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Show REPORT OF THE 00MXXSSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 45 interested in the Indian schools. A most inst.rnctive and profitable session was held. The meeting of the Department of Indian ~duc i t ionat Minneapolis was the largest in the history of the Indian institutes. The keynote of the convention was "HOW to make the Indian self-supporting as soon as possible," and the papers and discussions showed research and thought. The topics discussed were furnished by the various super-intendents in the field and bore directly upon their work. Great stress was laid upon industrial training and agriculture, the thought being to prepare the Indian for life. Besider.the papers and discussions by the Indian workers, the con-vention had the pleasure of listening to lectures and addresses by noted educators of this country and England, among them being Hon. W. T. Harris, United States Commissioner of Education; Dr. Nicholw Murray Butler, president of Columbia University; Most Rev. John Ireland, archbishop of St. Paul; and Dr. Michael Sadler, director of inquiries and reports, education office, Londo :, England. The benefit resulting to the school service through the opportunity thus afforded the teachers of hearing these prominent educators who addressed their meetings and also those who spoke at the general ses-sions of the National Educational Association is invaluable. As many of the employees in the Indian service are isolated from civilization thegreater part of the year and are unable, therefore, to reinforce their minds with the ideas of other people, the value of these annual conferences can not beoverestimated. The boys' band and girls' mandolin club of the Chamberlain Indian school, South Dakota, furnished music for the department, both atthe general sessions and at the exhibit parlors in the West Hotel. They also played in public, and their rendition of selections was heartily applauded on all occasions. The exhibit displayed at the West Hotel was declared the finest col-lection of Indian work ever shown, and attested, as nothing else could, the practical results that are being accomplished by the Government in preparing the Indian for citizenship. The display consisted of class room papers, fancy work, and native work, and wood, iron, and leather articles, andwas an object lesson to thoseunacquaintedwith the progress made by the Indians during the past few years. A full account of these various meetings will be found in the report of the superintendent of Indian schools at page 388 of this report. The Pacific Coast Institute was one of the most successful local or district institutes ever held in the Indian Service, the attendance of teachers from the western and northwestern and southwestern schools being large and representative. A gratifying interest in the institute was shown by the public-school educators of Oregon, as was evi-denced by the presence and addresses of men prominent in the State's |
