Indian Civilization by Stanley Pumphrey
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Title:Indian civilization: a lecture by Stanley Pumphrey of England.

With introduction by John G. Whittier.

Author:Pumphrey, Stanley, 1837-1881.

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Print Source:Indian civilization: a lecture by Stanley Pumphrey of England. With introduction by John G. Whittier.

Pumphrey, Stanley, 1837-1881.

52 p. fold. map. 24 cm.

Philadelphia,

The Bible and tract distributing society, 1877.

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INDIAN CIVILIZATION: A e - LECTURE BY Stanley Pumphrey OF ENGLAND. WITH

INTRODUCTION BY JOHN G. WHITTIER. TO BE HAD OF THE BIBLE AND TRACT

DISTRIBUTING SOCIETY, I6 NORTH FOURTH STREET, PHILADELPHIA. 1877. A -1

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WM. H. PILE, PRINTER, No. 422 Walnut Street, Philadelthia.

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CONTENTS. PAGE. MAP OF THE INDIAN TERRITORY. INTRODUCTION, (by John G.

Whittier,) LECTURE, (by Stanley Putmphrey,) APPENDIX. EVIDENCE ON THE

CONDITION OF INDIANS IN CANADA, (by J. T. Gilkison,)….. 37 LETTER TO THE

NEW YORK TRIBUNE, SECOND MONTH 17, 1877, (by H. B. Whilple, Bishop of Minnesota,) 41 A+ %D . 5 9 ,.7 4l

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i. .0

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INTRODUCTION. THE present condition and future prospects of the remnants of the aboriginal inhabitants of this continent, can scarcely be a matter of indifference to any class of the people of the United States. Apart fromi all considerations of justice and duty, a purely selfish regard to our own well-being would compel attention to the subject. The irreversible laws of God’s moral government, and the wellattested maxims of political and social economy, leave us in no doubt that the suffering, neglect and wrong of one part of the community, must affect all others. A common responsibility rests upon each and all to relieve suffering, enlighten ignorance, and redress; wrong, and the penalty of neglect in this respect no nation has ever escaped. It is only within a comparatively recent period that the term Indian Civilization could be appropriately used in this country. How little real progress had been made in this direction, may be seen by the reference in the following discourse to the visit of Commissioner John D. Lang, in I844, to the Tribes now most advanced. So little had been done, that public opinion lgad acquiesced in the assumption that the Indians were not susceptible of civilization and progress. The few experiments had not been calculated to assure a superficial observer. The unsupported efforts of Elliot in New England, were counteracted by the imprisonment, and in some instances the massacre of his “praying Indians,” by white men under the exasperation of war with hostile tribes. The salutary influence of the Moravians and Friends in Pennsylvania, was greatly weakened by the dreadfiul I ‘k I i A T.

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Inroduction. massacre of the unarmed and blameless converts of Gnadenhutten. But since the first visit of Commissioner Lang, thirty-three years ago, the progress of education, civilization and conversion to Christianity, has been of a most encouraging nature, and if Indian civilization was ever a doubtful problem, it has been practically solved.

The nomadic habits and warlike propensities of the native tribes, are indeed formidable, but not insuperable difficulties in the way of their elevation. The wildest of them may compare not unfavorably with those Northern barbarian hordes that swooped down upon Christian Europe, and who were so soon the docile pupils and proselytes of the peoples they had conquered. The Arapahoes and Camanches of our day are no further removed from the sweetness and light of Christian culture, than the Scandinavian Sea Kings of the middle centuries, whose gods were patrons of rapine and cruelty, their heaven a vast, cloud-built ale-house, where ghostly warriors drank from the skulls of their victims, and whose hell was a frozen horror of desolation and darkness, to be avoided only by diligence in robbery, and courage in murder. The descendants of these human butchers are now among the best exponents of the humanizing influence of the Gospel of Christ. The report of the Superintendent of the remnants of the once fierce and warlike Six Nations, now peaceable and prosperous in Canada, shows that the Indian is not inferior to the Norse ancestors of the Danes and Norwegians of our day, in capability of improvement. It is scarcely necessary to say, what is universally conceded, that the wars waged by the Indians against the whites, have, in nearly every instance, been provoked by violations of solemli treaties, and systematic disregard of their rights of person, property and life. The letter of Bishop Whipple, of Minnesota, to the New York Tribune of Second Month, I877, calls attention to the emphatic language of Generals Sherman, Harney, Terry and Augur, written after a full and searching investigation of the subject: ” That the Indian goes to war is not astonishing.- he is often coinelled to do so. wrongs are borne by him in silence, which never fail to drivze civilized 6

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Introduction. men to deeds of violence. The best possible way to avoid war, is to do no i#lustice.” It is not difficult to understand the feelings of the unfortunate pioneer settlers on the extreme borders of civilization, upon whom the blind vengeance of the wronged and hunted Indians falls oftener than upon the real wrong-doers. They point to terrible and revolting cruelties, as proof that nothing short of the absolute extermination of the race can prevent their repetition. But a moment’s consideration compels us to admit that atrocious cruelty is not peculiar to the red man. “All wars are cruel,” said Gen. Sherman, and for eighteen centuries Christendom has been a great battle field. What Indian raid has been more dreadful than the sack of Magdeburg, the massacre of Glencoe, the nameless atrocities of the Duke of Alva in the Netherlands, the murders of St. Bartholomew’s day, the unspeakable agonies of the South of France under the demoniac rule of revolution! All history, black with crime and red with blood, is but an awful commentary upon “man’s inhlumanity to man,” and it teaches us that there is nothing exceptional in the Indian’s ferocity and vindictiveness, and that the alleged reasons for his extermination would, at one time or another, have applied with equal force to the whole family of man. The lecture of my friend, STANLEY

PUMPHREY, comprises more of valuable information and pertinent suggestions on the Indian ques tion than I have found in any equal space; and I am glad of the opportunity to add to it my hearty endorsement, and to express the conviction that its general circulation could not fail to awaken a deeper and more kindly interest in the condition of the Red Man, and greatly aid in leading the public mind to a fuller appreciation of the responsibility which rests upon us as a people, to rectify, as far as possible, past abuses, and in our future relations to the native owners of the soil, to “deal justly and love mercy.” JOHN G. WHITTIER. Oak A’zoll, Danvers, 5hz mo. 25, f877. 7

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;w IV

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INDIAN CIVILIZATION. A LECTURE DELIVERED IN PHILADELPHIA, BALTIMORE AND

NEW YORK.-Fourth Month, i 877, STANLEY PUMPHREY, OF WORCESTER, ENGLAND. Ithe course of last Autumn and Winter I spent several weeks among the tribes in the Indian Territory and Kansas, which are about thirty in number, and comprehend a fourth of the whole Indian population of the United States. They include some of the wildest and the worst like the Comanches and Cheyennes, and some of the most civilized like the Cherokees and Creeks, with every shade of barbarism and semi-civilization between. I have thus had the opportunity of seeing the Indians under a great variety of conditions, and of mingling with many of those who for long periods of years have worked for their elevation. My companion during the greater part of the trip was Enoch Hoag, who as the head of the Central Superintendency, devoted himself for seven years to.he work with earnest assiduity, and gained an intimate knowledge of the Indians, such as few possess. I have been encouraged to bring the result of my observations before you, and have consented in the hope that while I cannot claim to be as well posted as I would wish to be, my testimony may not be altogether without its value. In conversing about the Indians I have found the impression prevailing widely that their prospects are hopeless, that our labor in BY ...” I…

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Indiar Civilization. their behalf produces little if any permanent result, and that there is nothing before this unhappy race but extinction at no distant date. I do not think this view is well grounded, and I will now endeavor to tell you why I think so. THE CHEROKEES AND CREEKS. In the eastern part of the Indian Territory, which as you are aware is a section of country lying between Texas and Kansas, five tribes are located, commonly known as the civilized tribes. I do not insist on the absolute appropriateness of the term, but relatively it need not be objected to.

These are the Cherokees, numbering i8,ooo, the descendants of the once powerful tribe that occupied the Carolinas and Tennessee; the Creeks, numbering 14,000, whose former home was Georgia; the Choctaws and Chickasaws of Alabama and Mississippi, numbering 22,000; and the Seminoles of Florida, who are about 2500. Among these tribes Enoch Hoag and I began our tour of Christian interest and enquiry. We attended their annual fair at Muscogee, where many of their leading men were gathered together, all of whom were known to my companion. From them we gained much interesting and encouraging information. At the fair there was comparatively little to remind us where we were. Citizens dress was universal, and a large proportion of the people might have passed undistinguished along Eastern streets. The exhibition was creditable as far as it went, and bore evidence of successful gardening, farming and cattle raising. The Cherokees have a good system of Governmert, consisting of a Chief, and Upper and Lower Houses, and an excellent code of laws framed on the model of the United States of America. Belief in one God and in future rewards and punishments is made essential to rights of citizenship; liberty of conscience is granted; the sale of strong drink is prohibited, and the observance of the Sabbath is secured. Of the tribal revenue one half is devoted to education and the support of their orphans. They have Si common day schools with 10

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Cherokees and Creeks. attendance varying from I3 to 40. In addition to these, two high schools, one for boys and one for girls, are in operation near Talequah, adapted for‘50 each. These we visited. They are large brick buildings well situate and well arranged, and would do credit to an Eastern State. The girls school is under the care of an excellent Moravian minister supported by a good staff of teachers. In the good order of the place, in the dress of the children, in the prevailing neatness, cleanliness and decorum, there was nothing but what was entirely creditable to a Christian school. The orphan institution, also for 150, we did not visit, but it is said to be on a par with the others. A large asylum has lately been built for the blind, insane, and helpless poor. The Cherokees have two newspapers, one published at Talequah, the other at Muscogee. The latter is edited by Wm. P. Ross, formerly Chief of the Nation, an intelligent man, with whom we had much pleasant intercourse.

The former is partly printed in the Cherokee alphabet, invented by the ingenious Sequoyah. This alphabet consists of 85 letters, representing all the syllabic sounds in the language, so that when a child has mastered it he has learned to read. Every full blood Cherokee is entitled to a copy of this paper, and to all others it is sold at a dollar a year, the loss being made up from the Treasury. The Cherokee nation is now professedly Christian and a large proportion of the people attend public worship, which is directed for the most part by a native ministry. The standard of Christianity though far from being all we could desire, is probably equal to that of the surrounding States. The bible is widely diffused, and many enjoy reading it-in their own tongue. The Cherokees are an agricultural people, supported by the produce of their lands and the sale of their cattle. Many have large farms and good orchards. All wear citizens dress, all live in houses, and in the better ones their Agent reports that it is no unusual thing to see sewing machines, and even more costly articles of furniture. Thirty-five years ago Commissioners John D. Lang and Samuel Taylor visited this tribe. They say it was then divided into three 11

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Indian Civilizaiorn. classes, the civilized, the apprentices in civilization, and a third class, which was the most numerous, who had made little improvement in dress or manners. Instead of 8i schools there were I3, and instead of the whole tribe professing Christianity only 2oo00 did so. Surely we must admit there has been encouraging progress here. With the Creeks the advance has not been less marked. At the time of John D.

Lang’s visit most of them still wore the blanket, few had embraced Christianity, their old dances were still kept up, and there was but one school in the nation. Instead of this solitary school there are now 33 day schools and three boarding schools. We visited all of the latter and were exceedingly pleased with them. Less ambitious and more economically conducted than those of the Cherokees, they seemed to us better adapted for the wants of the people. The -Ta/lahassee Boarding School, started thirty years ago, has been through almost its whole history under the charge of W. S. Robertson, a Presbyterian minister, and his excellent wife. They have about ioo inmates. In addition to giving a good English education they give the girls an industrial, domestic education, sewing, cooking and general housework; and the boys a farm training. In returning from the school our driver ran into another conveyance and broke ours badly. In an hour two of the boys had patched it up strongly enough for us to get on without further trouble to our destination. “We train them,”

said the Superintendent, “to meet such emergencies as this.” With thankful satisfaction he referred to the fact that their scholars turn out well, and that most of the rising men among the Creeks had passed under his care. Pleasant Porter, whom we had heard make a spirited speech at Muscogee, who farms very succesfully 200 acres, and who has often represented his tribe at Washington, is one of these. Our interpreter, an agreeable and intelligent young man, was another. With the Muscogee Girls’

Institute, near Eufala, we were not less gratified. The Principal of this school is a Creek, J. W. Perryman, with well developed Indian features. He has undertaken this post from a sense of duty. He is a man well spoken of by all, and is an earnest and effective preacher in his own tongue. The chlil 12 I

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Ohickasaws and Ohoctawzs. dren had made good progress in their studies, some of them were doing Algebra, others gave us very correctly the cities of Italy, and the scientific class were answering questions in Hydrostatics. In a long detention at Eufala, from an accident on the line, we turned into a respectable store kept by-an Indian, at whose comfortable home we dined. On his shelves we found a Greek Lexicon, and copies of Cesar, Virgil, Horace and Xenophon, and we were told that the brother of our host was really a fair classic scholar. Our detention also gave us the opportunity of talking to H. S. Buckner, a Baptist missionary, who has worked among the Creeks most of his life. He spoke of them as a church-going people, and thought a larger proportion of them would be found attending public worship than in the neighboring States. Two white missionaries only are now employed among them, perhaps three or four natives are assisted by missionary societies, and all the rest of the preachers do their work from pure love. H. S. Buckner itinerates among them, holding from time to time protracted meetings, in connection with which he gathers the neighboring preachers together and holds in a very simple way a sort of school of the prophets. The Creeks find much comfort in their religion, and their death beds are often happy. Their standard of piety is fairly high, and they are truthful and honest. Family worship is very general among them. Like the Cherokees, they are farmers, and what we saw gave us the impression that they were farming successfully. Their fences were excellent, and the produce of their apple orchards could hardly be surpassed. THE CHICKASAWS AND CHOCTAWS. The Choctaws and Chickasaws at the time of J. D. Lang’s visit in I842, were few of them professing Christianity, and their provisions for education was extremely small. They have now 66 district schools with an attendance of i500oo scholars, and 6 boarding schools with 245 scholars. The Choctaws expend on education from their tribal funds $27,00ooo, the Chickasaws $46,oo000. The latter is pro 13

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Indian Civilization. bably the largest sum per capita subscribed by any state or nation in the world for educational purposes, amounting to an average of $8.oo per head for every man, woman and child in the community.

Many of the remarks made with regard to the condition of the Cherokees and Creeks apply to these tribes, and also to the Seminoles. All have adopted citizens dress, I believe all live in houses, all make profession of Christianity. We had the opportunity of meeting with the Choctaw Council through the kindness of their Governor, Coleman Cole, a plain but sterling man. Several of the members of the Legislature are preachers, working without pay. Our interpreter, Judge Folsom, an intelligent man, is one of these. His brother, D. E. F61som, is an enterprising farmer who has 400
acres under cultivation and owns 5000 head of cattle. He has built himself a good house and is a man of some reading, very familiar with Shakespeare, and quick to correct any misquotation from his favorite author. The leading agriculturist of the Choctaws is named Wilson Jones. He lives in a good house, and has 500 acres of pasture and 300 of arable land. A half breed Choctaw named Paul, has 2000 acres in Indian corn. The progress made by all these tribes is the more encouraging because they were almost ruined during the war. Their losses in cattle at that time being estimated at 300,000. The Christianization and civilization of the Indians thus far described is due chiefly to the labors of Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians. Comparatively little assistance is, however, at the present time, being given by any of these churches. I believe the missionaries still in the field are doing a very valuable werk and extending help that is needed, and I would express my hope that their number may be increased rather than diminished. INDIANS UNDER THE CARE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS.

I come now to speak of the work carried on under the care of the Society of Friends. The Indians under their charge are divided into eight Agencies. The Kiowas, Comanches and Apaches, all 14 11

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Indians under Care of Society of Friends. 15 under the charge of James Haworth; the Wichitas, Caddoes, &c., under Andrew Williams; the Cheyennes and Arapahoes under John D. Miles. These three Agencies are in the southwest part of the Indian Territory, and include a population of 8ooo.

The Osage and Kaw Agency is under the care of Cyrus Beede; the Pawnee, at the time of our visit, under William Burgess; and the Sac and Fox, including also Kickapoos, Shawnees, and some Pottawatomies, under Levi Woodard. These are situated to the west of the Cherokee and Creek reserves, and include a population of 7,200. The Quapaw Agency in the northeast corner of the Territory, in cludes Wyandottes, Senecas, and several smaller tribes, to the num ber of 1400, and is under charge of Hiram W, Jones. About Ioo000 Pottawatomies and Kickapoos, &c., form a separate Agency in the northwest of Kansas under Mahlon Newlin. I do not wish to overburden you with figures, but carefully pre pared statistics are often the most telling facts, and I do not know how better to show the progress that has been made than by the follow ing table, which exhibits the comparative condition of the Indians in i868 and I875. 1875. I5 13 836

1O42 I4,500 320,000 28,000 5,930 17,100 5,000 25,921 6,580 I2,268 Schools.

Sabbath Shools Scholars. Houses. Acres cultivated Corn, bushels. Wheat “

Oats “. Potatoes, bushels Hay, tons Horses owned. Cattle. Hogs.

Scholars….105 Hoss…. not reported Acres culti3,220 Crbues3I….

31,7o00 Wheat”~….633 Last year there was a further increase in the number of schools and houses and in the quantity of land under cultivation, but owing to the season being less favorable the produce was rather smaller. 1868. 1,7‘70 75o 17,924 640 1,074

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Indian Civilization. Thus it will be seen that between i868 and I875, crops and herds had both increased ten fold, while the advance in the provision for education and suitable dwellings was not less satisfactory.

It would be tedious to attempt to describe the condition of all these tribes in detail. I will select specimen instances. WICHITA AGENCY. The greatest advance appeared to me to have been gained in the Wichita and Quapaw Agencies. When Friends assumed the charge of the former in I870, scarcely anything had been done. There was no school, and the tribes, if not quite like the wild Indians of the plains, were not many degrees above them. Through patient and well directed efforts a very different state of things has been brought about. It was after travelling a day’s journey from the Kiowa Agency, and on descending into the valley of the Washita, that we came in sight of the Agency buildings. They are situated about a mile from the river, on the slope of a wooded bluff which screens them from the north. The school building stands out prominently, a two storied house with two wings, well adapted for the reception of ioo00 pupils. The Agent’s houser a neat frame building, office and other appointments, lie to the right; the Engineer’s house, the house of the Physician, and one or two others to the left. In the fertile valley below is the Agency farm; farther to the left is the saw mill, and beyond, the farms of the Indians, whose little houses are sheltered by the wood and by the cliff. The old Indian hut is fast being replaced by log houses, and of these 103 are already built. We called on Wahloope, a Caddo Chief. Five years ago this man attended the meeting of the Executive Committee of Friends, at Lawrence. He said to them, “I have come from a long way off. I came to find a good way for my people. We want you to try hard to help us into that good way. We do not want to do like some other tribes, who delight in killing and destroying; we want to learn how to build houses, raise corn, and provide for our wives and children, that they may be happy. I know my young men will be ready 16

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Wic/hita Agency. to do their part in building houses and farms, and trying to be good. Many of the wild Indians also will visit me to hear my words, and see my place. If I have a good house and farm, comfortable clothes.

and a happy family, it will have a great influence on them to turn them into the white man’s path, to peace and civilization.” He went on to ask that they might be protected from white intruders, and especially from the curse of whiskey. The promise of this speech has been faithfully kept. Not only have about half this people adopted the white man’s dress, and the white man’s style of house. but they have brought into cultivation 1,7oo acres, and are rapidly becoming self supporting. For a considerable period before the time of our visit, the issue of rations had been confined to beef and salt, and they had been grinding corn for the Indians at the Agency mill at the rate of So bushels a week. For an account of the commencement of the Wichita school I may refer to Thomas Battey’s book, “A Quaker among the Indians.” The small school of six or eight untamed children whom he describes, has now become an orderly companyof ioo. They are under the charge of two English brothers, who, with their sister, are pursuing the workwith much energy, enthusiasm and success. Their reading, spelling, and arithmetic were all good, and their writing excellent. S. A.

Galpin remarks of the Kiowa school that the penmanship is superior to white schools of corresponding grades. Still more is this the case at the Wichita school, and many specimens of drawing shown us were very creditable. They had a fair grounding in grammar, and were well posted in the main features of the geography of the United States and of Europe, they answered Scripture questions readily, and repeated the Ten Commandments and some other passages. The teachers seem to enjoy their work heartily, thay find the children tractable, and decidedly easier to manage than as many whites. In answer to my question as to what was their greatest difficulty with them, they said, that since they cured them of running away, they had no difficulty to speak of. The girls do the bulk of the housework and soon become handy. They are also taught needle work. 2

17 k

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Indian Oivilization. I wish I could give you the picture of our meeting for worship with them on the Sabbath Day. The body of the school room was filled with the children, looking clean and neat, nicely dressed, and their long black hair well combed. On the platform were the Agent and his family, the teachers and employees, the Chiefs, the interpreter and ourselves. Round the room Indians stood, sat. or squatted; many of them decked out with their ornaments, of which these tribes are especially fond. The worship was solemn, the behavior and attention all that we could wish. Wahloope addressed them, and so did Black Bear, a Delaware Chief, who also offered in his own language a very feeling prayer. I give a portion of his sermon. “Life with us all is getting shorter. I remember when the Caddoes had large towns, and the Delawares, and the Wacoes. Now we are few. And why is this? It is for our sins, my brothers, for our sins. I fear the displeasure of the Lord; but when I see our children well taught I hope again. Let none say it is too late to turn to God. Let none say it is too soon.” Those who have watched Black Beaver’s character speak of him as a true Christian man. In the evening we had a still larger meeting, some of them coming four, six and even twelve miles. One of the lads of the school lately employed the leisure hours of his vacation in reading the New Testament right through. Another who had left school and opened a store, wrote a letter which was shown me. It was well written and expressed. Though he had begun to trade, he said, he was not going to let that hinder him from serving God. He means to continue to follow and obey Him. More knowledge had been given to him than to some of his red brethren and he wished to use it to help them. He was planning a religious journey with a minister from another tribe, for whom he was going to interpret.

Among the Sac and Foxes we found another young man similarly disposed.

Through his influence many had been led to make an open profession of religion, and he had gathered a church in his house, with whom we mingled to our comfort. 18 4s

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_Ovpaw ~agency. QUAPAW AGENCY. I call speak in as encouraging terms of the Quapaw Agency as I have done of the Wichita. Here, as among the Cherokees, all live in houses and all wear citizens dress. This little community of 1,400 individuals last year had 6,700oo acres under cultivation, and raised 78,ooo bushels of corn. Many of the Senecas especially, have good farms, probably on a par with any in the Territory. We were also much pleased with the appearance of those on the Ottawa and Peoria reserves, where a colmencement had scarcely been made seven years ago, and now there are large well farmed fields and good frame houses. But perhaps no tribe has made more astonishing progress than the Modocs. The war with this tribe and the treacherous assassination of Gen. Canby, are fresh in our remembrance. We recall the long and determined resistance in the lava beds, which cost the United States a larger number of their troops than there were Indians in the tribe, and how Capt. Jack and his followers were at last wearied out rather than conquered. The terrible sufferings of those dark days the Modoc children even now can hardly be persuaded to refer to. Removed to the Territory late in I873, the remnant of the tribe have displayed in peace much of the same energy and determination they displayed in war. They show a decided disposition to work, and are raising corn and cattle. Bogus Charley, the Chief, put up a good sized house for himself, and when it was finished built a still better one for his ponies.

Steamboat Frank, another prominent member of the tribe, was repairing his chimney when we called to have an interview with such of the tribe as could be collected under his roof. They told us they felt leaving their own country in Oregon, but they tried not to think of it, and wanted to settle down here. They liked our talk, and it was their wish to live so as to please the Great Spirit. All their children are sent to school where they learn readily, are easily satisfied, and give very little trouble. At the Quapaw and Wyandotte Missions are good boarding schools, where 6o and ioo children respectively, are taught. In the 19

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1 ndian Civili,zation. one school the children read well in the Fifth Reader, and in the other they were using as a reading book, an elementary History of the United States. They defined words creditably, worked suims in reduction and decimals, and showed equal proficiency in mental arithmetic. The industrial training, so excellently given by the Creeks, is adopted here; the boys are taught to farm and the girls to do housework and sewing. In both schools much pains has been taken to impart religious instruction, and the children answered bible questions well. I was at the Quapaw Mission at ChristmLas and thoroughly enjoyed my visit. Kind friends in New York and Baltimore had thought of the Indian children, and wishing to make them happy at this festive season, sent them many presents. A fir tree was brought from the forest, the top of which touched the ceiling, and its branches spread half across the room. To these the presents were attached and the tree was lighted up with many tapers. The smaller children sat on the floor beneath its boughs, and the larger ones round the room. Several of the parents and other interested friends were present. They sang their simple hymns and listened attentively while we spoke to them. It would have done the hearts of the kind donors good to have seen how the little swarthy faces brightened as the treasures were handed down. Several of the older girls had made useful presents for each other, and their English visitor received a motto beautifully worked by eight girls, in colored silk. The words were “In God We Trust.” Religious services are kept up at six points in this Agency, three of which are under the charge of Indian preachers. We held meetings ourselves at several points. At the Ottawa sclool-house two Indians addressed the company. One of these encouraged the boys of the school who were present, by commending their good conduct. He was their near neighbor, and could say that they gave him no trouble, and that he never missed so much as an apple from his orchard. Some people, he continued, complained of their present lot. They remembered the old times when all the land was theirs, and there was abundance of game. But if the white man had taken away some things he had brought them others. 20

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Thle WVild Tribes. ‘Through him they had received the knowledge of the true God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and some of them felt they could part with every thing for the sake of this. Our friends in the Quapaw Agency have had many cheering evidences of blessing in their religious work. When Asa and Emmeline Tuttle came here seven years ago, the Ottawas were in a very degraded state and sadly intemperate, but through their faithful labors, sobriety has been restored and the church revived. They found a ready helper in Judge Wynd, chief of the tribe, a spiritually minded man, who has left agood name. An interesting illustration of the words “sorrowful yet rejoicing,” was lately furnished in this neighborhood by an Indian, who soon after his conversion was laid by with severe illness. His body was racked with pain, but his mind was at rest. “While one half of me,” he said, “is suffering very much, the other half is very glad.” The Agent told me with much satisfaction of the evidence of right principle in these Indians in the earnest desire they had shown to clear off their debts; all the more commendable, because a large sum due to them from a religious denomination, on the expected payment of which they had gone in debt themselves, was still unpaid. THE WILD TRIBES. Thus far I have spoken of tribes which have been the longest under the care of Friends, and who had to some extent been under civilizing influences before they took charge of them. We will now inquire, what has been the result of work among the-Indians of the plains, the wild warlike tribes of the Southwest; the Kiowas and Comanches, Cheyennes and Arapahoes, whose raids into Texas were the terror of the frontier settlements, and at last brought down upon them the strong arm of the military. Here, as yet few of the Indians have made any profession of the Christian faith, and scarcely to any extent have we succeeded in inducing them to forego their old style of dress and mode of dwelling. Their subsistence is also in the main still supplied by the Government, and the remainder is 21

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Indian Ci Oilization. procured by hunting. But there is an altered sentiment in the tribes. The same people who a short time ago were utterly averse to edu cation, are now desirous that all their children should be sent to school. Warriors who cared for nothing but war and the chase, have become men of peace. Those who scorned the idea of cultivating the soil, are clamoring for ploughs and spades. “We like your talk,” said Little Crow, the Comanche chief, after our conference with his tribe. “We want to live in peace, we want to grow corn, raise cattle, have our children taught, and take the white man’s road. This is the mind of us all.” “We are not going to think of war any more,” said Big Mouth, the stalwart chief of the Arapahoes, after hugging us in his strong arms. “The Sioux are foolish to think of fighting. Let them come and live peaceably in the Indian Territory. I can say of all here, they are my brothers; give us ploughs and let us get to work.” His neighbor, Big Horse, the Cheyenne chief, less energetic in his eloquence, has been more so in his example.

He approved all we said. He had been doing his best to persuade his people to take the white man’s road. He begged that the Government would keep their word with them, and let them have not only food duly delivered according to promise, but also wagons and implements of husbandry. This was the burden of every speech. Col. Misner, of the Cheyenne Fort, was admi’ring a medal that had been presented to another chief inamled Whirlwind, a man of considerable native force. “Yes,” was the reply, “its a nice medal, but I can’t understand one thing. You see,‘he said,’

pointing to the devices on it, it shows ploughs and spades and hoes, and Washington promised he would send a heap of them. They have never come, and we think our Great Father ought to keep his word.” With what implements they had they have gone to work. The 193 acres under cultivation at the Kiowa Agency in I874, became 503 in I876, and the yield of corn advanced from iooo to 5000 bushels. At the Cheyenne Agency 50
acres became 423, and the yield was 7080 bushels. So anxious were they to make a beginning, that in 22

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The Wild Tribes. default of better implements, axes and sticks have been used to stir the ground. A proposal made by J. D. Miles, that they should earn the articles they wanted, by becoming the freighters of their own supplies, was entered into very warmly by the tribes, and it is to be hoped the Government will be disposed to accede to it;* they need and desire employment. The tide now sets strongly in favor of civilization, and if we are wise we shall take it while it is full. An hour’s guidance to day may be worth all the persuasion and effort of tonorrow. But it is in the schools that the greatest hope lies, and the greatest triumphs have been won. A year and a half ago Alfred Standing commenced his work at the Kiowa School. The children came in total ignorance; none of them knew a word of English; and their teacher was equally unacquainted with their languages. The progress that has been made is surprising. They are reading in the Second and Third Readers; they spelt words of 4 letters, writing them on their slate, and getting 9, IO and i i right out of the dozen.

They worked correctly short sums in addition, and counted up to ioo in English and in their own tongues. In writing they showed greater proficiency than in anything else. The children behave well, and their teachers find them willing and obedient; they are happy and rarely have any quarrels. Great pains are taken to in struct the girls in sewing, and the boys are set to work. So anxious were the Indians to have their children taken in, that the premises have been stretched to their utmost capacity. The girls sleep in the house; the boys in a draughty lean-to put up in a very tempo rary way, and where their hammocks are arranged in two.tiers one over the other. The agent, Jas. M. Haworth, says the hardest work he ever has to do, is to turn a child away because there is no room.

At the close of the first session, when the parents came for their children, he told them how thankful he was to be able to restore * A clause in the last Appropriation Bill makes the needed provision for freighting by Indians. 23

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Inzdian Civilization. them all in good health, and that they had had no sickness to speak of the whole term. Horse-Back, a Comanche Chief.

replied, speaking very gratefully of the kind care the children had received, and also acknowledging his gratitude to a higher power. The interpreter asked him if lihe was thinking of the sun. “No,” he said, “we must look higher than that, to the Great Spirit who made the sun.” I think we may here see the evidence of the good influence of the religious meetings that have been held, and of which James Haworth writes: ” Besides our regular morning meeting which many Indians attend, it has been our custom to have one meeting, each Sabbath for religious instruction especially for the benefit of the adult Indians, in which they have manifested very great interest, both in attendance and attention and instead of fleeing with fright, or trembling with superstitious fears, as they did a year or two ago when the guidance and blessing of the Great Spirit was invoked, they bow their heads in reverence and in some cases respond with deep feeling.” Here I may introduce an extract from a letter received last month from the same earnest worker. “One of the best meetings we have had was last Sabbath in White W olf’s camp. When we drove up we found the prairie on fire and his corral burning. He and several of his people were trying to extinguish the fire and we got down and helped them. After getting it out I told him of the good meeting we had in the morning and that we had come to have one in his camp if he was willing, but I supposed after working so hard they would be tired and we had better defer it.’ No, no,’ he said,’ come now.’ They son collected the people and we had a blessed time. We spoke of the scene we had just taken part in; the heart was compared to the corral and sin to the consuming fire. The application was quickly understood. White-Wolf replied,‘he did not formerly think much about these things and never had made such a talk as he was going to make now. He had been thinking for some time and asking the Great Spirit to guide his mind aright and to give him a good heart. He wanted to travel on the road that would lead him to the happy home of the 24 I

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The Wild Tribes. Great Spirit, and not to go on the road that would lead him to the home of misery of the Great Bad Spirit. What had been said was for their good, and by following it they would be happier. Every night and morning he asked the Great Spirit to have mercy on him and his people, and to show them what he wanted them to do.’ He spoke with great earnestness and his eyes filled with tears. I walked towards him, clasped his hand in mine and called him my brother. He put his arms around me and pressed me to his breast as also did the others. This man till lately, has been one of the worst of the bad. Wte know not the depth of his convictions nor what the future may reveal, but all agreed that he acted as one deeply feeling what he did.” The Cheyenne school which numbered only 35 scholars in I874, now has 12; an extensive and well planned enlargement of the school buildings having been recently made. Industrial training is the speciality of this school. In 3d month, I875, Homer Segur began his experiment of a school farm. Eleven Arapahoe boys were persuaded to set to work and stood to it manfully through the derision of the young braves and the jeers of the squaws. They planted 50 acres, and realized a crop of 6oo00 bushels of corn, 20 bushels of potatoes, io00 wagon loads of pumpkins, and 40 loads of water melons. The lads received the whole crop in payment for their services, and the proceeds were expended half in clothing for them, and half in cattle. Last year the Cheyenne lads were quite ready to join also. They cultivated 120 acres, getting nearly 30
bushels of corn to the acre, and raising an abundant and varied supply of vegetables for the school table. The boys now owe 29 cows and calves, i8
pigs and 40 young ones, and take great interest in caring for their stock.

The girls make the bread, cook, keep the rooms in order and mend the clothes. Odd jobs are found for the little ones, such as keeping the gardens free from caterpillars and grubs. The appearance of the children, as might be expected from those kept so well employed, is thoroughly cheerful, and they enter heartily into the new games their teachers have introduced. 25

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Indian CiviiZzation. GENERAL SURVEY OF THE QUESTION. Thus far I have spoken of what I have seen. The facts I have related have been gathered on the spot. In the words of another visitor to the same field when giving a similar account: “I know what I have written is no fancy sketch. It is a joyful reality.” These things demonstrate not only that the civilization and christianization of the Indians is hopeful, but that in many instances it has become an accomplished fact. Much more might be said. Let it be remembered that a great deal of successful work has been done outside the limits of the Indian Territory. I would gladly have referred in detail to the work in Nebraska, pursued in some respects under greater difficulties than ours, and have told you of wise measures adopted there, through which Indians who 8 years ago were untamed savages have become the proprietors of comfortable homes. I could have told you how the Senecas of the Cattaraugus Reservation in New York, are now taking their place by their white neighbors; that their farms and stocks compare favorably, and their daughters are going out to teach in district schools. I could have dwelt on the successful missionary work of the Methodists in the Round Valley Reservation, California, where out of a population of iooo, the Agent is able to report that he has not heard an oath or seen a case of intoxication, for two years. Especially should I have enjoyed describing the remarkable results of the work of the Missionary Bishops, Whipple and Hare, in Minnesota, Dakota and Nebraska. INDIANS IN CANADA. Time forbids, but before leaving this branch of the subject, I must very briefly allude to the success that has attended the policy pursued in Canada. The Indians of the British Dominions are, in proportion to the population, three times as numerous as the Indians of the States are to theirs; yet while the United States have had almost constant wars, on the other side of the St.

Lawrence there 0 26 I

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Indian s in Canada. has been constant peace. Through the kindness of a former Indian Commissioner, William Welsh, of Philadelphia, access has been given me to the valuable evidence furnished by J. T. Gilkison, for I4
years Visiting Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Canada, who has had under his direct charge 3,300 of the Mohawks, Senecas and other tribes.*

The following are some of the questions put to him, together with his replies. “Have you ever known or heard of any case, during this century, where the whites had any reason to fear incursions from the Indians.” Ans.

“No such occurrence has ever taken place in Canada within that period.

Their relations have been friendly; the Indians being treated with consideration and kindness.” “Do you consider the Indians have perfect confidence in their just treatment by the Government?” Ans. “AIMost assuredl)y.” “Do they believe that whatever is coming to them will be received, without losing weight or value by passing through the Agents of Government?” Ans. “Certainly; clear statements of accounts are furnished them half yearly, so that they may know what is due.” While treated as wards, and receiving as such exceptional care and assistance, the Indians of Canada are looked upon as a part of the Nation, having rights as much entitled to respect as those of any other class. The cupidity of land speculators, and the rapacity of frontier bush-rangers, are never allowed to override their claims. Suitable reserves, once set apart are thenceforth s-acred. They cannot be sold without the voluntary consent of a majority of the male adults by special vote, and with the approval of the Government, which approval would be withheld unless a change was evidently for their benefit. The Government have never attempted to force the Indians to surrender their lands. Added to these excellent regulations, they enjoy the benefit of equal laws. They are punished for crimes and protected from injury, * See Appendix. 27 -I

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Indian Oiviiz’ation. just as others. Thus treated, we are not surprised to find that they give no more trouble than an equal number of the whites of the lower classes. Their condition steadily improves, and the population of some tribes is on the increase. The Christian religion, being commended to them by justice and kindness, they are disposed to accept it.

“Confidence begot of faith kept, and justice observed, has ever been and will ever be, we trust,” so say the people of Canada, “the bond of union between us and our red children.” I need not remind you in how different a spirit the Indians of the United States have been often met. It would be an ungracious task for me to attempt to go over the sad story of their wrongs, perhaps an unfitting one, since my own nation has too seldom been clearhanded in these matters; neither could I hope to say anything half as forcible as what has been already said by Bishop Whipple in his letter to the New York Tribune of last winter.* I trust that his indignant protest against wrong doing, and his earnest pleas for justice, mercy and truth, will not have been made in vain. SIOUX COMMISSION REPORT. In this connection I will only further quote the words with which the Sioux Commission close their Report, dated fromn Washington, the i8th of I2th month, 1876. ” It is an eternal law of the government of God that whatsoever a nation sows, that and nothing but that, shall it reap. If we sow broken faith, injustice, and wrong, we shall reap in-the future, as we have reaped in the past, a harvest of sorrow and blood. We are not simply dealing with a poor perishing race; we are dealing with God. We cannot afford to delay longer fulfilling our bounded duty to those from whom we have taken that country, the possession of which has placed us in the forefront of the nations of the earth. We make it our boast that our country is the home of the oppressed of all lands. Dare we forget that there are also those whom we have * See Appendix. 28

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‘Popular (esponsibility. made homeless, and to whom we are bound to give protection and care? “We are aware that many of our people think that the only solution of the Indian problem is in their extermination. We would remind such persons that there is only One who can exterminate. There are too many graves within our borders over which the grass has hardly grown, for us to forget that God is just. The Indian is a savage, but he is also a man. He is capable of civilization. Amid all the obstacles, the wrongs, and evils of our Indian policy, there are no missions which show richer rewards. Thousands of this poor race, who were once as degraded as the wild Sioux, are to-day civilized men, living by the cultivation of the soil, and sharing with us those blessings which give to men home, country and freedom. There is no reason why these men may not also be led out of darkness to light. If the men of past generations had reasoned as this generation reasons, none of us would rejoice in the blessings of Christian civilization. “A great crisis has arisen in Indian affairs. The wrongs of the Indians are admitted by all. Thousands of the best men in tihe land feel keenly the Nation’s shame. They look to Congress for redress. Unless immediate and appropriate legislation is made for the protection and government of the Indians, they must perish, and our country bear forever the disgrace, and suffer the retribution of its wrong-doing. Our children’s children will tell the sad story in hushed tones, and wonder how their fathers dared so to trample on justice and trifle with God.”

POPULAR RESPONSIBILITY. Years ago Bishop Whipple visited Washington to plead the cause of the poor Red Men. Secretary Stanton said to a friend of Bishop Whipple, “What does the Bishop want? If he has come here to tell us that this Government is guilty of gross crimes in its dealings with the Indians, tell him that we all know that this is true. Tell him that the U.

S. Government never redresses any wrong until the 29

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Irndia Civilization. people demand it, and that when he can reach the heart of the people, these wrongs will cease.” I want to urge upon you, my friends, to do what in you lies to reach the heart of the people, so that an imperative demand may go up to your rulers that a policy of mercy, justice and good faith shall henceforth be strictly carried out. The rights of prior possession cannot be ignored. In occupying the lands of the Indian, and thus depriving him of the only means of livelihood known to him or to his fathers, you incur an obligation to support him until you have taught him a better way of supporting himself. The costliness of this process is often complained of; I wish people would look as closely to the cost of war as they do to the cost of peace. Bear in mind that it cost $50o,ooo,ooo000 to subdue 2,500 Seminoles in Florida, and that Gen.

Sherman and his associate Commissioners reckoned that in the war with the Cheyennes, it took a million dollars to kill a man, and you will quickly come to the conclusion that it is far cheaper to feed and to civilize than it is to subdue and exterminate Indian tribes. Exaggerated ideas of the expenses of the present system are currently entertained from the fact that large sums of money held in trust for the Indians, at Washington, which are their own property, and in no sense come out of the National Exchequer, are included in the appropriation accounts. The proposal has been made to turn over the Indian service into the hands of the military.

This would be a great mistake. The arbitrary despotism of martial law is as much opposed to the spirit of civilization, as civil law is essential to it. To quote the words of the Sioux Commission when arguing against the proposal: “The War Department, as its name indicates, is unsuited for the work of civilization officers of the army are not fitted, either by inclination or training, to teach Indian children to read and write, or Indian men to sow and reap.” The testimony brought out in the report of the Board of Indian Commissioners for I875, is strong and concurrent that the presence of soldiers retards civilization and introduces vice. 30

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31 INDIAN AGENTS. The Indian Agert should combine the self-sacrificing spirit of a missionary, with practical business ability. To him belong the general direction of the agency, the choice of his subordinates, the erection and care of buildings, the supervision of farming and mechanical operations, the purchase and care of stock, the proper receipt and distribution of supplies, the management of schools, the keeping of accurate and complicated financial accounts, and the furnishing of information and advice to head-quarters.” He must be a man of firmness of hand and kindness of heart; able to win and keep the confidence of a race distinguished by keen insight into character, and to influence and control them with tact and skill. To state these requirements is to assert that the army is the wrong direction in which to look for the men that are wanted. Possibly no better plan can be devised for obtaining Agents than the one adopted by President Grant, of asking the religious denominations to suggest names, under a moral responsibility for their honesty and efficiency. We admit that sufficient care and judgment have not always been shown, and that in some denominations greater regard seems to have been paid to the interests of the individual than of the tribe he was to serve; yet we have the testimony of the Secretary of the Interior in his last report, that considering the very inadequate salaries allowed, it is matter of congratulation that even so intelligent and capable men have been secured. When the right men are found they should be kept; they should receive enough to enable them them to support and educate’their families with comfort, and should not be subject to removal with every change of administration. In dealing with Indians it is especially important that the plans pursued, and the people employed, should be as little liable to change as possible. I was witness to the suspicion with which a newly arrived officer was regarded at one of the agencies. “We don’t know where this man came from; we think he got here in the night;”

said one of the chiefs, as he made his complaint to the old Superintendent. nzdian.Zgents.

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Indilan Civilization. PERMANENCE OF LOCATION. What has been said with regard to permanence of officers is still more the case as regards permanence of location. If there is one thing that I would urge with greater emphasis than another, it is that the policy so happily pursued in Canada may be adopted, and that when a suitable reservation has been selected for a tribe, it may be kept for them inviolately. Let us hear no more complaints like those which have reached us from the Round Valley Reservation in California, where 20,000 acres of good arable land have been lately confiscated, without the smallest show of justice, and where Commissioner Bristow, of Rhode Island, says the white settlers seem bent on crowding the Indians into the Pacific. So universally has this same sort of thing been done, that they say out West, if you want a section of country occupied, you have only to make an Indian Reserve of it, and white settlers are certain to pour in. Exaggerated reports of the value of the land in the Indian Territory are already afloat, the certain precursors of more determined attempts at its invasion. The expulsion of the 2000
settlers from the Osage Reserve, was a valuable lesson, and it ought to be repeated whenever the occasion arises. Where lands are divided in severalty the Indian ought not to be allowed to sell his lands. When the citizen Pottawattomies had received their share of the tribal reserve, designing white men soon persuaded them to sell, and the consequence to the tribe was very disastrous. CIVIL LAW AND ITS ENFORCEMENT. The laws of the United States ought to be put in force in the Indian Territory and other Reservations. On this subject I heartily concurwith the sentiments of Superintendent Nicholson. We folund the Delawares in a very discouraged state from the feeling of insecurity of life and property. Bad white men invade the territory to steal horses and cattle, almost certain that their crimes will go un 32 I

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.dS5peal to the Society of Friends. punished; and we heard of several recent cases of murder and attempted murder, which have not been brought to justice. Laudable efforts for the benefit of the Indian Tribes have again and again been frustrated by the introduction of strong drink among them. Access to whiskey means extinction to the race; it should be a penal offence to sell liquor to an Indian anywhere. Provision for the education of the children should be made in a generous spirit; so also should provision for the supply of implements of husbandry; when the Indians show a disposition to work, it is the worst of short-sighted policy not to furnish them with tools. The rations that are needed and that have been promised should be sent on time. Much misery has been caused by failure of punctuality in delivering food. On the other hand, rations should not be continued any longer than the actual necessity lasts. We wrong the Indian if we fail to stimulate him to self-support. We want to make a citizen of him, not a pauper. Medicines also should be duly supplied; 400 Pawnees out of a population of 2000, died in the year of their removal from Nebraska.

The memory of lmy visit to their agency will never be effaced from my mind. Literally, “the air was full of farewells to the dying and mourning for the dead;” 14 died in one day shortly before our visit. The words of the chiefs to us reminded me of the wail of the children of Israel in the desert, “We are consumed with dying. We die, we perish, we all perish.”

And all this time, the quinine that would have counteracted the malarial poison was not to be had. The authorities at Washington do indeed need to be reminded that their negligence and delays incur misery and death to these poor people. APPEAL TO TIHE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. In conclusion, I have a fewv words to say in a special nlanner to my own brethren in religious profession, the members of the Society of Friends. We have a traditional, I may say a historical interest in the Indian. Two hundred years ago, within the bounds of the 3 ao

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Indian Civilization. City of Philadelphia, occurred a scene to which the poet and the painter, the statesman and the historian, have alike delighted to do honor. Beneath the Elm Tree of Shackamaxon, William Penn enunciated those pure and holy principles, which he had learned from the Sermon on the Mount. Having faith in the universal applicability of these principles, he tried “the holy experiment” of putting them in practice towards the white man and the red alike. “We meet,” he said, “on the broad pathway of faith and goodwill; where no advantage is to be taken on either side, but all is to be openness, brotherhood and love.” The treaty that was there signed was kept. “The only one,” as Voltaire said, “made without an oath, and the only one that was never broken.” Bancroft has done justice to our relations with the Indian tribes, and records that no drop of Quaker blood was ever shed by them. They still look to us as their friends. A Quaker is received by them with confidence because he is a Quaker. “The Quakers are your friends,” said Black Beaver of the Delawares, in i872. “Their fathers and ours bound themselves to be friends forever. Their treaty was never broken. The Indians have never taken any Quaker’s blood, and the Quakers have always been true friends to the Indians. Our Grandfather at Washington knew this, and for this reason has sent them among us. He knew that they would do right by his red grand-children.” A prominent share in the care of the Indians has been assigned to us. It is a great trust. The Chief Clerk of Indian Affairs bears testimony that we accepted it “as a great trust,” and I am thankful to know that the encomium is merited. We-cannot be too earnest in the use of right means. We cannot be too careful ill our choice of men. To quote the words of my friend Joel Bean, when writing on this subject ” Our eye must be kept single, our object pure, and our trust fixed upon the Lord.

We need Divine counsel to direct; and men that can stand like flint against temptation; men of clean hands and a pure heart, to represent a holy cause among a benighted people, and before the emissaries whom Satan sends to spoil them.” 34

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H..eal to the Society of Friends. Much of our work has been well done. No fraud, I believe, can be proved against us. No Quaker agent has returned from the field enriched with unrighteous gain. We have shown our capacity to educate these people, and to train them to self-support; but we have done little, comparatively, to Christianize them. The results of some of our longest established missions are not such as we can point to with much exultation. I think we have learned some lessons, and are beginning to adapt our means more wisely to our ends. The old maxim, “Civilize first, then try to Christianize,” must be thrown away, and we must accept the axiom that “Christianity is at once the shortest road to civilization, and the best security for its maintenance.” We fail in the most important part of all, if we fail to bring these people to our Saviour’s feet. Remember how George Fox, by example and precept, urged upon our fathers to teach the Indians that Christ died for them, and that the Holy Spirit is sent to them as well as to us. It is Christian teachers who above all are needed; men and women who will accept the elevation of these people as their mission, and give themselves to it as a life work. My whole heart went out towards a beloved brother, who had nearly fallen a martyr to his devotion; as he told me that he so loved the Indians, that he would willingly labor in their behalf till death. It is a work that calls for self-sacrifice and untiring patience. Energy sometimes flags under the difficulties, and under the discouragements the eye of hope grows dim. But the maxim of the pioneer missionary to the Indians, the venerable Elliot, still holds good: ” Prayer and pains, with faith in Jesus Christ, will accomplish everything.” One word more: A plea for sympathy for the workers. I ask you to remember their isolated situation, in those far-off wildernesses. They are separated from the comforts and blessings of civilized life. Their religious privileges are few. Beyond the narrow circle of their fellow employees, they have no companionship but that of the Indian. Privations, difficulties and discouragements abound. 35

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Indian Civilization. I have dwelt this evening on the bright results, but I could not tell you of all the toil and hardness through which those results have been achieved, nor of all the shadows that are wanted, to give the picture the completeness of truth. One of the Agents told me that nothing but the belief that they were on the line of their duty, and more usefully occupied than they could be elsewhere, would induce them to remain; and at another place they said they were so harassed through being inadequately supported, that they were almost ready to give up in despair.

You have tried, I know, to strengthen their hands, by your correspondence and your gifts, and what you have done has been most highly appreciated. I want to encourage you to go on and abound still more. This work is a work for the whole church, in which we should be found laboring with one accord. It is the cause of the oppressed; and in giving ourselves to it we shall be found colaborers with Him concerning whom it is written: ” He shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and the needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood be in His sight.” O6 i

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~rpendi7z. EVIDENCE ON THE CONDITION OF INDIANS IN CANADA. BY J. T.

GILKISON. Questions and Answers to and from 7. T. Gilkison, Visiting SuierinZendent of Indian 4fairs, County, of Brant, Ontario, Canada; having under his charge about3,0oo Six Az7ation Indians, and 200 of the Ojibewas, in aIl3,300oo. ist. How long have you been Superintendent? Fourteen years.

2nd. Over what Tribes have you charge? The Six Nation Indians, consisting of Mohawks, Oneidas, Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas, Tuscaroras, and some Dela wares. Also, a band of the Ojibewas called Mississaugas. 3rd. How many in number? In all about 3,3o00. 4th. Of how many acres does their reserve consist? 52,000 acres of excellent land, surrounded by white neighbors. 5thll. Are they increasing in numbers? The average natural increase of the Six Nations is about forty per annum; the Mississaugas about stationary. 6thl. Do they live on farms, or do they subsist by hunting? They have farms, and cultivate more or less land; a very few, occasionally, go some distance to hunt the deer, and trap for furs. 7th.

Of farms, how much land does each family hold? The Reserve is divided into the usual concessions., and lots of ioo acres, the regulation being that quantity as the maxi mum for the head of a family. 8th. On what terms do they possess their reserve? They hold title in common, from the crown.

9th. Can they sell their holdings to another of their tribe, or to any other Indians, or to a white? The rule is, not to sell or exchange without authority; Indians of other bands, and whites, are by rule and law excluded. 37

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38 ioth. Have they deeds of their farms? No, the Reserve is held in comnnon, but, the individuals are located, and under new regulations, will have loca/ion tickets, duly recorded in a book for the purpose. I ith. Can their holdings be inherited by will or otherwise? The usage has been so, an Indian will having no legal effect, but recent legislation defines the succession to lands and chattels, the widow and children, or near relatives partici pating. 12th. If the whites desire to buy the lands of the Indians, and should press the Government to admit such purchase, and remove the Indians to other lands, would the Government likely do so?

Indian Reserves cannot be sold without, in the first place, the voluntary wish of a majority of the male adults, by a special vote; and secondly, by consent of the Govern ment; while, it is certain, that even if the Indians desired to sell, the Government would not sanction it, unless the act was for their advantage and benefit. The Government have never attempted to force the Indians to surrender their lands. I4th. Do you consider the Indians improving as farmers, and as Christians? Yes, on the whole they are doing so; some of them being good farmers, and in morality and sobriety, a decided im provement. Isth. Are Indians subject to punishment for crirmes, and are they protected from injury by whites? Yes, all are dealt with alike according to the laws of the Dominion. i6th. Do you consider the Indians under your care give more trouble in the administration of the laws than an equal number of whites of the lower classes? I do not, though they are subject to the influence and temp tations of designing bad white men. ~22endix.

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PSpendi. x. I7th. In what respect does the Government treat the Indians differently from the whites? As already stated, all are alike subject to the common laws of the country, but the Indians are communities, under the special care of the Government, whose policy has always been that of a good parent, and every effort is made to promote their welfare and prosperity, in the hope they will some day become self-reliant and independent. In the meantilme, they have their reservations, no muni cipal law, but their local or domestic affairs are regulated by an Indian Council, frequently presided over by the local or visiting superintendent, minutes of proceedings taken, which are sent to the Indian Department.

i8th. Have you ever known, or heard of any case during this cen tury, where the whites had any reason to fear incursions from Indians? No such occurrence has ever taken place in Canada within that period, because their relations have been friendly, the Indians being treated with consideration and kindness. i9th. Do you consider the Indians have perfect confidence in their just treatment by the Government? Most assuredly.

20th. Do they believe that whatever is coming to them, will be received, without losing weight, or value, by passing through the agents of Government! Certainly; for it is the desire and practice of the Government, to give the Indian bands full information as tt) their affairs and moneys, even to furnishing them with copies of their accounts current, half yearly, while they also see the annual Indian Blue Book, published by authority of Parliament. The Agents, or Visiting Superintendents, take a personal interest in affording all information, assistance and advice in their power. 2Ist. From your observation, what has been. the influence of re ligion, as presented through the Church of England, among the Indians?

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40 Quite as favorable as with a similar body of whites, consider ing the serious defect in the want of parental authority; children being allowed to have too much their own way, very natural in the Indian race. Through the benevolent efforts of the New England Company of London, England, the education and spiritual welfare of the Six Nations and other Indian Bands have been greatly promoted; hundreds of children have been, and are being taughlt, the ordinary branches of education, in a number of schools, and in a well conducted ” Institute,” where, in addition, boys and girls are instructed in farming, and house or domestic work, productive of gratifying results. The Six Nations, with the Mississauga Band, are probably the largest body of Indians in any one settlement in Canada, and are a law abiding people; and with their Councils, Agricultural Society, Ploughing Matches, Temperance Societies, Schools, Churchles, Bands of Music, &c., have thus all the elements of civilization and progress. It should be stated, that about 800oo of the Cayugas, Onondagas, Senecas and Oneidas, are Pagans, and worship the Great Spirit, wiith the forms and ceremonies of their fathers, but they are a well behaved people, emulate, and live in harmony with their Christian brethren. For further information and details, reference may be made to the reports in the Government Blue Book for I876; to a narrative of the visit of the Governor General to the Six Nations in I874; to printed report of an Indian Council with the Superintendent General of Indian Affairs; and to printed report of a ploughing match. The Agricultural shows of the Six Nations, held each year, rival those of their white neighbors. J. T. GILKISON, Tisitiny Superintendent and Coninissionzer, Indian Affaii-s. INDIAN

OFFICE-Bral/ff)rd, Ontario, Canada. DEC. Ist, I876. 40

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-Apendix. PEACE WITH THE SIOUX. LETTER FROM BISHOP WHIPPILE. OCRIGIN AND

HISTORY OF THE WAR-INJUSTICE OF THE GOVERN MENT-TREATIES BROKEN-CONFIDENCE

DESTROYED-A PER PETUAL PEACE ADVOCATED. To the Editor of the Tribune: SIR: -The Sioux Indians had the solemn pledge of the United States that they should be protected in the absolute and peaceable possession of the country which was set apart for them by the treaty of i868. That treaty was made by some of the highest officers of the army, men of national fame and untarnished honor. It could not have been made had not they pledged a soldier’s honor that the faith would be kept. The Constitution of the United States makes these treaties the highest of all authority, and declares that they are binding upon every citizen. The ordinance of I 787, which is equally binding, declares that the Indian tribes shall be protected in person, property, and life, and that their property shall never be taken from them except in war which has been duly authorized by Congress. I know of no instance in history where a great nation has so shamelessly violated its solemn oath. We first sent an armv into the country which we had pledged no white man should enter to seek for gold.

They found gold. The discovery was heralded by the press. A greedy host of adventurers flocked to the “Eldorado.” The press, the people, and the rulers seemed to have forgotten that these red men held the title to these lands by the guarantee of a nation’s honor, as well as by the undisputed possession of centuries. It was the old story of Ahab coveting Naboth’s viney-ard. Ahab excused his conscience by calling Naboth a churlish fellow, and he crowned the infamy of robbing by murder. These are hard words. When did Congress authorize war against the Sioux? When did the Executive give orders to carry desolation and death to the women and children of the Dakotas? 41

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dppendix. The history of this war is this: In November, I875, Inspector E.

C. Watkins wrote to the Indian Office, that Sitting Bull and the Indians with him in the Powder River country, were guilty of depredations upon the settlers in Montana. He said that they were few in number, and recommended that they should be punished. Every motive of humanity and justice demanded that we should be careful to protect the innocent and only punish the guilty. That Fall there was an inadequate supply of provisions at the agencies, and the Indians went out to their unceded territory to hunt.

They went as they were accustomed to do-with the consent of their agents and as provided by the treaty. An order was issued December 6, 1875, by E.

P. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, that unless the Indians returned to the agencies before February I, i876, they would all be regarded as hostile. That officer is dead, but he told his friends the order was a sad mistake, and that he had been deceived by others. The Indians had gone away from the agencies to secure food and skins for clothing. The United States had set apart this very country as a hunting ground for them for ever. Eight months after this order to return or to be treated as hostile, Congress appropriated money for the seventh of 30 instalments for these roaming Indians. It was impossible for the Indians to obey the order. No one of the runners sent out to inform the Indians was able to return himself by the time appointed, yet Indian women and children were expected to traverse a treeless desert without fuel or proper clothing under the penalty of death. Gen. Sheridan says in his report that the troops found the weather so severe as late as March, that they were frost-bitten and had to teturn to their posts. If well-clad soldiers, with tents and supply trains, could not remain out in March, we can judge of the feasibility of Indian families traversing that vast desert in the depth of winter.

BEGINNING OF THE WAR. When this order reached Cheyenne Agency, Agent Bingham wrote back, “It has surprised me and my Indians that the Govern 42

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43 inent thinks that war is possible. I have never seen these Indians more friendlydisposed.” Even the Indians who were in the Powder River Country and were directed to return to the agencies, received the message without any signs of irritation. They did not dream of war. They said, “We cannot come now; we are hunting; we will return early in the Spring.” This order furnished the pretext for war. Early in February troopswere concentrated, and by March the war was inaugurated. On March I7th, an Indian village was attacked. An Indian village means a collection of tents occupied l)y-men, women, and children. We cry out with indignation when savages follow the rule of savage warfare and attack one of our villages, and murder women and children. Is the act any more humane when civilization attacks Indian settlements and kills Indian women and babes? Is the crashing shell or the merciless minieIball less cruel when it tears the flesh of the Indian’s wife and child than when the tomahawk and rifle kills the white mother and babe? The Indians say that that village was composed of people who were coming back to the agencies in obedience to the order of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The war, thus begun, forced all the Indians in the Powder River country into a hostile attitude. Then came the massacre of the lamented Gen. Custer and his gallant army. Even this disaster did not make us think about justice. A cry arose for extermination. The year’s war has accomplished the usual results-we have killed a few scores of Indians, including men, women, and children. We have hardly had an engagement which was not an attack upon an Indian village. We have boasted of our glorious victories when we have burned and destroyed the food, the clothing, and the shelter of these Indians, and turned them out amid the horrors of a Dakota winter to die. We do not torture the wounded and the dying, but we employ the merciless savage to do it for us. The Pawnees and the Crows, the savage enemies of the Sioux, are incorporated into our army. They are paid, and fed, and clothed by us, and we are responsible for their deeds.

Recently a telegram announced that a number of Sioux chiefs came to our camp with a flag of truce to sue Mppensdix.

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..ppendix. for peace. All were brutally murdered by our Crow scouts. Would we not hold another nation responsible for the acts committed by the allies whom they had employed? It will be said it was a mistake; that the officers of the army felt a righteous indignation at the act. I believe it. There are in our army some of the noblest men that ever lived. I pay, and always will pay, all honor to such men. They hate this wretched Indian warfare. They feel ashamed and humbled when they are sent to carry on war which they know is the result of violated treaties. The people and the Government commit injustice which would be regarded as a just cause of war by any civilized nation. The war, which is unjust in its inception, must always be a war of blunders and wrong. We do not attempt to redress the wrong. Take one instance. The whole nation knew of the Sand Creek massacre by Colonel Chivington in I864. They knew that this massacre has no parallel in modern times. Women were ripped open and unborn infants taken from their wombs. Babes were butchered in their mother’s arms. Scenes took place which Gen. Sherman says would have disgraced any tribe in Africa.

These brutal acts were done by volunteer enlisted troops, under the nation’s flag; the soldiers wore its uniform. Was any reparation made? Was any Indian widow or orphan pensioned? Was any property paid for? The war which grew out of that massacre was carried on tuntil Black Kettle and his band were killed. Gen. Harney said of this chief: “I have worn the uniform of my country fifty-five years, and I know that Black Kettle was as good a friend of the United States as I am.” Col. Boone had known Black Ketle for years. He said, with tears, “He was a good man; he was my friend; he was murdered.” Unjust war always tends to acts of cruelty. We have this Fall committed fearful wrongs against the Sioux Indians who have remained peaceably at their agencies. In July there was a rumor that the ponies of the friendly Indians would be taken from them. The agent at Cheyenne appealed to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to know if the rumor was true. The Commissioner went to the -4 44 .at

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President. The President told him to write and assure the Indians of protection. He asked the Commissioner to see Gen. Sherman and tell him the President’s decision. They agreed upon a dispatch. The pledge that they should be protected in their property was made in the most solemn manner by the agent, for he had the highest of all authority, the President of the United States. This pledge was repeated by the officers of the army.

When the Sioux Commission was sent to make a treaty for the Black Hills, Judge Gaylord, the Assistant Attorney General, went with them as their legal adviser. Before he left Washington he called upon the President to learn his views. The President told him to assure all friendly Indians that they would be protected in their persons and property. The Commission made the same pledge. In violation of these pledges, 2,000 ponies were taken from Cheyenne and Standing Rock Agencies. They shared the fate of all property taken without color of law. No inventory was kept of individual property. Of I,I00 ponies taken at Standing Rock, only 874 left Bismarck for St. Paul. No provision was made to feed them on the way. The grass had burned on the prairie and there were several inches of snow on the ground. The small streams were frozen, and no water was to be had until they reached the James River. There was no grass, and no hay could be purchased until they reached the Cheyenne River, more than ten days’

travel, and then nothing until they reached Fort Abercrombie. No wonder that there were only 1,200 ponies out of 2,000 that left Abercrombie, and that of these only about 500 reached St. Paul. The wretched, dying brutes were made the subject of jest as the war horses of the Dakotas. Many died on the way, many were stolen, and the remnant were sold in St. Paul. It was worse thah the ordinarv seizure of property without color of law. It was not merely robbery of our friendsin violation of the plighted word of the President, in violation of the organic law of the nation, in violation of justice-it was cruel. The Indians are compelled to camp from 10 to 40
miles away from the agency to find fuel. They have to cross this distance in the 45 .Apend’x.

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4.pendix. coldest weather to obtain their rations, and without ponies they must cross on foot, and some of them may perish. A LASTING PEACE POSSIBLE.

So the war goes on and a just God looks down from Heaven andt sees it all, and will reward us according to our work. There is an old-fashioned book which some of us believe, and it tells us that nations reap what they sow; just that, nothing but that. We talk about mistakes-mistakes in politics, mistakes in business-but the real mistake is in forgetting God. Business is at a stand-still in the East, the West is desolated by the locusts, whom an old prophet calls the Lord’s great army. Is it not time to hear His voice, “What is it, O man, the Lord doth require of thee; to deal justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God?” Why may we not make an honorable and a lasting peace with these poor outlawed Sioux? It can be done. It only needs justice, government, protection of the innocent and punishment of the guilty; a policy worthy of a great Christian people.

There are men who can settle this whole question justly. We are not dealing with a few poor savages. We are dealing with God. These poor red men are men for whom Christ died. Our religion is a sham and a snare if it does not embrace in its love the heathen at our doors. Years ago I visited Washington to plead for the poor red men. Secretary Stanton said to a friend of mine:’ What does the Bishop want? If he has come here to tell us that this government is guilty of gross crimes in its dealings with the Indians, tell hifn that we all know that this is true. Tell him that the United States Government never redresses any wrong until the people demand it, and( when he can reach the heart of the people these wrongs will end.”

The whole country knows that these Sioux Indians cannot become civilized where they are. They cannot subsist there by the chase. We can build vast almshouses and gather around them a mass of savages, under every bad influence, certain that the irritations of our Indian system, the failure to make appropriations, or some 46 ..0

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Appendix. blundering crime, will in time bring us oft recurring Indian wars. We can perpetuate our present policy of raising and training wild Indians. We can raise savages to murder our people, and spend millions of treasure in repeating our stupid policy. Is there no better way? In the SouthWest there is as beautiful a country as the sun ever shone upon. It has been solemnly set apart as the fiuture home of the Indians. There is more reason to keep it for them, because the solemn compact which for ever dedicated that territory to the Indians was made to atone for one of the darkest crimes against the Cherokees and others. One half of that territory is absolutely at our disposal. Any Indian tribes can be located upon it at the good pleasure of the Government. Indians may be settled on other unoccupied portions of the territory with the consent of the owners, and by a just payment of its value. A small fragment of the Sioux wish to go there. They can be made the pioneers for others, and the whole Sioux nation ultimately find a home there, as fast as they are prepared to live by the cultivation of the soil. If the Sioux remain on the Missouri permanently there is but one way in which they can become a self-supporting people. It is to make them herdsmen. It is a life peculiarly fitted for a nomadic people. It could only become a success under a careful and well devised system. A considerable appropriation must be made to buy American cattle. A wise plan of distribution be adopted to give them to the most reliable. They must be protected by the strong arm of the law from lawless Indians and whites. It will require greater care, because the vast emigration to the Black Hills will lead hundreds of whites to engage in the same avocation, and there will be great danger of conflict. There are Sioux who will never willingly leave Dakota, and these should be allowed to remain, and must be made stock raisers. There are those who wish to become farmers. and these must be given a country where agriculture is possible. It is said that if a few hundred friendly Sioux are sent to the Indian Territory it will endanger the safety of the white settlers in the 47

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ppendix. neighboring States. The Sioux Indian has no superior among the wild red men of America. He can be influenced by kindness. No wild man has greater respect for law. After the awful massacre of Minnesota, which stands without parallel in American history, and which was the result of our robbery, fourteen hundred of the worst of these Sioux fled to Canada.

They were given a reservation. They have been loyal to the Canadian Government and law abiding. The Secretary of the Interior for the Dominion says, that when it was thought best to have a portion of them removed to a new reserve some of “their white neighbors objected because they had been found so useful.” In i864, Gen. Sibley selected 150 of these Sioux as scouts and placed them in camps along our Western border. They had orders to kill any Indians who entered the State to murder the whites. Only one body of Indians evaded their watchfulness-of these three were captured by whites and hanged at Mankato, two were killed by scouts, one escaped, and one was taken prisoner and brought to a camp of scouts. This prisoner found his own uncle in command of the camp. He said, “My uncle I am glad to see you; you will save my life.” His uncle replied, “No, my nephew, I am a soldier and my orders are to kill any man who comes to make war on whites. You have done this and you must die.” He raised his gun and killed him on the spot. THE SIOUX FAITHFUL. The officers of the army know that there never have been any more faithful men than the Sioux scouts. Gen.

Stanley and Gen. Sully repeatedly bore testimony to their fidelity. Gen.

Terry issued a general order in i874, which was to be read on parade at every post, thanking the Sioux scouts for their fidelity and courage in danger. The lamented Gen. Custer wrote a letter to the Rev. S. D. Hinman after his expedition to the Black Hills, in which he says of the Sioux scouts from the Santee Agency, that he doubts if there is any village in the country which has so many young men of like . I… 48

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49 exemplary character, and he speaks of how his heart was touched by hearing these Indians singing in their worship “Rock of Ages,” and “Old Hundred.” If some of the Sioux hate us, it was our lying, our robbery, our cruelty, which have made them our foes. For more than 35 years the officers of the NorthWest Fur Company bear testimony that they were wont to boast that their hands had not been stained by the blood of white men.

You may begin back to the massacre of Lieut. Grattan in I853, and there are few outbreaks which have not been the result of our own blunders or crimes. Even those which cannot be traced to some direct act of cruelty or robbery (as was the Minnesota massacre, when we took from these Indians the avails of 8oo0,000ooo acres of land, and then withheld their annuities for two months after they were due, and at the eleventh hour took other trust funds to supply one-half of the annuity which had been wrongfully taken,) are the outcome of a policy which leaves Indians without government, without personal rights of property, without protection, and subject to every influence which can change heathen men to savages. I have asked scores of brave officers, who have grown gray in the service, if they knew of a single instance where Indians have been the first to break the treaty, and they have always answered, No. If amid the irritation of the present war some officers speak with bitterness and hatred of the Indian foes, “we must appeal from Philip drunk to Philip sober.” After a year of searching investigation as to the causes of the then existing Indiar war, Gen. Sherman, Gen. Harney, Gen. Terry, and Gen. Augur wrote: “That the Indian goes to war is not astonishing; he is often compelled to do so; wrongs are borne by him in silence which never fail to drive civilized men to deeds of violence. Among civilized men war usually springs from a sense of injustice. The best possible way to avoid war then, is to do no act of injustice. When we learn that the same rule holds good with the Indians, the principal difficulty is removed. But it is said that our wars with them have been almost constant. Have we been uniformly unjust? We answer unhesitatingly, Yes.” These words were written before the last 4 ~ppendix. l i

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50 great robbery of the Black Hills, and before the seizure of their property in violation of the plighted faith of the President of the United States. The Sioux who believed in and trusted the late Commission, have made an agreement to cede to us the Black Hills, and unless that agreement is honestly and fairly carried out these Indians will lose all faith in white men. It will be to them another confirmation that the name of “white men” is a synonym for “liar.” There is more reason to take every means to secure again the confidence of these Indians, which has been so outraged by the seizure of their property in violation of law and the solemn pledges which were made by the authority of the President. The Government owes to its own reputation that it should honestly pay these Indians the full value of their ponies. It will be money wisely expended, even as a precautionary measure to prevent the continuance of this war. Unless some decided steps are taken, we shall have a war upon us which will cost millions of treasure and thousands of lives. Neither President Grant nor General Sherman is responsible for the seizure of the ponies of the friendly Sioux. It was done without their knowledge. It shows the objection to placing friendly Indians in the charge of subordinate officers of the army. The lives of some of these ponies were sacrificed to army routine. An officer was asked why he did not feed them. He answered: “I had no orders to feed them, and if I had fed them, I must have paid for it out of my own pocket.” This Spring will see a mighty exodus of our people to the mines of the Black Hills. Every route which leads there will swarm with its thousands and tens of thousands, and unless the war is ended and peace made, this nation will hear such a wail of sorrow as never entered our ears from Indian massacre. We have tried robbery and know its fruits; let us try justice and mercy, and reap their blessed fruits. I would not prophesy evil. God knows our cup of iniquity is full enough without prophesying more. I do fear that the clamor to prevent a few hundred Sioux from going to the Indian Territory, of whom the Santees are civilized Christian men, and others are our .P.Penc4,ix. …. I-i f 1, T

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-ppendix. friends, is simply that white men have fixed their greedy eye upon that Indian paradise, and will never give up their plans until it too, shall be wrested from its lawful possessors. Have we learned nothing from the past? There was a day when the people of Georgia passed a law forbidding any one to teach an Indian. A missionary -brave, noble Worcester-was put in jail as a felon because he feared God rather then men, and continued to tell the heathen of the love of Jesus Christ. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, and the Chief Justices, Marshall and Story, declared the law of Georgia was unconstitutional. The President refused to execute the mandate of the Court and iniquity triumphed. But in the sure retribution of God, He ordered that from the top of Missionary Ridge, the home of this martyrized servant of God, there should descend an avenging army to lay waste that goodly land and humble it in the dust. Has there ever been a wrong which will not be avenged? Not one; and there never will be until the cry of the poor ceases to enter the ear of the Lord God of Sabaoth. It is because I honestly believe that these Indian wars are unjust and unnecessary that I do plead for a wiser and a better/policy. A crisis has come. We shall settle the Indian question wisely and justly so as to bear the scrutiny of God, or we shall reach out our hand, for self-inflicted curses upon ourselves and children. I should do wrong to my own heart if I did not say that despite all the wrongs of an Indian system which leaves Indians without a vestige of government, without personal rights, without power to protect the innocent or to punish the guilty, without power to prevent theviolation of treaties, President Grant deserves the thanks of the friends of the Indians for having tried to secure justice in the administration of Indian affairs. His efforts have enabled Christian men to do much to civilize and christianize the Indian tribes. Hundreds of Indians have been saved, and men who eight years ago were as wild and savage as the Sioux, are to day rejoicing in the blessings of a Christian civilization. Pardon my long letter. If I have written strongly it is because 51

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Sppendix. I do feel deeply. I do not war with individuals, nor do I blame the army. The power of the system, which is a web of blunders, is stronger than men, and the hate engendered in all savage war is more powerful than pleas for mercy. Our rightful king is the “Prince of Peace,” and His words are, “Do good to them that hate you.” The officers who made the treaty of i868 said “that when we learn that this law is as universal as humanity, it is worth more than whole volumes of theories about Indian character.”

The outlook is dark, but behind all the clouds is One who loveth those who do righteousness and will bless them who make peace. H. B. WHIPPLE, Bishop of Minnesota. Faribault, Minn., January 3o0th, I877. I<- il 52

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