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About Weekly Chemawa American. (Chemawa, Or.) 189?-198? | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 1901)
CHEMAWA AMERICAN. 7 frank and plain in her speech. She says what she means, and means what , she says. When she .visits a school she goes, not as a spy, but openly. See has a habit of observing things withou t appearing to do so. Petty things those of no conse-. iptence she invariably overlooks; but de tails that affect the life, comfort or happi ness of the child are held as sacred and neglect thereof is notforgotten or forgiven. Miss Keel, with characteristic modesty, has kept herself, her ideas and motives zealously in the background since assum ing the office of superintendent, . The work was new, in a measure, and she craved ..ultimate rather than temporary success. She became Indian-wise by vigilance in inspection, careful and con stant observation. After three years of the severest kind of mental and physical toil she has reached the wise conclusion that Indians are very human, and should be educated along those lines that have proven most successful with the white race. She did not believe that the v hite race monopolizes all virtues and the red race all vices. . She does not believe . t hat eenius belongs, of right, to the English man. But she does believe that all babes are created equal, and have an equal en dowment, of mental and spiritual gifts. As a natural consequence, 'then, the methods and discipline that have developed the civilization in the white race, will accom plish similar results in any other race. But there is a tuture to the education of the Indian that appeals to the superintend ent, too, and touches her heart to its pro foundest depths. She realizes something' of the pathos that attends the evolution of the race and its assimilation into our body politic. We call ourselves a great Christ ian nation, yet are we intensely and cruelly selfish and narrow in our social life. Our prejudice beclouds our judgment. We sympathize, in a measure with the In dian's great struggle, and we are willing to pet him a little and to tolerate much, until the crysalis bursts and unsuspected genius develops. Then the tear of sympa thy dries on the cheek, and kindly tolera tion becomes treatment actively antago nistic. The pathos and pity of hum am situation that should cause the doors of hearts to open wide appeal in vain to sen timents purposely embalmed. They may , be associates but intimates never, They may be friends but not comrades. We stand pitilessly by and witness, with the awful stocism of a heartless Nero, the strug gles of a people, with desires and passions like unto our own, to emerge from the hap py thralldom of ignorance into the keener, more perfect, joy of enlightened hopes and ambition, and offer no help to cut the leash and set them free. We call this Christianity. This pitiful situation appeals strongly to the chieftainess of our Indian schools, and her great energies are devoted to its ame lioration. She is opposed to carrying t ho literary education of Indian youth too far, She favors unlimited indust rial education with enough literary training to make the industrial successful but not enough to cause unhappiuess. A.11 her efforts are towards making the school thoroughly practical. ' She feels that an intellectual giant, minus character, minus skill, is the epit ome of folly. He becomes, almost of ueces sity,a rogue and languishes in durance vile,' or a sycophantic parasite. Indolence is the' canker-worm of the Indian and eats the' heart of industry. A languid will is in dustrial consumption.'' Therefore, she would arouse the child's interest by the achievement of practial results and keep it active by educating him along the line of .his natural affinities. Following out Miss ' Reel's hopes, the Indian child when leaves the school, will not be educated beyond a" point where he may toil and still be happy, ' At the same time he is skillful enough to make an independent living for himself : and family, and his brain has received sufficient devepnient to enable nim to catch glirrps' s i.f grander heights and to inspire him to ambitious self-help. After three years of honest, and earnest iudeavor to gain the rignt, view of the sit uation, the superintendent has ptomulga ted a course of lndy fi the Indian school which embraces her view of what should be taught. The course is the product of pns itivegenius, it is said, ami-shows profound study and a thorough knowledge of the Iu dian and his practical needs. The Native American.
