The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1891-01-17
RARE ON THE SITUATION.
Hls Resent sermon Attracting Consider
able Attention.


ms Resent sermon Attracting Consider
able Attention.
Sioux FALLS, s. D., Jan. ia re-
| cent sermon on the Indian question hy
| Rev. w. III. Hare, missionary bishop Of
| South Dakota for the Episcopal church.
Is attracting considerable attention
| throughout the state, by reason OF its
| forc!bIc, clear expression, as well as the
fact that the bishop has been special
student of>the Indian for eighteen years.
The sermon began with the methods
| Of dealing with the Indians from the be-
ginning up TO the present time. The
| trst mode was to fight them, the second
To feed them and the third to lead them
on TO self support. The last, or the
principle OF reservations, has been the
controlling spirit for several years past.
1t was aSisc. But how did IL act? For
several years IL worked well on
the whole. The rewards Of the Indians
efforts were not lnconsderable. Mis-
sionary and educational work was kindly
received. In o few years eight to a
dozen camp schools were built on each
OF the subdivisions OF tho great Sioux
reaerva Some women lived IN them, or
a maa md his family, aud taught unmo-
Tested and secure. The Episcopal
church alone counted 1000 or 5000 Of
these Indian people among tho habituaI
attendants on Its religious services, its
communicates numbering over ZOO la
/ the year 1890.
.Ibe bishop then explained how the
laSSt treaty, by which 1000, 600 acres OF
land were opened to settlement, was
worked through. In tracing the causes
OF the present disturbance he said:
In 1890 the crops, which promised splen-
didly early in July, failed entirely later be-
cause Of a severe drouth. On some reserves
their ratlons were being reduced. and
lasted, even when carefully husbanded, but
one half the period for which they were Ia
sued. The people were often hungry, and
tho physicians Ia many cases said they died
when taken sick not SD much from disease rs
from want of food. No doubt the people
could have saved themselves from suffering
IL industry, economy and thrift had
aboundedi but these arc Just the virtues
| which people emerging from barbarlsm
! lack. The measles prevailed In 1889 and
were exceedingly fatal Next year the
| grippe swept over the people with appalling
results. Whnoping cough followed among
the children. sullenness and gloom began
| "a gaIHtF especially among the hUurnUu
and wiidor Indians a witness Of high
character told me that marked
| spair -nrevailed la many quarters,
| The people said their children were all
dying from diseases brought by the whites,
! their race was perishlng from the face OF
! the earth, and they might as we'll be killed
| at once, old chiefs and medicine men folt
| they were losing their power Withal, new
| ways were prevailing more and more which
did not suit the older PEOPLE. In word, all
things were against them, and. to add to the
| calamity, many Indians, especially the
| wilder elements, had nothing to do but to
| brood over their mlsfortunes.
| While in this unhappy state, the story Of
| a Messiah coming, who would retnstate tho
Indian with It's ghost dances and strange
| Authorizations, spread among the heather
/ part 0f the people. The Christian Indians,
/ 0n the whole, maintained their stand With
| praiseworthy patience and fortitude; but
the dancers were In state OF exaltation
| approaching frenzy. Restraint only in
creased their madness. The dancers were
| found 90 be we'll armed and to have donned
| "A sacred shirt of tAiizmanic power.
| lnsubOrainAtion broke out on several
| reserves. The authority of the agent
| aud OF tine native police we're over
thrown. tho civilized Indians were fnIfmtS
| dated. Alarm spread everywhere. No eRe
knew what was coming. The military was
| summoneu 90 the agencies. Their appear
| nuee did not aafnpen zeal, bat famed tho
/ flames. Why should they fear who wore
| the Juliet PROOF sacred Shtrtf Hene9s When
| Col. Forsytie's cavaly overlook Big FOot's
| band-of their own reserve. aud apparently
hent on nlIschIef-and eudeayored 60 take
from them their arms after their surrender,
the commanding officers forbearauce- aud
coOlness availed nothing. The prayers Of
the mediclBe man and his assurance that
the bullet would not penetrate the ghost
dance shirts. prevailed, and although two
pieces OF artillery were trained upon chem
and ths soldiers who surrounded them 5ut-
numbered the Indian warriors three or four
times, they fell suddenly upon the tr~9ps,
at signal from the medicine man. With
savage fury and often continued hghtlng
when wounded and dying. Tho soldiers re-
talated With terrible rcsults Indian men,
w0nen and boys engaged In sthe nRht,
and Indian men, women and boys paid the
penalty.
In closing the bishop said ho some.
times feared some dreadful doom, such
as indiscriminate slaughter or wholesale
deportation In which the savage and
Christian Indians would share alike.
Against such injustice he entered q
solemn protest, and hoped that out OF
the present trouble would come a better
understanding between the whites and
the Indians, more conscientious regard
for the rights OF the red man, and q
fuller appreciation OF the brotherhood
Gf the two nanula