2
THE CHEMAWA
AM ERICAN
IN T R O D U C T O R Y
T he initiation and progress of In d ian education lias been rem arkable
in rapidity of developm ent and highly praise-w orthy and com m endable
to the highest degree in m otives. From its earliest beginnings the
C hristian m issionary w orked and prayed for the prosperity and good of
the In d ian , and later w hen th ey became the w ards of the N ation this
feeling and public sentim ent crystalized into our present system of public
education for the In d ian . U n fo rtu n ately , the earlier conditions and
beginnings, under governm ent supervision, were so intim ately blended
w ith disreputable bargains and en tan g lin g alliances th a t the Indian
schools are still under a cloud, so th at even now the service is still e n
deavoring to rem ove th is stigm a. O ur Indian schools are doing on the
whole a great w ork, tho u g h its best friends m ust adm it that th ere is
still much room for im provem ent. T he present conditons are th e results
of great but rapid grow th; so great th a t th e read ju stm en ts have not
alw ays been able to keep pace w ith the im m ense gro w th . In fact, so
rapid has been th is grow th th a t, w hile the d ep artm en t has a m ore or
less clearly defined policy, really no clearly defined system may be said
to exist. T h e fu tu re policy and system has never been clearly defined.
T he imm ense im portance of the subject to the In d ian and the citizen
ship of the U nion, dem ands a th o ro u g h and frank discussion of Indian
education. T h e question involves not only the fu tu re of the race, but
since the Indian is eith er now or sooner or later to become an actual
citizen and voter, it involves th e safety of our governm ent. T h e subject
is even at present of great interest, b u t is not only increasing in interest
and im portance, b u t as the subject unfolds, is acquiring a w onderful
m om entum in possibilities.
In the unfolding of th e question there is great need for thorough d is
cussion and research. Indeed, we have often w ondered w hy our lead
ing universities, alw ays aw ake for new subjects and having so m any
advanced students, seeking new pedagogical fields, w hile th e Indian
question is peculiar to and a p art of the U nited States, have never— in
so far as we are aw are—excepting in ethnological investigation offered
studies in Indian E d u catio n . T h is is especially im p o rtan t since the
education of the Indian invites the stu d y of several new phases of ed u
cation very popular in educational studies. Courses m ight be offered
in pedagogy, sociology or history, and other subjects th a t would be in
tensely interesting and profitable and greatly aid in the prom otion, ed u
cation and betterm ent of th e In d ian . Tw o books, th e most noted on
school ad m in istratio n , do not even m ention the cause of In d ian E d u ca
tion. T h e subject ought bv all m eans to receive th e best th o u g h t of our
m ost serious-m inded people. O u r Indian schools, restin g at th e basis of