The Word Carrier of Santee Normal Training School (Santee, Nebraska), 1917-09 - 1917-10

              I
The Word Carrier.
of Santee Normal Training school.
VOLUME  XT,vi
HELPING THE BIGHT, EXPOSING THE WRONG.
NUMBER 5
SANTEE, NEBRASKA.
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 1917
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 !
The Mission Workers' Conference
PTAYA   OWOHDAKE
A joint conference between the workers of
both Presbyterian and Congregational Indian
churches met at the Mayasan Church near Sisseton, South Dakota, Sept. 4th to 9th
There were present about twelve white missionaries among whom were Dr. and Mrs. J. P.
Williamson and son Rev. Jesse P. Williamson,
Dr. and Mrs. Riggs, and Mr. F. B. Riggs, Principal of the Santee Normal Training School.
The moderator of the meeting was Rev. E. J.
Lindsey of Pine Ridge.
Nearly two thousand Indians were gathered
there and lived in tents during the meeting.
Rev. John Eastman, an older brother of Dr.
Charles Eastman, the author, was one of the
prominent ministers and he proudly told the
writer that he was one of the first pupils of the
Santee School.
Among the subjects discussed were the following:
What should be the attitude of the Dakota people towards the war! After this question had
been well discussed the whole assembly pledged
loyalty to their country and the President.
How to cure trouble in the church.
What are the duties of a pastor?
Do the Indians who have become church members realize and understand the holiness and
spirit of the church?
Are the Indians now able to be independent
of Government control?
Is the work of the Dakota church growing?
There was a good talk on "The Influence of
music" by Mr. Philip Frazier, a young man entering the Sophmore year at Dartmouth. He
also conducted the singing and at times gave
us excellent solos.
Rev. Robert Hall, Y. M. C. A. Secretary for
the Indians gave an instructive talk on the work
of the Association in the war region. His in-
terpeter was a young man just licensed, Mr.
Amos Oneroad.
The writer was present in the Presbyterian
Women's Missionary Meeting and heard the
following report: The number of societies are
28. The total membership is 750, while the
amount raised during the year was $2,100.00.
The greater part of this amount is spent for
the support of their own native missionaries.
Some of it goes to the Home Board and a small
part to the Foreign work.
These women are hard workers. They meet
weekly and sew all day. They make quilts and
other articles and sell them giving the proceeds
to missions.
The Santee Alumni Association raised $463.75
a part of which amount will go to pay the salary of the teacher of art at the Santee Normal
Training School and the remainder will be spent
m helping to furnish Memorial Hall, the new
school building. This art teacher has the honor of being the only teacher in the United States
whose salary is paid by voluntary gifts from
the Indians. " E. Findley.
Rev. John P. Williamson, D. D.
Fifty-seven years of active life in missionary
service had been given to the Indian people by
Dr. John P. Williamson, On October 4 he
was called to the life of higher service.
Our Lord said "My judgement is just because
I seek not mine own will", and so it was with
Dr. Williamson in whom the Indians have lost
their greatest counsellor. They daily sought
his judgement on matters both spiritual and
temporal for he sought not his own will but the
will of God in guiding the Indian people from
heathenism to Christianity.
He was not one who worked with undue haste
to secure visible results. He was well prepared
for his peculiarly hard life-work, and labored
often without assurance of results but always
with steadfastness and patience.
To the Indians the greatness of Dr. Williamson's life-work is as much in what he has been
as in what he has done. His whole life was
imbued with a rest of spirit, and a peace and
joy in the holy life of God that was a strength
to all with whom he came in contact.
The November-December number of The
Word Carrier will be a memorial of the life
work of Dr. Williamson.
Dr. Charles J. Ryder
The death of Dr. Charles J. Ryder removes
from the Amerieau Missionary Association office staff one whose sympathy for the Indian
work continually brought encouragement to the
missionary workers.
During the many years that he acted as Secretary for the Indians his official and personal
letters brought assurances of the kindliest regard and most earnest desire to labor for the
best interests of the work with utmost consideration for the point of view of those on the
field.
His cordial friendship with the missionaries,
is voiced in a recent letter when he said, "Few
men whom I know did I lionor more than Dr.
Riggs. He had been in my house several times
and had his own peculiar and large place in our
hearts. When I was more frequently on the
prairie than I have been lately I always anticipated meeting with him and members of his
household."
He was a friend to the Santee Mission and to
all the Indian missionary workers.
Hollis Burke Frissell
Late Principal of Hampton Institute
A life of service on earth is ended; a victory
has been won; a great soul has entered upon
everlasting life. Those left behind are bidden
by the unquenchable optimism of their beloved leader to "put a cheerful courage on," to
smile, to go about their daily work with cheerfulness and hope. In Dr. Frissell's last talk
to his students he said, "Life is so much better
and so much brighter and so much happier if
we can meet it with a smile." It was his influence exerted over many years that made the
Hampton grounds on the day of his funeral,
notwithstanding the deep undercurrent of sorrow, still "the happy place" he loved to call it.
There was a hush over all, though the normal
activities were going on. It was as he would
have had it.
In the funeral ceremonies, as a Virginia editor so truly said, " there we s a note of triumph,
for, in his optimism, in his hope and faith, in
his blessed assurance of the safety of the hereafter, he held that death is but the climax of a
righteous life. The chanting of the requiem
by his own pupils in their inimitable and inspiring way made it seem as though the 'Chariot' actually did 'swing low' and bear the spirit
of the beloved principal to the land across the
bar, where there is peace."
The "struggle" which Dr. Frissell felt so
necessary for the development of character is
before the Hampton School. For the sake of
the one gone before, every worker, every student, every graduate, must so live, to use Dr.
Frissell's own oft-repeated words, as "to hasten the coming of the kingdon of God on earth."
And every friend of Hampton must now do
his part in helping to carry on the work to
which Hampton's beloved Principal has given
his life. Truly might Dr. Frissell now say, in
the words of one of his favorite hymns, ' 'Mine
eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the
Lord."—The Southern Workman.
What Can the Gospel Do for the Indian
Shows-A-Fish is a splendid example of what
the Gospel can do for the old Indian. He kept
out of the Kingdom for a long time, but finally
said one summer, if God spared his life until
the first snow of winter made a white blanket
on the ground, he would come into "the Jesus
Road." You will remember the story of Gideon
and his fleece. God met Gideon more than half
way. God met Shows-A-Fish more than half
way. The first snow of winter began to fall on
Saturday night and all night long it snowed.
On Sunday morning the Little Horn Valley and
the foot hills were covered with a great white
blanket. Through the storm Shows-A-Fish came
to the service. The only indication that he might
be thinking of the vow he had made in the
summer time was the fact that he had on a clean
shirt. During the service there was an unusual quiet, but nothing in the attitude of Shows-
A-Fish indicated that he would yield. He sat
apparently unperturbed, but when the invitation was given, he arose and came forward with
that great shambling stride of his, trembling
in every limb and muscle. After we had prayed and he had made the surrender we asked him
if he would like to speak to his people for
Jesus.
Remember, that he is an uneducated, grim-
visaged warrior of 70, had been an adept
with the war club and scalping knife; and had
led his people on many a battle field. Yet as
he stood before them, moisture was in his eyes,
beads of perspiration stood out on his face, and
with great difficulty did he blurt out his first
testimony for Christ. We are glad to add that
from that time until this, a period of over five
years, Shows-A-Fish has been walking with
strong, straight, steps in the middle of the Jesus
Road and is now one of the strongest and most
dependable Christians among the Crow Indians.
Each Christmas time, we have a large Christmas tree for all the Indians, with gifts furnished
by friends in the East One year, a large,
beautiful beaded pair of moccassins were found
on the very top of the tree. When the presents for the Indians were all taken down the
moccasins were banded to me. Attached to
them was a soiled, tattered piece of cardboard,
and on it written in crude, scrawling hand,
these words, "For the Lord Jesus Christ from
Shows-A-Fish" These moccassins were sold for
$3.00 and the money sent to the Foreign Mission Society.
Annual Mission Meeting
The conference was attended by 2,000 people, and the tents around the big assembly tent
and the Mayasan church building near Sisseton
and Veblen presented an impressive scene.
The faces, growing less dusky as the years
pass, were aglow with interest, in the tent,
while the horses and an occasional auto not
in use graced the hill and valleys about.
The questions discussed were timely for the
Indians and their part in the discussions
was taken with zest and intelligence. The
missionary society of this conference this
year contributed nearly $3,000 toward evangelizing their own people, most of the money
gathered by Indian women. The aspiration
awakened to become self-sustaining appears in
the Yankton Agency church of the Dakota Indian Presbytery at Greenwood, S. D., which is
building a $9,000 house of worship without asking the aid of the Board of Church Erection.
One old Indian woman contributed toward this
building $1,000; other Indians $500 each, and
all of the congregation contribute to it.^The
Continent.
From Elbowoods, N. D.
Our pupils all crowded  in  to the limit as
soon as we opened doors.    We can only crowd
in twenty-five.    We have stretched our means
to the limit to do this properly.