the white people.
(4) That their children are taken from them to eastern schools and kept
for years, instead of being educated among them.
(5) That when these eastern graduates return to them with civilized
habits, education, and trades, there is no provision made on the
reservation for their employment and improvement to the benefit of
themselves and their people.
(6) That the agents and employees sent out to them have not all been
“good men” and considerate of their (the Indians’) interests and
welfare.
(7) That the issue of their annuity goods is delayed so late in the
winter as to cause them much suffering.
(8) That they are expected to plow the land and raise grain when the
climate will not permit them to reap a crop. They think cattle should
be issued to them for breeding purposes instead of farming implements
for useless labor.
(9) That the rations issued to them are insufficient in quantity and
frequently (beef and flour) very poor in quality.
Complaints 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 are all well founded and justified
by the facts in each case, No. 9 especially so, and this through no
fault or negligence of the agent. The agent makes his annual estimate
for sustenance in kind for the number of people borne on his rolls,
based on the stipulated ration in treaty of 1877. This estimate is
modified or cut down in the Indian Commissioner’s office to meet the
requirements of a limited or reduced Congressional appropriation, and
when it returns to the agent’s hands approved, he finds that he has
just so many pounds of beef and flour, etc, placed to his credit for
the year, without regard to whether they constitute the full number
of treaty rations or not. There is no allowance given him for loss
by shrinkage, wastage, or other unavoidable loss, and with the very
best efforts and care in the distribution throughout the year of this
usually reduced allowance there can not be issued to each Indian his
treaty ration nor enough to properly sustain life. As a general thing
the Indians of this reservation have been compelled to purchase food
according to their means, between ration issues. Those having no means
of purchase have suffered.
The half pound of flour called for by the treaty ration could not be
issued in full, and the half pound of corn required has never been
issued nor anything in lieu of it. In the item of beef but 1 pound was
issued instead of the pound and a half called for in the treaty, and
during the early spring months, when the cattle on the range are thin
and poor, the pound of beef issued to the Indian is but a fraction of
the pound issued to him on the agent’s returns, and, under the system
of purchase in practice until the present fiscal year, must necessarily
be so. The agent’s purchase of the beef supply on the hoof for the
year, under contract, is closed in the month of November, from which
time he has to herd them the balance of the year as best he can. He is
responsible for the weight they show on the scales when _fat and in
prime condition_, so that a steer weighing 1,200 pounds in the fall
must represent 1,200 pounds in April, while in fact it may be but
skin, horns, and bones, and weigh scarcely 600 pounds, while he has
done his best to care for them during the severity of a Dakota winter.
The Indians do not understand why they should be made to suffer all
this shrinkage and loss, and it is a useless and humiliating attempt to
explain. The agent is not to blame. The department of Indian affairs
can do only the best it can with a limited and tardy appropriation.
The remedy in the matter of food supply seems to be: A sufficient and
earlier appropriation of funds. All contracts for the beef supply
should call for delivery when required by the agent. The agent should
be allowed a percentage of wastage to cover unavoidable loss in issue
by shrinkage and wastage. The government should bear this loss and not
the Indians.
Complaint 1: No remarks.
Complaint 2: Is before Congress.
Complaint 4: Should be remedied by adequate home schools.
Complaint 5: Suggests its proper remedy.
Complaint 6: No remarks.
Complaint 7: Can be remedied only by earlier appropriations.
Complaint 8: This reservation is not agricultural land. The climate
makes it a grazing country. The Indians now can raise cattle
successfully and care for them in winter. All attempts at general
farming must result in failure on account of climatic conditions.
In connection with complaint 9, I respectfully invite attention to
tabular statement accompanying this report, marked B, showing rations
as issued up to December 6 in present fiscal year and amount required
to make the issues according to article 5, treaty of February 27, 1877,
and special attention to columns 6 and 7 therein.
Appended to this report, marked C, is an extract copy of treaties of
1877 and 1868.
In submitting this report, I desire to commend the administration
of the affairs of this agency, as it has appeared under my daily
observation since August, 1887. So far as this reservation is
concerned, the present unrest among the Indians is not attributable
to any just cause of complaint against the former or present agent or
employees; nor is it due entirely or largely to failure on the part of
the government to fulfill treaty obligations.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
+J. H. Hurst+,
_Captain, Twelfth Infantry, Commanding Post_.
APPENDIX C.—EXTRACT COPY—TREATIES OF 1877 AND 1868
+Treaty of 1877+
+Article 3.+ The said Indians also agree that they will hereafter
receive all annuities provided by the said treaty of 1868, and all
subsistence and supplies which may be provided for them under the
present or any future act of Congress, at such points and places on
the said reservation and in the vicinity of the Missouri river as
the President of the United States shall designate.
+Article 5.+ In consideration of the foregoing cession of
territory and rights, and upon full compliance with each and every
obligation assumed by the said Indians, the United States agree to
provide all necessary aid to assist the said Indians in the work
of civilization; to furnish to them schools and instruction in
mechanical and agricultural arts, as provided for by the treaty of
1868. Also to provide the said Indians with subsistence consisting
of a ration for each individual of a pound and a half of beef (or
in lieu thereof, one-half pound of bacon), one-half pound of flour,
and one-half pound of corn; and for every one hundred rations,
four pounds of coffee, eight pounds of sugar, and three pounds of
beans, or in lieu of said articles the equivalent thereof, in the
discretion of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Such rations, or
so much thereof as may be necessary, shall be continued until the
Indians are able to support themselves. Rations shall in all cases
be issued to the head of each separate family; and whenever schools
shall have been provided by the government for said Indians, no
rations shall be issued for children between the ages of six
and fourteen years (the sick and infirm excepted), unless such
children shall regularly attend school. Whenever the said Indians
shall be located upon lands which are suitable for cultivation,
rations shall be issued only to the persons and families of those
persons who labor (the aged, sick, and infirm excepted); and as
an incentive to industrious habits the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs may provide that persons be furnished in payment for their
labor such other necessary articles as are requisite for civilized
life....
+Article 8.+ The provisions of the said treaty of 1868, except as
herein modified, shall continue in full force....
+Treaty of 1868+
+Article 8.+ When the head of a family or lodge shall have selected
lands in good faith and received a certificate therefor and commenced
farming in good faith, he is to receive not to exceed one hundred
dollars for the first year in seeds and agricultural implements, and
for a period of three years more not to exceed twenty-five dollars in
seeds and implements.
+Article 10.+ In lieu of all sums of money or other annuities provided
to be paid to the Indians herein named under any treaty or treaties
heretofore made, the United States agrees to deliver at the agency
house on the reservation herein named on (or before) the first day of
August of each year for thirty years, the following articles, to wit:
For each male person over fourteen years of age, a suit of good,
substantial woolen clothing, consisting of coat, pantaloons, flannel
shirt, hat, and a pair of home-made socks.
For each female over twelve years of age, a flannel skirt or the goods
necessary to make it, a pair of woolen hose, twelve yards of calico,
and twelve yards of cotton domestics.
For the boys and girls under the ages named, such flannel and cotton
goods as may be needed to make each a suit aforesaid, with a pair of
hose for each. And in addition to the clothing herein named, the sum of
ten dollars for each person entitled to the beneficial effects of this
treaty, shall be annually appropriated for a period of thirty years,
while such persons roam and hunt, and twenty dollars for each person
who engages in farming, to be used by the Secretary of the Interior in
the purchase of such articles as from time to time the condition and
necessities of the Indians may indicate to be proper. And if within
thirty years at any time it shall appear that the amount of money
needed for clothing, under this article, can be appropriated to better
uses for the Indians named herein, Congress may, by law, change the
appropriation to other purposes, but in no event shall the amount of
the appropriation be withdrawn or discontinued for the period named.
Article 10 further stipulates that each lodge or family who shall
commence farming shall receive within sixty days thereafter one good
American cow and one good well-broken pair of American oxen.
_Extract from tabular statement, showing articles of subsistence
received or to be received, rations as issued up to date, and
amount required to make the issues according to Article 5 of
treaty of February 27, 1877, in fiscal year 1891—At Cheyenne
River agency, Fort Bennett, South Dakota._
+-----------------------------+----------------+------------+
| 3 | 5 | 7 |
+-----------------------------+----------------+------------+
| |Quantity allowed|Quantity per|
| | to 100 | 100 rations|
| Name of articles. | rations up | as allowed |
| | to date. | per treaty |
| | | 1877. |
+-----------------------------+----------------+------------+
| | _Pounds._ | _Pounds._ |
|Bacon | 3 | 16⅔ |
|Beans | 3 | 3 |
|Baking powder | 1½ | |
|Beef, gross | [a]100 | [b]100 |
|Coffee | 2½-3 | 4 |
|Flour | 45 | 50 |
|Sugar | 4¾ | 8 |
|Salt | 1 | |
|Soap | 2 | |
|Mess pork | 3 | |
|Hard bread (in lieu of bacon)| 25 | |
|Corn (in lieu of flour) | None. | 50 |
+-----------------------------+----------------+------------+
[a] Net. [b] Net, or 150 without bacon.
Rations as fixed by treaty of 1877: 1½ pounds beef or ½ pound bacon; ½
pound flour and ½ pound corn; 4 pounds coffee, 8 pounds sugar, and 3
pounds beans to every 100 rations; “or, in lieu of said articles, the
equivalent thereof, in the discretion of the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs.”
STATEMENT OF AMERICAN HORSE
[_Delivered in council at Pine Ridge, agency to Agent Royer, and
forwarded to the Indian Office, November 27, 1890. G. D. Doc.
37002—1890._]
American Horse, Fast Thunder, Spotted Horse, Pretty Back, and Good
Lance present, with American Horse as spokesman:
“I think the late Sioux commissioners (General Crook, Major Warner,
and Governor Foster) had something to do with starting this trouble.
I was speaker for the whole tribe. In a general council I signed the
bill (the late Sioux bill) and 580 signed with me. The other members of
my band drew out and it divided us, and ever since these two parties
have been divided. The nonprogressive started the ghost dance to draw
from us. We were made many promises, but have never heard from them
since. The Great Father says if we do what he directs it will be to
our benefit; but instead of this they are every year cutting down our
rations, and we do not get enough to keep us from suffering. General
Crook talked nice to us; and after we signed the bill they took our
land and cut down our allowance of food. The commission made us believe
that we would get full sacks if we signed the bill, but instead of
that our sacks are empty. We lost considerable property by being here
with the commissioners last year, and have never got anything for it.
Our chickens were all stolen, our cattle some of them were killed,
our crops were entirely lost by us being absent here with the Sioux
commission, and we have never been benefited one bit by the bill; and,
in fact, we are worse off than we were before we signed the bill.
We are told if we do as white men we will be better off, but we are
getting worse off every year.”
“The commissioners promised the Indians living on Black Pipe and Pass
creeks that if they signed the bill they could remain where they were
and draw their rations at this agency, showing them on the map the
line, and our people want them here, but they have been ordered to
move back to Rosebud agency. This is one of the broken promises. The
commission promised to survey the boundary line, and appropriate $1,000
for the purpose, but it has not been done. When we were at Washington,
the President, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Commissioner all
promised us that we would get the million pounds of beef that were
taken from us, and I heard the bill appropriating the money passed
Congress, but we never got the beef. The Commissioner refused to give
it to us. American Horse, Fast Thunder, and Spotted Horse were all
promised a spring wagon each, but they have never heard anything of it.
This is another broken promise.”
In forwarding the report of the council, the agent says: “After
American Horse was through talking, I asked the other men present if
his statement voiced their sentiments and they all answered, Yes.”
STATEMENT OF BISHOP HARE
[_Bishop W. H. Hare is the veteran Episcopal missionary bishop
among the Sioux. The following extracts are from a communication
by him to Secretary Noble, dated January 7, 1891. G. D. Doc.
2440—1891._]
The evidence compels the conclusion that, among the Pine Ridge Indians
at least, _hunger has been an important element_ in the causes of
_discontent_ and _insubordination_. In the farming season of 1889
[July] the Indians were all called into the agency and kept there for a
month by the Sioux commission. During their absence their cattle broke
into their fields and trod down, or ate up, their crops. The Indians
reaped practically nothing. In the year 1890, drought, the worst known
for many years, afflicted the western part of South Dakota, and the
Indian crops were a total failure. There is ample evidence that, during
this period, the rations issued lasted, even when carefully used, for
only two-thirds the time for which they were intended. To add to their
distress, this period, 1889 and 1890, was marked by extraordinary
misfortune. The measles prevailed with great virulence in 1889, the
grippe in 1890. Whooping cough also attacked the children. The sick
died from want. In this statement Inspector Gardiner, Dr McGillycuddy,
late agent, Miss Elaine Goodale, who has been in the camps a good deal,
the missionary force, and many others whose testimony is of the highest
value because of their character and their knowledge of the situation,
all agree....
The time seemed now to have come to take a further step and divide the
Great Sioux reservation up into separate reserves for each important
tribe, and to open the surplus land to settlement. The needs of the
white population, with their business and railroads, and the welfare of
the Indians, seemed alike to demand this. Commissioners were therefore
sent out to treat with the people for the accomplishment of this end,
and an agreement which, after much debate, had won general approval
was committed to them for presentation to the Indians. The objections
of the Indians to the bill, however, were many and they were ardently
pressed. Some preferred their old life, the more earnestly because
schools and churches were sapping and undermining it. Some wished
delay. All complained that many of the engagements solemnly made with
them in former years when they had surrendered valued rights had been
broken, and here they were right. They suspected that present promises
of pay for their lands would prove only old ones in a new shape (when
milch cows were promised, cows having been promised in previous
agreements, the Indians exclaimed, “There’s that same old cow”), and
demanded that no further surrender should be expected until former
promises had been fulfilled. They were assured that a new era had
dawned, and that all past promises would be kept. So we all thought.
The benefits of the proposed agreement were set before them, and verbal
promises, over and above the stipulations of the bill, were made, that
special requests of the Indians would be met. The Indians have no
competent representative body. The commissioners had to treat at each
agency with a crowd, a crowd composed of full-bloods, half-breeds, and
squaw men, a crowd among whom all sorts of sinister influences and
brute force were at work. Commissioners with such a business in hand
have the devil to fight, and can fight him, so it often seems, only
with fire, and many friends of the Indians think that in this case the
commission, convinced that the acceptance of the bill was essential,
carried persuasion to the verge of intimidation. I do not blame them if
they sometimes did. The wit and patience of an angel would fail often
in such a task.
But the requisite number, three-fourths of the Indians, signed the
bill, and expectation of rich and prompt rewards ran high. The Indians
understand little of the complex forms and delays of our government.
Six months passed, and nothing came. Three months more, and nothing
came. A bill was drawn up in the Senate under General Crook’s eye
and passed, providing for the fulfillment of the promises of the
commission, but it was pigeon-holed in the House. But in the midst of
the winter’s pinching cold the Indians learned that the transaction
had been declared complete and half of their land proclaimed as thrown
open to the whites. Surveys were not promptly made; perhaps they could
not be, and no one knew what land was theirs and what was not. The
very earth seemed sliding from beneath their feet. Other misfortunes
seemed to be crowding on them. On some reserves their rations were
being reduced, and lasted, even when carefully husbanded, but one-half
the period for which they were issued. (The amount of beef _bought_
for the Indians is not a fair criterion of the amount he _receives_. A
steer will lose 200 pounds or more of its flesh during the course of
the winter.) In the summer of 1889 all the people on the Pine Ridge
reserve, men, women, and children, 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 cattle had
broken into their fields and trampled down or eaten up all their crops.
This was true in a degree elsewhere. In 1890 the crops, which promised
splendidly early in July, failed entirely later, because of a severe
drought. The people were often hungry, and, the physicians in many
cases said, died when taken sick, not so much from disease as for want
of food. (This is doubtless true of all the poor—the poor in our cities
and the poor settlers in the west.)
No doubt the people could have saved themselves from suffering if
industry, economy, and thrift had abounded; but these are just the
virtues which a people merging from barbarism lack. The measles
prevailed in 1889 and were exceedingly fatal. Next year the grippe
swept over the people with appalling results. Whooping cough followed
among the children. Sullenness and gloom began to gather, especially
among the heathen and wilder Indians. A witness of high character told
me that a marked discontent amounting almost to despair prevailed in
many quarters. The people said their children were all dying from
diseases brought by the whites, their race was perishing from the face
of the earth, and they might as well be killed at once. Old chiefs and
medicine men 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 Indians, 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 ghost
dance and strange hallucinations, spread among the heathen part of the
people....
But these things we do want. A profound conviction in the mind not
only of a few, but of the _people_, that the Indian problem is worth
attending to. Next, that the officials placed in charge of the
difficult Indian problem should be protected from the importunity of
hungry politicians, and that the employees in the Indian country,
agents, teachers, farmers, carpenters, should not be changed with every
shuffling of the political cards. The abuse here has been shameful.
Next, that Congress, especially the House of Representatives, shall
consider itself bound in honor to make provision for the fulfillment of
promises made to the Indians by commissioners duly appointed and sent
to the Indians by another branch of the government. The evils which
have arisen from a violation of this comity have been most serious.
Next, that testimony regarding Indian affairs should not be swallowed
until careful inquiry has been made as to the disinterestedness of the
witness. An honest man out here burns with indignation when he reads
in the papers that so and so, represented as being fully informed on
the whole question, affirms that Indians have no grievances and ought
to receive no quarter, when he knows that the lots which the witness
owns in a town near the Indian country would no longer be a drug in
the market if Indians could be gotten out of the way. Next, let it be
remembered that the crisis has lifted evils in the Indian country up to
the light, and left the good things in the shade. But the good things
are real and have shown their vigor under trial. There is no reason for
losing faith or courage. Let all kind and honest men unite with the
higher officials of the government, all of whom, I believe, mean well,
in a spirit of forbearance toward each other, of willingness to learn,
and of mutual helpfulness, to accomplish the results which they all
desire.
+Chapter XIII+
THE SIOUX OUTBREAK—SITTING BULL AND WOUNDED KNEE
We were made many promises, but have never heard from them
since.—_American Horse._
Congress has been in session several weeks and could, if it were
disposed, in a few hours confirm the treaty that its commissioners
have made with these Indians, and appropriate the necessary funds
for their fulfillment, and thereby give an earnest of good faith or
intention to fulfill their part of the compact. Such action in my
judgment is essential to restore confidence with the Indians and
give peace and protection to the settlements.—_General Miles._
Approximate cost of outbreak in one month: Forty-nine whites and
others on the government side, and three hundred Indians, killed;
$1,200,000 expense to government and individuals.