The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1910-04-21
Eskimos
Religious
They Take Kindly to Outstanding
Influences and Remain Firm
After Conversion.

Since the North Pole has been dis
covered much has been written about
the children of the far North. Lieut..
Robert E. Peary in late article says
that it is impossible to Chris.ianize the
Eskimo. This is "a broad statement for
Mr.. I'eary to make and is absolutely
without foundation as | shall endeavOr
to demonstrate. Years ago before the
light of the gospel was brought to them
the .tives lived IN savage or warlike
state When disease carried away num-
bers Of II cir females all the male men,
bers would embark in ti.eir kyacks and
swiftly paddle over to some other vii
age, and by main force steal all the
females they could find and carry them
back to their own vii age-Which was
often the cause of shedding much blood.
Eskimos know nothing about sick
ness or how to care for one who Is sick.
A sort of medicine man would call on
the sick person and after collecting
some ten or twelve others to help him
out this is how lie would proceed to at
tempt to cure. Imagine yourself as
being very sick, that the least noise
| would cause you untold pain and suf--
fering, that you were lying on the floor
| of hut full of decayed skins and flesh
| without breath of fresh air aud the
| room full of smoke from the seRloii
| lamps. Also ten or more huskies lying
around in space that was only large
enough for two persons at the most.
To have this medicine man come with
his tribe, carrying tomtoms, and many
other noisy things, and to have that
bunch start to howl and dance and beat
the tomtOms until you either tainted
or died of fright, you will have some
idea of how sick people ale handled IN
the far North.
These were many, many times when
the natives who lived on the seashoTe
were starving to death day by day ON
account of the ice spreading for mics
and miles, and driving the seals aud
walruses miles away to open water.
could 90 on and write many pages or
such instances as these, but my desire
is to show how the Eskimo has been
changed from a savage, ignorant being
into one who is now able to care for
the sick, to plan for themselves future
and to help those oftheir brethren who
still remain in darkness. The mission-
ary has done this and were it not for
him the Eskimo would soon only be
seen in pictures and spoken of through
magazines and papers.
In every native village, there now
stands schoolhouse, which alec serves
as a church. AMI here the man of God
! spends years of his life in doing good
l Through the light of the gospel, there
are no more raids on nearby villages.
Many are now married with the full
understanding of what God expects OF
: man and wife. The mission is always
) stored with medicines of all sorts, which
is gwen to the natives free of charge
: The missionary is also firstclass doc
tor. Often his wife sits by the side Of
some sick patient who can now be re
u moved from the illsmeling hut to thu
y mission house, where good food ane
kind care soon cause them to become
we'll again.
They are also given food when in neet
aud are taught to read and write ant
,s to do many useful things. The Unitet
d States Revenue Service takes hundred
D. of them on their boats, supplying then
r the same as an American sailor. Man,
D. Of them have large herds of reindee
g which net them snug sum each year
le Their houses or huts are being re
le modelled every year so as to give then
lg more sunshine and fresh air. Thei
as dead are now placed in wooden boxe
cs and the word of God read over then
ne Before they were wrappedin afewsktil
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