The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1904-07-01

A Visit to the Indian school and
Agency Buildings

"A SHofI tlmo ago the editor
had the privilege of a visit to
the Sisseton Indian agency.
The agency is in charge of G. B.
jackson, who received his ap-
pointment as superintendent
some two years ago, and who
recently was re-appointed for a
| term of six years. Mr.. jackson
has clerk in the person Of Earl
W. Allen, who has recently re-
ceived noticed of his transfer to
an agency in Idaho. There is
plenty of business to keep both
agent and clerk constantly en-
ployed, as the leasing of Indian
lands and disposing of lands of
Indian estates, have become i'm
portant features of the agents
duties. Two schools for Indian
children are located at the
agency, one mission school
supported by the missionary
board of the Presbyterian
church, and the government
school. The former we did not
get time to visit during our stay
at the agency. The government
school is under the direct super
vision of the assistant superin-
tendent, James j. Saindon,
with the following corps of
teachers and assistants: George
S. Fitzpatrick and Anna Sher-
idan, teachers; Sarah Garvin,
boys matron; Josephine Ayling,
girls matron; Lizzie Francis,
cook; Nels p. PincOmb, laborer;
Anna Varars, seamstress; Ger
trude Linberg, laundress. The
school has some 115 pupils, who
are not only trained in book
work, but also in industrial mat
ters, the girls in sewing, house
work, laundrying, etc, and the
boys in farming, gardening and
stock raising, alternating each
half day, one portion of the
pupils doing school room work
in the morning, and industrial
work in the afternoon and the
other portion doing school room
work ia the afternoon aud indus
trial work in the forenoon. Many
of the pupils are mentally bright
and capable, and the children
appear to enjoy their school life,
and exhibit considerable enthu
siasm in their work. The main
difficulty is found in getting g
them started and securing them
in the first place; many of the
parents, being averse to parting e
with their children, endeavor to
keep them in the semi savage
surroundings in which they are
born and in which the parents
live Considerable force and
strategy have at times to be used
to get the children started, and
these same children later prove
bright scholars and become
thoroughly proficient in their
school work. The school is at
present over crowded, nearly
score more of pupils having to
be provided for than there are
accommodations for. However,
the contract has now been let
for an additional school building
and dormitory for boys, when
the present school room will be
remodeled into a girls dormi-
tory, the buildings to be supplied
with water and sewerage. An
inspection of the dormitories,
kitchen and dining rooms showed
them to be in a cleanly and we'll
kept condition, every precaution
being taken for maintaining the
health of the pupils in the school |
and winning them away from the
careless and uncleanly mode of
life in which they were brought
up. The industrial training
which these Indian children re-
ceive is really worth more to
them than even the literary
training which they get, as it |
teaches them in practical and
pleasing way the great art of
self-help, the girls learning sew
ing, laundry work and house
hold duties and the boys the |
different branches of farm work.
In connection with the school is
the farm of some 400 acres,
which is entirely handled by the
boys of the school under proper
supervision, a portion of the
farm being plated off for gar
dening, a portion sown to grains
and some devoted to grazing, the
farm now having 40 hogs and 30
head of cattle, and horses tol
wore the land.
The school is certainly doing
a good work for the new gener
alton of these people that are
growing up, while the older