The Chemawa American, November 22, 1916, Page 4, Image 4

T H E C H E M A W A A M E R IC A N
PAGE 4
REPORT ON CHEM AW A IN STITU TE
(C o n tin u ed from page 1)
h o rtic u ltu re , agronom y, anim al h u sb an d ry , d airying,
and hom e econom ics. T h e practical value of this
w ork is em phasized by th e fact th a t these in stru cto rs
w ere m en and women whose daily life is not necessa­
rily of theory but of achievem ent and know th o ro u g h ­
ly th is section of th e co u n try . T h e arran g em en t of
th e classes in connection w ith th e w ork of the
In stitu te has been excellent, th e subjects first p re­
sented being those w hich did not req u ire m echanical
p rep aratio n .
T h e chief inspiration of the w hole in stitu te was the
presence of our C om m issioner, H onorable Cato Sells,
w ho holds th e unique record of being th e only Com ­
m issioner who has ever visited all of th e S um m er I n ­
stitu te s. H is personal contact w ith so m any of the
field em ployees th ro u g h o u t th e e n tire service, his
m asterly address delivered at th e In stitu te , and his
devotion to th e cause of In d ian civilization, have done
m uch to inspire his co-w orkers to give th eir united
efforts to th e practical accom plishm ent in every line
of activity of the h ig h aim s and ideals of th e Indian
Service.
So far as In stitu te s of preceeding years are co n ­
cerned, th e new course of study w hich th e C om m is­
sioner has m ade possible m arks an epoch in th e h is­
tory of In stitu te s of th e In d ian Service. T h e In s ti­
tu te has b ro u g h t hom e to the m em bers th e lesson of
w hat has been done and w hat they can them selves do.
T hey have seen these in stru c to rs in and out
of th e Service accom plish a great deal m ore in the
tw o w eeks of the In s titu te ’s existence th an has been
outlined in a m uch longer term in th e sam e subjects
in the pre-vocational and vocational courses of our
In d ian Schools, and some of the w ork has been done
by using th e In d ian pupils of the Salem Indian
School in the daily class-w ork at the In stitu te . A d i­
rect exem plification of th e w ork was m ade u n d er
w o rk in g conditions of the Service. T h e value of the
w ork accom plished was enhanced by the
fact
th a t th e corps of in stru c to rs are persons w ho are
accustom ed to teaching th eir subjects w ith definite
outlines, definitely followed and the program was one
of definite accom plishm ent.
As an outgrov. th of th e In stitu te s held two years
ago, th is in stitu te has furnished ab u n d a n t evidence
of increased seriousness and earn estn ess in the w ork
of the Service and to the efficient and u n tirin g d irec­
tion of affairs by Mr. H. B. P eairs, our S upervisor of
S chorls, an d his assistant, M r. W . W . Coon, is a ttrib ­
utable to a large m easure its unqualifiied success.
T h e arran g em en ts for the accom m odation of visitors
and the care show n in providing for th eir w elfare
w ere m ost cred itab le to S u p t. H arw ood H all and th e
em ployees at th e school and assisted in a real g et-to­
g eth er m ovem ent and b etter acquaintance am ong all
present.
T h e program of both day and evening events was
sufficiently varied to arouse the co n tin u ed interest of
all and was m arked by a constantly increasing a tte n d ­
ance at th e In stitu te w hich totalled 216 and rep re­
sented all ju risd ictio n s of th e N orthw estern states
w ith one exception.
T h e g ro u p conferences of the different sections com ­
p risin g th e prim ary group, the prevocational group,
and th e vocational g ro u p , w ere well attended and
form ed a very im p o rtan t p art of the w ork accom plish­
ed at th e In stitu te and afforded an o p p o rtu n ity for
th e co nstructive criticism of th e course of study and
the consideration of any genuine obstacles to its in ­
stallation and elaboration. Copies of model daily pro ­
gram s have been sent ont to the teachers and em ploy­
ees in th e different districts, w hich will be followed.
O ne of the m ost im portant sessions of th e In stitu te
was th e G eneral C onference held d u rin g th e first w eek,
presided over by S upervisor H . B. Peairs, at w hich
he o u tlined very clearly the benefits to be derived in
th e In d ian Schools by the adoption of the course of
study and the m ethods to be followed in m aking its
in tro d u ctio n a success. T h e general discussion of the
subject by m any m em bers of the In stitu te proved
very helpful and a co n tin u atio n of th is m ethod was
also a featu re of th e G eneral C onference lead by S u ­
pervisor W . W . Coon d u rin g th e second w eek ’s ses­
sion of th e In stitu te . T h e S u p e rin te n d e n ts’ C onfer­
ences held daily d u rin g th e second week of the In s ti­
tu te were devoted to an open discussion of m any m a t­
ters of special in terest to them and w ere led by those
hav in g extensive jurisd ictio n and responsibilities and
these m eetings proved of g reat value to th e S up erv i­
sors and S u p erin ten d en ts who attended them .
A very im p o rtan t feature of th e In stitu te was the
largely attended m eetings of th e S u p erin ten d en ts and
the accounting clerks of the Service rep resen tin g the
schools and agencies of the N orthw est at w hich G e n ­
eral O rder N o. 7 of the D epartm ent of th e In terio r
Office of Indian Affairs, approved May 9 th , 1916, and
co n tain in g reg ulations governing the new system of
bookkeeping w hich lias ju st been installed in the o f­
fice of the C om m issioner of Indian Affairs at W ash ­
in g to n , was carefully explained by Special A gent
W illiam A. R andall, of th e Indian Service. T hese
m eetings were held on A ugust 1st, 2d and 3d, 8:15 to
10:15 a. m . each day, and all m atters p ertain in g to
the new system ot bookkeeping were discussed in de­
tail u n d e r th is G eneral O rder, paragraph by p arag rap h .
(C o n tin u ed n ex t issu e)