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While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!


 

 

 

Christmas at Fort Yates, Dakota

Our readers will be glad to welcome Miss Josephine E. Barnaby to her new field of work, and to a place in the pages of the Missionary. She is of the Omaha tribe, was a student at Hampton, then spent some time in a training school for nurses in New Haven, Connecticut, and is now the assistant of Miss Collins at the Grand River Station.

Miss Collins writes of her: "Josephine is very much interested in her work. She said to-day, 'I wish every one interested in Indians could come here and stay long enough to see how the foundation ought to be laid, and how much better off our native teachers, Elias and Wakanna, are with the Bible knowledge they have without the English, than the Indians are who speak English and are without Christ.' She knows, for her people are largely godless but English-speaking."

My Dear Friends:

We have been so busy getting ready for Christmas that we have had no time to write to our friends. Miss Collins told the Indians on Sunday last that we were going to have a tree and wanted all the Indians to come, the real old ones as well as the young men and women. She told them of how our Savior was born on Christmas day, how the people came and gave him gifts, and we, in remembering his birthday, would give them little gifts. The next day, a very old woman came to the school-house and told Mary (that is the native teacher's wife) that she heard we were going to have a "Ghost feast" and give away everything we had, so she thought she would come and ask for one of the school-room lamps for fear she might not get it if she waited, as there would be so many people to get the things, and she needed a lamp very much.

Doesn't that sound like an Indian? I was very sorry the poor woman did not get the lamp.

Yesterday morning, while Miss Collins pinned the names on to the presents, I went up to the school-house, and by the help of two native teachers planted the tree in a cracker-box and put the little colored candles on. In the afternoon, we took the presents up and hung them on the tree; we put up a curtain to hide the tree, and then in the evening put out several Japanese lanterns on the corners of the house and over the door, and rang the bell; while the bell was ringing, you could see the Indians coming from all parts of the village. It was a pretty sight. The ground was covered with snow, it was just between the light and dark, and a few bright stars were shining through the clouds.

The room is not very large, so Miss Collins proposed that they should stand. It was well they did, for they were packed tightly together, the men and boys on one side, the women and girls on the other.

After all came, we sang "Joy to the World," in Dakota, with several other hymns; they all sang very loud. Then Wakanna told them about Christ's birthday, then we lighted the little candles and took the curtain away, and you can imagine there were some wide-open eyes and big, smiling faces. There were over two hundred, and each one received something; as one man came to day and said to Miss Collins, "Why, Winona, you did not forget the little babies; their names were read out the same as the old men." The tree was very pretty, and it would be useless for me to tell what each one received, but the boys were delighted with their tops as much as the girls were with their pretty dolls; the old men received feather fans and were delighted. After they had their gifts, we passed refreshments; we then had the fireworks; the red light was wonderful to them—the first they had ever seen. They went home seeming very happy.

We want to thank our friends who were so kind as to send us those pretty things for the Christmas tree.

I myself have never before spent such a happy Christmas, because previously all my kind friends have always tried to make me happy, and this time I worked hard to make some one else happy, and I find that is the best kind of happiness.

My benches were almost crowded to-day in school, as I had so many children; married women come with the children; they are all very anxious and earnest to learn to read and write. I ask you to pray, my dear friends, that there may be some good seed sown each day, that may spring up and bring forth fruit for His service.

Truly your Indian Friend,

JOSEPHINE E. BARNABY.

The Government and the Indians

On the 13th of March, some of the Secretaries of the missionary societies, and others interested in the welfare of the Indians, had an interview with President Harrison and with Secretary Noble, of the Interior Department. We were kindly received, and the Secretary solicited information from us as to the methods in which he could aid in furtherance of Indian civilization. A number of suggestions were made in response, and the following outline is given as a summary of the points presented to the Secretary:

1. That the appointment or retention of all officers and employees in the Indian service of the Government shall be on the sole ground of fitness—that ability, integrity and an interest in the welfare of the Indians, shall constitute the only required conditions. We are not ignorant of the difficulties involved in securing such persons, especially with the low salaries paid to some of these employees; and we shall be abundantly satisfied with the purpose of the Government to reach the nearest attainable success in this direction.

2. That the Government shall make adequate appropriations for the establishment and maintenance of suitable schools for the education of all Indian pupils—whether these schools be sustained and controlled wholly by the Government or in cooperation with missionary societies. The millions of dollars now due to the Indians by treaty stipulations, for educational purposes, should not be idle in the National Treasury, but should, as rapidly as possible, be devoted to their legitimate purposes, and they should be supplemented as far as need be by direct grants from the Government.

3. That the cooperation of the Government with the missionary societies in what are known as Contract schools should be continued and enlarged. We believe that no better teaching has been afforded to the Indians than that given in these Contract schools. The educational qualifications of the teachers, together with their disinterested and self-denying characters and their religious influence and instruction, render them pre-eminently fit for their places and successful in their work. The experience of the past and the testimony of all unprejudiced persons bear witness to this fact.

4. That compulsory education of Indian pupils be enforced, with liberty of choice to the parents in the selection of the schools to which their children shall be sent. The Indians are generally averse, or indifferent, to the education of their children. The withholding of rations in case of failure or neglect is usually an all-sufficient motive for prompt compliance. Then, too, the parent, if a Christian and intelligent, should be allowed to select the school for his child, and not be compelled to send it to a Government school simply because that may happen to be nearest.

5. The Government should adopt a liberal policy in regard to the use of the vernacular in the Indian schools. We are all agreed that the English language should be brought into use among the Indians at the earliest practicable period. But the experience of all the past, in Indian civilization among the ruder tribes, has shown that Christian influences have been most successfully brought to bear by the use of the vernacular, in giving them the knowledge of the Word of God, in teaching them a practical morality, and in preparing them for civilized life. We ask, therefore, that no restrictions be placed upon Christian people in their efforts for this great object.

6. We ask that the Government exercise an absolute impartiality in dealing with the different denominations of Christians, in the distribution of appropriations, in the granting of lands for missionary uses, and in the appointment of officers, agents, teachers and employees. We ask no favors in these respects, and we desire that none shall be granted to others.


This site includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These items are presented as part of the historical record and should not be interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in any way endorse the stereotypes implied .

American Missionary Association, 1888-1895

American Missionary Association

 

 


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