Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1895-01-28

When, in 1867, Pere LIE Jeune was
q boy of 16, In France, he learned Il
system of shorthand. This he now re-
sumed, and by simplifying 1t to meet
his own requirements, undertook to
teach it to the Indians. The first trial
was an instant success. This short
hand is an easy phonetic writing, and
can be learned thoroughly in a few
weeks. lie Jeunc himself was surprised
at the eagerness displayed by the na-
| tives to learn it.
Four years ago, q poor Indian Grip
pie named Charlie Alexis Mayoos, from
the lower Nicola tribe, saw the writing
for the first time and got the intuition
of the system at first sight. lie set to
work to decipher few Indian prayers,
and in less than two months had
| learned the whole method thoroughly.
He soon began to help the priests by
communicating his learning to his
friends and relatives. From this time
on the Indians took up the system and
| were anxious to learn on all sides.
They have now become aware of the
priceless benefits derived from an as
siduous attendance to their school, and
are as eager to receive an education as
any white pupil. When once a few In
dians know the system in one camp,
their ambition is to teach it to others
During the summer the progress Is
slow, but when winter comes they
spend whole nights at it. One young
Indian, especially bright, took interest
i,,t /,
spent the whole night in repeating the
lesson over and over again with two or
three companions, and in two or three
days more completed his studies. In
less than a month he could read the
Indian language as well as the Chi
nook, and soon was able to read and
write English in shorthand. Not only
do little children learn to read and
write readily, but even old people
study with success.
The more advanced Indians under
stand the value of the letters and the
spelling of the words, but the greatest
number begin by reading the words
then the syllables by comparing the
words together, and at last come to
the letters. They learn by analysis
much quicker than by synthesis.
After 600 or 800 Indians had learned
the system, it became necessary that
their interest should be kept up by
placing instructive matter before them.
AS Pere lie Jeune was always on the
go, visiting each camp ut intervals
only, it occurred to him to edit the
Kamloops Wawa, the strangest little
newspaper in America.
The Wawa is really a full-fedged
newspaper, and it first saw the light
of day in the month of May, 1891.
"Wawa is an Indian word meaning
talk, speak or echo" Hence the title
signifies "Kamloops Echoes" 'Kam-
loops" the name of the town in which
it was inaugurated, is n Shushwap
word, meaning "the forking together
of rivers, in this instance the north and
south forks of the Thompson River.
The accompanying reproduction is the
fac-simile of the original paper, which
proves to be Il curiosity in itself. 1t
contains four pages, and is about five
by seven inches in size. At present
over $50 subscribers look forward to
their paper. The Kamloops Wawa is
issued weekly. At the start, when
funds were scarce, Pere lie Jeune
printed the news on any kind of paper
donated for the purpose, and some
times the Indians received their news
on blue, red, yellow, and again on white
material
The printing of the paper is marvel
Gus. 1t is all done by hand, Pere lie
Jeune doing the work originally all
himself At first the news was auto
graphed, then duplicated on the mime
ograph by the priest during the leisure
hours of his missionary labors. AS the
subscriptions grew larger, a few In
dian women We're called in to help with
the printing, but this did not last
long, as the funds We're still so low that
they had to be discharged. and the
work all fell back on the priest again.
The first volumes of this wonderful
little paper have been bound, copies
being sent to the Smithsonian Insti-
tuition; also librariest in the East hold
copies as premiums. Some Of the
original papers We're lost or destroyed
by the Indians, but as many as could
be collected We're bound. Many of the
pages of the little volume 1 have in
hand and from which the accompany
ing cut is taken have been badly torn
and soiled by the Indians as they stud
led its text. Pere lie Jeune informs