OUR INDIAN WORK AT OAHE.
AN ILLUSTRATION OF WHAT THE U. S. GOVERNMENT proposes TO KILL.
It was my privilege to attend the closing exercises of our Indian school at Oahe, in Dakota, which is under the direction of Rev. T. L. Riggs. About forty children have been in school during the winter, and now in mid-summer they return to their homes to spend two months. Mr. Riggs has sent word to all the out-stations that the parents and relatives of the children were expected to come here for their children at that time. As school closed on Wednesday, those living at a distance of ninety miles started the Saturday previous. Many of them reached Oahe on Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning we watched them coming in in their white covered wagons and on their ponies. Stopping near the river they pitched their tents, and thus had temporary homes. There were here then one hundred and fifty in number who came from all parts of the “Cheyenne River Agency Reservation,” and some from the “Spotted Tail Agency.” The mission house was open to all, and not a few came at once to pay their respects, staying only a few moments. The school exercises were intensely interesting. The delighted parents in their blankets and with feathers in their hair, looking uncouth enough to please the most fantastic taste, themselves satisfied beyond qualification, seated and standing, filled every available space when the exercises began. These were recitations and songs, etc., which made even the phlegmatic red people smile audibly. One little fellow named Mark “spoke his piece” as follows:
“I am a little boy
Not quite four feet high,
I hope when I grow big
I’ll not be quite so shy;
I can’t be very sure,
But I will surely try.”
The unity of the human race was confirmed in the way in which Mark picked at his trousers, and in the way in which he did not know what to do with his hands and his feet during his eloquent oration. The Indians laughed at his embarrassment “just like white folks.” The wives of the teachers and the Christian women from the out-stations had come to this great entertainment. They met at an Indian home (Spotted Bear’s) and decided to call a meeting, inviting Miss Collins to address them, as she had just returned to her old home and people after a long absence. About fifty women, of whom about thirty were Christians and twenty were in varied stages of darkness, made the congregation. Miss Collins opened the meeting with a hymn of rejoicing, which was sung with a will by all the people. Next she read the verses in Matt. 5.—“Ye are a city set on a hill. Do men light a candle,”—etc. “Let your light shine.” Speaking first to Christians who have been taught, she reminded them that the heathen were looking to them for help, and that if they did not honor God and the Church, then, instead of giving light to their people, they were making the darkness more dense—that even from the far-away districts they knew what the Indians at Oahe and up and down the Cheyenne River were doing—and if they followed Christ closely so would those beginning to see the light follow them. It was as if they were making a road across the trackless plains; if they kept on in a straight way, avoiding all the bad places, finding the good camping places by the way;—those who followed would be safe. Then she reported from her work at Grand River, trying to impress upon the women the necessity of working in their Missionary Society, to earn money to help give the gospel to the people. Luluwin Deprey, a half-breed woman who became a Christian and united with the church among the first converts, reported from their workers on the Cheyenne. She brought fancy articles made of buckskin trimmed in beads and porcupine quills, to be sold for the Missionary Society. In all, they will bring about ten dollars. She spoke in a quiet, modest way, saying that in making all these things they had asked no help whatever to buy material. They gave the material themselves, so that all that they brought was clear gain to the work. She urged the necessity of the church doing more, saying: “We have now but little money on hand and September is not far off, and we must work much. We have been ‘playing mission work’; now let us go to work and raise all the money we can, for if we are Christ’s we must not be idle or selfish. We must do all we can to help our heathen people, for many of our neighbors are in darkness. Many in this room are yet without the knowledge of God. We must lift up the candle.” Elizabeth Winyan spoke eloquently of the work done in the white churches by the Christian women for those who were living and dying without the gospel. All people who are without the Bible are alike. None can live without the Bible without starving the soul. It is true we Dakota Christians are “a city set on a hill.” Bad actions are seen even farther than good ones. If you keep your house well, the others will learn from you. If you keep your children well, others learn from you. If you pray, so will others learn to pray. It is now time for the Dakotas to arise and with one action and one voice proclaim themselves children of Christ. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, gave Himself for us. He was an only son, and you and I know how precious He was to His Father. We must now give ourselves and all that we have to this work as these women (the white women) have done. Our Indian Missionary Society has done but little, but now let us truly lift up our hands and lay hold of this work. We have learned the truth. We must learn to be the leaders and walk before these people so that we may lead them to Christ. Our missionary has brought tears in relating the sufferings of our people. Now let us see what we can do to bring the people into the light. Without the Bible our people will die. With the Bible we shall live and multiply and be a strong people. We are “only women,” but women can give the light to those in darkness, and the command to go into all the world, means for you to help; you, and you, and me;—every one. No one has a right to say: ‘Let others work; I will be good myself but cannot help.’ When we see these white missionaries who leave all and come to us, it is a shame if we who have been brought to Christ should hold back anything from Christ. We can do something whether we have money or not. We have our hands and eyes and brains. We can make something that will sell and get a little, and if only ten cents or five cents, the Lord will bless it and make it do something for His honor and glory. Let us be more diligent—pray more—and then shall our own strength be made greater and our own hearts more steadfast and our own lives more fruitful, and our light will shine so that the way shall no longer be dark but plain and clear to those coming after us. We cannot sit all the day idle if we are servants of God; we must bestir ourselves. Work for God and honor him and save our people, and in this way shall we strengthen our souls. Pray, depend upon God and do as He teaches, and though now you may not understand all He teaches, your mind will open and you will become wise.
“Ptanwin,” or Buffalo woman, the mother of Spotted Bear’s wife, and more than sixty years of age, then spoke. She came down here from Spotted Tail Agency a long time ago, and attended school all winter. She learned to sing many hymns and to read a little in the Bible. Becoming a Christian and uniting with the church, she remained here a year, and then said: “I must go back to my relatives, who are still in darkness, and teach them.” She had held meetings in various places, sometimes going thirty miles to hold a prayer-meeting. All this time her son was asking for a missionary. This poor woman, lame, wholly blind in one eye, and aged, was thus passing the light along. Once in her sickness her daughter heard a sound coming from her room, and on going in she found her mother singing, “Jesus loves me; this I know,” in her own tongue. The daughter said, “Mother, what is the matter?” She replied, “The pain will not let me sleep, and when I pray and sing, it strengthens me and helps me to bear it.” In her address she said: “I found you had not collected much money, so I said: ‘I will help.’ I got a buckskin, tanned it, and brought it down. I give it to you to make little things out of, that the people will buy. When I started to come I expected to have a good time, and strengthen myself with your presence. Now I am here, God has given me even more than this—He has permitted me to see and take by the hand the one who brought me to Christ (Miss Collins), and my heart is full of joy.”
Her daughter, Spotted Bear’s wife, then made a few remarks in behalf of the sick. She said: “We have tried to help the sick, but we have but little money now, and so can do nothing. We want more money. I remember nothing influenced me in my early Christian experience so much as the way the missionaries cared for the sick. All of you know how the care of your body draws your heart toward the one who cares for you. Now, in many cases if we are good to the sick, we may win the souls to Christ. Then let us not be close or stingy. Let us help all we can. Christ came down from heaven. He gave his body to die on the cross, to be pierced and spit upon, and nailed to the cross. All this He did for us. What shall we do now for the people? We cannot die for them; it is not necessary. We cannot give our bodies for them; this is finished; but we can help them. We can give money; we can read the Bible and pray with them. Let us do something; we must be doing something, for these are our brothers, our sisters, our children and our parents who are living in darkness. We can help. We know the blessing of the gospel. We must give this blessing to our people. We must be faithful. Our American Missionary Association is not able to do all that the Indians need, and we must help. As surely as we pray and read the Bible and give to this work, just as surely will we ourselves develop into large and strong Christians. I will now ask your help for this work.”
A hat was passed, and ten dollars collected—ten dollars, lacking one cent.
Then Mrs. Riggs, Secretary of their Missionary Society, reported the amount on hand—twenty-two dollars—and told the women that “the work was far below what it ought to be; the people at the out-stations have done well, but we must continue to give—must do more, and if we will help ourselves, God will help us, and we shall save many.”
So closed this interesting missionary meeting among the red Dakota people. In the afternoon, after a lunch, the parents took their children home for the vacation, but there were no Saratoga trunks to pack or carry.
All of this, let it be remembered, was in the Dakota language—which is now forbidden—the only language which they can use, or in which the gospel can be made known to them.
A. F. BEARD
The following incident, taken from a letter received at this office from Miss Collins, is at least an intimation of how heartlessly cruel is the proposition to deny the Indians the use of their own language in their schools:
“One of our Santee school boys is dying. He is a true child of God. He wishes to see his relatives all saved, and O! the light in his face. It is grand as he reads in his own tongue to the old men and women and the young people the sweet words, ‘Let not your heart be troubled.’ He has plead with them to turn to Christ to be saved. He says: ‘I am not afraid to die.’”