Ohio History Journal

Editorialana.                       487

 

archaeological interest, including the two serpent effigies of southern

Ohio.  Mr. Mills extended the society an invitation to attend the

second annual conference of the Society of American Indians, held in

Columbus.

 

THE INDIAN CONFERENCE.

The historic Indian of Ohio, in the days of his contest against

the invasion of the Whites, often dreamed of organization for the pro-

tection of his race and confederations were formed by Pontiac, Corn-

stalk, Little Turtle, and the last and greatest by Tecumseh, the famous

Ohio Shawnee chief. It was just a century ago that he gave up his

life in the battle of the Thames fighting for the rights of his race.

To-day the Indian population of this country, numbering some three

hundred thousand, is mostly confined to the governmental reservations

of the West. They are the wards of the nation, treated more like

children than citizens and deprived of the right of voice in the govern-

ment. Their wrongs are many, and again they are attempting to form

a tribal alliance, through which organization they can influence the

government at Washington to bestow upon them greater advantages

and protect them in many wrongs.

The condition of the American Indian particularly attracted the

attention and aroused the sympathy of Professor F. A. McKenzie, of

the Ohio State University, and some two years ago he began a cor-

respondence with a number of representatives of American Indians.

The result of that preliminary correspondence was the gathering at

Columbus, in the first week of April, 1911, of six distinguished Indians,

viz.: Dr. Charles A. Eastman, Dr. Carlos Montezuma, Thomas L. Sloan,

Hon. Charles E. Dagenett, Miss Laura M. Cornelius, and Standing Bear

As the result of this first camp fire, an invitation was issued to the vari-

ous western tribes, inviting their representatives to meet in Columbus,

October 12th to 17th, 1911. The signers of that invitation were: W. O.

Thompson, President, O. S. U.; George S. Marshall, Mayor of Colum-

bus; Charles J. Pretzman, President Chamber of Commerce; Joseph

Taylor Britan, President Columbus Ministerial Ass'n; H. M. Blair,

Secretary Y. M. C. A.; E. O. Randall, Secretary State Archaeological

and Historical Society; and J. M. Henderson, President Columbus

Federation of Labor. The conference was duly held, and was a grati-

fying success in every way. The second Annual Conference of the

Society of American Indians will be held in Columbus, October 2d

to 7th, 1912, a report of which will appear in one of the subsequent

numbers of the Society's Quarterly.

Concerning this movement and its conception, we reprint from

the Kit-Kat Club Magazine, for September, 1912, the following article,

written by Professor F. A. McKenzie.

Two leaders of the Indian race, Dr. Charles Eastman and the Rev.

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488         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

Sherman Coolidge, also leaders in the Society of American Indians,

which was organized in Columbus in the year 1911, have reason to be

proud of the prophetic vision which led them, many years ago, in the

city of Washington to foretell a need and jointly to pledge their devo-

tion to an organization which should gather the representatives of all the

tribes, once lords of our domain, to ponder the problems of their race,

to demand and secure their rights, and to inspire their fellow Indians to

repeat in the new civilization their achievements of the old. Dr. Eastman,

in April, 1911, helped to draft the original platform for the Society so long

in his dreams, a platform which will remain historic as long as America

and the Indian are known. Mr. Coolidge is the President of that Society.

These two men, however, do not stand unmatched. Others here and

there, alone and in silence, have also seen and cherished the vision.

It is the star of hope which shines for any one who loves the race or

who seeks to solve the Indian problem.

In October, 1908, Dr. Eastman, Mr. Coolidge, and Dr. Montezuma,

consented to give four lectures in Columbus in connection with a course

of study on the Indians at the State University. Those lectures, when

heard in Northminster Presbyterian Church, excited a great deal of

attention and interest. They proved that two races could be roused to

action. Starting with these three men, a correspondence was begun, which

gradually extended until more than twenty-five were included in the list

of Indians ready to start a Society. An earnest endeavor had been made

to make even this small group representative of diverse points of view.

It was essential that all Indians should feel an equal right in the organi-

zation. After two years of such correspondence, a call was issued for a

preliminary meeting in order that a Conference could be brought into

existence through the formal action of a body of Indians. So in April,

1911, six Indians, at the Chamber of Commerce, sat for two days in

serious consultation, and brought into substantial being the American

Indian Association. The brief platform of six planks was hammered out

of serious differences, and in the end represented contributions from every

one of the six persons present, and was the unanimous choice of the group.

The writer does not know of a better piece of composite workmanship.

In addition to Dr. Montezuma and Dr. Eastman, this historic group was

made up of Miss Laura Cornelius, Mr. Thomas L. Sloan, Mr. Charles E.

Dagenett, and Mr. Henry Standing Bear. Mr. Dagenett, the only

employee of the Government in the group, was made provisional chair-

man, and upon him fell the brunt of the executive work which cul-

minated in the Conference of October. No one will ever appraise the

prodigious work he accomplished, nor the executive power he threw into

the situation. By the authority of this body, too, Mrs. Rosa B. La Flesche

was made recording secretary, and she left the government service, came

to Columbus in May and became an engine of tireless energy in the

interest of the Society. Without her energy and her sanity of judgment,

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Editorialana.                       489

 

the Conference probably could not have been held last year. Miss Cor-

nelius as secretary invited the Executive Committee to meet late in June

at her home in northern Wisconsin, and, under the generous hospitality

of herself and her family, the program for the Conference was drafted.

The letters asking for active and associate memberships were also drawn

up there and on the train which brought the committee back to Chicago.

Now the campaign was on, and the work and the troubles began.

All good things cost trouble and work, but the costs should be forgotten

so far as possible. One very serious loss was suffered during the

summer. Dr. Montezuma withdrew from the Society. There is a great

suspicion of the government in many Indian circles. Dr. Montezuma's

consuming desire was to make the Indian free. If the Society were to

work to that end, it must be independent. Rumors spread over the

country that the government was secretly controlling the Society. It

was even gravely asserted by outside people that the government would

have paid spies at the Conference. So the suspicions and rumors grew

until Dr. Montezuma felt obliged to withdraw. As the Society continues

to demonstrate its complete independence, it is hoped he, one of the

founders of the movement, will feel able to return. The Society is free

and it includes all honest differences of opinion.

At last on the anniversary of the discovery of America, the

Conference was opened to prove the army of pessimists mistaken and

to justify the faith and works of the optimists. Space will not allow

of any summary here of the proceedings of this first national gathering

of American Indians. That may be found in the report of the Con-

ference, a splendid duodecimo volume of 183 pages. Suffice it to say

that nationally and locally the Conference was counted a distinct success.

True it is, of course, that differences developed when attention turned

to organization, and those differences, based upon honest opposing points

of view, continued after the Conference closed, and resulted in January

in a change of principal officers. The persistent fear of government con-

trol led Mr. Dagenett to sacrifice the well-earned distinction of Executive

Secretary. At the same time Mr. Sloan made an equal sacrifice of the

position of chairman. Both men continue to be powers in the Society,

which was extremely fortunate in finding Mr. Parker and Mr. Coolidge,

men who could fill the two positions to the satisfaction of the entire

membership. Harmony reigns. If the Society shall now be given the

moral and financial support which it deserves it will do a great work

for the Indian race and the American nation.

 

 

JAMES HOUSE ANDERSON.

Judge James House Anderson died in the City of Columbus, June

27, 1912.  He had been an invalid for some years, being confined

to his residence, but his mind remained alert to the end. He was a man

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