The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1889-06 - 1889-07

              The Word Carrier.
VOLUME   XVIII.
SANTEE AGENCY, NEBRASKA.
OUR   PLATFORM.
For Indians we want American Eh-
cation! We want American Home,'
We want American Riglds! Tlie re
suit of whicli is American CUkenshipl
And the Gospel M the Power of God for
their Salvation. J
HELPING   THE   RIGHT,   EXPOSING   THE   WRONG.
M'MHHlts    (i-
An observing and thoughtful ner-
son recently said: "When I cam e
west, 1 heard a missionary say that
an Indian never had committed any
sort of infamous crime but that a
white man had been guilty of one
that would more than match it I
then thought that missionary was
cracked. But after further investigation, I thought him only extravagant. And now I believe he spoke
the literal truth. For years I have
been comparing red and white
devils. Their deviltries are alike
numerous, and the white man's
never less atrocious. The murder
of Dr. Cronin, in Chicago, with all its
horrible fiendishness, is but another
sample of the deeds that have been
so frequently enacted, not by untutored savages, but by citizens of
this enlightened republic, who dwell
in the very centers of Christian
culture.
JUNE-JULY, 1889.
FIFTY CENTS PER YEAR.
heartily endorsed its further plan
to begin gathering contributions
for building a house for the home
of its Superintendent. In presses
and type it now has an outfit that
has cost in cash $1,625.00 but Avhich
could not be replaced for less than
$2,500.00 to 3,000.00.
The great question always before
us is hoAv to meet the enlarged and
ever enlarging necessities of  the
field with our limited income and
the lack of funds in the treasury
of the A. M. A.   Hoav to make the
smallest amount go the farthest in
its effects, is the standing problem.
We acknowledge the tonic help
of the visit of the missionaries from
\ these other stations, and we trust
j that they too were sharers in the
1 benefits of the meeting.    This first
I visit, since her marriage, of Mrs.
I Susan  Webb  Hall,  formerly our
Miss Webb, was a great pleasure to
[ all our teachers and older pupils.
The next meeting of our Mission
Council is to be held at Oahe, S. D.
about the middle of next April.
ball. He strikes Avith a stick the
moccasin in which he supposes the
ball to lie. If his guess is correct
he takes the stone, his comrades become the hiders and bis opponents
the seekers; but, if he fails to indicate the place wherein the pebble
is hid, the hiders win some of the
counters, the number Avon depending on the position of the moccasin
struck and the position of the one
containing the stone. Thus each
party is always bound to win while
it holds the stone and ahvays bound
to lose while its opponents hold it.
INDIAN   AIISSION COUNCIL.
American Missionary Association.
The Annual Council of the Dakota Mission of the A. M. A. was held
at Santee, June 15-18.   There were
present the heads of the different
stations :   Thomas LaAvrence Riggs
from Oahe and all over the Sioux
Reservation;  James F. Cross from
Rosebud;   George W.  Reed from
Standing Rock;  Charles L. Hall,
with Mrs. Hall, from Fort Berthold;
and   Alfred   L.   Riggs of Santee.
The   general   sessions   were   also
participated in by the Avhole corps
of   teachers   of Santee Normal
Training School, and Avere on this
account specially interesting. Rev.
C. J. Ryder, District Secretary of
Boston, was the representative at
the American Missionary Association.   Secretary Ryder's cheery and
sympathetic advice was most helpful in all the deliberations.    His
sermon on Sabbath afternoon gave
a spiritual lift to all Avho heard him.
As being a neAv enterprise, our
hospital at Standing Rock received
more than its proportionate amount
of study.   It is not difficult to plan
for a hospital in itself; but it is
quite a problem to adjust its workings  so that it shall be Avholly an
adjunct to, and an instrument for
missionary work.
In general session, School Discipline Avas quite thoroughly discussed. The central idea was that the
highest and only Avorthy aim of
school discipline is the training of
the will to act intelligently and rightly—that the true government is
training into self-government. If
punishment becomes necessary, it
is of the offender and not of the offense. It is not retributive. Limiting conditions, in the absence of
standards in the minds of our pupils;
in the lack of any early home discipline, and in the ideas of the people
Avere spoken of as making the pro-
ble instill more difficult.
Our Printing Department Avas
able to make report of such success
in its equipment and the demand
for its work that the Mission Council
THE NAVAJO MOCCASIN GAME
This is to some extent sacred in
its nature, for the playing is confined to the Avinter, the only time when
their myths may be told and their
most important ceremonies conducted.   It is practiced only during the
dark hours.    The real reason for
this is probably that the stone used
in the game cannot be hidden successfully by daylight; but if you
ask   an   Indian   why   the   game
is played only at night, he will
account  for   it  by   referring  you
.to  the   myth   and   saying   that
jhe  on  whom  the   sun   shines
Avhile he is engaged in the game
i will be struck blind.   I have heard
that on some occasions, when the
1 stakes are heavy and the day be-
J gins to daAvn on an undecided con-
j test, they close all the apertures of
the lodge Avith blankets, blacken the
skin around their eyes, place a watch
I outside to prevent intrusion, and for
I a short time continue their sport.
The  implements  of  the  game
j are eight moccasins;  a roundish
stone or pebble about an inch and
a half in diameter;   a blanket used
as a screen; a stick Avith AA'hich to
strike the moccasins; a chip blackened on one side that they toss up
I to decide whicli party shall begin
I the game, and one hundred and tAvo
counters, each about nine inches
long, made of a stiff, slender root-
i leaf of the Yucca Angustifolia. Tavo
i of these counters are notched on the
margins.   •
The moccasins are buried in
the ground so that only about an
inch   of   their   tops   appear   and
j they are filled to the ground level
Avith poAvdered earth or sand. They
are placed side by side a few inches
apart, in two rows, one on each side
i ofthe fire. The players are divided
into two parties,   each controlling
J one row of moccasins.    When, by
j tossing up the chip, they have decid-
ed which party shall begin, the lucky
ones hold up a screen to conceal
I their operations and hide the ball in
j one of the moccasins, covering it
: Avell with sand.
When all is ready they lower the screen and allow that person to come forward Avhom their
opponents have selected to find the
EPITOME OP THE MYTH.
Iii the ancient days there were,
as there are now, some animals avIio
saw better, could hunt better, and
were altogether happier in the darkness than in the light;   and there
were others who liked not the darkness and were happy only in the
light of day.    The animals of the
night wished it would remain dark
forever and the animals of the day
Avished that the sun would shine
forever.    At last they met in council
in the twilight to talk the matter
over, and the council resolved that
they should play a game by hiding
a stone in a moccasin (as in the
game now called Kesitce) to settle
their differences.   If the night animals Avon the sun should never rise
again, if the day animals succeeded,
never more should it set.   So when
night fell they lit a fire and commenced the game.    In order to determine Avhich side should first hide
the stone, they took a small Aveath-
er-beaten fragment of wood and rubbed one side Avith charcoal.    They
tossed it up; if it fell with the black
side up the nocturnal party Avere
to begin, but it fell Avith the gray
side up and those of the diurnal
side took the stone.    These raised a
blanket to conceal their operations
and sang a song, which is sung to
this day by the Navajos Avhen they
raise the screen in this game, and
the game Avent on.
They commenced the game Avith
only one hundred counters, but a
little whitish, old looking snake
called lic-bitcoi, i. e. maternal
grandmother of the snakes, said
they ought to have two more counters. Therefore they made two,
notched them so that they Avould
look like snakes, and called them
bitcoi, maternal grandmothers,
Avhich name the two notched counters used in the game still bear.
The cunning coyote would not
j cast his lot permanently Avith either side.   He usually stood between
I the contending parties,  but occasionally Avent OA-er to one side or the
{ other as the tide of fortune seemed
to turn.
Some of the genii of those days
joined the animals in this contest. On the side of the night
animals Avas the great destroyer
Yeitso, the best guesser of all,
Avho soon took the stone away
from the day animals. Whenever
the latter found it in the moccasins of their moon-loving enemies they could not hold it long
for the shrewd-guessing Yeitso
would recover it, they lost heavily
and began to tremble for their
chances, when some one proposed
to them to call in the aid of the gopher, Nasizi. He dug a tunnel under
the moccasins leading from one to
another and Avhen Yeitso Avould
guess the right moccasin the gopher,
unseen by all, would transfer the
stone to another place. Thus was
Yeitso deceived, and the day party
retrieved their losses and sang a
taunting song of him.
But Avhen they had Avon back
nearly all the counters, luck
appeared to again desert them.
The noctivagant beasts came
into possession of the pebble,
and kept it so long that it seemed as
if their opponents could neA'er regain it. Guess as cleverly as they
might, the stone Avas not to be found
in the moccasin indicated by those
Avho longed for an eternal day.
Then the oavI sang a song expressive
of his desires, andwhenhe had done,
one of the wind-gods AA'hispered into
the ear of one of the diurnal party
that the owl held the stone in his
claws all the time, and never allowed it to be buried in the moccasin.
So, Avhen next the screen Avas with-
draAvn, the enlightened day animal
advanced, and, instead of striking
a moccasin, struck the owl's claAvs,
and the hidden stone dropped out on
the ground.
After this the game proceeded Avith little advantage on either
side, and the animals turned
their attention to composing songs
about the personal peculiarities,
habits and history of their opponents, just as in the social dances today tbe Navajos ridicule one another
in song. Thus all the songs relating
to animals Avhich form the great majority of the songs of the Kesitce,
originated.
Later, the players began to
grow drowsy and tired, and somewhat indifferent to the game, and
again the wind-god whispered—this
time into the ear of the magpie—
and said" Sing a song of the morning, "whereat the magpie sang his
song. As he uttered the last Avords
"Qa-yel-ka! Qa-yel-ka!"(It daAvns!
It dawns !) the players looked forth
and beheld the pale streak of dawn
along the eastern horizon, then all
hastily picked up their counters and
blankets and fled, each to his proper
home—one to the forest, another to
[ the desert, this to the gully, that to
the rocks.
The bear had lent his moc-
casinstobeusedin thegame. They
were, therefore, partly buried in the
ground. In his haste to be off he
put them on wrong—the right moccasin on the left foot, and vice versa/
and this is why the bear's feet are
now misshapen. His coat was then
as -black as midnight, but he dwelt
on top of a high mountain, and Avas
so late in getting back to his lair that
the red beams of the rising sun shone
upon him, imparting their ruddy
hue to the tips of his hairs, and thus
it is that the bear's hair is tipped
with red to this day. The home
of the wood-rat, letso Avas a long Avay
off, and he ran so far and so fast
to get there that he raised great
blisters on his feet, and this accounts
for the callosities we see now on
the soles of the rat.
So the day dawned on the undecided game. As the animals never met
again to play for the same stakes,
the original alternations of day and
night has never been changed.—
Dr. Washington Matthews, in the
American Anthropologist.