary. In the photograph above are shown (left to rislit) Samuel A. Eliot. Cambridge. Mass.; Gen. II titrli L. Scott, Princeton. N. J.; the late E. E. Ayer. Chicago; Mai. Flora Warren Seymour, Chicago; Malcolm McDowell, Mc-Dowell, secretary of the board. Washington, D. C. and Daiiie! Smiley. Mohonk Lake, N. Y. I |