Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1886-07-01
MfseION sCHOOT,s. 40.


, especially among the half-breed
, Chcrokecs. Neither do | believe
the presiding elder, or any other
official of the church, could be
S looked upon as loyal to his church
: and mission board. To attempt to
d agitate this subject in the least.
/, unless il be TO build mission
school among the full-bloods, and
for their exclusive benefit, and
e even then | doubt the propriety of
= the church undertaking such a
work, from the fact that these
Chcrokvcs are not hcathens, neither
are they paupcrs. The Cherokee
; government is abundantly able to
educate every child belonging to
their tribe. Not only are they able.
but also willing. They are putting
forth every EFFORT in their power To
accomplish this end. They now
have free schools in every neigh
borhood where as many as fifteen
scholars can be had. In addition TO
this, they have an orphan asylum.
where all their orphans are proper
| ~ looked after, fed, clothed and
educated; real national mission
school IN every sense of the word.
Besides this, there are the semi
naries spacious, in every particular
equal TO the demands of the whole
nation. No other schools can rival
them, unless it be truly mission
schools. Now let it be understood
that there is a vast difference be-
tween mission schools and the sub
scription schools, academies and
institutes. These academies prom
er, are blessing to any country
II located where they are needed,
but it seems to me that the country
has enough of them at present to
fully meet the demands of the peo- |
pie ii properly patronized. There |
is at Vinita, Worcester academy, |
accessible 10 all the northern part |
of the Cherokee nation; then at
Muskogee we have Harrell insti-
tute, and the Baptist Indian uni
vesity, both schools of high grade.
accessible to the southern part of
the Cherokee nation, and equal to
the demands for higher scholar
ship, DC. And if the people of this
nation wish to give their chill
dren q higher education than can
be got at the public schools, why
not patronize their schools which
have the endorsement both of
church and nation. Ii we com
plain that board and tuition is too
high then let them send to the
,seminaries, where their children
can bS boarded fully as cheaply as
one canSQard them at bsnhc-~-NowI
Mr.. Editor / fully express my
views and feelings, when | say
that | think it out of order and un- !
called for, for church, especially
the Methodist Church, to talk
about erecting their so called mis-
sion schools, ut such towns as
Chouteau, Claremore and Fort
Gibson, and charging the pupils
from one to two dollars per month
tuition, when they have public
schools just as good rs we could
get up, and their tuition free, and
yet they are only primary schools.
The fact is in place of them being
benefit to the country, they would
be an injury ms they would disturb
the free school system of the coun-
try; compel some who are not able
to pay tuition to have to do so, or
else send their children as benefci-
aries or stay at home. Now in con-
clusion | wish to say if any church
has more money than they need TO
prosecute their work as it is in this
country, and are overmuch jealous
about mission schools, in the
Cherokee nation, and feel
that they ought TO do more
for "the Indian" than their
government is doing, or is able to
do, for pity sake lot them not cor
clude that Chouteau, Claremore
and Fort Gibson, are the chief
places which need their benevo-
lent and charitable efforts most,
but let them turn their eyes to-
ward the fullblood neighborhoods
of this country; build churches
for them, take their children. feed
and educate them free. Then they
would be doing a work which {
might be appreciated by the board
of education and the government.
But let it also be understood that
even the full-bloods are not neg
lected by the board. They keep a
vigilant watch over their interests;
they also have good schools where ,
over fifteen children can be found I
that will attend school, and good i
teachers appointed to teach them,
their salaries paid by the Cherokee
nation. These are not so badly neg /
lecled, yet if there is any de- {
mand for a charitable work in the I
country it is certainly among the
element, and not among
the well-to-do halfbreeds-"who
have no foes TO fear, no friends to
reward" What say ye?
Fraternally yours,
&. S. JoNEs.
Choutcau. !. r., June 2l. 1886. a
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What Can BE Done.