Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-07-06

frequently an uphill task, from the faci
that agents, as q rule, are desirous of hav
ing the children of the tribes they have In
charge attend the reservation schools. o
course they are only primary schools of ar
ordinary character, still the agents want tt
make as much Of a showing as possible, and
are Jealous of any person or influence thai
seems to lessen their prestige or authority.
THE CHILD ALWAYS WILLING.
When the consent Of parents and agents
has been secured it rarely occurs that q
child stands in the way. So far from it,
they seem to possess the faculty of seeing
that their best interests lie in the course
outlined by the Government. 1t is an ex-
ceptional case. however. that a child ex-
presses a willir gness to leave home until
the consent Of parents and agents has been
granted. They are exceedingly cautious,
which is accounted for by the knowledge
that in most instances they have been taught
to regard the whites and the propositions
made by them with suspicion.
The chiefs, warriors and soothsayers all
agree that they have trsversed as far toward
the setting sun as they can 60, and while
some think it worth while to fight for their
possessions still, the majority await the final
summons to civilization with dogged and
restless impat;ence, which nothing short Of
education or death will make obsolete.
OF the present generation it may be said
that but about one-sixth ofthe Indian children
of school age will receive general educa-
tion. The coming generation will increase
that ratio twofold, and the middle of the
twentieth century will be an age in which
the history OF the last of the American
aboriginees will be written.
TOO OLD TO LEARN.
The grown Indian can be rendered peace
able by intercourse with whites and brought
to understand that the laws must be obeyed,
but he will never become educated. He is
too shiftless and careless. Too idle and vii
lainous to work or to own an ambition
only to the pursuits of reckless and easy
living without asking why and wherefore.
In the different nations composing the
Indian Territory frequently came upon
youngsters whom I readily perceived had
learned the ways of the world. They are the
educated ones and 1t is gratifying to see
how proud an Indian is he, who is a black
smith, shoemaker, wood worker or q
tailor in his own country. The girls having
had similar advantages are clever house
keepers and the young men who marry them
are the most fortunate of the lucky ones on
whom
THE STAR OF FORTUNE SHINES.
Occasionally one sees such proofs of the
the incalculable benefits of education among
the tribes of the far West, though not near
SO frequently as in the Territory.
There is vast difference in the capabili-
ties and ambitions, or rather inclinations,
of the children OF different tribes. One
would naturally suppose that being Indians
they had common likes and dislikes and
Af - sx,sl h,,< d
not the case. know Pawnee boy who Is
very clever sketch artist, and was in
formed that his was an accomplishment not
rare among the youths of his tribe.
Up to that time had never seen an In
dian possessed of a soul that could be in
spired to produce any design above the
hideous. excepting the Tlinkets, of British
Columbia and Alaska. The Pawnee girls
are quite clever, too, many of them who
have had school advantages have become.
artful at needle and fancy work, and nearly
all good cooks and housekeepers.
A PRACTICAL SET.
The Cheyennes, as a rule, have a me-
chanical eye, and they are as practical as
any know, The Wyandottes are crafty
and the Comanches are treacherous beyond
conception. A hundred other traits are
suggested when the various tribes are called
TO mind, but that would give no general
idea of them, consequently are valueless in
this connection, the foregoing serving as an
index to the remainder.
There are now in the United States 270
Indian schools, including the reservation
class, which are for the most part primary
schools.
In all there are IL industrial schools and
they are located as follows: Carlisle, Pa;
Hampton, Va; Albuquerque. N. Mex:
Chilocco, Ind. T.; Arkansas City, Kan;
Ft. Stevenson, OAK; Salem, Ore; Ft.
Yuma, Col; Genoa, Neb.; Grand Junction,
Col; Keanis Canon, Ariz., and Lawrence,
Kan.
The tribes represented in these and the
Reservation schools are chiefly: Apache,
Arapahoe. Cheyenne, Chippewa, Chicka-
saw, Creek, Grow, Comanche. Cherokee,
Caddo. Delaware. Iowa, Kaw, Kickapoo,
Peoria, Ponce, Piute, Pottawatomie, Qua
paw, Seneca, Seminole, Sac and Fox, Shaw
nee, Sioux, Ute, Wyandotte and Wichita.
and perhaps q few 'Tlinkets and mayhap q
straggler from tribe of no particular prom
inence.
A FREQUENT QUESTION.
The question is frequently asked by per-
sons who do not understand the Indian
question, "Why doesn't the Government let
them alone-give them domain and per-
mIt them to live as they like?"
That such plan is bad has been prac-
tically and satisfactorily demonstrated, and
now the only reasonable solution to the
problem is thought to be education. This
will analyze, but the former plan will not
Educate the savage and you can figure on
what he will do TOR himself and his sur
but leave him to his native and
wicked ways, untutored and unmolested, as
some will have it, and you have type of
humanity that no dependence whatever can
be placed in. In their native state Indians
are all dangerous and naturally bad-hearted
toward the whites. Educated, they can be
made useful. at least to one another, and
thus be rendered respectable and
WORTHY OF CoNFIDENCE,
q result that could be produced in no other
way. Besides, if the whites owe them any
thing for the soil they were driven from
and there seems no room for doubling that
the debt is large) it seems but proper that
an effort should be made to render their
condition better, otherwise there would be
no virtue. consequently no justice in what
would be nothing short of purloining their
God-given estates. As the present genera
ton witnessed the decadencc of negro slav-
cry, so will they who live in the twentieth
century observe and note the decline of
savage ignorance and superstition, and the
triumph of education.
AUGUSTINE GALLAGHER.
mur onu,ppe, u,,r po,n