QUOTES
"The
Indian may now become a free man; free from the thralldom of the tribe; free from
the domination of the reservation system; free to enter into the body of our citizens.
This bill may therefore be considered as the Magna Carta of the Indians of our
country."
"...the
woman owns her horses, dogs, and all the lodge equipments; children own their
own articles; and parents do not control the possessions of their children … A
wife is as independent as the most independent man in our midst.” Combined with
the fact that among many tribes, female elders chose, advised, and could depose
the male chief and signed treaties with the U.S. government along with male leaders-and
that women could divorce and controlled their own fertility though a knowledge
of herbs and timing-this caused indigenous women to be seen as immoral and tribal
systems to be ridiculed as “petticoat government.”
"Her
kindred have a prior right and can use that right to separate her from him or
protect her from him, should he mistreat her….not only does the woman (under our
white nation) lose her independent hold on her property and herself, but there
are offenses and injuries which…would be avenged and punished by her relatives
under tribal law, but which have no penalty or recognition under our lawas… At
the present time, all property is personal…a wife is as independent in the uses
of her possessions as is the most independent man in our midst….While I was living
with the Indians, my hostess one day gave away a very fine horse….I asked, ,will
your husband like to have you give the horse away?….I tried to explain how a white
woman would act, but laughter and contempt met my explanation of the white man's
hold upon his wife's property….As I have tried to explain our statutes to Indian
women, I have met with one response. They have said, "As an Indian woman, I was
free, I owned my home, my person, the work of my hands, and my children could
never forget me.I was better as an Indian woman than under white law."
