The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1892-04

              The Word Carrier.
VOLUME   XXI.
HELPING   THE   RIGHT,   EXPOSING
THE   WRONG.
SANTEE AGENCY, NEBRASKA.
mm iii::: t.
APRIL, 1802.
FIFTY CENTS PEE YEAR.
OUR PLATFORM.
For Indians we want American Education! We want American Homes'.
We want American Rights'. Ihe result of whicli is American Citizenship!
And the gospel is the Power of God for
their Salvation.	
THE INDIAN'S APPEAL.
You have taken our rivers and fountains
And the plains where we loved to roam—
Banish us not to the mountians
And the lonely wastes for home!
No!    Let us dwell among you;
Cheer us with hope again;
For the life of our fathers has vanished,
And we long by your side to be men.
Our clans that were strongest and bravest
Are broken and powerless through you;
Let us join the great tribe of the white men,
As brothers to dare and to do !
AA'e will fight to the death in your armies;
As scouts we will distance the deer;
Trust us and witness how loyal
Are the ranks that are strangers to fear!
And the still ways of peace we would follow—
Sow the seed and the sheaves gather in,
Share your labor, your learning, your worship,
A life larger, better, to win. .
Then, foemen no longer, nor aliens,
But brothers indeed we will be,
And the sun find no citizens truer
As he rolls to the uttermost sea.
You have taken our rivers and fountains
And the plains where we loved to roam—
Banish us not to the mountains
And the lonely wastes for home !
No!    Let us dwell among you ;
Cheer us with hope again ;
For the life of our fathers has vanished,
And we long by your side to be men.
Edna Dean Proctor, in  the Jamaica Plain Indian
Advocate.       	
If the Interior Department had
nothing to do Avith nor Avas in any
way responsible for the death of
Sitting Bull intelligent people will
ask Avhat the Department A^as about
that it had nothing to do with iti
It has been commonly suppose'd,
perhaps erroneously, that this Department hitd some responsibility
in looking after Indians in mischief.
We cannot agree Avith Captain
Bourke's estimate of Spotted Tail.
Of his ability, astuteness and help
to the Government there is no
question. But his ability was exercised for selfish ends only; his
standing by the U. S. Government
was not loyalty but a calculation of
chances for the existence of his tribe
and emoluments for himself. He
had no perception of the benefits of
civilization nor any wish for the
advancement of his people. He was
a cruel, bloody chief, ruling by
intimidation and murder; and as
long as he lived Avas the greatest
obstacle in the way of the civilization of his Indians.
PEM1CAN.
Let us noAv have a marble statue
erected to Sitting Bull as the Apostle of Indian civilization!
Army officers are to take the place
of civilians in charge of the Indian
agencies as a preventive or preparative for war—which?
We need a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Quotations.
For instance that "Infant crying
in the night" needs a rest and a
dose of paragoric.
Dreams are poor stuff, according
to Shakespere; and the daily recital
at the breakfast table of the dreams
of the night, begets more dreams,
until dreams become so mixed up
with waking experiences that a person is likely to fail to distinguish
between imagination and fact.
Those whose benevolent affections he nearer their heels than
then conscience are not the best
teachers for Indians. For in the
Indian's experience the white man's
dances are more demoralizing than
tbe old heathen orgies.
DrPPICULTIES OP MISSIONS.
The first difficulty that confronts
a young missionary or one going
out for the first time amongst a
strange people is of course the language. And it is a great difficulty,
not to be able to speak to the people
—not to be able to understand the
most simple things—and above all
not to be able to speak to them of
the message Avhich you have come
to give them and 'which fills your
OAvn heart, viz., the love of Christ,
is indeed very, very hard. There
seems to be no connection at all
between you and them. There is
a great gulf fixed. The acquirement of the language is the only
bridge that will span the distance.
So near and yet so far, you think,
my heart so near theirs, and yet no
way of communication. The thought
will fill you with despair—you
would be inclined to "give it all up,"
as the saying goes, but that you
hear ringing in your ears that comforting voice which says, "Be not
afraid, only believe, for lo, I am
with you ahvays." I am with you
in this as in everything else. Yes,
great patience is needed—great perseverance—but Christ can supply
all these. But how to meet the difficulty. Some would say, why, get
an intrepreter; that will do away
with the whole difficulty. Experience has shown that the use of an
interpreter is of very questionable
worth, even Avhen the preacher does
not always fare so badly as the
Scotch missionary, who heard his
John Knox, unhesitatingly translated by "John the Ox." To my mind
the use of an interpreter raises
more difficulties instead of removing the one in the way. For instance, it raises the difficulty of expense, the difficulty of getting a
really faithful interpreter, and above
all, the missionary can never feel
at home with his people till he can
speak to them in person. The best
way to meet the difficulty is to 'Svade
right into it." I kneAv nothing at
all of the Soto language, Avhen I
first went out. I could understand
the Cree fairly well, but could speak
very feAV words. I had hoped however Avith theknoAvledge I had ofthe
Cree to be able to make myself
understood at once.
On my way from the landing place
to the spot where I was told I Avould
find the Mission house, I encountered an Indian woman. I addressed
her with a few Cree words. She
stared at me Avith a blank face, then
laughed and walked away. This wa,s
one fall to my expectations, and it
was soon to be followed by many
more. I found I Avould have to begin from the very beginning. But I
was fortunate. I found friends there
to help me and give me a start.
However, useful as their assistance
was, this alone would not do. I had
a Soto testament and prayer book
with me. I began by taking a few
verses of Matthew every day comparing the English Avith the Soto.
At the same time I went visiting
amongst the people almost every
day, and wrote down names of common objects, marking the accent,
so that I could repeat the word correctly aftei-Avard. I found this plan
a very great help in getting a vocabulary, and also the way of securing
the attention and interest of the Indians. I Avould give them the English words for the things mentioned,
so that the visit Avas a mutual
help. Then too I had the opportunity of hearing them speak and
getting familiar with the sound of
the language. This is all of great
importance, and I think that every
missionary Avho folloAvs out this
course will profit much by it. Missionaries and catechists hoAvever
should be supplied with dictionaries
and grammars in going out. I did
not obtain these till I had been a
year out, then I saAV hoAv great an
advantage it Avould have been to
have had them from the first.
When the missionary has a sufficient knowledge of the language to
enable him to make himself understood, how is he to attract the attention of the people to the message
of life he brings them.    If the missionary   Avere   the   first   to  arrive
amongst them, there would be less
difficulty.    But very often, in our
missions  at any  rate,  Avhite men
have been there before, not sent by
the Lord, but for their own gain and
interests.    The Indians have heard
the name of Jesus from them and
the name of God, but in an entirely
different connection. Moreover tbey
have their own idea of God.    And
when you speak to them of Jesus,
the mention of the name at once
inclines them  to connect it with
SAA-earing or something bad.    When
you speak to them of God, they tell
you they have their OAvn god, and
the white people  have theirs, and
seem to think very little of Him
because they use his name in wicked ways.    And besides, Avhat business have they with the white man's
god.    If they were to  accept him
they Avould lose favour with their
own god and would thus be shut out
from final rest altogether.    No, they
know nothing of the Avhite man's
god and have no means of proving
who He is.   Will the Missionary be
doAvncast at this ?   Will he see no
way to  meet it?   The same difficulty confronted Moses,  when God
asked him to go  and  deliver the
Children  of Israel out of Egypt.
"Moses said unto God, behold, Avhen
I come unto the Children of Israel,
and shall say unto them, The God of
your fathers hath sent me unto you:
and they shall say to me, Avhat is
His name?   Avhat shall  I say to
them ?   Thus shalt thou say unto
them.    "I Am  hath sent me unto
you"; "And they shall hearken to
thy voice."   Yes this is the great
secret of all success in mission work
—the presence of the living God—
the "I am Avith you always"—"Not
by might, nor by power, but by my
Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts."  It
is the Holy  Spirit "that reproves
the Avorld of sin, of righteousness
and of judgment."    And Avhen the
missionary uses the SAVord  of the
Spirit, the word of God, it will strike
the heart, the truth will be made
knoAvn, God's word will not return
to Him void.—The Rupert's Land
Gleaner.
NEEDS OP THE  INDIAN   HOME.
The first need is the home. The
houses in which the Indians live
can scarcely be called by that name.
Since the roving life has been given
up and the Indians have settled, or
have been settled, on reservations,
the tent has given place to the log
house, a small sod roofed, floorless
hut with one or tAvo dirty Avindowsl
In the center of the room is the
stove, nearly red hot. Arranged
around the sides are several bedsteads, boxes, trunks and parcels of
all descriptions. On the Avails hang
all the clothes that the family are
not wearing, together with any
pictures tbat may have strayed here.
On one side a box may be nailed to
the wall Avhich does duty for a cupboard. The AvindoAvs have no curtains for there are ahvays more
people inside than out.
In one corner of the room a little
tent or covering is often seen which
makes a cozy place for a family of
puppies. Near by, the ration of meat
is piled on the floor and covered
Avith a dirty blanket. In summer
the meat will be dried in the sun,
but in the Avinter it is kept in the
house. When there is any food on
hand the meals are prepared with
some regularity. The coffee pot and
the soup kettle are never taken from
the stove as long as the coffee and
meat last. Coffee, meat, and bread
are the principal articles of food.
At night each person takes his
blanket and pilloAv (if he has one)
and curls up in his own corner on
the floor, if he has no bed, If a
guest comes along, he of course
will keep his blanket around him
and be thankful for floor space
Avhether there are beds or not.
Instead of undressing and going
to bed, each person rolls up in a
blanket, one corner draAvn tightly
over the head, and lays him down
to pleasant dreams.
The air in these houses, day and
night, can hardly be imagined by
those who have never visited them.
It i3 vile in the day time, but the
frequent passing in and out of the
door admits some oxygen. But at
night the atmosphere is nothing
but poison. Pack eight or ten
people together in a small room for
an hour and you soon notice the impoverished condition of the air,
Avhere the people and room are
comparatively clean. But think of
the aAvful consequences of a room
full of people sleeping in garments
worn for weeks ; Avhose persons are
seldom or never bathed ; the bedding stiff with grease and dirt; and
Avails that have never been Avashed.
Then heat this air to 80° and you
have a combination that makes one
Avonder how any Indian ever lives.
Besides all this, a large perc ent of
the Indians are consumptives and
add their disease laden breath to
the stench in the room.
Can Ave bring these women to realize what that word home really
means? Can Ave teach them the
need of soap and water and fresh
air? So much oxygen furnished on
our wide wind swept prairies, still
the lungs of these poor people are
starving for it.
Is there anything that an Indian
home does not need to make it wha/
it should be. .       E. W.
Santee Agency, Neb.