The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-02-15
WISCONSIN INDIAN MISSION.

The following letter is from the mis-
sionary priest at Oneida, Wis.
Some time ago l wrote requesting
a donation for our Indian school.
Please pardon me for writing you
again about this matter, as I know
you are very busy. l would not do
so but my creditors are pressing me
so hard that l fear I shall have to
stop work unless I am assured help.
This will mean that the weather will
undoubtedly do damage to the struc-
ture. Moreover, the old building
which we are using at present as a
school is very cold and none too SAM
tary for the children, and if they
should get sick naturally the blame
would fall on our school, and I am
anxious to make a good impression
on the people, especially the non
Catholics. I have already two Prot
estant children in the school and hope
to have more soon.
Preservation of the Faith Among
Indian Children.
There are in the United States 300,-
900 Indians. Of this number about
one-third are Catholics, one-third
Protestants, and one-third pagans.
| Many of the heather Indians still
practice most immoral and revolving
rites of paganism. What shame that
in the twentieth century, and in our
enlightened country, boasting, as it
does, over 100000 Catholics, and
more than $4,000 priests, single
heather can be found in our midst,
and that our fair land is still defiled
by pagan denominations similar to
those the strong condemnation of
which we read in the Old Testament
Scriptures!
The Catholic Church has among the
Indians of the United States 1877 mis-
sions, 249 churches and chapels, 1874
priests, So boarding schools, 8 day
schools, 70 Brothers, 373 Sisters.
In the Catholic mission schools
nearly 5000 Indian children are sup
ported and taught, while in the schools
of the government, where the faith
of Catholic pupils is necessarily eX-
posed to many dangers, there are more
than 5000 Indian children, many of
whom have no opportunity to practice
their religion or even see priest.
The Church keeps up her extensive
Indian mission work at a great an
nual expense, as the Indians become
self-supporting only by very slow de-
grees, owing to the disadvantages I'M
der which they labor and the rapidity
with which they are necessarily be-
ing rushed from barbarism into civiII-
cation as the result of their sudden
contact with white men with whom
they are unable to cope. Formerly
Catholic Indian boarding schools were
supported by the government, but this
assistance has been discontinued by
Act of Congress, and since 1900 the
Church has had to assume the entire
burden of their maintenance. At the
present moment the Indians them
selves bear the expenses of twelve
schools, leaving 81 to be kept up by
the charity of the white Catholics of
the United States.
The Preservation Society, since It's
institution in 1901, aims only at col
lecting the mite from the many, and
is so constituted that it need not be
in the way of any other organization
or of any good work whatsoever.
The Church should be prepared to
convert the 100000 pagan Indians to
Christianity and to give the light of
the true faith to the 100000 Protest.
ant Indians of our country, but how
can she do this when in the main
tanning of her work among the Cath
Ollie Indians she finds herself at the
present moment burdened with an in.
debtedness of $42,450?
Such is the status of her Indian work
at the present time.