As Brother Van pursued his work among his beloved Indians, they became more and more attached to him. Like the white residents, they, too, accepted their kind-hearted visitor as a brother. This tie deepened with the years in which he was known to them, and in time a great honor came to him. He was adopted into the tribe, and with a picturesque ceremony he was received into their circle and given a new name, Amahk-Us-Ki-Tsi-Pahk-Pa, which means “Great Heart” or “Big Heart.” There was a tribute in the meaning of those queer syllables which any man might be proud to win――especially from people of a different race. At the same time he received a gift of a new and beautiful tribal costume from them. It is Brother Van’s custom to visit the Blackfeet every year on the Fourth of July when he wears his Indian costume and celebrates the nation’s birthday with his Indian brothers. Illustration: Board of Home Missions and Church Extension Methodist Episcopal Church. THE PICTURESQUE CEREMONY OF ADOPTION INTO THE BLACKFEET TRIBE With the progress of his work on the agency, Brother Van’s indignation was aroused by the injustice and oppression dealt to the red man. As he witnessed the system of trading, he came to see with ever increasing clearness, that the Indians would never have the necessary opportunities for progress and development unless the white man, and the white man’s government, could be brought to deal fairly and justly with these original inhabitants of the plains. The very future of the Indian race he saw to be at stake. “What is the use,” he asked himself, “of teaching and training these people when diseases caused by contact with the white man’s civilization are threatening their existence, and when their living is being taken from them by the settlement of their lands?” The problem which confronted the missionary has been put briefly in a more recent time by Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the Hon. Cato Sells, who says, “Before you educate the Indian you must save his life.” As Brother Van faced the misery, the disease, and the ignorance among them, he decided that even to save the Indians’ lives, to say nothing of winning them to Christ, it would be necessary to lead the white people to change their ways. How could he continue to try to convert and educate the Indians, when the Indians could see very plainly that the white preacher’s brothers were very much in need of the same kind of teaching?