The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1897-04

              The Word Carrier
VOLUME   XXVI.
HELPING   THE   RIGHT,   EXPOSING   THE   WRONG.
NUMRER   4.
SANTEE AGENCY, NEBRASKA.
APRIL, 1897.
FIFTY CENTS PER YEAR.
our platform.
For Indians we want American Edu
cation! We want American. Homes!
We want American Rights! The remit of ivhich is American Citizenship!
And the gospel is die Power of God for
their Salvation'
The enterprising Field Secretary
of the Y. M. C. A. International
Committee, Mr. C. K. Ober, has arranged for a second Summer School
for the Indian Young Men's Christian
Associations. It will be held at the
same delightful spot on the western
shore of Big Stone Lake, June 16 to
24. Full information is given on
page two of this paper.
A contemptible relic of barbarism
in the Indian service is the method
of taking Indians'signatures by having them touch the pen. Educated
and cultivated men and women are
required to walk up to the clerk's
desk and touch their fingers to the
tip of his pen handle and he then
writes down Benjamin Franklin (or
what ever it may be) his X mark.
It is an insult to their intelligence
and civilization. The government
used to brand their blankets U. S.
I. 1). and the hieroglyphic was interpreted from their backs as they
wore them around—United States
Idiot. The blanket is not in evidence now. But"hisXmark" stands
for the same thing, United States
Idiot. This is the official measure
of the honor in which the government holds its wards.
Uncertainty is the devil of the Indian business. Everything is so
arranged as to make the Indian
hang around for something to turn
up. He can never know exactly
what he is to get nor when he is to
get it. Much of the government aid
is distributed according to personal
favor. The only certain result is to
teach the f ndian to hang on to somebody. It destroys manliness and
saps industry. Government annuities need not have a degrading influence any more than drawing dividends at a bank if there was only the
same business certainty in receiving them. Justice also becomes a
myth and the moral professions of
the government are made a laughing stock. The gifts of the government are subject to conditions,
such as industry, progress in civilization, sending children to school;
but the bold bad Indians or the
sneaking wily Ones go their own ways
and run the risk. Uncertainty burlesques the discipline.
It may seem a light thing to
thus stigmatize the names of a
helpless people, but it will seem
otherwise when it is comprehended
that every such "mark," unnecessarily -made, is a black mark against
the name of every government official who has to do with perpetuating this token of barbarism. It is a
sign of a degenerate sensibility in
regard to what is elevating and
honorable. It is proof of insincerity in their professed desire to civilize the Indian. The pressure of
popular opinion has impelled the
government to take some steps towards Indian civilization, but unfortunately its work has been done
in such a way as to confirm rather
than remove the conviction that
the spirit of civilization is not within the wheels of the government
machine.
Santee Agency has taken a step
backward in the reinstatement of
the Indian police. They may be
of use as messengers or informers
but as officers they have no place
in a citizen community. No doubt
they help to keep up the delusion
that this is an Indian reservation;
and this might be considered an
innocent entertainment for those
who delight in reservation ways.
But it becomes a serious matter
when considered as an official contradiction of the real civil relations
of these Indian citizens. Nothing
should be allowed to come in to
confuse their minds regarding this
vital fact that they are living under
the laws of the state of Nebraska,
and are under the protection as well
as the goverment of those laws. To
set up a pseudo goverment is disloyalty to the best interest of these Indian citizens.
Nine Musquakie Indians from
the Tama reservation visited the
governor and legislature of Iowa the
| other day. They had a conference
with Governor Drake and called on
the different state officers. Then
by invitation the chief addressed
the house of representatives for ten
minutes. As they were all dressed
in the ludian costume they made
quite a sensation. The people of
Iowa are more interested in an Indian show than in Indian civilization, or Tama reservation would not
be the disgrace that it is to their
fair state.	
SOWING AND REAPING.
A recent trip to Dungeness has
brought to my mind a new illustration of the old truth, "in due time
ye shall reap if ye faint not." The
Indian church there was organized
in 1882, and while I have been able
to visit it usually only about twice
a year yet there have, been some very
good christian teachers there employed by the government to teach
the day sehool. Afterthe organization of the church, for about four
years it prospered. By 1886 twenty-
eight persons had joined it, five of
whom belonged to the neighborhood
round about,either white halfbreeds
or Indian women of distant tribes
living with white men, and the rest
were Dungeness Indians of the Clallam tribe.
About that time they began to
learn that the power of the Agent
over them was less than it had been,
owing to the decisions of the Indian
Department in regard to those not
living on an Indian reservation, and
the village is on land which the Indians themselves had bought. There
was consequently less punishment
for drinking. Those not members
of the church were less afraid to
drink, and they induced some who
were members to drink, and so more
and more of them fell, for many
years before all of the older ones
had drank more or less, many of
them more. Some tried to hide it.
Some knowing that they could not,
acknowledged their sins only to fall
again. Christmas and Fourth of
July were their days of greatest tern p-
tation, but there was more or less
of it at all times, as there were two
saloons about three miles distant.
I talked to them, bore witb them
and made as much allowance for
them as I thought I ought to, possibly too much. But the church
ceased to grow. From 1886 to 1895
not a single Dungeness Indian joined the church. In 1889 two persons
joined but they belonged to the outside neighborhood. Most of the
younger Indians who had been in
the school and Sabbath School,
which has been kept up since 1878,
did not drink, but did attend the
Sabbath School and prayer meeting.
They did not however care to join
a church which was so full of drunkards. By 1895 thirty persons had
been members of the church. Of
these, ten had died or moved away,
and eight more were guilty of drinking or other practises equally bad.
This left twelve in good standing, of
whom four belonged to the outside
neighborhood, and of the eight Dungeness Indians only a single one
was a man. The outlook was discouraging. I often wondered if the
whole church would not go entirely
to pieces.
Seven years ago the government
sent a young man there as teacher,
Mr. J.E. Malone. He had never
taught school anywhere before, but
he was a steady,consistant christian
and tried to do his best. During all
these years,except through vacation,
besides teaching the school, he has
kept up a Sabbath School, a Sabbath evening meeting, and a Thursday evening meeting. Sometimes
only his scholars have been present,
and often not all of them, sometimes
older ones have come in ; generally
he has had no help in any of the
services except in the singing, but
with a steady christian purpose he
has kept on with the work, and at
! last the results are being seen. In
I December,1895,two ofthe older boys
i in school joined the church on my
j visit there. It was very refreshing
I after such long discouragements.
; Last month, December, I received
] three more of the young people in-
i to the church, three more gave me
their names desirous of joining in
the near future, and there were four
or five more who were just on the
verge of making the same decision,
Some of the older ones who had
been drinking seemed more sincere
in their efforts and desires to come
back into the christian faith than
they had ever before been, as far
as I could judge. The great share of
this late success is due under God
to the faithful, untiring work of the
teacher. "In due time ye shall reap
if ye faint not." "He is faithful
that promised." M. Eells.
Skokomish Agency, Wash.
A GOVERNMENT INDIAN DAY
SCHOOL.
You have asked me to tell you of
my regular work, so I will give you
a day's duties.   By half past eight
in the morning the first bell must
ring for the children who live far
and near, in order to bring them
together at nine o'clock.    They will
have to all go in for morning exercises at fifteen minutes past nine,
so I must hurry them every second.
As the girls come they must take
I off the native dress  and put on a
j school  dress and  the   slip apron.
I The larger girls have to take off their
hair ornaments and ear-rings before
tbey can go into the school-room.
The boys must all come in too and
wash. When you get thirty children
into a room fifteen feet square, and
let them do all the things I have
mentioned it is rather crowded.
Still the boys are usually slow in
coming, so that's one consolation.
Some of the girls have not come
yet and it is ten o'clock, so we must
find out why they are not here, or
if the policeman is around that
morning send him. One day a big
girl and her sister did not come so we
sent two girls after her, but the girl
could not come as she had no shoes.
The next day we found out she
was gambling most of the day with
some young women not far from her
home, so I guess her lack of shoes
was a mere excuse. This same girl
does not love the "royal road to
learning" and stays out with her
younger brothers when the father
and mother go after wood. She
comes here to church quite often,
and one would take her for a saint
the way she listens, in comparison
with the others.
One thing the large girls like to do
is to make light bread. There are
four girls who can do it: and one of
these can do it all alone, excepting
to regulate the fire for baking. She
will get it too hot every time and
brown the loaf on top quickly and
ask me so complacently if it isn't
done now? Eating light bread is
one thing the children appreciate.
If any are sick, they always ask
for bread. They haven't been in
the habit of making light bread before, so that is one thing they have
learned this year.
The girls all sew very well and
the little girls eight or nine years
of age do very nice sewing. Some
days we spend a great deal of time
mending. Sometimes it begins with
a boy's jacket who has been too energetic in his attempt at wrestling and
bas torn his sleeve out entirely.
We have begun to bathe the children each week. Last Monday was
our first day, and the attempts
were quite amusing and startling!
The first boy evidently had had no
experience before, as he used up four
towels. The first he dropped in the
tub in his excitement; and the second
tramped upon while washing his
head; with the third he wiped his
head, and the fourth was properly
applied.
The school-room is scrubbed twice
each week, likewise the other floors.
So with the washing, ironing, scrubbing, cooking and sewing we manage to keep busy. The work would
be much more satisfactory if we had
more conveniences. For instance
we have but one pail with which to
do our scubbing. On bread making
days bread has to be hustled into
the pans, in order to wash the dishes,
or else let the dishes stand. We are
expected to keep our stoves shining,
but no stove polish is furnished.
When the issue of clothing and
shoes was made for the pupils, we
had about thirty pairs of shoes for
the girls, all of which ranged from
elevens to twos. The consequence
was that the larger girls were left out
of the distribution. In fact "misfits"
throughout are guite as common
as anything else. M. Bain.
Porcupine, S. D.