Weekly Chemawa American., December 12, 1902, Page 2, Image 2

THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN.
life Chemawa American.
Hknky L. Lovelace, Manages.
Published Weekly by the Pupils of the
Chemawa Indian School.
Subscription Price, 25 CenU Per Year,
Cluha of five and over 20 Cents pr year.
Address all Business Communications to
The Chemawa American,
, . , Chemawa, Oregon.
Entered at the Postoffiue at Chemawa, Or.,
as second-class mail-matter.
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;.' FALSE AND FOOLISH.
A story republished in yesterday's Tele
gram from the Pendleton Tribune is one of
.many that might behold showing how
difficult, if not entirely vain, is the attain
': ment of the desired result of tbe work being
.carried on by the Governmentof educating
Indian youth in school a. Jennie Peo, a
"Umatilla Indian woman, was graduated at
Chemawa and went home to do what?
What use bad she for education? What
could she do with it? It was too hard a prob
lem for her, so she relapsed into a mere
Indian squaw agaio, married an ordinary
buck Indian, and not bet rift satisfied with
him, "estranged tbe affections" of another
squaw's husband, and the two women had
a rough-aad-tumble, lialr-pulling, face
scratching, mud-rolling flghtina Pendleton
sireet. What good did the "education"
do? May it not have done more harm than
good? It might be too much to say that this
and many other incidents that might be
narrated prove conclusively that the system
of Indian education is an eotlre failure to a
very great extent. It will take not a few
years, but several generations, to educate
the Indian" into citizens anywhere nearly
approaching the Caucasian Btaodard. As
a rule, after their education is gained they
relapse eitherswlftly orgraduallylntotbeir
old life. Portland Evening Telegram.
The above from our Portland exchange
of some days ago was beaded, "A tibe
mawa Graduate. "Now, the Indian woman
in question la not a Chemawa graduate.
She never attended school at Chemawa at
all, She was for a few months a student
of the Indian School while it was at Forest
Grove,
But there are men in the Oregon Peni
tentiary who attended public school in Port
land. Is this an argument that tbe public
schools of Portland should be abandoned?
The writer in the Telegram who Indited
' the above made a false statement when he
classified the Indian woman as a Chemawa
graduate, and he came, to a foolish con
clusion when he attempted to show that
the education of th.elndiao a failure,-or a
failure to a very great extent. All Indians
- are not ambitious, nor are all of them capa
ble of taking an education,, Neither are
all of their Caucasian brothers. Buttuany
of the Indian studentB at Chemawa are am
bitious, and most of them receive great
benefit from their education and training
there. Almost every one receives something
that will help to raise him above tbe Con
ditions surrounding him before .coming
here. The graduates at Chemawa are fill
ing many responsible positions throughout
the Northwest. They have not goue back
to tbe conditions of blanketed Indians on
the reservations, who were their mothers
and fathers, for the most part.
There are discouraging features iu Ind
ian character, to be sure. But they are
vastly outnumbered by the encouraging
features. What else would the writer on
the Telegram do with tbe Indian boys and
girts? How would he treat them, if he
would not educate them, as tbe Govern
ment is doing?
It Ib easy to find fault and detract. But
it Is not always so easy to point out a bet
ter way. Statesman-