Kate and Sue McBeth, Missionary Teachers to the Nez Perce

1892

At first, [Alice Fletcher] found that many Indians were strongly opposed to the allotment plan, fearful of more changes in their way of life and a further loss of their lands. In 1892, she persuaded a council of the adult members of the tribe to choose a nine-member committee representing the reservation’s different population centers to help her in her contacts with the people. Headed by Archie Lawyer and dominated by native Presbyterian church leaders, the committee provided another precedent for later forms of tribal self-government. The committee was able to overcome the people’s objections and override their fears, and it speeded Fletcher’s job to completion. When she was through, she had made 1,009 allotments to the Indians totaling 70,816 hectares (175,026 acres). She also had persuaded a wealthy Pittsburgh friend to purchase additional allotments for each of the Presbyterian churches and the Catholic mission then on the reservation and give the patents to the church governing bodies. (pp. 164)