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Show FLEPORTS OF INDEPENDENT SCHOOL8 the early art of the year; then the terrible drought, which not only shortened a1 crops by fack of water, hut, in the failure of seeds and grass in the mountain; starved the horses to death and drove in myriads of birds to pick out all the barle and most of the wheat; so that, instead of the crops we worked and hoped for, wi have not even our seed for next ear There is also, all the time no gttleannoyance caused by the &dines8 of the sur-rounding eople to stir up the Indians by exciting tales of prmpective removals or of "lob or money for them, which must be here, somewhere." This was worn;, in Kanab than here at first, because the Kanab le expected to have one of their town appointed fndian y t , and seemed to t E g for while that by inciting the Indians to refuse to come ere they would carry their point. But the very greatest discouragement is the great amount of sickness and alarming number of deaths. The grippe made sad havoc in our midst, carrying awa not only the a$ed and feeble but a number of middle-aged and young persons. 6any who still hve are sadly broken in health and will probably pine away as the others have done. These things appeal to the superstitious nature of the Indians, making them restless and on the lookout for witchcraft, poison, etc. The Kaibabs have not enough of land to show whether they can do mnch or not. Fifteen acres is not much among a hundred eople. If the wholeof Moccasin Springs could he bou ht and a farmer placed there for a few years to teach and help them, it would be a &man to them, and the only thing I can think of to help them much. They are opposed to goin elsewhere and, of course, there is no other place for them. In preparing census rolfs and statistical rereport I have endeavored to correct errom in last year's report, and dso to answer all questions as nearly as repoeaible; but it ,muat be remembered that these Indians attend to their own busineas affairs and I have not thought it wise to interfere, even if I could have found time from school and ofiice duties to weigh and measure all the crops. 1 have, therefore, no means of knowing amounts, except where I purchase for myself or the Government; but from the above and my observation I have made a close mtimate of statitistics desired, which is all I can hope to do. Very respectfully, Lava B. WORK. The COMMIS~IONOFE RIN DIAAN~ AIRS. REPORT OF SCHOOLS AMONG ONEIDAS, WISCONSIN. ONEIDAI NDIASCNHO OL, Onda, Ww., &ta6er 9, 189s. Sm: I have the honor to submit my seventh annual report of the Oneida Indian boarding and day schools: BObaDING BDHWL. Attendance.-This haa been, as in other years, d l that the limited crapacit of the 1 school could accommodate. The full capacity of the school is rated at l~gpupils, while the average far the year was 126.3, an Increase of 1.6 over the previous year. The largest attendance waa during the month of April, 1899, when the. average reached 133.5. Schoolroom work.-There were no changes in teachera during the last Tear and the wurk in rhi. depart!ilrnr hm bren quite &infactorv. Ortrof ihe greew6t ,rbstarlesirr rhe way o i PUCCP~&I.III dur - IOOUw~or k hasbeen thr rallingpartitiour berweenst-lllul-nlorns. Thrrz an diniculc to <,"craw aucl arc. so imoerfrot that the work in one rmrn ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~ of& interferes with thz~of ~%era. :e sueciall" is tfiisthe ease when music or other A concert exercises aretaken up. I had intended not to transfer or promote the higheatgrade pupils this year, but hold them over and raise thegrade of the school; however, as the new school building has been delayed so that it will be impossible to get into it much before the close of the present fiscal year, about 20pupils have been transferred to Carlisle and Hampton, although they have not finished the work prescribed, in order to make room for some of the many applicants for admission to the boarding school. Inanstrial work.-The boys have received training in farm and garden work as in other years. No shops are connected with the school, and instmction only in the use of common tools, such as are used by the ordinary farmer, has been given. By the kindness of the superintendent of the State farmers' institutes, an institute was held at day school No. 1 last winter, and some of the best lecturers were sent here. The school fanner and larger boys were in attendance, and were much interested and benefited by the meeting. |
