1925
The Chemawa American
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Printed at Chemawa,
Vol. XXVII
. 3 ii n n------ -
Oregon, and Devoted to the I nt treats of Indian Education
Wednesday, December 2, 1925
ARE YOU WILLING TO WORK?
No one can remain at Chemawa very long before it
is found evident that our greatest thought and endeavor
is to awaken his ambition and set his feet in the path
of self-development. We are continually trying to
arouse the ambition in every boy and girl at this school,
and to stir up employes also, to put into effect an ambi
tion-arousing environment, to pull together and stimu
late your energy and bring out the very best within
each of you, for ambition requires arousing, awakening,
and to do this for you, we, you, and all at Chemawa,
must realize that ambition requires constant care and
education even after it is aroused.
It is a passion that responds quickly to cultivation.
What we most need is to do what we can. To do what
we can, that is our problem at Chemawa; not what
someone else can do, but what we here at Chemawa
can do. Most of us have an enormous amount of
power which could do marvels if we but awakened it.
You young people want to be aroused; you want to be
understood, believed in and encouraged. You want to
be with people who believe in you, who encourage you,
praise you, criticize you; you want to be associated
with those people who continually help you to high
aspirations. That is why you are here.
Our advice is this: Whatever you do, make every
sacrifice necessary to keep in an “ambitious” at
mosphere, an atmosphere that will stimulate you to
self - development.
Wallace Denny, an ex-Carlisle Indian student, is
now trainer for the Stanford University football team
under “Pop” Warner, both of whom Supt. and Mrs.
Hall met and talked with while in Seattle recently.
Wallace was there with the Stanford team where they
were to play the University of Washington. There
was one thing that Wallace said that made a wonderful
impression on Supt. Hall—it is this: He said, “I never
had much of an education; I hardly finished the eighth
grade; but I have been thrown in contact with educated
people and I always made it a point to be with them
and to learn from them. For a number of years I
have been thrown with the college people at Stanford
University and I actually feel now that I am really a
college man myself, because I have tried to learn every
No. 11
thing I could from these educated, cultured and re
fined people.”
And really, boys and girls, he impressed Supt. Hall
as a college man. Mr. Hall said: “I was actually
proud of him. He was not putting on airs or trying
to show off, but he appeared self-possessed, modest and
refined, and could converse on almost any subject.
He was treated as the equal of the coaches and mem
bers of the team, who were all college men. Indeed,
he attended the banquet given the team by the alumni
at Seattle and received all the recognition given to
any of the Stanford party.”
What Wallace Denny was doing with his eighth
grade education can be done by any Indian boy or
girl at Chemawa, particularly now that our young folks
are given the privilege of securing a full high school
course and all other advantages that go with it here
at this great school. We desire that our young people
ponder the case of Wallace Denny—and act.
Try to make your teachers and directors in every
department at Chemawa understand you, believe in
you; endeavor to secure their co-operation. We are
all here to help you along the right road, to stimulate
you to high aims, lofty ambitions. So we advise that
you keep close to those who are dead-in-earnest and
go to any lengths to further your advancement.
Cultivate those who are actually interested in you.
You will soon catch the spirit that dominates in your
schoolroom, your shop, your department; in your
dormitory, which is your home. Your success depends
upon you, and with proper encouragement and
stimulation you will make your ambition real.
So many boys, and girls, too, come to Chemawa with
an idea that if they like it here and get everything just
as they want it they will remain, but intend to leave a
way open to retreat if things go too hard. We have
yet to observe a student who came here to visit and
look around with the idea that “if he liked it he would
stay” who did stay. That spirit alone indicates fail
ure. No one can call out his greatest power while he
knows he has a line of retreat. There is a good deal
in “burningyour bridges behind you;” in committing
oneself so thoroughly to the need of preparing for bet-
(Continuer! on page 4")