OCR Text |
Show tions in thearid Went. There are now abont 200,000 lndianali~ngonresemntions wost of the Miwieaippi. TheQovernmentis payingout annually about31u,l)U0,000 ior their keen. T h ~ asm onnt of money, if vroi~erlve mended. wonld Ptore water sufficient to irrigate and reclaim not done-enough laid to $aoe the Indians on theshady sideof easy street for a11 time to come bnt would redeem almost the entire stretch of desert lands in the country. I believe in the Indian. I believe he can be educated. I believe anything God has made He can make $?fed, I believe He has never yet marooned a sonl; that He has endowed the In Ian wth all the elements of true greatness and of true nobility. I believe the best Indian is the live Indian. nrovided he be alive to his opportunities. 1 lielieve t1.c time iiaa: came to cl81so forpver tho door of resterduy, shutring on1 the graveyard oi pmr failures ktld bad policie*, and tcr opeb wido the door of to.m~~rrow.r\lsrlorinthee TOSY lizbt of ti 110~1a. lid cI~,~ioduasw n. Indisu nature is but human naturesud the boa of our fathers rules the destiny of man-kind. He created nothing in vain. And so with the red man. He may wear long hair, may paint his face,and talk a foreien laneuaze. but down deeu in the uncultivated earden of his soul mav he found i.1 tbi el6nouta ;i true nianhcod, which, iC euitivated, will bloom, and thr.ra bloolu~~wrgi ll develop a man made in the image of Gocl, ready, able, and w~lliugto do aman's part. U. J. Mouom, anperintendent Port Moh66s School. Azk.1 It is the dotv of the Government to nrovide irrieatiou for the Indians in the arid rehdona. 'There arc great barren <egious in th; Yohave country ipon whiih nothing will grum, while at the name time water i. tlowing down tho Colr,mdo Rlrer and onouch eoine to wasm to reclaim evcrv fnor of barrcn around. I hsvo seen a valley ad?a&nt tlo this river canable of u;oducina an abuGdance for these people if the nntion would provide iirigatiotl tor theni;;rh they are too poor to bear this expense tlicmselves. Seven crc,ps 01' alfalfa ran bc ltnrvested ~nnuallg. 3lanv kin~lso f ve~etnllosc an be raised dnrioe the entire year. Vnnv varieties of fiuit. such m'grapa. apricow, poara, peach^, a t r ~ i tigigraw in a\,nndance. ci~t t lean d hogs do well. The whole Colorado Valley, the home of these Indiana, IS rapalle ot the same h!gh de ep of cnltivntlon. Tho water is handy and plenu-ful. and P ditch could be cut wyiich wouhl irrigate every foot of r h ~ sla ucl. It is too expensive for thela poverty.stricken people. but not for tuis wealthy nation. Themost vitnl oomtion iu relation to ilteludian work is. W h ~mt u st lm don? for ~~~ ~ - - ~~.. ~-. --.. . the home life of tlie ~udiaua nd for the r e tnmed~idi ikan nil? Some avenue must be updued to improve the home life and t r onalll? the r6tohed pupil to arcnr,., by hiso,vunxrrtions,a ms(.octal>le homenu 1 n c.>ulpoteoc.e ior hid tamlly. LTnril this is holvral al, Indian u<lucarlonal work nlnst l u uuurrtisfnc:tor\~. 'This llledtion cau not Lo nolv~dh ?mitking the lnOi;,ue a race <,I .Icrvants, by h'llinq tlre~chool;i\vith Indian xvorkar~n or by rlrrnsriul: rhe~uoit iu largo ciriesur comlr~nniiies , l iens to rholr kindredand homes.deatro.vi n-c all the bttttrr feelin.e.s of 1~umani"r vI" .vsrvorinz - all the ties ~f kindred. The rrnc aoiution ot this question in this eoction is to provide irrigation: make farmers of th- 1ndial.a. Tearh them to raise stn:k, f r u~te,t c. Send among them eood. indost r i~~teos~~ .herws lro will n ~ l l ftth e home life and teach the Indians how To become imlel,~tt~nlt., sdlf.supportiig agricolturistp. This cxu be don? 111 this seeriot# hy the ospmditure of a few millions of dollars in irricar8otr. ~'ollldth i8 moner be l~ettrnr od moro homanelvsoentthaniu&vel-oping'this fertile country by irrigation and providing homes f6r thesestarving and unhappy Indians? [VlofiA COOK, superintBndent Wild Rice Rlver School, Minnesota] In giving Indians the best equipment for life work we oomider the bent of the individual, his probable environment, and choose accordingly the lines of knowl-edge that aeem best for him to acquire. These are many and varied, but in all the bewildering array stand a few abont the advisability of whose acquirement there can be no mistake, and preeminent among thsse are domestic indnstries. Quite apart from the fact that in these our tyro may 5nd his best opportunity for his best work, we know that a general knowledge of some of them is bound to prove useful. For whatever else oar boys or girlsmay or may not do, experience shows that they are sure to set up homes of their own in some form or other. and |