1903 - When banning Indian hair - the white folks ask if they could keep a few long-haired "for circuses and wild west shows, so that we can occasionally get the flavor of the red man without subjecting ourselves to any actual danger. "
THE INDIAN'S HAIRCUTS
1903, Jan 11 Richmond Dispatch The anthropologist, as well as the plain, everyday citizen, who likes to stick his nose into all sorts of curious things, will find much to interest him in the annual report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior, which has just been printed. This report gives the most accurate and detailed information about the progress of our aborigines and the steps the government is taking in its efforts to overcome the red man's instinctive aversion to work. We fancy, however, that the casual reader will devote most of his time to a careful consideration of what Commissioner W. A. Jones has to say in defense of the so-called "short-hair" order, which requires our agents to use their utmost tact and diplomacy in persuading the Indians to part with their long, black locks. Unfortunately for all concerned, the newspapers were inclined to treat this order frivolously when it was first issued and Mr Jones, though he tries hard to keep his temper, is a little bit nettled thereby. In this connection he says: "Indeed, the principal object of the papers seems to have been to get out of it all the fun they could. And it must be admitted they have succeeded very well. With all this I find not the least fault. But now that the excitement has subsided and we have had out laugh, let us put on a sober face and indulge in a reflection or two on the serious side." Then he explains that all this agitation was due to a letter written by his office in the latter part of December last or the early part of January. In this letter we find the following language:
"The wearing of long hair by the mail population of your agency is not in keeping with the advancement they are making, or will soon be expected to make, in civilization. The wearing of short hair by the males will be a step in advance, and will certainly hasten their progress toward civilization. The returned mail student far too frequently goes back to the reservation and falls into the old custom of letting his hair grow long. He also paints profusely and adopts all the old habits and customs which his education in our industrial schools has tried to eradicate. The fault does not lie so much with the schools as with the conditions found on the reservations.
"On many of the reservations the Indians of both sexes paint, claiming that it keeps the skin warm in winter and cool in summer, but instead this paint melts when the Indian perspires and runs down into the eyes. The use of this paint leads to many diseases of the eyes among those Indians who paint. Persons who have given considerable thought and investigation to the subject are satisfied that this custom causes the majority of the cases of blindness among the Indians of the United States."
In view of the foregoing, the agents are told "to induce their (your) young male Indians to cut their hair and both sexes to stop painting." Should the red people refuse their rations and supplies must be cut off, while summary treatment is prescribed for those who are loath to part with their capillary substance. Moreover, the wearing of citizens' clothing instead of the Indian
Commissioner Jones says the order created considerable excitement - at least outside the service - and was so greatly misunderstood that a second explanatory letter followed. This second letter explained that the previous one was simply a declaration of the policy of his office and indicated what should be carried out through the use of "tact, judgement, and perseverance."
We are told by the same zealous authority that this is all there is to the "short hair" order, save in the case of Indian employees and returned students. These, it seems, must submit to the shears willy-nilly, as they are the beneficiaries of Uncle Sam's bounty.
Commissioner Jones intimates that he would have no grievances against the paper if they had devoted as much space to the prohibition of immoral practices among the aborigines as they did to the hair cutting edict. He dwells with special emphasis on the old heathenish dancers with their degrading influences and the laxity of the marriage relation, and takes a rap at the medicine men.
After thus outlining the attitude of his office towards the red men, Commissioner Jones says that whether justified by precedent or not, he has no apology to make; that what is being done is done in the interest of decency, and that unless the Indian relinquishes certain immoral practices and customs, he cannot succeed. In concluding he tersely sums up the situation thus:
"It is a familiar saying that error lies at two extremes and truth in the middle and a striking illustration of the truth of this is found in the Indian question. At one extreme there is cold brutality which recognizes the dead Indian as the only good Indian, and at the other a sickly sentimentalism that crowns the Indian with a halo and looks up to him as a persecuted saint. Between the two will be found the true friends of the Indian, who, looking upon him as he really is, and recognizing his inevitable absorption by a stronger race, and endeavoring in a practical way to fit him under new conditions for the struggle of life. With these I desire to be numbered." The objections to the shorthaired Indian, if there really be, are certainly sentimental rather than substantial and we don't think Commissioner Jones need worry one way or the other about what the papers say. All we ask is that he keep a limited number of longhaired aborigines in stock for circuses and wild west shows, so that we can occasionally get the flavor of the red man without subjecting ourselves to any actual danger.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SAYS SUN DANCE IS RELIGIOUS
Dr Dorsey Avers Constitution Guarantees Indians
Their Right to Celebrate It
Dr George A Dorsey, curator of anthropology of the Field Colombian, Museum of Chicago, who recently arrived at Los Angeles, Cal., has given out an interview concerning the public accounts of his visit with Dr Mooney to the Cheyenne Indians in Oklahoma. Dr Dorsey contends that the sun dance is religion to the Indians and that they have a right to celebrate it, under a clause of the constitution granting American citizens freedom of worship. With regard to statements made to the Indian bureau at Washington, by Mr Seger, superintendent of the reservation school, Dr Dorsey makes charges of duplicity and ignorance, and says that Seger's allegations were not disinterested.
 |
| 1903, Oct 22 The Citizen |
As for the excuse as to why Jones wants to stop folks from painting their bodies - which some indigenous people said was to help with body temperature regulation - Jones said that the paint gets in their eyes and causes diseases. I looked for articles prior to 1902 and could not find anything to substantiate this claim. But I did find:
An 1845 for an Indian cure that heals inflammation of the eyes:
 |
| 1845, March 19 Public Ledger |
 |
| 1882, April 26 New Ulm Review |
 |
| 1888, Sep 13 Jamestown Weekly |
 |
| 1903, Jan 11 Richmond Dispatch |
