Ninety per cent of us were totally ignorant
regarding land laws, and it was a great calamity for us to have the patents
forced on us against our wishes, because we sensed our short-comings and were
left in the dark concerning the working order of things, until it was too late.
It was not long until the taxes began to pile up so high that we could not hope
to pay. None of us had jobs, and most of us was trying to eke out a scanty
existence on our ranches, our cattle was gone, there was no work to be had, all
jobs were held by white people. Road work on the reservation and in the park
was done by imported help. We Indians were discriminated against on all sides
as far as work was concerned, and still we were expected to pay taxes and keep
body and soul together on nothing. And all this time the outside sheep were
quietly grazing on our lands for nothing-ten cents an acre is “nothing” to
receive for an acre of pasturage of the finest grazing in the world, and we
will call it “Nothing” for convenience. Horace Wilson was here about two years,
not very long but before he left we found out to our surprise and grief that he
was a dope fiend.
-The Sacred Buffalo Vision by Robert J. Juneau and Robert C. Juneau
pg.149
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