Omaha daily bee., 1902-07-28
CATHOLIC INDIAN MISSIONS
Priest in Charge at Pine Ridg, Pleads for
Money He Needs.
ACCUSES GOVERNMENT OF BAD FAITH
Insists that withdrawal of support
from DenominationaI Amounted
TO = Break Of Treaty obi
cations with the Indians.

AT st. johns CatnOllc cnuron SUNDAY
morning Rev. Aloysius Bosch, s. j., head
Of the Catholic mission Of the Rosary, at
Ridge reservation. spoke on the sub
ject of Indian missions and the necessity
for individual support Of those missions.
He said in part:
Before entering upon a discussion Of
the subject 1 will give a brief history of
the Rosary mission. II was established In
1888 at the Pine Ridge reservation as a con-
tract school. The government at that time
authorized the building Of the schools by
the church and appropriated money for
their support. This mission was built BY
a member of the Drexel family Of Philadel-
phia, then Miss Catherine Drexel, now
Mother Catherine, head of an order which
has for its object the spread of the faith
among the negroes and Indians. The sup
port promised by the government continued
for about eight years, when. beginning In
1895, that support was gradually withdrawn.
The last step in taking support from the
former contract schools was when an at
torney Of the United States made a ruling
that no rations should be supplied to In
dian children who attend Catholic schools.
This law and this rule is unjust. The Cath
Ollie people Of the United States pay the
taxes as we'll as other citizens. We md
that the word 'non-sectarian' has been
coined to conceal an attack upon the Cath
Ollie schools on the Indian reservation. In
the government schools the teachers give
religious training to the cnildren. hold
prayer meetings and in some cases Prot
estant preachers visit the schools and give
instruction. This instruction is said to be
undenominstional, but its effect can be seen
from the fact that Of forty Catholic chill
dren who attend the government school and
draw rations but one boy and two girls are
found who go to confession. $50
Blow to the Mission. ~
Taking the rations from the Catholic
children was a blow to us from which we
have not recovered. 1t makes It necessary
for the school to provide food for the pu-
pills. We now have 1os pupils enrolled, six
teen sisters and two fathers at the Rosary
mission. We have to kill annually about
1875 steers to provide food for them, with
vegetables and groceries in proportion.
Since the government aid has been with
drawn the support OF these schools and
these pupils falls entirely upon the Cath
Ollie population Of the country. To sup
port these schools the archbishops Of the
country organized a society which has for
its object the preservation Of the faith
among the Indians. The annual dues to this
society from the members is rs cents per
year. It costs approximately $125, 900 to
maintain the twenty-five Indian schools at
the different reservations in the United
States. In order to draw this amount from
the society there would have to be 100000
members. We have In fact about $4,000
members, which shows without further
words the necessities of the case. Our only
revenue comes from a comparatively small
amount set aside by Mother Catherine and
the donations received. The general sec
rotary Of the society writes me that there
are practically no funds In the treasury,
The Rosary mission, in addition to a debt
OF $4,000, which is not troublesome. must
PEI $500 by October 4. and / must have
ZONE money on hand when the school opens.
This Is the reason for my visit here today.
No Hope for a Change.
For all Of the injustice Of Withdrawing
the rations from the Catholic Indian chill
dren we can look for no change in this
condition, for the president OF the United
States, usually so just in all Of his views
and actions, can see no injustice in this,
and his advisers are all opposed to any
change. The withdrawal OF ratlons is really
a breach of the treaty with the Indians,
for they were assured that they should
have rations when their lands were taken.
The law says that no support shall be
given Indians not In schools authorized
by the government, and this has been held
to include the Catholic schools, but an In
vestigation will show that these schools
were authorized by the government at
the time Of their construction or subse-
quent thereto.
"The claim is made that the Indian is
not worthy Of civilization. He is said to
be lazy, to be a thief. a drunkard and to
have a lax view Of the marriage bonds.
The policy of the United States has made
the Indian all of these things. 1t, would
do the same with a white man. Take any
man and tell him that you will feed him
and clothe him in the way he Is accus-
toned to. regardless Of any productive
labor on his part, and sec II he will not
become idle. After giving him all things
he requires tell him to work and see how
much work he will do. II the Indian is
a thief he can point to treaties broken
by the white men and land taken from him
by fraud and violence. The example would
be enough to make any man q thief. II he
is a ~drunkard. someone supplied the liquor.
AS to his laxity in regard to marriage. take
the statistics Of the divorce courts of the
United states-to say nothing Of the Nor
mons-and let the comparison be made.
Not a Pleasant station.
at is not pleasant work upon the reser-
walton. The days spent in the camps Of
Indians where dog soup is the chief ar
ticle Of food. OF sick-calls over hundreds
Of miles Of territory made when the Their
mometer is 3S degrees below zero; Of
trouble with swollen streams In the spring
not only personal Inconvenience and peril
but the indifference of squawmen and In.
dian alike. But we are there eheerfully
because we have been sent. You, know
how Father Jutz Of the Society of Jesus
my predecessor at the mission, went int
the hostile camp and brought into the
lines OF the United States the rebel chiefs
during the last Sioux uprising. You re
member that Father Craft. a priest, wal