Norwich bulletin., 1913-02-24

The sermon at the sunday evening service at Christ Episcopal church was by Rt Rev George Biller, Jr, mission ary bishop of South Dakota. who gave an interesting account of conditions in that missionary district. The pastor, Rev. R. R. Graham and Archdeacon J. Eldred Brown assisted in the service.
 Largest Mission District.
 In opening his remarks, the speaker said that he did not propose to deliver a sermon, but to give an account of the work of the mission district of South Dakota, work which, he said, has a claim upon your interest and is unique in several ways. It is the larg- est mission district in the American church; not the largest in area, though it is large compared with eastern states, but the largest in the amount of work already developed In the dis trict there are 150 missions 100 of them devoted to the work among the Indians. There are 25,000 Sioux In dians in the district. and of these one half belong to the Episcopal church. Every other Indian in the district has been baptized, and 5000 of them have been confirmed in this church. There are 100 chapels or stations where ser vices are conducted for the Indians in the Dakota lands. Hymns and the same prayer service which you use they have translated into their lan euage and they have the sacrament as you have it. and they love it. It is hard work, for there are but ten white men and twenty Indian preachers to teach the people. Those who conduct the services in many places are lay readers, or catechists. as they are call ed; men of perhaps little education and intellect, but men whose characters are known to be of the best. These men lead the services Sunday after Sunday in the little cabins or chapels through out the district.
 Were a Barbarous People.
 When Bishop Herr was first sent to lead the work among the Indians, forty years ago. they were a barbarous peo- pie. with little civilization and meager ideals. They were controlled only by the soldiers. Now the missionaries a peaceful. honorable, Cody people. They make their mistakes, as who does not? I know them. love them, live with them. The Christian Indians Christians in this country. loving the church above all else in their meager lives.
 The hardest part of the work is com- ing The South Dakota Indians have lived on large reservations; reserva- tions as large as the state of Connecti- cut with small tribes scattered about over the aera. There were no whites near them outside the missionaries and the government officials. This is all E, is becoming harder than ever. The res ervations are being opened to settle ment. It must be, it is the advancing of civilization, but it will bring to the Indians hard problems. The Indian believes the white race a race of Chris tians, and yet the first things which he meets in the towns which the whites are bringing into existence are Whlskey, gambling and dives These are iron tier towns, and the frontier man is largely bad man. The Indians have been taught that Christianity with Houor and gambling and other evils is impossible.
 Two Menacing Evils.
 There are two evils which menace the Indians-the divorce evil and the Indian dance, which is being revived Bishop Herr found the Indian poiyg- amist The Indian youth stole his bride, and several of them Today throughout the mission field there are Christian homes in the best meaning of the term. South Dakota has III me past been notorious for it's divorce evil, but this has been in measure over come by changes in the laws. Those seeking diyorces now go to Keno, NeN. With the change in the laws some or tlle white lawyers found is hard to make living, so they went to the In dians When a shyster lawyer hears Of a tiff between an Indian ana nis wife he goes to the man and tells nm that for x25 he can get a 0lFcfCe IhV Indian falls. Tn the few months Which have been bishop scores or such ques- tions have been submitted to me by my preachers, and in not one case could I find the fiinsiest grounds for a divorce. I don't understand the gov ernment's attitude. In any other case in which the Indian is concerned the federal courts are called in. but in this | instance the state magistrates try the | cases.
 Tho Indian Dance.
 Tn the revival of the Indian dance IS a step backward. Colonel Cody round | that money could be made by showing | the Indian as he was before the mis- sionary found him. Other people caoght the idea and soon the Indians decided i they could make the money for them selves by doing it. Inndian dance l houses are now in existence all over i the resefya tiofis. and with tlte ola dance go all the bad habits Of the fcrfnef Ire before the coming of Chrfstianlty. in Itself the dance fs harfniess. but all ths workers, and the best indians, admit that the Indian dance IS sil pad on account of it's attendant evils.
 The United States government com nends the building of these dance houses. because, as the agents say, IL keeps the Indians from bother1ns them The agent doesn't care that the Indian