f C ENTENNIAL PAMPHLET No. 14 The Bible in the Life of the Indians of the United States, ^ o THOMAS C. MOFFETT. D.D. AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY NEW YORK 1916 t — pAVH> tL SPENCKB ao*T»—- •— Officers of the American Bible Society President Jajcks Wood, ^ew York. Vice-Presidents Hon. John W. Fostkr. LL.D , D. C. Ctbdb Northrop, LL.D., Minn. Hon. William P. Dilunohah, Vt. Hon. E. E. Bkard, Tenn. Merrill E. Gates, LL.D.. D. C. William A. Robinson, Ky. Frank E. Spooner, III. Georoe W. Watts. N C. E H. Sholl, M.D., Ala. W, T. Hardie. La. Hon Chas. E. Hughes, LLD.. N. Y. Hon. H H. Seldoeridge, Colo. John R. Mott. LL.I) , N. Y. Hon. Chas. W. Fairbanks. LL.1) . Ind. Capt. Robert Dollar. Cal. Joshua Levering. Md. Hon Simeon E Bauiwin, LL D . Conn. Jambs N. Gamble. O. Christopher Mathewson. Fla. Judge Robert F. Raymond, Maas. B Preston Clark, Maas. Gerard Bekkman, N. Y. Churchill H Cutting. N. Y. Correspondinit Secretaries Ret. John Fox, U.U., LL.D. Rev. W ii.i.i am I. Haven, D.D. Assistant Correspondind Secretary Rev. Lewis B. Chamberlain. M..L. Recordintf Secretary Rev. Henrt O. Dwight, LL.D. Treasurer William Foulkk. Managers Term— 1913 to 1917 Henrt S. Stearns. M.D. Howard O. Wood. Mornat Williams. Lewis D. Mason, M.D. Eben E. Olcott. Obrin R. Judd. Edgar McDonald. Winthrop M. Tuttle. Term 1914 to 1918 William H. Harris James w Pearsall Henrt A. Ingraham. E. Francis Htde. J. Marshall Stuart. Fbkd’k Frelinouutsbn. John R. Taber. Term-1915 to 1919 Oborob D. Bbattts. Silas B. Browxell. Wm. H. Klbkkk. Prbdbrick 8. Ddmcak. Fbanklzn Sa Edmonds. Jambs R. Jot. Ablakdo Mabinb. Gborob W. Davison. Term— 1916 to 1920 Wm. Jay Schibffbun. O S. Macbknztb. William H. Sfinobr. Wm PhtliaIP* Hall. Waldron p PbTaKnap. John T. Hanson. Charles D. Lbvebich C. Edgar Anderson. THE BIBLE IN THE LIFE OF THE INDIANS OF THE UNITED STATES REV. THOMAS C. MOFFETT. D.D.. Representative for Indian Work of the Home Missions Council AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY NEW YORK 1916 WORK OF THE American Bible Society CARRIED ON { 5 Contiaeiits Islands of The Seven Seas Over 150 Languages 12 Kinds of Scriptures for the Blind By Bible House, N. Y* Constantino^ Beirut 9 Main Printing Bangkok ^ . • Chieng Mai Centers Shanghai Chengtu Weiheisen . Yokohama Over 2,000 Colporteurs > 496 At Home and Correspondents ' t,66t Abtoad ISSUES, 1915 7,761,377 Volumes]i;^0|;f^‘ TOTAL ISSUES IN 100 YEARS 117,687,591 VOLUMES The American Bible Society solicits contribu- tions for its world-wide work of Bible distribution — 7,761,377 volumes in 1915. Send donations to any of our Agency Secre- taries, or to Mr. Wm. Foulke, Treasurer, Bible House, Astor Place, New York. In either case be sure to mention “for the American Bible Society. ’ ' OUTLINE PAGE A Race without a Written Language but with Diversi- fied Tongues 5 The First American Bible, 1661 : Eliot’s Monumental Task 7 Other Notable Translations 7 The Nez Perces’ Search 8 A Stirring Appeal : Jason Lee Responds 10 Marcus Whitman 12 Sequoya and the Cherokee Scriptures 12 The Great Dakota Bible 13 The Miracle Among the Sioux 15 Muskogee, Creek, Arapahoe and Winnebago IS The Navaho Heathmen 17 Victorious Conquest over Paganism 19 President Roosevelt’s Testimony 21 Leaders of the Future 22 A Paper read at the World’s Bible Congress, held at the Panama-Pacific Exposition, San Francisco, Cahfomia. Aotrust 1-4, 1916. The Bible In the Life of the Indians of the United States A Race Without a Written Language T he untutored Indian of North America, the primitive Red Man, knew nothing of a written language, or of any pictured speech beyond the rudest sand paintings, designs on birch bark, and pictographs on rocks and cliffs. The mystery and marvel of the white man’s written and printed speech made a profound impression on the unlettered pagan. The ‘ ‘ Religion of the Book, ’ ’ the white man’s ‘ ‘ Guide to Heaven,” was difficult for the Indian to realize as being equally intended for and adapted to him. He stood aloof saying, “This is the God of the Paleface, very good for him, but not for the Red Man.” How great was the surprise and the interest, there- fore, when this simple, childlike, primitive man heard read to him from the printed page the Word of God, translated into his own speech, the language of his tribe. When someone, a member of his own tribe, perchance, an educated Indian and a convert to the Christian faith, read to him and explained the printed page, his incredulity and lack of comprehension turned into admiration and comprehension, by the aid of the Divine Spirit. With the dawning intelli- gence that the religion of the Book was just as much for him as for the race that could read and write, the Scriptures became alive and personal in their application. Diversified Tongues The physical likeness of the Indian tribes, together with the extraordinary diversity of language found among them, is suggestive of the great length of 5 time they must have inhabited America. Between fifty and sixty linguistic stocks are found north of Mexico, a more exact classification placing the num- ber at “57 varieties.” These tongues differ one from the other so radically that the language of one is usually unintelligible to all others, and these lan- guages are structurally so varied that they may be described as differing as widely as English and Russian. The reticence of the Indian and his reluctance to speak in the white man’s language, even when he is more or less familiar with it, and his stolidity, which is so often interpreted as stupidity, are due to un- suspected Indian traits. Exactness of expression, perfection in the use of the tribal language or dia- lect, and a fear of errors in speech and of the shame and ridicule which these bring down upon him, are the secret of his caution and reticence. A foreigner learning the English language will garble it ludic- rously and will enjoy the merriment his blunders provoke, but an Indian never. He is sensitive and abashed lest he appear ridiculous. He is reticent and content with bis own attainments. If you have not learned his language in order to converse with him, neither does he care to learn yours or to put himself in a position to be laughed at by you for his blunders. The Bible in whole or in part has been printed in thirty-five languages of Indians north of Mexico. In five of these languages the whole Bible is in print, the Mohican or Massachusetts, the Dakota or Sioux, the Cree, the Eskimo of Labrador, and the Tuk-kuth- kutchin — a tribe of the Northern Yukon Territory, Canada. In nine other languages the New Testament entire, and in twenty-one additional languages one or more books of the Bible have appeared. It is an interesting study to review in historical order 6 some of t±ie most notable of these remarkable achievements in the translation and printing of 'the Holy Scriptures into the tongues of the native American race. The First American Bible, 1661 Eliot’s Monumental Task The John Eliot Bible in the language of the Mohi- cans, whom we now know as the Stockbridge Indians, is notable in the great labor involved and the primacy which this Bible takes among all Indian transla- tions. Eliot’s monumental task, the translation of the whole Bible into the Mohican tongue, the common language of the New England Indians, the compiling of a grammar and other language work, was a pro- digious labor. The New Testament was printed in 1661, only fifty years after the publication of the King James Version, and the Old Testament in 1663. This was the first Bible printed in America, and the few copies still preserved are greatly prized. As one turns the pages of this beautifully-printed book and recalls the untiring energy and zeal of this pioneer of Christian missions, the lines which the author inscribed at the end of his Indian grammar have new significance: “Prayer and pains, through faith in Jesus Christ, will do anything.” Other Notable Translations In 1817 the American Bible Society was asked by the Moravian missionary, Christian Frederick Dencke, to publish a part of the New Testament which he had translated into the language of the Delaware Indians. The Managers immediately took up the proposal and after securing expert opinion on the correctness of the translation, they caused to be printed one thousand copies of the Epistles of John. This venture upon an unintelligible jargon was the beginning of the long series of services rendered by the Society to the Indian missions of many denomina- tions. 7 The Mohawk Indians, the most warlike and ter- rible tribe of the great Iroquois, or “Six Nations” federation, removed to Canada after the Revolution- ary War, dreading punishment for taking sides with the British. In 1817 the Bible Society decided to print the Gospel of Mark and of St. John in the Mohawk language, and ten years later it printed the Gospel of Luke. The Seneca Indians, reputed the wisest and most stable of the tribes of the Iroquois federation, have remained for the most part in New York State, a few moving to the Cornplanter reservation in Pennsyl- vania. Missions were established among them about 1820, and in 1829 the Bible Society began its direct participation in the mission work by printing the Gospel of Luke in the Seneca language. This was followed by the other Gospels and by some of the books of the Old Testament. Another of the smaller ventures of the Bible So- ciety in providing Indians with Scriptures is the Ojibwa Version of the New Testament. The Ojibwa or Chippewa Indians are a large tribe, found both in the United States and Canada, scattered in small groups on both sides of the basin of Lake Superior. The first translations in Ojibwa were made by Dr. James, in 1831, for the Indians in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The New Testament was translated by the Rev. Sherman Hall. The Gospels were published first, and the whole New Testament was printed by the American Bible Society in 1844. The Nez Perces’ Search— “ Where Is the White Man’s Book of Heaven?” The annals of Christian missions contain no inci- dent more romantic and graphic in impressing mis- sion needs and consecration to meet those needs, than a scene from the story of the Nez Perces of Idaho. In the year 1831 four Nez Perce chiefs made their 8 way over the Rockies and were found on the street in St. Louis, asking, “Where is the white man’s Book of Heaven?’’ General Clark befriended them and showed them everything of interest in the town. Two of the four fell ill and died. Before the remaining Indians departed General Clark gave a feast to them. It was at this feast that, in a farewell address to General Clark, one of the two poured forth his burden of sorrow in words of pathetic eloquence as follows : “I came to you over the trail of many moons from the setting sun. You were tlie friends of my fathers, who have all gone the long way. I came with an eye partly open for my people who sit in darkness. I go back with both eyes closed. How can I go back blind to my blind people? I made my way to you with strong arms through many enemies and strange lands that I might carry back much to them. I go back with both arms broken and empty ! Two fathers came with us; they were braves of many snows and wars. We leave them asleep here by your great water and teepees. They were tired in many moons, and their moccasins wore out. My people sent me to get the white man’s Book of Heaven. You took me to where you allow your women to dance, as we do not ours ; and the Book was not there! You took me to where they worship the Great Spirit with candles, and the Book was not there ! You showed me images of the Great Spirit and pictures of the Good Land beyond, but the Book was not among them to tell me the way. I am going back the long trail to my people in the dark land. You make my feet heavy with gifts, and my moccasins will grow old carrying them, and yet the Book is not among them! When I tell my poor, blind people after one more snow, in the big council, that I did not bring the Book, no word will be spoken by our old men or by our young braves. One by one they will rise up and go out in silence. My people will die in darkness, and they will go on a long path to other hunting grounds. No white man will go with them, and no white man’s Book to make the way plain. I have no more words.” Such evidence as we have confirms the statement that this speech was taken down by a clerk in the office and sent to Pittsburg. George Gatlin, the artist who painted the famous portraits of Indians, also confirmed facts connected with it. This Macedonian cry stirred the hearts of the people. The apparently fruitless search of the Nez Perce chiefs resulted in the establishing of the first Protestant mission west of the Rocky Mountains, the Methodist Episcopal Church furnishing the pioneer in this pathfinding expedition. A Stirring Appeal It was in response to a stirring appeal by Dr. Wil- bur Fisk in the Christian Advocate of New York that this far-distant field was entered. The words in which this statesman of the church wrote his message for the press are of interest to-day, as the prophecy of his far-seeing leadership is recalled. This was his summons and his challenge to faith: “Who will re- spond to the call from beyond the Rocky Mountains? We are having a mission established at once. Let two suitable men, unencumbered with families and pos- sessing the spirit of martyrs, throw themselves into the nation, live with them, learn their language, preach Christ to them, and, as the way opens up, in- troduce schools, agriculture, and the arts of civilized life. Money shall be forthcoming. I will be bonds- man for the Church. All we want is the men. Who will go? Bright will be his crown, glorious his re- ward.” Jason Lee Responds The Rev. Jason Lee, a young minister, the son of a Canadian pioneer, was the servant chosen of the 10 Lord for the task. He was at the time thirty-two years of age, hardy, experienced in lumber-camp work, and six feet three inches in height. With his nephew, also an ordained minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a lay associate, he became the herald of the gospel, the pioneer worker in the coun- try west of the Rocky Mountains, and the hero of one of the most remarkable transcontinental journeys in the history of American missions. Shipping their supplies around Cape Horn, these consecrated men took the overland journey to Oregon, occupying al- most five months. In the Willamette valley, sixty miles from Vancouver, they located the mission, which developed into an extensive work with twelve ministers and their families, and lay associates of physicians, teachers, and farmers. The devotion of the young missionary to his task is expressed in his exclamation: “Oh, that I could address the Indians in their own language ! My ardent soul longs to be sounding salvation in the ears of these Red Men. I trust I shall yet see many of them rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God.” This was not only the introduction of Protestant missions into Oregon but of civilization among the Indians. Thus the natives of the Willamette valley received the heralds of the gospel. Jason Lee, by importing cattle from California, making a trip east to interest the people and Con- gress, and bringing settlers with him, helped greatly to make Oregon a part of the United States. Dr. Lyman sums up the results of Lee’s work as follows : “To Jason Lee more than to any other one, unless we except Dr. Marcus Whitman, must be attributed the inauguration of that remarkable chain of cause and effect, a long line of sequence by which Oregon and the Pacific Coast in general became American possessions, and the international destiny of our na- tion was secured.” 11 Marcus Whitman The Nez Perces, however, were to wait only a short time for the fulfillment of their hopes, for the following spring the Rev. Samuel Parker, and a young physician named Marcus Whitman, were asked to explore the region and report. Marcus Whitman returned a favorable answer and made preparations to devote himself to the work. This began romantic- ally by his taking IMiss Narcissa Prentis as a wife, and enlisting in the cause the Rev. H. H. Spalding and his bride, the two couples making a honeymoon jour- ney of 2,000 miles, lasting seven months. These were the first two white women to cross the Rocky Moun- tains. On the Fourth of July they reached the Con- tinental Divide, where they raised the flag, and under its folds fell on their knees and took possession of the Pacific slope in the name of God and the United States. It was in 1871 that the American Bible Society took over the work of printing for the Nez Perces “The Book that makes the way plain.” Recently these In- dians, descendants of the disappointed company that traveled far in search of the white man’s Book of Heaven, have been pronounced by a government agent to be the most religious people he has ever known, the most devout Christians of our land. Sequoya and the Cherokee Scriptures The story of the Cherokee Scriptures is unique, a new syllabary invented by Sequoya, a member of the tribe, being the medium of communication. In the person of Sequoya and his work, original In- dian capacity and genius were evidenced. He was born in 1763, the son of a Cherokee mother and of a white man of German descent. His name was George Guess. He possessed a remarkable natural power of observation. He felt the superiority of the whites, and attributed this to their learning and ability to 12 read. He was himself illiterate, but he procured birch bark, wrote characters on it, and in a crude way he painted natural forms. He conceived the idea of in- venting characters to stand for sounds. Some letters he took from an English spelling book with which he had gained some familiarity, others from Greek, and worked out a syllabary of eighty-six characters. It took him two years to perfect his alphabet. He taught his six-year-old daughter to spell and read, and soon the people of his tribe flocked to him. He is the Indian Cadmus, original inventor of written language for the Red Man. Real genius must be con- ceded to him under the circumstances of his remark- able achievement. In 1831 the American Bible Society took over the work of printing Cherokee Scriptures in this sylla- bary; it now issues the whole New Testament and parts of the Old Testament in the Cherokee characters. These books have been a light to the path of large numbers of the Chero- kees. It was one of these, a woman converted by reading the Scriptures in her own language, who in 1835 sent her thanks to the Bible Society. She said: “My heart is glad for the books, and is full of love and thankfulness for them. I cannot speak how much we are all glad and thankful, and we pray much every day for those good people who are helping us to get the Word of God.” The Cherokee nation has become so far assimilated with the white popula- tion that one does not realize the struggles through which it passed in the early stages of its develop- ment. The Great Dakota Bible The greatest Indian translation of the whole Bible published by the American Bible Society is the Scriptures in the language of the Dakotas or Sioux of the Plains, the largest tribe of American Indians. It was the unremitting toil of Dr. Thomas S. William- 13 son and Dr. Stephen Riggs, along with their exact- ing and varied labors in missionary service for this tribe which accomplished the result of such far- reaching importance. The great work occupied mtfch of Dr. William- son’s time for forty years. To this he, with Dr. Riggs, gave every hour he could command, the two working in the utmost harmony, each revising the work of the other — the Rev. John P. Williamson, Dr. Williamson’s son, reviewing both. It is touching to read in the account of Dr. Riggs entitled, “Mary and I, or Forty Years Among the Sioux,’’ this brief statement of the close of their translation work. They had nearly reached the end of their labor of love when, in 1876, Dr. Williamson’s beloved wife, the light of his home, “went over the river to rest under the trees.” He grew homesick and longed to depart, but he said, “I would like to live until this translation is done. Then there will remain little or nothing for me, an old man and much worn, to do.” At length the work was completed, and soon thereafter he went quietly away, his name to be cherished, his influence to live, the fruitage of his work to increase until time shall end. The work was taken over by the Bible Society in 1839, and the complete Bible in Dakota was published forty years later, in 1879. When in 1886 an Indian Commissioner issued an order forbidding the Sioux to learn to read their own language, and his agents attempted to prevent re- ligious worship in that language. Chief Gray Cloud of Sisseton said, “I never saw a Dakota filling a re- sponsible position who had not first been educated in his own language and Christianized and so made re- liable.” When the Indians petitioned President Cleve- land to revoke the senseless and oppressive order they said : “By learning the Bible a good many of our peo- ple have been quieted down in Christian homes and civilized ways. The first scholars of the Dakota language, with the help of a little English, have be- come the trustworthy men of the different agencies ■ — ministers, teachers. Government clerks, farmers, citizens, and, above all, true Christians.” The Miracle Among the Sioux The change wrought in the Sioux tribes through the gospel is a miracle of divine power. The war whoop of these savages was once the haunting terror of life on the plains. In 1887 a man connected with Buffalo Bill’s show in London happened to see one of its Sioux Indians lying in his bunk and reading a book. He was curious to know what book could possibly hold the interest of the Indian, whom he had supposed to know nothing more than how to curdle the blood with the war whoop. Asking the Indian what book it was, he was allowed to take it. It was the Dakota Bible, which this young Christian Indian had sense enough to know could hold him, as moor- ings hold a ship, while he was exposed to the tempta- tion of the irresponsible life to which in ignorance he had bound himself. Many diverse influences have contributed to the civilization of the Sioux Indians, but the greatest of these influences is the Bible that has entered into their thought and cannot now be expelled. The truth was expressed a few years ago by the Rev. Mr. Cook (a Sioux presbyter in the Protestant Episcopal Church), when he said: “May God abundantly re- ward in the day of reckoning his two faithful ser- vants, Dr. Williamson and Dr. Riggs, who gave us the Holy Scriptures in our own tongue, thus helping to make us what we are and what in the future we shall be through His grace.” Muskogee, Creek, Arapahoe and Winnebago The Bible Society published the Gospel of Matthew in Muskogee, the language of the Creeks and the 15 Seminoles, in 1868. The whole New Testament was published in 1887. Dr. H. F. Buckner made the earliest translations. Rev. R. M. Loughridge, D.D., carried through the translation of Matthew and the first chapter of John. But the main work was done by the Rev. W. S. Roberston and Mrs. Robertson. To Mrs. Robertson is due the credit of having contributed by far the largest share of the trans- lation. Co-laboring with her husband while he was living, and having assistance from several Mus- kogee Christians, as well as from missionaries of various denominations, she had the ultimate joy of sharing with her beloved Indians the result of much toil and loving devotion — the completed New Testament. We know of the Creek War and the Seminole War. Long these tribes refused to listen to the missionaries, and lived in helpless wrath. They persecuted fiercely any of their number who accepted the religion of the hated white man. Yet, when after long, patient teaching by missionaries, the National Council of the Creeks was presented in 1868 by the Bible Society with a Bible, the Council voted henceforth to open its sessions by reading the Bible and prayer. It was a landmark of the progress of the tribes. The day of peace had fully dawned because they had taken knowledge of the Prince of Peace. Another still more recent experiment in Bible trans- lation is the Rev. J. Roberts’ Arapahoe Version of the Gospel of Luke, which was published by the Bible Society in 1903. For the Winnebagos the Four Gospels, the Acts, Genesis, and a part of Exodus, translated by the Rev. J. Stucki, were published in 1909 by the American Bible Society. Nor is it by versions in the Indian languages alone that the Bible Society has made the needs of such missions its own needs. Thousands of Bibles and 16 Testaments in English have been given to mission schools among the Indians. The Navaho Heathmen The latest instance and illustration of this power of the life-giving Divine Word read and preached from the open Book is shown among the Navaho tribe of Arizona and New Mexico. Numbering twenty-eight thousand souls, according to the imper- fect census and the estimate of the government, this, the second largest tribe of Indians of our land, has waited all of the decades of the past century since first coming into contact with men of a Christian race to have the Scriptures in their native tongue. The Navahos are heathen in the original sense of the word : they are heathmen. Their calling as shepherds in an arid country requires them to move from place to place. They camp for the time in the most con- venient region. Land is owned in common, but oc- cupation and improvements give a sort of title. Their nomadic life is one of the supreme difficulties in the way of their uplift by school, mission, or home im- provement. They are in the patriarchal stage of de- velopment, and their customs illuminate the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They are less demoralized by vicious whites than are other tribes. They have sturdy hearts, which make them at the same time harder to reach and better worth reaching than most aborigines. The Navahos are almost free from intemper- ance, but gambling has been their besetting sin. Fear of death and dread of evil spirits are specters of terror to them. Strong belief in witchcraft and in spirit manifestations, and the deification (as oc- casion may require it) of nearly every beastly object known to them, stamps their belief as not only primi- tive but pagan from start to finish, nowhere more fittingly and accurately described than in Romans 1 : 19 - 31 . 17 The American Bible Society has rendered a signal service by supplying a great need in the publication of the Navaho Scriptures. The translation was initi- ated by the Rev. Leonard P. Brink, of Tohatchi, New Mexico, who began with Genesis and Mark in 1910. The final work of putting the trans- lation into shape for the press was done by the Rev. F. G. Mitchell of Tolchaco, and the Rev. John Butler of Tuba, Ariz. The neglected condition of the tribe, and the im- mediate impression made by the new translation amongthese Navahos, is well presented in the follow- ing recent report from the Rev. Clarence N. Platt of Ganado Mission, Ariz: “Few of us who have been reared in a Christian environment can appreciate the tremendous step a Navaho takes when he renounces paganism and em- braces Christianity. On one of our visits to a Navaho ‘hogan,’ or hut, last summer, an old man on hearing the gospel kept repeating after my interpreter the names ‘God’ and ‘Jesus,’ as it was the first time he had heard them. ‘Whom do you pray to ?’ we asked. ‘Oh, I pray to the dawn, to the mountain, to the sun and stars,’ said he. ‘I am not a medicine man, so I do not know many prayers, but I use corn powder when I pray . ’ The N avaho s sprinkle finely-ground com meal in the direction of the deity to whom they pray, to show their peaceful relation to him. ‘Well,’ said I, ‘the mountain, the dawn, the sun and the stars have no ears to hear you, no heart to love you, and no hands to stretch out to help you. But God has all of these.’ ‘Oh,’ said the old man, ‘I pray to all those things so I may be sure not to miss God.’ Besides such pantheistic belief as this, the Navahos have a number of mystical beings to whom they pray. Some are pictured in the sand by their medicine men and prayed to with elaborate ceremonies lasting a number of days. The treatment of the sick by their medicine 18 men is a grossly superstitious religious ceremony, an effort to propitiate or to drive out the evil spirit or spirits supposed to be causing the ailment. Their singing and dancing all have some religious signifi- cance and many of their ceremonies are occasions for large social gatherings. Hence, for a Navaho to break with paganism and embrace Christianity is to become ostracized socially and to be made an object of ridi- cule and persecution. Victorious Conquest over Paganism “The results of evangelistic meetings, therefore, during the past few months, have given us much rea- son for rejoicing. In August the Rev. F. G. Mitchell came here, introducing the advance copies of the Navaho Bible recently received from the press of the American Bible Society. From these he read to audiences on two successive Sundays, closing with an evangelistic message at the morning services. An afternoon meeting was also held each Sunday and opportunity for personal testimony was given, fol- lowed by an invitation to begin the Christian life. At least five Navahos took a definite stand and more than half the audience on the second Sunday came forward to show their belief in the truth as presented. On November 29th Mr. W. R. Johnston and the Rev. F. G. Mitchell conducted meetings morning and after- noon. A large majority came forward at the after- noon meeting and this time signified their purpose to ‘take hold of God’s way,’ as they expressed it, thus making an advance beyond the stand taken at the August meeting. “Thus far the books of Genesis, Jonah, Mark, John, the first eight chapters of Romans and por- tions of the Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Luke, Acts and Revelation have been translated. A number of mis- sionaries and mission interpreters have had a part in this translation. 19 “We wish it had been possible for others to share with us the joy of witnessing the intense interest on the faces of the Navahos as they heard Mr. Mitchell read Navaho from a printed page for the first time in their lives. The fact that it was the story of how God created the world added to their interest, for they have their own tradition of the creation, passed down by word of mouth from generation to genera- tion. We have used very profitably the advance copies of Genesis in our ‘hogan’ preaching. “Only those on the field who know the immoral environment of the Navahos can appreciate how tre- mendous is the task of so nurturing our new con- verts with the ‘sincere milk of the word,’ that in time of temptation they may be fortified with God’s precious promises and may withstand the assaults of the adversary.” To a missionary at Tuba, Ariz., on the Navaho Reservation, a hundred miles from civilization, came an aged man last year. He had been attending Sun- day services and in his deliberate way had now ar- rived at a conclusion regarding “the message of the Book” which he had heard and pondered. These were his words through the interpreter as he an- nounced to the “Sunday-man” his conversion. “Tell the missionary I am done with the old reverence for the coyote, the rattlesnake, the bat and the owl (the four things that the Navahos hold in superstitious fear). I am ready to take the ‘Jesus road.’ And I have come a long distance over the trail to-day to learn more of the new way.” This gray-haired Navaho, just taking his first steps on the upward trail, learning of the new faith, has a long way to travel, and yet the transformation already has been great. Faith in the old Indian religion has been de- stroyed, hope and endeavor in the direction of Chris- tian truth and the religion of the Book have been es- tablished. 20 "It Pulls My Heart” Greatest of the gifts which the paleface has passed on to the Red Man is the religion of the Book. Said old Monatave, a chief of the Mohaves : “When you read out of that Book I know it is God’s book, for it pulls my heart.” A missionary of the Bible Society engaged in work in New Mexico and Arizona reports recently the sell- ing of a number of copies of the Scriptures to the In- diems with whom he comes in contact along the rail- road and away from the reservations. A New Tes- tament was accepted in exchange for a piece of pot- tery which one of the Indians was endeavoring to sell to tourists at the station. In an Arizona town a full-blood Navaho who had received a government school education but was still a man of the wild was surprised when the colporteur told him that he could furnish him a copy of the Scriptures in Navaho. When the Navaho editions of Genesis and the Gospel of Mark were produced he was delighted and will- ingly paid for them. President Roosevelt’s Testimony President Roosevelt, when governor of the state of New York, in an address to the members of the Ecumenical Conference on Foreign Missions, in 1900, referring to an extended trip he had made among the Indians, said : “I spent twice the time I intended because I be- came so interested, and I traveled all over the res- ervations to see what was being done, especially by the missionaries, because it needed no time at all to see that the great factors in the uplifting of the In- dian were the men who were teaching the Indian to become a Christian citizen.” The original occupation and crafts of the Indians were all associated with religious ideas, and received their meaning and inspiration from their religious 21 faith. Their ancient industrial system has been broken up by the new order and their changed en- vironment. Robbed of the old faith which progres- sive and educated Indians can no longer believe, they are bereft unless they embrace the new. It is our duty to give the new religious and ethical sig- nificance to all life and its occupations. Now the contest, which must be unremitting, is to be completed. It is the contest of the Faith brought by the white man, grappling with a paganism hoary with age, with superstitions to which the Red race has clung for all the generations. It is the contest of revealed religion with nature worship, with heathen practices and the rites of the shamans of the tribe, the medicine men who rule and terrify by means of their ignorant priestcraft. Leaders of the Future The leaders of the race will be the young Chris- tians of this generation, and the Word of God is the weapon with which they will conquer the re- maining superstition, ignorance and paganism of their people. Indian student delegates to the Student Volun- teer Convention held in Kansas City in January, 1914, adopted this significant resolution; “We de- sire to express our appreciation and gratitude for the work that has been and is being done among our people by the Christian workers from the various denominations. “We have come to realize through contact with workers of other races that the greatest need of the Indian to-day is Christian civilization ; that the solv- ing of the Indian problem lies in the fact that the In- dian must be not only educated but led to accept the Son of God and the Saviour of the world as his per- sonal Saviour. “We also realize that this can be done more cf- 22 fectively by Indian students who are imbued with the spirit of Christ and who are ready and willing to evangelize their own people in this generation. “We therefore offer ourselves and our services to teach our Indian brothers and sisters, the way, the truth, and the life of Jesus Christ.” Dr. William Hanna, the Scotch theologian, ex- pressed the truth which needs to be impressed upon the Indian Christian to-day : “Originally the Church of Christ was one large company of missionaries of the cross, each member feeling that to him a portion of the great task of evangelizing the world was com- mitted; and it will be just in proportion as the com- munity of the faithful, through all its parts, in all its members, comes to recognize this to be its function and attempts to execute it that the expansive power that once belonged to it will return again.” The accomplishment of this personal evangelism and native responsibility among the Indians of our land rests largely in the translation, publication and circulation of the Scriptures in their own language. The Bible in the life of the Indians to-day is the hope of the native American race, 23 Price List of Scriptures Published by the American Bible Society for Indians in the United States Arap«hoe No. 1 ARAPAHOE Weight Packed for Shippiag PEICa LBS oz ST. LUKE. 18mo, 4^x6^, cloth, red ed. $0 SO - 44 CHEROKEE Cherokee No. 1 NEW TESTAMENT. 12mo, 6x744, roan, plain edge tO 70 -124 Cherokee No. 2 NEW TESTAMENT. 12mo, 5x744, texo- derm (see footnotet), plain edge OS -124 CHOCTAW ChoctarrNo. 1 NEW TESTAMENT. 12mo, 6 x 7, texo- derm (see footnotet), plain edge $0 08 1- 4 Choctaw No. 2A PENTATEUCH. 18mo, 444 i 7, texo- derm (see footnotet), plain edge 1 S6 1-3 Choctaw No. 3 JOSHUA TO II. KINGS. 18mo, 444x7, roan, plain edge 66 -13 Choctaw No. 4 PSALMS. 18mo, 444x7, cloth, cut flush, red edge 17 -54 DAKOTA Dakota No. 0 BIBLE. Quarto, 844 x 1044, morocco, gold edge SO S6 6-8 Dakota No. 7 BIBLE. Quarto, 844x1044, roan, pebbled, gold edge 4 86 6-8 Dakota No. 8 BIBX.E. 18mo, 644 x 744, roan, flexible, round corners, red under gold edge (Dutch paper) 1 86 1-9 Dakota No. 2 A BIBLE, 18mo, 544 x 744, roan, flexible, di- vinity circuit, round corners, red under gold edge (2>«tc7t paper) t 16 -12 Dakota No. lA BIBLE. 18mo, 4x7, roan, round corners, gold edge 1 66 2-14 Dakota No. 1 BIBLE. 18mo, 4x7, roan, sprinkled edge.. 1 26 2-14 Dakota No. 2 OLD TESTAMENT. (In part.) 18mo, 4 x 7, roan, sprinkled edge 60 1-64 Dakota No. 2B NEW TESTAJdENT. 18mo, 6 x 744, roan, flexible, divinity circuit, round cor- ners, red under gold edge (Dutch paper) 106 -10 Dakota No. 2C NEW TESTAMENT. 18mo, 6x744. roan, flexible, round corners, red under gold edge (X>«tc7i paper) 76 -10 Dakota No. 3 NEW TESTAMENT. 18mo, 4x7, roan, sprinkled edge 47 -104 Dakota No. 4 PSALMS. 18mo, 44 x 7, roan, sprinkled edge 20 -54 Dakota No. 5 GOSPELS AND PSALMS. 1 volume, 18mo, 446 X 7, cloth, red edge 30 - 9 t TEXODERM.— A Bubatitute for leather and more durable than roan. Haskogee No. 1 Hoikogee No. 2 Hotkoge* No. 3 Haakogee No. 4 ■oakogee No. 6 Moakogee No. 6 Haakogee No. 7 Haakogee No. 8 Haakogee No. 9 MUSKOGEE NEW TESTAMENT. 18mo, texoderm (see footnote +), sprinkled edge Weight Packed for Shipping PRICE LBS oz $0 68 1 - 1 GENESIS, PSALMS, AND NEW TESTA- MENT. 1 volume. 18mo, 4Mx6M, morocco, divinity circuit, round cor- ners, red under gold edge 2 40 1-10 GENESIS, PSALMS. AND NEW TESTA- MENT. 18mo, roan, plain edge 76 - 6 GENESIS, PSALMS. AND NEW TESTA- MENT. 18mo, 4M X 044 , texoderm (see footnotet), sprinkled edge 68 - 6 GENESIS. 18mo, 4)4x6}4, cloth, cut flush, red edge 14 - 5 PSALMS. 18mo, 4)4 cloth, cut flush, red edge 17 - 6f SEVEN EPISTLES OF PAUL. 1 volume, 18mo, 4J4 x 6J4. cloth, cut flush, red edge 20 - 2+ GALATIANS. 16mo, il4 x 644, paper, cut flush, plain edge 6 - U I. AND II. PETER, JUDE. AND REVE- LATION. 1 volume, 16mo, 4^x644, cloth, cut flush, red edge 20 - 34 NAVAHO Navaho No. 1 GENESIS AND ST. MARK. 8vo, 544x844, cloth, red edge $0 17 - 7 OJIBWA OJlbwalo. 1 NEW TESTAMENT. 12mo, 444x7. roan. sprinkled edge $1 86 1- 1 SENECA Saneca No. 1 THE FOUR GOSPELS. 1 volume, 12mo, I4i 1 744. roan, plain edge $160 -lU WINNEBAGO Winnebago No. 1 SCRIPTURES. (Genesis, Part of Exo- dus, Gospels, and The Acts.) l«mo, 444 X 644. texoderm (see footnotet), sprinkled edge $0 40 -12 t TEXODERM.— A sobstltuCe for leather and more durable than roan. A CENTURY of THE AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY It was founded May 8, 1816, and attained its Century May 8. 1916 WHAT IT HAS DONE* IN GENERAL It has held strictly to, and greatly accomplished the one grand work for which it was instituted — the wider circula- tion of the Scriptures without note or comment. It has drawn the denominations together in this great work, becoming thereby a bond of unity, a pioneer in co-oper- ation. “The Bible Society undergirds and strengthens all other organizations and movements in our all-embrac- ing Christianity.” (J. R. Mott.) It has furnished and furnishes missionaries, home and for- eign, with the chief implement of their work — the Bible. It has circulated, and grants, the Scriptures to all people without denominational or racial discrimination. With European Bible Societies it has made the Bible the cheapest and most ubiquitous book in the world — a price- less boon to the poor; in scores of languages a Gospel may be had for 1 cent or less. IN PARTICULAR Languages It circulates the Bible in more than 150 languages and types: in the United States in 1915 it issued Scriptures in 98 lan- guages: abroad it issued Scriptures in 91 languages. It has aided the translation or revision of the Scriptures in more than 80 languages; e. g., first giving the Scriptures to American Indians in 5 of their languages, to the Philip- pine Islanders in 8 of their languages. It issues thousands of Bibles for the blind : English in three systems — Line Letter, Point Print and Braille ; Arabic in two systems ; Spanish, Armenian, Armeno- Turkish, Japanese, Korean, Siamese, one system each. It prints the Bible in 45 languages, at the Bible House, New York. Issues It issued, in 1915, at home, 2,707,971 volumes; abroad, 5,053,406; a total of 7,761,377 volumes. Since its birth in 1816, it has issued in the United States, 71,536,305 Scriptures; in foreign lands, 46,151,286: a total of 117,687,591 volumes — a stupendous accomplishment. Specitl Classes Special classes and special emergencies have been met by special provision: in the Civil War it distributed 3,000,- 000 volumes to Northern soldiers and over 300,000 vol- umes to Southern soldiers, through the co-operation of Northern and Southern military authorities; in the Russo- Japanese War it provided Scriptures for tens of thou- sands of Japanese and Russian soldiers: in the present war it has supplied hundreds of thousands of Testaments and Gospels to the soldiers in Europe. A special Agency cares for the colored people: immigrants are provided with the Scriptures in their own languages, Bibles being distributed in 89 foreign languages in 1914. It has sought out, and brings the Bible to, the poor, the ignorant, the untaught; prisoners, strangers, travelers; the destitute and unchurched classes. Finance la 1915 its charges on account of the translation, printing, and circulatioi of Scriptures in the United States and abroad were $823,234. In its 100 years, as almoner for the American people, it has received and spent over $38,500,000. Where and How? This great work is being prosecuted on 5 Continents and the Islands of The Seven Seas: it is done through 12 Agencies abroad with 1,661 workers, and 9 Agencies in America ,, with 496 workers : it is done through individuals, churches, Sunday schools, societies, hospitals, minis- ters, evangelists, missionaries. Thus it has helped thousands, known and unknown, to Him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. The Need Is Still Great The Home Agencies found 59,597 families without a Bible in 1915 ; hundreds of thousands still need the Gospel. Abroad, hundreds of millions have not yet heard that there is a Gospel. Opportunities, in some instances unprecedented, are now open in China, Japan, Korea, the South American Republics, Central America, the Canal Zone and the Island possessions of the United States. The Society’s budget for the ensuing year is $652,300. From invested funds about one-sixth of this amount will come. Legacies can be relied on for a part. Sales will bring in more. But a chief financial resource of the So- ciety for this world-wide, soul-saving, life-blessing work, is its living, generous friends. ARE YOU AMONG THEM? AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY Bible House. Astor Place. New York Home Atfencies Colored People of the South, Rev. J. P. Weaog. D.D. 35 Gammon Ave.. Atlanta. Ga. KorthiBestem Agency. Rev. S. H. Kirkbridb, D.D. McCormick Building:. 332 Sontb Michigran Ave.. Ctaicagro. 111. South Atlantic Agency, Rev. M.B. Porter 205 North Fifth Street, Richmond, Va. Western Agency, Rev. Arthur F. Ragatz, D.D. Y. M. C. A. Building:, Lincoln St. and 16th Ave., Denver, Colo. Pacific Agency, Rev. A. Westey Mele 200-210 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, Cal. Southwestern Agency, Rev. J. J. Morgan 1304 Commerce Street, Dallas, Texas. Eastern Agency, Rev, Henry J. Scudder, B.D. 137 Montagnie Street, Brooklyn, N. Y. Central Agency, Rev, George S. J. Browne, D.D. 424 Elm Street, Cincinnati, O. Atlantic Agency, Rev, Leighton W. Eceard, D.D. 701 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. Foreign Atfencies Levant Agency, Rev. Marcellos Bowen, D.D.* Bible House, Constantinople, Turkey La Plata Agency, Rev. Francis G. Penzotti Box 304, Lavalle 1467, Buenos Ayres, Argentina Japan Agency, Herbert W. Schwartz, M.D. 53 Main Street, Yokohama, Japan China Agency, Rev. John R. Hykes, D.D. 73 Szechuen Road, Shang:hal. China Brasil Agency, Rev. H. C. Tucker Caixa do Correlo,454, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Mexico Agency I ^ w n Tr. West Indies Agency I uval’de St.,^n\ntonio. Tex.. U. S. A. Korea Agency, Rev. S. A. Beck Seoul, Korea Venezuela Agency, Rev. Gerard A. Bailly Apartado de Correo 419, Caracas, Venezuela Siam Agency, Rev. Robert Irwin 426 Pramuen Road, Bang:kok, Slam Central America and Panama Agency, Rev. James Haytbr Cristobal. Canal Zone Philippines Agency, Rev. J. L. McLaughlin Box 755, ManUa, P. I. •Died October 3. 1916. 12, 16): 2m. CENTENNIAL PAMPHLETS SMALL QUARTO (7K x 8^) 1 The Bible, the Book of Mankind, by Prof. B. B. Warfield, D.D., LL.D. 16 pages. 2 The Bible in Europe, by Prof. A. Kuyper, D.D. , LL.D., of Holland. 12 pages. 3 The Greek Testament, The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople with the collaboration of the Bishop of Nicea, the Bishop of Sardis and the Bishop of Seleucia. 12 pages. 4 The Hebrew Bible, by Rev. S. B. Rohold, F.R.G.S., of Toronto. 12 pages. 5 The Birthplace of the Bible Society, and other historical papers. 28 pages. 6 Facts and Achievements of the Century. 32 pages. 7 Tableaux of The Bible Among the Nations. 20 pages. 11 Around the World for the Centennial, illustrated, by Rev. William Ingraham Haven, D.D. 116 pages. SMALL OCTAVO {5x7'/) 10. The Bible Among the Nations, by Rev. Henry Otis Dwight, LL.D. 32 pages. 12 The American Bible Society in China, by Rev. John R. Hykes, D.D. 54 pages. 13 The Bible in Korea, by Rev. George Heber Jones, D.D. 20 pages. 14 The Bible in the Life of the Indians of the United States, by Rev. Thomas C. Moffett, D.D. 28 pages. 15 The Bible in Bruil, by Rev. Hugh C. Tucker. 28 pages. 16 Spiritual Victories in Latin America: Mr. Penzotti’s Autobiography. 74 pages. 17 Light After Dark Centuries in the Philippines. 20 pages. 18 The Bible in the Land of the White Elephant — Siam. 20 pages. 19 The American Bible Society in India. 20 pages. 20 Specimen Verses of Scripture in Languages and Dialects. 60 pages. 21 List of Printed Versions, by Bernhard Pick, Ph.D., D.D. (/« preparation .) 22 Translations of the Scriptures into the Languages of China and Her Dependencies, by Rev. John R. Hykes, D.D. 40 pages 23 The Bible in Bible Lands — History of the Levant Agency, by Rev. Marcellos Bowen, D.D. 40 pages. Slnirle ropl<>< of the^p pamphlets maj be had, postpaid, for h cents each : In quantities of lU or more at 3 rents each. Order from The Secretaries. Anierlran Bible Sorletjr, .Astor Flare, >ew York City, or from .Ygenry Secretaries.