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About The united American : a magazine of good citizenchip. (Portland, Or.) 1923-1927 | View Entire Issue (June 1, 1925)
JUNE 1925 THE UNITED AMERICAN among Indians, for last year on one of the Indian Reservations there were conducted four night schools in the rural communities. One of these night schools counted among those in attendance not only the native American (the Indian), the half breed, and the native white, but also Greek and Syrian who had taken up land on the Indian Reservation. An Indian woman eighty-four years of age learned to read and write. Another Indian woman came to night school to learn to write her name so that she could sign her daughter’s report card. North Dakota’s problem is different "rom in. ny states in that the ¡ literates and near-illiterates are scattered over a wide area. This means more indi vidual service, for it is more difficult to conduct evening schools for a very small group covering several miles than those found in a large city. The Parent-Teacher Associations in North Dakota have done a great service in the interest of Americani zation and Adult Education. Through their meetings the foreign-born people have realized for the first time what it means to be American citizens. These persons have become more interested in the education of their children and their own educational attainments. GETTING THE CAMPAIGN UNDER WAY — GATHERING IN THE SHEEP A pert analysis by a friend of Americanization A LARGE NUMBER of immigrated sheep have for some time been roving at large, shy of every American corral. In sizable flocks they have been seen from time to time browsing in the lowlands of indiffer ence and along the swamps of carelessness that lie ad jacent to the state of ignorance. The roving habit is bad for all domesticated animals. It tends to make them wild and reckless and destroy their general usefulness. During this prolonged period of roaming at large they have developed a canny instinct of stealthiness which can be easily discovered as they are seen moving about cunningly, to cover their tracks, scrupulously shy of every open road that might lead into the common pasture where the domestic herd is grazing, where quality predominates and every sheep is rated strictly on the basis of its domestic value. A great number of immigrated sheep, whose habits have been changed, have become the most valuable animals in the domestic herd thereby proving that there is plenty of quality in the flocks that are roaming at large, a constant source of grief and anxiety. Should anyone discover a stray flock of these sheep, don’t' shoo them but try the friendly call. Winning a few here and a few there away from the stray herds will have a tremendous effect upon the remaining ones which eventually will bring the stray ing number down to a negligable few. These can then, in time, be captured and, if void of any quality for domestic usefulness, be locked up and put out of the way or shipped back to the country from which they came. The campaign to corral the stray flocks of immi grated sheep is now in progress. Every available citizen is wanted to train for the work in order that it may be done intelligently and in such a way that a rehabilitation of the greater number may be made certain. There are now a lot of wild-goose chasers Page Twenty-three on the job whose poor success does not seem to dismay them in the slightest degree, judging by the way they spend public time and money in unabated, fruitless pursuits. There are many ways in which the individual can help when eager to coordinate his own ideas with those of others, instead of running amuck with myriads of illy conceived and badly executed plans which eventually will destroy the usefulness of the individual so minded and so engaged. The conscientious, unselfish worker who never borrows or steals the plans ahd maps of any other worker on the job, but applies himself diligently, out in the open, and acts squarely in the interest of the common good will receive ample reward in pro portion to his fitness as the campaign progresses. The judge who passes upon individual qualifications and bestows the rewards, is none other than the general in chief — Uncle Sam! BUILDERS Anon. DIFFERENT PEOPLE regard life in different ways. The individual’s contentment and success, in its large sense, depends much on his viewpoint. Once a passerby stopped three stonemasons who were working on a church structure and asked them what they were doing. “I am earning my wages,” said one. “I am laying a brick,” said another. The third answered. “I am building a church.” He alone of the three had vision. 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