Indian Affairs

At sundry times, since the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, came out of the wilderness, statements have been published by said church, to show how the affairs of the Indians were progressing;-and, feeling the same

zeal for their eternal welfare, of the 'seed of the promise' made to our fathers, we again approach the subject, for the same object. We have before us the documents accompanying the President's Message, to both house of Congress, at the present session, where the instructions of the commissioner, on Indian affairs, and the reports of sub-agents and others, cover 203 pages octavo;-from which we draw substance for our remarks, and such information as we judge proper for the saints, and all interested in the restoration of Israel.

The greatest object of government seems to be, to remove the Indians west of the Missouri river, though some are located west of the Mississippi ; and some remain in the regions of the north western Lakes.

Government has assumed the fatherly care of a great people, if they did but realize it, as well as a great territory, extending from sea to sea, and from the Gulf of Mexico, to the British boundary north.

It will be seen, that the statement below only includes the Indians under the direction of agencies, leaving as many unnumbered as those numbered.

The following table shows the name and number of each tribe west of the Mississippi:

Appachees 20,280

Arickarees 1,200

Arrapahas 2,500

Assinaboins 7,000

Blackfeet 1,300

Caddoes 2,000

Camanches 19,200

Cherokees 25,911

Cheyennes 2,000

Chickasaws 4,990

Chippewas, Ottowas and Pottawatomies

and Pottawatomies of Indiana 5,779

Chippewas of the lakes 7,605

Choctaws 15,177

Creeks 24,594

Crees 800

Crows 4,000

Delawares 1,059

Eutaws 19,200

Flatheads 800

Florida Indians 3,824

Gros Ventres 3,300

Iowas 470

Kanzas 1,700

Kickapoos 5,88

Kiowas 1,800

Mandans 300

Menomonies 2,500

Miamies 661

Minatarees 2,000

New York Indians 3,293

Omahas 1,301

Oneidas of Green Bay 722

Osages 4,102

Ottoes and Missourias 931

Ottowas and Chippewas, together with

the Chippewas of Michigan 7,055

Pagans 30,000

Pancas 777

Pawnee 12,500

Peorias and Kaskaskias 150

Piankeshaws 162

Pottawatomies of Huron 100

Quapaws 400

Sacs and Foxes of Mississippi 2,348

Sacs of Missouri 414

Senecas from Sandusky 251

Senecas and Shawnees 211

Shawnees 1,272

Sioux 25,000

Snakes 1,000

Stockbridges of Green Bay 207

Stockbridges and Munsees, and

Delawares and Munsees 320

Swan Creek and Black River Chippewas 113

Weas 225

Winnebagoes 4,500

Wyandots of Michigan 75

Wyandots of Ohio 664

The next item that occupies our attention is the

"Amount appropriated for fulfilling treaties with various Indian tribes, for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1843, and ending June 30, 1844, and the amount drawn thereon to June 30, 1844, inclusive, and the balance remaining undrawn, as per statement:

$750,568 00

Amount appropriated for the current

expenses of the Indian Department, &c.

93,300 00

Civilization of Indians, &c. 10,000 00

So it seems that it cost our Government almost a million yearly to civilize and christianize the Indians; though a quarter of a century's experience in religious and political experiments, show but a small profit on such an overwhelming capitol.

The fact is, about one hundred thousand dollars, are expended to a corrupt or office seeking, or corrupting set of agents; five or six hundred thousand dollars go as annuities, but never get further than into the 'Indian traders' pockets for trinkets, or goods that, with them brings one hundred to one thousand per cent profit; or perhaps, the agents retain one half for damage and supposed crimes.

Every person at all acquainted with men and measures on the frontier; knows that offences [offenses],

degrading and reprehensible to humanity, go unwhipt of justice.

To prove this assertion, we give the minutes of two meetings as reported by the agents of government, viz:

Minutes of a council held by the Sac and Fox nation of Missouri river, with W. P. Richardson, Indian sub-agent at the Great Nemaha sub-agency, on the 4th day of October, 1844.

Nesomquot, chief of the Sacs and Foxes, said: "My father: We have met you, to talk about and transact much business. We are willing, and do hereby, appropriate all of our school-fund to the building up and support of the manual-labor boarding-school about to be established on the land of the Iowas, so long as we live on the land now occupied by us. We understand from you that there is on hand at this time the sum of $1,540 05, which has been sent to you; also, the sum of $1,540 in the hands of our great father, which he is anxious we should give to this school. We give it altogether, with what may be due us from year to year, for education purposes-with the condition, that if our nation desire it, they shall have the right to send their children to the school. You know many of us are opposed to having our children educated;-some of us think differently, and will, no doubt, send their children to the school. As we cannot get the money, we freely surrender it for the benefit of the manual-labor boarding school.

"I want now to talk about the money which has been withheld from our nation to pay for cattle which we are charged with killing, of Mr. Wallis. Tell our great father that we did not kill Mr. Wallis's cattle.

"We do not swear on a book, like our white brothers. Tell our great father that he has listened to the talk of bad white men, and taken our money from us, without hearing what we had to say in our defence [defense]. We did not kill these cattle; but they were lost by the carelessness of their owners, and the men who had the care of them. White men, and not Indians, ought to pay for them. Father, we have given our money to the school, and we hope it will please our great father and our white brothers. Father, we have a request to make of our great father: we owe our friend F. W. Risque for services rendered our tribe in making the treaty of 1837, in the sum of $4,000. He has our obligation for $3,500, and he claims interest of us on said contract. We are very poor, and do not feel able to pay him more than $4,000-five hundred dollars for waiting on us, and his expenses. We have given him our note for $4,000, and we have signed receipts for that amount, under your instructions. We want our great father to make the payment to Risque out of the money which we ought to have got in 1838. We understand that our great father says that the money was sent to us in 1838. We did not get $4,700 in 1838-no such sum was received by us; and if our receipts were made, they were not made by us, but were forged. We also understand that there is due to us $1,171 50 for blacksmithing in 1839 and 1840; and for our farming operations, $2,325 of the same year. Out of these funds, which are certainly due us, we want our friend Mr. Risque paid. We feel sure our great father will not hesitate to do this, as we have done as he wanted us with our school-funds. After paying Mr. Risque, we want the balance of this money sent to us, for we are very poor, in consequence of our money being kept to pay for killing cattle. We also ask our great father to send us $2,000 out of our next year's annuity, to relieve us through the winter. Our corn was destroyed by the waters, and we must suffer if we get no money. We hope our great father will hear this request of his red children, and do as we request him.'

Sho-ko-pe, (Sac chief.) "My father, we have heard the words of our chief Nesomquot. What he says is very good. It is the will of our nation that it should be as he has said.-My father, we do not want any goods sent next year. We sent last year for such goods as suited us, but we were not heard. No attention was paid to our wants, and we will not take anything but the money. Our goods were much inferior to what we got before, and we do not want any more. My father, I am done.'

"Minutes of a council held at the Great Nemaha sub-agency on the 24th September, 1844, by W. P. Richardson with the chiefs and braves of the Iowa tribe of Indians.

Major Richardson said to the chiefs: 'My children, some evil white men have reported that I have kept $2,500 of your money for the cattle some of your men killed last spring belonging to the Oregon company. I want you to say if it is so." Nauchemingo (a head chief) said: "It is all lies; it is like lying and stealing both, to say that." Major Richardson said: "You bring me and yourselves into much trouble by having to do with vicious white men; I hope you will have nothing more to do with them." Nauchemingo: "My father, I want to talk about the money our great father has kept, which our white brothers say is for killing cattle many years ago; we want him to look at it again, and see if he has done right. We want him here, and our father at St. Louis, and our great father at Washington, to look at the matter again. By keeping our money,

they have made us very poor. We think the father we have got now will do something for us. Some of the fathers we have had did not try to do us good. Our great father has kept some of our money; and the waters have been very high, and taken all, or almost all, our corn; and we want our great father to pity us, for we are very poor. The man who sent us goods this year did not hear what we said to him last year; he has not sent us what we sent for; we will not take any more goods. They will not send us what we want; we will take the money. We want our great father to pity us, for we are so poor; we want him to send us three boxes more out of our next year's annuity, and to keep the balance till this time next year. Father, we want no blacksmith this year; we want the money due us for blacksmithing, and that due us for purposes of education, to be applied to building the house for the boarding manual-labor school, amounting, we are told to $1,456 62. We want to have a man to farm for us this year, but do not want any smith. I have no more to say-only want our great father to pity us, and keep our women and children from starving.'

He we-tha-cha: "Father, we want you to listen to what our chief says; it is very good. Want our great father to send us three boxes now. We are very poor."

Cawamonga said: "Father, we are very poor indeed. We want you to get our great father to give us three boxes more: want it this fall."

Aha ka said: "Father, we have come to ask you some things. We want some money very bad; our little children, not three feet high are suffering. They did not give us what we sent for."

Wa ca ra-che-ra said: "Father, we want you to pity us. We are very poor; our great father is very rich. It will not hurt him to send three boxes, and take it our of our next annuity."

Cha-la-ne-an ga said: "Father, I agree with our chief. We want no smith this year, but we want a farmer."

Wa tha-cu-ni-cha said: "Father, we have heard what our chief has said: it is very good."

Wa-pe-u said: "Father, our ears have been very near to our chief, and we have marked his words. We want our great father to send us three boxes of silver, so that we may keep our little children from starving."

Nauchemingo (principal chief) said: "Father, we have given what is due to us for blacksmithing, (about $500,) and what is due to us for education, making in all about a box and a half, to help to build up a boarding-school, so that our children may learn to read and write; and we think our great father ought to send us the money soon, to keep us from suffering. We sent last year for some military coats and some medals; but we got none. We want some medals, to show that we are good friends to our great father. Father, we are done."

Notwithstanding so much has been said and done to establish missions and schools among the Indians for the last twenty years, yet the hand of the Holy one of Israel, upon the transgressors of the Statutes of Mount Sinai, is visible on that "afflicted people" to chasten them for a better covenant.

If there be any exception, it must be witnessed among (the Oneidas), removed from the State of New York to Duck Creek, Wisconsin Territory. Mr. Davis, their Missionary, gives the following synopsis of them:

Number of families 150

Number of souls 722

Frame houses 20

Block houses 43

Log houses 84

Frame barns 51

Log barns 38

Wagons 30

Sleighs 87

Ploughs 69

Harrows 51

Fanning mills 15

Threshing machine 1

Horses 104

Oxen 200

Cows 131

Calves and young cattle 110

Hogs 561

Domestic fowls 1,298

Sheep 5

Clocks 17

Dr. White the Indian agent of Oregon Territory, gives the following particulars of the far west:

Williamette, March, 1843.

The Nez Perces have one governor, or principle chief; twelve subordinate chiefs of equal power, being the heads of the different villages or clans, with their five officers to execute all their lawful orders, which laws they have printed in their own language and read understandingly. The chiefs are held responsible to the whites for the good behavior of the tribe. They are a happy and orderly people, forming an honorable exception to the general Indian character; being more industrious, cleanly, sensible, dignified, and virtuous.

This organization was effected last fall, and operates well; and with them, it is to be hoped, will succeed. A few days since, governor McLaughlin

favored me with a note addressed to him from the Rev. H. H. Spaulding, missionary to this tribe, stating as follows:

"The Indians in this vicinity are remarkably quiet this winter, and are highly pleased with the laws recommended by Dr. White, which were unanimously adopted by the chiefs and people in council assembled.

"The visit of Dr. White and assistants to this upper country will evidently prove an incalculable blessing to this people.

"The school now numbers 224 in daily attendance, embracing most of the chiefs and principle men of the nation."