Letter from Assistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs to Leo Crane, October 14, 1920

In this letter, the Office of Indian Affairs takes note of Crane’s efforts to classify racially intermarried white men at Laguna Pueblo. The letter concurs with Crane’s recommendations but requests detailed information about the individuals whom Crane has named, meaning that he would have to approach each individual himself. Furthermore, while compiling his census, Crane was directed to meet with the Pueblo councils and their governors regarding the status of each individual, make careful notes as to the council deliberations, and submit the council’s wishes to the Office of Indian Affairs. This letter gives insight into how the Office of Indian Affairs had classified intermarried individuals in the past and instructs Crane on how to proceed moving forward.

Dear Mr. Crane:

Receipt is acknowledged of your letters of October 22, 1920, making certain recommendations with respect to intermarried white men, mainly on the Laguna Pueblo, some of whom claim to have been adopted into the tribe, and whose status is doubtful.

You make several recommendations as to these persons, who do not exceed fifteen in number, which, you believe, will definitely fix their status and meet the existing situation.

The Office concurs in your views and recommendations, and you will accordingly call on the said persons, whose names you fail to give, and also on the proper authorities of the tribe or pueblo for the desired data.

It has long been the policy of the Department to permit whites intermarried with a tribe to reside on the reservation with their wives and families so long as they properly conduct themselves and observe fully the laws and regulations governing the Indian country. However, should they, including any of them formally adopted into the tribe, refuse to recognize the authority of the Government and the regulations and rules promulgated from time to time by the superintendents in charge of the pueblo reservations, they are subject to removal therefrom under Sections 2147 and 2148 of the Revised Statutes of the United States which authorizes the removal as therein set out of any such persons whose presence among the Indians may be detrimental to their peace and welfare. The Department requires full and convincing reasons to support an order so to remove a member of the tribe.

It is customary on reservations in enumerating the members of the tribe for census purposes to put the name of the white husband or wife thereon with an explanatory note as to race and non-membership.

You should promptly call upon each of the persons you have in mind for a statement, to be sworn to before you or a notary public, setting out the facts as to his or her family history, Indian descent, if any, and residence up to the present time. They should say also where they were born and when, who their parents were, giving their names and to what race or tribe they belonged, whether they ever received benefits from the Government as Indians, and what relatives, if any, they have residing among the Pueblo Indians — giving their names, ages, etc. Further, these persons, alleging to be members of the tribe and entitled to reside on the reservation, must clearly set out in their affidavits under what authority they entered the Indian reservation and when; if adopted give the date and full particulars, and whether their adoption was ever submitted to this Department and approved. Should they have in their possession any order or instrument of adoption by the governors or the councils of the Pueblos, such order or record should be submitted with their sworn statement. Where practical they should support their formal statements by affidavits from such of their friends or others as may have knowledge of the facts in their cases.

When you shall have received the suggested sworn statements you should obtain from some of the best versed and most reliable members of the tribal council or Pueblo, statements to be acknowledged before you as to what they know concerning the various persons and their right to enrollment or tribal membership. Each case, with accompanying evidence, should then be submitted to a meeting of the Pueblo councils through their governors, who should express their views as to the persons referred to, and clearly indicate whether they are willing to admit these people by adoption to tribal membership — if so, giving their reasons in full for wishing to adopt them. The record or minutes of the council meeting should be properly attested and certified by you; and the cases should then be submitted with a full report as to the facts and with such recommendations as you may desire to make.

With respect to such of these persons as are in the trading business and operating without a government license, it is believed that a satisfactory solution may be found in the enforcement of Section 519, Indian Office Regulations of 1904. This section is not merely an Office regulation but a Federal statute as well, enacted by Congress July 31, 1882 (22 Stat. L., 179), amending Section 2133 of the Revised Statutes. This amendment reads as follows:

Any person other than an Indian of the full blood who shall attempt to reside in the Indian country, or on any Indian reservation, as a trader, or to introduce goods, or to trade therein, without such license, shall forfeit all merchandise offered for sale to the Indians or found in his possession, and shall moreover be liable to a penalty of five hundred dollars: Provided, That this section shall not apply to any person residing among or trading with the Choctaws, Cherokees, Chickasaws, Creeks, or Seminoles, commonly called the five civilized tribes, residing in said Indian country, and belonging to the Union Agency therein: And provided further, That no white person shall be employed as a clerk by any Indian trader, except such as trade with the said five civilized tribes, unless first licenses so to do by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, under and in conformity to regulations to be established by the Secretary of the Interior.

The Office concurs in your view that the traders operating within the Pueblo country should be licensed as are traders of other Indian countries, and you will be governed thereby.

Should any points arise upon which you desire further instructions you should submit them promptly. Please keep the Office fully advised as to the situation.

Very truly yours,

E. B. Merett

Assistant Commissioner.

Source: E. B. Merett to Leo Crane, October 14, 1920; Consolidated Correspondence and Other Records, 1911–1934 Box 5; Various Pueblo Jurisdictions 106; Record Group 75; National Archives, Rocky Mountain Region.

Evaluating the Evidence

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