[pg 313]
THE INDIANS.
There are 260,000 Indians in this country. Compared with our great fields in the South, this is small. But there is an emphasis on this work which is not made by figures. Those who were native to this land have been made foreigners. Those who were the first to receive missionary work here, and who responded as readily as any heathen people ever did, are still largely pagans. While one Christian has been telling the Indians the story of the gospel, another calling himself a Christian has been shooting them. They have not yet had a full chance to learn what Christianity is. From place to place they have been pushed so that they have not had time to build their altars to the true God. We have wronged them and we owe them more than we shall pay. We shall meet our obligations but in part, when we do all we can to save them.
We have in bur Indian work eighteen schools and six churches, one new church having been added this year. In these, 68 missionaries have been doing noble service for the Indian and for the country. Shall the Indian problem forever perplex and shame both the country and the Church? Will not the churches enable us to send all the workers and do all the work needed to be done, and thus hasten the day when it can be joyfully proclaimed that the Indians are evangelized—no longer pagans and foreigners, but our fellow Christians and our fellow citizens?
STATISTICS OF INDIAN WORK.
| Churches | 6 |
| Church Members | 401 |
| Schools | 18 |
| Missionaries and Teachers | 68 |
| Theological Students | 24 |
| Normal Students | 11 |
| Grammar Grades | 32 |
| Intermediate Grades | 120 |
| Primary | 495 |
| Total Pupils | 658 |
| Sunday-school Scholars | 1,332 |