Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-28

him how to successfully farm his own al
lotment. Nine-tenths of the red boys are
equipped as tillers of the soil and breeders
OF STOCK Even these, however, must be
trained in the minor branches of mechanical
trades, such as will fit them to repair their
FENCES and houses, mend their harness, ETC.
AT several of the large schools specialized
training in farming and stock raising is
given instruction in farming by irriga-
ton is being commenced in the arid south
west
Thirteen Indian Newspapers.
Thirteen school newspapers are being
regularly printed at as many institutions
The industrial departments of nearly all
OF the larger schools are equipped with
printing presses and complete sets of type.
The editing of the school journals is super
vised by the superintendent or principals,
and many of the articles are contributed
by students.
The valuable native industries of the
red man are not being lost sight Of and
these are being made part of their regular
course, care being taken to teach them the
handlcrafts Of their own tribes. Thus
some OF the youngest red tots are seen
working with beads and colors, chosen to
take the place of the kindergarten material
or the white child. OF course. the native
peadWork OF the Indian cannot be equaled,
and that art is to be furthered rather than
lost In basketry, too, the Indian stands
alone The British Museum, which con-
tains the worlds greatest collection of the
ed the earth for the finest samples of bas-
kerry, and all connoisseurs studying this
collection have awarded the Indian of
North America the palm. These Indian
pupils do not weave their baskets of the
common raffia used in white kindergartens.
Ihey know the proper materials used by
their parents and how to get them. In
the same way the peculiar arts of the abo-
rlg1nal blanket weaver, leather tanner and
potter are being preserved and even i'm
| proved.
Novel Apparatus for Teaching English
The first and most important educational
step with the raw redskin is the teaching
| OF English. Various methods are used in
the schools, but the most novel and sue
cessful is the sand table" adopted by ].
| the Pine Ridge day schools This device
| IS large box supported on legs and filled
with clean, dry. white sand. Its surface
is ia1a lou. out in a miniature home plot, with
men, women, children, animals and barn
one or the older pupils assigned to teach
me beginning class takes up the toy horse.
dor instance and. giving its name, re-
| morse is next moved across the sand with
a. gaiioplng motion, the sentence THE horse
runs runs thus being taught. Each object
ion ABOUT the home is treated in SINH
iar 1ashion The table is arranged to suit
| the children s. special surroundings In gar
denlng time the toy house is Surrounded
py garden. According to the inspector Of
| the district more progress in English ia
made In six months with this new inven.
| uon than in six years at other schools
| which he has observed o-'
| Dancing In the enlightened fashion fs
pelng taught in the schools as suhsti
| tute Tor the ceremonial dances of the nm
| civilized Indians This is done in recoe-
| milton of the Indians natural love for tie
t taiI, ana the poetry of motion. On GER
| tam evenings at the schools are arranged
| social entertainments, where bows and eirls
may dance together. The aboriginal re-
Volting religious dances are thus being re-
| strlcted TO the old Indians, some of whom
however, still insist upon their childran
| peins present. In some cases every child
no matter how young; every girl no mat
.tr now 1ar her education has been car
| .ieu, must sun under heavy penalties par
ticlpate in dance festivities obscene and
| 9eeradlng to such a degree as to make a
description 'toe-revoiting to print.
Mandolin Clubs and Basket Rail Taan.
Brass bands are organized in a dozen of
the schools and girls mandolin clubs in
several Base ball teams are organized
among the boys and basket ball teams
among their sisters
Last year some 1000 Indian boys and
slrls, enrolled in various schools were.
| through several months of the term nisced
| IN the families of surrounding farmers the
| boys for general farm work and tie girls
tor various household duties under the
farmers wives. Their wages are deposited
! IN the indian school and saved until thew
| leave. Although successful in the east. the
| results of this experiment are somewhat
problematlcal in the west, where local
| preJudlces against the Indian are greater
Inc moral education of the redskin pre-
| sents the most veXed problem facing the
| Indian bureau. 1t is an easy matter to teach
| the child of wild parents the elements of
| decent conduct in the day schools and to
hold him in check in the boarding school.
But Indian mothers cannot appreciate the
anxiety of their white sisters to guard their
offsprings The Indian girl, returning home
from school, finds few restraints thrown
about her. If her home be among the
Apaches of Arizona, for instance she is as
like as not sold like a beast of burden.
According to the Indian notion, binding
marriage ceremony is superfuity while
polygamy is the rule among many tribes.
But a departmental law now requires all
Indians on reservations to obtain licenses
before marriage. In the states all Indian
marriages must be in conformity with the
state law.
AS a result of the Indian bureaus good
work 25 per cent more redskins are self
supporting now than ten years ago; more
than twice as many speak enough English
for ordinary purposes No longer are there
any tribes wholly idle. A great many more
wear citizens clothes than they did decade
| back. The time no longer seems to be far
distant when a majority will be self-sup-
porting and self-respecting citizens.
| Give the Indian white mans chance
| Educate him in the rudiments of our Ian
| guage Teach him to work. Send him to
his home and tell him that he must prac-
| tice what he has been taught or starve. 1t
will exterminate the Indian, but develop a
man." says Commissioner Jones'
Struggled Prayer Books.
i