Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde; Grand Ronde, OR
About Weekly Chemawa American. (Chemawa, Or.) 189?-198? | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 1908)
2 . THE CHX,MAWA AMERICAN ' V tunity for pleasure and content that on- ' seen much of men of the whitr race in y waits on the development of our -cap- the shops where I have worked; and I acity to appreciate it. Civilization i&, know that some of them are not desirablt therefore, an unmixed blessing to those employees, nor desimblo fellow-workers, ' who are trained, hut it is cruel to the nor desirable neighbors. No. employer untrained. wishes to keep a man who will or cando . Jt was through seeing how much we '" only "half of his duty; no intelligent were suffering here in the East, I think, workman wishes to work along side of a that the country finally realized its duty half-trainedvinan; and no decent familj and began to break down the walls which wishes to live next to a half-civilized it had put up, first by establishing family. So the half-trained meet opposi schools, and, as fast as seemed the best tion all around, which makes them dis- giving'the Indians the rights of '"citizen- contented and grumblers. -When yen ship; Our thanks are due to General properly train every man and woman Armstrong ai.d Captain Pratt, for; lead-' in the country, the labor problem, tin ing-the way.' " . " J , Negro problem, and the Indian prouleni A few years ago I visited oh will be solved, I think. Western schools and asTlobked on those' "But. the. white man's patience is. taxed students in their recitation rooms and because, once free from school, we do, shops, my heart' was filled with joy not always go on and improve ourselves, and sympat hy : joy because of the op- We seem to stop about where he leaves portunity they 'are having; sympathy' us. This is because, we are not working because of the difficulties with which on the principle of fascination,- or iiv they must soon be strugglingdifficult- . spiration, or, whatever it is that carries les with which I am familiar, .' our great need, J, think, is. of more ' com- When a young man I was afraid of plete.-, training ..with : such . methods .is going outside of the reservation because shall make us ; permanently, skillful in I could not understand the English Tan- our hands, intelligent in our heads, and giiage and the work used to frighten me. So it took all the courage I could gather to' enable me .to make up " my mind to leave the reservation ' and ' find work among the white people. But I' did it, and my experience' has taught me that, as a rule! successes must 'de pend upon the method and the length of time of training. Many of the graduates and : returned students from -Indian schools have already acquired an : ad vanced grade vf civilization, and have' become self-supporting and independent citizens. The majority are not sr suc cessful and are as yet only half civilized. Now if you half civilize a. man, he will: still .remain half barbarian, I, have Christian in our. hearts qualities with' out. which no; man can, ever hope to he come a desirable. employee, follow wwk. man,or neighbor. v ,;- :. i;u. M Wha tever success I have h ad is duo to my ability to hold my own alongside of many w h i te wo r k m n n . . , A n d m y a b i I i ty to hold my own is largely du to the kind of '.training I received at Hampton Institute. I went there with only a few words of English, my main object being to learn that language. When I got there I found that, as a New York In dian, I would not get any aid from the Government, and if I stay I must work, I decided to stay and they put me at thV engineering trade and into night . Continued on Page 11