St. Landry democrat., 1891-03-14
Strong Drink Among the Indians.

Letter from Miss Caroline f. Greene, a
gifted young lady from Providence, r. l.,
aud teacher in the Seminole school at Sas
akwa, Indian Territory:
1t is well-known fact that many wears
| ago law was passed by the government
| of the United States which prohibited the
| sale of intoxicating liquors to Indians in
any part of the country. Notwithstanding
this law, quantities of the vilest liquors
| are every year brought into the Territory
working vast amount of harm and caus-
ing much misery to these already benight-
ed people The violstors of this law, to-
gether with all Indians who have com
| mitted crimes against white men, are ar
| rested by q United States marshall, who
| passes through the country once every two
! or three months, and are carried to Fort
Smith, Arkansas, or Wichita, Kansas, at
| which place all trials take place. An In
dian, Immediately on eaving the prison at
Fort Smith, can step into a saloon and OBJ
tain any quantity of the very stuff which
! caused him the trouble Only recently q
Choctaw Indian, having gone to Fort
Smith as witness, became intoxicated and
attempted to take the life of an officer,
whereupon the officer shot him down in
COS. Little or nothing is done with the
volators of this law at Fort Smith, and
the common plea of the saloon keeper is
that he did not know the man to be An In
dian.
A drunken Indian is said to be worse
than drunken white man. They do in
deed seem to be more dangerous. The
women seldom drink, but stand in awe
and terror of a man under the influence of
liquor, and well they may, for such men
are usually armed aud use their weapon
at random Last eve, ing a poor woman
fled from her home to avoid meeting Il
drunken brother, and came to the mission
for safety. There are times when the
women at church service scarcely kneeI
during PRAYER, so fearful are they Of the
drunken men Just outside. Often at mig ut
the inmates OF mission are disturbed by
drunken men proving about, shooting
and whooping. At such times the girls
become greatly excited and it is difficult
to control them,
Almost every man in the nation who is
not Christian drinks; and sad as it is,
many times Christians yield to temptation
short time ago one Of the foremost men
of the nation returned to his home from St
Louis in an intoxicated state, and in pos
session of number of bottles of the dread
full stuff, which had been given them a. a
present. He had been away for some time,
and his little daughter, q child of about
six years of age, at the mission went home
Saturday night TO see him and remain over
Sunday. On her return when asked if she
had pleasant time. thu only answer,
Papa was drunk was indeed piriful to
hear, and spoke volumes. He is man
respected for strict integrity, strong
Christian character, and one to whom the
missionaries look for much help in the
furtherance of the Gospel among this peo-
pie. Terrible are the deeds which are be-
ing heard of constantly, resulting from in-
temperance, and little is being done to pre-
vent it. few societies exist among the
Creeks along the line of railroad, at places
visited by Frances Willard short time
ago; but temperance work in the interior
is limited to g efforts of the missionaries
in the churches. At this mission school
temperance meetings are held once every
month, when the workers seek to show
these young Indian girls the terrible effects
of alcoholic drinks on the body, mind aud
spirit. Many of them have fathers and
brothers slaves to drink, and it is our earn
est prayer that through these girls We
may reach the victims of the dreaded evil.
We ask your prayers that this great evil
OF intemperance which has caused so much
suffering and wre.chedness to these poor
degraded Indian homes, may be speedily
swept out, and the Seminole people be-
come that happy people whose God is the
Lord THE 01ttLoOE-