Two years ago, when the Board of United States Indian Commissioners met in Washington, the representatives of practically all the missionary organizations appeared and a full and frank discussion ensued. It is no exaggeration to state that all of these persons representing varied interests (and twenty years ago these very people might have been considered rivals) left with a resolve to carry on their work with due regard for the rights of others. It is quite clear that if the Catholics have a successful mission on Reservation A, and the Presbyterians on Reservation B, that the good work should continue, and those in charge of mission A should not seek to establish a post on Reservation B, unless it is perfectly clear that Mission B is unable to care for more than a portion of the Indians. That where different denominations are located on the larger reservations, they should all work in harmony, looking toward the great purpose for which such worthy organizations exist. It is true that the Indians in former years did not understand our religion, and that confusion existed in the minds of the untutored aborigines in the past for the very reason that representatives of different sects worked at cross-purposes. This is said in no disrespect whatsoever, it is merely a statement of facts. Mr. Leupp presents an illuminating illustration on this subject. “Indians are always greatly puzzled by the differences between the sects, and the appearance of hostility so often assumed by one toward another. It has little effect to assure them that all the sects are but parts of one religious body, worshipping the same deity. Doctrinal subtleties are of course beyond the reach of the ordinary Indian’s mind, but in matters of discipline he discovers what seem to him serious incongruities. An old chief once expressed to me his deep concern because a missionary had warned his children that they would be punished after death if they broke the Sabbath with their accustomed games, yet he had seen with his own eyes a missionary playing tennis on Sunday. Another raised in my presence, with a sly suggestion of satire in his tone, the question of marriage. One missionary, he told us—referring to a visit from a Mormon apostle several years before—had four wives, and said it was good in the sight of the white man’s God; the missionary who preached at the agency school had only one wife, and said that that was all right, but it would be wicked for him to marry any more; but the priest who came once in a while to bless the children had no wife at all, and said that the white man’s God would be displeased with him if he took even one.”[53]