The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1898-03

              The Word Carrier
<t
VOLUME   XXVII.
HELPING   THE   RIGHT,   EXPOSING   THE   WRONG.
ntxmdei: a.
SANTEE AGENCY, NEBKASKA.
MARCH, i8q8.
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!
A LECTURE TOUR OVER PINE RIDGE
RESERVATION.
One Saturday afternoon the overland stage from Bushville, Nebraska, brought to us Professor F. B.
Riggs of Santee Normal Training
Scliool, with his stereopticon and its
accompanying apparatus. He came
for the benefit of our mission here,
and as he talks Dakota fluently,
we were much elated over his arrival, and refreshed by his presence. Not knowing that he was
coming so soon, I had an appointment to dispense the Lord's Supper
at our Wounded Knee station, some
eighteen miles east of our home in
the agency. An eighteen mile
drive before morning service these
winter mornings, means a very early
breakfast.
Altogether we had a long service,
and so had to do penance for our
much speaking by preparing our
noon day luncheon in double quick
time, and eating it accordingly. We
have an appointment at our church
at home, and what ever else we
leave undone we must be on time.
This day we are in a special baste
as Professor Riggs bas an acetylene
gas light to arrange, a curtain also
to hang, and a lot of preliminaries
that belong to a sucessful exhibition
of magic lantern slides. Supper
also is necessary before the lecture.
His subject was "The Life of Our
Saviour."
Monday morning our trip begi-.s
and we set out for the White Clay
church, some twenty miles uoith
of us, planning to be there at night,
as it was more convenient to use a
inagic lantern after dark. Our road
lies along a creek and the country
is thickly settled. The population
on tiiis reservation is along the
creeks. The Indians do not care
to dig wells, so you find few houses
on the prairie between the creeks.
At White Clay church, Professor
Riggs's subject is, "American Civilization." The striking illustrations
are in strong contrast to the uncivilized life we have been seeing all
day.
Penned up on a small reservation all his life, an Indian is too apt
to think that the chief end of man
is to attend "Beef Issue," and to go
after his rations. We consider such
lectures as these a very important
factor in trying to raise this people
to become good citizens of the Republic, as well as of the Kingdom
of Heaven. A few years ago the
Hostiles burned our church at this
station, but we are glad to have it
rebuilt as it has become quite a
center of attraction. At too many
points here, the Omaha Dance
House is the chief attraction. We
notice also that a man who is prominent in the dance is, invariably,
an unprofitable addition. He has
to give up the dance, before he can
feel at home in the church.
Tuesday morning is occupied
with a funeral service. This over,
we continue o~ir journey north to
our station at Short Bull's Camp on
the White River. We are now
about a half day's drive from the
Black Hills. It is a drive of some
fifteen miles from the church at
White Clay to Short Bull's. Chief
Short Bull has always been a leader
in the Ghost Dance, from which
came the outbreak here of 1890.
His camp is known as a hostile
camp, and it is but recently that
any Government or mission work
has been carried on there. After
going to this camp for some time,
we found sufficient encouragement
to try to make it a station, with a
regular cateehist. As no help for
new work was available from the
Home Board, we were forced to fall
back upon our Native Indian Missionary Society. The Indians got
out a lot of logs for a house, and I
put it up with their help, and now
we have a very encouraging station
there. Here, that night, Professor
Riggs found a larger audience than
could be seated.
Having reached the northern
limit of our mission field, we retrace our weary way of about thirty-
five miles back to the Agency,
on Wednesday, to find a crowded
house. Here he lectured again,
showing interesting views, with instructive explanations, of his recent
travels in Europe, winding up with
the extinct animals of South Dakota and Nebraska. Thursday forenoon while the poor horses were
resting their weary legs the mercury had jumped from away below
zero to far above freezing point.
As a consequence, the snow has
melted and instead of a hard road
we have an eighteen mile drive to
Wounded Knee through mud or
"gumbo" (in Western phraseology).
Hence we make very poor time on
this day's journey. Dark overtakes
us long before we get there. And
it is very dark—no stars—nothing
but black clouds above and bad,
rough roads beneath, and we are in
constant danger of taking a wrong
trail, or runningagainst some rough
ground or into a wash out and upsetting our buggy, which is rather
top heavy.
You will pardon my mentioning
a few of the articles we carried.
First is a lunch box with food and
dishes sufficient for two men for a
week, a very large sack of grain to
supply the team for a week as the
horses must have all the grain they
can eat in order to do the work.
Next are our blankets or bed.
Enough to put under us, to make
the hard floor of churches and
school houses feel soft. Enough
over us to keep us warm in a cold
house, when the thermometer is ten
or fifteen degrees below zero. Then
we had a trunk, (not so very small
either,) to hold the large tank with
all its fixtures for generating gas
for an acetelyne light of 500 candle
power. Another trunk filled with
lantern, slides, and all the appliances for giving science lectures to
the school children. Then stowed
away somewhere in the corners of
the buggy were two valises with
necessities for travelling overland
in winter and its possible emergencies. Also a large jug of water for
drinking purposes and cooking at
such times as we should camp on
the prairie where there was no wa
ter. Besides water, we must then
have wood. For we have to stop to
eat and to let the horses eat. I
have found by sad experience that it
does not pay to take too many cold
lunches at noon on the open prairie, particularly in winter. Food
warmed, a cup of hot coffee around
a bright fire is more helpful to a
hungry traveller. On the top of
these trunks and valises, we had to
tie on a big bale of hay for our team
the first night out. Besides we
must have a long rope to fasten one
horse to feed on grass, and a pair
of hobbles to keep his mate from
wandering too far off, an axe to
cut the wood for our fire, a frying
pan and a coffee pot, and other
cooking utensils, a lantern and
supply of kerosene. This made our
buggy quite full and heavy.
Friday morning we leave our
chapel at Wounded Knee, for Corn
Creek church, some thirty miles
northeast of Wounded Knee. Once
in a while we see some houses away
off in the distance—occasionally
some trees—no water. As there are
no schoolhouses or any stopping
places, we build a fire at noon, and
"camp out". A few miles before
we reach our mission station at
Corn Creek we see many Indian teepees in Yellow Bear's camp, so we
turn out of our road to see what they
are doing. They are all grouped
around the big Omaha dance house.
It is Friday and they bave come to
dance and perform their heathenish
rites. We see Indians all the way
from Wounded Knee Creek. We
are pained to see also a lot of church
attendents here, whom we hoped to
have come forward and profess faith
in Christ. We try to persuade them
to come to the service at the church
at night and see all the fine pictures, but it is of no use. Heathenism is too old and Christianity too
weak as yet, in their psychological
make up, for them to think of leav-.
ing the dance to go to church, consequently that night we had a small
audience.
A twenty mile drive next day
(Saturday) brought us to our station on American Horse Creek.
Here we use the school-house. Another fifteen mile drive early next
morning, Sunday, and we arrive at
our mission on Porcupine Tail
Creek. Here we are welcomed
by W. K. Morris and his good
wife. We are in good time for the
morning service, and spend the Sabbath here. Next morning we start
for Stinking Water Creek, about
twenty miles south. It is snowing
fast, and the snow is so deep in
places that it is not very easy to
distinguish the right trail. The
prairie here is a net work of cross
roads going in every direction, and
tbey are often painfully confusing
when there is no house or definite
land mark in sight to guide you.
There is no church nor scliool
house at this place, so we have to
find a dwelling house for our meeting.
On Tuesday we are expected at
Spring Creek, but as that is only
ten miles distant, we spend most
of the day in house to house work,
holding family prayer meetings and
instructing the children in Gospel
truths. At Spring Creek there is
no public building, so  we  have to
hold forth in a private house.
Here we found Brother Morris waiting to take Prof. Riggs back to
Porcupine for the further enlightenment of the natives, and I returned
home, arriving Wednesday afternoon.—Rev. A. F. Johnson in Tlie
Evangelist.
PROGRESS OF THE SANTEE
SIOUX INDIANS.
The progress of the Santee Indians is noticeable in some persons
more than others. The progress
of course is not all in one direction,
but the complex civilization tbat is
offered to us by our white brethern
is imitated as near as our limited
intellect tells ns. Our mistakes
may be many, and our intellect
may mislead us, and our desires
for old times may be strong and
often overpower us, yet we are
striving to do, not perhaps the very
best we know, but as far as we are
capable without constraining our
animal or fleshly desires.
I know of an instance here lately.
One of our Santee families, who
put their beloved child, a boy, and
their only child of suitable age at
scliool at Santee Normal Training
School. For some reason or other
he ran away to bis home which is
about four or five miles from the
school. He had done this several
times, but was quietly brought
back every time, and each time he
was earnestly requested not to do
so any more. The boy again made
another break and ran away. He
was almost at the door of his home
when seen by his father from tbe
barn and was called to halt, the boy
obeyed. Just then the mother
came out and the father gave orders
not to let the son in but whip him
right there. The mother took a
switch and executed the order, and
the boy was ordered to return to
the school without entering bis beloved home. He started back as he
was ordered. The father resumed
his work at the barn but noticed the
boy that he went out of sight behind
the nearest hill towards the school
and after a while stuck his head over
the peak. But the keen eyes of the
father saw it, and mounted one of
his ponies and took along switch
and made for the- boy : he overtook
him and switched him and made
him run all the way back to the
school. Every time he lessened his
steps he got the switch to remind
him and so the boy was back at
school within eight hours.
1 call it progress for Indians to be
able to do this. I doubt whether
many of our white brethren would
have heart enough to perform this
same duty. Wben you can see
such eagerness in an Indian for
the education of his descendants,
mind you, he will have it. This
Indian is John B. Walker and I
wish we had many John B. Walk-
! ers as far as education is concerned.
And I have no do.ubt but that young
Walker has learned a great lesson
and will never run away again. I
want to watch this boy as an object
lesson. I hope he will get great
benefit from this Bible lesson tbat
his father has applied.
Jas. Gaevie.
Santee Normal Training School Press,
Santee Agency, Neb.