The CHEMAWA AMERICAN
VOLUME
39,
MAY
CLASS
OF
1949,
NUMBER
5
1949
VALEDICTORY
Classmates, parents, teachers,
and friends:
Today it is my solemn duty to
bid you and Chemawa fare
well. It is one of the most im
portant events in the life of each
member of the senior class. No
matter how many Chemawa
graduations have gone or how
many there are to come, this is
the one day we will always re
member. For 12 happy and sad
years we have struggled to see
our dream come true. As we
leave here we are reluctant to
say Good-bye.
Every year Indians are grad
uating from high schools and
colleges. This graduation, we
havA been looking forward to
with pleasure and anticipation.
To us thi° is not the end but
merely the beginning, which is
what commencement really
means. So it is that today we
begin tomorrow. We will no
longer continue our work to
gether under the faithful and
understanding guidance of Miss
Morse or our various vocational
teachers, but as individuals we
have new aims and purposes.
In the future our paths will cross
and enthusiastically we will tell
one another of our experiences
at Chemawa or what has hap-
pened to each of us since then.
Gradually as time moves on
these chance meetings will be-
come fewer and fewer, and we
will meet new friends and gain
new experiences. Life is like an
atom bomb, which, if not used
for the good of humanity, will
destroy it, so we must find the
best use for each talent we have
or we will be regressing to a
lower standard of living.
The world is waiting with
needs to be filled by Indian men
and women as well as for other
people of the world. In all fields
m^n and women are asking
questions and trying to find
answers. Life today is not easy,
nor has it ever been. Only a
short century ago our own
states were in pioneer stages.
It is the young men and women
of today who will determine
3
what it will be like in the future
years to come.
As we say farewell here, we
are going out into a world
mingled with tears and laugh
ter. No doubt both will be ex
perienced and, let us hope there
may be more laughter than
tears. We anticipate making
our lives valuable to others as
well as ourselves. We can do
this task by thinking less of our
selves and more about others.
There remains much to be done
to raise our own people from
their ancestral ways to the mod
ern ways of today.
We need good doctors, teach
ers, preachers, nurses, men and
women in the professions. We
also need good mechanics,
farmers, ranchers, men and
women in vocations as well as
in every profession in life.
When our own people can see
what we have done and can
do, they will have confidence
in us and be proud of us, and,
through this whole social, eco-
(Continued on page 15)