The CHAIRMAN. Now, since November. I mean? Since last November?

Mr. JAMES. No. sir. But I have written to him before that and asked him if there were any such ways that these Indians could gain a settlement, and he answered and said that there was a bill introduced by Mr. Raker here covering that.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, Mr. Leatherwood, do you desire to ask some questions? Mr. LEATHERWOOD. No; I have none.

STATEMENT OF HELEN DARE.

HELEN DARE. Mr. Chairman, may I say just a word about Mr. James?
The CHAIRMAN. Why, just a word.

HELEN DARE. He has some pretty intimate knowledge of and close relation to the treaties and the feeling among the Indians as to the justice of their claims because he is the son of an Indian who, as a baby, was picked up off his murdered mother's body in the massacre at Indian Island, the island just off Eureka. The massacre occurred in the night, the whites slipping upon the Indians in the darkness, and his father, who by his absence from the island was one of the few survivors, picked him up. As the child of this boy baby that was picked up off its murdered mother's body, his father and his grandfather told him a great deal about that massacre and about the treatment and dispossession of the Indians in his country. So he has grown up in very close relation with his own people and with an understanding of the situation. But in spite of that, and because the Indians themselves in such good faith have accepted our Government, he served for 13 months in the war, for nine months abroad in active service on the front.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, that is all very laudable and very fine.

HELEN DARE. I thought that perhaps it might be well to have it in the record. The CHAIRMAN. I am glad you put that in the record. Now that closes the hearing so far as any witnesses in behalf of the bill are concerned.

Hon. HOMER P. SNYDER,

Chairman Committee on Indian Affairs,

INDIAN AUXILIARY DELEGATES,
INDIAN BOARD OF COOPERATION,
Washington, D. C., May 2, 1922.

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

MR. CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE: We, the undersigned Indian delegates of the Indian auxiliaries of the Indian Board of Cooperation representing the interests of the California Indians, ask that the following statement be included in the record of the hearings before your committee, that were held on Friday, April 28, and Saturday, April 29, 1922. We ask this in order that the wishes, purposes, and the position of the California Indians in asking Congress to pass the California Indians' Court of Claims bill (H. R. 4383) may be clearly and fully presented for consideration by your committee, and to assist your committee in making a just report on that bill.

The California Indians ask the enactment by Congress of their Court of Claims bill (H. R. 4383 and S. 2236) in order that they may present their claims for compensation under the 18 treaties negotiated with them by a duly authorized commission sent among them by the Government of the United States, and under which treaties they ceded their lands to and accepted the dominion of the Government of the United States.

The California Indians by this bill ask to be permitted to go into court to seek payment of the debt they believe the Government of the United States owes them. They ask only that they be given the right to go into court, present their claims, have them adjudicated by the court as to whether or not they are just claims and as to whether or not they are entitled to a fair compensation.

The United States Government always has recognized the Indians' right of occupancy. To the California Indians their right of occupancy is clear. The Indian does not depend on written records. The rights and history and legends of our people are handed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. There were many tribes and bands of our people in California before the coming of the white man. Each tribe and band held and occupied certain definite territory. Each tribe and band knew where the boundaries of its territory were, where its holdings ended and those of the adjoining band or tribe began. These boundaries were respected by the Indians of that time and are known to the California Indians of to-day. That they existed and are remembered was shown by the map submitted to the committee at the hearings of April 28 and 29 by Dr. C. Hart Merriam, whose

scientific study of the California Indians has made him the leading authority on that subject. Unquestionably having this right of occupancy, as well as other recognized rights under the white man's laws, and these rights being specifically recognized by the fact that the Government of the United States sent a duly authorized commission among our people to negotiate treaties with them, made to them certain promises of lands and goods and benefits in return for which our people gave up their larger possessions and accepted the white man's Government, which promises never were fulfilled, the California Indians believe that the United States Government owes them a fair compensation. It would be impractical and probably impossible for the Government now to fulfill the promises as made in the treaties. Because the Indians fulfilled the conditions of the treaties, and where they did not fulfill them as promptly and readily as was expected the fulfillment was exacted of them by force. by the sending of United States armed soldiers anong them to compel the fulfillment of the treaties which the Indians, through their chiefs and headmen, had signed, the California Indians believe the United States Government owes them a debt. The claims that constitute this debt they ask Congress to permit them to present in court.

This debt, to the nonpayment of which the 70 years' of homelessness and suffering and poverty of our people is due, is at the bottom of what the white man and Indian call the "California problem" of to-day. We feel that the solution of this problem, the welfare and peace of mind of the California Indians, can be secured by the enactment of this bill, upon which we ask from you a favorable report. The California Indians had faith in the honor and honesty of the United States Government when they signed the treaties. Through generation after generation that has come and gone during our 70 years of waiting for the promises made to us to be fulfilled, our people have had faith. We still have faith. That is why we, the representatives of our people, are here in the National Capitol asking Congress to grant us permission to put our claims before the United States Court of Claims for adjudication. We believe we have just claims. We are willing and anxious to put those claims before the court, and to accept the adjudication of those claims as to their validity. We do not believe this is a matter for the Department of the Interior and Office of Indian Affairs to decide. The treaties were made on the initiative of the United States Government, by a Federal commission. The promises were made to our people by the United States Government. It was by action of the United States Government that they failed of fulfillment. Our lands were taken from us by the United States Government. They were put into the public domain of the United States Government. The moneys received for them from the white miners and settlers who were given title to them and possession of them by the United States Government were put into the Federal Treasury. Therefore the California Indians believe that this debt that arises out of their dispossessions of the great and valuable lands they once possessed, and out of the failure of the Government to fulfill the promises in the treaties made with them, is a matter between them and the United States Government, and not between them and the Department of the Interior and the Office of Indian Affairs.

It

The California Indians, in the matter of their Court of Claims bill, are seeking adjudication of their claims. They are asking for justice, not charity. It is for that reason they have rejected the proposal of Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall. will be seen by the terms of his proposal that he deplores the poverty of our people and recognizes our need. He advises us to ask for an appropriation from Congress and offers to recommend such an appropriation for, in his own words, "such necessary relief as would be for their best interests and advancement, including homes for those having families." We know the needs of our people and would be glad to have relief extended to them in their immediate emergencies. We appreciate whatever benefits they can be given through appropriations by Congress and the help of the Department of the Interior and the Office of Indian Affairs; but we do not see in the according of such temporary relief and bestowal of occasional benefits a recognition of and a just payment of the debt we believe the United States Government owes us.

The lands we gave up to the United States Government belonged to all the California Indians. Whatever compensation a court might find just would justly belong, as inheritance, to the heirs of our people who were dispossessed, we believe. Also, knowing our people, their natural prudence and ability, the qualities that have been developed in them by their desperate struggle to survive under the misfortunes due to the unfulfillment of the treaty promises, we believe they can be trusted to handle with prudence and common sense any share of the compensation granted to them by a court, should compensation be granted them. As citizens we believe that the interests of any of our people who may be found incompetent, and of orphaned minors, can be safeguarded by the courts, under the laws of State and Federal Government, and by the action of Congress which has power in these matters.

In our desire to present our claims in court for adjudication, we are willing to accept the decision of the court as to our claims as a just and final settlement of the Government with the California Indians if the Government wishes to regard it as such. The California Indians are willing to accept the decision of the court as a quit claim. This does not mean that we do not appreciate nor that our people would reject any benefits of the United States Government, through the Interior Department, the Office of Indian Affairs, or otherwise, might be disposed to extend to us. There might be emergencies in which the California Indians, as well as any other citizens of the United States, might be in need of aid or relief, and the California Indians would feel as grateful for such aid or relief, and as fully entitled to it, as any other of the people in this country.

What the Secretary of the Interior, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and the members of this committee recognize and describe as the deplorable condition of the California Indians is due to the ruthless eviction from their lands at the time of the gold rush to and the settlement of California, and the consequent unfulfillment of the promises made them in the treaties. This deplorable condition never has been fully relieved because there never have been adequate appropriations for such relief. Through the California Indians' Court of Claims bill we would establish the justification for an adequate appropriation to give them the relief they so urgently need. In addition to this it would carry with it a moral and spiritual value that can not be computed in dollars. It would give the California Indians the high assurance and satisfaction that the Government of the United States to which they gave their great lands, whose Government they accepted, and on whose promises they relied, is a just and honorable Government.

Therefore, with our long cherished and sustained faith in the Government that has taken our people under its care, we ask you, as representatives of this Government, to give our plea a patient and friendly hearing, and to grant us our prayer for justice in court.

We ask you to give us permission to go before the Court of Claims to determine whether or not we have a case. After we find out we have a case there can be formulated by the proper authorities having jurisdiction over the California Indians a policy as to how to disburse the money.

We, the undersigned, have each separately and together given close study and consideration to all the questions and issues involved in the situation of our people, and this statement embodies our understanding of and represents the position of the California Indians as seen by us, and accords with the instructions they gave us when sending us here to represent them.

Yours truly,

ALFRED C. GILLIS, Chairman.
ALBERT R. WILDER, Secretary.
STEPHEN KNIGHT.
WM. FULLER.

A. J. HOGAN.
ALBERT F. JAMES.

T. W. BILLINGS.
HARRISON DIAZ.

Mr. RAKER. In conclusion I would like to say a few words before Mr. Meritt concludes. I might take 10 minutes.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, will that close the argument so far as you are concerned? Mr. RAKER. Yes, sir; on this hearing.

The CHAIRMAN. And you would not ask for any time in rebuttal after Mr. Meritt gets through?

Mr. RAKER. I would not like to promise.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, we have to close this somewhere.

Mr. RAKER. I just said that in fun.

The CHAIRMAN. I have no objection if the committee is willing to hear you.

Mr. RAKER. I will not bore the committee, and I assure you that I will not take any more time.

The CHAIRMAN. We have had a very full day in court.

Mr. RAKER. That is true. But a good cause is always subject to be presented. The CHAIRMAN. As a rule I do not think it is good policy to let somebody come in and try to straighten out all the little things the witnesses say.

Mr. RAKER. I do not want to straighten anything out.

106933-22-PT 2-8

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN E. RAKER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA.

Mr. RAKER. I have taken one position and only one from the beginning. Before I ever came to Congress I took that position and I stand now where I have always stood. There are two questions involved in this matter before the committee and I am taking my position as a Representative, representing what I consider these people of California, namely, first

The CHAIRMAN (interposing). Now are you going ahead with your argument? Mr. RAKER. I am going right ahead now with my argument to present what I want to say.

The CHAIRMAN. All right. Proceed.

Mr. RAKER. First they are entitled to a day in court under the treaties, under the action of the Legislature of California and the action of this Government in this case and the action of the Government in all similar cases from the foundation of this Government to the present time. Second, whatever that might be, after having been determined by the court, I do not yield nor do I concede for one minute that if every dollar is spent that the Government of the United States should not still give consideration to the Indians in California. I want to make myself plain so that there can be no misunderstanding. I would not yield for one minute.

The CHAIRMAN. I expected you would say that.

Mr. RAKER. I would not yield for one minute that if this claim is adjusted as it ought to be adjusted and the Indians are paid, that there still is not a moral obligation upon the part of this Government to look after these Indians and see that their mental and moral welfare is provided for.

Mr. ROACH. You do not agree, then, with the statements that have been made here by the witnesses that the Indian Service should be withdrawn?

Mr. RAKER. I do not, sir. I never have and never shall, as I understand the situation. I think I want to be fair to the committee and to the House and to the public and to the Indians. I know something about them. I have heard the statements here to-day, and it has been assumed that there are schools and provisions made all over California for these Indians. The school at Riverside is a splendid institution. There is a school up in my district at Bedloe that for the last 15 years has been doing splendid work. But let me tell you what occurred 15 years before that school was established. There is a small school down in Greenville that has been providing for a hundred or more Indian pupils during the last 15 years. What was given to those Indians before that school was established, and what has been provided during this entire time, from the time the State was admitted into the Union, in Shasta County, Modoc County, and Placer County clear down along the mountain side where you will see these people and their original homes, their graveyards, that have been there 150 years and more, trying to hold on to them; and when somebody wants a piece of land it is taken from them? They have been driven from pillar to post. They have been living in little huts and no new houses. They have gotten their subsistence by working out in the hay fields and mines, with the women doing the washing.

While we are talking about the civilization of 2,000 years ago, you can drive 200 miles from Rome down to Naples and see the Italian people living just like these Indians are living in my country. So it is nothing against them that they do not have good houses. But there is a solemn obligation here that was presented by the Government and the commissioner appointed to provide for these Indians. To show what was done I want to have inserted in the record what this Nation gathered from California, the attitude of the State and the attitude of the Nation when we were at war during this time, and what the Government received, that is now complaining and haggling over ten million or twelve million dollars for these Indians-what it received from gold alone during the time we were at war, over $180,000,000 that gave us credit and gave us an opportunity to win the war; and I want to insert this in the record from the history of California.

(The paper referred to reads as follows:)

GOLD FROM CALIFORNIA TO UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT IN RE RESERVATIONS DENIED INDIANS ON PROTEST OF GOLD SEEKERS.

California's mines helped to support the Union's credit. Had the gold and silver mined during the years from 1861 to 1865 been turned into the treasury of the Confederacy, as it might have been but for the loyalty of its people, the whole result of the war might have been different. The total value of precious metals shipped out of the coast States during the years of 1861 to 1864 was $186,012,460, which enabled

the Union to pay the interest on its bonds according to agreement, thus restraining and limiting their depreciation. (P. 213, Eldredge's History of California.)

California was among the first of the States to pay its proportion of the direct tax levied to carry on the war. The State treasurer, on h's own authority, paid the first installment in Treasury notes, which saved the State $4.400. Governor Stanford objected to this mode of payment, feeling that it should have been paid in gold. The United States Government responded that it did not desire to exact more from California than from any other State and that the payments were entirely satisfactory. (P. 218, Eldredge.)

An appeal was made to Californians in September, 1863, by the sanitary commission, and $6,000 was subscribed in a very few days for the care of the sick and wounded. Ten days after $160,000 was remitted to the East for the head of the commission; in October another $100,000 remittance was made and before the close of the year $100,000 more was sent. In October, 1863, Doctor Bellows, in acknowledging receipt of a remittance declared that California had been the chief support of the commission, and added that its organizers felt that they could not get along without its assistance. He stated that the expense involved in carrying on the work was heavy and that $50,000 monthly would be required, half of which, he suggested, might be subscribed by the Pacific coast. The suggestion was promptly heeded by the San Francisco committee which answered that it would provide $200,000 during 1864 and that the rest of the State could be depended on to contribute an additional $100,000. When the message was received by Doctor Bellows he sent the following telegram:

"Noble, tender, faithful San Francisco, city of the heart, commercial and moral capital of the most humane and generous State in the world."

San Franciscans felt that their devotion was amply repaid by this tribute. When the accounts of the commission were made up at the close of the war it was found that California had supplied nearly a million and a quarter of the $4,800,000 contributed by the people of the loyal North. (Young's History of San Francisco, p. 336, Vol. I.)

Eldredge also states that San Francisco contributed to the sanitary commission $25,000 in gold per month for the work of that organization during the period of the Civil War.

Mr. RAKER. Then I want to call the committee's attention to the fact that after these treaties had been adopted by the Indians in good faith and they had complied with all the conditions of those treaties they thought they were going to get something. The Legislature of the State of California appealed to their Senators and did everything in their power to prevent the treaties from being enacted, because they wanted to get the gold, the history of which I have put into the record.

They said they wanted the Indians to be sent away from California, to be put in a proper place at a dieffrent location, outside of the State of California, so that there would not be a tribe of Indians with an organization and the white people at their side to cause such trouble as had been caused in the Southern States, down in Georgia and Mississippi, and those other States. And here is a report showing the attitude of President Jackson, the attitude of other Presidents as well, and that this country spent millions of dollars-the policy of the Government to take the land from the Indians and send them across the Mississippi River and buy that territory for them, which the Government actually did. And the people of California, those old pioneers that wanted to continue to mine this gold, said, "That is what we want, " and they urged and through their urgings assisted and succeeded in having these treaties rejected.

Now, this is a complete history and shows the attitude of the State legislature, and why they did not want these people to get the land, because the Californians wanted it to dig for gold that might be in it. There is one tract of that land in Shasta County to-day. I have been over the ground. You run out the line from where they have started from Mill Creek and swing it around and that property to-day is worth over $170,000,000 alone.

These people have had no interest on their money. We are figuring, asking by this bill to limit it to $1.25 an acre. They have had appropriations. Half of the money appropriated has been used for overhead expenses. Properly. No complaint. And then to say that if you give them the right to go into the Court of Claims and adjust their case, that that would shut them off entirely, that that would deprive them of any right. I could not stand for that, Mr. Chairman. I simply am presenting heref, as a Representative of this State and I believe I voice the sentiment of the people of California upon this proposition, that they now earnestly believe that these Indians have a right to go to the Court of Claims and have their rights adjudicated, and that is all we are asking, governed by the treaties of these people, governed by the acts that