The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1899-12

              The Word Carrier.
VOLUME   XXV1II.
HELPING   THE   RIGHT,   EXPOSING   THE   WRONG.
NUMBER IS.
SANTEE AGENCY, NEBKASKA.
DECEMBER, 1899.
FIFTY CENTS PEE YEAB.
V   k
OUR PLATFORM.
For Indians we want American Education! We want American Homes!
We want American Rights! The result of which is American Citizenship!
And tlie gospel is the Power of God for
their Salvation'
SANTEE ALUMNI.
For several years there has been a
reunion of Santee pupils at our annual Mission Conference in September. That has grown into an organization, of all those who ever have
attended Santee Normal Training
School, for the purpose of helping
their foster mother. The officers of
the association for this year are
Bev. Louis De Coteau, President;
Mr. Arthur Tibbetts, Secretary; and
Mr. F. B. Biggs, Treasurer. And in
each division of the Indian country
there are Vice Presidents as follows:
Levi Lawrence, Sisseton Agency,
S. D.; Mrs. Jennie Aungie, Green
wood, S. D.; Mrs. SusanWanmdisun
Bahr, Santee, Neb.; Demas Eastman, Flandreau, S. D. ; Mrs. Mary
Nimrod, Crow Creek, S. D.; Mrs.
Dina Bencontre, Lower Brule, S. D.;
Clarence Ward, Leslie, S. D.; Fred
Ashley, Bosebud, S. D.; Samuel
Bouillard, Pine Bidge, S. D.; Solomon Fox Meinrad, Fort Totten,
N. D.; Mrs. Emma Taylor Standish,
Elbowoods, N. D.; Mrs. Lizzie Pay-
son Arthur, Poplar, Mont.
The business of the vice-presidents is to collect contributions toward the endowment ol Santee Normal Training School. The Santee
constituentcy at Yankton Asency,
under tbe leadership of Charles
Ironheart and Mrs. Aungie,was the
most active last year. The people
are beginning to understand tbe
work and now we hear of a meeting
of Santee pupils every month at
Sisseton. We have great hopes of
these small beginnings in the right
direction. F. B. Biggs.
INDIAN EDUCATION.
The first appropriation for Indian
education made by the Continental
Congress was $500 for an Indian pupil at Dartmouth College in 1775. In
1819 Congress appropriated $10,000
for Indian education, and September 3, 1819, invited "associations
or individuals who are already engaged in educating the Indians and
who may desire the cooperation of
the Government," to report to the
Department of war, then having
charge of Indians. This was the
first direct appropriation of public
moneys for this purpose.
The first treaty agreement providing any form of education was with
the Oneida, Tuscarora, and Stock-
bridge Indians on December 2,
1794; this was followed with a second made with the Kaskaskias, An-
gust 13, 1803, wherein the United
States promised to give annually
for seven years $100 toward the support of a Boman Catholic priest,
who, besides his priestly duties, was
to "instruct as many of the children
as possible in the rudiments of literature." This marks the beginning
of the system of Governmental aid
to these schools. The treaties, however, of the next fifteen years make
no mention of education.
On January 15, 1820, John C.
Calhoun reported to the House that
no part of the $10,000 appropriated
on September 3,1819, had been ap
plied. Such educational work as
had been given to the Indians had
been carried on by the religious
associations.
From this date until July 15,
1870, when $100,000 were appropriated for Indian schools, this great
civilizing agency was conducted by
various churches and associations
through their missionary agents.
That they did good work goes without saying, as these godly people
had the welfare of the Indian at
heart, but results have since indicated that such a system was not
adequate for producing lasting effects. This was recognized by Con- j
gress in 1870, when, instead of leaving it to the already over-taxed religious people, the present system was
begun by appropriating $100,000
for this purpose, and repealing the '
old law of March 3, 1819. This I
marks the beginning of strictly (
Government schools; day schools
first, followed by boarding institutions. In 3878 the Indian department at Hampton was organized,
and the next year the great training school at Carlisle established.
From this time on there has been
a steady interest in matters pertaining to Indian education, both in
and out of Congress, as is evidenced
by the liberal appropriations made
each year.
In the annual report of the Indian Department for the fiscal year
1872 the then Commissioner of Indian Affairs stated that " The westward course of population is neither
denied nor delayed for the sake of
all the Indians that ever called this
country their home; tbey must
yield or perish." In pursuance of
this law of destiny the Indian was
forced to yield as the borders of
civilization and progress were pushed further and further westward until they have finally encompassed
every tribe and surrounded it with
the powerful evidences of the foremost civilization of the world.
Once the proud possessor of this
boundless territory, the Indian has
been forced to yield rather than
miserably perish. As his power
and force of resistance decreased
those of his former adversaries increased. Becognizing his just claims
to consideration, he has been taken
under the protecting influences of
the Government, and while in many
cases confined upon diminished
areas, support and subsistence have
been allowed in lieu of that which
the wild fertile fields of the past
gave him for the mere asking, but
now he must follow the unchangeable decree of life and learn to labor
for that which formerly came without effort. It was not a mere sentimental policy which actuated the
Government in furnishing supplies
and subsistence to these peoples,
but it was simply a recognition of
the justice of their claims to be
given a support by those who had
taken from them their means of existence. Such a policy, however, is
not a perpetual one, for, continued
too long, the tendency would be to
pauperize a race capable of receiving and appropriating the benefits
of civilization. In consequence of
this, under liberal appropriations,
schools have been organized where
Indian pupils may be trained
through heart, head, and hand for
the duties of citizenship, which is
the priviledge of every person in
this country. The educational Bys-
tem is therefore a broad and comprehensive one, and includes not
only that which is taught tbe white
boy and girl in our pubic schools,
but also that which they learn at
the fireside and in Christian homes.
Their thoughts are turned from the
tepee, the chase, and the barbaric
ease of a savage life to the practical
realities of their present condition,
and the manifest advantage of the
white man's manners and habits.
However desirable, it does not as
yet seem practicable, in this generation at least, to segregate the great
body of Indians and distribute them
throughout the country. Hence
conditions have necessarily fixed
and limited an educational policy
for their benefit.
This policy, by force of circumstances, is based upon the well-
known inferiority of the great mass
of Indians in religion, intelligence,
morals, and home life. Their theory and practice of existence bas been
antagonistic to tbat of the more
fortunate whites, who have behind
them long ages of slow and successful progress and struggle or
supremacy. Originally kind-hearted, contact with the European strangers who landed on the shores of this
country and were themselves just
emerging from the superstitions of
the Dark Ages, did not tend to impress him with any very great love
for those who introduced themselves
for purposes of their own aggrandizement; nor has the attitude of
his conquerors for many years since
given him a different conception of
of them. Naturally filled with a
love of his country and its vast hunting grounds, he has seen them
gradually slipping from his grasp
and becoming the abiding place of
those whom he at first welcomed to
his shores. But notwithstanding
all these years of appropriation and
oppression, earnest men and women
have held faith in the justice of the
Indian's right to existence, a home,
and a final absorption into the body
politic of their country. To the
superficial observer and harsh critic
the task of preparing them for the
rights of citizenship has seemed
hopeless as well as farcical, but the
experience of the past few years
under the present educational plan
has fully demonstrated that the Indians possess as a race those germs
of intelligence, morality, and domesticity whieh by careful nurture can
and have developed in thousands of
instances results as excellent as
those displayed by their white
neighbors.
At present the principal objection
to Indian education lies not in the
system itself, but in the fact that
adequate provisions can not at all
times be made for the future of the
student. It is admitted that great
hardships are undergone by the
young Indian who, having received
a good common-school education
and a trade, returns, as is sometimes the case, to a bleak and cheerless reservation, there to be surrounded by old customs, manners,
and other evidences of a life he has
been tanght to leave behind him.
These, however, are unavoidable
conditions which only time, the
gradual dying out of the conservative element, and the abrogation of
the reservation system can obviate.
Notwithstanding these drawbacks,
many are making comfortable
homes for themselves and living
upon and cultivating lands in severalty.—Commissioner of Indian Affairs Report.
CHARACTER OF EDUCATION NEEDED.
Education should prepare young
people to live the life tbat is possible
to them. Pupils should be trained
with special reference to their future
work, whether it is to be law, medicine, farming, or what not. If we
look over the field today we find
about one per cent, or four in a
thousand, engaged in the higher
lines of work, requiring higher preparation. We have left nine hundred
and ninety-six to whom these lines
are entirely closed. We should try to
strike a more reasonable porportion.
A certain common ground work lies
beneath any system of education;
but after this is obtained, special
training should be given such as is
calculated to prepare the youth for
his future environment.
The real preparation of the teacher is tbe cultivation of a true missionary spirit—a spirit of consecration ; unless the teacher can
bring this spirit to his work, it is
doomed to failure. We need a
larger proportion of men in the
back districts of the South. The
German people were civilized large-
ey by the monks who lived among
the people, and taught them bow to
cultivate the soil. Tliey taught them
by example, somewhat on the college settlement plan; and that is
just what we need for the masses
of our people. We want men and
women who will go among them, and
taking the resources as they find
them, will show the people how to
develop them. For this reason the
teacher in the country districts of
the South needs industrial equipment, so that he will be able to take
hold of the things about him. He
must know how to use his hands
in many ways; therefore teachers of
such schools should have definite
manual preparation.—Prof. Kelly
Miller in Southern Workman.
DAKOTA CONGREGATIONAL WOMEN'S MISSIONARY
SOCIETY.
. This society was organized in 1895.     Before this both Presbyterians and Congregationalists were united in one organization.
The following list of contributions, is interesting as showing growth
in more than one direction.    im5     1895.6    1896.7   1897.8    1898.9
To Dakota Native Miss. Soc.  $507.57
To Foreign and Home Mis	
To other objects.,	
$507.57   $831.27 $824.00  $969.00 $904.25
Fewer debts were reported this year;  and there is less and less
inclination to use society funds  for anything but strictly missionary
objects. M. L. Riggs.
$802.67
$688.17
$808.00
$792.40
16.00
• 74.85
38.00
60.00
22.60
60.98
100.00
51.85