I have always been a believer in the work of these organizations, and I have no criticism, but rather a suggestion to offer. The missionary and other organizations had a great opportunity for good during the Messiah craze, and with one accord they let it pass. At the Lake Mohonk Conference this year, a minister from South Dakota spoke of the evil effects of the Messiah craze. In Chapters IX-XI I have described it. There were no evil effects until the troops and Sitting Bull dominated. Had the missionaries seized upon the religious mania when it began, they might have turned it to good account. It was, at first, a purely religious ceremony of high and noble type.
Among the Indians of Oklahoma there is great religious activity. Last year I met many native preachers, and heard of numerous meetings at various campgrounds. I was surprised at the extent of these, and the number of Indians attending such gatherings. The meetings may be a trifle sentimental, but the intentions of the worshippers are excellent. Here is presented a great field for missionary labors, and if the good people would take full advantage of it, a lasting impression and the furtherance of religious activity would ensue.
The modern missionary spirit among most of the workers in the field has changed in recent years. There is more medical activity, more endeavor to stimulate interest in fairs, school exhibitions, etc. Thus the Indians are brought nearer the real life and spirit of the missions, than in the older days where on stated intervals they were assembled for worship. Aside from mere biblical instruction little was done for them. This was all right and proper, but the Indian needed more.
The most potent influence in shaping public opinion, with reference to Indian affairs the past thirty years, has been the annual Conference of Friends of the Indian and Other Dependent Peoples held each year at Lake Mohonk. This was begun in 1882 by Honorable Albert K. Smiley. Since Mr. Smiley’s death, the conferences are continued by Honorable Daniel Smiley.
At these conferences are assembled men and women from the United States, Europe and Canada interested in Indian affairs, the Philippines, etc. The conference consists of addresses by persons familiar with Indian topics, which are followed by general discussion. For two or three years the conference seemed to its friends to be somewhat dominated by the Indian Office, but a few years ago it became again a real open parliament. Conflicting views are often expressed, and both the dark and the bright sides of our Indian picture are presented. The conference last year was devoted almost exclusively to a discussion of Oklahoma affairs.
An annual report is published and circulated throughout the world. The meetings have been productive of a great deal of good. Those who attend are invited as the personal guests of Mr. and Mrs. Smiley and enjoy the privileges of their magnificent estate in the heart of the Catskills, while attending the conference.
The Society of American Indians was organized at Ohio State University in 1911. It came into being in response to a feeling on the part of the educated Indians of the country that the “Indian problem” could best be solved through an awakening of the race itself, through its leaders, in cooperation with white friends.
The organization of the society is due to the efforts of Prof. F. A. McKenzie of Ohio State University. The founders of the Society were such men and women as Dr. Charles A. Eastman (Sioux), Dr. Carlos Montezuma (Apache), Rev. Sherman Coolidge (Arapaho), Laura Cornelius (Oneida), Henry Standing Bear (Sioux), Charles E. Dagenett (Peoria), Rosa B. LaFlesche (Chippewa), Arthur C. Parker (Seneca), Thomas L. Sloan (Omaha), Emma D. Goulette (Potawatomie), Marie L. Baldwin (Chippewa), Henry Roe-Cloud (Winnebago), and Hiram Chase (Omaha).
The high stand taken by the Society and its elimination of all selfish motives led to an unqualified endorsement of its objects by the most earnest friends of the Indian in this country and in Europe.
The Society though only four years old has a membership of about 1500. Hundreds of the most progressive Indians in the country are members and almost all trades and professions are represented. More than 500 citizens of the white race, including both men and women, are associate members of the Society. Most of them have for years demonstrated their earnest and unselfish interest in the welfare of the Indian and have now united their interests with the Indian.