The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1897-02

              The Word Carrier
VOLUME   XXVI.
HELPING    THE   RIGHT,   EXPOSING   THE    WRONG
NUMBER
SANTEE AGENCY, NEBRASKA.
FEBRUARY, 1807.
FIFTY CENTS PER YEAR.
OUR   PLATFORM.
For Indians we want American Education! We want American Homes!
We want American Rights! The result of which is American Citizenship!
And the gospel is the Power of God for
their Salvation'
As regards Indians, the most significant act of this present session
of Congress is that making the Indian liqour law applicable to citizen
Indians as well as to those on the
reservation. The government has
held that they were still subject to
this law: but some of the Courts
have decided otherwise. It is therefore desired to get tbe uncertainty
set at rest by. a direct act of Congress. However it is not settled
anymore than it was before. For
the radical question is whether such
a regulation is constitntional or not.
Can a person be a citizen and not
a citizen at the same time. Or
speaking more exactly,Is there such
a thing possible as a qualified citizenship ? Those who spoke for the
bill on the floor of Congress said,
Let us pass the law in order that
the Supreme Court can settle the
question. They are not sanguine
that it can stand.
The representatives from Georgia
and Arkansas who spoke against
the constitutionality of the new
Indian liquor bill, were even more
inconsistent when they advocated
referring the matter to the states for
action. They agreed that this special legislation should be passed for
the protection and control ofthe citizen Indians,but thought the states
should make the same law that it was
unconstitutional fortheTJnitedStates
to make. How can Nebraska, for
instance, make special laws for its
Indian citizens anymore than forits
German or Irish citizens? We believe they are right in this, that the
Indian, as soon as he is a citizen,
comes under the laws of the state in
which he lives, and it is for his interest that it should be so. But the
state has no more power than the
United States to make void his citizenship by special legislation.
FROM SHELL CREEK, N. D.
On Christmas Eve we had a tree
for our pupils. It was a wonder to
them, for many of them had never
seen a Christmas tree .nor knew
what we celebrated for. When the
people came in, I saw an old lady
making her way through the crowd
with a boy behind her. She came
where I was and said, "I want my
grandson to give you this, please
accept it." She held something
tied up in a cloth. It was 35 cents
in money. She went toward the
tree, and while tying the money on
the tree she kept talking to the tree,
saying, "If this is the way they do,
this belong to that white man and
is not yours,tree." She looked every
happy and also the boy, to think
they had given me a present. Mrs.
H. received a nice otter skin from
Mrs. Bear-in-the-water.
Our school room was well filled.
The people were so interested hearing me tell them that God so loved
us that he gave us his own son to
save us from our sins. It seemed
as if God was very near to each
heart that night, and I felt that
God was helping so that the people
might  understand  his great love, j
There was one old lady who watched
me so close and seemed to take in I
every word I said; finally she was i
weeping.    It was a happy hour to us j
all.    The very same night the Indians   had a great dance, but   so
many came to our place instead of ;
going to the dance.    I do not have j
to go and beg them to come to our
Sunday service, but we just ring the ■
bell and we have a big crowd.   These j
Indians never knew Sunday from |
other days but, thank God, many do j
now.    I love to tell God's word to
these Indians.   Charles Hoffman.
SANTEE CHRISTMAS TREE.
The chapel Thursday afternoon,
December, 24, presented a busy
scene as a coterie of merry workers
made secure on the platform three
straight pine trees and fashioned
into festoons quantities of ground
pine procured from Minnesota, and
bringing with it suggestions of its
northern environments. At 7:30,
the hour for the Christmas Eve festival, a transformation had indeed
been wrought, for Christmas cheer
and festivity was the one central
thought manifested on the faces of
the people,old and young, gathered
in the rooms of the chapel and in the
the nature of the decorations of the
rooms. The younger pupils smiled
when they looked at the trees with
their attractive fruits,the older ones
when looking at the younger ones."
Dr. Riggs spoke a few words of
welcome and told a Christmas
story teaching the lesson of giving
one's best to the Lord. A practical test of this lesson was made
through a collection amounting to
$24.12 to be given to Foreign Missions   and all   joined   in   singing
Oh, come all ye faithful,
Joyfully triumphant.
"We were led in prayer by Mr.
James Singhig-as-he-walks.
Eli Abraham addressed the assembly in his most happy manner
on the blessedness of giving. His remarks were in Dakota. That hymn,
so full of word pictures of Bethlehem
and the birthplace of Christ,
•'As, with gladness, men of old
Did the guiding star behold;"
was sung. Followed by an anthem
by the choir.
A report stating that $21.80 had
been collected among the Indians
and Mission people to defray the
expenses of the evening was read
by Mr. Eli Abraham.
During a short interval which
followed, apples, candy, nuts and
crackers were eaten with evident
enjoyment. One little boy with
knightly gallantry gave his apple
to the girl sitting opposite, but his
knighthood was of short duration
for he soon asked for her largest and best adamantine piece of
candy. At this point in the evening's programme the curiosity of
the dolls on the trees had reached
the qui vive. They kept peering
out from behind the branches and
straight into the merry eyes of our
little Indian pupils as though about
to say, "Will you be kind to me
if I am given to you?" I think the
children nodded a ready assent.
So the trees were despoiled of their
fruits of books, toys, games, dolls,
and all present were the recipients
of gifts both pleasing and useful. Mabel Egeler.
FROM A CHRISIAN STANI> POINT.
There is nothing so effective as
the last words of a dying person.
There is nothing that appeals to our
sympathies as strongly as the last
look of an anxious human face of one
who takes his last breath. The dying person does not have to be our
beloved friend or blood relation. It
seems natural for every human being to sympathize one with one another when we get to death's door. I
would give all I had to have a dying
person restored back to health. Our
Maker peculiarly imparts this human sympathy to every human being, 1 believe. "When Christ was
on earth there was never a funeral,
but if he was present, he restored
the dead to life. I expect many of us
would do the same, if we had the
same power. But raising a physical
man to life is comparatively a little
deed, when the soul is taken into
consideration. And the importance
of saving a soul is a duty laid upon
every person who professes to be a
christian. This more important
work is our duty rather than raising
dead bodies, which is not so important. And if we are desirous to help
physical bodies or raise dead persons
why are we not so desirous to help
the souls of men, which is a work
that is committed to us ?
Let me inform you,' my christian
friends, tbat a brother of yours is
dying just out side of your doors
within hearing of church and christian school bells. This brother of
yours is the Indian. You may not
accept him as your brother. But
there are only two places for living
in hereafter, and you will find the
Indian in both places. You are to
spend your eternity with him in one
place or the other, and you better
come out of your christian homes,
your churches and benevolent societies, to get acquainted with the
persons you are to spend your eternity with. Tliis brother of yours is
like Lazarus at the rich man's gate.
You remember in the afflictions of
Lazarus, how the dogs came to lick
his sores and showedtheir sympathy.
The Indian of today has no one to
sympathize with him. Even the
dogs who come to him are not to lick
his sores in sympathy but to irritate
and to devour him. If the Indian is
ever to be helped, it is today. There
is no better time than now. The
Indian today opens his country for
you to occupy, his home for you to
enter; and his heart is wide open
for you to take possession of. You
remember the story of the good
Samaritan, who had oil and wine
to heal and comfort the unfortunate. This is the example that
Christ wanted us to follow. But
instead of pouring in oil and wine
to heal the Indian's soul, you have
poured in whiskey and grog of all
imaginable sorts and cast him into
a lower state of life than if he was
left to his  own  will.
The Indians who are exposed to
civilization without proper protection have been a prey to the whiskey dealers and immoral men. The
majority of the Indians are allowed
to use liquor as they choose. Christian people know of these facts, still
they are inactive in suppressing this
curse and the demoralizing element
which undermines the soul and
life of the Indian. The christian
people of the   United States have
had a quarter million of Indian souls
with willingness of heart for over
four hundred years within their
gates and they have not converted
five per cent, of the whole Indian
population. These same christians of the United States have gone
to work across the seas, to foreign
fields and converted over one million heathen souls at the end of
one century. They had to break
down their idol worship, their Buddhism and many other isms; and
have converted even the cannibals
of the Pacific islands, and yet they
have not been able in four hundred
years to convert the aborigines of
this continent that are a religious
class as a rule. There are no idols to
cast down or any isms to contend
with. Yet the work of christianizing the natives of the North America have' been over looked for these
many years.
Let me ask these few simple
questions to all ministers of the
Gospel of all denomnations; and
the same questions are applicable to
all supposed christians. When is
the right time to christianize the
Indians of North America? What
hinders you from giving them the
free Gospel of Jesus Christ? "Freely ye have received freely give."
Why is this great free salvation
withheld from our needy red brother ? Oh! the times are so hard
you say. But how do you know
but G°d has made the times hard
to test you how much you think
about his kingdom, and how much
love you have for his cause ? What
you have held back from your needy
brother so much must be held back
from you in this life and the life here
after. Let the words of oui master
be applied here that are recorded
in Matt. 25: 41-46.
The christian people believe tiiat
as the Indian is the ward of the Government he is taken care of the best
of any class of people. They think
the Government gives him clothing,
food, and schooling, and there is no
need of their christian help. This
supposition is dead poison to every
christian effort.
I want the christian people to
know the real condition of the In-
ian. The Indian is dying, not physically but moially and spiritually.
He is in the last stage of life, and
he is appealing to you as a friend,
and brother with anxious face and
heart. The old Indian is dying and
his last words are, "My christian
brethren I hope you will educate
my children." James Garvie.
MRS. ISABELLA RIGGS WILLIAMS.
A cablegram received February
5 by The American Board, Boston,
telling of the death of Mrs. Isabella
R. Williams at Kalgan, China. We
shall have to wait a month for letters
before we have the particulars. It
occurred probably about J anuary 22.
She was in delicate health when she
returned to China a year ago last
fall. She would have returned a
year before that with her husband
and daughter, Miss Henrietta Williams, but was not able to go at that
time. It is a comfort that her oldest
daughter ,was with her. The other
children are scattered here and there
in this country: a son at Harvard
University, a daughter at Oberlin,
0., and three daughters at The
Western, Oxford, 0.