The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1896-02

              The Word Carrier
VOLUME   XXV.
HELPING    THE   RIGHT.   EXPOSING   THE   WRONG.
SUMBKlt a.
SANTEE AGENCY, NEBRASKA.
FEBRUARY, i8q6.
FIFTY GENTS PERYEAE.
OUR   PLATFORM.
For Indians we want American Education! We want American Homes!
We want American Rights! The re
suit of which is American Citizenship.'
And the gospel is the Power of God for
their Salvation'
Eagle catching as an employment
is not as profitable as it once was.
The market for eagle feathers is not
as active as in the days of Indian
war parties and scalps. The royal
bird is now allowed tbe privilege of
wearing his own feathers. Yet/even
though our readers may not care to
learn the business, tbey will be interested in the Eagle Catcher's story
as told on our fourth page.
School discipline is a standing
problem. What are its ends and
methods, are questions'always recurring. They do not stay answered because the real answer is not
reached. If we first find the ultimate idea in discipline then the
other ends would come into proper
subordination, and the question of
methods would be a simple one.
This has been the effort in our article on the second page, for which
we ask your careful consideration.
It takes sympathy to read history,
much more to write it. There is a
moral perspective which many fail to
catch that is all important to the true
view. Those who read the story ofthe
early days of the Dakota mission, as
given in this number, will recognize
the gift that makes the picture real.
The sense of hopelessness in all moral reform is that which stifles ambition and kills effort. The vision that
shows how every thing lives whithersoever the living waters come, is a
divine vision. Let it be for the inspiration of those who wearily labor
in the moral wastes, whether of Dakota-land or of China.
FIRE PROOF INDIANS.
A little while ago I read of an
historical society in a great city that
was just moving into its new fire
proof building. The whole building
from bottom to top was constructed of material that could not burn.
Even the library shelves were
of iron. That building is the result
of experience. Twice before, the
society had suffered terribly by fire.
The precious volumes and relics
entrusted to this new building are
now perfectly safe.
Losses by fire, each year, are beyond our comprehension. Men establish fire-limits and fire-guards
and make laws against fire; but for
all that, everything that can burn is
frequently exposed to the ravages of
fire.
Among the Indians, we hear much
about fire-water. It seems about
as destructive at times as real fire.
We have many fire-guards against
fire-water to protect the exposed property of the people against this unmanageable fiend. We have prohibition laws and license laws and
laws against selling it to minors and
Indians and drunkards; but for all
that, an army nearly three times as
large as our national standing army
is destroyed by fire every year.
Indians are terribly exposed to this
fire. Time and again we see our
bright young Indians "burnt out-
total loss ! no insurance!"
In the early history of this country, white men made an attack on
an Indian village. The Indians outnumbered the whites many times ;
but a fire brand thrown among the
dry reed lodges destroyed their
homes and exposed the Indians to
the merciless anger of the whites.
I see another fire brand thrown
among the Indian lodges, and oh,
with what fatal results it rages!
If our young Indians were only
fire proof they might escape with
out the smell of fire upon their
garments. We are not able to keep
the fire from burning, so we must
build that which will not burn.   •
Drunkenness has noticeably ,in-
creased among the Winnebagoes
the past few years. It is a rare
thing for an Indian to go to town
and not be invited to buy liquor of
some kind of the white men, who, if
they can make a sale to the Indian,
secure good profits for their own
pockets. A due bill for one dollar
and ninety cents on a grocery store
was recently traded on the streets
for sixty cents worth pf "hard cider."
So called "hard cider" has been a
dreadful curse to this people the
last six months—an utter demoralization to some of the weaker
ones.
Many white men regard it a special privilege to take advantage of
the Indian's weakness for strong
drink, and in so doing to enrich
themselves. In one of the neighboring towns, recently, two young
Indians attended a concert in the
Methodist Church, and had hardly
been seated on one of the front
seats when a flask of alcohol was
exposed and offered them. I think
it is safe to say that nine-tenths of
the liquor sold to the Indians in
this part of the country is by parties
who do not hold a license of any
kind ; and yet a fine of twenty-five
dollars for the first offence, and ten
days in jail for the second offence,
and the United States pay all the
costs, is the actual punishment
meted out to this class of bootleggers.
One way of dealing with the liquor
question is quite   limited,   but   is
effectual as far as it goes.    It is
this—to make the Indian himself
"fire proof." Strengthen the Indian
character by encouragement or persuasion  or by the presentation of
true manliness so that he will take
, an open stand against it, become a
j teetotaller,  sign  the pledge, shun
j the temptation, and fight the whole
j liquor business.
Three years ago  a temperance
i pledge was placed before the Win-
1 nebago Sabbath School.    The na-
i ture of a pledge, the objects to be
! gained and the duty of fighting this
' particular  evil were   strongly set
forth, and as a result about twenty
five Indians signed the pledge at
that time.    That was nearly half
the  Sabbath School.    The pledge
is presented to the church and Sabbath School two or three times a year,
and  other names have been added to it until it now has fully fifty
signatures, Some of the young men
have come out nobly and signed
the pledge,  and it makes a big difference in their lives.    This pledge
is a public document for us. It is
the intention to have it framed
and hung up in the church as a memorial and testimony for those who
keep it and against those who break
it; and it is to always have an extension for new names.
This is a slow way to deal with
such a destructive evil; but we hope
that it may be thoroughly effective.
Every new fire-proof Indian is a
double gain to the world, for he himself becomes a protection to his weaker neighbor.        W. T. Findley.
Winnebago, Neb.
A STEP FORWARD FOR THE OMAHAS
At the payment made to the Omahas on January 28th, Capt. W. H.
Beck, Acting United States Agent
for tbis people, refused to pay those
who were living together as husband
and wife and could not prove that
they had been lawfully married.
Nor would he give them any money
for their children. But they were
told to go get a license and be married and bring a certificate of marriage to the agent and he would
then pay them as he had paid
the others.
Consequently there was a rush to
the county seat and there were
several marriages within a few days.
This will be a great benefit to the
Omahas in the future, that they
perhaps do not see now. It will
tend to make marriage a more serious matter with them. It will
tend to make family ties more permanent and certain. It will tend
to an easier adjustment as to the
ownership of lands when the time
comes for the lawful heirs to have
what was allotted to their ancestors.
It will enable the agent to see that
leases are made with the right person and that that person gets the
rent money. It will also tend to
put a stop to bigamy and to helping
the next allotting agent to do more
satisfactory work.      W. A. Galt.
Omaha Agency, February 4, 1896.
NEW YEAR'S DAY AT OAHE.
Miss Kennedy assembled the
children for school in the morning,
and at 10:30 took them to the river
to skate. In the afternoon we
observed the day in the old time
way. Mr. and Mrs. Riggs received
from two to five. It was something
new here and the children were
greatly interested and asked all
sorts of questions as to what they
should say and do. They went over
in groups of four and five with their
little story of what to say and when
to come away.
Teaching them their little speech
reminded me of the Ruggles family
in "The Bird's Christmas Carrol,"
though these children made no such
mistakes as they did.
Mrs. Biggs was pleased with their
quick salutation, "I wish you a
Happy New Year."
It was quite an event and impressed the children, from the lighting
of the little tree for every new group
to the "very nice eat" at the close.
In the evening we played games at
home, but the calling was pronounced the crowning event of the day.
And at bed time the children wished there were more New Year's Days
in the year. J. E. D.
Oahe, S. D. __
Santee Normal Training School Press,
Santee Agency, Neb.
AN  EXPERIENCE WITH  THE  WILD
WEST SHOW.
During the hitter part of my vacation, last summer, I had quite an
accidental experience with Buffalo
Bill's Wild West Show. In an "after-
dinner" speech here, the other day
I remarked upon it, and was awarded, in the midst of a hearty applause,
a large piece of home made ginger
cake. The story, or in part, as told
on that occasion, is as follows:
Brethren, I will relate to you an
experience. On the 17th of last August, I went to Buffalo from Chautauqua, N.Y. to deliver some addresses,
and I saw there, for the first time,
a parade of Buffalo Bill's Wild West
Show. You doubtless all know
what that is.
Having fulfilled my appointments
in the city of Buffalo, I returned
to Chautauqua, an d thence to J ames-
town, on the 21st. In this latter
city, I again witnessed the same
Wild West parade on the streets.
This time I began to be somewdiat
interested in the affair.
Leaving Jamestown, and after calling at Corry and Titnsville, Pa.,—
my course being southward to Cincinnati,—I reached Pittsburg in the
evening of the 27th. Early the next
day, while I was attending some
business matters on 7th street, I
heard some good music around the
next block, and so I went to see
what that was. Lo ! behold ! it was
the same Buffalo Bill Show!
Taking advantage of the occasion,
I began now to be a little more
serious in my public utterance, especially with reference to the Indian
question.
Arrangements had been made for
my engagements in West Virginia,
so accordingly I left Pittsburg and
came to Wheeling, early on the 31st.
On my arrival, I found the city in
commotion. I did not know whether it was on my account, or somebody else's. However I went up
to Main street,and I found out that 1
was only threeminutes ahead of time
to see the Wild West Show parade !
Brethren, this show by its parade
practically said to the public: "This
is the Indian, the true Indian. What
is he good for ? The museum is his
place; see him, ladies and gentlemen,
see him, an old relic of barbarism."
My refutation to the show, as
found in four of the addresses that
I gave in two of the cities, consisted
substantially as this:
"No, that is not the true Indian.
You are deceiving tbe public. You
are making money by upholding a
bad relic of heathenism. You are
inviting much ridicule and mockery upon William Penn's intimate
friends. You are disgracing the
modern American civilization. No,
that is not the true Indian. Just
give him a fair chance, and he will
soon find his way into the pulpit,
the legislative hall, the commercial
| house and the scientist's laboratory,
as others of his own race have already done."
Brethren, I was quite relieved
when the Wild West Show and myself finally parted at Wheeling.
Had we kept up the race, we would
have probably collided painfully.
The time will come when there will
be no more Wild West Shows in the
United States.—Edivard Marsden,
in The Indian Helper.