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Show APPENDIX. EXTRACTS FROM PAPERS AND DISCUSSIONS AT SUMMER SCHOOLS. I DEPARTMENT OF I?XDIAN EDUCATION AND COh'i3RXSS OF INDIAN EDU-CATORS, DETROIT AND BURRAI.O, JULY 8-20. LEAENINQB Y DOlNa. [Dr. E. B Parssmr,, prinoipl Bampton Normal and Agriaultmsl Institnte. Virpinin.1 The svstem of education which has been adopted in the Indian schools is one that is iom~nandingtl ie respect and coufidenm of all who are interested in edoca-tion. I need not erplaan to you thrrt it isasystemshich laysmom~myhasisuyon tlllurs than UDon words, thar rive* wore Dromlnence to the ~roduction of self-supfiring ciiirons than ro thenlaking of scholars. It teaches ira pupil8 to lc.!m by doing. It mukes the bock merely a tool. I t lays more ~t rcs sn pou the artlve than nnon the "wive side of edncatlon. ~~ The ihongbt'of nalning youth to do their p r t in the great world, in society, and in the family ia one that ought toenter iutaallow work. The echoolonght tobe a rnloiat~u~r~e- ~c omma nit\^. It k beeanse this has been to some extent aocom~lished in our Indian schools titat they are in manyreepectesnpriorto thecommonichoola of the ronntry. There are m-min definiia tlbings which we are trying io bring about by onr pectiliar syatem. The hrst, and prrha s the most important, is the fantrotion of a hahit of \vork. \Ve ar" deilino. wi& a ~ e o ~thl aet has not been aecust~,mr.tl, regnlar Ilabitaof industry. Thiy have thought rhat 11 was well enough lor tho white ma" to work. but that the Indian should he freo from toil. Tho 1ir.t and uro.it im~~ortunlets son. then. a n~lth e one wlthoot which all other leiious will be of llttic v.~lue, is tllenrces~ity and dignit) of labor. Woof the Anglo Sitrun race h;rsc rrceived toll as our natur,al inheritance. We do not need to 1.0 tnoehr thnr "labor must be." But bur countrv 1s now dealinc with manv &es thee llaron different conceptton of tlla mattc:~. " - lr i*,then.oi vital iulport~nc? that our adncationul system lay ntrm on the arrion aide of duration. that the work thc hands be even sneuial urominonce. ~ In some of our schools, from the time the children eGter th6 kindkrgarten, an eudesvor is made to cultivate a love for the regular occnpations of life. On Monday the washtnh is introduced and on Tuesday the ironing hoard. The little children are taught to find uleasure in work. From their earlieat days their con-strnctive laweri;rre framed :tml they learn to do. Dolls' honaei are-hnilt. sruall pieces of lurniture are made, rags and curpets woven. Each child has regular dnttcq of his own. h sense of rerooosihilitv is voltivated and a feoline that he has a part in the work of life. When th6 springtime comes the littre kinder-gartners, as,well as the older pnpils. are sent into the garden for the purpose of cultivating the soil. Two children tend a plot together. While they thna learn to work with oneanother. there is develomd at thesame time asenaeof individual yroprirtorshi in land. They tire illlow611 to rnrr). to their own homes the prod-ucts of their h t i e .-f In this way t h ~ yga it, n sr~mulnsto thelr work. They rea!irs the lovs of nrodnctian. Row im~..rrnnrtl re creation of rhe work hal8lt a we hardly appreciits. Very closely connected with the creation of the work habit is the dignifying of common things. Learning by doing gives an opportunity to teach Indian yonth to citre for the things about them. Life on a reservation is, in many reqscta, the poorest life that a human being can live. It has leas of incentive, less of mterest. than almost any other. If our boys and girls must go back to these reservations |