Before telling you about the work that is being done here let me say a few words about the Indians themselves.
As we see them here, dirty, ragged, and grizzled, it is hard to realize that God has made one flesh all nations, of the earth; and that one day, these our dusky brothers, shall stand side by side with us before the throne of God. Yet the Indian is distinctly human, in his joys and sorrows. In his home life, in his love for his children, he stands the counterpart of the white man. He possesses the same ability to suffer as the white man. His affections are as deep and as sincere. Thru his children we must reach the Indian. There are of course many more young people in the church than there are older ones. All school children are compelled to attend some church and sunday school. Thus they become acquainted with the ordinances of the church, and many become christians. In becoming christians they to a certain extent become missionaries.
At White-Clay about ten miles from Pine Ridge lived six old brothers, whose children all attended the Presbyterian church. Several of these children were earnest christians and talked frequently with their parents, urging them to be baptised and join the church. Two of these aged brothers had promised to be baptised at the next communion service to be held in a few weeks at the local church.
Before that day however one brother, Running Shield, was taken ill, and feeling that death was near, he sent for the white missionary, at the Agency, to come and baptise him. Although it was storming furiously, the missionary hastened at once to the old man's side, but found him much improved and desiring to wait until Communion Sunday, so that he might be baptised in the church with that amount of display which so pleases the Indian.
His son Wallace, a manly young fellow, also desired that his father wait and be baptised with his brother, He Dog. In compliance with this wish the missionary returned home without baptising the man. Shortly afterward, during the absence of the missionary from town, word was received that the old man was dying and desired the presence of his pastor.
Mr Johnson arrived home too late in the evening to go that night but left early the next morning, and when but a few miles from the house, met the procession returning from the cemetery. The Indian's belief in the occult is unbounded. The family, especially the son Wallace, were in deep distress, fearing that the soul of the old man was lost, on account of his failure to be baptised. In a few days, the son with several friends called on the missionary, and with tears, begged to know of the welfare of the old man's soul. The missionary pointed to the thief on the cross and asked "By whom was he baptised?" and "Was he not saved?" To which came the answer, "He was baptised by no one, yet received the Promise, "This day shalt thou be with me, in Paradise." The missionary then bade them apply this story to the case of Running Shield, and sent them home much comforted as the Indian has absolute faith in his missionary's word. To me this story illustrates most forcibly the great influence the child, educated in the church and schools, has upon the parent.
At the agency there are some two hundred and fifty children who attend church and sunday school every Sunday, and at the Catholic mission there are probably two hundred more. The girls are taught housework, sewing and fancy work. The boys taught farming and all kinds of manual labor. These children, fresh from the civilizing influence of the school, in which they have been for ten months of the year, and carrying home new ideas, and thots (sic) and ways, are the connecting link between the white man and the dirty, aged, fathers and mothers of the tribes. Thru these children, and them alone the Indian can be, and is reachable. To them may be given the credit for his willingly giving up his many wives and being married by church ceremony to the favorite one.
There are on the reservation about twenty fully established churches, whose pulpits are filled every Sunday by native preachers, few of whom can even speak the English language. These churches are divided mostly equally between the Presbyterian and Episcopal, with perhaps twenty more belongng to the Catholic. The churches of the agency, of which there are three, are presided over by the white missionaries.
Among the Indians are sewing societies presided over by the wives of the local, native missionaries. The societies on this reservation have in one year received twenty barrels of quilt pieces that were cut, ready for use, together with basted paterns (sic) for blocks. These were "pieced" by the Indian women, and sent east to be sold. The money raised in this way is used for the expense of the mission churches.
These churches are very small, but the congregations are not. Not long ago, at one of these small churches, a class of ten was taken into church membership, and in spite of the fact that it was a very cold and stormy night, the church was so crowded that many were compelled to sit on the floor in the aisle and in front of the alter rail. It was necessary for the minister to request those sitting on the floor in front to move, to make room for the confirmation class. These statements may not be interesting to read but they are living, vital facts. The Indian is ready and waiting for civilization and christianization.
"Say not ye, 'There are yet four months and then cometh harvest?' 'Behold I say unto you, Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest" John 4-35.
"The harvest truly is great but the laborers are few, pray therefore the lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers." Matt. 9-37-38.
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