The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1892-11 - 1892-12

              The Word Carrier.
VOLUME   XXI.
SANTEE AGENCY, NEBEASKA.
HELPING   THE   RIGHT,   EXPOSING   THE   WHOM;.
NUMBERS   il,  18',
OUR  PLATFORM.
For Indians we want American Education! We want American Homes!
We want American Rights! The re-
sidts of which is American Citizenship !
And the gospel is the Power of God for
their Salvation!
Tbe studies on the Indian school
question, contributed recently to the
various papers by Miss Auna L.
Dawes are very valuable, for their
knowledge, their discrimination and
their conclusions, The best of these
uppeared in The Congregationalist,
and this we reprint almost entire.
Good as these studies are, they are
rather suggestions for further studies than final statements. Miss
Dawes has, however, rendeied a
most helpful service in bringing out
certain issues so clearly.
If we could have had these paragraphs two months sooner we might
have been spared the humiliation
of having the venerable American
Missionary Association belittle its
own work to the level and grade of
government school work; thus twisting a rope for its own hanging. For
if the missionary schools are merely doing the same work as the government schools, the inevitable conclusion is: give up all school work to
the government. There is no need
of our struggling to maintain our
schools when the government can
.lo the same work so much easier.
Even the astute editor of TheCongre
tjatwnalist was caught by this misstatement. But Miss Dawes clearly
defines the radical difference of tbe
two lines of education. They differ
largly in methods and agencies,and
totally in the ultimate end in view.
The great thing now is for the
churches to be made to understand
the special kind of work their Indian schools are doing, or should
be doing, and the necessity of this
educational work for the christian-
ization of this heathen people. And
that this work can never be done by
tbe government schools but that the
development and sucess of the gov-
rnment school system requires still
more of the leaven of Christian education in the community,and a still
liigher degree of training for our native Christian teachers. We need
have no great fears about getting
pupils for mission shools. Santee
has been oblige to turn alarge number away this year. Government
restrictions upon the younger pupils may temporarily interfere with
our work in the lower schools. But
this cannot be for very long. The
main thing then is the convication
that we, as Christan people, have a
special educational work to do among
tbe Indians, and that consequently we should at once plan for carrying it on intelligently, broadly, and
efficiently.
MOHONK.
In the spring of 1883, Secretary
Strieby, Dr. W. H. Ward, Bev. Addison Foster and Honorable Charles
L. Mead from the Executive Committee of the American Missionary
Association were sent out to visit
the Dakota Mission. At the same
tune General Whittlesey and A. K.
Smiley, Esq., of the Board of Indian
Commissioners, and Professor C. C.
Painter of the National Educational Commission were visiting the sev-
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, i8Q2.
FIFTY CENTS PEE YEAB.
era! Indian agencies. Bishop Hare
and Herbert Welsh were also on a
tour for the inspection of Episcopal
mission schools.
As it happened all these gentlemen met at Santee Agency. While
here the time seemed opportune
forageneralMissionary Conference,
and one was held Friday evening'
June 1, in Dr. Biggs' sitting room.'
There were present also leading representatives of the Congregational,
Presbyterian and Episcopalian missions and the Santee Agent represented the Friends. General topics of interest in regard to Indian
work were discussed and many important suggestions for further work
brought out. The meeting on the
whole was so helpful it was agreed
that similar conferences should be
held every year.
Accordingly Mr. Smiley invited
them to Lake Mohonk, where every
year they have been royally entertained. The number of invitations
increasing until now there are over
tko hundred of the most earnest and
distinguished workers forthe Indian
who are brought together from the
ends of the earth to discuss ways
and means and plan for future work.
Thus has grown the Mohonk Conference which has become a recognized power in Indian legislation
and has a place in American History.
From the report of the tenth annual meeting given in the Boston
Transcript we take the following
interesting items.
The devotion and-earuestness aud
superior intellectual and spiritual
strength of the noble band of women
engaged in Indian work formed one
of the most impressive features of the
conference. Among those present was
Mrs. Riggs, who represents a family
that for two generations has devoted
itself to missionary work among the
Dakotahs and has created the admirable Sautee school constantly referred
toby the speakers at this conference
as a model.
Miss Alice Robertson of the Indiau
Territory school put in a most touching
and thrilling appeal for more patience
and hopefulness. Give the Indian so
much better schools that they can't
keep away; they will come! It is such a
little while that the experiment has beeu
tried ! Only ten years ago she herself
had beeu almost driven out of Washington for venturing to ask for a small
fraction of what is now freely given
for schools. The Indian graduates
may here and there ssem to slide back
into barbarism; but the influence ofthe
education is never lost, not any of itf
So beautiful was her faith and intense
her conviction that Miss Robertson's
concluding appeal for a fund for the
higher education of promising advanced pupils of the reservation schools in
the best normal schools here and there
in the East brought Mr. Ginn,the Boston publisher, to his feet with an offer
to head a subscription for such a fund
with a hundred dollars. Subsequently
one thousand dollars was given by Mr.
Rowland G. Hazard of Rhode Island,
and the amount was $1600 before the
day ended.
Another woman, introduced as the
walking cyclopedia of the Indian Office at Washington, Miss Cook, put in
her plea for field matrons. Her point
was that a house is not a home any
more than  an  allotment is a home.
A dirty, leaky, one-roomed house is
not better than a tepee. The Indian
mothers of these school graduates are
conservatives, like most white women.
But no training is provided for the
adult Indian women, as there is for
the Indian, men at farming. Let In
dian women only be taught how to
make soap and you have the substance
of home at once. By selecting for
the home-making education a few
representative and leading women in
each tribe, much can be accomplished
towards saving the good results of educating the children. Miss Fletcher
here added another word as to the
importance of teaching ludian girls
some of the rudiments of an industrial
education—if only to knock together a
bench to make bread on; it can't be
made on the floor. Again, neither
Indian men nor women should imbibe
the notion that women's work is only
in the kitchen !
The strong religious spirit of
Santee is most important. The
Government school seeks to make
the Indian a safe citizen, themission
school to make him a Christian.—
Miss Dawes.
Fifteen years ago Senator Dawes
made the first motion in Congress
to appropriate $20,000 toward Indian education. It passed against
great opposition. Now 2,255,000
were appropriated in 1891 for the
education of the Indians—The Congregationalist.
Thirty thousand, seven hundred
and thirty-eight Indians have already taken patents for allotments
of land. 26.691 are waiting to take
such allotments when ready. More
than eighty thousand Indians taking land in severalty, coming out
from the old paganized tribal relation and assuming their privileges
and responsibilities as free holding
citizens of your common country.—
Gen. Morgan.
THANKSGIVING DAV AT SANTEE.
Thanksgiving day dawned dark
and threatning, and we thought that
before night we should have a snow
storm, but in this we were disappointed. At 11 a. m. there were
services at the chapel. The service
was opened with singing. Dr. Biggs
offered prayer; he then spoke to
us from the words found in Col. 3d
chapter and 15th verse. "And
be ye thankful." He said,'T willask
you to take a walk with me. We will
| go to a beautiful garden of flowers
j this morning. They are all wet with
■ dew and as the warm rays of sun
fall upon them they lift up their
I faces in gratitude to greet the gar-
| dener as lie passes along, thusshow-
i ing their brightest and best blossoms to him, to let him know they
are thankful for the care and attention received at his hands. But
now, what if they should turn their
faces from the gardener, or only
show the flowers that were withered and decayed? Human lives
are like these flowers. After God in
His loving kindness has showered
blessing upon blessing upon us, too
great or too many to mention, if we
then turn our. faces from the loving
Master, and are not willing to obey
him it shows that we are more ungrateful than the flowers." I think
we all learned something from this
sweet, simple lessou that we shall
not soon forget.
The next thing on the program,
w:as dinner. At 1. p. m. we all
assembled in the Dining Hall. The
look upon all the faces was pleasant to see, as there was a happy
expectant expression. And no
wonder; for who is there who does
not enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner ?
A very pretty archway had been
made by some of the pupils, by
cutting bright pieces of paper in
strips and linking them together
so as to form chains; these had
been arranged very prettily. At
one side of this was a pyramid of
plants. The effect was most pleasing. After enjoying dinner to tlieir
utmost, all went to their various
homes. In the afternoon we called
at the homes of all, and all were
having a good time. Some were
playing checkers, some Tiddly
Winks, etc., but at nearly all tbey
were engaged in popping corn and
making corn balls; the latter really
seeming to be the most enjoyable
occupation of any.
Some of the boys were asked to
tell what they thought they had to
he thankful for. The following are
some of the answers given: "Our
church. The Bible, Our health, Dakota Bible, Nice warm clothes. A
good home, Good food, Sunday
Scliool, Teachers, Ministers, Good
water, Good warm beds, Father and
mother, Our eye sight, "Voice, Those
to take care of us.': It seemed
to me that in these simple childish answers, there was a lesson
for us all.
The crowning event of Thanksgiving day here—the social in the
evening.    The   custom   heretofore
has been to have one at each home.
It was thought best, however, to
have a change this year, by having
it at the Dining Hall, so tables were
disposed  of and chairs arranged,
and an immense curtain of white
canvas was hung before a platform,
as one of the main features of the
evening's entertainment was to be
nursery rhymes and college songs,
acted out in Pantomine.    For a
time  all  engaged   in  social  chat.
The school was then called to order.
The first number on   the   program
was a solo with violir accompaniment; The next was "Clementine,"
in pantomine.    This  called   forth
much merriment,as Clementine for-
J got to  weep at the proper time.
LittleBopeep then came in and after she had found her sheep beheld
"Little  Jack  Horner sitting in  a
corner  eating   a   Christmas  pie."
Jack told me afterwards   that the
pie was not good, for it was made
j of chips and  sawdust.    And   now
! we  are struck with the   plaintive
' tones of "The Bachelor who lived
I by himself, and all the bread and
j cheese he  had   he put upon the
: shelf."   He soon disappeared bring-
| ing with him "A wheelbarrow, lit-
i tie wife,  and all;"    So we trust
his trials are at an end.    We were
then favored with a solo, that was
enjoyed by   all.    Dr.   Biggs   then
came forward  and after a few remarks said "I bid you  all good-
! night,"   whereupon,   a  chorus  of
voices answered "Goodnight." And
i so, tbe first Thanksgiving day at
Santee for me ended, and 1 can say
it was the most perfect thanksgiving day I have ever spent.
Lottie M. Aiken.