A FRIEND OF THE RED MAN

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXI, Issue LXXI, 22 February 1916, Page 2

A FRIEND OF THE RED MAN

DIFFICULTIES OF THE SIMPLE LIFE. I

One does not expect slippered ease in ; the missionary life. But Uie reader of "The Red Indians of the Plains" j (S.F.C.K., 6s .'let) will be surprised by ! the varieby. of neeomnlkhmeiii/S forced upon.the author, the ilev. J. Hines. | Mr Hines was the son of a Cambridgeshire farmer, and learnt something of the rigor of that life. He was brought up as a Congregationalist, and when following the plough early got into the habit of jjreaehing to himself, a practice that he admits was not con- ■ ducive to straight furrows. In good time a chance of rn.issiona.ry work in j Zanzibar presented itself. Luckily for Mr'Hines* and happily for the renders of his entrancing "book, the venue was changed to North-west Canada, and he became the friend and helper of the Red Man.

BEYOND THE RANGES. As a missionary he had to know the language of his people in order to reach them. Also, he had to trek half-way | across a continent with ox waggons and . supplies, for the nearest market town to his first station was Winnipeg (700 miles away). He had an assistant to help him to build a house for himself, j and to stand by him in case of need. And his task roughly was this ;tio find a station where lie coulcl set up a school for the Indians^ preach to them, and help them in the affairs of daily life. Mr Hines .was suited to the task, and his zeal for the spiritual side of the work compensated h"im for the real hardship that beset him, especially at the beginning. 1 The extent to which the Indians re-! lied upon the buffalo may be judged from the fact tnat not only their food and clothing, but their very tents and ] fuel came from chat beast. They would, j take a bleached buffalo head, fill the' apertures of eyes, ears and nose with | grease, and maKe it their combined fire and grate. All the time the herds decreased, and iit was to be a rafie between the missionary and self-help and • the dop vendor and degeneration. PIONEER EDUCATION. When Mr Hines went out. he had no Qongregation, 00 abode, no school, i When he left all these things had arisen.. Until the coming of missionaries the Indians had 110 written lan- j gua.ge, and from the! first he set his foot against the idea of converting and, baptising adults and children hap- j hazard. He went into the beliefs and, mysteries of the Indian Nature worship, | and made his own doctrines clear to them before attempting a "bag." This j distinction makes all the difference between permanent influence and n ere revivalism, and in the case of a simple ! but savage people is essential. The j people took to him, and on one occasion an Indian entrusted to him the delicate matter of wooing and winning a bride \ on his behalf. The missionary natur- i ally had to be careful to' explain that | it was not for himself that he made a lover's protestations. INDIAN CHARACTER. It is usual to look on the Red Indian as an easy victim to sloth or drink. But it was to an Indian chief that the Prohibition Law of Western Canada I was due. From the North Pole to the United States frontier the i'ed man was freed, in law at least, from the incursion of the iierailiarlv foul spirits with which his white brother attacked him. 1 The amazing generosity of the Indians is shown by the things that they gave to the collection' on communion. Sundays. Pieces of urint in value at current prices from 2s to 15s, tobacco soap, half pounds of tea, knives, forks, and even the treasured "fire bag," the .liost precious possession of the Indian. For in it he keeps flint, steel, tobacco, pipe, and pocket knife. Each member of the family would bring some little token, the smallest child being held up to make his perse nal offering. The book throushout is full rf kindly experiences. Once or twice Mr Hines was_ held up by the mendicant bravado of individuals. But on the whole his experiences of the heathen, both before and after their conversion, were such as to confirm one's belief in human, nature.