The Word Carrier of Santee Normal Training School (Santee, Nebraska), 1925-11 - 1925-12

              OF
Word Carrier
SANTEE NORMAL TRAINING SCHOOL.
VOLUME   LIV
HELPING THE  RIGHT, EXPOSING THE WRONG
NUMBER   6
SANTEE, NEBRASKA.
Nov em ber-Decem her, 1925
FIFTY 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
(iosptl is the Power of God for their Salvation!
The "Nuita" and the "Memorial" Churches ot the
fort Berthold Mission
NUITA  CHAPEL
Nuita is the Mandan word for themselves,
and if I were to give the whole name that
they use for the church, it would be Nuita
Otihopine.
The history of the Fort Berthold
Mission goes back about fifty years,
when Dr. C. L. Hall arrived on a
steamer from Yankton, South Dakota on the Missouri River; or, to
be exact, it will be fifty years next
May ninth.
He began a Mission school, and
as the years progressed one of the
scholars that came to learn the white
man's way was Shunt-hanshka, the
prospective Chief Medicine man of
the Mandan tribe. He was able to get
it brief training but the Spirt of God
was able to do wonders in that short time,
and Leroy went home with tuberculosis and
God's power and started the regular gathering for Christian worship among his people.
(hid took him in a few years but not until he
had begun the work, with the aid of the Missionaries, that resulted in the Nuita Congregational Church; and the only extant publication in the Mandan language—the ''Mandan
Song Book.'"
With the coming of the new Superintendent, H. W. Case, to uphold the hands of the
Missionary, it was possible to gather together
the funds and begin the erection. The gifts
from the Dickinson Association this spring-
gave sufficient funds to enclose the building
and the gift of the Church Building Society
leas now made it possible to use the basement. For nearly twenty years tbe mantle
of Leroy has rested on older shoulders (notably Little Owl and Sitting Crow) and the
collections for the Church have come in as
the widows" mites. Many have helped, such
as the Dance Societies and a host of non-
Christians, and another Indian Church was
one of the largest givers.
On the tenth of October the tribe gathered
to celebrate the opening of the basement with
feast and general rejoicing and many were
the words of Indian pratory that expressed
gratification that at last a Christian Church
was erected among the Mandans. To enclose
the Church and enable them to use the basement, it was fouml that there was a debt of
$250, so the Indians stretched their meagre
supplies and the women gave quilts and handiwork and the old gave blankets and moccasins and trinkets they prized, that the
Church might be out of debt.
It.is planned to try and raise the necessary $500 before next spring, when the State
Conference meets with us. we hope, and dedicate a complete Nuita Church.
We were all exceedingly happy when White
Bull finally said that he "had been thinking
about God's work" for years and that "in view
of (he hard times we tire going to have to
finish our Church, I will give my services to
the Lord and this Church as Helper and try
to teach the Bible and have the Church open
every Sunday."' He received the band-shake
of every member and Deacon White Owl
spoke, from his heart, of the high respect- in
which White Bull was held.
Thus does God continue "His mighty works
to perform."
MEMORIAL chapel
The Memorial Congregational Church at
Elbowoods, where the Fort Berthold Mission,
that began fifty years ago, has its headquarters, stands as a Memorial to the Power of
God to bring His light to the American Indians. Dr. C. L. Hall and his late wife and
co-worker have laid the burdens on younger
shoulders (Superintendent and Mrs. Case)
and rejoice to see the work going steadily
onward.
This Church is pronounced "one of the
best-built and handsomest Churches in western North Dakota'", with its green stained
roof and stucco finish and leaded glass and.
more then all, its ability to serve the community. It is hoped that it will be able to
hold the Congregational State Conference
next year and that many of the delegates to
that Conference may help in the dedication
of this monument of wonderful service for
God.
This Church was erected by the gifts of
many friends of Dr. and Mrs. Hall and a generous gift from the Church Building Society
Among these friends are many of the Indians
who have given such as they had—this ran
into hundreds of dollars of wheat, beef, grain,
moccasins, aprons, quilts, and the savings of
years. The building cost $6000 and is the
pride of the Reservation. All the material
was hauled forty miles by the Indians and
the indefatigable work of the Superintendent
of the Mission, H. W. Case, whose tireless
work day and night and his ability as a purchasing agent, tire to be noted, for hundreds
of dollars saved made such it building possible.
Despite every economy, the Memorial
Church is about $300 in debt, but it is
planned to cover this before spring. Under
the able and consecrated leadership of Mrs.
White Duck, the Woman's Society has already taken action and Deacon Enemy says",
"God will help us as He always has.'"
A church room was built years ago by the
American Missionary Association, but soon
it was needed for a school room for Christian
education: then it store was bought, and again
that was needed for education, and now the
basement of the new church houses the "'primaries" but we rejoice especially that now a
Church, a "real" House of God is available in
which we may hope and pray that many may
learn to meet Him "face to face."—U. D.
Hall, from  Congregational  North  Dakota:'
The Spirit Of The Indian
"They set us afire three times! They made
it worse than a madhouse!'* So the courteous
gentlnian told us as he allowed us to swing
wide the gates (now closed to the general pub-
lie because of the depredations of a few), and
we passed from the hot dusty highway into
the dark cool woods that cover the bluffs opposite the town of Oregon in Illinois.
We walked up the winding road, stopping
often to admire, through the trees, the variegated colors of the grain fields which stretched
away for miles on the other side of
the placidly picturesque Rock River.
Then suddenly above  us we saw  the
object  of  our trip—"The  spirit   of
the   Indian—looking   out   over   the
territory   of   his   fathers,    reluctant
at   departing,  but   uneonquered,"—
which is   stiid to be   Lorado  Taft's
own   conception   of the   work   often
called the Black-hawk  Monument.
The statue, huge, calm and impressive, stands where the great chief
Black-hawk himself once lived, conquered, and was conquered. Surmounting a bluff two hundred and
eighty feet above the river, the work of the
sculptor towers above the luxuriant growth of
the trees which surround it. It is visible
for miles up and down the river.
The figure is hollow, and steps lead down
into the base of the fragrantly damp interior.
Some day, no doubt, stairs will lie built inside to reach to the opening (invisible from
the exterior) which is in the top. The monument is of a composition based on cement,
hard and homogeneous as if carved out of
solid rock. Rising from a setting which is
as appropriate as it is unusual, it conveys
with extraordinary exactness to the observer
the dream that haunted the artist's mind.
Lonely' dignified, tinged with subtle melancholy— it is the Spirit of the Indian. — Youths
Companion. 	
Miss Dabb. who is general secretary for
the Y. W. C. A. Indian work, during her recent visit to Santee spoke of the great peed'
of missionaries to the Indians of South America. Now we are glad to tell that one of our
Santee pupils, a small girl from the Rosebud
Reservation, has made this announcement:
"When I grow up I am not going to be married but am going to tcae.h.tlie little Incas.''
The Ride of a Hamptonian In a Santee Ford
The following is the story that a Hamilton
teacher told of her ride from Eagle Butte,
So. Dak. to our Congregational and Presbyterian Mission Meet ing at the mouth of Green
Grass Creek on tlie Moreau River. The writer
gave no credit to Santee and t hat's why : "One
eannOt travel over the prairies for many days
without encountering a vast and varied collection of episodes, especially if the agile Ford
be the means of transportation.. As the burro
is to the horse so is the Ford to any other
machine in a tight place.
One pitch-dark night we- two visitors to
an Indian conference in South Dakota—got
off the road-and found ourselves on the dead
level of a black prairie witli a moonless sky
shutting down upon us like a huge blanket.
Chugging,on slowly we came to the edge of
a ravine and. happily for us. stopped there.
Investigation by lantern showed it to be the
nearly dry bed of a stream tilled in with brush
and small branches of trees. The sound of
wagon wheels told us that we were on some
thoroughfare and we waited to let tlie other
party test tlie dubious bridge first. They
did—and the frail bridge crackled and stood
on end as the heavy wagon loaded with
camp equipment sank into the mud and water
beneath. Strong hands and hoofs soon mastered the situation for the team, but thi-
bridge was not improved and some of us
were considering primitive methods of crossing when an Indian assured us that wc could
"make it all right."" recommending as rapid a
transit a.s possible. With a chug of delight
tlie little Ford took the pile of brush like a
rabbit and landed us. a little breathless perhaps, on the other side. (We hope Mr. Ford
will feel inspired to give a reward for the
advertisement.""—The Southern Workman.