Collection: Directories and Documents > Tanis Thorne Native Californian & Nisenan Collection

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Title: Funding the California Indian Superintendency Collection Type: Directories and Documents Collection Name: Tanis Thorne Native Californian & Nisenan Collection # of Pages: 13 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

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Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

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Historical Society of Southern California tendent Edward F. Beale. This policy was, according to Commisq sioner of Indian Affairs George W. Manypenny, based on “The @ system of colonizing the Indians on reservations located so as not © . [and] in 3 withdrawing the Indians from the injurious contact with the to interfere with the process of white settlements . mining and agricultural population . . . on the belief that the Indians of California can be made a peaceful and self-sustaining people . .” Thus, the Indians were to be first removed from close contact with immigrants and then advanced toward civilization — the ultimate goal being self-sufficiency in a white dominated society.” To accomplish these ends, Congress, during the twenty-three — years of the superintendency’s existence, provided $3,312,628. (See Table 1). On an annual basis, appropriations ranged from . $3,500 (1851-52) to $445,762 (1854-55). But a better indication 4 of yearly funding is the central tendency as measured by the . arithmetic mean, median and frequency distribution. Both the . mean of $144,028 and the median of $96,100 are but averages and it should be borne in mind that high appropriations during 7 the superintendency’s first years raised the average, while lower figures during later years lowered the average. Nevertheless, they are a good measure of the typical annual appropriation. One difficulty with a mean measurement is that it fails to indicate . how far individual appropriations deviated from the mean. A > solution is calculation of the standard deviation. In the case of California, appropriations deviated or varied from the mean by $103,000. A final measure is frequency distribution which amounts to grouping appropriations into classes and measuring the frequency with which appropriations fell into each class. In the case of California, 60.85% of all appropriations were in the $51,000-125,000 range. The central tendency of California appropriations is somewhat deceptive, since it is an average. Over half or 57% of appropriations, for example, were provided in the short span of eight years . between 1852-53 and 1858-59. Annual appropriations during — these years averaged $268,543 with most of the money earmarked © for removal-subsistence. But in 1859-60, the first major reduction 4 occurred when funds were slashed from $204,000 (1858-59) to $84,500; a reduction which the Bureau supported in its budget ( Funding the California Indian Superintendency Tequest of $79,800 as opposed to the previous year’s $205,000. During the fifteen years subsequent to 1858-59, the California _ Superintendency’s funds averaged $95,523, or $173,020 less than the average appropriation for the 1852-53 and 1858-59 period. Over half the money appropriated during the period, or 58%, was allotted to the implementation of the removal policy. These = funds were designed to provide the wherewithal for the removal ~ of Indians from the path of the white advance, and to provide 2 subsistence both during removal and until a self-supporting status n could be achieved. Between 1852-53 and 1858-59 removal-sub' sistence was the largest single item in the superintendency’s budget, averaging $190,108 a year. During the course of the 2 superintendency’s existence, removal-subsistence averaged (mean) » $101,280 a year with a median of $50,000 and a standard deviation of $9,300. By 1862-63 funding had shifted from removalsubsistence towards self-sufficiency objectives with the first appropriation for cattle, goods, and agricultural implements. Funds ~ for these items averaged $44,375 a year with a median of $55,000 and a standard deviation of $16,490. A high proportion of funds (42%) went for the administration of policy in the forms of per© sonnel and incidentals such as office supplies and rent. Yearly funds for these purposes averaged $24,421 and $30,427 respectively. The median cost of personnel was $26,300 with a standard deviation of $23,800, while incidentals were at a median of $7,500 and a standard deviation of $27,900. As has been suggested, the trend in California Superintendency funding was clearly downward. (See Table I and Figure I.) Reduced funding for removal-subsistence and personnel were primarily responsible for this reduction. Perhaps the reason was that both Congress and the Bureau realized “that a much larger amount [had].. been expended than was necessary, and with limited and insufficient results.”'* The widespread belief that fraud and malfeasance was rampant may have also prompted reductions. The downward movement would have been even greater had not monies for cattle, goods, agricultural implements and incidentals been increased. ) By appropriating over three million dollars Congress had, in effect, set policy and determined the speed of execution. But the