Chickasaw Land in Severalty

The majority of the Chickasaws are in favor of the allotment of their land. The industry of the white settlers has made this an agricultural nation, and the farms or any size are cultivated by them. The greatest objection to the allotment at the present time is that the renters upon the land have but little means, have put all they have into the crops, which were a. partial failure in 1890, and if the land were divided and sold at present they would be too poor to purchase and would lose all. The enfranchised white men, who as a rule take up large quantities of land, are in favor of allotment. The full bloods who oppose allotment do so through motives of uncertainty as to what the future will bring forth. They are content to let well enough alone. The scheming Indians, who have been large holders of land, work upon the fears of the full bloods and predict everything dreadful and awful to follow allotment. Every time the question of division of the land comes up the large land holders cry out, "Do you wish to put the poor Indian at the mercy of the smart white man"? At present it is the poor Indian who is at the mercy of the sharp Indian, and it is the sharp Indian who dreads the sharp white man. The younger and well educated element among the Chickasaws almost all favor allotment. With allotment will come all necessary changes in the present methods of this people.

Chickasaw Nation

Notes About the Book:

Source: The Chickasaw, by John Donaldson, 1892, 11th Census of the United States, Robert P. Porter, Superintendent, US Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and then ocr'd. Minimal editing has been done, and readers can and should expect some errors in the textual output.

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