The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1901-04

              the Word Carrier.
VOLUME   XXX.
HELPING    THE    RIGHT,   EXPOSING   THE    WKONG.
XUMBER  4.
SANTEE, NEBEASKA.
APRIL, 1901.
FIFTY CENTS PEE YEAE.
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 ofOod for
their Salvation!
On the fourth page we give two efforts of our pupils in reporting the
stereopticon lectures of Mr. S. W.
Eiggs on The Growth of Church
Architecture in Europe. Two lectures were given in successive weeks,
and five days after the delivery of
the last lecture a prize was offered
for the two best reports of the lectures. So, without any expectation
of doing it, or the help of any notes,
these reports show quite well their
comprehension of the subject and
good memory to a degree highly
creditable. These two were the prize
reports.
It is always a pleasure to visit a
live school—where the teacher is
alive and the pupils are mentally
growning. It is not always easy,
however, to understand what is going on. It is very much as when
one goes into the woods on a summer day where the sense of life fills
the air, and one would, if possible,
discover its secret. Hence we are
glad to have Miss Smith tell the
readers of the Word Carrier of the
work and purpose in our Santee
primary department.
MY HORSES.
A man's horse is often more than
a kingdom, a comrade and friend;
and no man has had better friends
and truer comrades than my horses
have been to me.
First of these was Ralph, a clean
limbed Spanish horse, coming up
from Texas and doubtless of Arabian stock, a rich red sorrel marked in forehead and nose, with a
finely chiseled head, clear honest
eyes and full nostrils, a flat leg, and
muscles that shewed powers and
blood. As a mate to him I first had a
fleebitten gray, not in any way
remarkable; then there was a vicious
sorrel: both of these were from Texas
and came up as did Ealph over the
great cattle trail of years gone by,
and then there was Nolan, an honest
plodder that did good work. "Ealph
and Nolan" will be remembered
many years. It was to lullaby of
song and story, in which these two
had large place, that the boy often
went to sleep as we drove over the
never ending prairie roads. Ealph
survived them all and finally died
full of years and honors.
Next came other horses of no
note till the advent of the Baldies—
Sam and Baldy—both white faced,
one a chestnut sorrel and the other a
bay. The bay had been caught from
the great herds of wild horses of the
middle southwest. The sorrel was
Indian bred and was a noted runner. To this day he is spoken of
among the Indians by those who saw
him win against the best horses of
all the western Sioux. He was famous also as a buffalo runner, wise
and careful. No fool of a rider could
run him in front of a fleeing buffalo
nor directly in the rear. He would
take position a little back of the
flank and with one eye on the game
and the other t o the ground, running strongly and well held togeth
er, he would without any guidance
keep that position to the finish.
His grave was the Missouri river.
Harnessed withatemporaymate and
starting on a missionary tour, the
ice broke and the team passed out
of sight.
A tragic end came to Baldy also,
for after many years of rest from
service and only a year or two ago
the river quick sands claimed him
and hewas drowned while in pasture.
The Baldies were horses of wonderful endurance and nerve. I once
drove them three hundred miles in
three consecutive days. Often they
covered eighty-five miles between
sun and sun, and I once drove them
one hundred and fifteen miles, twenty miles of which was over heavy
road, with but three short stops between 8 o' clock and midnight of the
same day—and then lay down in the
mud with a cold rain falling till morning. They served me for twelve
years and carried me over thousands of miles. Nothing could be
asked of them that they were not
willing to try and very rarely did
they fail. Once in early spring,
camping after dark at the end of a
long weary day, one of them in going to water slipped over the muddy bank and down into deep water
from which he could not recover. I
went in with him to help him out.
There was no secure footing and
every trial resulted in his sliding
back into the deep water where he
would swim around a bit and then
come to my call for another
effort. An Indian suggested that
the lower end of the wash-out might
be open,and so I ranalongthe bank
whistling the horse to follow: he did
so, swimming like a beaver for some
twenty rods to the end, where sure
enough it was easy to come out.
I put the most of my bedding on
him and worked over him till the
morning stars came out and sang
together with me of victory.
After the Baldies we had Gagool and
Twala—we were reading Haggard—
a beautiful little pair but, like those
whose names they bore, wicked
and fiendish, and they were soon
supplanted, being followed by the
Blacks which I still have. These now
are growing old and have well earn-
| ed the rest in store for them. To
tell of their good points and years
of service would take many pages
and then the half would not be told,
besides, this is another story. We
were reading Ben Hue and named
them Antares and Aldebaran—stars
both of them ! It has been a never
failing pleasure to own and care for
as well as drive them. There are but
few places on our western Sioux reservations where they have not taken
me. Under burning suns and in
blinding storms they have never failed me. Never man had comrades
more loyal and true.        T. L. E.
ested in getting helps for it. This
course of study was arranged
in the first place for the young
men who are our native teachers, and until a few weeks ago 1 have
only heard of one of the Indian
women who had begun it. I know
now also of two cases in which a
young husband and wife are taking
it up together.
It is a new thing among the Indian people forthosewho arethrough
school to be pursuing a course of
study at home. If they can keep it
up, it will be a grand thing, for per-
severence is one of the qualities in
which they most often fail. We were
glad that two of our young men
took up last year the Bible Marksmen's course in the Christian Endeavor World, and peisevered to the
end.
The young men of Whitney Hall
are showing that they want to have
good bibles of their own. We always have a number of new students at the beginning of the year.
This year, when school opened ten
of the twenty-two young men had no
bible. Now every one has his own
bible. Five of them bought their
own very soon, and one received his
from his father. The others had
small bibles given them at Christmas.
Every Saturday evening there is
an hour for study of the Sunday-school lesson. The boys have
seemed interested all the year,
and several weeks ago some
of them asked to have two classes
formed, one to study in English
and one in Dakota. The Dakota
class is led by one of the more advanced of their own number. They
ali bring their bibles and seem
interested. Some of them spend
a good deal of time on their Sunday-school lesson every week, and
make considerable use of commentaries and lesson helps.       E. L.
FIELD NOTES.
BIBLE STUDY AMONG THE INDIANS.
Last Saturday I had a little visit
that gave me pleasure. It was a call
from a young Indian woman who
was one of our school girls ten years
ago, and is now the mother of three
little children.
She came to ask me if I had any
bible geography or bible maps to
lend her. She has just begun the
course of study of our Santee Correspondence School, and was inter-
Eev. T. L. Eiggs, missionary
superintendent in the Cheyenne
Eiver district, has just returned from
a five weeks round, throughout his
own field and then beyond into the
parishes of Miss Collins and G. W.
Eeed, at Grand Eiver, Standing
Rock and Cannon Ball. As one of
the board of directors and the treasurer of the Dakota Native missionary Society, he has been visiting the
Indian missionaries of that Society.
The new chapel built at the mouth
of Oak Creek, in the Grand River
district, which we call Miss Lord's
Chapel, is a beauty, and strong as
a rock. As the work of building it
was in Eev. G. W. Eeed's hands
before the divison of his field, he
has gone on to complete it. In
looking after it he has had to travel
a thousand miles and spent thirty-
five days. This illustrates the difficulty of doing things in the Indian
country.
Miss Collins gives us one day's
journal. "Yesterday morning went
to a house of mourning. Then went
in an opposite direction six miles
to Little Oak to hold a service, and
bacK home and held English service.
That was followed by a funeral.
It is a fine spring. The larks are
singing. The blue birds appeared
more than a ^eek ago"—Written
April 1:
JOSIE MANUELITO.
Josie Manuelito was given that
name when she entered school because she was the granddaughter
of the last Navajo chief, who was
one of the truest and best Indians
that ever lived until he learned
from the traders and other white
"friends" to love that drink which
seemed to destroy his very soul.
When Josie was ready to enter the
high school, her family, realizing
that she was long past the age at
which most of their girls marry,
kept her at home, and soon received
from a good natured, partly
educated, but not morally strong
young man, a large number of
horses in exchange for this young
woman who could sew and cook.
She took him to her home which
was crowded already, but she found
a place for another sheep skin at
night, and room for one more to
sit around the fire as they ate what
Josie could prepare in that rude
way. Her ability to cook and sew had
raised her commercial value in the
eyes of those who wished to profit
by it in their old way of cooking
without stoves, or in the Navajo
dress, the. principle part of which
is a gay blanket. What had she received from her education which
was true and lasting and would lift
her above her people ? What could
she give to them ?
She could talk English, but to
whom ? The traders, as she went
to buy sugar and flour or to sell
blankets? But they understood
enough Navajo for that. She could
read, but she seldom if ever saw. a
book. Her knowledge had broadened her ideas of life, but those about
could not understand that, so why
tell them that their opinions of the
world, its size, shape and occupants
was wrong? No, it was better to
keep still and not puzzle them
about such things. But how hard
it was at times to sit and make
blankets all day when it would
have been so pleasant to be with
those old school friends and to
read and study more. Surely those
who had stayed at home were more
industrious and more happy.
Why was it? Why had Josie received nothing which she could hand
on to others ? Surely her training
had not been of the deepest kind.
She had not learned the message of
God's love which her people are
waiting anxiously to hear. When
they ask her about these things
she can say nothing. Yes, she
had heard of them, but she does
not understand them, they are not
part of her life, and she h&snothing
to give to her people which will satisfy the longings in their hearts.
Why must this be ? Why cannot
our Indian children be taught to
seek first of all the Kingdom of God ?
When we who know of the Father
and think we are following Him
realize more fully what that should
mean we will not hesitate so long
before we send Christian teachers
to the Indians. When we hear of
hundreds of young people who like
Josie Manuelito are returning to
their homes from the government
schools throughout this country
with no message for their people we
will think carefully and see if we
are not to blame that such conditions exist. E. M. D.