The Gospel among the red men : the history of Southern Baptist Indian missions

Front matter

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Dedication

O far as I know, a history of Baptist missions to the In-

dians in the South has never been written. It seems due the noble men and women who from time to time have heard the call of God to service among the aborigines of their country, that their story should be told. ‘They laid their all upon the altar, and amid dangers, hardships, and loneliness entered the wilderness, took their families into climates reeking with malaria, far from friends and relatives, deprived of social amenities; were separated from their children for years during their school ages; traveled in primitive fashion through woods and over prairies, often over all but impassable trails, across unbridged streams, through rain and blizzard, dust and peepee 2 sun, that the Indians might know Jesus.

They were impelled by no other motive than that of being faithful to him whose they were and whom they served. I have no word of censure for those who found it too hard and returned to the States. All honor to those who continued through long years of faithful service, and counted it a joy to have fellowship with him in his suffering, well knowing that if they would save others, they could not save themselves. In the annals of Indian missions it is recorded again and again, “After but a year of service, he (or she) entered into rest.”

Introduction

_ From these annals has come the story of these pages, from the reports of the years, from letters and diaries, from Government bulletins and the yellowed pages of pioneer histories.

The following volumes have been of especial value in making the record accurate and interesting:

Handbook of American Indians, Bulletin 30, Part 1-2, edited by F. W. Hodge, of the Bureau of American Ethnology, and published by the Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., in 1907. | Lndtan Sign Language, by W. P. Clark, pub-

lished by L. R. Hammersley & Co., Philadelphia, Pa., in 1885. .

Poor Lo, by Walter N. Wyeth, D.D., published by W. N. Wyeth, Philadelphia, Pa., in 1896.

History of Oklahoma, by James B. Thoburn, published by the American Historical Society, Chicago and New York, in 1916.

History of Kentucky Baptists, J. H. Spencer, published by Spencer & Co.

Lights on Oklahoma History, by Charles Evans, A.M., LL.D., published by Harlow Publishing Co., in Oklahoma City, Okla.

The Red Man in the United States, by Lind- | quist, published by Doran.

Minutes of the Home Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention, 1845-1928. Files of “Home Field,” published by H. M. B., 1905-1918.

Most of these books are now out of print, and it is an especial privilege to bring the record their pages have preserved into a form again available to the student of missions among the Indian tribes of our Southland. Some of this record is from the personal experience of my own years among the Indian tribes of the West, much from the testimony of fellow missionaries. To all these | make grateful acknowledgment of my debt.

RoBERT HAMILTON.

2 CONTENTS !

_ PAGE

Ec HAPTER : | { I. The Indians and the Missionary Enterprise bare ae , II. The Indian Tribes of the Eastern Alleghany

3 Region ..... pf a ns Ate i ah “dann hace att aaa a 35 a II. The Indian Tribes of the Western Alleghany

me! RUS th... Seen ats uals ieee tre ras BTV. The Indians of the Plains ............... ae 114 V. The Indians of the West .........0..00.0000 vas ‘VI. The Indian of Today .. phony en eh 3 219

Back row, left to right: Waken Iron, S. S. Supt., and tithing deacon; John Whitehorn, church treasurer,

Front row, left to right: Raymond Redcorn, church clerk and tithing deacon; Orlando Kenworthy, for many years our interpreter. eS

CHAPTER I THE INDIANS AND THE MISSIONARY ihe 2

ENTERPRISE I. THE INDIANS OF THE SOUTH History Government Languages oe

II. INDIAN RELIGIONS

Beliefs in common

. Ideas for Christian contact . Name for God . Sun Dance

Ghost Dance

Preyorr . Other forms of worship ; ~

HoME MISSION BOARD AND INDIAN MISSIONS

. Triennial Convention

. Beginnings by Baptists

. Indian Mission Association organized

. Southern Baptist Convention organized

. Board of Domestic Missions |

. Indian Missions added

. Name changed

. Cooperation of Boards, North and South

. Single alignment in Oklahoma

. Cooperative work among Civilized Tribes

. Independent missions among the Blanket Tribes . Service to Government Schools and Hospitals

I. THE INDIANS OF THE SOUTH

The Red people of America were called Indians by the discoverers because of the mistaken idea that this continent was a portion of India, and the name persisted. Where they came from, and how they came, is one of the mysteries yet unsolved. There are many theories advanced and stoutly contended for by their advocates, but none with satisfactory proof or logic. That they are the ten lost tribes of Israel is fantastic and untenable because of their lack of a knowledge of metals and the useful arts. Besides, there are many evidences that the Indians were here before Abraham left Chaldea. That they came from China or Japan by way of Behring Strait has a show of reason; but color, racial characteristics, linguistic and religious Similarities are lacking.

The Indians are not a vanishing race.

“Lo, the poor Indian, with his face to the west, Reading his destiny in the setting sun”

is good poetry, but not true. It is believed by those who are in a position to know that there are more Indians now than when Columbus discovered America. According to the latest authority (1926), there are thirty million in the world; 350,000 in the United States, exclusive of Alaska. In the South there are more than 200,000. In Oklahoma alone there are 120,000. It is true that some tribes have become extinct. Others have decreased, some are only holding their own, but others are increasing rapidly.

_ The Indian was forcibly taken from his native pants and manner of life and made to live in the white man’s way. For a while he seemed about to perish under such treatment. But he is learning to live in the white man’s fashion, and the more kindly attitude of a friendly and intelligent governmental administration is bringing him into a ee ae ee ee ee yee es ee a ee ee ae his own as a part of our national life. The Government appropriated $700,000 for health work among Indians in 1925. The Indian Department maintains eighty-two hospitals, employs 186 physicians and 124 nurses. <A splendid system of schools has been established, primary schools for each tribe and great boarding high schools with splendid equipment. Sanitation and health rules are taught in all these schools. Better living conditions prevail everywhere. Indian youth is ambitious and intelligent, and the Indian of the next generation will be able to give a good account of himself in the political, economic, and cultural life of our nation. .

The general idea prevails that the Indians are nationally united in language, government, and customs. This is erroneous. We must think of the Indian race as it is divided into tribes, with each tribe having its own language, type of government and customs, these being often widely different from those found in any other tribe, just as there is found in the Caucasian race a hundred different peoples. There is scant evidence of racial unity even among the tribes themselves. If they all came from a common stock, it was so remote that few, if any, words of common use persist among the tribes. A few of the tribes use a similar language, as the Pawnees and Wichitas, the Osage and Poncas, the Sac and Fox and the Kickapoos. This suggests that they may be related, or, perhaps, it only means that they have been federated for protection against a common enemy. The Creeks and Seminoles speak the same language, because the Seminoles are a branch of the Creeks, the word “Seminole’’ meaning “runaway.” The Choctaws and Chickasaws have been affiliated so long that the Chickasaws have lost their original language and now use that of the Choctaws.

Ideas of government differ widely among the different tribes. There were the great federations of the eastern tribes, with kings and sachems. Other tribes were ruled by hereditary or elected chiefs, while still other tribes were governed by a council of chiefs without a single designated ruler. Apparently no ambitious chieftain or warrior has ever arisen among them with a desire or hope to conquer and rule the whole Red Race.

Within the territory of the Southern Baptist Convention the Indian tribes are grouped generally into two great divisions. Those tribes which have. had contact longest with the white man are known as the Civilized Tribes. These are the tribes of the Eastern section that have been moved by the Government to reservations in the West. These are the Cherokees, Delawares, Creeks, Seminoles, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Quapaws, and the Virginia tribes of the Powhatan Confederation. The Western Indians that so long successfully resisted the advance of the white man are known as the Blanket Tribes, from the fact that they wear the blanket rather than adopt the white man’s manner of dress. This is but symbolic of the partial progress they have made in adapting themselves to the white man’s civilization. Even in this there is marked difference in the progress made by the different tribes, some welcoming schools and modern innovations, others continuing to reproduce their ancient primitive modes of life in the midst of the bustling civilization all about them.

This absence of solidarity, while presenting an opportunity for the Christian faith, is not without its difficulties,

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Ieee eS aC. eee, eer in that the missionary must either master their languages or wait until, by education, the Indians learn his English. In the first instance, he cannot hope to become proficient in more than one Indian language in a normal lifetime, and that restricts his field of operation largely to the one tribe. In the second, it requires many years to supplant a language with another and make it of general use in a tribe.

_. In.associations and church conferences where many tribes form a part, as many interpreters as tribes must be used. Those of each tribe are seated together about their interpreter, and often as many as six or seven interpreters, all talking at once, take the message as given by the preacher and repeat it, each in the tongue of his people.

It is one of the evidences of the divine nature of the gospel, and of the efficiency of the Holy Spirit to ‘guide into all truth,” that the missionary to a primitive people, with an unskilled interpreter, can get the message to them, and the resultant surprising grasp they have of divine truth. We have tried in this book to trace through a century the stream of loving service which has flowed from hearts that have been touched by divine love and brought into fellowship with him who came to seek and to save the lost. To these children of nature on whose darkened lives the Sun of Righteousness had never risen with healing, to this people who have suffered at the hands of our race, the words of the poet, “Man’s inhumanity to man has made countless millions mourn,” apply in a very marked way. The dealings of our nation with the Indians have not always been Christian. But these things cannot be remedied now. Perhaps, they could not have been averted by the Christians then. Our duty is to the Indians who are now living at our very door, and who are willing to forget the past and are looking to us as stewards of God’s manifold grace to lead them into — a possession more lasting and more glorious than that which.

they have lost. Whole volumes could be written about the difficulties and failures, the mistakes, and the lassitude with which we have approached the task, but through it all has run a golden thread of consecration and faithfulness. Success and joy have attended and crowned the efforts of Baptist missions to the Indians of the South.

II. InNpIAN RELIGIONS

The Indians are by nature religious, mystical, ritualistic, reverent. Their religious customs and beliefs are almost as varied as are their tribal traditions and dialects. However, there are a few fundamental beliefs and observances which seem to be quite general. The belief in and worship of the Great Spirit or Great Mystery seems quite universal, though few, if any, of the tribes confine their worship to this or any other one god. They do exalt him above all gods, and attribute to him the creation of all things. But there are other deities to be propitiated and worshiped.

When the missionaries came among the Cheyennes they found them using the term Ha-ah-ma Veo, meaning the White-Man-Above. When asked for an explanation, they said they had used the term, Mok-e-miheo, meaning Great Mystery, but since coming in contact with white men and observing their creative genius in building cities, railroads, and other wonderful things, they concluded that the great Creator must be a white man. The missionaries explained to them that God was not a white man, but a great Spirit, and suggested the use of the term formerly used by them as more accurately expressing the correct conception of him. The Sioux used the term Wakantanka, meaning Great Mystery. Other tribes, Manitou, others Wa-kon-da, all having the same meaning.

Some tribes worshiped gods of the four cardinal points

- of the compass, and sky and earth. When men smoke the long pipe together, the host, after filling the bowl with tobacco and before he puts it to his lips, points the stem east, west, north, -south, then toward the sky and down toward the earth. They believe in a future life. The Happy Hunting Grounds have always been their goal, where life is eternal and everlasting spring abides, and game and wild fruits are abundant.

They: also believe in sacrifices and offerings, intercession and substitutionary suffering. ‘These constitute the missionary’s approach to the Indian. Paul, in Athens, observed among a multiplicity of altars one erected to the Unknown God. “He whom ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you,” he took for his text that memorable day on the Areopagus. So may the missionary today find a contact in age-old Indian beliefs. |

Space will not permit mention of more than a few of the religions prevalent among some of the tribes of recent

_ years. ‘These cannot be described in greater detail than will give one an idea of the shadowing of the dawn of religious truths and of how pagan rituals and beliefs during the long dark period served to keep alive the instinct for religion until God should reveal himself to them through the glorious gospel of his Son, Jesus Christ.

The Sun Dance, perhaps the most ancient, is still practiced

& by the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Sioux, Poncas, and, until recent years, by the Pawnees. It is held during July or August when the sun is most powerful. During the year, men under stress of some great danger or calamity make vows to participate in the Sun Dance. Sometimes it is when wife or child is sick and hovering near the borderland between life and death. In olden times it was when the war- — rior was going to battle, or sometimes, when absent from ~ home, he dreamed of danger to his family.

An old Sioux Indian named Chased-by-Bears told Fran- — cis Dinsmore of his first Sun Dance vow. He was twenty-four years of age, when one day, far from his camp, he saw an Arickaree Indian riding a horse and leading another. Chased-by-Bears secreted himself near the trail, and as the Indian approached, he prayed to Wakantanka that he might succeed in killing the Arickaree and in | leading his captured horses back to camp. He promised, if successful, to give of his flesh to the Great Spirit as an © offering at the next Sun Dance. He was successful, and later in the day came into camp bringing with him the trophies of his adventure. He had it announced through- : out the camp that by the help of Wakantanka he had made ~ a successful coupe, and in recognition of it he made a ;

vow to give a Sun Dance the following summer. Accordingly, the dance was given, and Chased by-Bears used the identical lariat with which he led home the horses to torture himself by fastening it in an incision made in the flesh of his right shoulder.

During the same year, Chased-by-Bears went out with a ~ war party of twenty soldiers. As they approached the enemy, some of the soldiers came to him and requested that © as they were in great danger they wished him to speak for i

‘them a vow to participate in the next Sun Dance. Each man came alone, bringing some gift, or stating what offering he would make. One man stated that, if successful, he would give his whole body suspended by cuttings

_ made in his flesh, a rawhide thong passed under muscles and secured to an overhanging limb or cross-beam, thus suspending his full weight in mid-air. Just at sunrise next morning, Chased-by-Bears had the men stand before him. Standing behind them, with right hand raised and facing the east, he offered a prayer to Wakantanka. In his prayer he stated that these men had requested him to make this vow for them, imploring pity for them and their families, since they were now between life and death. Should

' he enable them to conquer their enemies and take home horses and many scalps, they would each participate in the Sun Dance and make a suitable offering at the proper time. They were successful, and Chased-by-Bears saw that each fulfilled his vow, he himself doing the cutting in’ their flesh. When the vows were made it was published through: out the camp by a crier, and the leader saw that they were fulfilled. | The Sun Dance takes place after this manner. The tribe is usually in camp about two weeks, camped in a large circle with opening toward the east, each band or division of the tribe being allotted a place in the circle in which to camp during the sacred days while certain ceremonies are being enacted. No person or animal is permitted to cross from one point of the circle to the other, thus coming between the medicine tent and the east. Horses and dogs are frequently shot when attempting to cross, and it is thought predestinated that some dire calamity would overtake the owner of such stock. |

Within the circle, near the west portion, the sacred medicine tent is placed. In this are kept the sacred relics, and only the priest and those initiated into the mysteries are © permitted to enter. Some days are spent by them in ceremonies. An intercessor is chosen whose life is blameless. Young men are selected to look out a suitable tree to make the center pole of the temple or Sun Dance lodge. Young women of good character are designated to cut it down. These persons are called to stand before the sacred tepee while the High Priest comes out and, with hands raised, blesses them, giving them advice and instructions. The tree is to be of suitable size, having no blemishes. Especially are they to avoid selecting one on which there are marks of having been struck by lightning or hacked by profane hands. The young women are admonished that the tree must be cut down by them only, the limbs and branches cut away, care being used not to touch it with their hands or any other part of their bodies. This same rule must be observed while it is being brought to the camp and placed in position.

The young warriors proceed to the woods, followed at a respectful distance by the young women. Search is made until a suitable tree is found. The warriors then call to the women and indicate the tree selected, and return to report — the find. The young women cut and prepare the pole and | also return and report. Some warriors from each band are j then selected to bring in the sacred pole, and afterwards to bring in sufficient poles and leafy branches to erect each his portion of the lodge. Having been assembled before the tepee and instructed and blessed by a priest, the whole company enters the wood, and having found the sacred pole they loop two long ropes about it; to these other ropes are attached, and as many as can get hold drag the tree into the camp, marching, praying, and crying. No frivolity is indulged in. The people stand watching at a respectful distance. Arriving at the place selected for the lodge, a hole is dug and the forked pole erected and dropped into it amid much congratulatory shouting. This accomplished, the warriors return to the woods and hurriedly prepare and bring their quota, and erect their portion, as there is considerable rivalry as to which band can first complete their portion of the lodge. eek While this is being done by the warriors, the priests prepare the sacred bundle to be placed in the forks of the pole, which is the central object during the dance. The eyes of the dancers are upon this bundle continually while dancing. What it contains is known only to the initiated. The center covering is a portion of a buffalo robe. An altar is placed within the west side of the lodge around which the priests sit. Frequently they speak and harangue the people. The intercessor prays and leads in the songs

_ which are accompanied by the beating of a drum, about which the official drummers sit. The dancers are stripped and painted, wearing only a breech-cloth, exposed portions of their bodies greased to prevent sunburn. A meal is eaten before beginning the dance, after which no more is eaten until the third day, when it is finished. During the day there are frequent intermissions for rest when water is given them to drink. They dance standing with their eyes upon the bundle, rising with a springing motion on the ball of ‘the foot. A whistle made from the long bone of an eagle is held in the mouth, through which they breathe, emitting a weird sound. Usually there are about twenty dancers at the beginning, but they drop out until only those under the vow continue to the end. |

On the morning of the third day, those who have vowed to have cuttings in their flesh are gathered before the leaders and the intercessor, who offers a prayer. He confesses the sins of the people; refers to sickness and calamities that have come to them as part punishment for their wrongdoings; that they are not unwilling to suffer, but prays that those before him who have willingly offered themselves might be permitted to bear the pain for those less able. Sometimes the vow is to submit to fifty or one hundred cuttings. Often when a vow of this kind is made, the wife or sisters divide the honors with the warrior. If the vow is to. give of his flesh to the Great Spirit, the skin is raised by — sticking an awl into it and with a sharp knife a piece is cut and held up to the sun, saying, “See, this man gives you his flesh.” If the vow is to be suspended, two incisions are made in the breast or back, a skewer is forced under a muscle, a rope fastened to it, the other end of which is attached to the center pole of the lodge, and the dancer throws his weight upon it until it tears out. The incision is then filled with a powder to staunch the blood, and seldom does any serious consequence result. At the end the dancers are given water and an emetic, and afterward light food. Such are the sufferings in the worship of a heathen god.

There are two other prevailing religious ceremonies that should be studied in order to understand the religions of the Indians.

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The first of these is the Ghost Dance. It originated in 1888 in Nevada. A young Piute Indian named Wovaka, also known as Jack Wilson, having worked for a ranchman named Wilson, was a medicine man. He had been initiated into the profession by his tribesmen. He was taken with a severe attack of fever and was delirious for some days. While he was in this state there was an eclipse of the sun. Great excitement prevailed, and his tribesmen — somehow in their minds associated the strange phenomenon

_with Wovaka’s sickness. Upon his return to consciousness, hearing them speak of the eclipse, he stated that during his illness his soul had left the body and had visited the other world, and remained some days amidst its delightful surroundings, and he claimed that the Great Spirit had given him a message to the Indians. The Messiah, whom the white men had rejected and killed, was soon to come, this time to the Indians. They must prepare themselves to receive him, by practicing the songs and the dance ceremonies to be taught them by him, their prophet. The white race was to be destroyed by some catastrophe, the earth purged of all marks of their profane presence. All dead Indians were to be resurrected, the game restored, and a new beginning would be made, with only Indians in full possession of a renewed earth.

The doctrine was an appealing one to the Indians, and it Spread rapidly from tribe to tribe until all the plains

-Indians from the great Father of Waters to the Pacific coast were enlisted in the new belief—looking for the Messiah. It became known as the Ghost Dance. While dancing, men and women, shoulder to shoulder, formed a large circle. Facing the center of the circle, they sang, without accompaniment, the Messianic songs. Some would go inside the circle and, standing with hands outstretched toward the northwest, would pray and plead piteously that the Messiah might come speedily. They would continue until they would swoon with exhaustion. When revived they would tell what visions and revelations they had received Everywhere the Indians were in an excited state of mind. In Dakota, an effort to suppress the Ghost Dance led to the uprising during which Sitting Bull was killed. Before the Ghost Dance reached the Cheyennes and the Arapahoes, many of them had large herds of cattle. The whole tribe collected into a large camp and danced continually. Their cattle were driven into camps, killed and distributed as every one had need. Their children were taken out of the schools, and homes and farms were neglected. A delegation from these tribes visited the prophet in Nevada and talked with him. The close contact served to disillusion them, and they came home and reported to q their people that he was only an ordinary man and that most of his own people had ceased to believe his teachings. Their zeal lessened from that time and their fantastic hope vanished. They returned to their homes and soon turned their attention to other religions. At different times, the

Ghost Dance has swept other tribes with religious frenzy, — and has left its traces on all the life of the plains Indians,

The second prevailing religion which should be understood is the use and worship uf Peyote.

Peyote is a species of cactus which grows in northern Mexico. The button or crown is collected and dried for use by the Indians in their pagan worship. They make frequent visits to Mexico and bring home supplies of it in suitcases or trunks. We read of its having been used by certain tribes in Mexico to produce intoxication at religious ceremonies as early as the Spanish invasion. From them its use spread to the tribes bordering on the Rio Grande, and from there to the tribes farther north and east.

In Oklahoma the Indians were able by misrepresentation to secure from the state a charter of incorporation to establish churches to be known as “Native American Churches,” which charter specifies the use of peyote as a sacrament. The meetings are held on Saturday nights in ' tepees, or among the Osages in octagonal houses built for the purpose. A fire is built on an altar of earth in the center of the lodge and tended by an official fire-keeper. The worshipers arrange themselves, sitting around the wall. A small drum is beaten continuously while a companion to the drummer sings a peyote song. The drum is then passed to the next pair, and so on, until the circuit is made. The peyote is then distributed by the leaders, who give to each man two or more. When all are served, they each hold up a peyote button and offer a prayer to it, asking for the kind of vision they wish. Then they chew it up and swallow it. The drum and songs go around again. This is repeated until from twenty to forty have been eaten. Some- _ times the buttons are stewed and the tea drunk. At midnight they take a recess and drink some water. ‘Toward morning they come under the influence of the drug, and one by one go into a sleep or trance. While in this state they say they have visions according to their prayers. Sometimes they visit the future world; sometimes they see and converse with persons long dead; at other times they see visions of exquisite beauty. After sunrise, breakfast is