Pioneering
Literature—The Birth of Indian Life
By
R.L. Gowan
“Somebody
is going to publish a newspaper for the Indians,”
prophesied a Christian worker at the Native Workers Conference
held in Prince George, British Columbia. That happened
in the spring of 1967.
Marian
and I never gave it a whole lot of thought. I was sure
the person publishing a newspaper for Native Americans
was not going to be me. What did I know about publishing
a periodical? Not much, you can be sure.
However,
as we drove back to South Dakota, the idea began to intrigue.
What an opportunity it would be to get the true gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ to these precious people! The
more we talked and seriously considered doing it, the
more excited we became. By the time we reached our home
in Custer, South Dakota, we were pumped up and overflowing
with ideas and plans.
We
had to have a plan and a starting point. So we decided
to buy a new Davidson press. It would print a sheet 11”
x 17” and folded it would be a four page 8 1.2”
x 11” newsletter. I don't believe we thought we
were publishing a newspaper, but it was a beginning. I
had practiced a little printing on a 1250 Multilith press.
But the Davidson was more of a challenge. However, I succeeded
in printing 8000 copies of our first Indian paper. We
called it Indian Life and Life. It was largely black and
white, with a little red showing on the headings.
Now
that we had them printed, our next job was to run them
through the folder, which we had also purchased. This
was a big step of faith for us, as we had no idea how
these new papers might be received. So off to the town
of Pine Ridge we sped, full of hope...but very eager to
learn how the Indians would react, after reading the paper.
We
had no idea how to introduce the publication. Should we
just pass them out on the streets, or go to the Christian
workers and have them give the papers out? Up and down
the streets we went handing out the free copies. An hour
later we returned to our starting point, and the Indians
were still engrossed in the little news sheet. Everywhere
we went, it was readily accepted. One minister told me,
“My people won't read the literature my denomination
sends me for distribution. So, I told them to build their
fires with the papers! But they read your papers!”
Indian
Life was tested in North Dakota, with the same results.
So much for the beginnings. We had great hopes for the
future! By faith, the next run was 20,000 copies. We had
to figure out how to distribute so many. We learned as
we moved forward. And God was faithful, every step of
the way. It took time, money and a great deal of thought
and planning.
In
it all, it stretched our imagination, our faith, our search
for appropriate material that would be relevant and culturally
pleasing. We soon discovered what the readers liked in
their paper. Photos and testimonies were a big hit. Articles
featuring Indian role models of the present and past were
among the favorites. They loved our corner sharing Indian
recipes. Words of wisdom and photos of the elders were
read with interest. Indian humor brought many a chuckle
and brightened their day. Indian history was appreciated.
Ancient Indian games were some times covers. Indian prayers
and proverbs were eagerly read. Christian Indians loved
the paraphrase of Biblical Psalms. They especially loved
personal testimonies with real photos. This encouraged
the readers and they let us know more would be welcomed.
In
the course of time, we had to go to a bigger press. It
was simply too much for the little Davidson Press. A commercial
printer, with a web press, was engaged to help us prepare
the copy and do the paste-ups. Then they burned the aluminum
plate and put it on the big web press. Our paper came
out in a hurry, several thousand each hour.
While
we had a subscription price on the publication, most of
them were delivered on a freewill plan. We built a distributor
list of 2,200. This included missionaries, doctors, nurses,
operators of mini-marts, Laundromats, jailers, nursing
homes, schools, hospitals, Bureau of Indian affairs, and
others. Of course, that included the postmasters in Indian
towns, when we did box-holder mailings to Indian villages
and towns.
The
bulk distributors received from 3 to 1,000 copies each.
I had one 80-year-old gentleman, by the name of J.R. Quist,
in Alberta, Canada, who wanted 1,000 papers every time
it was printed, which was bi-monthly. He would write back
and tell me all the wonderful things the Indian Life newspaper
was accomplishing in his part of the world.
To
get them in the mail, after the printing, took my little
crew of six or eight a solid week to get all those papers
addressed and mailed. That is when we had reached our
peak, with a circulation of 110,000 on a regular basis.
A time or two we got up to 130,000 when we included Canada
in our bulk mailing to box-holders. Somehow this didn't
meet the post office codes in Canada and they stopped
our mailings to box-holders. The responses in Canada were
fantastic and overwhelming!
Publishing
such materials for our native people frightened me, even
though I have some Indian blood, according to my father.
He said my grandmother was an Indian lady. I failed to
find out what tribe. Since they lived in Tennessee, I
have been of the opinion that I could have Choctaw blood.
After
Wounded Knee in the early seventies, I felt perhaps the
time was nearing when I should relinquish my responsibility
as publisher and editor of Indian Life newspaper. Then
I should find a native organization, with a strong Indian
leader, to carry on this particular phase of our ministry.
Tom
Claus, a good friend of our work, brought together Indian
leaders from North America and formed an organization
known as CHIEF (Christian Hope Indian Eskimo Fellowship).
One day, I approached Mr. Claus concerning what he thought
about CHIEF taking over the publishing of Indian Life
newspaper. As the leader of CHIEF, I was sure Tom would
take the editorship of Indian Life. It proved to be so.
American
Ministries subsidized the publishing of Indian Life newspaper
for ten or twelve issues. At the end of our subsidy, Tom
was ready to give it back to AMI. So American Ministries
received it back again. We published and distributed at
least two issues while we were in Arizona in '78 and '79.
I
agonized over what to do about Indian Life after the publication
was returned to us by the CHIEF organization. I was in
contact by mail with Mr. George McPeek, who was to soon
graduate with a degree in journalism. We arranged to meet
together to discuss merging our common interest in a publication
for Native peoples.
We
came to an agreement to work together and the new publication
would be called Indian Life, but the format would be a
magazine instead of a newspaper. George was already working
with a publication known as The Indian Christian. It was
also agreed American Ministries would help in the funding
of such a publication. As I remember, AMI pledged $10,000.00.
We also provided a mailing list of subscribers and potential
subscribers, plus places we had sent papers free of charge.
By this time Mr. McPeek had organized a Canadian nonprofit
charitable corporation, to be known as Intertribal Christian
Communications. The first copy of Indian Life Magazine
came out in October 1979.
