Nov 21 at 10:30 AM - Sale 2687 -
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Sale 2687 - Lot 11

Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500
(AMERICAN INDIANS.) Scrapbook from the Presbyterian mission on the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana. 130 photographs laid down or inserted in 20 album leaves, plus 3 letters laid in. Oblong 4to, 7½ x 10 inches, original boards, worn with tape repairs, coming disbound; album leaves worn at edges, a few photos detached or removed, photos neatly captioned and generally well preserved; Ruth L. Parker address label on front flyleaf. Wolf Point, MT, 1928-1940
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This album documents the Presbyterian Indian Mission at Wolf Point, located in the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in northeastern Montana, home to both Yankton Dakota and Assiniboine people. It was compiled by Ruth Louise Parker (1876-after 1950) of New York, a veteran missionary who was the head of the mission from September 1928 to August 1929. It offers a new and timely perspective on the often dismal history of reservation schools during this period, which have drawn increasing scrutiny in recent years.

This album contains photographs of the Mission school, its church, and many named students and families. The largest photo at 6 x 8 inches shows the 7 members of the mission's Girl's Club. A series of shots show the reservation's Grass Dance and Sun Dance in 1929, as well as Christmas carolers and a Memorial Day picnic. A 28 June 1929 newspaper clipping titled "Work of the Presbyterian Indian Mission, Wolf Point" is authored by Parker. A few of the images were sent to Parker after she left the mission, through 1940.

Tucked into an envelope in the rear of the volume are three long letters addressed to Parker concerning Wolf Point. Most notable is a 25 January 1932 letter signed by three Fort Peck Indians: Joshua Wetsit, Robert Hamilton, and Meade Stiele. They solicit her help in opposing new federal regulations which would strip tribal control over their land leases: "We Indians think this matter is just as serious and discouraging as it can be. . . . Through years gone by we have been struggling to build up our self support and our self help. . . . We have tribal councils that are honest and well informed and they are doing the best they know how. . . . It appears to us like an effort to take away from the Indians what little citizenship rights they now have." A 6 February 1932 letter from Parker's successor at Wolf Point, Mrs. Donehoo, offers detailed updates on the lives of several Mission students.

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