The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1929, Page 170

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170

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

Begun with great enthusiasm and carried out for
many years with tremendous sacrifices, but few
traces remain of this noble work. Though the
harvest of this mission was not as fruitful as first
expected, —a result for which we can in no wise
blame either the missionaries or those who supported
them, — we cannot but admire the determination
and courage of the pioneers in even undertaking this
work. They were crowded to the limit with the
affairs of Home Missions, with the founding and
organizing of new congregations among those of
their own race. If anybody, then they might have
found an excuse which at least would have been
plausible for leaving this work undone. But not so.
Their zeal knew no limits, their determination no
bounds. Here were lost souls redeemed by the blood
of Christ. The Gospel-message should be proclaimed
also to them for their salvation regardless of cost,
conditions, difficulties, or the great amount of work
among their own people. That was the spirit!
But to return to the fruits of this mission. Why
were they so meager, and why was this mission so
short-lived? Aside from the grace of God, which
“worketh as it will,” aside from the Old Adam, who
is just as powerful in the Indian as in any one else,
we can find special reasons and causes enough in the
life and habits of the Indians. Experience proves
that mission-work among people who, like the
Indian, live a nomadic life has its own peculiar diffi-
culties. Roaming around as such people do, they
never acquire the habit of seriously applying them-
selves to one particular thing. They are “rolling
stones that gather no moss,” also in the spiritual
sense, being unwilling to concentrate their minds
for any length of time on matters that pertain to
God and salvation; rebellious, furthermore, against
any one or anything that limits their freedom of
thought or action; hindered by their roving propen-
sities from attending divine services regularly and
sending their children to school. The Indian lan-
guage, too, presents great difficulties. Considerable
linguistic talent is required to learn their language
well enough to be able to preach without the aid of
an interpreter. Besides, there are so many dialects.
But there were still other difficulties to overcome,
“difficulties of a more serious nature even than those
‘enumerated; for one, the evil influence of so-called
Christians, who defrauded the naturally honest
Indian in every possible manner, thus bringing his
_ hatred and contempt upon all palefaces. Then there
was Ishkudawabu (firewater, whisky), which de-
‘stroyed both body and soul of its victim and the per-
ecutions of thievish Indian traders, who looked upon

the missionaries as their natural enemies. And be-
hind all these influences, urging them on, goading
them on, was the Evil One, who sought to keep his
palace in peace, lest some one take his goods and
divide his spoils. It saddens our heart to remember
that so much love and effort produced such small
results.

A Colony Founded for Missionary Purposes.

And yet there are two things which give our
chapter on Indian Missions in Michigan its impor-
tance: 1) that in spite of all that hindered this
mission endeavor some were brought to the knowl-
edge of their Savior; 2) that the missionaries who
out of love to Christ willingly made such great sacri-
fices (and let us not forget their faithful wives)
were truly shining examples of self-sacrificing de-
votion.

In a preceding chapter [the author’s book] we
noted that Pastor Loehe, of Neuendettelsau, had
corresponded with Pastor Schmid, of Ann Arbor,
in regard to mission-work among the Indians. Thus
it came about that in 1844 I’. Auch, a pupil of Pastor
Schmid, began this work in the Indian villages Sebe-
waing and Shebayonk and that in the following year
the congregation at Frankenmuth was founded for
the express purpose “to be not only the headquarters
for the Indian Missions, but also that its pastor may
be the missionary and its members an example for
the new converts.”

Unfortunately there is no record anywhere of the
beginnings of the work in Sebewaing, and there are
but meager reports on its progress.

In Frankenmuth, Pastor Craemer at once ener-
getically began the work. He spoke to the Indians
by means of an interpreter by the name of James
Gruet, a half-breed, who was able to speak both
English and French-Canadian. Two Indian families
lived in the neighborhood of the Frankenmuth
church, and Indian villages of ten or twenty families
were not far away. One of Craemer’s first efforts
was to establish an Indian school in Frankenmuth.
The school at one time numbered as many as thirty-
two pupils, all of whom were in the mission-home
under the care of Mrs. Craemer. During the course
of the year 1846 three mission-stations were estab-
lished, all among the Chippewas, on the Kawkawlin,
Chippewa, and Pine rivers. These three stations
were regularly visited once a month. Craemer
shunned no hardships in doing this work; not the
long rides on Indian trails nor the canoe trips; even
chills and fever could not keep him from making his
regular rounds and preaching the Gospel to his new-