Tah Koo Wah Kan; Or, the Gospel Among the Dakotas

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1869 edition. Excerpt: ...twenty or thirty Indian men were in different stages of intoxication, they made an attempt to drink min'-ne-wakan', spirit water, in the tee'pee-wakan', spirit house, at the Traverse; and were only prevented from doing so by some of their own number. At Lacquiparle, during these years, the opposition to education and Christianity was greatly increased. The soldiers forbade all persons from attending school and religious meetings at the mission; and, to effectually enforce this prohibition, they sta-» The Dakota name for church. tioned guards along the paths. These guards also visited the mission houses morning and evening, and cut up the blankets of several women whom they found there. They also forbade the missionaries from taking any wood, except such as was already cut down. In addition to all this, they continued to cripple the mission by killing their cattle. Little Crow, at this time chief of the baud living near Saint Paul, on a visit to Lscquiparle, encouraged them in these forms of opposition. And, as the result of all this, Dr. Williamson writes: "In two successive years, they killed, each year, twice as many as they left us. They killed our best horse also; and it was necessary to put a yoke on our two remaining mileh cows to haul our firewood." But trials and discouragements came to the missionaries, from the apostasy of those who had professed to be Christians, which were harder to bear than any of the foregoing that came from the heathen party. When, during these years of opposition, the half of the full-blooded male members of the church fell into sin, Christ was wounded in the house of his friends. One of these, who formerly endured with meekness much persecution, on account of his embracing the gospel, and for several years...