(I.)
Letter from Rev. Asher Bliss to Henry R. Schoolcraft.
_Cattaraugus Mission, Sept. 4th, 1845._
DEAR SIR—Agreeably to your request I forward you some facts
in regard to the establishment and progress of the gospel among the
natives of this reservation. The Cattaraugus Mission Church was
organized July 8th, 1827, (which is a little more than 18 years.) It
consisted of Mr. Wm. A. Thayer, the teacher, his wife, and 12 native
members. There have been additions to it from time to time, until
the whole number who have held a connection with this church is one
hundred and eighteen. Thirteen of these have been white persons and
most of them connected with the mission family. Of the one hundred
and five native members seven or eight have come by letter from other
reservations, so that the number who have united on profession of
faith is a little short of one hundred. Twenty-five of these have
gone to their final account. Some have died in the triumphs of faith,
and we humbly hope and trust that they are among the blessed, in the
kingdom of our common Father. A number (as it was natural to expect
from converts out of heathenish darkness) have apostatized from
Christianity, and returned to their former courses. The proportion of
these is not probably more than one in ten. Between sixty and seventy
are now connected with some of the mission churches. A few only have
removed to Allegany, Tuscarora, while the remainder still live on this
reservation.
The effect of the gospel in promoting morality and civilization, may be
learned in part from the fact that the public worship of God has been
steadily maintained ever since the organization of the church, with
members ranging from fifty to one hundred, and sometimes one hundred
and fifty and two hundred as regular hearers of the word. A Sabbath
school has been sustained a considerable share of the time. Many copies
of the Holy Scriptures, and the New Testament, together with tracts,
Sabbath school books, temperance papers, and religious periodicals,
have been circulated among the children and youth. Temperance societies
have been patronized by nearly all the chiefs and leading men on the
reservation. Pledges have been circulated and received the signatures
of a large majority of the population, of all parties, on the
Washingtonian plan.
Day schools for teaching the English language have been kept in
operation almost without interruption for more than twenty years, under
the patronage of the A. B. C. F. M.
During the thirteen years that I have superintended these schools,
nearly thirty different persons have engaged for a longer or shorter
time, as teachers. For the past year there have been four schools under
the patronage of the American Board, and one under the Society of
Friends. The whole number who have been instructed in the five schools
is probably not far from one hundred and twenty-five. The attendance of
a part has been very irregular, sometimes shifting from one school to
another, and sometimes attending no school at all. Several of the early
pupils in the mission schools are now heads of families, well informed,
industrious, temperate and religious, and in good circumstances. Some
are interpreters, some teachers of schools, and others engaged in
transacting the business of the nation.
You can, sir, best judge of the influence of the gospel in promoting
worldly prosperity, when you have fully completed the census which
is now being taken. When you count up the framed houses and barns,
the horses, cattle, sheep and hogs, the acres of improved land, with
the wagons, buggies and sleighs, clocks and watches, and the various
productions of agriculture, you can easily conceive the difference
between the present, and thirty years ago. I suppose there was not
then a framed building of any description, and scarcely a log house,
properly so called, no teams, no roads, no ploughed land, and but small
patches of corn, beans and squashes. What an astonishing change!
As to the capacity of Indian children for improvement, my own
impression is that there is no essential difference between them
and white children. The fact that Indian children usually make slow
progress in studying English books, can be accounted for in three ways:
1. They generally have little or no assistance from their parents at
home. 2. They are irregular in their attendance on schools, for want of
order and discipline on the part of parents. 3. Being ignorant of the
English language, it is a long time before they comprehend fully the
instruction of their teachers.
These circumstances operate to make the school room a very dull and
uninteresting place to the scholar, and the reflex influence gives
the scholar the same appearance. When they can once rise above these
circumstances, and overcome these obstacles, they make good proficiency
in their studies.
Believing that these statements cover the ground of your inquiries, I
subscribe myself, dear sir,
Respectfully and truly yours,
ASHER BLISS.
P. S. Should you desire further information on any of these points,
or upon others, which have been omitted, please state your questions
definitely, in writing.
Yours, &c.,
A. B.
(K.)
Letter from Rev. William Hall to Henry R. Schoolcraft.
_Allegany Mission, Sept. 8th, 1845._
DEAR SIR:—Your inquiries in relation to the state of
religion, education, &c., among the Indians of this reservation, if I
rightly understand them, are briefly answered as follows:
Christianity very much prospered here during the four years next
preceding the past.
The number of church members during that period, was nearly tripled,
and very encouraging additions were made to their knowledge and zeal.
But the past year has been one of stupidity and drought.
There has, however, been four additions from the Indians, made to the
church, by profession of faith, and two whites.
The present number of Indian members is about one hundred and fifteen.
The number of whites is eight. Seven of the Indian members are under
censure.
I have sustained three schools during the past summer, in which about
eighty Indian children have been more or less taught. One of these
schools, whose whole number is only about thirty, gives an average
attendance of nearly twenty-five. In this neighborhood the population
is sufficiently compact for a farming community, and the younger
parents are partially educated.
In the other neighborhoods, the population is very sparse, and the
parents very ignorant. The consequence is, that the daily attendance
falls short of one half the whole number of scholars, and cannot be
called regular at that. Many do not get to school earlier than half
past eleven, and very few earlier than ten, and half past ten. Those
who attend regularly, evince a capacity to acquire knowledge, equaling
the whites, and one of our schools will suffer nothing, in comparison
with common country schools.
I am, dear sir,
Yours &c.,
WILLIAM HALL.
(L.)
Letter from Rev. Wm. McMurray to H. R. Schoolcraft.
_Dundas, November 11th, 1845._
MY DEAR SIR—I have just received the vocabularies, with
the Indian words, from the Rev. Adam Elliot, of Tuscarora, to whom I
sent them for the translation. The cause of the delay was his severe
illness, and the difficulty of getting suitable persons to give him the
Indian. He says, before you publish, if you will send him, through me,
the proof sheets, he will have them corrected for you, and forwarded
without delay. He is an amiable and most excellent man.
Yours, most faithfully,
WILLIAM McMURRAY.