The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1896-03

              The Word Carrier
VOLUME   XXV.
HELPING    THE   RIGHT,   EXPOSING   THE    WRONG.
NUMllKlt !5.
SANTEE AGENCY, NEBRASKA.
MARCH, i8q6.
FIFTY CENTS PER YEAR
OUR   PLATFORM.
For Indians we want American Education! We want American Homes!
We icant American Rights! The result of which is American Citizenship!
And the gospel is the Power of God for
tlieir Salvation'
THE   PRESENT NEEDS   OF THE
INDIANS.
It would appear that there was a
certain definite loss to the cause of
Christianity among the Indians
when that work ceased to be call-
i il Foreign Missions, and became
Home Missions. In the face of
much opposition and many sneers
mice the day it first discovered its
"marching orders," the Church has
never ceased to believe it to be its
duty to go out into all the world and
preach the gospel, and persecution,
neglect, or starvation have only
served to intensify its zeal. It must
preach the gospel to tlie heathen.
But in regard to Home Missions the
Church has felt that it may preach
tlie gospel to neighbors, not that it
must—that it is a good and desirable
I iiing to do, but by no means an in-
e\orable duty. If the Indians had
remained foreign heathen, we might
hope for a Students' Volunteer movement, for an Inland Mission, for
<t zeal beyond wisdom which even
sets forth to preach the gospel in the
midst of war. The Indiaus are as
pagan as the Japanese or the Hin-
dus, for instance: their redemption
is as great a necessity as the redemption of the Chinese. Their
chiefs plead for help and teachers
in no less touching fashion than do
South African kings. But those fill
us with missionary zeal. We cry
unto heaven for money and opportunity to go over seas to convert
Chose; but these, the heathen in our
very midst, most of us neither see
nor hear. Can it be because there
is neither romance nor mystery
about these others? The test of
ihe reality of our zeal is before us
Cere and now. We may measure
the value of our professions for
ourselves.
At this present time the need of
the Indians for missionaries is
greater than ever before. They
have reached not only a new crisis,
but a crisis of a new kind. Practically
speaking the Government has done
what it can for them, or very nearly all. The Indian has law, land,
education, he is fast becoming absorbed in the surrounding people,
but never was he in worse need.
All these great fundamental principles of social life have been thrust
upon him, oft against his will and
largely unprepared; certainly with
very little comprehension of their
resulting privileges or duties. He
needs a friend beside him at every
step. Thrust out into an alien and
hostile community, he is in some
sense in a worse case than when he
dwelt alone in undisturbed barbarism.
And again, civilization is not
Christianity. This truth, so obvious everywhere else, seems to be
lost sight of when the Indians are
considered. We discover that, although educated, they will not stay
refined; that they are civilized, but
will not remain moral. Behold,
says the caviller, there is no good
Indian until he dies, and even his
friends complain  that  the  young
men will "go back" to gambling
games and horse races. It is true
that some measure of refinement
and fine morals is peculiarly necessary to the Indians just now, but
these are not any necessary part of
civilization. They are, however,
inseparable to Christianity, and by
this token the red man needs Christianity for his everyday life even
more than the white, who is surrounded by a Christian atmosphere.
If we would have the newly liberated
Indians a valuable and reliable part
of the community in this world they
must be Christianized. Just why
goes back a long way; but a fact it
is, tbat wdiatever may be true of
Chinese or Poles or Bohemians, if
the Indian is to have any staying
power, if he is to be anything but a
despair to his friends and a curse
to all around him, he must be converted as well as civilized. The use
of his land, the best system of law,
an absolute restriction upon liquor,
all together, will do no more for
him in the Northwest than it has
done for Cherokee or Choctaw. It
is the building up of the individual
that is needed to-day quite as much
as any legislation which shall improve the community.
Not only has the Indian come to
a time of special need, not only does
he need Christianity to make his
land and his education of any value,
not only is his law unsupported by
his own character of little worth, but
he needs Christian missionaries-
more and more, because he has
ceased to be the Indian and become
Indians. It is peculiarly true that
every tribe, every group, every family almost, has reached a different
state of need. The varying pressure
of circumstances combined with the
differing methods of education furnished the children, has brought the
race to a time and place when it
needs many, many helpers,who, living with them will find their reward
in their growth and development.
It is not further efforts by the
churches for the education of the
Indian that are needed. There are
many schools, good, bad, and indifferent, but still schools, and it is
certain that the Government will
attend to the education difficulty.
But it is missionaries that the
Indian needs; missionaries to convert heathen. This is an inglorious
service and one of plenteous hardship, but beyond' measure it is a
patriotic service, beyond measure
it is the work of Him whose "all the
world" began "at Jerusalem," who
taught us to find Himself wherever
the least of His children were in
sore need.—Anna L. Dawes in Am.
Miss. Magazine.
Rev. James Garvie has now been
absent in Washington for six weeks,
working in the interest of the Santees before Congress. As a result
of his unwearied labors, Senator
Allen of Nebraska has introduced a
bill into the Senate restoring to the
Flandrau and Santee Sioux the
annuities coming from the sale of
Minnesota lands which were declared forfeited afterthe outbreak m
1862. The bill has been reported
back favorably to the Senate. Whatever may be the merits of the bill,
Mr. Garvie is worthy of commendation for the skill and pertinacity
with which he carried it so far.
THE TONGUE.
A Scripture Paraphrase.
Little is the tongue, but mighty
Thus the Holy Scripture saith;
Giving wounds,or health bestowing.
In its power are life and death.
Pleasant words are sweet as honey.
Making glad the stooping heart;
Like the oil on troubled waters
Soothing angry thoughts that start.
Like cold waters to the thirsty
So is good news from afar;
Prov. 27: ;■. Like the perfume of sweet ointment,
So a friend's true councels are.
Jas. 3: 5-
Prov. 18:
Prov.12:
Prov. 18:
Prov. 16:
Prov. 12:
Ps. 141:
Prov. 15:
Prov. 25:
Prov. 24:
Prov, 25:
26. He who giveth a right answer,
Every one his lips shall kiss;
«'. And a word that's fitly spoken,
Oh, how beautiful it is!
Prov.22:ii.Hewhokeepshistongue,thatfromit
No impure or mean word slips,
His companions shall be princes,
For the sweetness of his lips.
Ps-15- 3-     He whose loving soul refuses
Needlessly of faults to tell—
Ps. 15: 4.     He who truthful proves in trial,
In God's holy hill shall dwell.
Ps. 19:14. Let my thoughts,0 Christ, my Savior,
Be acceptable to Thee;
Jas. 3: 11. Then like rills from a pure fountain,
True and sweet my words will be.
2 Cor. 5:14. May Thy love constrain thy people
Ps. 51:14.      Of Thy righteousness to sing,
Phil. 2: 11. Until every tongue confesses,
"Jesus Christ is Lord and King."
E. L.
GERTRUDE SIMMONS.
We are glad to place here a credit mark for one of our former pupils, Miss Gertie Simmons of Yankton Agency, who was with us in
1888-89. She has just taken second
prize at the Indiana collegiate oratorical contest, held at Indianapolis,
March 13. The judges were Judge
Woods of the United States Circuit
court, ex-Congressman Bynum and
Governor Claude Matthews. We
copy the account of the Indianapolis News.
When it came the turn for Gertrude Simmons, the Sioux Indian
girl,to speak for Earlham,there were
cheers from her fellow-students, and
a cane with college colors was waved
overhead, but there was less bois-
terousness of outburst than that
which greeted the preceding speakers. The applause showed a warm,
but a delicate and respectful appreciation. The name of Miss Simmons
had been cheered impartially by various colleges in the evening. The
slight, dark-skinned girl, dressed in
black, who sat at the end ofthe row
of speakers, had been gazed upon
with curiosity. It was noticed that
her face showed in delicate but
firm lines the cut of the Indian face.
Her eyes and hair were black, the
small, well-shaped hands at her
side were of dark copper color.
Expectation created by curiosity
turned all eyes which had been wandering and sleepy before, toward
the Indian girl, and the attention
attracted thus was held by her power as an orator in behalf of the Indian. Her voice was clear and sweet,
her language was that of a cultivated young woman and her pronunciation was without trace of a tongue
unfamiliar with English. Her manner was real, womanly and refined. The effect of artificiality in
a speaker, up merely on exhibition, was lost when she spoke, and
the audience forgot that it was an
oratorical contest, and remembered
only that an Indian girl was speaking for her race. Her subject was
"Side by Side," and the beginning
of her address did not make it
apparent that this was to be her
theme. She began with a glowing
account of the advance of tbe spirit
of freedom and the greatness of the
Teutonic race. But she returned
to a view of the great forest-covered
continent of four hundred years
ago, and spoke of the bark canoe
plying its streams, of the wigwams,
the fires, the life of the hunter and
the relations of Indian mother aud
child.
She spoke of the friendly spirit of
early Indians turned to bitterness by
treachery. The Indian, she said,
was never the first to break a treaty.
She spoke of the fidelity of the
Indian to the Quakers and others
who had kept faith with him. She
told of the degradation that had
come along with civilization in the
introduction of "fire-water" and evil
example. The Indian, she said,
had been charged with cruelty.
She compared this cruelty of the
Indian, barbarous and without the
advantages of civilization and Christian teaching,with the cruelty of civilized Europeans in the St. Bartholomew massacre, the burning at the
stake for religious opinion, the fearful bloodshed of the French revolution. She spoke effectively of the
cruelty of the Indian in the forests
of America at the very time that
witches were being burned at Salem.
The white man, she said, had been
both the accuser and judge of the
Indian. She made a fervent prayer
toGod for justice. At the close she
spoke of what had resulted from a
Christian spirit toward the Indian,
of the advantage which has been
taken of the opportunities for education and of the spirit which allowed the Indian and white races to go
forward "side by side."
When she finished there was a
response of hearty and deep-felt
applause which mounted to a cheer
coming from every part of the house.
The vote ofthe hearts ofthe hearers
was given to her. Judge Woods,
one of the judges of delivery, when
the speech was over sat silent a
moment, hastily went over his
marks, and then turning to W. D.
Bynum, said: "When it comes to
oratory, I place the Indian girl far
above the college boys every time."
When President Riock, of the
oratorical association, finally came
forward to announce the first three
in order of victory, each announcement was greeted with deafening
cheers, and the enthusiasm then
poured itself out into the streets
where it continued.
The rank of the six orators was
Ewing, of DePauw, first; Miss
Simmons, of Earlham, second;
Clark, of Butler, third ; Bell, of Wabash, fourth ; Bowman, of Hanover,
fifth, and Schuh, of Franklin.sixth.
It is proposed to have an Indian Y. M. C. A. Summer School on
the shores of Big Stone Lake, near
Sisseton Agency, S. D., the last of
June and the first of July. General
Secretary C. K. Ober is arranging
for it. A number of the best Association leaders and teachers will be
present, with a good director of
athletics. This is a new thing for
our Indian Y. M. C. A. men. It is
to be hoped that they will quickly
' see the advantages of it