The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1921-08-22
5000 INDIANS
PLEDGE FEALTY
TO GOVERNMENT
Great COnvOcatiOn of Indians
Held at Okreek, South Da-
kOta, Mission
WAR HERO is HONORED
Curious Mixing of Ancient and
Modern Customs and Cos.
tunes at COnvOcatiOn
Especial to the Tribune)

UKreek, >. H., aug. 61.-Aulee IAOu
sand Sioux Indians assembled here in
convocation yesterday lifted their voic-
es in a pledge of loyalty to the Great
White Father at Washington.
Nothing quite like this gathering
of Indians which has been in session
here for the past three days can be
found in any other part of the world.
On ground over which they fought the
white man in the early days. among
them even men who participated in the
Custer massacre of almost fifty years
ago, they trailed across the prairie
last week from points as far distant
as three hundred miles, in ancient
prairie schooners, on pony back, and
not few in the modern motor car,
and in semi-circular form on the
banks of picturesque Oak Creek threw
up a city of tepees. In the center OF
this, in grove of whispering pines,
they built an open air tabernacle, and
here for three days, under a slogan
of for God and country, they have
been worshipping the God of the white
man whose religion they have embrac-
ed, and attending with scrupulous
care and attention to the business
details of the Church of which buck
and brave and squaw, boy and girl
alike, they have become communl-
cants
New Order Springs Up
If it be asked whether 1t is true that
the Indian is passing away, the answer
probably is yes, that the Indian OF
war paint and feathers has already
gone. In his place is springing up
new generation of Red Men who have
adopted civilization and the religion
of Christianity and are striving with
deadly earnestness to become useful
self-respecting and self-supportlng
citizens. The evidence is here in this
gathering, of the older generation
the braves who still affect the long
braided hair, wear moccaslns and
speak only the Dakota langu-
age; and the squaws in pic
turesque blankets and shawls,
who carry the papoose about with
them; and by way of contrast, the
younger generation, In civilized raj
ment of the latest fashioning, adopts
in modern slang, scarcely distinguish
able from their white brothers and
sisters; but alike devout in the prac-
tice of the religion which the mis-
sionaries have brought to them.
This is the dominant note of this
0f fhn Si0nY IhQ
convocation is being held under the
auspices of the Missionary Bishop OF
the Episcopal Church in this district,
Rt. Rev. Hugh Latimer Burleson, ana
Bishop William P. Remington
backed by group OF hall a
dozen white priests Of the Church,
but what is more significant Dy a
group of more than fifty ordained
priests, deacons, catechists and help
ers of full Indian extraction whose
presence tells of the advance which
the Indian has made in the one hun
dred years of missionary effort signal
lied in the Centennial Anniversary OF
the Missionary Society OF the Epls.
copal Church which is being observed
this year, and of which the present
convOcation is part.
Honor War Hero
Bishop Remington, youthful, ardent
tireless, probably put his finger on
the spot at the funeral Thursday after
noon of Chauncey Eaglehorn, worid
war hero, when he declared that the
effort of the Church and all good
citizens had been to make the Indian
part of the great citizenship OF
America, and that this end had been
accomplished when the blood OF red
man and white mingled on the battle
fields of France.
This funeral was perhaps the most
significant as we'll as the most plctur-
esoue of the convocation, though the
thoughtful man will not lose sight OF
the potential influence which sim
cere practice of religion is having IN
making full pledged citizen of the
Indian.
Chauncey Eaglehorn was Sioux,
brought up on the Rosebud
Agency. He was also member OF
the Church and the record of his good
deeds is in a way to become tradition
al in his tribe. He first saw service
for his country in the Spanish Amer
can War. When the world war start
ed, that is to say. when the United
States entered the struggle, he was
one Of the first to enlist. Likewise
he was one of the first Indians to
fall in the conflict. He was the first
Indian to be awarded the Croix de
Guerre for gallantry in action. He