The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1902-01 - 1902-02

              the Word Carrier.
VOLUME    XXXI.
HELPING-   THE   RIGHT.   EXPOSING    THE    WRONG.
NUMB KB  1.
SANTEE, NEBRASKA.
JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1902.
FIFTY CENTS PER YEAE.
our platform.
For Indians we want American Ed-
mcation!     We want American Homes!
We want American Rights!    The result of which is American Citizenship!
And the gospel is the Power of God for
Uheir Salvation!
OUR  CHIJKCH   MEETING.
For several years past, the Pilgrim church at Santee has made
much of the annual church meet-
ling, which occurs on the Saturday
before the first Sunday of the year.
We have found these occasions very
pleasant, and would not now be willing to give them up.
Although this is especially a gathering of the members of Pilgrim
church, yet all members of other
' churches who worship with us are
I invited. So one thing that has to
be done before, is to find out which
of the school boys and girls are members of other churches, and invite
them.
The usual Saturday cleaning and
I bathing have  to be finished early
on this day. Then sandwiches have
I to be made, and  dishes carried to
the chapel, so it makes a busy fore-
I noon. At eleven o'clock, the service
begins. The  boys   and  girls,   and
% teachers gather with some  of the
Indian   people from outside.   But
many of the people come from quite
a distance, and for an  hour, they
come dropping in. There are many
little children with the fathers  and
mothers, for all too young for school
Mbave to come.
'   There is first a devotional service
I preparatory to the Lord's supper,
which is observed on the next day.
'.'This is followed   by the choice of
. church officers. The  election is  an
event of great interest, aud is done
.   entirely by ballot. Some of the old
women can not write, and  have to
ask the school teachers to write the
names, but they are much interested, neveitheless.    One of the white
members of the church thought to
save time this year by moving that
one of the tellers  be instructed to
cast a ballot for the   same  three
deacons who served last year.   But
that would not do at all.   That way
of doing was not understood, and j
seemed   to  be   looked   upon with \
suspicion.     So   we   proceeded   to I
ballot in  the good  old  way   with
the  result   of   electing   the   three
deacons all the same.
At half-past twelve, there was an
intermission of an hour for lunch.
The young girls who are members
of the church serve as waiters, wearing the white caps and aprons that
they wear when waiting on the tables
in the dining-room. They look very
happy and full of business as they
go about, pouring coffee or carrying trays of sandwiches, cookies,
cake, and apples. This year, beside
the ham which was bought for sandwiches, we had seventeen rabbits,
which were brought in by some of
the Indian young men who went to
hunt them. - The Indian women also furnished ten chickens of their
own raising.
During the lunch, and after it,
there is a pleasant opportunity to
visit a little. The teachers try to
make use of their small vocabulary
of Dakota words, in being as soci
able as possible. We manage to
exchange a few sentences, and if we
cannot carry on a very edifying conversation, we can at least smile
on the children, and give our Indian neighbors a little goodnatured
amusement, by our poor attempts
to talk with them. Before two o'
clock, the lunch is cleared away,
and people are ready to hear the reports of church work for the year.
First, there is the treasurer's report ; then, reports from the Y. M.
C. A., the Christian Endeavor society,and the two Junior societies, and
the Mothers' Society of Christian
Endeavor. After these, there is a
report from Indian women's missionary society; then reports from
the Women's Missionary Union,
which is carried on by the white women of tbe church; from the girls'
missionary society; and one of a service held every Sunday at a school
house twenty miles away, among the
Poncas by Mr. Lawson, our printing
office superintendent.
This year, there was also a little
discussion as to how we could increase our contributions for missions
—especially for the native missionary society of the Indian churches,
which supports three Indians as native teachers and preachers. We
decided to make a special contribution for this object on the first Sabbath of each month. This plan
seems to have increased the interest
considerably.
Most of the people  stayed  and
listened with interest to the end.
Many  of the pupils of the school
who are not yet church members,
also showed their interest by being
j present.    We separated about four
j o'clock, somewhat tired by our long
l session, but all agreed that we had
| had a good day.
This way of emphasizing all the
branches of church work by a public
yearly report, seems to me, an excellent one. It makes the younger
members feel that they have a part
with the older ones. I think it has
increased our church loyalty, and
the interest of all in che different
branches of church work. I believe
there are many white churches
where a similar plan would be useful. E. L.
MISSIONARY CONTRIBUTIONS OF DAKOTA INDIAN CHURCHES.
The  Contributions of Congregational and Presbyterian  Churches
the   Dakota Mission  for their Native Missionary
Societies   during   Twenty-Five  Years—
Indian M issions for Indians.
IN
CONGREGATIONAL AND PRESBYTERIAN:
Year.
1876....
1877....
1878....
1879....
1880....
1881....
1882...
1883....
1884....
1885....
1886....
1887....
1888  ...
1889....
1890....
1891
1892....
1893....
1894 ...
Total.
Church
Contributions.
$234 52
139
217
227
232
237
380
378
398
473
459
387
424
411
424
518
658
598
516
Women's
Societies.
Little
Helpers.
Dakota
Y.M.C.A.
04
19
46
57
22
01
27
25
99
31
78
37
52
44
02
26
63
36
$204 82
212 79
278
337
325
419
531
583
629
648
572
642
863
824
1004
973
90
71
79
38
62
17
83
56
48
12
13
17
55
22
$5 37
5
16
10
5
20
9
11
22
00
60
36
76
35
84
05
45
$13
30
48
56
82
85
142
123
115
86
58
3
30
30
34
74
30
75
24
16
17
76
72
00
33 00
83 02
37 68
40 00
175 00
12 00
7,317 11  9,052 24  210 49  1,072 78
CONGREGATIONAL:
1895 	
1896	
1897	
1898	
1899	
1900	
1901 	
138
114
112
*180
141
204
199
24
99
77
00
99
90
91
507
802
688
*877
807
801
533
93
67
17
27
80
71
01
1 20
8 88
00
00
Total  1,092 80  5,018 56
120 88
138 80
86 53
*85 00
88 80
66 80
32 10
613 91
PRESBYTERIAN:
1895	
1896.	
1897 	
1898 	
1899	
1900	
1901	
*The total of this
apportionment has to
I 16 08    ^^^^
r's contributions is known, but tlie
ie estimated.
487
390
446
377
446
515
445
32
53
13
51
77
61
46
867
576
1101
907
1474
1096
1624
37
78
66
48
53
62
28
42
15
33
12
89
64
289
83
80
00
44
44
00
60
103
58
71
29
29
31
08
17
12
20
34 45
12 00
SANTEE MISSIONARY SOCIETIES
Starting out on a new calendar
year it may be of interest to both
our near neighbors and friends
farther away to get a general idea
fo what work has been done by the
different Santee missionary societies in 1901.
The Mothers' Meeting, or the Moth
ers' Society of Christian Endeavor
as it is also called, has met the second Saturday of each month in the
afternoon at the Boys Cottage. The
average attendance has been about
ten or eleven, sometimes there be-
Total    3,109 33      7,548 72       546 72       337 33
GRAND  TOTAL:
11,519 24     21,619 52       773 29    2,024 02
The membership of these churches has increased during the twenty-live
years as follows :
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH  MEMBERSHIP.
In 1876. 181 In 1901 882
PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  MEMBERSHIP.
In 1876 609 In 1901 1523     	
This division of contributions has been made for the purpose of comparing, (I.) the regular Sabbath contributions of the churches, (2) the
contributions of the women's missionary societies, and (3) of the Dakota
Y.M.C.A., for Indian missions to Indians. The contributions of the
girls' missionary societies have gone in with those of the women's societies. The Little Helpers and Endeavor Societies, having both boys and
girls in their membership, their contributions have a separate column.
Increase 701
Increase 914
It  was late in the fall before the
Dakota Home Girls Missionary so-
over at   the ciety was organized and so little of
their  Indian   fancy  work has yet
been done.    But that which is more
ing as many as twenty Indian women present and  sometimes  only        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
—'■  ' intheforenoonandspendingthe
five or six. The object of this meeting has been to bring the Inaian
mothers together to discuss questions which will be of benefit in their
home life. The president is elected
annually and conducts the devotional exercises at the opening of
each meeting. A list of birthdays
of the children in tbe homes of the
members is kept and they are remembered in prayer from month to
month.    Most of the time is given
to the questions taken up at one
meeting and  talked
next.
The Indian Women's Missionary       _
o- i Society has met every Wednesday,  important can already be seen: the
ly j the women usually coming togethei   girls have showed the greatest in-
A- I intheforenoonandspendingthe day. terest in the stories of Foreign Mis-
The last hour is given up to a sim- sion life which they have been read-
pie service led by one of the officers,  ing and talking over at each meet-
while the rest of the time is for sew-  ing.
ing. This sewing, from week to week On the second Tuesday of each
is always in preparation for the an- month the mission workers have
nal fair which this year was held spent an hour in Davis Hall parlors
December 20 in the chapel and rea- studying Home and Foreign Mis-
,_„.„„,    »T ,.      „.__.  g-on     rp^   yyomans'   Missionai'3
Union contributed $37.17 for other
mission work last year.    0. W. B.
lized $30.00 for Native "Missionary sion.    This   Womans'   Missionary
work.    The usual   attendance has
been from six to twelve.