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Image provided by: South Dakota State Historical Society – State Archives
Newspaper Page Text
-~r-* '.?* V' 13. THE OGLALA LIGHT. people tinlike any of the races with which they were familiar in the Old World. The Indian in his primitive state was essentially a child of nature, and his character was very largely what circumstance made it. His subsistence depended on what little he gained from his own knowledge of agriculture and on the skill with which he used his bow. Courage, such as enables a man to go through a campaign or a battle with credit, and sends him with a measured step and cool head to the cannon's mouth, was possessed in the highest degree by the American aborigine. This was the character of the new people which were found in the New World. Centuries passed, and his white brother by skill and ingenuity increased and expanded in his own territory. In many cases injustices were inflicted upon the Indian. Then as a natural thing resentment was often the result. His ignorance was a great disadvantage to him. The bad element of the white race took advantage of him. As the American nation increased, circumstances made it necessary for the Government to place the Indian on reservations. Here he was left to work out his future and destiny. Association and environment, which are essentials of civilization, he could not depend upon alone. This method of confining the Indian on a reservation has done more to degrade him than any one thing. The untiring efforts of some missionaries among the Indians have proved successful. Although they could do no more than to teach them religion, still their efforts in trying to elevate the Indian have been instrumental in bringing about the present system of Indian education. The real starting point of the Government's interest in the work of Indian education and civilization was in 1878, when the first Indians were brought to Hampton Institute. In 1875, at the close of a war with some of the wild tribes of Indian Territory, seventy-five of their principal chiefs and their boldest followers were selected by the Government to be made an example of. They were separated from their friends, some bound hand and foot with manacles and chains, and brought to St. Augustine Fla. Here the massive gates of old Fort Masion opened and closed upon them. They knew little of what their outcome would be. They believed it to be their tomb. Capt. R. H. Pratt, the officer in charge of this crew, was a man with a heart and with faith in