A Letter addressed to President Hayes. 6r 



class of expert and efficient workinjj men and women — not imported but home- 

 bred, bound by inextinguishable ties to their native land, and brought up under 

 its irstitutions. 



We shall omit no element of material growth and transformation ; while at 

 the same time we intend to convey some knowledge of moral and religious 

 principles of a very practical and influential nature. We may be permitted to 

 associate these two lines of instruction, not fostering one at the expense of the 

 other, but steadily and consistently promoting both — inasmuch as we believe 

 that modern civilization has reached its present elevation by the action and 

 interaction of the physical and metaphysical. 



An appeal to the Supernatural has always been efficacious in gaining control 

 of ignorant minds. It has often been employed for the basest purposes; who 

 would forbid its employment for the best? Thereby abstract ideas of morality, 

 and spiritual ideas of religion, are gradually introduced, become fixed, and 

 remain forever. The appeal is to the moral nature of man, which though hid- 

 den and seeming to be extinct, is most real and substantial. 



These abstract ideas are the hidden springs of society. They are the reserved 

 forces which are continually drawn upon in the practical aflairs of life. Their 

 regenerating power keeps society from decay and exhaustion, by supplying the 

 demands created by the extraordinary pressures and temptations of the times. 

 Whatever moral support advanced thinkers find in their speculations, it is quite 

 certain that ordinary men and women require the knowledge of "abstract 

 morality," and a serious belief in it, in order to pass through life with satisfac- 

 tion and honor. 



And since it can be shown that a supernatural religion is the only religion 

 that is worth naming as drawing its motives from the unseen world, we propose 

 to introduce both morality and Christianity among the Primitive Races, as 

 containing the conservative principles upon which modern progress moves and 

 civilization rests. 



We do not, however, propose to train these people after any abstract or 

 foreign pattern. We have no pet theories to exemplify. We shall meet them 

 on the lines of their own aptitudes and characteristics, and carry them forward 

 thereon, to take their place among the skilled producers of our country, and 

 to swell the ranks of its intelligent and law-abiding citizens. 



This scheme is neither chimerical nor impracticable. The success which has 

 followed educational effiDrts among native tribes in British Columbia, warrant 

 our belief that with some variation in aim and management, we shall not fail. 

 Our school among the Stahkeens at Fort Wrangel, carried on more than two 

 years and still continuing, is also an earnest of complete success, as well as 

 expanding usefulness. Many of the children have already learned to read and 

 write. A very marked improvement is noticeable in dress, manners and mor- 

 ality. The influence of the teachers is also manifet among the Stahkeen 

 people at Fort Wrangel ; a large majority of them having forsaken their ancient 

 mode of life, and having conformed to the customs of white people. They 

 have given up sorcery and their belief in polytheism ; and they display a 



