OCR Text |
Show REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIAN SCHOOLS. 345 he.ing $hindrance in the acquisition of another, rather facilitates it. The sympathy and respect which a teacher shows for the idiom of the child will be rewarded in a llundredfold by the sympathy, respect, and affection with which the child will mnlv himself to the acauisition of ~~ ~~ .A " the te.acher's idiom. There is no doubt in my mind that the unreasonable offensive war-fare made ill the Indian schools against the Indian vernacular is largely to blame for the apparent stubbornness with which older Indiarls refuse to learn English or to use the little knowledge thereof which they may . possess. If it is argued that with liberty to use the Indian vernacular the 111dia.11c llildren will engage in conversation, possibly improper, which the teacher can neither understand nor control, the fault lies not with the child's knowledge and use of his own idiom, but with the teacher's iguorance of thc same, and the remedy will be found not in tllerenressivemeasures. which must, because of their unreasonableness, fhil ot: tl~ttirI > ; l ~ l )1~1I~;tr i l,l I I I C ~ ~ ~ P I . I I Ic:n~'oIrt~ oInI rile teaeher'~p art tu a e q l ~ i r nli no\vle~lyeo f 1111.c hild's irliim. ProL;~l,lvt l ~ c r ~ ~ ~ l i t ilo~noa.~l t i l z ;~r t i t~ve~rt~oline ~s~, f.h ooltso thc Iudinn veruacula; is responsible for the fact that in a number of instances teachers aud other school employees continue at the same school mork-ing with the strme tribe of Indians mithout acquiring any appreciable knowledgeof the language spoken at the homes of their children. This ignorance frequehtly extends to t.he customs, habits of life, and the historical development of the tribe in question. They seem to treat the Indians as outcasts, and the outcome of their work corresponds with this attitude. Every consideration of pedagogic principles and professional dignity should impel teachers to take a directly opposite course. They should acquaint themselveswith the peculiarities of per-sonal and tribal life among the Indians with whom they have to do. They shouldfamiliarize themselveswith what is good and best in them,. and, building upon t,l~isk nowledge, they should, through processes of evolution-not revolution-lead the Inciian youth and, tl~rough them, the older Irldiaus to respect and love what is good and best in the American civilization, to which the red children of plain and forest are to be led. THE EVENING HOUR. I am pleased to note that at the reservation schools what is sometimes called the "study hour'' is becoming more and more an "evening hour," in which the plei~snreno f home and other social features take the place of (lull and spiritless "study." Groups of children listen to interesting stories, engage in social songs aud innocent evening games, discuss points of the next day's work mith their teachers, or the entire school assembles toeujoy somesaitablemusica1 and intellectual entertainment. Iutoafem schools the ~nagiclanterlhl as foundits way withitsexhanst-less fuud of instruction and diversion. The lantern, %re particularly in the reservatiol~sc hools, affords invaluableopportunit~efso r acquaint-ing the children with distant localities, with marvels of animal and plant life, with the creations of industries and arts,,and with the amenities of civilized life in a manner which can not fall to arouse in them tlm ~ ~ ~~ ~~ desire ro~seeka broad& edueatio~la ud, ~ ~ l ~ ~ r ~ ~h~ap~pieerr a~udr l $ , i ~ ~ i c l ~leifre away from the renet.vntiou. As a11 iml~ortantf arrctr i n e~lu. catiou, it s l ~ o ~n~oltd b e wanting ill any school wl~osem enus prrlait its ~)urcl~nsoS. lunold Congress fail to an11l)ly~ uf f i c i r~fn~ntl e fi)r thi.s pnr-purie, l)l~il:~nthropfirei ends of 1ntlia11i ,d~lr:~rioeno ald r o ~ ~ fnior x relirer boon upon a rati6rmtiuu school than o well-equipped lantern. |