The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1885-05

              THE WORD CARRIER.
NEW SERIES,   VOL.  II.   NO.     III.
Helping the Right, Exposing the Wrong.
PUBLISHED  FOR   THE DAKOTA   MISSION.
Santee Agency, Nebraska.
MAY, 1885.
Fifty Cents a Year.
Our Platform.
For Indians we want American
Education! We want American
Homes ! We want American Rights !
The result of which is American
Citizenship.
The Word Carrier is published in the interest of schools and missions among the Indians. It is published for The Dakota Mission,
originally planted by the American Board in the
year 1835, in Minnesota, but now extended
over Dakota, and into Nebraska, Montana, and
the British Possessions, and carried on under
these several branches:
The American Missionary Association, (Congregational) at Santee Agency, Nebraska, and
at Oahe, Cheyenne River, Grand River, and
Fort Berthold, Dakota.
Ths Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions,
at Yankton Agency and Flandrau, Dakota,
and at Poplar Creek, Montana.
The Presbyterian Board of Home Missions
at Si&seton Agency and Brown Earth, Dakota.
The Dakota Native Missionary Society, at
Cheyenne River and Devil's Lake, Dakota
Santee Normal Training School, at Santee
Agency, Nebraska, is our principal school for
all this field, for higher education and normal
training. Therefore, while presenting the
progress of our missionary and educational
work in the whole field, the interests and
work of our Normal Training School will be
made prominent.
We shall also endeavor, to give a view of the
state of the work under other missionary-
societies, and under the Government. And we
cordially invite the co-operation of those who
have been our friends in the past and of all new
workers in the field.
Published monthly at 50 cents a year. Send
for it to Alfred L. Riggs, Editor and Publisher,
Santee Agency, Neb.'
[Entered at the Santee Agency Postofficeas
second class matter.]
The opening of the Santee Reservation has now taken place and every
foot of land has been taken. Through
the efficient labors of Maj. Lightner
and his assistants the Indians were all
well located before the expiration of
the time given them. And on the
whole their new white neighbors are a
better settlement than we had reason
to expect.
Santee Normal Training School has
had some very encouraging and helpful visitors of late. H. H. Belfield,
Director of the Chicago Normal Train-
nig School, accompanied with Mrs.
belrield, came April 30 and spent three
days in studying the school and the
people for whose benefit it is established. We call attention to some
words of commendation written by
Mr. Belfield for "The Hand and
Brain." We hope to renew the pleasant acquaintance thus formed at no
long distant time.
Rev. Charles W. Shelton, now financial agent of the A. M. A. for Indian
work, came May 6^ and made himself
"t home with us off and on for nearly
two weeks. We are. glad to believe
that this visit is only the first one of
^any. It is too bad he could not bring
Mrs. Shelton along.
President Joseph Ward, with Mr.
and Mrs.-Professor Norton, (the title
Wongs to both), spent the Sabbath,
May ID, with us. President Ward
again favored us with his genial pres
ence the following week, bringing with
him Mr. and Mrs. El ber B. Monroe, of
Southport, Conn., who spent several
days with us, having for Oahe and the
land of the wild Indian on May 18.
Mr. and Mrs. Monroe are both deeply
interested in Indian Mission work and
Indian education. Mr. Monroe is one
of the executive committee of A. M.
A. and President of the Board of Trustees of Hampton Institute.
Straws show the way the wind blows,
and minor affairs indicate the stage of
civilization reached by our Indian
tribes in their upward march towards
the high level of their white brethren.
Thus we note with great pleasure the
sparring match going on between the
Cherokee Advocate and the Indian
Chieftain, both of the Cherokee Nation. The facility with which they
lay each other out, and use up the
Englishi'language'in epithets not strictly complimentary, would do credit to
any fair sized village in the United
States. It has been a great drawback
to Indian civilization that there has
seemed to be an innate difficulty for
au Indian to learn to swear. And how
could he ever be a Major, or Colonel,
or Judge, or go to Congress, until he
could swear? But we have hopes.
Newspaper courtesies will bring the
needed deliverance.
Two Presbyteries met at the same
date in April at Flandrau, D. T., one
being the original Dakota Presbytery,
made up of the native pastors of our
Dakota churches in Presbyterian connection, and the other of white preachers working in SouthernjlDakota. And
this is what the Flandrau Enterprise
says of the two Presbyteries:
"The native Indian ministers that
were in Flandrau last week compared
quite well in dress, manners and ability
to speak, with their white brethren.
A gentleman from Wisconsin who was
in town on Saturday afternoon saw a
number of the Indian ministers and.
ignorant as to their identity, remarked
to the editor of this paper that he supposed they must be chiefs."
According to the following from the
Valentine Republican it will be seen
that some of what we may term the
young Indian party, have been on to
see the Great Father and tell him the
other side of the story at that noted
agencv. Of course it will be borne in
mind that their testimohv is as intensely partizan as Red Cloud's. And it
would be .to their personal damage to
have the old Coffee Cooler party returned to power. Nevertheless they
have this always in their favor, thai
they, the young Indian party, are
simply claiming, as against the old
chiefs, the right to an individual existence. They are on the road to
American citizenship, self-help and independence, while to allow Bed Cloud
to come up again would be to put back
the progress of the P:ne Ridge Indians
at least fifty years. Here is the extract:
Coming in on the passenger Monday
evening we had the pleasure of meeting several very distinguished gentlemen from Pine Ridge Agency. Mr.
Hunter, the Indian interpreter, accompanied two officers of the United State.-
Indian police and Young-man-afraid-
of-his-horses on their present trip to
Washington, where they testified to
McGillicudy's efficiency in opposition
to Red Cloud. The party was a very
distinguished one and attracted considerable attention on the road. The
two officers, Capt. Sword and First
Lieutenant Standing Soldier, were
neatly dressed in handsome blue uniforms, and wore the shoulder straps
with all the grace and dignity of an
officer of the regular army. They are
two of the three commissioned officers
of the U. S. I. P. of Pine Ridge, and
receive their commissions direct from
the government. The non-commissioned officers are elected by the members of the finely mounted troop of
fifty at Pine Ridge. Mr. Hunter expects great things to result from the
system now in vogue at the agency.
The Indian youths haye one of the
finest and best disciplined common
schools to be found in the United
States and he thinks that with the instruction in the art of civilization imparted at this school they will in a
few years abandon their tribal relations and become citizens.
great grand children—five generations
alive at one time.
With the warm spring and summer
days came the realization to every one
of their long cherished plans for change
and improvement. Not only in the
homes of elegance and refinement, but
away out on the Indian reservations
does the spirit of enterprise and the
desire to improve the home reach as
well. Our Dakota neighbors often
call upon us, and it is a pleasure to
hear them talk of their plans and hopes
for improvement on their small farins-
and in their modest homes.
Upon conversing with an Indian
widow woman the other day, she told
us of her purpose to cut cord wood to
sell, to buy provisions for boarding the
men who had promised to haul the
material for a house, which she very
much needs. No doubt much of the
work on that poor little house will be
done by herself. Her little farm she
will till With her own hands, and next
fall she will have a good little crop of
corn and potatoes to sell, if she is prospered. In the meantime she will pick
wild gooseberries and plums and sell
them, in order that her little table may
be provided with the necessaries for
the maintenance of her family, which
among Indians numbers more or'less.
Nor will she forget her contribution
to the native pastor's support, nor that
which goes to carry on the work of
their own Indian Missionary Society.
This is what one Indian woman can do.
And there are many like her about us.
"The Indian Citizen," the organ of
the Forest Grove Indian School, Forest
Grove, Oregon, is now entering on its
second volume. It is a bright little
paper, and is printed by the pupils of
the school. They are making an effort to get new press and type.
The Forest Grove school is soon to -
be moved to the vicinity of Salem,
Oregon. Indeed it is partly moved
already. The old site is too small, and
the prosperity of the school obliges
them to enlarge their borders.
. The Morning Star, issued at Carlisle
Indian School, has some very useful and
interesting articles in recent numbers,
particularly that in the February number, on the Fathers of the Republic
and the Iudians.
We have received several pleasant
letters from L. R. Carpenter, the new
Superintendent of the Government
Boarding School at Fort Peck Agency,
Poplar Creek Montana. It would be
mutually helpful to make the acquaintance of earnest workers in this common field. Mr. F. B. Wells the superintendent of the Fort Stevenson school
is another we would like to meet face
to face.
Since the above was penned, last
month, we had the pleasure of a flying
visit from Superintendent Carpenter.
He came, bringing six fine young men
from his school to Santee Normal.
Items.
The Southern Workman thinks that
Ramona (Helen Hunt's great Indian
story) is a success as a love story, but
as a presentation of the Indian problem it is inadequate. Probably it is
Miss Alice Fletcher (special contributor)
who writes the critique, and no ene is
better qualified to pass such judgment.
A very old woman has just died at
Santee Agency, Neb. She was over one
hundred years old. For at the time the
Americans and British fought in the
war of 1812, she was a woman grown
and had children who were also nearly grown.    She lived to see  her great
The New Work at Ponca Reservation.
Ponca Reserve is situated about fifteen miles above Santee Agency on
the same side of the Missouri. On it
live about one hundred and seventy
Poncas who have returned from the
Indian Territory where the rest of the
tribe is located. Last summer a school
house was built by the U. S. for their
use, and a teacher was furnished by
the A. M. A. to take charge of the
school, and to be a missionary and
preacher amoug them. The school
was opened on the 6th of last January. A few young men were found
among them who had learned to read
a little at the old agency school, but
the children could neither read nor understand. English. Several of them
can now read a little, and can understand many things in English. I am
surprised at the progress they have
made, when I consider the pantomimic
character of the teaching they have had.
At the fiini; school was opened a
Sunday service was also commenced.
This has been well attended, and the
attention has been good. Several of
the older and more thoughtful express
themselves as well pleased. One old
man--the peace-maker of the tribe—
said that often when hunting, he had
slept upon the ground in the rain, but
now he had a house, and they had a
school and someone to instruct them,
and he exhorted the young men to
heed the things taught. They seem
to listen attentively to the truths of
the Bible, and I hope the truth may
find a lodgement in the heart. But
the habits of a lifetime are very strong,
and time and patience are required to
teach them the better way.
John E. Smith.