RESERVATIONS, Indian. When the settlers from Europe came to realize that the Indians had human rights, and ought not to be enslaved or exterminated, the rule was gener ally adopted of confining the tribes to reserva tions, both for their own protection from un principled whites and for the security of the white population. New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and other States en forced this policy in the colonial period and after independence, and the United States gov ernment has carried it out from an early date. Southern tribes east of the Mississippi were removed to the Indian Territory, designated by solemn pledge of the national government as a permanent home for their race, and there some of the tribes have achieved a high degree of civilization and gained considerable wealth. They are largely intermarried with whites and to some extent with negroes, whom they for merly held as slaves. Other tribes, chiefly from the Southwest, have been gathered into the Indian Territory, but large Indian reservations, mainly of Sioux, are still maintained in the Northwest, and altogether the various tribal reservations in the different States and Terri tories number about 185. The reservations are
carefully guarded against intrusion by unscru pulous whites, and provision is made for the mtellectual and physical welfare of the Indians and for leading them to adopt civilized methods of self-support, instead of depending on the chase which now offers only the most Rrecarions re turns, or on government aid, which, however, is not withdrawn under any circumstances while an Indian is in need of it. The sale of intoxi cating liquor to Indians is severely punished when detected, but the law is frequently evaded.
In 1917 the Indian population, as returned by the leading States having reservations, was as follows: Oklahoma, 119,108; Arizona, 44,617; South Dakota, 26,246; New Mexico, 20,853; California, 15,362; Minnesota, 11,777; Montana, 11,525; Washington, 11,181; 'Wisconsin, 10,216; North Dakota, 8,903; North Carolina, 8,118; Nevada, 7,944; Oregon, 6,612; New York, 6,272. No other State had as many as 4,000.