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Show 138 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OP INDIAN AXFAIRS. nate. A large number have appreciated the opportunities you have opened up for hdmg work for the Indians, and are putting to prac-k a l use the industrial training received in the government schools. INSTITUTES. The latter part of June the general Indian school service institute was held at Cleveland, Ohio, coincident with the annual convention of the National Educational Association. In addition to the reading of papeSs by persons prolninently con-nected with educational work, a special feature of the mstitute was a partial reproduction of the commencement exercises at the Car-lisle School, with a view to showing the Indian workers how the office desires these exercises conducted. Elizabeth Penny, of the class of 1908, delivered an oration entitled "My People," in which she re-cited the history and explained the customs of her tribe (Nez Per&). Her talk was illustrated by six Indians in costume> who sang native songs and performed various ceremonies of the tribe. The exercise formed a striking contrast between the old camp life and that of a government school graduate, and proved so interesting and instruc- .tive that it was repeated at a subsequent session, by request of the audience. Demonstration lessons were presented with classes of Indian .chil-dren from the Mount Pleasant Indian School in Michigan. Super-intendent Thomas J. Jackson of the Nett Lake School in Minnesota, with the aid of a small store on the platform, conducted by the pupils, demonstrated how he teaches arithmetic. and business methods in the class room by having pupils make purchases and sales of articles in daily use. The pupils alternate in managing the store and making the roper entries in the books. AliceM. Kingcade, principal teacher at k't e Mount Pleasant Indian School, gav! a demonstration lesson on the " Sugar beet," an important industry in that State, giving pra& tical information concerning its culture. She illustrated how lessons on such subjects may be made the basis of work in language, spell-ing, writing, arithmetic, etc., thus correlating the literary and in-dustrial branches and adapting, the instruction to local conditions. Mrs. Angel De Cora Deitz, instructor in native art at the Carlisle School in Pennsylvania, with the aid of pupils, gave practical ddem-onstrations in rug weaving. Native looms were set up, and while the children were engaged in weaving, she explained how original Indian designs may be applied to the manufacture of rugs of Persian weave, and $ow this aboriginal art may be revived and perpetuated through instruction in the school. A large part of the Indian exhibit from the Jamestown Exposition supplemented with s ecimens of class room and industrial work o$ various Indian schoo? s,' was exhibited at Cleveland. There were also exhibited many specimens of the native industries of the Indian, con-sisting of blankets, rugs, baskets, pottery, beaded belts, purses, and moccasins, with drawn work, lace work, etc. The exhibit attracted marked attention. A local institute was conducted on the Standing Rock Reservation, N. Dak., and a number of district meetings on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations, S. Dak. |
