The Chemawa American, December 10, 1937, Page 2, Image 2

The CHEMÀWA AMERICAN
2
4 Chemawa o
▼▼▼▼▼▼
American-k
C H IE F B IG M A N
B y M a jo r ie W y n n e
With the characteristic grace of move­
ment of the Indian; Chief Bigman rose
Friday during the school year by the students of the Chemawa Vocational School, from his chair and faced his audience.
The audience consisted of over three
Chemawa, Oregon
hundred and fifty students andJ employe
.
REPORTERS
ees of the Salem Indian School. He was
W ilma Adams, Josephine Juneau, M atilda S o c u la,A g n e s Skahan, V erna Riggs,-'-Mary Black,
attired in his native costume of beautiful­
Ann Plasteur, Marie Pulsifer, Hazeh LaClair, Rose Seym ore, Barbara W hitelaw, Dorothy H ay­ ly beaded and fringed buckskin. His
ward, Florence Booth, Majorie Wynn.
black hair was neatly hanged in two
P aul T, J ackson
S u p e r in t e n d e n t
R obert T homas
M a n a g e r a n d P r in te r
braids.
R o s a l in d E . C r u is e
J o u r n a l i s m C la ss
y
G o r d o n Me L eo d
S tu d e n t F o re m a n
After a brief hesitation Chief Bigman
addressed
his audience and started with
----- E D IT O R IA L -----
an interesting and amusing narratives
Perhaps some of the reasons for the school’s failure to win some of the close of his life and beliefs.
games can be attributed to the entire student body . Many of us who have played
He recalled the days when his parents
in by-gone years know how much spirit an organized student body can put in a fought against officers that were trying
team.
.
When the students are apathetic and merely sit at the games and do nothing, to put him to school and how he mour*
the team loses heart. Ragged yelling makes ragged, playing. Why shouldn't ned the parting with his braids when
Chemawa have a pep squad other schools have, and most of us still khve our “ when school officers cut them off. As he talked
do we eat,’’ voices left.
.
he used the familiar Indian gestures
We are now entering a period of athletic activities where organized yells will do freely. He rather appealed to the young
more than anyone realizes. So come on students lets realize, and reglly back the Indian boys and girls to keep the In­
teams.
dian Eegends, ways and habits and nofS
—-P ressley E a B reciie to lose track of them. -In other words
not to be totally influenced by the
. Do you realize the full meaning of Christmas? To you is I t merely a holiday whites; He told of how iia the early days
pertaining to good time^. to enjoy the gifts you receive on this particular day? the Indian had been very dosé to Mother
Most of us realize part of the meaning of Christmas: happiness in each person’s Earth. And as he was drawn away by
heart. Why? It was at this time long ago when the whole world was rejoicing. the strong influence o f' the whites, he
Joy was everywhere. The King was born, Christ the Savior! In each indi­ began to ail and get all sorts of diseases.
Chief Bigman chuckled and related an
vidual’s heart came joy and happiness. At the height of all happiness, a song was
incident of a young boy coming-to him
heard: “ Glory to God, peace on earth good will to men.’’
-
This celebration, Christmas was instituted when Christ was born in the little and saying that he had been told that
town of ¿Bethlehem. From far and Wide people came to offer gifts to Him. The an Indian was a descendent of an ape.
people were overflowing with happiness. They began to exchange gifts and started He said that he believed apes were apes
and could produce only apes and not
the custom of exchanging gifts in high spirit..
So prepare yourself to rejoice and be happy during this time, the Chirstmas Indians.
Chief Bigman ended his- interesting
Season.
—M atilda S ocula speech by' playing a sad, beautiful tune
on his crude home-made flute.
As he played one could imagine ^pine
I resolve to be good, quit all my bad habits, and work hard and try to attain a
trees swishing mournfully as the earth
useful life for this coming new year.
That is a typical resolution usually made every New Year’s day. It is generally gets dark. And on the prairies the long
thought of with a great deal of reverence and with perfect assurance that it will buffalo grass slowly swaying in the twi­
light as a soft wind blows. As he con­
not be broken regardless of any obstacles that may arise.
tinued playing his flute, one’s imagin­
But are these carefully made “ transformers” usually kept very long?
.Personally, I believe that rarely if any are usually kept from a few hours to per­ ation went on wandering also. The
audience was deeply moved by his flute
haps one or three months.
Each and everyone of us should try and make a %et of resolutions to start the playing.
With a cheerful smile Chief Bigman
coming New Year with. Make them simple and beneficial. It isn’t necessary
put
his flute under his arm and left
that they be the medium by which complete transformation can be brought about.
-
You and only you are the subject of the resolutions you make. So make them the platform.
significant. Above all try and keep and put into use whatever you have resolved
to accomplish.
1 .
" -. . .
, -
/■—M arjorie W ynne
A tri-weekly paper devoted to Indian education. Published and printed on every third
ffiappy New jjrar