The Word Carrier of Santee Normal Training School (Santee, Nebraska), 1911-11 - 1911-12

              the Word Carrier
OF
SANTEE NORMAL TRAINING SCHOOL.
VOLUME XL
HELPING THE RIGHT, EXPOSING THE WRONG.
NUMBER  6
SANTEE, NEBRASKA.
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1911
THIRTY CENTS PER YEAR
Our   Platform
for Indians we want American Education! We want
American Homes! We want American Rights! The r:sult
0fwhich is American Citizenship! And the Gospel is the
Power of God for their Salvation !
Tli
who
son
Sout
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Cam
Colb
1880
to V
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Alas
We ■
that
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Bis!.
Bishop Peter Trimble Rowe
(! Rt. Rev. Peter Trimble Rowe, D. D.,
has been elected to succeed Bishop Jokn-
in the Episcopal missionary district of
h Dakota, is a clergyman of wide and var-
xperience. He was born at Meadowville,
da, Nov. 20,1856; graduated at Trinity
•ge, 1880, entered the priesthood Nov. 14,
: missionary to Garden River, Ont., 1878
^2, then rector at Sault St Marie; combiner public schools, Chippeway County,
.,'1891 to 1895; missionary bishop of
;a, Nov. 30, 1895 to the present time,
velcome him to this Indian field, and trust
our interdenominational relations may
nue to be as happy as they have beeu with
>p Hare and Johnson.
Early Days at Santee.
Twenty miles or more, up the river from
Santee, lived our neighbors, the Ponca Indians.
The\ were a quiet, harmless people, but had
never made much advancement, probably owing
to the fact that they had been left to themselves.
Some of them spoke Dakota, and came sometimes to call in a friendly way upon Zitkadanwaste. One day we heard that they were havmg
some political difficulties and were coining to
have a council with Zitkadanwaste. This bit
of news created quite a stir in tbe mission
home; for well we knew an important feature
of eouncil, from a Ponea's point of view,
would be the "eating."
A beautiful Indian summer day it was, when
along toward noon, tall, swarthy Ponca ineu
began to walk with stately dignified tread into
our sitting room; all in full ludiau costume!
bui how many does it take to make a council,
we began to wonder. Every chair was occupied
but there was still space ou the floor, where
they graciously sat, silent and meditatively.
The children made a hasty retreat to the
kitchen, wistfully looking back to see if they
were being followed.
The first thing on the program was the serving of coffee and sandwiches, which disappeared so fast that the teakettle failed to supply
the- reuewed infusion quite as often as desirable, and so the passing of large, broad pieces
of ginger bread speedily followed to keep the
guests busy till more and more coffee could be
made. How slow the teakettle was to respond
wheu we saw the cups lifted here and there
around the circle as a signal that more coffee
was desired. All that time not a word was
spoken by our guests, only now and then an
appreciative grunt expressed approval.
Finally the gingerbread was a minus quantity—what could we do! Our guests did not yet
look satisfied, aud we realized that our most liberal provision had fallen short of their capacity.
We looked despairingly at the empty platters
and trays, when happily we discovered considerable bread in the bread-box ! Hastily we cut
thick broad slices, buttered them, seized the
molasses jug and poured. Really! that was
the crowuing dish for looks, and the manner
of disappearance confirmed the fact.
Next in order came the customary "smoke",
and at a signal from Zitkadanwaste. they all
filed out and sat on the ground. Handsomely
decorated long stemmed pipes were brought
from under their blankets and soon the odor of
kinnekinnic filled the air, and every Ponca
looked contented as he puffed and squinted with
thorough approval of the occasion.
The council was lengthy, but quite satisfactory, and by night fall, every Ponca was far on
his way home.
As the years went on, we found it difficult to
supply ourselves with water for our needs in
various ways. We could not store away enough
ram water because our rains were not abundant,
and our dry seasons were long. To haul water
from the river, enough to supply the need, was
next to impossible; it would take some one. and
the old white oxen all the time; so something
must be done—we could not afford to dry up
and blow away.
Finally we concluded to utilize the wind, for
w had a plenty of that element,—we would
dig a well, and if we should be fortunate e-
nough to find water, we would get a windmill
and set it to work. In order to make the distribution of water most effectual, the hill just
back of the mission building was the site chosen. Well diggers were hired, and the work
went forward, but it was a long, tedious job—
the old fashioned well digging. Reliable careful workmen were not to be found, we discovered by sad experience; for one day through
carelessness, tbe great bucket fell on the man
who was digging many feet below.
He had a narrow escape, and all work was :
brought to a stand, till the man recovered and j
pluckily went to work again !    At the depth of
sixty feet water came, though we hardly expected to find it so soon.    The well was stoned
up with boulders gathered on the hills back of |
the mission.    At first we used a pump, and at
was hard work, also the water was hard—hard
all around.    As  soon  as we had the means,
about two years later, we bought a windmill
and build a well house, also a tank; thus the
distribution  of  water was greatly facilitated.
What a blessing that well proved to be in this
dry and thirsty land.
During those spring days when we began
the well, a little sou came to the mission home
to stay. We named him Stephen Williamson,
after the two grandfathers of the mission—an
honorable name.
One important item in our fall work always,
was making the firebreaks, lest some day or
some night the fires would come swooping over
the hills devouring every thing iu their way.
We were always able to ward off the danger
by ploughing all around the mission premises
good broad foroughs,also around the cemetery.
Then what lively work it made when the fires
came, to beat them back if they over-leaped
their limit. At those times water was taken
in barrels to the scene ot action with which to
keep the gunny sacks wet. "Blessed be the
well" we would say. Those were exciting times
for every one; a prairie fire driven by a high
changeable iviud is no trifling matter, even
though it is a thing grand and fascinating to
look upon
An important phase of civilization and advancement, which promised to be a help to us,
was the building of the Milwaukee aud St.
Paul railroad from Marion Junction to Springfield, and on to Running Water, with the intention of crossing by ferry to Niobrara. What
a wonderful event that was, and how glad we
were to hear a good, lively railroad  whistle!
During those years of strenuous work, vacations were not much dreamed of, or if they
were, the realization did not materialize. For
several years Zitkadanwaste had hoped to visit
the site of the old mission at Lacquiparle, his
birth place. It was in the fall of 1880 when
returning from the mission conference at Good
Will, he determined to make the extra trip
around. He was able to locate the site of the log
honse. He said "On the top of the hill, tw.>
cottonwoods grow out of our old cellar. The
smaller piece of the old hearth stone which we
used as a doorstep is gone. But the larger stone
still remained at the foot of the hill. An old
Frenchman has a cabin on the place where Dr.
Williamson's house stood. A thicket of bushes, mostly plums, covers a good part of the old
Huggins house plot and the old church. The
road to the bridge over the Minnesota passes
over where the old mill stood. The bridge
stands just above the big stones.
The. most natural place of all was the little
brook. Every nook aud shallow, every path
and almost the very bushes seemed the same.
Of course the scale is smaller thau it seemed
when I was a boy—except the water path up
that steep hillside, from the spring up to our
house on the bill—that seemed even more steep
and loug than it used to be.
All the land around there, a whole section,
is owned by James Oleson, who lives just below old Fort Renville. We rode up to see him
to ask about the stone, when he found out who
I was he said "ycu ought to have it". He had
before, sold it to a man for two dollars, but
for some reason (probably the size appalled
him) he backed out. But Mr. Oleson insisted
upon giving it to me ; and he said he would get
the threshing gang, when they came in at noon,
to load it on bis wagon and bring it to the depot. This he did, giving the whole afternoon
to it free, team and all, except that I paid four
dollars for the detention of the threshers.
The stone came to the depot in the afternoon, and after much labor, we got it unloaded
onto the depot platform. Indeed, we bad quite
a bee of townspeople, and I had to tell them
the story of the stone and of the mission. It
weighs about 1,700 pounds, and the freight
cost thirteen dollars and forty cents.
This "Dakota Mission Hearth Stone" is to
find a place in one of the Santee Mission buildings as a Memorial Tablet."
The bringing of the Hearth Stone to Santee,
was quite an undertaking; it had to wait a
couple of months at the Springfield depot until
the ice bridge was good and strong across the
Missouri. Where the stone should be placed,
we were uot long iu deciding, for it seemed
quite natural that below our north gable, in
front of Zitkadanwaste's study windows, would
be the place.
It was a bright, crisp day when the stone
made its appearance, and we all bundled up
and went out to see it. When we were sure
that the quaint souvenir of early missionary
days was evenly and well laid, the children
had a fine time skipping over it while their father told them how when a child he fed tbe
kitties milk in the two saucer-like holes.
But the anticipation of having a suitable
building in which the stone could be placed as
a Memorial Tablet, never has been realized.
Mary B. Riggs.
CONTINUED.
An Indian Paper on Indian Progress
Not since the uufortuuate Messiah craze,
which was at its height in 1890 lias such marked progress been seen among the Indians. As
a rule, the people are making a large and wise
use of the means at their command iu the improvement and cultivation of their allotments.
A large number of new dwellings, barns a"nd
outbuildings has been and is being constructed ;
a greater number of the able-bodied Indians
are cultivating the soil, larger areas are being
planted, better farming methods are being used and cleaner cultivation is being done than
at any time heretofore. Nearly every family
has its patch of potatoes and its vegetable garden, its live-stock and poultry. The corn fields
and gardens are clean and free from weeds.
The premises about tbe dwellings are usually
clean and sanitary. Many of the housewives
have clean and tidy homes.
The present year has seen a moral uplift and
a development in spiritual growth that cannot
but be highly gratifying to our Indian people
and their friends. There has been a decrease
in the use of liquor and in gambling. Individual Indians whom it was not believed would
ever devote themselves to industry, have put
behind them whiskey and cards, idleness and
sloth, and are making an honest effort to earn
a living for themselves and families.—Darlington, Oklo., Carrier Pigeon.