Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk-Tales Part 20

Number of Indians 1,045 998 918 869

Number of male Indians .... 483 414 ....

Number of female Indians .... 515 504 ....

Number speaking English .... 289 .... 225

Number can read (youths) .... 100 90 100

Number can read (adults) .... 58 60 75

Number wearing citizen's dress wholly .... 300 350 200

Number wearing citizen's dress in part .... 400 450 600

Number doing some farming .... 324 400 *125

Number having other civilized work .... 5 6 *7

Number of births .... 28 45 54

Number of deaths .... 77 125 106

Houses occupied by Indians .... 61 82 98

Proportion of Indians self-supporting .... 2/3 1/2 2/3

_Farming operations--_

Number of acres cultivated by Indians 971 1,360 2,094 2,560

Number of acres broken by Indians .... 67 310 340

Number of acres under fence 400 1,597 2,597 5,200

Number of rods fencing put up during year 200 4,435 2,181 2,975

_Produce raised by Indians--_

Number bushels of wheat 1,177 1,273 5,000 2,500

Number bushels of corn, estimated 35,000 26,120 30,000 60,000

Number bushels of oats 969 .... 640 2,300

Est.

Number bushels of potatoes 100 100 2,500 ....

Number bushels of onions 10 50 100 150

Number bushels of beans 300 .... 500 750

Number of melons 5,225 50,000 50,000 ....

Number of pumpkins 3,000 5,000 .... ....

Number tons of hay 500 .... 600 800

_Live stock owned by Indians--_

Horses, estimated .... 1,200 1,400 1,500

Mules, estimated 15 20 20 25

Cattle, estimated 300 380 575 500

Hogs, estimated 100 .... 200 ....

Fowls, estimated 200 2,500 2,500 3,000

* Families.

Twelve allotments of land made 1888. Whole number allotments to date (1888), 175. In 1885 Indians sawed 50,050 feet of lumber, and cut 126 cords of wood.

In 1886 the Indians hauled 83,814 pounds of freight, for which they were paid $541.54.

During the year 1888 three Indian apprentices learned a trade.

Besides the crops raised, the Indians during 1888 sawed 50,000 feet of lumber, and cut 300 cords of wood.

In 1886 a severe cyclone and hail storm destroyed the growing crops, and in 1887 a prolonged drought again ruined them.

During these two years it was necessary to issue to the Indians half rations and one-third rations respectively. This year (1888-89) no rations have been issued.

As will be seen by these figures, corn is the princ.i.p.al crop raised by the p.a.w.nees, and a large part of the surplus beyond their own wants is sold at from twenty-five to fifty cents a bushel to the dealers in Arkansas City, or to the cattlemen in the neighborhood. The p.a.w.nees have as yet few cattle, their old meat-eating habits have not yet been overcome, and there is a tendency among them to eat any cattle they may obtain rather than to use them for breeding purposes. They ought to be encouraged to keep cattle, to which they could feed their corn, and in this way obtain a better return for their labor than is yielded by the direct sale of the grain. They are fairly well provided with horses, but most of these are small, and of the old-fas.h.i.+oned Indian pony type. They should be encouraged to raise a better cla.s.s of horses, and at least two well bred heavy stallions should be kept by the Government at p.a.w.nee for Indian use. There is one now at Ponca, thirty-five miles away, but the p.a.w.nees will not take their mares so far.

Much of the improvement in the condition of the p.a.w.nees has taken place within the last three years, and much of it has been due, as I believe, to the wisdom and judgment of Major Osborne, their agent, and to the Messrs. McKenzie, who have for three years or more been the clerks directly in charge of these people. These gentlemen appear to have been honest and firm, and yet helpful in their treatment of the people under their charge, and the results of their administration show for themselves, and are something in which these officials may feel a just pride.

Few and rapidly diminis.h.i.+ng in numbers as are the p.a.w.nee people, I have yet confidence that by the innate strength of their character their decline may be checked, and their race may rise again. It can never do so in its old purity. It must take to itself fresh blood from other stocks, and thus renew its vitality. What I hope for the p.a.w.nee, to-day and in the future, is that the native vigor of the race, the strong heart and singleness of purpose, which in ancient times led the wild brave to success on his warpath, and gave his tribe so high a place among the savage warriors of the plains, may now be exercised in the pursuits of peace; and that the same qualities may give to these earnest toilers, as they tread new paths, strength, courage and endurance to hold a front rank among those Indians, who, to-day so far behind, are nevertheless resolutely setting their steps toward a place with civilized people.

But whatever the fate of the p.a.w.nee people--whether, like so many other native stocks, it shall dwindle away and disappear, leaving behind it no reminder of its existence, or whether its native force shall enable it under its new conditions to survive and make some mark--we may remember it always as a race of strong, brave people, whose good qualities are deserving of more than a pa.s.sing tribute.

It was the last day of my stay at the p.a.w.nee agency. I had seen many an old friend; had laughed and joked with some over incidents of former years, and with others had mourned over brave warriors or wise old men who were no longer with us. My visit had been full of pleasure, and yet full of pain. When I had first known the tribe it numbered more than three thousand people, now there are only a little more than eight hundred of them. The evidences of their progress toward civilization are cheering. They are now self-supporting. They no longer die of hunger. But the character of the people has changed.

In the old barbaric days they were light-hearted, merry, makers of jokes, keenly alive to the humorous side of life. Now they are serious, grave, little disposed to laugh. Then they were like children without a care. Now they are like men, on whom the anxieties of life weigh heavily. Civilization, bringing with it some measure of material prosperity, has also brought to these people care, responsibility, repression. No doubt it is best, and it is inevitable, but it is sad, too.

It was my last day, and I was again sitting with Eagle Chief, telling him that the time had come for me to go. He said, "Ah, my son, I like to see you here. I like to sit with you, and to talk over the old times. My heart is sick when I think that you are going away, and that we may never see each other any more. But," he added, solemnly, "it may be that _Ti-ra'-wa_ will be good to us, and will let us live a long time until we are very old, and then some day we may meet again."