CHEMAWA AMERICAN.
3
a great boon to the school a3 well as to the
farmers in the neighborhood . A great deal
of our Incoming freight arrives here on
Sundays and is dumped by the railroad
people on the ground whether it is raining
or not, and like the man with the sheep in
the pit we must handle it regardless of the
day. We have been hoping against hope
for a couple of years that the Southern
Pacific people would do something for us
in this direction, but our hopes are about
dead.
Education Circular No. 55.
Department of the Interior, Office of In
dian Affairs, Washington, October 10,1901.
To United States Indian Agents and
Bonded Superintendents.
Sirs: Statistics relating to Indian schools
for the fiscal year 1901 have been collated,
and results are gratifying.
There were 251 schools which show an in
crease of 1208 in enrollaient and 1650 in av
erage attend ance. Non-reservation schools
have an increase of 676 pupils, reservation
schools 1222 and day schools a decrease of
218. These increases are indicative of the
zeal and ability of the agents and superin
tendents, which is commendable in the
highest degiee.
In this connection you are advised that
it is believed essential to the ultimate civil
ization of the Indian that he should be got
ten away fnm the rt-eeivation as much as
possible. The work of the reservation
day and boarding schools is not by
any means minimized, but the
transfer of pupils to non-reservation
Hchoola brings them into broader con
tact with civilization, and tends more to
enlarge their aspirations and causes them
to seek citizenship earlier than otherwise.
On a number of reservations then is a large
scholastic population : not in s chool. , On "
the others the older pupils should give
place to the younger ones. The ideal system,
therefore, would be that after a pupil has
completed the curriculum of. the reserva
tion boarding school, or has remained -Jri
school a sufficient time to bave!'done sot
he should be transferred to a non-reserva-:
tion school, provide all conditions are
favorable. If'thtse conditions , are not'
favorable, ha should be promptly relieved
from the reservations schools and Informed
that it is time for him to go to work and
earn his own living. His place can then
be filled from the camps or day schools.
An Indian boy or girl who has remained
in a reservation school six or seven years
has had a fair opportunity to develop his or
her characteristics, and those in charge of
the school should be able to judge whether
additional educational advancement in a
non-reservation school will be to his or her
interest. If not a further continuance in
the reservation school is undesirable.
It is hereby ordered that every reserva
tion boarding school shall at once begin the
preparation of a class of pupils for transfer,
at the close of the year, to some non-reservation
school. You will also, in a separ
ate report, inform this Office what steps
you have taken to carry out this order, and
in what way you have complied with those
directions which were embodied iu Educa
tion Circular No. 48, February 19, 1901. .
The attention of agents and superinten
dents of reservation schools is directed to
the necessity of keeping up your en
rollment and average attendance during
the earlier portions of the present school
year. You are urged to fill your schools
to the limit of their capacity with
eligible pupils always giving preference to
full-bloods and those proximating the same.
Attention is specifically called to com.
plaints which have reached this Office
this' agents and reservation gchool superin
tendents, in some instances, have opposed
the transfer of eligibles to non-reservation
schools, because such transfers tend to de
crease t heir enrol lint-nt and average attend
ance. You are expressly informed that
even if such result does follow your action
and decrease the size of your school, it is
praiseworthy and to ourcretfit. The limit
of enrollment of eligible pupils of Indian
Schools has not been .reached, there re
maining ample material to fill your schools,
and push out the older and better ed
ucated pupils to non-reservation schools.
If the limit, however, has been reached to
your reservat ion, you must understand than
Indian schools are for the purpose of civi
lizing the Indian and not for the purpose
of simply maintaining a school. Hence, if