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United States. Office of Indian Affairs / Annual report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, for the year 1879
([1879])
Report of agent in New York, pp. 122-124
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Page 122
122 REPORT OF AGENT IN NEW YORK. very scarce. Alt the people live in good adobe buildings, although in very many of them ventilation is very, very poor. No one can tell the number of houses there are, as in some parts of the town you can count as many as five houses, one over the other. All these houses have been built by the Indians at their own expense. There are no houses of any kind belonging to the government. These Indians subsist entirely upon the productions of their own labor, and it is said that they keep stored up enough to subsist upon for three years. They sell a small portion of what they raise, or rather dispose of the old and surplus. Their fishing, hunting, gathering of roots, &c., afford them no subsistence, as they do very little of either. There are living on the Zuiii grant five whites, the principal, his wife, and their two children, and the lady assistant teacher, and one Laguna Indian, hired in the principal's yard. There is a small settlement of Mormons living near to Nutria and Piscado, but I am unable to say whether they are on the grant or not. I think they live very near to the line, but which side I do not know. I have reference to the town of Sevalla. They hold stock, aud freight for a living. REV. TAYLOR F. EALY, M. D., United Slates Teacher. Hon. PUEBLO INDIAN AGENT, Santa _H', X. Miex. NEW YORK INDIAN AGENCY, Forestville, N. iY., October 14, 1879. SIR: In making my ten th annual report I have the honor to state that the year has been a prosperous one for the Indians in this agency. The statistics of education and farming inclosed herein show substantial and gratifying progress. THE ONEIDAS CITIZENS. The Oneidas, residing in the counties of Oneida and Madison, in the State of New York, have since 1843 held their lands in severalty and in fee under the laws of such State. They generally voted the first time at the annual election in November, 1878. .A few voted at the election in 1877, and an Oneida named Abraham Elm was indicted and convicted in the United States circuit court for voting unlawfully for member of Congress. A motion for a new trial was made before Hon. William J. Wallace, cir- cuit judge of the northern district of New York, who set aside the verdict and held that these Oneidas of New York, having abandoned their tribal relations and become civilized, were citizens of the United States, having the same rights to the elective franchise and otherwise as other citizens. The Oneidas generally feel proud of their citizenship, and of being placed in other respects upon an equality with white men, and are as well qualified to intelligently discharge the duties of the citizen as the average elector. SCHOOLS. There are 1,489 Indian children of school age residing upon eight reservations in the agency. Of these, 1,205. have attended school some portion of the year; 1,120 have at- tended one month or more. The largest number at school during any one month was 928, an increase over the preceding year of 59. The 31 Indian schools in the agency have been taught an average period of eight months, and the average attendance dur- ing that time has been 693, an increase over the preceding year of 40. These schools have been maintained at an expense of $21,510, of which the Indianscontributed $1,489; the Society of Friends at Philadelphia, to sustain their boarding-school at Allegany Reservation, $3,000; the Episcopalians to sustain their mission school at Onondaga Re- serve, $400; the State of Pennsylvania to sustain the day-school at Cornplanter Re- serve, $300, and the remaining $16,365 was paid by the State of New York; about $8,000 of the last.named sum being to support the Thomas Orphan Asylum upon the Catta- raugus Reservation. The amount paid as salaries to teachers was $7,270. Eleven In- dian teachers have been employed in these schools during the year, and have given good satisfaction. In fact, the schools under the charge of the Indian teachers have had a larger attendance of pupils and were better supported by the Indian parents than the schools taught by white teachers. Your office will not have failed to observe that the reports of these schools, made by the Indian teachers, show as much profi- ciency in scholarship and intelligence as like reports made by the white teachers. Well-qualified w hite teachers do not like to reside upon the reservations. Most of the Indian teachers were educated in high schools and were trained for their work, with the aid of appropriations formerly made by the United States for the civilization of Indians. For several years such appropriations have been withheld.
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