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Show 10 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. of the Indian boy is appreciated, its practical value will be fully recog-nized. Farming, stock raising, dairying, and kindred pursuits find their places in these schools whenever the environment is favorable to such pursuits. Some of the schools have well equipped normal depart-ments, which have developed and sent Into the service a number of bright boys and girls who are now engaged in teaching their own race with considerable success. The practical education of the girls is not neglected, and they are prepared for the realities of life. Oooking, sewmg, repairing, and other domestic arts and econoulios are incul-cated, whi!e great stress is placed upon the preparation for home life. Teach Indian girls to be good wives and home makers, and the result upon Indian character will be unbounded. The placing of Indian boys and girls at service in families of farmers, although for a few months only-the girls instructed in tho practical economies of family life, the boys in farming, gardening, stock raising, etc.-has met with abundant success at Carlisle, where it first originated. Other schools have adopted this "outing system" aith profit to the pnpils, and its grad-ual extension to the majority of schools will be only a matter of time. EESEEVATION BOARDING SCHOOLS. While the nonreservatiou schools are, as a rule, near centers of popu-lation, reservation boarding schools are situated on those reserves set apart to the exclusive use of the Indians. Being thus located they come in very close contact with the Indian in all of his varying moods. These institutions present themselves to him as an object lesson of the power and influence of the Qe~leraGl overnment; they appeal to him through his children, and awaken any smoldering sentiments for the betterment of his and their condition. Indian boarding schools are far more complex than the average pub-lic school. When the closing hour has arrived, teachers and pnpils in white schools go to their homes and enjoy around the family circle those pleasures of home life which are characteristic of the American people. The Indian reservation school, on the other hand,must combine both the home and the school-the drudgery of instruction with the mnlti. tude of petty annoyances which vex the ordinary household. Raw Indian boys and girls from the camps and tepees must be built up inteUectually.morally,and socially-frequentlyon avery slender fonnda-tion. Traditional prejudices must be overcome, the language learned at the mother's breast discounted, and a new character and habit developed. The process is slow and the difficulties mauy, but with a commendable patience and missionary zeal great results are accom-plished in transforming the wild Indian of the plain into a quiet every-day average citizen. The employees of a boarding school away from civilization and its pleasures must devote their entire time and atten-tion to the work of elevating the pnpils placed in their charge. Their self-sacrificing devotion to duty is commendable, worthy of praise and - emulation. |
