1916 - "We do not wish to be known as savages, but we wish to be known as we really are."
News About Indians - page 189
American Indian Magazine, Volume 4, April-June 1916
There is yet a widespread tendency to think of the American Indian as he used to be, rather than as he now it. Where is the small boy who does not picture the Indian as a savage in war paint and feathers, ready to sally forth with tomahawk and spear to avenge himself upon his foes? Where is the small girl who does not avoid reading the Indian stories which so delight her brother, and does not feel sorry for other little girls who live on prairies where they are liable to an unexpected visit from the Indians almost any hour of the day or night? Where is the father who does not enjoy getting an Indian costume for his little boy and even take pleasure in helping him put up a wigwam in the back yard? And where is the mother who does not clap her hands over her ears when that same small son and his pals chase one another round the house, "yelling like Indians"?
In the evening perhaps the family go to the nearest motion picture house. The most exciting film is a story of hairbreadth escapes from the Indians. There is usually nothing to indicate when the events are supposed to have taken place, but the impression gained is that they are comparatively recent. The children go home and dream the story over again that night to repeat its details next day at school or elsewhere.
Next week the circus comes to town. Flaring posters show in advance the "wild west" show which is to be such a prominent part of the program, and describe in graphic terms the side show in which several Indian families are to be on exhibition. Emphasis is laid on the war dance with which those who pay ten cents admission will be regaled.
In the summer there come those happy days when the family go on a picnic to some near-by resort. Among the attractions along the main boulevard there is probably an Indian shop. Here may be purchased little birchbark canoes, moccasins, bows and arrows, and beads of many colors. If the shop is somewhat pretentious it may even offer for sale Navajo blankets and specimens of basketry and pottery. Perhaps these were made by American Indians, but more likely they were not.
Truth to tell, the modern American Indian is not primarily a maker of baskets and pottery and blankets, though there is plenty of this still done on some reservations; neither is he a person who spends his days hunting or wandering about in picturesque attire and reserves his evenings for raised on the unprotected. Contrary to popular opinion the modern American Indian, in the United States, at least, is fast engaging in the pursuits, trades and professions of the white man. And it is believed, by many of those best acquainted with Indians, that when the government shall altogether discontinue its policy of treating the red man as a ward and shall allow him to live wherever he chooses, the time will soon come when the Indian will attain excellency in all those lines where the names of white men now shine.
It has been predicted that in ten years practically all the Indians in the United States will be self-supporting. Already they have achieved success in stock-raising and in the care of cattle which, in the opinion of some, makes it plausible to look upon the Indian of the future as the "cattle, horse and sheep king of America." As farmers they are every year showing more energy and resourcefulness, taking up agriculture on a larger scale, eager to continue in their role of producers rather than consumers. Gardens and orchards are flourishing under their case; horticulture is attracting many, and they are making a success of it.
Every year graduates from the many government schools are going into business and industry. These young people are ambitious and determined to make good. The young men go into government positions, into journalism, into engineering. Some of them join the navy. The young women become teachers, homekeepers, stenographers, nurses and dressmakers.
The long and short of it is that the American Indian is at last coming into his own. He sees light ahead, and is walking toward it, at a faster pace than his ancestors every pursued the old Indian trails. At college he is proving that he can win laurels in other fields than that of football, where his prowess has long been conceded. As a citizen he is bringing into play those characteristics which made some of his ancestors as faithful friends to the colonists as those of their own race.
Conscious of ever widening opportunity for progress, the Indians have already formed organizations, such as the Society of American Indians, which is holding annual conferences to discuss ways in which they may advance more rapidly as individuals and as a race. As an example of their desire to have themselves rightly understood and appreciated, it is necessary only to repeat the story of the protest they filed in the United States capital, a few winters ago, against continued misrepresentation of their race in motion pictures. It was at this time that they virtually said, "We do not wish to be known as savages, but we wish to be known as we really are."
Experience is proving that, in proportion as the Indian is given a fair opportunity he measures up to his opportunities, whether he dwell on the Pacific coast or the Atlantic, in Arizona, Texas or Maine. The mere fact that the second Saturday in May is henceforth to be set aside in his honor will probably affect him little one way or the other, for he has started on the road to progress anyway, and nothing can turn him back. the greater effect will perhaps be upon his white neighbors, to whom the day will serve as a reminder of a single fact often overlooked, namely that no white person can rightfully call himself a native American. In the last analysis, these all are immigrants.
-- The Christian Science Monitor.
American Indian Magazine, Volume 4, April-June 1916
The First Indian Day
May 13, American Indian Day. For the first time that race which roamed the western continent before the white man set foot on its shores is being honored with a day which bears that race's name. The event gives occasion for comment as tardy national recognition of a people who have to a large extent proved their worth. But how well and how comprehensively he proved it is a matter about which a great many persons still need enlightenment.There is yet a widespread tendency to think of the American Indian as he used to be, rather than as he now it. Where is the small boy who does not picture the Indian as a savage in war paint and feathers, ready to sally forth with tomahawk and spear to avenge himself upon his foes? Where is the small girl who does not avoid reading the Indian stories which so delight her brother, and does not feel sorry for other little girls who live on prairies where they are liable to an unexpected visit from the Indians almost any hour of the day or night? Where is the father who does not enjoy getting an Indian costume for his little boy and even take pleasure in helping him put up a wigwam in the back yard? And where is the mother who does not clap her hands over her ears when that same small son and his pals chase one another round the house, "yelling like Indians"?
In the evening perhaps the family go to the nearest motion picture house. The most exciting film is a story of hairbreadth escapes from the Indians. There is usually nothing to indicate when the events are supposed to have taken place, but the impression gained is that they are comparatively recent. The children go home and dream the story over again that night to repeat its details next day at school or elsewhere.
Next week the circus comes to town. Flaring posters show in advance the "wild west" show which is to be such a prominent part of the program, and describe in graphic terms the side show in which several Indian families are to be on exhibition. Emphasis is laid on the war dance with which those who pay ten cents admission will be regaled.
In the summer there come those happy days when the family go on a picnic to some near-by resort. Among the attractions along the main boulevard there is probably an Indian shop. Here may be purchased little birchbark canoes, moccasins, bows and arrows, and beads of many colors. If the shop is somewhat pretentious it may even offer for sale Navajo blankets and specimens of basketry and pottery. Perhaps these were made by American Indians, but more likely they were not.
Truth to tell, the modern American Indian is not primarily a maker of baskets and pottery and blankets, though there is plenty of this still done on some reservations; neither is he a person who spends his days hunting or wandering about in picturesque attire and reserves his evenings for raised on the unprotected. Contrary to popular opinion the modern American Indian, in the United States, at least, is fast engaging in the pursuits, trades and professions of the white man. And it is believed, by many of those best acquainted with Indians, that when the government shall altogether discontinue its policy of treating the red man as a ward and shall allow him to live wherever he chooses, the time will soon come when the Indian will attain excellency in all those lines where the names of white men now shine.
It has been predicted that in ten years practically all the Indians in the United States will be self-supporting. Already they have achieved success in stock-raising and in the care of cattle which, in the opinion of some, makes it plausible to look upon the Indian of the future as the "cattle, horse and sheep king of America." As farmers they are every year showing more energy and resourcefulness, taking up agriculture on a larger scale, eager to continue in their role of producers rather than consumers. Gardens and orchards are flourishing under their case; horticulture is attracting many, and they are making a success of it.
Every year graduates from the many government schools are going into business and industry. These young people are ambitious and determined to make good. The young men go into government positions, into journalism, into engineering. Some of them join the navy. The young women become teachers, homekeepers, stenographers, nurses and dressmakers.
The long and short of it is that the American Indian is at last coming into his own. He sees light ahead, and is walking toward it, at a faster pace than his ancestors every pursued the old Indian trails. At college he is proving that he can win laurels in other fields than that of football, where his prowess has long been conceded. As a citizen he is bringing into play those characteristics which made some of his ancestors as faithful friends to the colonists as those of their own race.
Conscious of ever widening opportunity for progress, the Indians have already formed organizations, such as the Society of American Indians, which is holding annual conferences to discuss ways in which they may advance more rapidly as individuals and as a race. As an example of their desire to have themselves rightly understood and appreciated, it is necessary only to repeat the story of the protest they filed in the United States capital, a few winters ago, against continued misrepresentation of their race in motion pictures. It was at this time that they virtually said, "We do not wish to be known as savages, but we wish to be known as we really are."
Experience is proving that, in proportion as the Indian is given a fair opportunity he measures up to his opportunities, whether he dwell on the Pacific coast or the Atlantic, in Arizona, Texas or Maine. The mere fact that the second Saturday in May is henceforth to be set aside in his honor will probably affect him little one way or the other, for he has started on the road to progress anyway, and nothing can turn him back. the greater effect will perhaps be upon his white neighbors, to whom the day will serve as a reminder of a single fact often overlooked, namely that no white person can rightfully call himself a native American. In the last analysis, these all are immigrants.
-- The Christian Science Monitor.
