Evening Star Newspaper, September 27, 1935, Page 30

Proud Passamaquoddy Indians Benefit From Big Dam Project Governor of Colony Seeks to Keep) Blood and Language Pure—Tribe Aided in Revolutionary War. <. BY THOMAS R. HENRY Gov. Joseph Nichols—five brown- skinned children clinging to the legs of his denim trousers—stands with shoulders thrown back amid the tall| grass that covers the little Revolution- ary cemetery where his ancestors are buried. It is on a little knoll above the | blue St. Croix River. Down on the water, Sopil Socoby, world's champion eanoe racer, is practicing acrobatic | stunts for the Autumn fairs. The| cemetery is surrounded on three sides | by old, dilapidated, shingle-covered | houses. In the open doorways sit | silent brown women weaving into| baskets the sweet grass of the St.| Croix meadows. This is the reservation village of | the Passamaquoddy Indians, perhaps the most patriotic town in the United | States. Nichols, former Carlisle foot- | ball player, is the governor of the little settlement, probably the oldest | continuously inhabited spot in the | Eastern United States. That old| cemetery means a great deal to the | Governor and it means much more | to the United States. If it were not| for the men buried there the bound- | ary line of the Nation would ne\ 150 miles farther East. The Ken-| nebec and not the St. Croix would mark the limit of American territory. | It was a band of 700 Passamaquod- dies who held the Eastern line during | the Revolution, who fought the battle | of Machias, and who contributed | notably to American independence The D. A. R. set up the granite! monument to their memory and it is & sacred shrine for the troops of sturdy children who play over the reservatioon. Won Fame in Every War. The village lives in the glory of their exploits. It has won fame in every American war. It gave its full contingents to the Civil War and the Spanish War. When it came to the World War 26 out of a voting population of 90 went to France. There are no pacifists among Joe Nichols' people. They are, he explains proudly, the most loyal as well as the oldest subjects of the Stars and Stripes. His great-great-grandfather got a letter of thanks from George Wash- ington and there is a good deal of mystery about it. Some say it con- tains promises which, if fulfilled. would put the whole tribe in easy cir- cumstances. The scrap of yellow paper is in the possession of one of the tribesmen, who has inherited it through four generations. He keeps it hidden as scmething holy and re- fuses to let anybody else see it. Only once did he relent and allowed the | Irish priest who ministers to the reservation & brief glimpse of it. It/ was hard to read and the clergyman didn’t get much out of it, so the gov- ernor says. He himself has not seen it. All he knows is that Washington | said something about “the Passama- | quoddies wanting nothing so long as| the sun shall rise in the east.” Other: hint mysteriously that Washington's | promises were practical as well as' rhetorical But whether there were broken ' promises or not, the “Quoddies” burn with patriotic fervor and regard other Americans as emigrants compared to them. They have proved their right to the flag which floats over the res- ervation. For some years they have had a hard time. The depression hurt their handicraft trade. The men couldn’t get jobs of any kind. There was simply no money to be had ex- cept their slender allowance from the State of Maine. Unlike most otner tribes, they have no claim on the Federal Government. Until the Quoddy dam project got under way | a few weeks ago 95 per cent of them, according to the State Indian agent, were on relief and not much better off than their white neighbors, who have no such distinguished ancescry. Now practically every able-bodied man on the reservation is hard at work for the Government. E Indignant Over Injustice. Standing with his elbow on the D. A. R. monument, the governor be- comes indignant over the outstanding injustice to which his people are sub- Jected. It is illegal to sell them a glass of beer. This, after the cen- turies, is the reward of the people! whose blood drenched the river banks that Eastern Maine might be free of | Great Britain. The governor takes & philosophical attitude about it. He himself is a teetotaler. He hates the taste of beer. He has seen too many fine Indian athletes go to ruin on| hard liquor to object very much to| any discrimination along that line. | But to deny his people the right to buy | beer, he believes, can be considered | only as deliberate racial prejudice and insult. They are a remarkable band—the People of this little village of Amer- | ican aboriginals who have maintained themselves for three centuries on the | edge of the Atlantic, far away from any others of their blood, surrounded | and encroached upon constantly by | white influences, taking part in the ordinary daily activities of the com- | munities around them. But in spite | of it they have preserved, better than any other Eastern Indians, their lan- | guage and their customs. One who would know how the Indians spoke in greeting the Pilgrims must go to the Passamaquoddies to find out. There has been a great deal of intermar- riage. There is obviously a strain of white blood in the people. But the Indian has absorbed the white, not the white thé Indian. Their pride as Indians is supported largely by their pride as Americans. Until the past tew years this has been largely subconscious. The old has persisted in the midst of the new without any very concrete philo- sophical background. But with Gov. Nichols it is different. He has set about consciously to guard the purity | of the old language, to keep the people ACID INDIGESTION! Acid indigestion causes gas pains, upset stomach, nausea—you “feel bad all over.” If you are suffering from these distressing conditions, you need Father Kelly’s Preparation, a pleasant liquid scientifically compounded of pure, tested drugs, iong recognized for their beneficial effects. Thousands of sufferers have found welcome relief and are recommending this excellent preparation to their friends. Father Kelly's acts as an antacid and brings prompt relief from gas pains, bloated stomach and consequent nausea. It has the added benefit of being mildly laxative. Get a bottle of FATHER in practice on the dances, ceremonials and handicrafts of their ancestors and to discourage the influx of white blood. That is what he says as he stands beside the monument to the Revolu- tionary heroes. Eastport is the East- ern gate of America. There the voyager would be met today by the same people who greeted the first white settlers north of Florida 330 years ago. ‘That is another bit of history of*which this aboriginal village is proud. Under its brick church are buried the bodies of the two French Jesuits who made them Christians in that dim past. The depression has been hard on the “Quoddies,” but it had one good effect. All the cabins were old, shabby and weather-beaten. The first work-relief project which they were offered was that of building themselves some new houses. The neat, pretty log cabin Ccottages stand today incon- gruously among their battered neigh- bors. Gov. Nichols hoped to see the entire village replaced with a model Indian settlement. Then the dam project came along, and no further work-relfef projects were approved. He still is hopeful that a way can be found. THE EVENING |FILES ARE DENIED SENATE PROBERS| | Federation of Investors Head De- | nounces “Government Espion- age and Intimidation.” By the Associated Press. CHICAGO, September 27.—Dr. Hugh S. Magill, president of the American Federation of Investors, to- day announced he had refused to | open his correspondence files to two | | investigators for the Senate Lobby | Committee. Denouncing “governmental espion- | age and intimidation,” he set forth |in a formal statement that he had | clung to his position despite intima- | tions he “might be cited for con- | tempt.” | Dr. Magill asserted C. F. Taylor | and J. J. Gleason, who, he said, rep- | | resented themselves as agents of the | | committee, came to his office Tuesday. “They wanted information regard- ing the change of the name of the federation from the American Fed eration of Utility Investors to thi American Federation of Investors, his statement added, “and wished to | see correspondence from investors sug- | gesting that the name be changed and | its functions expanded to include the interests of investors in all recognized industries.” | Magill said he declined permission on the ground the investigators had no right to examine the correspond- | ence and that such power was in vio= !lation of the bill of rights. DIAMOND JUBILEE YEAR Lansburgh’s RIMLESS GLASSES STAR, WASHINGTON, 7th,8th&E bright eyes Healthy eyes, unclouded by eye- strain, are bright and sparkling. Let the optical department make glasses to restore the sparkle of youth to your eyes. 45 Lenses & Frame W Youthful lines make this one of our most wanted designs. 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