Post by denney on Aug 21, 2006 14:09:52 GMT -5
XTRSTF&U1T8 AND FILE-LEADERS. 233
about twelve years of age, her mother brought her to Mr. S. W. Pond, and proposed to give her to him to be trained and educated as a white girl, as her cousin had been trained. Nancy's narrow-minded and selfish old grandmother objected, saying she had taken care of the girl when she was small, and now that she was old enough to bear burdens, she would not give her up unless a horse were given her in exchange. As the missionary was not purchasing girls with horses, Nancy continued to live with and aid her loving grandmother. She contrived, however, to pick up a good deal of instruction at the mission at Oak Grove. High-spirited Indian girls are hard subjects to make slaves of, and the sequel of the old lady's oppressive treatment was an elopement and disgraceful matrimonial alliance on Nancy's part in another band. The disgraceful feature of the affair was the fact that the girl's relatives received no fair equivalent in exchange for her. Nancy's cousin had brought her loving grandmother a horse, a fair and satisfactory equivalent, while Nancy had not brought the old lady a revenue of even so much as a dog for feasting, and was therefore eternally disgraced. The proprieties must be observed, even among Indians. They, like other races, have their u sacred white elephants" of established custom which must be duly worshiped. A chief's granddaughter too!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
234 TWO VOLUNTEER MISSIONARIES.
The old lady had her revenge. Nancy had stored her ornaments in the storehouse at the Oak Grove Mission, and when she returned for them after her marriage they were found to be gone, taken by her grandmother. As the Indian bride realized the extent of her loss, she turned away wailing, probably sorrowing as much at this unkind act on the part of her relative as at her own loss.
Nancy had two sons, who are now in the prime of early vigorous manhood, active, intelligent, and influential men. One of them, the Rev. John Eastman, is pastor of a Presbyterian church at Flandreau, speaks English with ease and fluency, and is respected by all who know him. His brother, Dr. Charles Eastman, is a graduate of Dartmouth College, and a man of superior education, both literary and medical, and has already taken high rank in his profession. He is now government physician at Pine Ridge Agency. He was recently married in New York to Miss Elaine Goodale, a teacher.
These two young men have usually been spoken of as full Dakotas, but strictly speaking are three-quarter bloods. They are great-grandsons of chief Cloud-Man, of Lake Calhoun, the patriotic elements of whose character they seem to have inherited in a marked degree. Such men—thoughtful, progressive, practical — are an honor to any age and to any race.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PlMSTFBUITS AND FILE-LEADEES. 235
They are the true file-leaders in the march of human
progress.
In the Lake Calhoun band there were two brothers whose names were Hepi (haypee) and Catan (chatan), signifying that they were third and fourth in order of birth in their father's family. All Dakotas are thus provided with names when they come into this world, and they are sometimes known by these names as long as they live. These were bright intelligent boys, and at the time when our sketch begins were probably twelve or fifteen years of age. They were not only bright but ambitious, and in spite of the ridicule and opposition of their companions they regularly recited to Mrs. Pond, who had undertaken to teach them to read and write, Mrs. Pond became much attached to her pupils, and they and she both persevered until the brothers could both read and write their own language very well. The task must have been often in some respects an unpleasant one for the teacher, since the best of Indians, in their native barbarism, are not given to divers washings, whatever may be said of their tendency to carnal ordinances.
After a time the teacher removed to Shakopee, and the lads occasionally visited the mission station at that point, usually carrying with them some portion of printed Scripture in their native language. They always received a warm welcome from their former
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
236 TWO VOLUNTEER MISSIONARIES.
teacher, and seemed to feel a special regard for her. Notwithstanding their literary attainments and amiable dispositions, they gave no evidence of any change in heart or life.
In the spring of 1858 a war party of Ojibways visited Shakopee to obtain scalps. These two brothers, now grown to manhood, had just before, with others, made, a raid into the 0 jib way country and had returned with a scalp. They encamped on their return on the'outskirts of the village of Shakopee and danced nightly around the scalp which they had taken.
There were about fifteen lodges of the Dakotas at that time in the vicinity. The Ojibway war party, having gained the bluff which overlooks Shakopee without being discovered, were silent but interested spectators of the scalp dance, which took place under their very eyes. The writer remembers very distinctly standing beside the dancers the evening before the battle and watching the progress of the dance, which took place but a short distance from his father's door.
The succeeding morning, a few stragglers from the main body of the Ojibways, which was led by Hole-in-the-day in person, shot a Dakota who was fishing in the river, bringing on, prematurely, a conflict. The plan of the Ojibway chief was to surprise the
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIBSTFBUITS AND FILE-LEADERS. 237
Sioux camp in the night, and if this plan had been carried out, he would doubtless have succeeded in destroying the camp.
The battle took place on low ground, between Rice Lake and the river. Four or five Dakotas were killed, and about the same number of Ojibways. Catan was shot through the lungs and was borne away on a litter, for both he and his brother were active participants in the battle. The Dakotas hastily intrenched their camp, fearing an attack the following night; but the Ojibways returned at once to their own country, and after a few days the Dakotas also went back to the Reservation. Those who were slain in the fight were buried the same evening near the Indian camp, and I remember observing that one of the bodies was headless. Doubtless the enemy had taken away the head to scalp at leisure. I well remember Catan's smiling farewell as they bore him away. We never saw him again.
Finally both these men were condemned to death for participation in the outbreak of- 1862, but in the revival in the prison they were among the most active in persuading their fellow captives to become Christians. It is said that the example and exhortations of Catan did more than those of any other one of the Indians confined at Mankato in preparing the way for the work of grace wrought there. He
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
238 TWO VOLUNTEEE MISSIONARIES,
died at Rock Island, an apparently sincere follower
of Christ.
Hepi was released after a time and located at Flan-dreau with many of his kindred. He became a faithful and consistent preacher of the gospel of Christ. In 1884 he wrote to his old friend and instructor, from Flandreau, as follows: —
S. W. POND :
Brother, — The letter which you sent me I received safely, and rejoicing I read it. I opened the envelope and saw the picture of the face of a good-looking young woman. " Who is this?" I thought as I gazed upon it. Then I gave it to my children and read the letter. I used to see your two girls long ago, and I thought this must be one of them. " The older is dead, and this must be the younger," I thought. When I was a boy, her mother was kind to me, and it seemed as if this were she. As I read the letter, brother, it seemed as if you had come into my house, and I gazed at the letter rejoicing. God has watched over you well and multiplied your days, and we can now converse with
each other. That is a great joy.
Of the Dakotas who were about your age when you came, a
young man, none are now living on earth, and even of their chil-
dren only here and there one is alive.
Brother, I will tell you how many of my father's children are
left. There are two of us living, but we had not the same mother.
The other is a man and has many children, but I do not know
how many, for they live far away. , . .
In our church we always have good meetings. The sacrament
of the Lord's Supper we shall observe the second of March.
To-day the wind blows from the south and there is a great flying
of snow. I think perhaps the snow is melting with you to-day,
for you are sheltered from the wind,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JOSEPH BLACKSMITH (WAKANHDiSPA),
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIUSTFRUITS AND FILE-LEADERS. 239
That is all I will say. I shall preserve your daughter's picture carefully, also yours. With all my heart I salute you.
One of your kindred,
JOSEPH BLACKSMITH,
HEPI AM I.
After writing the foregoing letter, Hepi was sent by the native missionary society to labor among pagan Indians at Fort Totten. The few remaining months of his life were spent there in successful missionary work. He wrote the following from that place: —
FORT TOTTEN, Dakota, November 21,1885.
Mr. S. W. POND:
My elder Brother, — To-day I look toward you arid remember you. I came from Flandreau north to Devil's Lake. I am in the midst of many Dakotas. I tell them the words of God. On the Sabbath many of them come and hear gladly.
Last fall, at the meeting at Sisseton Agency, they directed me to come here and I am here. Brother, I am not well, but not very unwell. Your younger brother,
JOSEPH BLACKSMITH.
Shortly afterward his last letter was received. The concluding portion of this letter is unfortunately lost, but of that which remains the following is a translation: —
FOKT TOTTEN, December 10,1885.
S. W. POND:
My elder Brother, — The letter you sent me I have received and rejoice. To-day I raised blood and was alarmed, but suddenly they brought me a letter, and I read it at once, and as I gazed at
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
240 TWO VOLUNTEER MISSIONARIES,
your words I felt brave and was no longer afraid. You have made me glad.
Though. T raise blood, I feel comfortable. Every Sabbath they come well and delight in singing. I have never been confined to the bed, and I continue to preach to them. ISTow the people with whom I am say to me, " Now that you have raised much blood, if you will perform no labor, it will be well with us." So they proposed that I should live in the house of a young man named Job, and I am living there.
Your picture that I have I show to them and say to them, " This is he who wrote to me. I also say, " This is he who made our alphabet for us." Then they look at your picture and hand it from one to another. I tell them of your brother Matohota [G. H. Pond], and say, "When I was a boy, these men gave me instruction."
Mr. S. W. Pond describes the last days of this remarkable man in a letter written shortly after his death: —
Perhaps you know Hepi Wakanhdisapa is dead. He was a delegate to the General Assembly [Presbyterian] last spring, and was sent to Devil's Lake last fall to preach to the Indians there. In the winter he wrote me that he had been bleeding at the lungs, and I advised him to stop preaching. His children at Flandreau, when they heard of his sickness, requested John Williamson to call him home, and he did so; but Hepi refused to leave Devil's Lake. He said," I want to be with my children, but God has given me a work to do here and I must finish it." His wife was with him when he died and gives the following account of the last day of his life: —
" That day he seemed to be tolerably comfortable and five men came to read with him, with whom he spent the whole day till
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
about twelve years of age, her mother brought her to Mr. S. W. Pond, and proposed to give her to him to be trained and educated as a white girl, as her cousin had been trained. Nancy's narrow-minded and selfish old grandmother objected, saying she had taken care of the girl when she was small, and now that she was old enough to bear burdens, she would not give her up unless a horse were given her in exchange. As the missionary was not purchasing girls with horses, Nancy continued to live with and aid her loving grandmother. She contrived, however, to pick up a good deal of instruction at the mission at Oak Grove. High-spirited Indian girls are hard subjects to make slaves of, and the sequel of the old lady's oppressive treatment was an elopement and disgraceful matrimonial alliance on Nancy's part in another band. The disgraceful feature of the affair was the fact that the girl's relatives received no fair equivalent in exchange for her. Nancy's cousin had brought her loving grandmother a horse, a fair and satisfactory equivalent, while Nancy had not brought the old lady a revenue of even so much as a dog for feasting, and was therefore eternally disgraced. The proprieties must be observed, even among Indians. They, like other races, have their u sacred white elephants" of established custom which must be duly worshiped. A chief's granddaughter too!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
234 TWO VOLUNTEER MISSIONARIES.
The old lady had her revenge. Nancy had stored her ornaments in the storehouse at the Oak Grove Mission, and when she returned for them after her marriage they were found to be gone, taken by her grandmother. As the Indian bride realized the extent of her loss, she turned away wailing, probably sorrowing as much at this unkind act on the part of her relative as at her own loss.
Nancy had two sons, who are now in the prime of early vigorous manhood, active, intelligent, and influential men. One of them, the Rev. John Eastman, is pastor of a Presbyterian church at Flandreau, speaks English with ease and fluency, and is respected by all who know him. His brother, Dr. Charles Eastman, is a graduate of Dartmouth College, and a man of superior education, both literary and medical, and has already taken high rank in his profession. He is now government physician at Pine Ridge Agency. He was recently married in New York to Miss Elaine Goodale, a teacher.
These two young men have usually been spoken of as full Dakotas, but strictly speaking are three-quarter bloods. They are great-grandsons of chief Cloud-Man, of Lake Calhoun, the patriotic elements of whose character they seem to have inherited in a marked degree. Such men—thoughtful, progressive, practical — are an honor to any age and to any race.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PlMSTFBUITS AND FILE-LEADEES. 235
They are the true file-leaders in the march of human
progress.
In the Lake Calhoun band there were two brothers whose names were Hepi (haypee) and Catan (chatan), signifying that they were third and fourth in order of birth in their father's family. All Dakotas are thus provided with names when they come into this world, and they are sometimes known by these names as long as they live. These were bright intelligent boys, and at the time when our sketch begins were probably twelve or fifteen years of age. They were not only bright but ambitious, and in spite of the ridicule and opposition of their companions they regularly recited to Mrs. Pond, who had undertaken to teach them to read and write, Mrs. Pond became much attached to her pupils, and they and she both persevered until the brothers could both read and write their own language very well. The task must have been often in some respects an unpleasant one for the teacher, since the best of Indians, in their native barbarism, are not given to divers washings, whatever may be said of their tendency to carnal ordinances.
After a time the teacher removed to Shakopee, and the lads occasionally visited the mission station at that point, usually carrying with them some portion of printed Scripture in their native language. They always received a warm welcome from their former
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
236 TWO VOLUNTEER MISSIONARIES.
teacher, and seemed to feel a special regard for her. Notwithstanding their literary attainments and amiable dispositions, they gave no evidence of any change in heart or life.
In the spring of 1858 a war party of Ojibways visited Shakopee to obtain scalps. These two brothers, now grown to manhood, had just before, with others, made, a raid into the 0 jib way country and had returned with a scalp. They encamped on their return on the'outskirts of the village of Shakopee and danced nightly around the scalp which they had taken.
There were about fifteen lodges of the Dakotas at that time in the vicinity. The Ojibway war party, having gained the bluff which overlooks Shakopee without being discovered, were silent but interested spectators of the scalp dance, which took place under their very eyes. The writer remembers very distinctly standing beside the dancers the evening before the battle and watching the progress of the dance, which took place but a short distance from his father's door.
The succeeding morning, a few stragglers from the main body of the Ojibways, which was led by Hole-in-the-day in person, shot a Dakota who was fishing in the river, bringing on, prematurely, a conflict. The plan of the Ojibway chief was to surprise the
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIBSTFBUITS AND FILE-LEADERS. 237
Sioux camp in the night, and if this plan had been carried out, he would doubtless have succeeded in destroying the camp.
The battle took place on low ground, between Rice Lake and the river. Four or five Dakotas were killed, and about the same number of Ojibways. Catan was shot through the lungs and was borne away on a litter, for both he and his brother were active participants in the battle. The Dakotas hastily intrenched their camp, fearing an attack the following night; but the Ojibways returned at once to their own country, and after a few days the Dakotas also went back to the Reservation. Those who were slain in the fight were buried the same evening near the Indian camp, and I remember observing that one of the bodies was headless. Doubtless the enemy had taken away the head to scalp at leisure. I well remember Catan's smiling farewell as they bore him away. We never saw him again.
Finally both these men were condemned to death for participation in the outbreak of- 1862, but in the revival in the prison they were among the most active in persuading their fellow captives to become Christians. It is said that the example and exhortations of Catan did more than those of any other one of the Indians confined at Mankato in preparing the way for the work of grace wrought there. He
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
238 TWO VOLUNTEEE MISSIONARIES,
died at Rock Island, an apparently sincere follower
of Christ.
Hepi was released after a time and located at Flan-dreau with many of his kindred. He became a faithful and consistent preacher of the gospel of Christ. In 1884 he wrote to his old friend and instructor, from Flandreau, as follows: —
S. W. POND :
Brother, — The letter which you sent me I received safely, and rejoicing I read it. I opened the envelope and saw the picture of the face of a good-looking young woman. " Who is this?" I thought as I gazed upon it. Then I gave it to my children and read the letter. I used to see your two girls long ago, and I thought this must be one of them. " The older is dead, and this must be the younger," I thought. When I was a boy, her mother was kind to me, and it seemed as if this were she. As I read the letter, brother, it seemed as if you had come into my house, and I gazed at the letter rejoicing. God has watched over you well and multiplied your days, and we can now converse with
each other. That is a great joy.
Of the Dakotas who were about your age when you came, a
young man, none are now living on earth, and even of their chil-
dren only here and there one is alive.
Brother, I will tell you how many of my father's children are
left. There are two of us living, but we had not the same mother.
The other is a man and has many children, but I do not know
how many, for they live far away. , . .
In our church we always have good meetings. The sacrament
of the Lord's Supper we shall observe the second of March.
To-day the wind blows from the south and there is a great flying
of snow. I think perhaps the snow is melting with you to-day,
for you are sheltered from the wind,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JOSEPH BLACKSMITH (WAKANHDiSPA),
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIUSTFRUITS AND FILE-LEADERS. 239
That is all I will say. I shall preserve your daughter's picture carefully, also yours. With all my heart I salute you.
One of your kindred,
JOSEPH BLACKSMITH,
HEPI AM I.
After writing the foregoing letter, Hepi was sent by the native missionary society to labor among pagan Indians at Fort Totten. The few remaining months of his life were spent there in successful missionary work. He wrote the following from that place: —
FORT TOTTEN, Dakota, November 21,1885.
Mr. S. W. POND:
My elder Brother, — To-day I look toward you arid remember you. I came from Flandreau north to Devil's Lake. I am in the midst of many Dakotas. I tell them the words of God. On the Sabbath many of them come and hear gladly.
Last fall, at the meeting at Sisseton Agency, they directed me to come here and I am here. Brother, I am not well, but not very unwell. Your younger brother,
JOSEPH BLACKSMITH.
Shortly afterward his last letter was received. The concluding portion of this letter is unfortunately lost, but of that which remains the following is a translation: —
FOKT TOTTEN, December 10,1885.
S. W. POND:
My elder Brother, — The letter you sent me I have received and rejoice. To-day I raised blood and was alarmed, but suddenly they brought me a letter, and I read it at once, and as I gazed at
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
240 TWO VOLUNTEER MISSIONARIES,
your words I felt brave and was no longer afraid. You have made me glad.
Though. T raise blood, I feel comfortable. Every Sabbath they come well and delight in singing. I have never been confined to the bed, and I continue to preach to them. ISTow the people with whom I am say to me, " Now that you have raised much blood, if you will perform no labor, it will be well with us." So they proposed that I should live in the house of a young man named Job, and I am living there.
Your picture that I have I show to them and say to them, " This is he who wrote to me. I also say, " This is he who made our alphabet for us." Then they look at your picture and hand it from one to another. I tell them of your brother Matohota [G. H. Pond], and say, "When I was a boy, these men gave me instruction."
Mr. S. W. Pond describes the last days of this remarkable man in a letter written shortly after his death: —
Perhaps you know Hepi Wakanhdisapa is dead. He was a delegate to the General Assembly [Presbyterian] last spring, and was sent to Devil's Lake last fall to preach to the Indians there. In the winter he wrote me that he had been bleeding at the lungs, and I advised him to stop preaching. His children at Flandreau, when they heard of his sickness, requested John Williamson to call him home, and he did so; but Hepi refused to leave Devil's Lake. He said," I want to be with my children, but God has given me a work to do here and I must finish it." His wife was with him when he died and gives the following account of the last day of his life: —
" That day he seemed to be tolerably comfortable and five men came to read with him, with whom he spent the whole day till
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------