Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-09
Dowell win show you some OF their draw

Doweil win show you some Of their draw
ting.
Ths work Of the Indian children allowed
the hand Of the artist. I could almost smell
the fragrance Of wild rose that little
Girl had drawn on paper. and hear the
chirp Of the robin pictured by Mark Mn
thorn, age ten. first grade"
How STRANGE" said I.
'Not strange IL you think moment"
said the teacher. Remember that the
nature. They are always going among
trees and flowers and over rocks in pursuit
OF birds and beasts. If an Indian child Is
never taught anything else he learns about
these things.
Then. the girls do beautiful needle
work." said Miss Gather. Let's go for
moment into the sewing room"
Fine Needlework.
It did not seem possible to me that a lit
state could make such delicate piece of
embroidery as I saw.
Maybe you would like to some Of
the compositions handed in this morning."
said Miss Mcdowell as we passed her door.
The themes Of the Indian school kid were
very Interesting to me. Maybe you would
like to read one or two. Belle, having
drawn on the top of a page four little
chicks running to their coop, wrote:
Here is Annie. She is feeding the chick
ems. George is making the coop for the
chickens. The hen Is making NICE soft
nest, and the mother put thirteen fresh
eggs on her nest And she sits three weeks,
when the little chickens hatch out They
say peep, peep, and the hen says cluck,
chuck. Then Annie comes. She feeds the
chickens. She feeds them soft bread. Here
Is an old hen with her chickens.
'Umatilla Indian school, first grade
James must have felt the advantages Of
the house over the tepee when he wrote:
A Pleasant Home.
MY home is near the Umatilla river, in
the northeastern part Of Oregon. We like
to hive by the river. where 1t is cool and
shady '"The trees are all around my home.
We catch many fish in the river. The Blue
mountains are not far from here. Wheat
fields are on the hills around. 1 go to
school at the Umatilla reservation school
and am In the third grade. 1 live in
tepee now, but some day will build me a
house. JAMES MCKAY,
Age 10 years; tribe Umatilla: third grade"
why, 1 think those compositions are just
splendid" said 1. How do you manage
to teach them English"
''Our teachers, whose fathers are white
men, do most of the language work You
see they know both languages well. Some
of our teachers We're raised right here on
this reservation, and at vacation time they
spend the time with their families.
Are these children hard to teach?' 1
asked the superintendent as we walked
back to where the Virginia -creepers shaded
the porch.
Yes, rather" was the reply. 1.-THE meth
DDS must be very simple to make them I'M
derstand. Then, the larger children are so
shy. We really get along better with the
little ones, because they aren't so timid
at Recess Time.
1t was recess now. Instead of piling over
each other to get out Of the door the In
dian children marched out with dignif1ed
order. The girls went to their swings; the
boys played base ball and foot ball, and
got down on their knees at marbles.
DO they play for keeps" l asked and
fght?'
mo" replied the superintendent. they
get fun out of the game itself, and in their
play they are very fair. It's cheating, you
know, that leads to quarrels.'
The largest crowd Of boys was over on
one side of the play ground, where they
all were shooting with their bows and ar
rows, playing a game they called arrow.
This game and the color of their skin were
the only things which reminded me that L
was in the midst of the children of sayages.
"Are the children always good like this? 2"
I asked as we sat again on the porch.
YES at the close of school," said Miss
Gather, but after they have spent sum-
mer with their parents In the tepee and
some of them are pretty hard to manage
when they come back to school. One pow
WOW offsets about three months of our
training. Many of the parents have no use
for the school and whip their children back
Into savage habits"
About this time an Indian youth drew
near, hiding his face up to his eyes with
long blanket.
Now, William! Shame on you, sir!
said the superintendent. Il thought you
promised me when you graduated that you
would never wear a blanket. Now here you
come dressed just like all of those lazy
boys Aren't you ashamed, STRIP
Yes am" replied the boy, politely, but
the other boys laugh at me and make me do
this
Become Landlords
That's just the way of it," said Miss
Gather to me. But the boys are not to
blame for 1t. They leave the school well
trained and ambitious but after that they
are not made to work the land they own.
They are allowed to rent their property.
These Indians all have lots of very fine
land. Their income Is enough to keep them;
they have no incentive to work. And there
are not many of US who are going TO labor
if we can help it. Idleness brings on evil.
The boys learn to gamble. and did you not
smell whisky on that young boy Williams