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Show Smoke From The Reservation By C. L. FRETWELL PART 5 When dissatisfaction on the Uintah and Ouray : reservation broke into the light it was called a local situation created by a handful of dissenters for purely selfish reasons. An official of-ficial report listed, "emotional attitudes and personal viewpoints" view-points" as basic to the controversy. contro-versy. But even the time-worn ruse of smearing an already distorted dis-torted picture with personalities could not minimize its importance. impor-tance. Actually what was taking place represented the crystali-zation crystali-zation of opinion, a process so vital to human progress, yet :io often overlooked. Certainly local issues were present, but they were to be overshadowed by a sudden public pub-lic scrutiny of the whole Indian problem. This preliminary examination ex-amination showed most of the local differences as having a common origin the confusing system of Federal wardship over ov-er Indians. What position the United States government occupies as guardian over a race of people has become so complicated by a century of existence that the average individual is neither able to explain it nor understand how it applies to the daily lives of native Americans. John R. Nichols, commissioner of Indian affairs, until his replacement several weeks ago, defined the position pf the United States in Indian matters in these broad terms: "In discussing restrictions in the field of Indian affairs it is well to remember that all Indians In-dians born within the United States are citizens, as provided in the Act of June 2, 1924, such 'wardship' restrictions as exist, therefore, are directed at the property and not at the person of the Indians. The only exception excep-tion to this general statement is with regard to the Indian Liquor Liq-uor law which prohibits the purchase, pur-chase, possession or use of alcoholic al-coholic beverages by Indians on or off reservation lands. With respect to this prohibition, the department is in favor of a modification which would place Indians in the same category as all other citizens when off the reservation." At first glance this 'wardship' 'ward-ship' which is directed primarily primar-ily at an Indian's property, appears ap-pears liberal enough to permit him ample freedom in the exer- i cise of citizenship rights. But a side glance at history will show that the most effective way to restrict the thinking as well as the actions of an individual is to place his property beyond his control. Wardship and Indians have become synonomous terms in a Federal program which grows less definabe as one mistake is added to another in the warped structure of Indian affairs. Somehow, somewhere, the United Unit-ed States government lost sight of its objective in an effort to rehabilitate the Indian. So Federal guardianship over Indians seems to have degenerated degener-ated into a set of rules and regulations. reg-ulations. After a full century its constructive results are negligible. neg-ligible. But one fact is clearly discernable in its present form Federal wardship of Indians is rapidly becoming a spawning ground for dissatisfaction and serious misunderstandings. (To be continued) |