The Word Carrier of Santee Normal Training School (Santee, Nebraska), 1912-05 - 1912-06

              The Word Carrier.
of Santee Normal Training School.
VOLUME XLI
HELPING THE  BIGHT, EXPOSING THE WRONG.
NUMBER  3
SANTEE, NEBRASKA.
MAY-JUNE, 1912
THIRTY CENTS PER YEAR
Our   Platform
For Indians we want American Education! We want
.American Homes! We want American Rights! The rsult
of which is American Citizenship! And the Gospel is the
Power of God for their Salvation !
A Non-Moral Civilization
The breakdown in the Government's efforts
for the civilization of the Indian results from
the fact that it is so predominantly non-moral.
For instance look over Commissioner Valentine's pi-ogram of work laid out for the whole
Indian service, and see, while it is admirable
in many particulars it is purely physical and
does not even allude to moral regeneration.
"Health and industry" are ends to be sought,
but there can be neither while the old savage
and heathen life is fostered. The Indian Office
and the Secretary of the Interior favor the
Wild West shows which take scores of the best
Ii dian young men, break down all ideals and
habits of industry they may have gained, and
rtiurn them to their agencies physical wrecks.
Recently animal agricultural fairs have been
esiablished on a number of the reservations,
an altogether laudable movement. But they
have been allowed to become mere Indian pow-
w ws aud dances, with no civilizing or industry il influence whatever. At Standing Rock
Agency it is reported that the Indians have
al ady in hand four thousand dollars for a
grind celebration of savagery at the coming
Soitember Fair. At Cheyenne River Agency
th y are moving to the same end. At Santee
Ai/enoy the superintendent is doing his best
to restrain the old Indian element, but in other cases that we know of, the United States
Indian Agent is leading bis people on in the
road to destruction. One Indian Agent, when
an Indian pastor appealed to him to* check
th Indian dances that were doing so much
to lireak down the industry and mox-als of the
pi•■■iple, replied that he would not, because he
wanted his Indians to have a good time.
When there is such lack of moral discern-
mint ou the part of those in authority, how
can it be expected that the Indians will make
any progress in civilization. No doubt the
Commissioner deplores the results, but he furnishes no corrective for it. Many of his subordinates in the field will post his circular on
their office walls and go their own ways, nullifying all nis fine sentiments.
The struggle between Christianity and paganism is severe enough on an Indian reservation, without having the official influence of
these in authority thrown on the side of pa
ganism. The christian party has a right to
expect the very reverse of that. Not because
they are christian but because they alone stand
for the principles of the new civilized life.
Others accept to a limited extent its outward
forms but they are utterly opposed to its principles. They believe in ''Indian glory," in
the "Give away" and in all things that perpetuate the "Indian." And they do not believe in work, frugality and individual independence.
The Santee School
Santee Normal Training School is the center
of the American Missionary Association ludian
Missions. Other mission schools are feeders
to Santee which draws its pupils from nearly
all the American Missionary Association Indian
mission fields, and from the more promising
Indian young people of the mission fields of
other denominations. Santee pupils come from
the Santee Sioux, and the Winnebagoes of
Nebraska, the Yankton and Titon Sioux of
North and South Daketa, the Mandans and
Rees of North Dakota, the Crows of Montana,
-and the Comanches of Oklahoma.
The school year now closing has been in
Wany respects one of the best of all the forty-
two years of Santee. Santee has had more
older boys and young men. And these pupils
have been of better quality thau usual. Another advance has been in the payment of
tuition. The Government schools offer everything free; traveling expenses all paid, food
all free, clothing all furnished, and parents
even paid to transport their own cnildrsn to
the Government schools. Therefore it indicates great appreciation of the Indian people for christian education when in order to
attend a mission school they must pay all
traveling expenses, (twenty per cent of them
thirty dollars per pupil for railroad fare),
furnish their own clothing, and pay as much
as they can for board and tuition. The payment of tuition is on a sliding scale. A few
pay what according to the plan of one of our
eastern universities is called "full voluntary
tuition", which at Santee is seventy-five dollars a year. Others are required to pay lesser
amounts, according to their resources, on down
to a minimum of twelve dollars for the school
year.
The attendance at Santee during the year
now closed has been one hundred forty-nine
boarding and day pupils, and two hundred
twenty-three correspondence students. Fi-ve
courses of Bible study are given by corre-
spondence to Indian men aud women all over the
northwest: North and South Dakota, Montana,
and a few in Canada. Tbe students in this
department are mostly native preachers and
missionary helpers, or those px-eparing to be
such. They are connected with Presbyterian
as well as Congregational missions; some also
are Episcopalian.
About fifteen hundred pupils have gone out
from Santee, and with very few exceptions
these ax-e known as the very best "returned
students." Santee students are especially commended everywhere for their chx-istian character, and for their thrift and industry. The
aim of Santee is to prepare Indian youth to
be all-round leaders of their people. Many
Santee students become teachex-s and preachers but the main effox-t of the school is to pre-
pare them for leadership by becoming industrious christian citizens.
Santee industrial training is a preparation
for intelligent ranch life, the life the Indians
are for the most part destined to live. The
school day is given half to academic teaching
and half to industrial, and the pupils are arranged in two divisions so there is a continuous performance in the industx-ial department
with alternating divisions, of pupils. Sewing
is systematically taught in all grades; cooking and laundry from the fourth grade up;
wood work leading to carpentry and elementai-y
cabinet making, from fourth grade up ; black-
smithiug or forge work from the fifth gx-ade
up; printing and book binding from the fourth
grade up. Many of our boys have become
government mechanics. Several have become
printers in the small newspaper offices of new
western towns. But the printing department
is valuable mostly for its training in language and composition, and for the extension
of Indian missionary work through numerous
publications. Two monthly newspapers are
printed, one in English and one in the Dakota Indiau language. The Santee school printing office also does some miscellaneous job
printing and considerable book biuding.
The aim of Sautee agricultural teaching is
to prepare pupils to do intelligently only the
kind of agrieultui-e that they can do and should
do at their own homes.
Now that the purposes for which Santee has
struggled for forty years are being attained,
minor hindrances should not be allowed to delay the successful results. La?t summer our
potato ci-op failed and put us several hundred
dollai-s belxind.     We   have   had unusual  ex
pense for fuel during the severe winter just
past. Our school herd had grown till it was
supplying all our beef, but a very unusual aud
unpreventable disease appeared and reduced
our beef supply seventy-five per cent. The
Missouri flooded our hay lands aud buried them
in sand so that we have to lease meadow land.
The wooden school buildings are becoming old
and for several years there has been inadequate
means for repairs. On account of all these
coutingences Santee now needs $2,500 to set
it square. F. B. Riggs.
Commissioner Valentine's Program
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs has issued the following cix-cular to every one in the
the Indian service:
TO  KVERY  INDIAN AND  TO  EVERY
INDIAN   SERVICE  EMPLOYEE.
OUK TASK :
60,000 Indian families; 72,000,000 acres;
$780,000,000 propertv. Average to each family: 1,200 acres; $10,000 plus.
1. Inform ourselves of every case whex-e a
family has no means or inadequate means for
a start.
2. Reform allotment work to the family
basis.
3. Leave no stone unturned to get every
family sanitarily housed.    Fresh air.
4. Take immediate emergency measures to
greatly i-educe infant mortality. Save the
babies.
5. Improve the food supply: quantity and
quality.
6. Establish industrial loan funds so that
every family may have at once adequate tools.
7. Start voluntary Indian home improvement organizations among Indian women, to
supplement the work of field matrons. There
should be more appeal to Indian women to help
their race.
8. Push industrial training in every Indian
school.
9. In every school rigidly segregate children
with trachoma, tuberculosis, or any other infectious disease, and run the school in compartments, no matter at what loss to the scholastic work.
10. Bi-ing at the earliest possible date all
the Indians' property holdings to bear on behalf of our two aims—Health and Industry.
11. Cooperate with State authorities iu every
practicable way.
123 We can accomplish these ends only if
we seek in every way the help of the Indians
tliemselves. R. G. Valentine,
Commissioner.
Why an  Indian Joined the Y.  M. C. A.
Wolf Point, Mont. Three young men joined
the Y. M. C A., Ike Blunt, George Long, Sam
Nicholas. They each talked and then they were
received into membership. One of them said
my son is in a Christian school. He said to
me: Father they are teaching me good lessons so you also ought to be in the good way.
So 1 heard my son's voice and am doing accordingly.
The Owl River Society
In our Dakota Indian newspaper, named
the Iapi Oaye (translated Word Carrier) the
standard items of church ueM-s are the records
of church and missionax-y society elections.
Owl River women's missionary sewing society
recently reorganized. The' following were the
officers elected: Martha Redeagle president,
Lucy Makestheday vice president, Mary Dupree secretary, Medith Bravethunder treasurer,
Louise Corn sewing manager, Emma Nation-
woman and Nora Bluecloud collectors for the
sick.