The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-02-25
.BEAUL|EU INDIAN MISSION
Religious Statistics-Condition of the
Indians = Converts Varied Du-
ties of the Missionary.

The following report of the Chippe-
wa Indian mission at Beaulieu, in the
Diocese of Crookston, has been fur
nished The Catholic Bulletin by the
Rev. Roman Homar, o. S. B., who for
fourteen years has labored as a mis-
sionary among the red men in the
northern part of Minnesota.
The year, 1909, was the richest in re-
suits in every respect of all the four
teen years of my actual work among
the Indians.
The statistics for ST. Josepn's mis-
sion are as follows:
1. There are 742 souls in my
charge.
2. The total number of baptisms,
SO, of which II were adults, among
them one Swede.
8. The total number of marriages
was 6, of which were revaidated
4. Forty-four were prepared for
Holy Communion. Twenty-Five of
these were over twenty years of age.
). Christian burials, IL.
6. Forty-two sick calls were at
tended to, which required 754 miles of
travel by team or on foot, both ways.
Z. l had eleven converts since Jan
uary 1, 1910, and twenty-five are being
prepared for first Holy Communion
s. Since the enforcement of the
treaty of 1854, abolishing saloons on
the Reservation proper as well as in
towns and villages within a radius of
so miles, am not afraid to say that
the Indians, as well as the white pop
ulation, have improved religiously and
socially seventy-fiye per cent.
Encouraged and justified by the cir.
cular of His Grace Archbishop Ireland,
three long lectures were given to the
people on tuberculosis. This had to be
done in the church on Sundays, the
only time and place at which the peo
| pie could attend
Eighty per cent of all the deaths dur.
ing the last fourteen years among the
Indians in my charge has been caused
by this dread disease. 1t is astonish
| ing how ignorant and helpless the peo
pie were in this regard. While try
/ ing to instruct the poor Indians in re
igious matters, / devoted also some
time to their material welfare A
good citizen must not only try to sup
port himself and those dependent on
him, but also the government which
protects his rights and privileges.
Most of the Indians in this state
(Minnesota) were allotted agricultural
land, and a choice one at that. In
spite of this fact they must starve tc
death if they don't know how to work
it.
/ / can safely say that I have taught
the Indians more practical farming
during the last five years at this place
as well as previously on the Cloque
Reservation, than all the well-salariet
government farmers during the las
fifty years. | keep an experimental
station of an acre and half as al
object lesson for the Indians and othel
folks. They prefer my seed potatoe!
and corn to that of any seed house
My hens eggs are in great demand
j eighty per cent hatch without testing
i | may mention that, year ago,
was presented with a thTee-year-olt
colt by one of my Indian parishioners
called him Napoleon on account o
his bony parts; six months later
, called him Taft; and not long ago
was offered $500 for him. My COW i
also an Indians gift. On her arriva
she was veritable hatrack; but nov
she is the incest COW in the Count.
: of Mahnomen.
: While other people are talking goo,
roads, require nv people to max
them. Recently they turned out wit
!, fourteen teams and thirty men an
three-quarters of mile of road wa
: made on the section line, cutoff o
+ the old road three-quarters of a mil
z each way. The road-grader, two year
!, in the county, was never used before
f 1t cost $400. Breaking plows, scr;
i lpers, etc., were borrowed from tn
! county and the neighboring township.
! This is the only way to have goo
roads