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Show ADDRESSES AT CHARLESTON, 8. 0. beneglected. The p ~ m i hpm~ n ot been kept. J u t at the time when the Indian need4 moat the help of frrithiul (!hrimian ntisionsri~eint hem Irom h r h i e r n to cirili?~ti<cmh urch aid wao lawely wirhJram. The work of ~u e hm en 2s Hieho~ Hare and Hishup Whip lr the XI&^ aaud the \Villiam~unnw an much r~~rtailcd. The T.'nitxr:and garc I ItE~e kork among tlwC'n,ws; the Friend, rclinquiehed It'hitc's Ie~tituce.w here exrelleor work a&* dine. Thr kilure orr pomp rcpvrvario~~ofs the ~ ~ ~ land-in-severaltv bill was d&inctlv tG%ble tothis causer The wonderfd ro ss of the list twenty years among the Indians is largely dtle to the work Whig tgearly missionaries performed. The Minnesota masmre of 1862, where 500 whites, with women and ch~ldrenw, ere slaughtered in retaliation for real or fancied wrongs, resulted in the defeat of 2,000 warriors, of whom 39 were hung and over 300 he!d for three years in jail. It wasthe beginning of the advance of the great Sioux Nat~on. From the work of a few missionaries among thase imprisoned men, who for the first timelistened to the ospel, grewseven churehesand an im ulse which created among the Sioux universfl res ect for the rep-ntatives of Ehris tianity and a confidence in their teaching whicg has gone far toward making possible their progreaainlater yeara. These 1ndis.m and their friend0 were all finallyaesigned to Devils Lake, Sheton, Santee, and Flandreau agencies, in Dakota, with plent of land, but no food except what they could earn by their own labor. Fortunately tKey were lon kept under good and permanent nts, who eaw that they were provided with see%, implements, etc., and who w i s 3 assisted them in cultivating, and in some csses selllllg their land. The result is that they, 3,500 in number, are to-da self-su portingaud themost progreasiveof all the Sioux. The 800 Santees, descendl ants ofthose who thirty-two years ago were condemned to death and who were so hated by thewhitesof Minnesota that they threatened to hang the missionaries who taught them while in prison, are now homesteaded, Christian~zedA merican citizens end voters. Give the Indian in general such treatment as this handful of desperate Sioux war-riam received and the trouble is over. The past century has been one of blunderlog rather than of dishonor, and from the first it has been a question of men rather than of measures. Personal eontaet has been the mainspring of all Indian progreas in this country. It is the secret of the wonderful succm of Major Pratt, Rev. Dr. Williamson and his sons, and of the Riggses of Dakota, of Archdeacon Kirkby in British America, of Mr. Duncan's great work in Alaska, and it is the vital point in ell uplifting work. The touch of the noble lives which are being spent in the service of the red man is better than any spoken word. The first step with the Indian is to yin his confidence, and no man, saint or sinner, who ever trusted an Indian has ound his confidence misplaced. More than 100,000 Indians are to-day challenging American Christianity to do its best for them, and I am glad toea here that not a few of their own people have come to the front and are now hold& the remoter outposts as teachers and catecM, setting such examples of decent 11mg ae make them leaders in progress and tyge8 of what all Ind~ansK ith a fair chance may become. The Cbrishan Church s ould take no backward step. Let me s sk briefly of the lmprovementamong the Indians in the matter of h d , homes, and"8chools. Although the land-in-severalty bill has not effected in some cases what was hoped for it, then is no doubt of the valuable results that have been brou ht about through the allotment of land to individuallndians. The hold of the triba? s stem haa been gradually weakened, and the rude shacks, with their stacks of hay an$ grain, make it clear even to the superficial observer that the Indian'sroving days are over. Although it is undoubtedly true that some of the reservations have been opened to the whites before the Ind~anws ere ready for it, and although the onset of the lower element of whites u on the Indian lands has resulted, in many instances. in thedemoralization of the gdian.. v.e t it is onlv thraueh this hardaro- that he i; to voac tu strl,hger nmhood. There is no question that the pi\.ing up of the qenr, the letting in of whiaky, thc Icaqing oi the Indiana' land w thr wliite man, hare usually rctiulml in a wn#pnrry larksxnl ~u~#vec~~v,,et nwr.e n i n thr wr,mr oi tlresc WCJ. munu 6urL t r i h 38 the Omaha and the Winigbwo, where drunkenness and licentiomne% have held alarm-ing ..\ray, tlirre is evidenceof a eon~vion~*ne?oan their part of their dqradnl rondi-tion s~al a renchina out b,ward hcra:r thin In the weuf the Sioux Indians, s1~t.nt.h e aecnu llive Len reuined wllilc I?; allotrnenr wa? eoiue wi. and sherc there was more help from mimionaries, the change bas come d t h o t t &h dreadful - -- -. ----- .- Occasional visits to theagencies along the Missouri River have made clear the vast improvement that is go' on. Twenty yeara yo citieen's clothing was the exeep tion; now it is the rule. y h e mat has replaced t e blanket, leggings are giving way to trousers, and the curious bond that comes from weanng the samegmenta is felt. |