The report carries a recommendation for the purchase of land adjacent to the school grounds which is now used by Sherman Institute under a lease. This additional land is necessary for the enlargement of the school farm now that the size of the student body has been increased by law.

EASTERN CHEROKEE INDIANS OF NORTH CAROLINA

Commissioner UCKER

Recommendations: (a) The Indian Bureau should use great care in its enrollment and allotment of the members of the North Carolina Cherokees under the provisions of the act of June 4, 1924, to wind up the affairs of these Indians. (b) Additional land should be purchased to add to the area of the reservation boarding school farm, now too small for the needs of the institution. (c) An addition to the school hospital is needed to take care of patients from the reservation, now without regular hospital facilities, and a field matron or field nurse should be assigned to the agency for aiding in the improvement of health conditions at the Indian homes.

Commissioner Ucker, in his study of conditions at the Indian agencies located in the Southern States, detailed Assistant Secretary Henderson of this board to make a preliminary survey of the Cherokee Reservation in June, 1924, particularly in reference to the carrying out of the provisions of the recently enacted law to enroll and allot these Indians. Parts of Mr. Henderson's report to Mr. Ucker are as follows:

"The proper carrying out of the provisions of the act of June 4, 1924, to enroll and allot the Eastern Cherokees of North Carolina is a big job. Many troubles the Indian Bureau has experienced in the past have been caused by indifferent work in the field of surveying, allotting, preparing rolls, and similar work. Trouble should be obviated for the future in North Carolina by sending the best men there and doing the work well.

"The survey, appraisement, and division of the communal lands of these Indians is going to prove a difficult piece of work. The topography of the country, so rough and mountainous, will not make the surveying work easy or inexpensive. Then there comes the greater difficulty of dividing up the lands so as to locate the present occupants on their own farms, as far as possible, as well as attempting to give contiguous areas to other members of the family. The amount of agricultural land being so small and scattered up and down the valleys and along the hillsides in such irregular patches it is going to be a good-sized problem for the alloting agent to do the work well and to the satisfaction of the bulk of the Indians. The enrollment of the Indians who are rightly entitled to shares in the tribal property is another matter of importance to be weighed carefully. For years there has been contention over who are really entitled to be on the rolls of the tribe.

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The reservation of the Eastern Cherokees, who number about 2,500, is located in the western and mountainous section of North Carolina, some 60 miles west of Asheville by rail. The boarding school is beautifully located in a mountain valley formed by the Ocono Lufty River, a clear fast-running stream whose waters finally reach the Tennessee River and Gulf. These Cherokee Indians live in a region of great scenic attraction; high wooded mountains shut in narrow valleys through which run picturesque spring-fed streams. Probably no sections of the eastern mountains are superior to this for great natural beauty.

"The reservation proper, known as the Qualla Boundary, comprises 50,818 acres, located in Swain and Jackson Counties, and there are about 50 separate and smaller tracts scattered about these mountains that total 12,342 acres, some at a distance as great as 50 to 70 miles from the agency headquarters and, because of the lack of roads and the rough nature of the region, many of them are very difficult to look after.

"The Indian families live in small log or frame houses, some being mere huts, while others are neat, comfortable looking homes. Around each house will be found a vegetable garden and often an attractive display of flowers. Some pigs and chickens are kept by each household and most of them have a cow or so. In the small fields are raised corn, some small grain, and other crops. Owing to the limited amount of land fit for agriculture, the farms are small in size, many families cultivating only 20 or 30 acres.

"The Cherokees are fairly industrious; they spend most of their time on the little farms and some supplement their modest incomes by occasional day labor. The traveler seldom sees many of these people touring about the

country on profitless journeys to the detriment of their crops and stock, as is so often the case among many of the western Indians. Shut in as these people are, they have never been able to do much more than make a frugal living. Work has always been a necessity with them; the Government has given them nothing other than educational advantages, and they have asked nothing. "The Cherokees of North Carolina have been standing on their own feet for years. Even in this rough mountain country they have always managed to support themselves; they have not been blessed with great prosperity, but have eked out a fair living on their small farm plots in a rather primitive

way.

"Extensive fruit raising seems to offer the best opportunity for profit to these people. Apparently there is no good reason why the Indian lands can not be developed eventually into excellent fruit farms, specializing in apples, grapes, and berries. The superintendent, realizing this, has been promoting nursery work and has issued a large number of small apple trees and many berry plants. With instruction in spraying, pruning, packing, and the like, there is no reason why, within a few years, substantial fruit shipments can not be made out of this country, provided the Indian takes hold of this new activity as he should and the present encouragement from the agency continues. "According to the school census of a year ago there were 900 children classed as eligible for school attendance. Of this number 779 attended school during the year, 467 in Government schools and 312 in the county public schools. Those eligible to attend school but receiving no education numbered 121, or nearly 13 per cent of the eligible children.

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The North Carolina education laws prohibit the coeducation of Indians and whites. Those Indians recorded as in the public schools went in on the status of white children, having only a small quantity of Indian blood and appearing more white than Indian. The public schools offer no place for the real Indian children. They must either be educated by the Government or go without schooling, the State maintaining no schools for Indians because they are looked upon as wards of the Government.

"For the coming scholastic year the reservation will run two day schools besides the agency boarding school. The main educational activities for these Indians center about the reservation boarding school, an institution having a rated capacity of 200 last year, built amidst beautiful trees on a hill sloping away from the Ocono Lufty River. For the fiscal year 1923 funds were allowed for the support of only 200 Indian children, but the total enrollment ran up to 330 and the average attendance 295. Through rigid economy it was possible to keep this many children in school in crowded quarters. For the fiscal year 1924 funds were provided for the maintenance of 250 children and for the next fiscal year money will be available for 50 additional children. The construction of an annex to the boys' dormitory some time during the coming scholastic year will relieve part of the crowding.

"There are still quite a few children without educational opportunities about the reservation, but only a few more of these can be taken in at the boarding school until some important changes are made in the way of new buildings. The enlargement of this school until it can accommodate, without great crowding, all of the 120 or more eligible children receiving no education is undoubtedly the most feasible solution of the school question at Cherokee. Around 30 of the older children are sent away each year, after completing the eight grades, to Government nonreservation boarding schools, particularly Haskell and Chilocco."

ZUNI AGENCY, N. MEX.

Commissioner SEYMOUR

Recommendations: (a) Increased attention to sanitation. (b) A comprehensive building program centering on better quarters for employees, a new schoolhouse, and a girls' dormitory. (c) The establishment of a new cemetery outside the Zuni pueblo, the old cemetery to be closed to future use. (d) The installation of a water system for household purposes. (e) Another field matron.

Commissioner Seymour visited the Zuni Reservation, in New Mexico, in June of 1924. The following are extracts from her special report to the board on conditions in that jurisdiction:

“Like the inhabitants of the other pueblos, the Zuni have always in the main been self-supporting. Before the Black Rock Dam was built, however,

this support was but meager. The creation of a continuous and ample supply of water for irrigation purposes has changed their precarious existence to a state of real prosperity. They have responded industrially to the new conditions, and although of an intensely conservative disposition they have been adopting new ideas and methods in farming. While their 288,000 acres of reservation represent a much larger holding of land than any other New Mexico pueblo, yet a number of individuals by their industry and savings have leased additional acreage outside the boundaries on three sides of the reservation, for farming and grazing purposes. Further instance of their thrift and enterprise is the purchase of many farm implements on the reimbursable plan and the actual repayment therefor. The Zunis at present own about 35,000 head of sheep. This is a reduction from previous years, but there has been a marked improvement in the strain and the smaller number represents a value fully as great. They have reduced their number of cattle to about 500 owing to the drop in price and the liability of theft. They own about 6,000 goats, and a small number of chickens, hogs, ponies, and burros. The high price of alfalfa has discouraged livestock raising, as they prefer to sell alfalfa in the market instead of feeding it to stock.

"The condition of the villages is insanitary in the highest degree. In the midst of the settlement stand the ruins of the old mission church, abandoned 75 or more years ago. Before its door is located the town burial ground, after the old fashion introduced by the Spaniards. For more than 300 years this extremely small plot of ground has received the bodies of all Zunis, even during the period when mission work had been abandoned, when all appearances indicated that they had forgotten the circumstances under which the plot had been dedicated to this use. There is no attempt at marking the graves, and so small is the tract that every bit of space in it has been used again and again, and each new interment means the disturbance of the grave of some previous occupant. Human bones may be picked up anywhere and are freely rooted about by the dogs and hogs who find entrance. Nothing but the high altitude and dry climate prevent this from becoming as dangerous to health as it is offensive to the sense of decency. It is a potential plague spot which might at any time become an active one. This is a state of affairs which would not be tolerated for a moment in a white community; and while a change in this situation will undoubtedly meet with opposition, I believe it would be for the best interests of the Zuni that a new cemetery be established outside the limits of the town and the old one closed to further use.

"Water for domestic purposes is obtained either from the meagre trickle known as the Zuni River, or from a few wells at various points in the village. Some of these are matters of private enterprise of white inhabitants and a few have been sunk by the Government. An ample supply of water for all purposes near each dwelling might remove some inspiration for the artist, but it would be a step highly approved by the physician. I understand that the medical supervisor, Doctor Newberne, recently recommended the piping of water from the dam at Black Rock, 4 miles away, so that it might be installed in every pueblo house that could be induced to accept it. In view of the labor involved, this may seem a counsel of perfection; but it is undeniable that an ampler and more widely distributed supply of water is a pressing necessity, and pending more ambitious improvements the repair of the pumps should receive immediate attention.

"A recent survey of the medical situation, involving the personal examination of more than 2,000 people, showed 4 per cent of the population afflicted with trachoma and 5 per cent with tuberculosis. In view of the sanitary conditions, this is a surprisingly low percentage of disease. A lay observer would certainly not be satisfied with the appearance of the babies. They are shockingly dirty, appear to be undernourished, and owing to a pious custom of covering their faces with ashes on the theory that this prevents the growth of hair, present a repulsive aspect. Sore eyes and sores on the face due to this old habit are common. What these children appear to need is an external application of water and an internal application of milk.

"The current charge that the United States Government is interfering with the religious liberty of the Zuni people was brought to my attention from various sources. More than one magazine or journal has cited this tribe as an example of religious persecution, but without particularizing in such way that the accusation may be definitely proved or disproved. There are religious differences in Zuni in plenty, but of actual oppression or persecution I found

BOARD OF INDIAN COMMISSIONERS

no instances. The disturbances attending the ceremonial dance of last December, with the change of tribal government which followed, were still a matter of excited discussion. One of the factions of Indians had apparently given its consent to the taking of pictures of the Shalako rites, while the other bitterly opposed it. The difficulties resulted in the taking away of the reins of government from the governor of the tribe, by the native priests, accompanied at their request by two agency employees. There ensued an interregnum in the tribal government. governor and his tenientes were chosen, and in June it was still apparent It was not until February that the new that the ill feelings awakened by the whole episode were not yet quieted, and the regularity of the choice was still being questioned. The whole matter is one for the Indians alone, and they alone can say what are the rules under which they should choose or depose a governor. The status of the Zuni Reservation is such that the governorship should have no bearing upon the relations of the Indians with the United States, and the less concern given the matter by the white man the better the situation is from all points of view. Any consideration of the matter by non-Zuni folk can easily be made to wear the aspect of oppression and should be avoided.

"There is a field matron working in the Zuni village, but actual medical work occupies the greater portion of her time. Her house, which is a rented one, is at some little distance from the remainder of the village, but the Indians come to her to some extent for aid. must be largely concerned with the sore faces and eyes of the babies and the Her daily visits to the homes of the village efforts to encourage better care of their health. The outlying houses fortunately present more healthy conditions, as their distance makes visiting more difficult. The far-off villages she can not reach at all except when a visit of doctor and field matron both seems necessary, as she is without means of transportation for herself. The work is really too much for one person, and there should be two field matrons, with possibly a differentiation of their duties; one a field nurse and the other in charge of the domestic and social aspects of the situation.

"The physician also lives in a rented adobe house on the edge of Zuni village. The rental of this house, at $25 a month for the past 20 years, is a striking example of waste. The amount that has been spent in rent, if appropriated for building 20 years ago, would have given adequate quarters in a much more useful location. If the physician and field matron were located centrally their usefulness to the Indians would be vastly increased.

"The Government day school at Zuni is undergoing enlargement. Its pupils during the past year numbered 140, and the capacity for next year will be 220. The additions to the schoolhouse are already nearly completed, but industrial quarters and rooms for employees will be necessary before the school can be operated effectively at the new size. It is especially to be regretted that in a village where the need of bathing is so acute the only facilities for bathing the pupils are those afforded by the laundry tubs of galvanized tin, few in number, in the small room used as a laundry. Laundry and bathing facilities should receive immediate attention.

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'The building in which teachers are now housed is deplorably inadequate. It is an old adobe structure which appears to be on the point of tumbling down, as so many village houses have fallen. Here the teachers are obliged to prepare their own meals, and I am informed that one of them was under the necessity of cooking at an open fireplace during the past year. not only an unnecessary hardship to visit upon an employee of the Government, but it is also a sorry example of living conditions to set before the This is Indians whose lives the service is designed to improve. upon a new principal's cottage during the past year might have served to The amount spent provide a house for the whole staff, if planned to that end. The next school year will find a sufficient number of employees in the village to justify the establishment of a school mess, and a building in which the employees may live and have their meals is absolutely necessary. A similar condition regarding employees' quarters exists at Black Rock, 4 miles away from Zuni village, where the agency and boarding school are located. If the Zunis from the village should adopt the idea of patronizing the agency hospital, it would not go well with the employees, a number of whom have been obliged to take shelter therein.

"While the low salaries in the Indian Service are responsible for a great deal of the dissatisfaction and constant changing, the lack of comfortable living conditions for employees is equally a factor in bringing about the situa

tion which all agree is a deplorable one. No school can be handled with real success where there is a constant shifting of employees, and greater attention to the question of quarters is one of the real needs of the service. At best, the locations to which Indian Service people must go will often be remote and they will be necessarily deprived of many of the comforts expected in more populous places. There should certainly be an effort to provide sufficient space, comfortable conditions, and as many modern conveniences of life as the circumstances make possible.

'The buildings of the boarding school and agency are kept in as good repair and present as good an appearance as can be made without the expenditure of more money upon them. But overcrowding is the case everywhere. There is talk of enlarging the capacity of the school, but even at its present capacity there is immediate need for more buildings. In a single building are the dormitories for the girls and 50 of the boys, the kitchen, and the combination dining room and assembly hall, the schoolrooms, and the rooms of a number of the employees. A small frame building houses 27 smaller boys. So many buildings in fact are needed that one hesitates to make a specific recommendation. There should be at least one well-planned and generously proportioned building ready before the beginning of the next school year, and others should be added as soon thereafter as possible. A school building should probably be the first, with classrooms and assembly hall. This should be well built and of sufficient size to serve when the capacity of the school is increased. A girls' dormitory is also of prime importance. A gymnasium and bathhouse combined would help to solve some of the acuter problems.

"Of the recommendations here made the most vital features may be summed up along two lines-increased attention to sanitation and a comprehensive building program. Water is the thing of all most needed; and a water supply and sanitary conveniences for the Zuni pueblo should receive immediate effort. On the matter of buildings there are so many needs that it is useless to particularize.

Buildings for employees' use, for purposes of instruction, for dormitories, for recreation purposes, are demanded if the schools at Zuni are to give the Indians a real example of the kind of living we wish them to attain. They will learn how to be clean and healthy by having a clean and healthy example set before them, by learning to desire cleanliness and health through the enjoyment of proper living conditions in the schools. The sooner the opportunities in this direction are widened, the greater will be the hope of seeing healthy children in sanitary hones. But with the utmost liberality and greatest good judgment it is going to take a long time to transform Zuni village into a spotless town."

THE HOPI INDIANS, ARIZONA

Commissioner SEYMOUR

Recommendations: (a) An intensification of efforts to remedy the bad sanitary conditions. (b) Toilet facilities, and an incinerator for refuse should be provided for each village, with sufficient police force to insure their use. (c) A medical survey of the children of school age and under with a view to determining the physical and mental conditions which will affect their educational progress.

Commissioner Seymour made an investigation into the conditions of the Hopi Indians in June, 1924, visiting all villages, schools, and the agency at Keams Canyon. Much of her report to the board was descriptive of social, industrial, and living conditions and of the educational progress of the children. There follows some extracts from her report:

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To the outsider Hopiland is, of course, primarily the home of the snake dance, which is held at different villages each August, to the great enjoyment of tourists, who come in numbers aggregating two or three thousand and camp among the piñons at the bottom of the mesas, making a long overland journey for this 40-minute spectacle of wriggling reptiles. Last summer the dance, held at the first mesa, was the scene of considerable excitement. The Governor of Arizona desired pictures of the event for the State historical records, and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs authorized the taking of pictures in case the Indians did not object. The objections were strong, however, and the pictures were not taken. Twenty-five hundred visitors witnessed the controversy. The squabbles over the sale of seats on the housetops, the din of the vendors of refreshments, the crude comments of a curiosity-seeking