1 2 1926
3
MAY
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The Chemawa American
Printed at Chemawa, Oregon, and Devoted to the Interests of Indian Education
Vol. XXVII
Wednesday, April 7, 1926
SOMETHING TO REFLECT UPON
At the conclusion of our chapel on the evening of
March 28th we asked Mr. Iliff for a copy of the splen
did talk which he gave those assembled for the
exercises. The talk was given with conviction and
carried a message for all. We are pleased to publish
it, as follows:
An old man traveling a lone highway,
Came, at the evening cold and gray,
To a chasm, deep and wide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim,
For the sullen stream held no fear for him,
For he turned when he reached the other side,
And builded a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” cried a fellow pilgrim near,
“You are wasting your strength in building here,
Your journey ends with the ending day
And you never again will pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm deep and wide,
Why build a bridge at eventide?”
And the builder raised his old gray head,
“Good friend, on the path I have come,” he said;
“There followeth after me today,
A youth whose feet will pass this way.
This stream, which was naught to me,
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfail be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim.
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.”
We are all traveling the highway of life. Though
we are in company with many others, yet we travel
alone. Alone? Yes. Each of us is alone because he
cannot have another decide for him which route he
will follow, which turning he will take, or which of
the obstructions he will go over or around. Those who
have traveled this highway before our time have re
moved many of the obstructions, graded the highway
and mapped the most direct route.
Ours is the responsibility as to choice of following
them and profiting by their experience, or through our
inexperience and conceit, attempting to select a better
route and a more easily followed grade. So each of
us must travel alone, although surrounded by friends
who are anxious to advise and assist.
This highway, as described by the poem, brings us
to a chasm deep and wide through which flows a sul
len stream. The chasm is the chasm of ignorance and
the stream at its bottom is the sullen stream of failure.
The chasm is dangerous for many reasons and the
No. 28
crossing of the stream at the time of the arrival of the
old man of the poem could only be accomplished by
fording.
You will remember that the old man crossed in the
twilight dim for the sullen stream held no fear for him.
Why? Because he had been able to ford this stream
of failure through knowledge and experience, and pos
sibly a meager amount of education. However, he
negotiated it, and seeing the danger to those that were
to follow who lacked his experience, he set about build
ing a bridge to span the tide.
We must remember that the students and employes
of earlier days had no TNT to blast out stumps and
help clear the land. They used a mattock, shovel and
axe, and every foot of land put under cultivation by
them was won at a cost of sweat and effort. They
put a great deal into it. They have taken a full meas
ure from it.
I well remember the derisive remarks of some sup
posedly wise people a number of years ago, concerning
Indian Education. They were loud in their condem
nation of such effort. They croaked about wasting
the taxpayers’ money. They said it could never be
carried out. ‘ ‘The Indians will never accept it, ’ ’ was
the cry. I would like for that crowd to see this stu
dent body tonight. The sight of you and the
knowledge of progress would make an argument
strong enough to convince the greatest skeptic among
them.
“lam building this bridge for him.” That has
been the spirit of all the workers, both students and
employes, in the past and at the present, who are
concerned with the building of our bridge.
Immediately there arose a great outcry from those
near by: “You are wasting your strength. Your
work is useless. You are old. Since you have passed
safely over why worry about those who are to follow?
You will not profit by this work; let it go.”
Then the old man, named SERVICE, reasoned with
the bystanders who were trying to persuade him to
leave the younger generation to their fate. He point
ed out to them that while he might not gain anything
for himself he would make sure of a safe passage of
(Continued on page 4)