Page 228 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

C H APTER S I X

1904 fu ndraising letter, Bidwell declared that "these Indians have proven
themselves worthy of the position of any white citizen."38
For other women, the idea of civilizing American Indians had larger
dimensions, such as "elevating" Indians by introducing "white standards"
into their lives. This was generally thought to be a job fo r women, who
were regarded as the moral and civilizing f o rces of American society . 39
In 1840, Abigail Smith wrote to her f a mily fr om Kansas lamenting the
lack of white teachers among natives: "Oh that there might be teachers
sent to show them the way to be saved and the arts of civilization."40
During subsequent decades, more than one white woman arrived on the
f r ontier charged with the duty to supervise Indians' metamorphosis.
Female teachers among Indians easily grew discouraged, however.
A white New Mexico field matron admitted that Indians "are learning
f a st," but recommended the additional harsh policy of relocating young
Indian children fr om their f a milies to schools, f o r the young" do not have
so much to unlearn." Sarah . Abbott, who lived with native people at
E
First Mesa, Arizona, during the early 1900S was less optimistic. In spite
of her efforts, she was at a loss that the "people of Hotevilia still main­
tain the same obstinate determination to go their own way."41 Moreover,
women who shouldered the task of teaching Indians how to survive in
the increasingly white world of the W e st soon learned that their duties
included more than teaching.42 One teacher in Oklahoma recalled that
"I was matron and teacher to say nothing of being nurse and seamstress
and besides I usually helped at the Saturday morning bath."43
Another potential solution was that religion provide the spring­
board that would catapult American Indians f r om primitivism to civi­
lization. Believing that Indians were "buried in ignorance" because they
knew "nothing of Christ or the way of salvation," numerous white
women tackled the Christianizing of American Indians.44 One of the
earliest was Narcissa Whitman, a young woman so intent on carrying
religious teachings to Indians in Oregon that during the 1840S she hastily
wed a missionary to meet the church board's requirement that all f e male
missionaries be married. In later decades, missionaries of many f a iths
competed fo r Indians' attention.4s For instance, the Congregationalist
missionary Mary C. Collins worked with the Sioux in South Dakota
between 1 8 95 and 1910. Also, groups like the W o men's Baptist Home

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