University of Virginia Library

4. Government Offices

(from Indian Journal, February 14, 1902)

There is, or should be, another government office, but we suppose there is no one in congress with any poor relations that could fill the place;1 therefore, it has been overlooked. There is room, or would be, for three offices; that is, three interpreters for the three districts. Indians are being constantly tried, some for murder. This crime is one that consumes a great deal of the time of the court and the English language itself is put to the test in order to convict or release a prisoner, white or black.

Now, when we look at a case of a white or black man being tried in the United States court we wonder what chances there is for hearing an Indian case where all parties are Indians. This thing of interpreting a murder trial is not the interpreting of a sermon, or a contract, or a conversation between Indians and whites.

We are almost satisfied that many a criminal is turned loose and many an innocent man convicted all on account of incompetent interpreters.

We have lived long among the Indians and whites, understand the Creek language perfectly and know some English, and we know that it takes one knowing both to know what awful mistakes can be made in trying to convert English into the Creek language, and what a job it is to convert Creek into English. A mistake is made so easily, but one who is interpreting is never allowed to go back and explain the mistake on the account of rush of business of the court. Being a court of justice it cannot be too careful in having a first class interpreter, which animal is a very rare article, in other words, good interpreters in any of these five nations are very scarce. You can take our best educated Indians as a general thing, and they will tell you that they are very poor interpreters.

We believe congress, or someone who has the power, should have as a regular salaried officer, a good interpreter, who should be paid enough to leave his home and attend the courts. In all of these nations the government pays out a great deal of money to parties undeserving, yet she spends no money on an interpreter for her courts, which, we think, is very essential. He is allowed very little pay for his work.

Each commissioner should have an interpreter as well as the court and he should be paid like other petty officers of the United States.