The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1891-04

              The Word Carrier.
VOLUME   XX.
HELPING   THE   RIGHT,   EXPOSING    THE   WRONG.
NUMBER   I.
SANTEE AGENCY, NEBRASKA.
APRIL, i8gi.
FIFTY CENTS PEE YEAR.
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 of God for
their Salvation.
"General Crook in the Indian
Country" is a very readable paper
in the March Century by Capt. John
G. Bourke.with graphic pictures by
Frederic Remington. It has to do
with his campaigns in the Apache
country, and is chiefly valuable to
those whose trade it is to fight Indians. Gen. Crook was however
much more than an Indian fighter.
His rare qualities as a commander
and as a man endeared him both to
the men who fought with him and
to those who fought against him.
He subjugated his foes in a double
sense.
Captain E. L. Huggins' poem
"Winona" should be read by every
student of Indian life. Its local
color is almost perfect, even though
the author modestly disclaims
giving any insight into Indian ways
or thought. The insight is all the
more perfect because it is so unconscious and natural. What artists
vainly strive after is his by birthright, as the son of one of the first
band of Dakota missionaries. It is
easy to find a surfeit of facts about
Indians, but difficult to find, as we
find here, the spirit of tlieir life. To
call attention to only one example,
we will mention the battle of the
Thunder Bird and Water Demons,
which is a graphic presentation of
one part of the Indian mythology.
When our readers have the book in
hand, we believe they will not lay
it down until they have gone through
the charming minor poems that
follow. We do our friends a favor
when we tell them that Putnam's
Sons, 27 and 29 West 23d Street,
New York, will send them the book,
post paid, for $1.25.
Many of the schools heretofore established have accomplished nothing owing
to the failure of those in charge to appreciate the fact that no Indian has ever
been civilized while able to speak his
native dialect only. Many good men
have wasted their lives in an effort to
reach the mind and heart of the Indian
through his native tongue. The folly of
Eliot has been repeated. Within recent
years the Government has actually paid
for the education of Indian children who
were taught to read and write ''Dakota,"
the Bible and a full set of text-books
having been prepared in that filthy, barbarous dialect.—John B. Riley in Frank
Leslie's Arewspaper.
The question of the use of the Indian vernacular will be a matter for
debate wherever there are no clear
ideas as to the real meaning of the
terms education and civilization.
If civilization is that gentle spirit of
mutual regard and mutual accommodation, and that desire to perpetuate and develope human life as
perfected and enlarged in human
society; and if education is the instruction and training that fits the
individual for this end, then the
means by which you can most
quickly introduce that heaven born
"good will among men," and bring
in the desire for a larger, nobler
life, are fit and necessary. This
is the sole ground upon which the
use of the vernacular is advocated.
It is not true that no Indian has
ever been civilized while able to
speak his native dialect only. And
the wasted lives of good men who
have attempted to reach the mind
and heart of the Indian through his
native tongue will not compare with
the wasted lives of those who in this
present generation are endeavoring
to reach the mind and the heart of
the Indian though the English alone.
Nor is it true that the Dakota language is "filthy and barbarous."
No language that is capable of
conveying adequately, as can the
Dakota, the immortal dream of
Bunyan, the poetry of David and
and Isaiah, and the theology of Paul
can be called "barbarous." And as
to being "filthy" that depends upon
those who hunt for filth. "Evil to
him who evil thinks." In fact the
English language can carry just as
much filth as any other tongue. It
is high time that those who deliver
themselves on the subject of Indian
education should know what they
are talking about. Otherwise they
unconsciously expose their great
ignorance.
CQMMISSIONER MORGAN'S
SUGGESTIONS.
The question, perhaps, will now
be presented, What is the remedy
for the present state of things which
so many people unite in believing
deplorable ?   Is there no remedy ?
In reply, I can only express my
own personal views. I alone am
responsible for what I now utter. I
speak simply for myself, and I but
reiterate what I have already said
in substance both in my published
report and in public addresses, both
before entering upon my present
duties and since, when I say that I
believe it is possible to improve the
present system of administration
of Indian affairs.
First.—The compensation paid
to Agents and all other employees
should be equal to that paid for a
similar grade of service in other
branches of the Government. "The
laborer is worthy of his hire," and
those who are called upon to serve
their day and generation in the
perplexing and arduous positions
in the Indian service, should receive
such compensation as will warrant
them in giving to the service their
undivided energies.
Second.—There should be extended over the entire Indian service
some form of Civil Service Rules.
No man or woman should enter this
service except upon some test as
to special fitness for the particular
work to be undertaken. The duties
devolving upon Agents and other
employees at different posts vary
very widely, and those who enter
the service should, if possible, be
selected by reason of special qualifications.
The continuance of any person
in the Indian service should be conditioned upon the faithful performance of duty. Capacity and
fidelity should entitle a man or
women to feel reasonably certain of
being retained in office so long as
he or she is worthy, or until the
work in hand shall have been accomplished.
There are a number of places
where, if the plans now in successful
operation can be continued for a
very few years, there will no longer
be any necessity for an Indian Agent,
and where the Indians can be properly left to their own government, or
where they can become absorbed in
the national life, and take their
places as individual citizens,amenable to the laws, and enjoying the
protection of the civil courts. One
of the best qualifications for any
man connected with the Indian
service, either as Commissioner of
Indian Affairs or as an Indian
farmer, is the quality of doing his
work so thoroughly as to render
both himself .and his office, in the
shortest possible space of time, unnecessary.
Third.—Indian affairs should be
administered by one responsible
head. He should be a man of sufficient breadth of brain, and depth
of heart, and firmness of will to
handle the complicated matters of
his office with integrity and ability.
He should have power and such
help as is absolutely demanded for
the proper discharge of his duties,
and then should be held to the most
rigid accountability not only for his
own actions, but, so far as it is
within his power to control it, the
actions of all his subordinates.
Thus there would he no divided
responsibility, and no difficulty in
locating blame for any maladministration in the entire range of Indian affairs.
At present, the Indian Bureau is
one of many in the Department of
Interior. The Secretary of the Interior supervises the work of the
Commissioner of the General Land
Office, the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs, the Commissioner of Pensions, the Commissioner of Patents,
the Commissioner of Education,
the Commissioner of Railroads,the
Commissioner of Labor, the Commissioners of Inter-State Commerce,
the officers in charge of the Geological Survey, and also the work done
by the Governors of the Territories.
This statement of the duties now
devolving upon that single public
official is enough to show that the
burden laid upon him is too great
for any one man to bear. It is
simply an impossibility for any
man to give that attention to the
details of the many questions of
delicate and important administration that find their way, under the
present organization of matters, to
the desk of the Secretary of the Interior. It is due to him and to other
interests intrusted to his oversight, as well as to the proper administration of Indian affairs, that
some change, at least, should be
made whereby he can be relieved j
from the numberless details connected with the Indian Bureau.
Fourth.—In order to insure peace
j and   good   order   in    the   Indian
country, protect the Indians in their
rights, keep out intruders, suppress
the liquor traffic, arrest and bring to
punishment speedily all offenders,
| and to prevent any violent outbreaks,
I there should be a sufficient Indian
police force,—properly paid, equip-
| ped   officers,   and   instructors.    It
should never be necessary, except in
! extreme cases,—which are notlikely
j to occur,-—to  call in  the aid of the
j army to maintain  order.—Recent
i speech  at  Philadelphia.
HERBERT WELSH'S REMEDY.
What is the remedy ? What must
be done to prevent such occurrences
in future ? The remedy is not far
to seek nor does it require many
words to state its essentials.
First, the people as a body must desire and demand of the President
andof Congress better things. There
must be a substantial unity of opinion among various bodies of citizens
as to the main points of a remedy,
and unity of action in securing it;
a  willingness  to  abandon   minor
points in order to secure the greater
ones.    The necessity for abandoning    partisanship   in   considering
this great national question should
be frankly recognized.    The words
Democrat and Republican  should
be forgotten in dealing with Indian
affairs.    Even  now there are sincere friends of the Indians who are
very sensitive to any criticism, no
matter how just it may be, which
reflects on tlieir own party.    This
is a fatal block to progress.    The
great religious bodies, the Roman
communion on the one side, and
the Protestant communions on the
other, should try to recognize the
value of each others work, at least
as an instrument of   civilization.
There should be greater co-operation
between   the   civil   and military
blanches of the Government, less
drawing into hostile camps with the
idea that there is a military severity
and inhumanity on the one side,
and unmitigated rascality on the
other.    There are military officers
who would  make   capital   Indian
agents, and civil agents could be
found if the right way were taken to
seek them, who can manage Indians
without the intrusion of troops.
If, then, a public sentiment can
be aroused on this question at once
powerful, intelligent, united, and
persistent, these are the simple
principles and the flexible system
which it should demand :
1. A single, intelligent, experienced, responsible head to control
the Indian service under the President—a man who shall be permitted
to form his plans and to carry them
to fruition along the lines of well-
defined and sound principles, and
free from partisan interference.
2. An Indian service conducted
in absolute harmony with the principles of Civil Service Reform—the
principle of merit,not of spoils. Only
thoroughly qualified men, should be
appointed to serve as Indian agents.
8. The prompt appropriation of
funds by Congress to permit the
education of all Indian youth, and
the effective management of the
service. No more Indian boys and
girls should be permitted to grow up
in ignorance and savagery; also the
prompt passage of laws recommended by the Indian Department and-
requisite to protect the interests of
the Indians.—Scribner's Magazine
for April.
Mr. James Garvie is temporarily
released from his church work at
Bad River, Cheyenne River Agency,
to spend two months as instructor
of the Indian Young Men's Christian Associations. He takes up this
work under the auspices of the General Committee of the Y. M. C. A.
News comes to us of most successful 'meetings with the Y. M. C. A.
at Flandrau, S, D.