The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1887-07

              DHBK
THE WORD CARRIER.
NEW SERIES,   VOL. IV.   NO.   VII.
Helping the Right, Exposing the Wrong.
PUBLISHi:I)   FOR   THE   DAKOTA    MISSION
Santee Agency, Nebraska.
JULY, 1887.
Fifty Cents a Year.
Our Platform.
For Indians ave want American
Education! We aa'ant American
Homes! We want American Rights!
The result of which is American
Citizenship.
%\}\£ Wlm>:& Carrier
IS PUBLISHED  Foil
THE DAKOTA MISSION,
in the iuterest ot schools and missions among
the Indians, with  special reference
to the Avork of the
Santee Normal Training School
A. L_. RIGGS,
KDI'I'OB AND   PUBIjISHRR
Santee Agency, Neb,
« . m ■ >
Terms—One copy $    .50
Five copies      2.00
Ten copies     3.00
[Entered at the Santee Agency Post office
as second class matter. 1
// has come! The government has
begun its work of breaking up missionary work among the Indians. In
our June number Ave noticed
semi - official proclamation of
laAv that all Indian pupils
school age belong to the
lish    government   school   and
the
the
of
Eng-
can-
not be alloAved to attend the missionary school near by Avhere Dakota
is taught. This rule is now being
carried into thorough operation at
Poplar Creek, Montana, by the United States Indian agent. All scholars are taken aAvay from the Presbyterian mission schools and impressed
into the government school, Avhere
are crowded twice as many as the
building Avill properly accommodate.
The mission schools are closed, and
a part, if not all, of the missionaries
Avill be withdrawn.
The Dakota Bible is under the
government ban. An official order
promulgated at Standing Bock Agency, D. T., prohibits the use of the
Dakota language in the missionary
schools, although the government
may not contribute a cent to their
support. The same order, it is understood, is in the hands of the United States agent at Cheyenne Biver
Agency. We have ten such out-station schools within the bounds of
these tAvo agencies, supported entirely by missionary money, for evangelistic Avork. To prohibit the use
of the Dakota language is to break
up the schools and prevent any further introduction of the Dakota Bible
to the Dakota people.
It is not to be supposed that the
government has intentionally entered
upon a crusade against missions.
The difficulty is that it has no intelligent idea of the principles upon
which missions must work, if they
work at all. Nor has it any intelligent idea of how the civilization of
the Indian is to be secured. It is so
bent upon giving the Indian an English veneer that it cannot abide any
effort to implant the spiritual motives
by which alone education and ciA'il-
ization can be advanced and maintained.
Santee  Notes.
Our teachers are, as usual, scattered far and wide, seeking rest and
recreation.
Miss H. E. Haynes is at home,
Townsend Harbor, Mass.
Miss Julia E. Pratt made a short
visit to friends in Minneapolis, then
went home to Essex, Conn.
Mrs. Wood is at Spirit Lake, Iowa.
Miss Kennedy, at Montrose,  loAva.
Miss H. B. llsley is spending a
feAv Aveeks Avith Mrs. C. L. Hall {nee
Miss Susan AA7ebb), at Fort Berthold,
Dak.
Miss L. H. Douglass is at Minneapolis and the lakes near there.
Mr. McFarland has gone to Oahe,
Dak.
A camping party, consisting of Mr.
and Mrs. C. W. Shelton, Mrs. Wood,
Miss Kennedy, Miss Pratt, Miss
AVorden, Eugenia LaMoore, Mr. J.
A. Chadbourne and Mr. J. S. McFarland, spent a most delightful Aveek
A'isiting Ponca Agency and Yankton
Agency, Dakota. The success of the
trip is largely due to Mr. Shelton
Avho always knew just what to do and
Iioav to do it. The days and nights
were full of interesting experiences
Avith Dakota thunder storms, wolves,
mosquitoes, and last (but whether
least or not the reader may judge)
we aAvoke one morning at two o'clock
to find that both teams had decamped, dragging their picket ropes after.
A valuable saddle pony stayed by us,
and thus after considerable searching the others were recovered.
Mr. and Mrs. Almon Stone, of
Phillipston, Mass., have lately arrived at Santee. Mr. Stone fills the
position of farm superintendent.
School exhibition next Friday evening, and retain them until now in
hopes 1 could fill the box Avith my
family, but it is iioav demonstrated
that they cannot possibly attend.
I assure you that 1 A\ish you and
all who are striving to save the remnants of the Indian race all honor,
and all success, but it seems like trying to stop the tides of the ocean
Avith brooms. The sooner these Indians are absorbed into the prevailing
race the sooner Avill be solved the In-
nian question which has bothered the
brains and commanded the sympathies of humanity forages long before
Ave Avere born.
Thanking you for remembering me
in this connection.
I am sincerely your friend,
' W. T. Sherman.
Gen. Sherman Goes Back on  His
Good Indian.
The country has made active use
of the aphorism "The only good Indian is the dead Indian," and the notoriety of having originated it is about
equally divided between General
Sherman and General Sheridan.
During a recent pleasant evening
with the hero of the "Atlanta Campaign," and "The March to the Sea,"
he related many A'ivid Indian experiences, and in answer to the question
as to Avhether he was author of the
famous expression, he replied "No !
that remark Avas made before Ave Avere
born. It is an old catch like 'Headquarters in the saddle' and comes
from so far back, nobody knows its
origin." AVe invited him to our
Academy meeting. His reply declining contains the quintescence of the
principle that has animated all our
efforts from the beginning. This fact,
together Avith the good will of the letter, leads us to publish it.
5th Anenue Hotel, Neav York,
Feb. 1, 1887
Capt. K. H. Pratt, U. S. A.
266 Madison Ave.
Dear Capt:—I received promptly
your kind letter of the 28 ult. Avith
tickets for the box at the Academy of
Music on the occasion of your Indian
OUR CLOSING NXERCISES.
The Primary Department.
That the morning of Friday, the
24th, Avas cold and grey, did not
damp the ardor of the little ones.
As they gathered in the chapel, it
Avas evident that they Avere laboring
under an unusual excitement, causing a perceptable flutter of—apron
strings. Their aprons really have
no strings, but the usual accompaniment of ribbons on such an occasion
was also wanting, and Ave must have
a flutter of something. They cast
many glances of admiration at their
teacher, avIio, Avith a keen insight
into child nature, had arrayed herself in holiday attire, in honor of this
festive occasios. AVe wondered if
we must suppress our own admiration, and felt again the little twinge
of envy one so often feels concerning
the children, because they are allowed to act out their emotions Avith
no danger of being thought—anything they ought not to be.
Miss Leonard, Avith her assistants,
Mr. Garvie, and Miss Jennie Cox,
conducted the recitatoins. Classes in
Arithmetic and Language, concert
recitations, and rate singing, closing
Avith a gymnastic exercise occupied
the time. This last Avith Miss Leonard at the piano, Miss Cox in command, and little Cora Eastman
leading, was perfect. TAventy-eight
little people Avith their tiny dumbbells made a picture any teacher
might Avill be proud of. The children Avere then excused, and some of
the Intermediate classes called.
Mrs. AVood's arithmetic class of eight
boys Avas the first. Practical examples in the use of the aliquot parts
of a dollar. The making and receipting of bills, showed us a careful drill
in the more practical part of intermediate Avritten work. Mrs. Wood
introduced this recitation by saying
that it Avas in no sense an examination, but simply a recitation. This
is true of all our public recitations.
They do not pretend to shoAv what a
scholar has learned, but to sIioav
what he is doing every day. They
are usually in the line of the greatest
advancement, and conducted like an
eA'ery day lesson.
Miss Ilsley's class in arithmetic
presented the very best recitation in
some respects ever heard at  Santee.
Best in a (dear explanation of processes involved, and a clear understanding of the same.
The afternoon was given up to the
little ones, and to Miss Ilsley's adult
primary class.
Monday Morning.
Monday Morning dawned fair and
cloudless. AVe believe this is the
appropriate newspaper phrase. As
we gathered in the chapel for oar
usual opening exercises, and joined
in singing "God is Love," Ave fell
sure that He is proving to be to this
people, in these happier days a God
of love, though it may seem to souk;
that He has been hiding his face
for a season.
Mr. Ohadbourne's adult primary
class, which has been in school only
since October, and thenknew uotone
Avord of English, was one of peculiar
interest. It would have been very
amusing to some while young people
to see two great girls struggling t< > find
out how much seven oranges would
cost at fiA'e cents each, but perhaps
they might have experienced the
same difficulty in finding out how
much mazaska it takes to buy
taspantanka srakowin at mazasha
zaptan a taspantanka.
A class in botany, five pupils from
the intermediate grade, conducted by
Miss Leonard followed. Some of
tlie big words vere almost to much
for the little tongues to handle, if Ave
may so speak, but they evidently understood what they Avere talking
about, though one bright little felkrw,
Avhen asked what he meant Avhen he
said of the leaf of the cotton-wood,
that the margin was round, and the
apex acute, did not look nearly so
animated, as when out of doors he
had held up a live snake by the tail
for us to look at.
Mrs. AVood's language class of
young men, conducted itself. That
is, one of its members read a
selection which was listened to and
reproduced by the class. The perfect English sentences would entertain our readers less than the
following, which are below the average in correctness.
"AVe get our silk from a little
creature called worm. The little
creature is green color. She lay
number of egg and then she died, and
they have never seen their children
and father."
"We get our silk from a silk worm.
Its changes the skin in four times
and the silk worm is fed with leaves
of mulberry tree. Its hatched an
egg, size an mustard seed."
Mr. Garvie's class of young men in
geography showed a general knowledge of the cities of the world that
was wonderful, considering the disadvantages they labor under.
Normal Training.
Each class of the afternoon
deserves special mention, but in its
Avide reaching influence perhaps
Miss Leonard's normal class of five
of our leading pupils is the most important. Both teachers and pupils
had made previous preparation for
this recitation. We Avere told that
no attempt was made to sIioav Avhat
these teachers could do with a  neAv
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