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Show REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIAN SCHOOLS. 329 to stimnlate membershh) in this desirable movement bv erantine a slieht a111ulai1~ ~r rcnosfe s s ~ a ;t.o~ m emb~rsw ho at the clo<e';f the k n r sntistidrtorv examinations; but I liesitam to mnke tllig r~-conin~endatio~~ for fear ofmaking membership more or less perfunctory, and thereby depriving it of its chief value both to the members and to the school service. I have little doubt that even material reward in some shape will come sooner or later to workers whose earnestness prompts them to similar eEorts for self-improvement; but so fxr as the school service is concerned this reward should come not because of membershin in the reading circlc but becthuse of whatever increased efficiency tiiese members inav bring to their work, and the annual examination could scarcely deciae sucii a question. Since the promotion of Superintendent Peairs to a supervisorship, the direction of the reading-circle work li%s been undertaken by Supt. John Ii'lion, of Chamberlain, ,S. Dak. The books selected for the currei~ty ear are: First Priuc~pleso f Agriculture, Mills and Shaw; Principles of Education, Reinhart; School Hygiene, Groff; Froebel's Education of Man, Appleton & Go.; McMurry's General Method, McMurry; How to Conduct Recitations, McMurry. The thonghtful perusal of thesc will redound not only to the great enjoyment and gain in eficiency axid resources on the part of members, but will indirectly confer great benefits upon the children in their charge. STUDY OF INDIAN LIFE. In accordance with sneeestions made at summer institutes. n number of teachers have co-omld;.~ced to tnko an interest in tllc $thdy ol' tlla Indi:~llsu pon theirreservntions, i l ~ q ~ i ~ i n thie~11i g1s eIv11w8i th file howe enriron~nrnro f the c l ~ i l ~ l rties ~w~el.l ad wit11 tllr l~abitsc. ustomd, idealx, s ~ i~l l nd m easure cveu a i th the 1:111guagocr ' tilt. 111din11a.H 61irtiei:rl etiec:ts ot' this can not tail to beco~~plero niintwt in due time. It will 1,lare t l ~ cte acl~ersin to dyml,:~tl~rtir(e!l iltion wit11 thv parelltx; it \rill hri~igto the111 thct eonviction tliut ill many retiprtts 1111.l o\ver civilirarion ot' the Iudinn is nlerrly a dilYcl.ent eirili;?:~tiout;l lnt or1 t l ~ c basi* oi l~iso\vna ta11dar1o1f u~oralirytb e 11ldis11i1s no1 less 1110ri1tll ia11 his white brother; that he strives and loves with the same earnestness and devotion to duty; that similar hope and reverence fill his heart in prayer; that the central problem of Indian education is not so much the development in him of new and better qualities of heart and mind as it is to afford hi111 new light concerr~ing the realities of life and to place these qtiihlities in the service of new aud broader purposes. It will enable the teachers to connect intelligently and fruitfully with the previous experience of the children the new knowledge and skill which it is their business to impart to thern-to teach Ind~any outh the love and serrice of new ideals without filling their hearts with sclf-debasing eontu~lielyf or loved ones who still linger with the ideals they may have left behind. It will no longer be necessary for them LLtkoi ll tlie Indian in order to save the man," but they will learn t l ~ ea rt of directing, through processes of natural, healthy growth and clevelop-ment a ~ i dw ithout loss of vitality, whatever is manly and womanly iu the Ii~dian into new channels of aspiration. The more the teacher of Indian youth can render himself familiar with whatever there may be in Indian character and Indian life that is high and noble and good, the more successful will he be in fostering these seeds of high charac-ter in the children iutrnsted to his care, in leading them to vigorous germination and development into the light of the new civilization. |