The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1894-01-13
4 visit TO pine Redge.

the right are three Churches, tHrec StoiSs.
one hotel and dwelling and other houses.
On the left is the Ogallala boarding school.
The agency and school buildings are each
within their own enclosure. while the 9th
er buildings are open and more scattered.
The school is the chief object Of orr visit.
We were heartily welcomed, royalty
treated and afforded every facility to see
all that is to be seen by the superintend-
ent and matron, as also by all OF the 9TH
err employees. We arrived in time to see
| the scholars assemble and take dinner
some $50. more or less. They march in
in regular order, the boys from one side
and the girls from another, and take their
stand behind their chairs. when. after a
few words of grace repeated in concert,
all take their seats and the business of
the hour begins The employees serve,
assisted by boys and girls detailed weekly
for that purpose. All is orderly as in a
first class hotel, without the hum Of voices
and clatter of dishes quite often heard in
such. The table cloths and napkins re-
fleet credit upon the laundry. The bread,
flaky and white, speaks for the baker. The
viands, in quantity and quality, indicate
that there is a calculating head and a skilled
hand in the kitchen, while the rapidity
with which the edibles disappear bespeaks
a vigorous appetite and a keen apprecia-
ton of 1.-The good things of this life" The
tidy appearance in the make and mending
of clothes has a voice for the seamstress.
The pupils are taught the OF
the table" and there is no more awkward
ness than is to be found in a large family
Of young children. A family feeling
characterizes the whole. Christmas is
the red letter day" of the whole year and
a feast fit for the gods was provided by
the government for the pupils, not for the
employees. Following is the bill of fare
and it took nearly an hour of hard fight
before the final defeat: Turkey, cram
berry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy,
apples, grapes, tarts. jelly cake. oranges,
bread and butter and coffee. In the even
ing we're three Christmas trees provided
by the churches-two at the agency, Epis-
copal and Presbyterian, and one at the
| Catholic mission about FIVE miles distant.
All the children are permitted to 60 to
whichever church their parents prefer,
under the care of an employee. For their
education in school, there are four teach
els. Outside the school room tn: re are
a harness maker, carpenter, wheel wright
and a farmer, while w of the elder lads
are assistants to the engineer. The build
ings are heated by steam. One half OF
school hours is devoted to mental and the
other half to manual work. The girls are
taught all departments of housekeeping
and the making and mending of clothes
under the seamstress, and the boys attend
to their own dormitory and assist at the
washing machine and ironing in the laun-
dry. Thus all have the advantage OF a
GOOD common school education with the
addition of d variety in manual training
and, if they wish to prosecute their studies
farther, provision is made for them else
where. In their aptness to learn the pu-
| pills will compare favorably with their
pale faced" brothers and sisters, and will
easily lead in some things, such as writ
ing, drawing, certain kinds of fancy work.
&C.. All are not alike, however, any more
than in any other race. but their native
instinct seems to be for what appeals to
the eve, or can be initiated. All their sur
roundinps are we'll calculated to raise
their aspirations above the tepee and its
associations. The marked separation Of
| the sexes on the one hand and their free
intercourse on the other should give them
proper ideas of modesty and equality.
| Cleanliness, which is said to lie next to
goodness, is a marked feature of the es-
tablishment from dormitory to dining
room. from kitchen to parlor, upon the
person and the dress. Politeness and or
der pervade the whole. Politeness is in
culcated and order is enforced by the law
of kindness and with parental or fraternal
solicitude. Discipline is therefore mild
but firm. 1t is a home scene upon a some
what large scale. and it is no place for an
employee whose heart is not in the work.
While no religious system is taught in the
school, a good moral Influence pervades
the whole-enforced by word and action
as of the last importance. 1t is a m
dous influence the employees WELD upon
the Indian. 1t has a national value that
can hardly be over-estimated, and it is to
be hoped that, coupled with the work of
the churches, it will in a generation or
two solve the problem of civilization and
relegate our military to the defense of the
nation from without, and wipe from our
vocabulary the uncharitable saying often
glibly uttered as an acknowledged axiom
There is no good Indian but a dead In
dian" He who expects a whole race to
be lifted up, in a century even, to our
~conceit about civilization and evangelical
ton is no consistent ev~olut;onist at least,
and but little versed in the history of ma
tons. 1t may be a speedier process to
exterminate by the sword. It is a wiser
and a more humane one to educate and
turn the treacherous enemy into a trusty
friend. The same cry that has gone forth
against our public and normal schools and
our colleges, that they are ungodly, hal
gone forth against Indian boarding anc