Evening star., 1902-03-03
Taking Indians From Their Homes.

Clueflt 10 SUCH d SS SteW
Taking Indians From Their Homes.
ANY one who knows anything about the
question knows that for several years the
following law has been inforce and has
been diligently enforced by the present
commissioner of Indian affairs: That no
Indian child shall be removed from any
reservation to a non-reservation school
without the written consent Of the parent
or guardian
ITO show how cruel superintendents are
when collecting pupils for the schools, l
will be frank and tell you of our horrible
practices. Now this is how We proceed.
have done it many times and know What
am talking about. l go to the reservation
and first call upon the Indian agent and
meekly ask permission to secure, If posi-
BILE. few pupils for my scnool. Generally,
the agent refers me to the superintendent
OF the reservation school. l call upon him
and he provides me with list of the pupils
whom he thinks might be benefited by at
tending non-reservation school and who
are physically fit to go.
Il then call upon the pupils whose names
nave been given me and ask them If they
would like to come to my school. If they
express desire to go l then go to the
parents or guardians and get their written
consent, If l can. In the majorty Of cases
l don't succeed in getting the written con-
sent. The father may be progressive In
dian and want his child to CO. but the
mother, and invariably the grandmothers
taiiu tHeit are SeieFaiiy from one TO three
arounO object and so the poor child is
saved from being carried away by the
monster whose sole and only desire is to
force upon that child an education.
is it not a wise and just law? The wis
dom of it is sublime. The white inhabi-
tants Of many of our states have compul-
sorry school laws. Poor things! How far
behind the times they are, They should
awake, throw off their shackles and refuse
absolutely refuse to have their offspring
blessed with an education unless they the
parents. first give their written consent
But to return to the story. II | am Sue
cessful in obtaining the parents written
consent or their marks. l then must re-
turn to the agent and consult him. In
some cases the agent or superintendent of
the reservation school, or both may object
to pupils transfer. and that settles it,
no matter if you have the pupils and the
parents consent
immortality Among Pupils.
Again, it is charged in this resolution
that there is intermxture of the two sexes
in such schools. without proper supcrvi-
sion In many cases, with the result that
many of the female children are debauchad
and the morals of the children of both
sexes perverted and destroyed. Whoever
wrote this charge knows nothing or little
about our Indian schools. or white schools
in particular, and human nature in gem
eral, or he has stated that which he knows
to be false.
mean? What would he have you believe?
Evidently his intention is to convey the
idea that the superintendents and the en-
ployeS of the schools are low immoral
persons. and that the high moral status
of the Indian youth is being DESTROYED by
being forced to attend these Indian schools
Is it not fact that our white children,
around whom all the safeguards that low
Ing parents can devise are thrown. whose
inherited tendencies against immoral
ity. whose home influence is against i'm
morality and debauchery: is it not a fact,
l ask that some of them go wrong?
Is it not a fact that, even in our white
schools, presided over by watchful and
Christian teachers. that immoralities oc-
cur? And. mind you. that the white child
Is in the public school only six hours out
Of the twenty-four and during the rest Of
the time is with his parents in his LONE,
or should be.
superintendent and the employees of an IN
dian school to deal with. They have to
deal with children who come from homes
in the majority of which moral influence is
unknown From homes where even the
common decencies. of life are not observed
where the father. mother, children, mar
ried sons and daughters, strangers, visitors
and all live, eat and sleep in one room with
out any care as to privacy. l have been
among the Indians of New Mexico, Ari-
zcna. Minnesota and South Dakota and
will say that there are many who are try
ing to lead Christian lives and want their
children to be moral and become good c:ti-
zens. I do not desire to show the Indian up
in bad light and to show that he Is lcen-
ticus and immoral. but to show what We
as educators of the Indian youth, have to
ov ercome and contend with.
Educators Of the Children.
1--WE have to build up the moral charac-
ter of the child from the very foundation.
We have to be watchful and guard them
1 will venture to say. and l will stand by
the assertion, that the Indian schools as
conducted under the able administration OF
William A. Jones, commissioner of Indian
affairs, and his corps of assistants. are as
free from immoralities and scandal as an
equal number OF white scAOels would be
under the same conditions. and possibly
under the existing conditions of the re-
spective schools. wfii go further and say
that considering the inherited natures and