Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-10
THEORY AND FACT.
Personal Observations as to the Gov.
ernment's Indian Policy,
HAMPTON AND CARLISLE
Worse Than Useless In the Effort b Civi,is~
the Red Mamie Avsans cor Kmpioyment
u the Grsdusses--Ssme Practical suexes.
tions to Legislators and Phiianthroplssa
NXrBEN THE END OF ALL THINGS Fl.

w mite shall come and when individuals and
not nations shall be judged according 10 their
works done in the body several people, whose
intentions are good enough and sufficient in
quantity to provide material for q sidewalk
from 9th and + streets to Hsdss, will be con-
Ucted OF gross carelessness and inexcusable OBJ
stinacy; people who imagined they had tried to
do right, but whose organization was such that
the receptive capacity was absent; people who
were born with one idea and who refused TO LET
the light Of practical experience dispei the
darkness Of well-meaning but narrow theory.
am writing now of those who see in
scholastic education the one string on
which the North American Indian ian pull for
salvation. 1t would seem at first glance ~
housh the being who argues against Indian
education must be favorable to continuous bar
oarianism. and the assumption that he IL 20 would
have reasonable foundation IL ne failed TO
oher substitute for the structure he will not
assist In rearing The substitute. however. is
o. hand, and 1t 10 so immeasuraely the superior
that any thoughtful person. whether interested
in the Indian or not, ought to be able to see at
once the erroneous character Of the educa-
tionni practices now In vogue.
by their fruits ye shall know .hem" IL a
scripsarni truth which, Ike all other scriptural
truths. has latter-day application. and no one
can object II the results Of what is officially
termed Indian education are used as the
basis on which to make a few calculations.
Where are tho beneficial results OF teaching
an Indian boy the elements Of grammar and
geography or the rudimcnts of Q trade? Where
are the boys who have been AZ operated uponY
WHAT oBsxAvArIox TEAcHEs.
For more than four months OF this year I
have been associated almost exclusively with
Indians and during and since that period these
Questions have REQUIRED with undesirable fire.
quency. while the answers have been lamentsbly
plain and unnistakable. Of course there have
been exceptional cases. where graduates Of
Carlisle and Hampton and kindred institutions
have done credit to themselves and their pre-
ceptors, but these exceptions were barely M.
mer0us enough to prove the rule. Go to Pine
Ridge or lsosebud and select from the thou
sands the most saudily dressed OF the young
savaSes. those whose faces are continually be-
smeared with paint, those whose feet now know
no covering but heavily beaded moccasins
those whose blankets are decorated to excess
and Won will discover Carlisle or Hampton
boy. &c through the camps make patient in
quiry as to the identity Of those females whose
immortality is matter Of public knowledge
and open comment, write their names down.
and then. carrying your investigation little
further, look in the records OF the educational
institutions for Indians and find lline-teu:hs of
the names OF, your list recorded on the roll Of
graduates.
Such statements as these will. know, cause
pain in The hearts Of many who have devoted
their lives to the welfare of the Indian, but
there Is no use in attempting to conceal the
facts-facts easily susceptible Of proof. No
one desires to hold philanthropy responsible
for the degenerate and immortal tendencies of
many of its bsnefciaries but with the testi-
mony OF numerous witnesses witnesses who
want to help the 1ndian-so squarely on record
1t is rather astonishing that philanthropy con-
HDeEN Tor hat nh oh IL not
bread.
WHO sFNr THESE aTRLs soME2
As left one of the agencies visited this
summer, two girls, about seventeen and fifteen
years of age respectively, were pressing tear
stained faces against the dirty window panes.
through which triAe OF daylight filtered into
dfminutive and dirty log hut. But n few
days before my departure those two children
had returned from an Indian training school
and two brighter. msrrier girls never rode on
the stage from the railroad 70 the agency
They laughed and Chartered and laughed and
wondered what sort OF welcome they would
receive after their long sbsence. Then thev
discussed the possibilities Of their home ard in
their minds cpnjured up n comfortable house
since they were taken away 10 be educated. So
their memories as TO their earlier child life
were vague They had become Young lsdies
mentally and physically At to associate with
any in the land. The stage stopped in
front Of the hut which was tc be theft
the narrow doorway stood the mother.
not particle OF iutereet visible in
her features. She did not move to greet her
offspring AMI when they tirniiiy approached
her she coldly kissed them and went with them
into the miserable apology for house Can
any one imagine the heart sinking felt by those
girls at that moment? little INQUIRY and A
tri1e Of observation showed that the mother
and children wete almost completely es-
traDged: seven years of separation had made
the mother careless Of her own aud seven
years Of education had developed the sensi-
bilities Of the girls to such an extent that life
on the reservation was torment. The filthy
surroundings, the uncongenial companionshlp
and the maternal indifference were breaking
their hearts, but there was no relief. II was
enough for the controlling and directing
system" to know that its deceived proteses
had been educated; the lamentable possibilities
of the postgraduate period received no con-
sideration.
What will become Of these girls? What has
become Of others similarly circumstanced2
The easy probabilities are so plain that
shudder as they parade unbidden before my
mental vision. The seven years OF careful
training bestowed in these cases have made
Indian companionshp distasteful; the desire is
toward the white people, Need I repea. my
reiterated remarks As TO the inmorali.ies which
must spring from the association Of educated
Indian girls with white men?
PRfsCIPLEs THAT SHOULD BE APPLIED.
No sane being will contend for moment
that scholastic education il one Of the pre-
requisites in the work OF building up civilizs.
ton. Tho nations of the earth were not
founded on the alphabet nor did the conquer
ing dynasties OF history evolve Themselves
from tho labyrinth If collegiate mathematical.
Self-help, business Independence and the
acquisitive power that comes with experience
hsve made the Gifted States, England and
Germany such potent fsctors in worldly affairs.
These same principles, properly applied, may
lift mp the North American Indian from his
present pauperixed condition to life Of COM
fort and perhaps Of sfilucnce Will the appli-
cation ever be attempted in shy oshs- than .
frivolous and spssfnodic manner?
At PINE nlDor.
Take the situation ct Pine Ridge the most
important of tho Sioux agencies. The govern.
ment has ordained that every Indian shall DO
o farmer, in spite Of the fact that crops must
fail three years out Of four Ia that ordinarily
rainless region. From the Almighty the decree
went forth that mankind should earn lie bread
by the sweat Of lie brow, bus Our Indian policy
has gone beyond that by prescribing the par
ticular occupation which shall act ~ . perspira-
ton promoter for the nations wards OF the
capacities Of Pine Ridge soil, when that soil 4
sufficiently watered, no reasonable man could
Ton l,,,f