The American Missionary — Volume 35, No. 3, March 1881 — John Shaqi
The American Missionary — Volume 35, No. 3, March 1881Various
Religion
The American Missionary — Volume 35, No. 3, March 1881
Various
Congregational churches -- Missions -- Periodicals; Home missions -- Periodicals
The sum of six generations of slavery has been to the negro,
oppression, offset by steady progress through it all, and only
injury to the white man. The sum of six generations of Indian
treatment has been a succession of wrongs, offset by little real
advantage, and the steady gain of the white man.
The negro acquired our language and ways, and by becoming the
industrial reliance of the South, became, even more than his
master, capable of taking care of himself. We have destroyed the
reliance of the Indian, his game, and have put nothing in its
place. With all the justice and humanity intended in our annual
outlay for the red race, there is a pauperizing, weakening tendency
that is full of danger. Practically, has the politician been any
better guardian than the slave-holder?
The country is waking up to a sense of justice. The shameful record
of violated treaties and untold wrongs for the past hundred years
is being brought out. From the outraged negro, for whom the country
can now do nothing but help educate him, and who, indeed, needs
nothing but intelligence to fit him to hold his own, our people are
turning to the Indian and demanding that Government open before him
the only way to manhood and citizenship—_rights_ and _education_.
It must be done.
In the “Century of Dishonor,” just published by the well-known
author, “H. H.,” she states that “To write in full the history of
one of these Indian communities, of its forced migrations, wars,
and miseries, would fill a volume by itself.”
As this shall be better realized, a stronger public sentiment will
be formed and felt. Other forces are at work. The three hundred and
fifty Indian youth who have come voluntarily from the West, many
of them children of chiefs, and entered the Carlisle and Hampton
schools, have already proved their capacity for mechanical and
agricultural, as well as for mental and religious improvements. Not
but that this has already been abundantly shown; but the work has
been done at our doors; the evidence is thrust upon us.
How many know that of the 275,000 Indians in the United States,
150,000 are already self-supporting, 84,000 partly so, while only
31,000 are entirely dependent on the Government; that their numbers
are hardly diminished since the landing of the Pilgrims?
Bishop Whipple, of Minnesota, says: “The North American Indian
is the noblest type of a heathen man on the face of the earth.
He recognizes a Great Spirit; he believes in immortality; he has
a keen intellect; he is a clear thinker; he is brave, fearless,
and until betrayed, he is true to his plighted faith; he has a
passionate love for his children and counts it joy to die for his
people. Our most terrible wars have been with this noblest type of
Indians and with those who have been the white man’s friends.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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