THE AMERICAN INDIANS AND THE GOSPEL By JOHN W. ^ARK Executive Secretary of 'The National Indian Association REPRINTED FROM THE MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD November, 1913 Copyright, by FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY New York and London OFFICERS AND HONORARY OFFICERS OF THE NATIONAL INDIAN ASSOCIATION 1913 Honorary President Mrs. Amelia S. Quinton President Mrs. Otto Heinigke Ff ce-Presidents Northern, Mrs. Edward M. Wistar Southern, Mrs. William H. Chany Eastern, Mrs. Sara T. Kinney M^estern, Mrs. John Bidwell Corresponding and Executive Secretary John W. Clark 156 Fifth Avenue, New York Recording Secretary Miss Ida A. Vanderpoel Treasurer Miss Anna Bennett Auditor Mrs. William H. Laird Honorary Mrs. Woodrow Wilson Mrs. William Howard Taft Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt Mrs. Thomas J. Preston Mrs. Charles E. Hughes Mrs. George Dan.\ Boardman Miss Alice M. Vice-Presidents Mrs. Joshua R. Jones Mrs. Joseph G. Darlington Mrs. C. C. Bishop Mrs. Eliot E. Shepard Mrs. John D. Rockefeller Mrs. S. Young Baldwin Longfellow Advisory Board Right Rev. Erederick Courtney, D.D. Right Rev. Morris W. Leibert, D.D. Rev. Lyman Abbott, D.D. Rev. Geo. L. Spining, D.D. Rev. Wm. Hayes Ward, D.D. Rev. Anson P. Atterbury, D.D. Daniel Smiley, Esq. Merrill E. Gates, LL.D. Herbert Welsh, Esq. Rev. James M. Bruce Chaplain D. 1 1 . Tribou The Indian’s Friend, tlie organ of the Association, is published monthly. Price, 50 cents a year. THE PRESBYTERIAN MISSION SCHOOL AT TUCSON, ARIZONA AMERICAN INDIANS AND THE GOSPEL BY JOHN W. CLARK, NEW YORK Executive Secretary of The National Indian Association HE Indian population of the United States, exclusive of Alaska, on June 30, 1912, was reported by the Com- missioner of Indian Affairs to be 327,425, of whom 300,930 were under Federal super- vision. In the same report we are told that : Of 184,784 Indians reported upon, 90,341 speak the English language, and 54,843 read and write the English language. Of 193,609 Indians reported upon, 149,721 wear modern attire. Of 186,398 Indians reported upon, 78,543 are citizens of the United States. Much is being done to-day by Gov- ernment and by voluntary agencies to educate the Indians, to teach them the laws of health and the principles of sanitation and to train them in habits of industry. Some voluntary organi- zations also are looking after the natural and political rights of the Indians. All such work is important and there is need of it, but most im- portant is the work of Christian missions carried on by various boards and societies. The present condi- tion of the Indians presents a favor- able opportunity for an increase of such work. For the Indian this is a period of transition from the old to a new order of things. The reservation system and tribal organizations are rapidly giving place to the individual ownership of land. It is often a diffi- cult thing for the Indian to adapt himself to the new order, and just now when old tribal props and re- straints are being removed he needs help to enable him to hold his own as a man among other men. The Chris- tion missionary better than any one else can give that help, for he has a larger opportunity than any one else to reach the home of the Indian and influence him to live a pure life, both physically and morally. Only as the AMERICAN INDIANS AND THE GOSPEL Indian is brought under the power of the Gospel of Christ is he adequately littetl to meet these changing condi- tions of his life and to get from our civilization the best it has to give him. Early Missions The history of Indian missions shows that in the early days of missionary effort among them, the Indians welcomed Christian teaching and sought to transmit the blessings of the Christian religion to their children. Following those early suc- cesses on the mission field, however, there came a time when the bright promises of a rich and abundant harvest were blasted by adverse events. During the latter part of the eighteenth century the work of the Christian missionaries was almost fatally interrupted by political strug- gles and the War of the Revolution. Yet even then efforts for the evange- lization of the Indians were not wholly abandoned. A few decades later began the westward march of the white man, the consequent “Indian wars,” and the forced re- moval of the tribes from territory formerly occupied by them to tracts of land set apart for their use by the government. For a long time these events interfered with the success- ful prosecution of Indian mission work. Under the system of ward- ship created by the government the Indian’s spirit of independence was largely broken ; treaties made with various tribes were ruthlessly violated by our nation, and the red man be- came suspicious of the white man. But nothwithstanding the dark chap- ters in the history of our dealings with the Indian, the records of Chris- tian missions prove that he responds to Christian teaching. To-day the attitude of the Indian race, as a THE MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD whole, toward the white race is friendly, and this is due for the most part to the faithful and patient work of Christian missionaries. Protestant mission work for the Indians may be said to have begun in 1636 when Roger Williams, the Bap- tist preacher, started his purely per- sonal work among the Pequots and Narragansetts and the tribes in Rhode Island. Ten years later the had devoted its efforts to secure legal recognition and protection for In- dians, began missionary work. This work is somewhat unique in character and needs a word of explanation. The policy of the association is to do pioneer work among unevangelized tribes. After opening a mission sta- tion and meeting the expenses of erecting the needed buildings, such station with the property gathered is THE GOOD SAUARIT.\N HOSPITAL FOR N.AVAJOS AT INDIAN WELLS, ARIZONA This hospital was erected by the National Indian Association work of Williams was extended by the Congregational missionaries Mayhew and Eliot. In 1741 the Lutherans, the Society of Friends, the Protest- ant Episcopal Church, the Moravians and the Presbyterian Church had entered the field. Organized work by the Baptists began in 1801. This was soon followed by organized work of the Congregationalists, Meth- odists and Mennonites. Precent-Day Mi*«ions In 1884 The National Indian Asso- ciation, an undenominational organi- zation which for five years previously given to one of the Protestant denomi- national mission boards on its under- taking a continuance of the work. The Association’s most recent enter- prise is the erection and equipment of a hospital and dispensary in connec- tion with its mission to the Navajo Indians in Arizona. In 1895 the Women’s Committee of the Board of Domestic Missions of the Reformed Church of America began work at Colony, Oklahoma, and has since entered other Indian fields. Out of the work at Colony under the late Dr. W. C. Roe and his wife, there has grown up a philan- AMERICAN INDIANS AND THE GOSPEL thropic enterprise for the benefit of the Indians known as “Mohonk Lodge,” with “home” and “indus- trial” departments. A forward step in Indian mission work of recent years was the appoint- ment of an “Indian Committee” by the Home Missions Council of the Protestant mission boards. This committee works for a practical cooperation by the Protestant forces in the division of mission fields, the gathering of data concerning neg- lected tribes of Indians and the locat- ing of new mission stations. The results of this work are seen in the avoidance of an overlapping of work, a better understanding of the needs of the great field, and a deepening of interest and an increase of effort in Indian work among the various denominations. The committee under- took a tabulation of statistics of all the evangelical Church missions on the Indian field, and the following tabie gives a summary of the result. These statistics were gathered in 1910 and tho incomplete they are the latest to be tabulated and show approximately the extent of the work of the Piotestant forces to-day. Dur- ing the past year some boards have reported an increase in the number of their mission stations or in their working forces. Early in the history of our country the Roman Catholic Chvmch entered the Indian mission field and has con- ducted missions among various tribes. According to statistics given by the Rev. William Hughes, in an address at the 1912 Mohonk Indian Confer- ence, the Indian work of the Roman Catholic Church is carried on at 137 centers, and the number of Roman Catholic Indians is “estimated at about 100,000,”* and this Church has 55 boarding and 8 day schools. The Young Men’s and the Young Women’s Christian Associations are engaged in an important work among the pupils in the various Government Indian schools and among the re- turnevd students on the Indian reser- vations. Among the humanitarian enter- prises carried on by the mission boards and other voluntary agencies none are more fruitful in beneficent results than their medical and hospi- tal work. The latest report of the Commis- sioner of Indian Affairs gives the statistics relating to the Indian schol- astic population. From those statis- tics the summary on page 834 is taken. School facilities are therefore needed for 20,000 Indian children of school age on the reservations. A ‘This is an estimate. Mr. Hughes’ words are quoted. In 1910, Dr. Ketcham claimed for the Roman Catholic Church the same number of Indians, but he stated that of this number only 40,000 were “good Catholics.” INCOMPLETE STATISTICS OF INDIAN CHURCHES AND MISSIONS OF THE PROTESTANT BOARDS Number of Boards and Societies Tribes Stations Churches Ordained Ministers Commissioned Helpers Communicants Adherents Sunday-schools S. S. Enrolment White Native V, hite Native 18 174 318 397 164 211 114 191 26,532 60,347 342 16,083 THE MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD MISSION SCHOOLS Number of Boards and Societies Carrying on Mission Schools Number of Mission Schools Enrolment Teachers and Helpers White Native 13 35 1819 145 5 SCHOOL ATTENDANCE DURING YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1912 Number of Indian Number of Indian Number of Indian Number of Indian Children in Public Schools Number of Children Eligible Children in Children in Eligible Indian for School Government Mission and Children not in Attendance Schools Private Schools Schools *65,093 24,341 4,779 17,011 18,962 •There were 72,603 Indian children of school age in 1912. 7,510 were ineligible for school attendance because of illness, deformity, etc. great need is presented here and a large opportunity for an increase in the number of mission boarding and day schools. One weak feature of Protestant mission work among the Indians is the fewness of such schools. There is great need for the training of Indian young people in Christian character, and that training should be given in mission schools in con- nection with the various mission sta- tions. The work outlined above reveals a large amount of missionary effort, and doubtless many people have the impression that all the Indians in our land are evangelized. Such is not the case, for the statistics gathered in 1910 by the Indian Committee, re- ferred to, showed approximately 54,000 Indians among whom no Christian missionary work is being conducted. These Indians were found to be in tribes and separated parts of tribes resident in 15 different States, the largest groups being in Arizona, New Mexico and California. These figures indicate an opportunity for enlarged missionary effort in a field right at our very doors. The obligation to win the allegiance of these native Americans to Christ is one which every American Christian should feel pressing upon him. The work of the Christian mission- ary among the Indians is often a very difficult one. Pagan supersti- tion and practises have a deep and powerful hold upon Indian life. Add to these the vices of intemperance and gambling for which the white man is largely responsible, and the encouragement given by many well- meaning, but, in my opinion, mis- taken, people to the old-time Indian dances because of the picturesque features of some of them, and the whole forms a barrier that is not easily broken down. Unlimited pa- tience, loving sympathy, much tact and a practical workable knowledge of some industrial pursuit suitable to the particular environment of the Indians among whom they are located, are requisites for successful work by the missionaries. Does the work pay? There are no brighter Christian characters anywhere than can be found among Indian converts, and the whole story of Indian mis- sions is filled with instances of the transforming power of the Gospel of AMERICAN INDIANS AND THE GOSPEL Protestant Mission Work The numerals opposite the name of a board or society indicate that mission work is conducted by that board or society among the Indians in the State marked on map with corresponding number. Baptist; 21, 16, 2, 8, 7, 4, 1, 10, 23. Southern Baptist: 16, 17. Congregational: 13, 8, 1, 17,/i,/^, Dutch Reformed: 11, 16, 14. Christian Reformed: 7, 11. Lutheran: 7, 19. Mennonite: 16, 7, 8, 3. Methodist Episcopal: 1, 2, 7, 21, 19, 17, 8, 5, 3, 20, 11, 23. Methodist Episcopal South: 16. Presbyterian; 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 13, 8, 19, 17, 14, 16, 15, 10, 11, 7, 21. Southern Presbyterian; 16. Reformed Presbyterian: 16. United Presbyterian: 2, 18. Friends: 16. Moravian: 3. Protestant Episcopal: 19, 17, 5, 3, 9, 4, 1. 6, 7, 22, 13, 21, 16, 12. Independent: 3. National Indian Association and Auxiliaries: 7, 19, 3, 11.* Christ in individual and communal life. Under the influence of the Gospel of Christ, Indian young men and women have taken their stand upon the platform of human brother- hood and worked for the uplift of others, seeking to help all who needed their aid, irrespective of race or color. An illustration of this is seen in the life of Henry Roe Cloud, a Winne- bago, who was graduated from Yale University in the class of 1910. When he entered the university he became interested in Y. M. C. A. work and was especially active in the work at Yale Hall, the downtown mission of the students. He was able to interest many of his classmates as well as others in mission work among the people of races other than his own. He realizes that the hope for his own people lies in their being brought into a personal experience of the power of the Gospel of Christ. In an address at Lake Mohonk, two years ago, he said : “It is very important to remember that the salvation of the Indian must * Tbe National Indian Association does pioneer work and has planted 51 mission stations, 50 of which have been transferred. THE MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD INDIAN TEPEES be from the inside. I should not be true to the deepest convictions of my soul if I did not say this. I can well remember a dark night years ago when a missionary came to me and urged me to seek the friendship of the strong Son of God and asked me to give Him my allegiance. That night I started to follow Christ, and His power has sustained me till this hour. There is a splendid opportunity offered now for Christian people to guide the Indian into good citizenship, self- respect, and fine character. The time when the government lets go of the Indian and he has to stand face to face with modern life and all its problems and perplexities, is a mo- ment of great opportunity for the Christian people of this nation. Now on the reservations the Indians are scattering about like cotton tails among the bushes. Now is the time to go after the Indian and strengthen him b}’ the power of the Gospel.” INDIAN CHURCH ON KLAMATH RESERVATION, OREGON The building was erected by the National Indian Association. A NAVAJO HOGAN WORK OF THE NATIONAL INDIAN ASSOCIATION work of The National Indian * Association to aid in civilization, teach industry and give religions in- struction to the Indians of our coun- try began in 1879. The work was fully organized in 1881 and the As- sociation incorporated in 1887. The activities of the Association include: Religious Work ^Direct undenominational teaching of religious truths in unevangelized tribes. This pioneer missionary work has been done in more than fifty tribes, or separated parts of tribes. Educational and Humanitarian Work Helping to right political wrongs; gathering of Indian children into schools ; stimulating and preparing capable Indians for wise leadership among their people; loans of money to Indians to enable them to build houses, purchase implements of labor or for stock needed to begin some use- ful and paying industry. Industrial Work Various industries have been suc- cessfully introduced at the Associa- tion’s mission stations, such as cattle raising, poultry raising, dairy produce, and agriculture. Medical Work Outdoor medical treatment in the camps and at the dispensary ; the teaching of the principles of sanita- tion and the proper care of the sick in Indian homes ; medical and surgical treatment and nursing care in the As- sociation’s hospital wards where not alone bodily suffering is relieved, but where the patients also learn of the Great Physician whose “touch hath still its ancient power” to cleanse the heart and transform the life. Since the beginning of the Associa- tion’s medical work for the Navajo Indians in Arizona in September, 1912, to the present date, October i, 1913, 196 Indians have been treated in the camps, and a total of 784 treat- ments given them. The Good Samari- tan Hospital at Indian Wells, Arizona, with fully equipped dispensary and separate wards and outside sleeping porches for men and women, was opened in April, 1913, and is called by the Navajos Kin-bi-jo-ba-i (The house in which they are kind). Dur- ing the six months since its opening, 377 Indians have received 754 treat- ments at the dispensary, and there have been 66 cases in the hospital wards. A large proportion of those treated were trachoma cases, many of them severe and critical. Several other cases were of a grave nature resulting from neglected wounds and broken and fractured limbs. This medical work is meeting a great need and do- ing much to break the influence of the medicine men over the Navajos, among whom superstition still abounds. Missions Opened by the National Indian Association and Subsequently Trans- ferred TO Various Protestant Denomi- nations : 1886 Mission to Pawnees, I. T 1884 Poncas, I. T 1884 Otoes, I. T 1884 Sioux, S. D 1886 Concows’ Ukies Pitt River Potter Val’y Little Lake - Red Woods Bannocks and Shoshones, Idaho 1887 Omahas, Neb., at two sta- tions 1887 Sioux, S. Dakota, at Corn Creek 1887 These six tribes serv- , ed at two stations a t Round Val- ley, Cal. Stickney Memorial Home, Washing- ton, built through our Home Build- ing Department 1889 Mission at La Jolla, Temecula, Pechanga Mission cottage and workers, Por- traro Mission at Coahuilla Mission at Agua Caliente 1893 Mission to Mission Indians, Cal 1889 Preaching Stations at Saboba, Rincon Mission to Kiowas, I. T 1889 Mission at Greenville, Plumas Co., Cal 1890 Mission at Crow Creek, S. Dak., Hos- pital work 1890 Mission to Apache Prisoners, Mt. Ver- non, Ala 1891 Mission to Absentee Shawnees and Kickapoos, Oklahoma... 1891 “ Seminoles, Fla., two sta- tions 1891 “ 2,000 Hopi Oreiba, Ariz.... 1892 Home for Aged Women, Porcupine Creek, S. D 1892 Missions to 2,000 Piegans, Montana.. . 1893 “ Walapai, Ariz 1894 “ Spokanes, Wash. Ter 1894 “ Uncompagre Utes 1897 “ Hopi, at First Mesa 1895 “ Hopi, at Second Mesa.... 1897 “ Hoopas, N. Cal 1896 “ at Martinez, Cal 1896 “ toNavajos, Two Gray Hills, N. M 1898 “ Indians of Shasta Co., Cal. 1899 Navajo Hospital built, Jewett, N. M.. 1899 Work at Sitka, Alaska 1887 Mission to Yumas in Cal 1901 “ Hopi at Aloen Copi, Ariz., Dec 1902 “ Navajos at Tuba 1903 “ Navajos at Chin Lee, Ariz., in Greenville Chapel, Cal., re- opened 1903 to Apache-Mojaves, Ariz 1903 Piutes, Nev 1907 Klamaths, Ore 1908 Missions Opened by the Association and Still Carried on by It Mission to the Navajo Indians, Indian Wells, Ariz 1910 The Good Samaritan Hospital (Kin- bi-jo-ba-i), erected 1912 and opened for patients April 1913 The National Indian Association will begin mission work among the unevangelized tribes as the requisite funds are provided. The Association has no endowment and urgently so- licits contributions for its work. The executive secretary will gladly furnish literature or answer inquiries regard- ing this work. Checks may be made payable to him or to the treasurer and forwarded to Room 931, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York.