The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1886-02

              THE WORD CARRIER.
NEW SERIES,   VOL. II.   NO.  XII.
Helping the Right, Exposing the Wrong.
PUBLISHED  FOR   THE DAKOTA   MISSION.
Santee Agency, Nebraska.
FEBRUARY, 1886.
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 A meriean 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.
The Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions,
at Yankton Agency and Flandrau, Dakota,
and at Poplar Creek, Montana.
The Presbyterian Board of Home Missions
at Sisseton 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 whohl 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 Po'stofticeas
second class matter. ]
The Oahe Girls' School now numbers
twenty-five pupils. The majority are
girls under fifteen. The danger in
such a*school is that the teachers become restive under high ideals they
cannot realize at once, and fret themselves to death. Patient continuance
in well doing is what wins. On the
other hand teachers with no ideals become careless and negligent. As a
consequence their pupils are slip-shod,
their houses dirty, and things generally unhinge. Teachers, keep a tight
rein on yourselves and your pupils,
then accommodate your speed to the
nature of your team.
Those who read about an "Indian
Wedding" in our last number, may
have wondered where the "wedding"
came in. The fact is it was not a
wedding at all, but was the ceremony
observed upon the event of a girl becoming aweekoska. It stands in place
of the first party of an American
young lady.
It has seemed to us that the missionary idea is often lowered by the
"ay people allow themselves to perform its duties. It is made common
if not actually unclean by the cheap
and tawdry way in which benefactions are made. At some places an interest is aroused in mission work on
some part of the great worldfield, and
a heap of old clothes and dirty useless
Sunday school books are collected,
crowded into a box and shipped to
some unlucky distant worker whose
place and office will  never allow  him
to pay back in kind. The valueless-
ness of the benefaction is not the
worst thing about it. The donors feel
that they have fulfilled the claims of
the Master upon them by this very
cheap and unworthy effort. Their
whole idea of Christ's Kingdom is
lowered by their action, and the reflex
influence on themselves is to make
them more narrow, selfish and mean
than they were before. It comes
back to them in their prayers. They
pray, Thy Kingdom Come, but it now
means a kingdom that is like a pawnbroker's shop. All dignity and nobility is gone out of Christian service.
Christian charity is summed up in
cold victuals and religion becomes a
sneaking sort of thing.
We think we ought to be specially
careful about the education of our
children through their Young People's Missionary societies. Those who
superintend these societies should be
the choicest the Church can afford.
By their precept and practice they
should train the children to understand the nobility of sacrifice for Christ,
and to feel that nothing is worthy of
Christ that does not honor Him. Then
they will not give to Him what they
would be insulted t» receive themselves. Of course we should carry the
same idea into our homes, but we
speak of the missionary societies because they can reach the evil  soonest.
Old clothes have a noble mission if
they are commissioned by noble
minded people. They become sanctified and ennobled by the prayerful
carefulness with which they are put
into useful condition; the mud brushed
off, rents mended, holes neatly darned,
missing buttons sewed on and then
affectionately folded and packed in an
orderly, respectable way, properly
marked and shipped with charges prepaid. Such boxes are a benediction to
those who receive and those who send
them. Many such we have known of.
But we have seen others that would
have given St. Paul himself the ague.
Not long since the Cheyenne Transporter had this item in its editorial
notices: "Last week the Mennonite
Mission sent off to their college at Hal-
stead, Kansas, five Indian children
from their school at this place and six
from Cantonment, making altogether
fifteen Indian students now in that
college. These children had graduated here in the common branches of
study, and were placed in college
for higher advancement. This college is owned and conducted by the
Mennonite Society, which denomination is doing the most thorough and
practical missionary work among the
Indians we know of. This is evidenced by the sueeess they have accomplished here in only a few years.
Unlike other missionaries, they instruct thoroughly in industry as well
as Christianity by both precept and
example." We are glad to learn of
the good that is being done by the
Menuonites in Indiau Territory. But
if the Transporter knew more of
what was being done by other missions elsewhere, it would not disparage
them in order to praise the Mennonites.
A Spoiled Indian.
There is no doubt that the once
famous Sitting Bull is sadly spoiled.
Agent McLaughlin writes that "Since
his return from his recent trip with
Buffalo Bill's "Wild West" Exhibition,
he is a great nuisance. He is inflated
with the public attention he has received, and has not profited by what
he has seen, but tells the most astounding falsehoods to the indians.
He tells everybody he sees that the
"Great Father," in his interview with
him, told him that he was the only
great Indian living; that he made him
head chief of all the Sioux; that all Indians must do his bidding; that he was
above his agent, and could remove
the agent or any employe when he
chose: and that any Indian who disobeyed him or questioned his authority
must be severely punished. Also
that all Indian dances and customs
that have been discontinued should be
revived, including the Sun Dance. As
he is working against our schools and
tries to influence others, and is very
pompous and insolent, it may be necessary for me to adopt stringent measures with him, and that in the near
future. His influence, though very
limited as to number of followers, is
at the same time, from his arrogance
and  aggressiveness, very pernicious."
This is a humiliating picture, and
offers a suggestive warning to injudicious friends of Indians. Poor Sitting Bull and his followers have, it is
true, been made a mere vulgar show to
gratify the public curiosity. An Indian is, however, peculiarly susceptible of flattery, and the most well-
meant attention and kindness may
very probably turn his head. Instead
of learning modesty among the
wonderful scenes of the white man's
achievements, he is apt to flatter himself with the proud thought that he is
of sufficient importance to be honored
at this distance.
An Eastern tour is, indeed, occasionally of advantage, as in the case of
White Ghost, who is more friendly toward progress than he used to be, and
seems to have brought home with him
no worse results of his visit than a tall
silk hat and an agreeable complacency
of manner—which last, perhaps he
may have had before! The danger,
however, remains; and stringent measures will have to be taken before long,
lest the Indian of the future be a
spoiled   Indian.—Southern Workman.
No one perhaps has had more hand
in spoiling Sitting Bull than Agent
McLaughlin himself, for the show
expedition to the East was with his
sanction, and Mrs. McLaughlin was
the official interpreter of the expedition.
Cherokee Notes.
—The new teachers at Santee
Normal Training school have organized a class in Dakota, which is taught
by Mr. James Garive.
The Cherokee Advocate suggests a
novel way of getting^around the Arizona Apache scalp bounty. It says:
As hair is said to be almost indestructible, all that the daring Apache hater
and scalp hunter would have to do to
make a good thing of it would be to
locate a few Apache "cemeteries", and
go to work with the aid of a little
mucilage and raw-hide. A gr^t many
scalps could be taken—"lifted" we
mean—in this way, in a short time,
without much risk of detection or injury. Old Geronirno is said to be an
avaricious "old cuss," and shrewd and
daring with it. He could probably,
by liberal bribes, be  induced  to  help
forward the munificent scheme. His
hundred warriors could thus, by proxy,
be all scalped, and would melt away—
giving peace to Arizona and the border
States of Mexico—and all for the moderate sumjof $250.00 per scalp.
The Cherokee delegation in Washington this winter, have had rather the
best of it so far, in the discussion of
the Oklohoma question before the
House Committee on Territores.
"Drop the sentiment about Indians
and talk about this matter as a business proposition." Bell, the president
of the Cherokee Senate, will say to the
committee. "Either we've got a;good
title to that land or else we've got no
title at all. We think that our title
is good and tnat our property
rights are secured to us under the
treaties of 1866. We think our ownership is as inviolable as that of any
white man or corporation holding'land
under a patent from the United States.
Believing this we say to you we don't
want to sell you these lands to be
opened to white settlement. That
ought to be the end of the matter.
You can't do anything without, our
consent, and we tell you now that we
refuse that." Then the committee will
suggest that this is a strong Government, and can do as it pleases. If it
decides to open the Territory the Indians must give in. "Oh," Bell will
reply, "if you are talking about force,
soldiers, gunpowder and cannon and
those things we will have to let you
have your way. But if we presume
this is a country where individuals and
associations of individuals, call them
tribes if you like, have rights secured
to them, the United States has patented to us our lands, and we assume
that it cannot legally force us to sell
them. This seems to me a very plain
business principle. If we are wrong,
:f we haven't any title, why then we
are gone up, like any other man who
thinks he's bought something and
finds he hasn't. The situation is a
very simple one it seems to me."
Then they will change their tactics
and will suggest the advantages which
will accrue to the Indians in the way
of encouragement to civilization by
having white neighbors among them.
"Well," Bell will say, "I, for one Indian, feel that I am getting civilized
fast enough. I chew tobacco, play
cards and wear a shirt with a collar; I
am learning fast enough, and most of
my people are I think." This of course
"brings down the house" -and the committee are nonplussed.
—At the Cheyenne and Arapahoe
Agency a class has been formed to receive instructions in the sign language,
to meet weekly, with Dan Tucker as
instructor.
—The Cherokej Nation have a jail,
but think it is not good enough and
are agitating for a new one. Believing that if they improved the prison it
will improve the prisoners.
—A bill has been introduced in Con-
gresss for another bridge across the
Niobrara river ou the route from
O'Neil to Ft. Randall. Eight thousand
dollars is the sum named.
—The white settlers about Sisseton
Reservation hold a mass meeting at
Webster, March 11, to devise means
for securing the opening of the reservation. We wonder if they propose
to ask the owners about it.