The Word Carrier of Santee Normal Training School (Santee, Nebraska), 1916-11 - 1916-12

              The Word Carrier.
of Santee Normal Training School.
VOLUME  XLV
HELPING THE RIGHT, EXPOSING THE WRONG.
NUMBER 6
SANTEE, NEBRASKA.
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1916
THIRTY CENTS PER YEAR
Our Platform
For Indians we want American Education ! We want
American Homes! We want American Rights ! The result
of which is American Citizenship! And the Gospel is the
Power of God for their Salvation !
Dr. A. L. Riggs
The work of the Young Men's Christian
Association among the American Indians which
has grown so wonderfully during the last three
decades, is largely the result of the sacrificial
work of certain great pioneer missionaries. As
far back as 1835, Thomas S. Williamson and
Stephen R. Riggs, young college men from
New England, undertook pioneer missionary
service among the American Indians near the
present site .of Minneapolis and in southern
Minnesota. These men verily endured hard
ships for Christ's sake. They did a self-sacrificing work and wer« worth more than a whole
regiment of soldiers in helping to keep peace
with the Indians. This is not a rhetorical statement but a statement of fact. The work of
these men in translating the Gospels and giving
the messages of Christ to the Indians in their
own tongue would be a thrilling tale were it
written out in full.
In 1868, the sons of these pioneers, Dr. John
P. Williamson and Dr Alfred L. Riggs, moved
westward into Nebraska and South Dakota, taking up-the work of their fathers in the Christianizing and civilizing of the Indians. They
established a school at Santee, Nebraska, which
has now become the model Indian school of the
country and has probably come more nearly to
meeting the needs of the Indian than any other
institution in America. It was from this school
that all the 'leaders of our Association work in
the past have come. The Eastmans, who were
so prominent in the Association work in the
early days, received their education at this
school Dr. Charles Eastman, who was one of
the first secretaries, was educated here. It was
at this school, under the instruction of the late
Dr. A. L. Riggs, that Arthur Tibbetts received
his preparatory work before entering the Young
Men's Christian Association Training School at
Springfield, Massachusetts. For many years he
served as pioneer field secretary under the International Committee among the Sioux Indians,
extending the work far over the country. It
was at this school that John Thunder was educated. He came from an Indian tribe in Canada,
and under the Christian instruction of the late
Dr. A. L. Riggs received the impulse which led
him to return to his Canadian home among the
Indians and establish the Young Men's Christian Association work among them. Today
there are Associations in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, the result of the work of this young
man, which are reaching hundreds of the Canadian Indian young men. Every year the Canadian Indian Associations hold their own convention. Who can measure the result of turning out even ONE man like John Thunder, who
has established this work in Canada?
Later on, Stephen Jones graduated from this
school preparatory to entering the Young Men's
Christian Association Training School at Springfield, where he graduated, and served for many
years as field secretary among the Dakota Indians. Mr. Tibbetts is now one of the most successful pastors in charge of a Congregational
Church among the Dakota Indians, and Stephen
Jones holds a very responsible position with the
Federal Government at the Santee Agency in
Nebraska. The Young Men's Christian Association is truly indebted to these men, and every
Association which is a center of Christian influence is iu a large measure disseminating the
spirit of these fine Christian men who were willing to sacrifice for their Master.
It is with deep sorrow that we have to record
the passing of Dr. A. L. Riggs to his reward. A
most impressive memorial and funeral service
was held at the Santee Normal Training School,
where former students who were once wild Indians but now are faithful and efficient clergymen and successful farmers, doctors, lawyers,
and, in fact, prominent in every walk of life,
were present to honor the memory of their teacher and Christian friend.    Dr  Riggs has passed
to his reward but he has built a monument which
will endure. Tbe Young Men's Christian Association acknowledges its indebtedness to him
and to the institution which he built for its wonderful growth, and many prayers will ascend
for the continuance of his work and a blessing
to those upon whom his mantle has fallen. Of
all the men who have touched the great Sioux
Indian Tribe, which is probably one of the
leading Indian tribes, none deserve greater
credit nor have entered deeper into the affections
of these men of the plains than their late friend
and benefactor, Dr. A. L. Riggs, and his partner who survives him, Dr. John P. Williamson.—R. D. Hall, in Y. M. C. A. Bulletin.
Thanksgiving
There were some special reasons for giving
of thanks at Santee this year: the completing
of the new school building, the Alfred Longley
Riggs Memorial; the increasing interest with
the Indian people in Christian education shown
by the great number of entrance applications
and by the larger number of pupils enrolled:
the absence of sickness among the pupils; the
greater willingness to pay toward the school
expenses according to their ability; the finishing of the first sersion in the Bible department starting a course of training for native
workers in the Indian field.
The Thanksgiving Service was held in the
Chapel at ten thirty. The customary offering
of vegetables was small this year and there were
no long braided strings of Indian corn brought
in,because of the poor harvests, but a collection
of $20.55 was taken for the Belgian relief.
"Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not all
his benefits" was the sermon's text, while the
school chorus further emphasized the thought
of thanksgiving with the anthem "Praise the
Lord, 0 Jerusalem."
At noon a well cooked roast chicken dinner
was served at Davis Hall.
A party on the Birds' Nest lawn from three to
five made happy the seventy younger children.
Pop corn balls were served as refreshments.
In the evening the girls of the Dakota Home
entertained the young men of Whitney Hall,
the teachers, and outside guests.
It was altogether a day of joy and gladness.
Indian Conference at Lake Mohowk
The most radical action of the conference was
its adoption of a suggestion made by the presiding officer, Dr. Eliot, who, as a member of the
Board of Indian Commissioners and a frequent
visitor to the reservations, is very familiar with
the conditions of the Indian Service. That Service is under the direction of a single Indian
Commissioner, who is changed with every change
in the Federal administration. More frequently
than not he has no knowledge of Indian affairs
or Indian problems at the time of his appointment. The result is perpetual kaleidoscopic
changes not only in the personnel but also in
the policies of the Bureau. As a remedy for
this condition, which has for years been deprecated by all workers for and among the Indians,
Dr. Eliot suggested the transfer of Indian administration from a single commissioner, always
of necessity a political appointee, to a non-partisan commission indepeudentof the Interior Department and all of political control The Inter-State Commerce Commission affords a suggestive precedent for such a course. This suggestion was carefully considered by a very large
and representative business committee, and after full and prolonged discussion was unanimously adopted, first by the committee and afterward by the conference. The function of such
a commission, as defined by the platform, would
be to frame and submit to Congress a general
Indian law to take the place of the present mass
of fragmentary, local, and often inconsistent
statutes, and then to apply the provisions of
such general law to the varying conditions of
the various tribes, much as the Inter-State Commerce Commission applies the provisions of
the general railway law to the railways of the
country. The object of such a commission
would be "to promote a consistent, continuing,
and developing policy" and "to bring the present abnormal condition of the Indian to an end
as speedily as possible by the incorporation of
the Indian in the general citizenship of the Nation."
Incideutal confirmation of the wisdom of some
such plan was furnished by an admirable statement by Duncan C. Scott, Superintendent of the
Canadian Indian Office, giving some account of
the Canadian method of dealing with the Indian
problem. In lieu of our mass of heterogeneous
local laws filling three large volumes—laws
which no one, not even the Indian Commissioner
can possibly be familiar with—Canada has only
one law comprised in a pamphlet of about sixty
pages. All the laws of Canada, both federal
and provincial, are as applicable to Indians as
to white men, so that Indians, whether on the
reservations or not, are both under tbe protection of the laws and amendable to their provisions. An Indian is defined by law as a male
Indian and his descendants. If an Indian women marries a white man, she and her descendants are legally white and the protection of her
person and her property under the law is left to
him. In consequence fortune-hunters do not
seek Indian wives in order to get themselves and
their children a share in the tribal wealth. These
three simple provisions have relieved Canada of
many of the complications in which our Indian
administration is unfortunately involved. How
far these principles could be applied by the United States in solving its present complex Indian
problems is a question which cannot be answered
without careful study. It. would have been well
if the conference had appointed a committee to
give the subject such study and report its conclusions to the next annual conference. It is to be
hoped that Mr. Phillips, the permanent secretary of the. conference, will provide a place for
their consideration in the programme and one
or more speakers to present the subject to the
conference next year.—Lyman Abbott, in The
Outlook.	
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