| OCR Text |
Show Indian Is Vk wheh Today . . , , , Are Attributed ! MallgnCd ...Hirr. j Indian ihaniiter ha. been greatly maligned, say. MaJ Ji.hn M. Ilittke. 'ho has made a study of the red men. Treachery so often ih:(iKrd nxulnst them, has no part In th lr make-up. The Indian has fonxlit the man who mistreated hint, ami he tins alwaya fought openly. lie haa been the friend the unfailing friend -of the man who has been kind to him, and given evidence that he wished to help hint The Indian waa the friend of IVre Marquette and Father De "niet. The man who haa shown him "forked tuuKue" he haa treated aa he would any other anake. The man who has cheated him, haa taken ad-vantaae ad-vantaae of his Ignorance to make hi hard lot harder, lie haa killed. The Indian a child of nature, and he I therefore candid and lug minus. When wronged be knows It. and suya ao, and his only way lo get satisfaction la to flM There la no chance for him to "lay low" and wait for another deal. He can only ace what la In eight. When Columbus came In America the Indians were at MrM alarmed at the "great white-winged birds" the ships. The while-faced. Irangely-drrased people who came out of them were to the simple natives supernatural beings. be-ings. Hut when they saw that those were people who were hungry and could ,.t. ,,en ,10 Indian brought Ihe best they bad and gave It freely for nothing, and were aa kindly aa well-raised children. When the cruel Spaniards bent them and misused them, the Indians nntiira'ly enough believed be-lieved that all white men were cruel and dangerous. Cortex In Mexico and Plxarro In Peru found the aborigines gentle people, but that did not decrease de-crease the relentles cruelty that al- grow nut of lust for gold, and o. for centuries, with all their con-tlnuou con-tlnuou generntlona. the Indian waa taught that the white man wna his heartlesi enemy; and he accepted the lessona. There waa no way to teach him that not all while men were greedy and cruel. Vice will go much further to saert Itself than virtue. But, coming down to thla very day, the unaophlstlrated red man ot the weal, hating a liar, telle the truth; having been surrounded, the gamr kllled-externtlnated lisi le,sl)--te ha no way to get a living and thinks II only natural that the government which look away bis opportunities f4 sit. t( nance ow.a him fool nnd raiment. The government saya it doea. and. ends agenta to look after and provide, for him. Some of the agenta formerly former-ly accepted their places with tha belief be-lief that they had a right to rub the very rlaaa that they were appointed to protect. Of course, not all Indian agenta were thla way. but many of them were, and the Indian waa blamed because he refuted to be treated with the Injustice that came from greed the most cruel of all Injustice and he grumbled and foimht. The Indian I uppoeed to be aelllsh and brutal by those who do not know him. There la no human being on earth who will more quickly divide Ills laat mouthful of food with a friend. No Indian that ever lived would crowd a white-haired old woman out of the way to get on a treet car first. That aort of thing, and everything akin to It, thnt la (lis-courteou. (lis-courteou. mny be Been among the men of Ihe street of all cities. Real men do not do such things, no more than all Indiana do beastly things than thoae who do not know them suppose they do. The Indian haa not had the benefit of laundries and porcelain hatha, but he Jumps into the water and washes himself every time he haa a chance. He doe not live where there are napkins and flnaer bowla, and he would not know exactly which curious little fork to use for thl or that, nor the precise manner In which he should carry a spoonful of soup to hi mouth. He has not been taught theae thing Neither doe he gunge bla neighbor' respectability by the number of po-nlca po-nlca the neighbor possesses, nor doe he lie awake of nights thinking over scheme lo win hi neighbor' good. He think that one who la able to pay and doea not do ao la a worao man than he who la not able to pay. He doea not aay to the former, "He I ill right because he hit money, though he due not pay Just debts nor practice deeda of charity." |
