The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1898-02

              the Word Carrier
VOLUME    XXVII.
IIELl'IXK    THE    RIGHT.    EXPOSING    THE    WltONIi.
NTJMBEH   1.
SANTEE AGENCY, NEBRASKA.
FEBRUARY, i8q8.
FIFTY CENTS PER YEAR.
OUK   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!
In the articles of Rev. J. F. Cross,
begun in September and finished
in this paper, on certain Indian
characteristics which defer their
civilization, some things are said
which are not pleasant to think of
either by Indians or by their white
friends. Nevertheless they are in
the main true, and should be honestly and carefully considered. It
makes them none the less true to
shut our eyes to them. It is no
answer to say that many other
things are true that are more pleasant to relate. We'are thankful
that there is another side to the
picture, but of that in its proper
time. Here are certain serious
facts that exist. As long as they
remain true they bar the way to advance. Our effort must then be
put forth towards changing these
characteristics. All the influences
of environment, instruction, discipline, religious principle, and above
all, personal determination on the
part of the Indian himself must be
brought into play to change these
conditions.
Have patience then with those
who are engaged in this work if
they do hot bring a crop to perfection the first year from the sod, or
the fortieth year either. At first
the Indian's suspicion and enmity
has barred all efforts for his advancement. When these have been
overcome then his natural amiability has been misinterpreted.
He has been considered well advanced in learning the ways of the
new life when he is simply acquiescent. He is willing to see you go
through the motions and perhaps is
willing for you to transform him
if it can be done without his con-
cious effort. When the government began to teach farming to
the Indians in Minnesota forty and
fifty years ago, the Indians sat on
the fence and smoked while the
white farmer did tbe work. The
missionaries started a number at
farming but on another plan. Dr.
Stephen R. Riggs himself taught
many to plow. The first time a-
round be held the plow, but tbe next
time the Indian had to hold it himself. But it bas taken long and
patient efforts on the part of all who
have done any thing for them to get
the Indian to actually do for himself. And as yet it is but a beginning.
And all honor to those of the Indian race who, beginning to see what
they have to do to take their place
among civilized men, have set themselves resolutely to accomplish it.
Give them due credit for what they
have accomplished. Rememberthat
in certain lines of action it means
much more for them to come up to
the true standard than for us to
whom it comes as an inheritance
from our fathers.- Remember too
that the difficulties they have to
meet are chiefly within themselves;
thus hard to see, and harder to
reach.     Their     very     deficiency
takes away the power to meet the
difficulty. Naturally tbey must
make many mistakes. They will
be tempted to be satisfied with superficial changes. Indeed this is
what most of their white friends
are asking for and encouraging.
So no wonder they do not always
get hold of matters in the right
way or make much progress. All
honor then to those of them who
see the task before them; who take
themselves in hand and are not
scared out by their failures; who
discipline themselves in economy,
sense of obligation, and in carrying
responsibilities. They are bound
to succeed.
HOW   OUK   INDIANS   HAVE
EDUCATED   US.
When Dr. John Forsyth was chaplain at the Military Academy at West
Point, he used frequently to favor
me with an invitation to preach
to tbe cadets, a privilege gladly accepted both for the purpose of addressing such an interesting audience, and the enjoyment of such
entertaining and instructive hospitality. On each Sabbath evening I
had, with him, the pleasure of attending a student prayer meeting,
over the entrance to the barracks,
when some dozen cadets would take
part, and more or less of the fifty
odd in attendance would introduce
themselves and we would sit down
for a pleasant little personal chat.
To me there wras a pathos in it, for
as I talked with the bright, healthy,
promiseful lads, I thought of the
rough and dangerous experiences
tbey must shortly have in the West.
Not one of them, perhaps, but was
ere long to be the target of an Indian's minnie, or his flowing locks
the challenge for the scalping knife.
And I breathed my heart's best
blessing on him, praying meanwhile he might be a true soldier of
the cross. Such soldiership should
serve to make him a still worthier
defender of his country in peril, and
meanwhile, in fact, not foe, but
friend to such as duty might require
him to contend within battle. And
then the sorrowful thought would
press, that such noble spirits, true
and chivalrous, would have sometimes to plan death for brave soldiers like themselves, only of another race and less enlightened, an
enemy who in savage battle would
be nerved by just anger at unjustly
ravaged homes.
Then there occurred the thought
that the poor Indians are serving
the sad purpose of targets for the
practice of inexperienced privates,
and of an inferior enemy on whom
our younger officers are to take
practical lessons in tactics and
strategy and valor! So it turns out
that, however and wherever we set
ourselves to teach the Indians, they
have been of service in educating us!
This is no mean subject to write
or speak upon. It is a very large
one, and is fruitful of suggestion;
the ways in which the f ndians have
been and still are educating us.
When the whites first came into
contact with them, they were setting us the example of a happy life,
the example of comparative innocence and generous trust, and then
of equity in trade. We humbugged
them with  our cheap jewelry  of
beads; we sold them liquor that we
might cheat them when drunk, and
we were not the slower at it, knowing.it would soon kill them off and
the   inheritance   would   be   ours.
They taught us the lesson of charity,
in   receiving  the   precious  gospel
from races that were at  the very
work of their extermination.    Their
dispute at times aga-nst our faster
progress led to our wiser settlement
and development of the frontier before; so that we wasted not as we
went.    Their courage   and  wit in
defending themselves  against our
aggression made us better fighters a-
gainst the aggressions of the French
and afterwards against the oppression of the British.    This served us
well also in the war of 1812-14, so
the British commanders, retreating
from the precision of our lire, more
than once had occasion to exclaim,
"There is no use trying to outshoot
these Indian fighting farmers !" The
unjust wars in Florida school our
officers and  soldiers so  as to  be
more than a match for the Mexicans
who enjoyed fighting a great deal
more than we.    When the civil war
came on,  both  North and  South
had new captains that never breathed battle smoke in Mexico,  but on
the western plains and in the fastnesses   of   far-off mountains   had
smelt   of    danger,    had   endured
wounds, had studied strategy anew,
and in the great national struggle
proved themselves equal to the best
marshals   of   Europe.     ff   to-day
Britain is shy of angering America,
! and if Spain grows nervous lest we
require that she stop her butcheries
on the most beautiful  island of the
seas, it is in part owing to the fact
that our heroes have been  sharpening their   swords   and snarpen-
ing their wits, whilst playing catch
with Apaches in the fastnesses of
the Southwest, and measuring skill
and fleetness and valor among the
northern  Rockies  and the barren
lands and wildernesses further east.
All this has undoubtedly  had its
influence in developing the martial
spirit, in enforcing   tbe  apparent
duty of better preparations for war
alike  on   land   and   en   sea, and
making us  the strong nation  we
are to-day, a nation  for  tyranny
to hesitate to attack, a nation for
freedom to conjure by.    This has
been a part of the schooling the
Indian  has been giving us.    I do
not vouch  for   its  great  exalted-
ness.    I do not insist on its necessity.    Only, it is a training in a line
which our general type of civilization is calling for; and our  Indian
races have given what we think we
want.   To give us this they have
parted,  whether willingly   or not,
let history say, with all their lands,
with a primitive virtue and happiness,witb racial growth and development, and   have   embraced   the
prospect of their own final obliteration or absorption   into   the   race,
which, with such  unwonted   sacrifice, it has been training and  educating during these recent centuries.
If, notwithstanding, in the  waking
consciousness of our crime we ourselves choose now to  call  this last
the century of dishonor, it has been
jour business, and not the Indian's.
| Be it so, if it so be!    Then there is
' only one method of restitution. And
what is this? Not to exterminate
him ,and have-it all over! Not to
go on the same way till he is crowded off tbe Rockies into the Pacific
ocean. Not by fooling him with
promises of an empty future. Not
by debasing his manhood and spoiling all of good that is left in him by
a shallow paternalism. Not by
starving his manly life out of him by
feeding him to lazy wortblessness
by inconsiderate rations, as though
you would make boys men by
candies !   No, not that way.
We shall best vindicate the Indian and avenge bis wrongs in a
more sensible and more beautiful
way. We shall best educate the
Indian by arranging that he shall
educate us in better lines than
those of his previous education of
us. Let him educate us in nobler
virtues than courage in war, in
higher ideals than those of strategy, in higher triumphs than those
of conquest. It shall be, indeed, a
shame for us to ask a beneficence of
this untutored and so helpless race,
and yet we can in truth confer no
higher favor on him and no higher
honor than now to give him permission to be an instrument in our own
moral and spiritual and even material advancement. Are we asked,
How ? Let his lowly condition evoke
our kindly consideration. Let his
wrongs appeal to us for a sort of
divine avengement and correcting.
Let the wrong we ourselves have
done him prove now effective arguments for our wisest philanthropy.
He needs enlightening and converting and by attendiug to this spiritual necessity of his shall we be converted and saved effectually. The
more we let his poverty plead with
us, tbe richer shall we grow. In this
we verily get ahead of him again, only in a divine and no low human way.
Surely, it is more blessed to give
than to receive. In this way shall
he minister to us better than even
we to him. And then again, there
comes a moral turn about; and be
in ministering to us shall be suffered
to gain advantage over us, and in
his turn he shall find it better thus
to have ministered unto ns. Let us
receive this ministry of his. Let us
through his troubles and his sins
be educated into a larger charity, in
both the sacred imports of that
word. In this way our very civilization shall be humanized the more,
j our very Christianity be Christian-
I ized anew.—Dennis Wortman, in
i New York Observer.
AT SANTEE.
We  are very thankful that you
j have helped us to go to school and
! learn   something about   the Bible
i and   some  other things that  will
; help us to be good boys and girls
i and so I am glad to go to school.
j I went to school when I was about
eight years old, but 1 don't think
I that is a long time, for I don't remember what I do in these years,
j for I was a little boy at that time
i and  I   don't  think of   any thing
1 but play all the time.    I am now
fifteen years of age and I  go  to
school only in afternoon and work
beforenoon. I  like  all my studies
and   when   I   go  to   school   without  knowing   my lessons  I   don't
feel good. a pupil.