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[[2 leaf page]]
[[page 1]]

We want them deposed.  We want you to give the Agent authority to depose them.  We want him to help us but he says he has not the authority.  If the government is sincere in its desire to help the Indians improve it will show its sincerity by helping us in this way.  We wish to work and support ourselves but the chiefs stand in our way.  We want the chiefs deposed.  We thought the Agent had authority over the tribe but he says he has not.  We wish you to give him the authority to depose the chiefs.  We hope we will hear from [[underline]]you very soon[[/underline]].  For the past three years we as a tribe have improved and the last year more so than in any other year.  If hindered as we are by the chiefs who try to keep us from walking in the White man's way we have so improved how much more [[strikethrough]]we[[/strikethrough]] would we improve were they out of 
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[[page 2]]

our way?

[[signed column 1]]
Shu. Jin. ga
Ca. hae. num. ba
Matthew Tyndall
Pa. the. num. pa. zi
Ou. ke. pa. ton
Du.ba.mon.ne
Ma. ze. ke. da
Wu.ba.mon.ne
In a.ze.ke.da
Ge. u. ka
Ma. hae. wa. sa
Tae. ou. ka. ha
Mun. za. dun
Ha. fa. pa
Ta. hae. zin. ga
Ma. wa. da. we
Um. pou. tom. ga
Mum. ga. ah. zi
Ne. ou. ga. lhu. da
Hoo. pa. na
Ta. wan. ga hu. zin ga
Joseph. La Flesche
Mum. ha. du. ba
Frank. La. Flesche
[[/signed column 1]]
[[signed column 2]]
George Merrick
Hum. ba. mon. ni
Pa. the. du. ba
Susette La. Flesche
Rosalie. La. Flesche
Carey. La. Flesche

E.J.B.
Department of the Interior
office of Indian affairs
Washington
[[?Mrm 0r?Wm]] M. Leeds
Acting Commissioner

Umbahahar Chief
[[/signed column 2]]
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Transcription Notes:
names hard to decipher and are approximation only. Susette LaFlesche, an educated, bilingual Omaha of mixed race, was Standing Bear's interpreter, and eventually Tibble's wife. Google "Standing Bear." Joseph LaFlesche is Standing Bear's son. [Google "Omaha Indian Music."] A good resource for the Omaha-Ponce language and pronunciation examples: http://spot.colorado.edu/~koontz/omaha/phonology.htm