1939 - "..no matter how much hard the white man has done, he’ll never be able to destroy the poetry and depth of feeling in the ritual of the Indian.”
INDIAN RITUALS BEING DESTROYED
Berkley, Nov 23 – “Fifty dollars and an ox” – that’s all it takes to become a “member” of an Indian tribe today under a “new philosoph[y]” for which the white man is responsible, Miss Alden Hewitt, department head in the US Bureau of Indian Affairs, told members of the Berkley Soroptimist Club.
“So when you see your senator or some other public official, being adopted into the clan, you’ll know he had $50 and an ox,” said Miss Hewitt, whose task at Washington DC is selection of text books for Indian schools.
Reciting stories of Indian ritualistic ceremonies barred to “curious tourists” and held sacred by their participants, Miss Hewitt deplored activities of “research workers” in terminating these rites because of “too much academic curiosity.”
After a Cherokee drum ritual, Miss Hewitt told members of the women’s service club, an old Indian remarked to her that she had probably see the last of the famous rites.
“Asked why, the Indian’s reply was ‘white people do too much analyzing,” said the speaker. “As a result Indian ‘rituals’ today are only imitations of what were once beautiful ceremonies. But no matter how much hard the white man has done, he’ll never be able to destroy the poetry and depth of feeling in the ritual of the Indian.”
Berkley, Nov 23 – “Fifty dollars and an ox” – that’s all it takes to become a “member” of an Indian tribe today under a “new philosoph[y]” for which the white man is responsible, Miss Alden Hewitt, department head in the US Bureau of Indian Affairs, told members of the Berkley Soroptimist Club.
“So when you see your senator or some other public official, being adopted into the clan, you’ll know he had $50 and an ox,” said Miss Hewitt, whose task at Washington DC is selection of text books for Indian schools.
Reciting stories of Indian ritualistic ceremonies barred to “curious tourists” and held sacred by their participants, Miss Hewitt deplored activities of “research workers” in terminating these rites because of “too much academic curiosity.”
After a Cherokee drum ritual, Miss Hewitt told members of the women’s service club, an old Indian remarked to her that she had probably see the last of the famous rites.
“Asked why, the Indian’s reply was ‘white people do too much analyzing,” said the speaker. “As a result Indian ‘rituals’ today are only imitations of what were once beautiful ceremonies. But no matter how much hard the white man has done, he’ll never be able to destroy the poetry and depth of feeling in the ritual of the Indian.”
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| 1939 Nov 23, Oakland Tribune |
