AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCATION, 56 READE ST, N. Y.
BUREAL OF WOMAN'S WORK
Miss /). AE, AEmerson, Secretary.
THE INDIAN WOMAN.
BY MISS SUSAN WEBB.
It is six years this month since I went to Santee to work among the
Indians. I was ignorant of everything in regard to the work and people,
hardly knowing where Santee was, and knowing far less of the Indians
than can any one in this house to-day. But I have now six years of knowl-
edge, six years of rich, happy experience that I would not exchange for
any price. Now what have I been learning It seems to me that I can
hear many answer this question, saying, “Wasted years; might have been
better spent than in learning the ignorance, treachery, filth and good-for-
nothingness of the poor Indian.”
It is a shame that so many of us are ready to turn the cold-shoulder,
mistreat and believe no good of our Indians. I have learned better things
of them than many could be persuaded to believe, and in speaking to you
of my experience I will present several leading thoughts, and then give
some simple facts and incidents in our life at Santee, leaving you to make
your own conclusions, and believing that God will direct me to say just
the things you need to know and that will give you the truest impressions
of our work. - - -
1st. I have learned that the Indian is a human being, with the attributes
of such a being, capable of being Christianized, civilized and educated.
2d. That as such a being he has not had a fair chance; he has been
abused, mistreated, neglected and weakened. Had our government begun
years ago the policy of education which it is now just beginning, how
much money might have been saved; how much better and sooner the
result gained for which we are working.
3d. The Indian is a child, and, as such, needs patient, kind, persevering,
loving, reasonable management, and for this purpose the best teachers,
the most devoted Christians and the most earnest and self-sacrificing
workers. I am glad I can say right here that many such are in the work.
Fina/y. Treated as a human being, given a fair chance and led by true
men and women, the grace of God and the power of the Spirit may do as
much for the Indians as for any other people,

2
Oh, that I had the power to transport you to Santee and to cause vividly
and impressively to be brought before you the growth, changes and work
in all its details that have been going on there in these six years!
But travel with me for three days and nights half way across our great
country until we come to the Missouri River, thirty miles from Yankton,
D. T. Before crossing that miserable river to Santee in Nebraska, while
driving from the station to the river any stranger's attention would be
attracted by a group of very pleasant buildings on a beautiful and sightly
eminence in a country of rolling prairie, the hills of which fill one with
curiosity to see over them ; but many miles might be traveled without this
view. -
Would you like to cross the river as I did three years ago? I would
like to have you. There was a pouring rain, and as I ran after my Indian
guide and boatman I came to the river bank so slippery with mud it
seemed impossible to descend, but in the most gallant manner he made
steps with his oar for me, and I went down most easily; he had taken an
armful of hay on the way, which he placed in the bottom of his dug-out or
canoe for me to sit on. Could a white man have been more polite? I
went to his house to wait for him to harness his team to take me the two
miles to the mission, and as I was getting into the wagon his wife came
running out of the house with a blanket to put around me.
As we came to the group of buildingsit seemed almost like a little town,
and as such the Indians are proud to speak of it. This little town, as it
appears now, consists of twelve buildings: The Mission House, The
Dakota Home, Bird's Nest, Chapel and large barn, on one side of the road
that leads to the Agency; the Hall, Cottage, blacksmith's shop, shoe shop
and carpenter's shop (the two latter combined) on the opposite side. A
little back and to one side of these last named buildings are three little
cottages for our married students. The Hall, Cottage, Bird's Nest and
Dakota Home are the scholars' boarding-homes, the two former for the
young men and boys, the two latter for the girls and young ladies. I must
not forget the large dining hall, which in an unfinished state looms up
above all the other buildings.
One day, before leaving Santee, I was standing in the yard with a group
of girls around me. The question arose as to why I was going away again.
As the most practical way of bringing it before their minds, I said “I am
going East to tell the people all about our school and work here, so
they will want to give us money to finish that dining hall.” That they
could appreciate and exclaimed “That's good, oh, that's good,” and were
satisfied that I should go. You cannot realize our great need for this hall

J.
until I tell you our scholars are coming in so fast that unless it is finished
soon we shall have no room for them.
Right here I must give you two little incidents, showing the appreciation
the parents feel, and the sacrifices they are willing to make to have their
children in school. Last February four little girls came to the Bird's Nest
for three years from Oahe, 250 miles above us on the Missouri River. This
last September the Annual Conference of our Dakota churches met thirty
miles from Santee. The parents of these little girls attended it. They
wanted to see their children, but they thought about it and concluded they
would not go to see them, because, they said, “The children will cry and
we can never leave them if they do,” so went on their long journey with-
out a sight of their children, who are the sweetest of little girls. Could you
have done more for the future good of your children 2 One morning I had
a call from the father of two of our girls who had just put his youngest
into the Bird's Nest. He said he was going home, but wanted to say to
me before going how happy he felt to have his girls in school learn-
ing all the good ways of the white people. He said he was often sad and
lonely and wanted to see them, but he remembered how much they were
gaining, and was glad, and this man only an Indian and ten or fifteen years
ago one of the medicine-men and a heathen. Are we working for nothing 2
Do not deceive yourselves in the thought that these people do not care for
their children; they love them devotedly. Six years ago, of the buildings I
have named, only four were built, the Mission House, the Home, the Chapel.
much smaller than now, and the Hall. The growth of buildings has been
accompanied by the growth of scholars in numbers and spiritual, mental
and physical progress. The standard of the school is much higher than it
used to be; and we are helped much more by the parents in the discipline
and government of the scholars. Formerly running away was quite com-
mon, and the scholars were encouraged in it by their people at home and
their associates in school; now it is regarded as a disgrace, and a scholar
is made to feel very much ashamed if he does such a thing. The disfavor
or disgrace is often punishment enough for such an offense.
At first it seemed as if every nerve had to be strained to keep our
scholars in school, by main force as it were, and the little strength that
remained could be spent in a mere appearance of teaching. Now they
seem to be drawn by desires within, and our first power and strength can
be given to teaching in all its varied aspects and high mission,
We do not find them stupid, but on the contrary bright and teachable;
they are slow and have little idea of steady application in work or study,
and why should they have? They have never had to work, they have

4.
never had anything in their lives to make them hurry or to help them to feel
the necessity of getting one duty done to make time for another. They are
keen observers, nothing ever escapes them, no one ever comes among us
without seeing some peculiarity and trying to mimic it. And they have
good memories.
A large girl has just come into the Home. A lady missionary who
knew something of her childhood gave us an incident of her first meeting
with her. She, with a native helper, had been visiting from tent to tent
through quite a large village of heathen Indians; from one of the tents
this child came running out and saluted them with the question, Have you
visited all the tents? When they said yes, she quietly remarked, “Well,
you must be full,” judging that they had eaten at every tent, as is cus-
tomary among Indians.
Every one who has worked in an Indian school must have experienced
to his sorrow the clanishness of the scholars. O, how my girls used to
trouble me in this way when I first went among them. If a girl deserved
punishment and received it, I was surrounded by rebellious spirits who
were ready to take up arms against me in the defense of their companion,
who seemed to them the most abused of mortals. Now I can reprove and
punish and all will uphold me, feeling that it is right and that the guilty one
is really in the wrong. I well remember one of the most sorry times of
this kind that I ever had. It was at a time of a large family reunion at Mr.
Riggs', and a little party was made for the white children; in order that
there might be no reason for any feeling of neglect on the part of the
Indian girls, a little frosted cake was made for each one, but that was not
enough, a spirit of jealousy was excited and a leader headed a rebellion
and despised the nice cakes, which for punishment of such a spirit were
taken away from them. At this, jealousy gave way to wrath, and the rebel-
lion increased and had to be quelled by the rod, beginning with the leaders
and going through the clan until the spirit was brought under. A few
such times I have had, but not lately.
Among heathen Indians, as among all ignorant people, the great cry
is, “What will you give me?” If I come to school or prayer-meeting or
church, how much will you pay me? The favor is all to you, they acknowl-
edge no sacrifice or effort on your part. This feeling is very characteristic
in the early days of a school like ours. What the scholars could get out of
us was the measure of the benefit derived from the school; now they look
higher and there is a great change. A very simple incident of this kind I
had only a few days after my return to Santee. Saturday evening at tea
I said to my girls, If you need handkerchiefs, collars or hair libbons for

5
Sunday, I want you to ask me this evening and not leave it until Sunday
morning. At one time I should have been beset with wants; in fact I could
not have made such a statement. As it was I had one request for a hair
ribbon, several for collars and handkerchiefs. It must be remembered
that I spoke to fifteen girls who had just come into school or had been in
only a few weeks.
The little children are tractable, bright and easily managed; the older
ones are more willful, stubborn and obstinate; to them law, order and con-
trol are most foreign. I often look at my big girls with utter astonish-
ment to see how well they do; girls who have always had their own way
and wandered at their own sweet wills now brought within an inclosure of
a few acres, forbidden to go outside without permission. It is no slight
change. Only a short time before I came away a girl who had been a
homeless wanderer came in the most orderly manner to ask me if she
could go to see a friend whose house is just outside the yard. I could not
but be impressed with the difference in her life and the change in the
school. In the first days of my experience such a girl would have had
to have many lessons before she would have learned to ask permission.
A few years ago a girl naturally very stubborn reasoned herself out of
such a spell in a most remarkable manner. A piece of work was required
of her contrary to her wishes, which was to finish a new dress for Sunday.
She went up stairs very much out of sorts, determined not to do what was
required of her. While there she looked out of the window and saw
a horse on the hill balking; his master was beating him but he would not
move. The sight seemed to bring her to herself and she burst into loud
and repeated laughter. She reasoned, “I am like that horse,” gave up her
will, and went down to her required task.
My days and evenings are often spent in carrying out plans for the social
improvement and enjoyment of the older boys and girls. I feel this a very
important part of my work as mother to twenty or more young ladies.
Any helps to this end, in suggestions, picture-books, stereoscopic views or
games which have been laid away will be very acceptable.
These young people have no true ideas of pure social intercourse. There
is a slyness and sheepishness in all their relations to each other. This is
especially true of the girls. To hang their heads and draw their shawls over
their faces in the presence of the opposite sex are characteristics as natural
to Indian girls as to eat and drink. They are the natural results of their
degraded, slavish condition, which will take generations to eradicate. So
for an Indian girl to wear a hat means a good deal. We never allow op-
portunities to slip to instill open gentlemanly treatment on the part of the

6
young men toward the girls. I remember talking with one of our best
young men, praising him for his polite, gentlemanly touch of his hat in
saluting me, but reproving him for meeting one of his young lady friends
and passing her with never a look.
A week could be spent at Santee in seeing the various aspects of the
work. There is a degree of sameness to the days, still there are different
features entering into each day. There are the school and shops to visit.
two sessions and classes in each; the four homes with their routine of work
and never without a few pupils, except during the half hour of chapel exer-
cises in the morning, or when in the hours of recreation a teacher has
taken her girls to gather plums or grapes or simply for a walk. The care
is constant, the work steady and the responsibility great; but it pays, yes,
a thousand times over it pays, for we are working for immortal souls, and
the work that perhaps seems fruitless now will tell in the future. Our care
is like a mother's with any children. We are often called up at night on
account of sickness and have care of sick ones during the days. It is, “put
on your shawl,” “keep out of the wet,” “don't sit on the damp ground,”
from morning till night—care of soul, mind and body, and every nerve
strained to best develop each.
If I can see progress and cause for encouragement in my six years, what
must have been the joy and satisfaction of the much lamented father of the
Dakota Mission, Dr. Riggs, in his more than forty years' retrospect
My workin the Home is an example of life in the various buildings. My
day begins at half-past five and ends atten, often later. It is crowded with
constant supervision of the girls in their work and play. I have a very ca-
pable Indian girl as assistant, she is growing in usefulness and is very faith-
ful. The girls do all their own work except washing; all their sewing with
the exception of some clothing sent to us from time to time by kind friends.
And I can assure you it always comes most acceptably and bridges over many
hurried and destitute places, particularly in the opening of school, when
our houses are filling with scholars in need of everything. -
The work is divided among the girls and is changed every month. The
cook, dining-room girl and bread maker, are the early girls. I have to call
them or they would be up too early or late. We breakfast about seven,
after which we have prayers, and then the work must be done up before
nine o'clock, when all the scholars are called together for chapel exercises.
At half-past nine come eight or ten girls to be set to work and kept at
work all the morning; the latter is harder than the former. The work con-
sists of sewing, cooking, washing, ironing, mopping or cleaning as the day
may be, each day having its different work, as in every household. In the

7
afternoon these girls are in school and another class are at home for work.
School is in session from nine to twelve and from half-past one to half-past
four. After half-past four is recreation time until six, the tea hour. Every
evening an hour or more is given to study. So our days are full for teach-
ers and scholars, without mentioning the many interruptions of missionary
work outside of our school. There are always sick to be visited, the dead
and dying to be attended to, and numerous calls from the forlorn and aged.
We never ignore or slight these interruptions, for they are the links which
bind us to this people and give us access to their hearts. In many of
these calls I often wish I might have the out-grown, half-worn and laid-
aside garments of babies, children and older persons, which accumulate in
many households. I pity the very old ones, their begging for a little tea or
sugar or an old dress does not seem out of order, for they have had hard
lives and have no place or consideration at home.
Wednesday afternoon is our Woman's Missionary Prayer and Sewing
Meeting. Our women at Santee raised eighty dollars this last year to help
on the work among the wilder and more heathen tribes.
There is a Woman's Society connected with each of our Dakota
Churches, and this last year they have raised over four hundred dollars for
native mission churches and helpers, only one hundred dollars less than
has been raised for similar purposes by the Ladies' Circles connected with
the white churches in Dakota Territory.
The growth of many of these women in their Christian lives is very
marked, as I have seen them in these six years, and these meetings are one
means of growth. -
That this steady drill tells, that progress is made and true characters are
being formed, may be shown in the following simple incidents:
An older girl was left in charge of the girls during the absence of some
of the teachers. In the early part of the evening something occurred to
frighten them; the girl called them all together for their evening prayers,
and told their Heavenly Father that Mr. Riggs was away and many of
the teachers, that they were only little children, were afraid and wanted
Him to care for them. This was their comfort and retreat.
The little girls in the Bird's Nest are given, with particular explanation,
some very short text each morning or week to help them to be good. One
morning a little girl found her work a burden and felt inclined to shirk,
when her text came to her rescue and she vent cheerfully about her task,
repeating, “Even Christ pleased not himself."
When I meet Eastern friends and strangers, many of them so ignorant,
indifferent and not disposed to believe any good of Indians, expressing a
- farm
1986
[ſ)e.
8
fear of them and disgust at the thought of being brought in contact with
them, the faces, lives and progress of my dark-skinned friends come before
me and I feel sad; and yet I am very glad and thankful for the few kind
friends who have helped so bravely in the darker days. How impressively
is stamped on my mind the face of that sad and heart-broken Ponca Indian
as he told his pitiful story of the nice church, school and homes they once
had, and how he was beginning to believe in a God and Father when the
white man drove them away and took all their good things from them,
adding in a discouraged tone, “I don't believe in a God now.” Was it
not enough to shatter any one's faithin the white man's God? -
But my story is endless; so with a few words in regard to our needs I
will leave it, trusting you have heard enough to desire to adopt in your
Sunday-schools and Societies Miss Emerson's plan for shares in support
of teachers, and so to receive a monthly letter from the field.
Our needs are those of constantly replenishing a large household in uten-
sils, clothing and food. Besides these common, every day needs, in order
to keep up our school and furnish useful occupations for our pupils, we
always have a few special wants. At present a large one seems to be a
printing-office for our paper and to furnish another trade to our boys.
In closing this little sketch of my experience, it gives me pleasure to
express the gratitude and satisfaction I feel every day in being allowed to
be one of the workers in this branch of God's vineyard. Many speak of it
as a self-denying work; but I often wonder if there is something wrong
about me or my field that I do not feel it to be more of a sacrifice.
To the young ladies especially I eannot forbear speaking of the joy and
blessedness of having a mission in life, a part to do in lifting up God's poor
degraded sons and daughters. How much of such work there is to be done
everywhere! Are you doing all you can 2 Are you denying yourselves in
order to do? We need more workers at home as well as more in mission
fields, and more money to work with. We are thankful for all that has
been done; but oh, how much more might be done
Webb, ºws, a
2. -
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