The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1892-05

              The Word Carrier.
VOLUME   XXI.
SANTEE AGENCY, NEBBASKA.
HELPING   THE   RIGHT,   EXPOSING   THE   AVHONG.
SUMBEH 5.
MAY, i8q:
FIFTY CENTS PEB YEAE.
OUK PLATFOKM.
For Indians we want American Education! We want American Homes!
We want American Rights! Ihe remit of which 'is American Citizenship!
And the gospel is the Power of God for
their Salvation.
KOMANISM AS WE MEET IT.
The question is asked how the Protestant church can justify its beginning work among the Indians of Standing Bock reservation which had
been assigned in 1876 by President
Giant to the supervision of the church
of Borne? Our commission does not
read "Go ye into all that portion of
the world not claimed by the church
of Rome and preach the gospel." EA'ery
portion of the world is claimed by the
church of Borne. It claims to be the
church of Christ; that there is no
other; and that Protestant churches
are only bands of heretics.
As Protestants we-are a perpetual
living protest to the claims of the
church of Borne. Romanism makes
the last and final appeal to an infallible church. Protestantism makes the
final appeal to an inspired book.
Romanism affirms that where there
is no priest there is no pardon. Protestantism maintains the priesthood of
each believer, and that a father confessor is a barrier between the penitent sinner and his pardoning God.
Romanism affirms that the soul becomes righteous only through confession, penance and absolution, a work
of time, as a result of works. Protestantism maintains that justification
comes by faith, a momentary act of
God's free grace, a gift through the
righteousness of Christ. Bomanism denies the bible to the people and opens
it only to her clergy. Protestantism believes in an open bible in the language
of the people, both for instruction and
as a means of grace, the reading and
study of which brings fellowship with
God and the belieA'er. The church of
R >me ofthe middle ages, when Luther
and Calvin uttered their protests, can
never be reproduced today in America,
but its polity is the same. Men in
America cannot be forced to accept
the teachings of the church of Rome at
the point of the sword.
It is today the same vast political
corporation fattening its parochial
schools on government support and
receiving an unjust share, two-thirds
of all the money appropriated for the
education of the Indian youth. The
conflict is the same as in the middle
ages but the Aveapons are not the same.
I. In our Indian work we meet this
claim ofthe church of Rome that it is
the only church. The Indians are
taught this. They are told that the
Protestants neA'er thought of coming
among them till the Romanists began
work for them. They speak so often
of Father De Smet that one wonders
whether they ever heard of the names
of Riggs and Williamson. They point
out the fact that they are teaching
most of the Indian children, but omit
to say, at government expense. They
make prominent the fact that 3500
have been baptized at Standing Rock,
2500 at Devil's Lake, 1000 at Rosebud
and 500 at Pine Ridge, aud tell how
few members there are in the three
organizations calling themselves Protestant churches. And if it signified
any moral change 7,500 out of 50,000
Indians is certainly not a bad showing
for a work of fifteen years.
The communicants ofthe Presbv-
terian church number 1,104, of the
Congregationl about 500, of the Episcopal 1,712, or a total of 2300. The
argument of numbers is with Indians
quite a convincing one, but then also
the religious preferences of the agentare
a strong factor in determining what is
the church of a reservation. I have
also noticed that the church draws the
crowds to its services which has a good
society feast following the religious
service.
Four years ago the church of Rome
was the church of Standing Rock re-
serA'ation; but today the Iudians accord equal right of existence to three
churches, two being Protestant, notwithstanding the fact that not over
300 have been baptized by the two
Protestant churches, while Bishop
Marty claims to have baptized 3500.
This large membership is partlv accounted for by the fact that many Indians have been baptized several times
by different priests.
The contrast in the numbers 300
and 3500 is still less when we remember that in our church no adult can
be baptized unless the Dakota marriage is solemnized by a christian marriage, and no child can be baptized
unless one ofthe parents at least is a
member of the church of Christ.
II. Another claim of the church of
Rome is the great power of the priesthood of the church How different
this teaching from that of our church,
the spiritual priesthood of believers.
The power of a holy priest is
great among them. They have been
accustomed to have their chiefs think
for them, and often blindly follow
their leadership. But the lives of the
priests have not always been above
suspicion. Within four years there
haA'e been two at Standing Rock
whose lives Avere not an inspiration to
the Indian and who have been sent
away, but not before the Indians
began to see that priests were human.
The confessional has not yet a
strong hold upon the Indian. The
Indian will not readily confess his sins
in detail to a priest who may lead as
I sinful a life as himself.
The celibacy  of the priesthood is
I referred to as a great factor in mission
| work.    The church   is to the  priest,
father,   mother,   wife,   home.     His
Avhole thought and care is centered in
' the church.    At a moments notice he
can go here or there at the command
of his superior.    He avoids no danger
becauseafamilyisdependentupon him.
The priest's salary is simply his living,
and two priests cau be kept at work
as cheaply as one Protestant missionary.    Here is economy Avhich should
appeal to every missionary board. The
priest having no family can spend his
Avhole time in going from   house   to
house.   All this may be possible, but in
actual fact the Protestant missionary
does as much work and as economically too.    He  spends as much  time
in   the   Indian   homes,   and   would
be glad to have his salary cover the
living expenses.     In tours over   the
reservation the priest often sleeps in a
I good government school bed and en-
I joys good government school   food,
[ when the Protestant missionary sleeps
I on the ground or the floor of an Tn-
i diau's log house, and shares with the
Indian and his  family the food from
! his  travelling   hotel.    The  missionary with  a home of his own  is the
best teacher in showing what a true
Indian home can and should be.
The question of economy in Indian
missions is an important one; and when
our missionaries are paid, as some
priests are, a good salary as government teachers, Avith full liberty for
their religious work; when we have j
twenty teachers, on a reservation, paid
by government and working hard
daily for the propagation of our faith;
when we can stoop to raise from $300
to $1500 a year by means of lotteries
and games-of-chance fairs; when one
man or woman of wealth in onr church
gives a. million dollars, as did the generous Romanist Miss Drexel, to
build the needed mission buildings on
every reservation where we work— then
will the A. M. A. have more money
left in the treasury for the southern
work. And the churches will give less
to Indian work and in corresponding
ratio will they lose interest in our
work. For the quality of work doue,
and the actual amount of money expended, Protestants must look else
where for a lesson in economy in prosecuting mission Avork.
III. Withoutquestioti theformsof worship of the church of Rome appeal to
the Indian. The altar and the mysterious mass aAve him. The man millinery of the priest aud the unintelligible Latin area curiosity to him. The
bowings before the altar, and the image of the Virgin Mary, and before the
crucifix are akin to his heathen worship of things mysterious. As they are
taught that they cannot be saved unless baptized, the Indians often request
that a sickly babe may be baptized
that it may recover health. They are
often asked to give "the holy bread
and the wine"'to the sick husband or
the sick wife thftt they may become
strong and well again. I have even
been asked to baptize, that the baptism might be a charm to ward of the
lightning stroke. I have been asked
by Romish taught Indians for cedar
saw dust or twigs to burn for the saute
purpose In the Protestant church,
baptism does not confer such benefits
and sawdust blessed or unblessed possesses no such power. Thejprayer book
so recently introduced is teaching the
Indian more about the Saints and the
Virgin Mary than about their Savior Jesus Christ, and the few hymns therein
contained are not to be compared with
our own beautiful collection of hymns.
IV. The attitude of Romanism towards
the Bible, claims our greatest attention
in mission work. Romanism denies
the Bible to the common people.
Only the priests can read it understandingly and they only as taught
and guided by the teaching of Popes,
Councils and an infallible church.
The priest alone can teach the people.
From or through him must come all
their religious knowledge. The great
aim of all our mission educational
work, as I understand it, is to educate
the Indian to read the Bible in his
own language. The strongest reason
why we object to the church of Rome
teaching two thirds of the Indian
youth at government expense is not
so much because it is unjust, but that
two thirds of the Indian youth are
then prevented from coming in
contact with the living word of God,
and by personal contact coming to
a knowledge of the truth as it is in
their Savior, Redeemer, and King.
For this word of God the people are
hungering. They have purchased
many  copies in the last feAV months.
It is true that some who possess a Bible
wrap it up carefully and keep it hidden
with other treasures; but it is not an
uncommon thing to find the Dakota
Testament a constant pocket companion* Our lamented deacon Little
Eagle, died with a copy of God's word
in his pocket. It was his constant companion. The Bible made him what he
was, a man honored and respected by
eveiy one, Indian or white man, on the
reservation. The Dakota Prayer Book
of the church of Rome, the only book
possessed by the "black-gown" Indian,
is as darkness compared with tho light
of God's Avord. No word of comfort
from any human lips, from the lips of
any priest, can lift up as the words of
comfort of God's AVord. No one needs
comfort more then our Indian brother.
In the hour of death nothing can give
such preparation for the departing soul
as the promises read from God's word,
and the simple humble prayer of the
believer drawing near to his pardoning God. pleading "God be merciful
to me a sinner.'' Romanism may be satisfied with its beads and Prayer Book,
with its prayers to the saints and the
Virgin Mary, but the Word of God is
the warp and woof of Protestantism.
If to work in harmony beside Romanists in the Indian field demands that
our daily lives and daily teaching be
not a perpetual protest against the
failings and teaching of Romanism,
the price is too great, Ave cannot.
We cannot entertain for a moment
the claim that Bomanism is the only
true church and thus holds the exclusive right of evangelizing the Indian
people. No field is occupied where the
people do not have careful Bible
instruction. Geo. W. Reed.
DAKOTA PRESBTTEKY.
Tbe spring meeting ofthe Dakota
Presbytery, composed of the missionaries and native pastors in the
Presbyterian part of our Dakota Indian mission field, met at Flandrau,
S. D., April 28. Rev. Chas. R. Crawford of Good Will church, Sisseton
Agency, was moderator, and Rev.
John Elnte, of Mountain Head
Church, scribe.
Rev. John Eastman of Flandrau
and Elder Ecetukiya of Sisseton
Avere chosen delegates to the General Assembly at Portland. The
call of the YelloAv Banks church to
Mr. James Lynd to become their
pastor Avas approved. Mr. Bichard
King was licensed to preach. E.
H. Weston and John Caske Avere
taken under care of Presbytery to
fit them for the ministry.
The churches at Crow Creek and
Long Hollow made application for
help in building ne\v houses of Avor-
ship. They gave encouraging reports
of what they had raised for this purpose, and upon the condition that
they shall raise at least half of
what is needed tbe Board of Church
Erection is asked to aid them.
The BroAvn Earth church members having all removed, the most
of tbem going back to secure lands
upon the Sisseton Beservation before its opening, it was voted to
disband the church and sell their
building. Its members will join in
with the other; churches where they
noAv live.
Besolutions Avere passed deprecating the opening of the World's Fair
on Sunday and against appointing
army officers as Indian agents.