The Chemawa American, November 08, 1922, Image 1

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The Chemawa
P r in te d a t C h e m a w a ,
Vol. X X V
O re g o n , a n d D e v o te d to th e In t e r e s t s o f In d ia n E d u c a tio n
W ednesday, N ovem ber 8, 1922
TH E N E ’ER-DO-W ELL
T h ere is e x ta n t a fam ous docum ent w hich declares
th at all men are created “ free and e q u a l.” I t i s a n in ­
terestin g paper to w hich we refer—one w hich should be
read and studied by all tru e A m ericans, resident in these
U nited S tates. C reated “ free and e q u a l!” T h e sta te ­
m ent calls fo rth a feeling of pride w hich causes some
self-elation and alm ost m akes egotists of some of us. It
is a consoling th o u g h t, th is idea th at we are “ fre e ” and
th a t we are th e “ e q u a l” of, say, anybody. H ow we
love ideas. W e m editate on them and b rin g ourselves
into a state of m ind w herein we feel as do the m ig h ty —
k in g s and big-bugs have n o th in g on us— for are we not
as “ free” as they and th eir “ equal?” A h, well! But let
u s see:
Men are created free and equal, b u t rem em ber that
after birth all are slaves to circum stances in a g reater
or lesser d egree— for all m ust live; norm al physical
requirem en ts m ake th e ir dem ands and enslave us to a
certain e x te n t. As reg ard s th e m atter of “ e q u a lity ,”
th a t, too, is tru e only at birth . As * ‘all babies are beau­
tif u l” in th e sig h t of fond p aren ts and d o tin g au n ts
and grandm as, they are also “ eq u a l” u n til they learn
th e art of coherent speech and begin to give vent to
ideas—if they have any.
Now we are g ettin g down to th e m eat of our te x t.
W e are discussing th e N e’er-do-w ell, who like o th ers
was created “ free and e q u a l.” In som e respects th is
N e ’er-do-w ell was as other folks— he certainly was at
b irth . H ow ever, as tim e passed on he showed a g riev ­
ous lack of som ething. No d o u b t he had ideas; p e r­
haps m any of them . Maybe he had too m any ideas.
Most N e ’er-do-w ells have ideas, but usually they are
of no consequence. It is th e kind of ideas w hich
count and ren d er th eir possessor “ e q u a l,” if not “ fre e .”
Bad, or w rong ideas, usually create N e ’er-do-w ells.
Say w hat one m av, th ere is no denying the fact that
th e great m edicine for the N e ’er-d o -w ell’s cure is e d u ­
cation. E d u catio n m akes clear the errors of w rong
ideas and if eno u g h education is taken th e N e ’er-do-
well is cu red before he him self is aw are of it. E d u ­
cation w hich is g en u in e has n o th in g about it upon
w hich th e ideas of a N e ’er-do-w ell m ay th riv e, for the
reason th at tru e education sets forth sound ideals and
No. 4
stan d s for principles w hich raise one above N e ’er do-
well-ism .
E ducation w hich is w orthy the title causes ideas and
ideals of the highest character to be born; it creates a
love for and an u n d ersta n d in g of the better th in g s of
life; it creates and fosters an am bition in th e hum an
breast to possess them ; it show s the way by w hich pos­
session is possible; it m akes one fit and capable to
labor at some chosen avocation of a w orthy character;
an d , lastly, it m akes one “ e q u a l,” and keeps him so,
and so far as it is hum anly possible, it m akes him “ free. ’ ’
E d u catio n w hich teaches th a t by th e acquirem ent
of a little le arn in g its possessor shall never have to
lab o r, shall ever be able to escape the responsibilities
of life, shall be able to live in ease and idleness, is a
m ost d angerous th in g . T hose w ho strive for a little
of th is false teaching will in tim e probably become
N e ’er-do-w ells.
Chem aw a stan d s for the best, as it only is good
eno u g h . O u r g reat school aim s to educate properly
and fully— n o th in g is to be done by halves or q u a r­
ters. C hem aw a does not wish to hatch out a “ s ittin g ”
of N e ’-do-wells. W e w ant, as the years go by, to
be able to point to successes; to see an array of form er
stu d e n ts of ou r w orthy in stitu tio n who have, by ta k ­
ing advantage of w hat C hem aw a offers, literally made
them selves th e “ e q u a l” of any and a ll—we w ant no
failures, no N e ’er-do-w ells.
It is said th a t no m an th in k s he is ig n o ran t, and it
may be tru e to a certain e x te n t, b u t the wise ones re a l­
ize th eir ignorance on certain subjects and along c e r­
tain lines, and the realization causes them to labor for
education. E ducation is a N e ’er-do-w ell killer. Join
th e educated “ eq u a l” class and enjov the greatest free­
dom possible.
F R E SH M E N NOTES
T h e seventh grade held th e ir class m eeting on the
evening of O ctober 25, 1922. T hey m et at th e lab o ra­
tory for election of officers. T h e house was called to
order by N icholas S h isk in , who acted as p iesid en t.
T h e follow ing officers were elected:
P resid en t, W illiam M cM aster; vice-president, K a th ­
erine Brooks; secretary, Moses G eorge; treasu rer, Jacob
A tk in s; se rg e an t-at-arm s, O lie Strom ; yell leader,
C harles G eorge. T hey chose for class m otto, “ S erv ice.”