AN ACCOUNT OF THE STOCKBRIDGE SETTLEMENT ON FOX RIVER.
From Mr. Williams’s, and in his company, I proceeded the next day up
Fox River, about ten miles farther, to the settlement occupied by the
Stockbridge tribe, last from the State of New York;--but originally
from Stockbridge, Massachusetts, from which place they take their name.
This, of course, will be seen to be the second removal they have made,
to be freed from the white men.
Having, for some reasons, found their situation uncomfortable in
Massachusetts, or being otherwise tempted, the Stockbridge tribe had,
at an early period, sold their original possessions, and removed to
the west, into a region, which is now the heart of the State of New
York;--but which, at that time, afforded them the same hopes of a
retired seclusion, as those which they indulged, when, less than ten
years ago, they came to Green Bay. The place of their first retreat,
was in the neighbourhood of other tribes, where they hoped to enjoy, in
perpetuity and without disturbance, their own rights and their peculiar
ways of living. But after a generation or two, they found themselves
again surrounded and invaded by the whites; and as before narrated, and
for similar reasons, they removed again to the banks of the Fox River,
in the North-West Territory.
As the most convenient way of developing the present condition and
character of this tribe, I will here introduce a passage from my
memoranda;--observing, that the term _Kawkawlin_, the name of the
place, from which the date was made, means _Falls_, or rapids; and
that the French epithet attached to it, which needs no explanation,
is employed to express the comparative importance of these _Falls_,
over another smaller rapid a few miles below;--both of which, by the
application of special forces, may be ascended with the bateaux, used
in navigating these waters.
* * * * *
_Grande Kawkawlin, Aug. 16, 1830._
I am now writing from the Mission-house of the American Board, on Fox
River, twenty miles from its mouth, planted among the Stockbridge
Indians--who have been encouraged to settle themselves here by the
General Government, after having been disappointed of their claims on
White River, Indiana. They number about 350 souls, and have probably
made greater attainments in the English language and manners, and in
the useful arts of civilized life, and also in the Christian religion,
than any other tribe of the Aborigines on the continent;--except only,
that the Brotherton Indians have so long used English, as to have
lost their mother tongue. The probable reason, that the Brothertons
have dropped the language of their tribe, is, that nearly all of them
are highly charged with English blood. But in the moral state of
society, and in general improvement, the Brothertons are far behind the
Stockbridges. The Brothertons have not enjoyed the same uninterrupted
succession of teachers of the Christian religion.
The Stockbridge Indians have heard the preaching of Brainard and
Edwards; and have enjoyed Christian privileges and cultivation, with
little interruption, for nearly ninety years. I saw a Bible yesterday,
safely kept in a sort of ark, at their place of worship, (a remarkable
relic of Hebrew custom), printed at Oxford, England, in 1717, of the
largest and finest type I have ever seen; except one shown to me two
years ago in the English Church at Montreal, the last of which was said
to be the largest and fairest type of a Bible ever done in English.
From the resemblance of the two, I have reason to believe, they are
both of the same impression. The Bible here is in two volumes, the
largest folio, two feet by eighteen inches, both together weighing I
should judge forty to fifty pounds, with a superb frontispiece, and
numerous plates, equally elegant and splendid. On the external of each
volume is imprinted in large gilt capitals, with the ancient mode of
punctuation, the following inscription:--
THE. GIFT. OF.
THE. REV. DR. FRANCIS. AYSCOUTH.
TO. THE.
INDIAN. CONGREGATION. AT. HOUSATONNAC.
IN. NEW. ENGLAND.
MDCCXLV.
On the first blank page is the following certificate, I suppose in the
hand-writing of the person whose name is subscribed:--
“This, with another volume, containing the Holy Bible, is the pious
gift of the Rev. Dr. Francis Ayscouth (Clerk of the Closet to His Royal
Highness, Frederick, Prince of Wales) to the use of the congregation of
Indians, at or near Housatonnac, in the vast wilderness of New England,
who are at present under the voluntary care and instruction of the
learned and religious Mr. John Sergeant, and is to remain to the use
of the successors of those Indians, from generation to generation,
as a testimony of the said Doctor’s great regard for the salvation
of their souls. And is over and above other benefits, which he most
cheerfully obtained for the encouragement of the said Mr. Sergeant, and
in favour of the said Indians, at the request of their hearty friend
and well-wisher,
“THOMAS CORAN.”
“_London, the 31st of Dec. 1795._”
* * * * *
I have conjectured, that the last date should be 1745, in order to
correspond with the inscription on the outside. But perhaps the
solution may otherwise be obtained. I have not felt at liberty to
restore the correspondence, as the characters, though in manuscript,
are quite distinct and legible.
--“And is to remain to the use of those Indians _from generation to
generation_, &c.” And here it is, as bright and as perfect, as when
first it came from the hands of the pious donor;--and that not to
prove, that it has not been used--for it has been constantly used
in public worship. But it has been _carefully_ used, and carefully
kept in the _ark of the covenant_! It came from _Old_ England to
the “Housatonnec, in the vast wilderness of _New_ England.” It was
transported with the tribe to the State of New York;--and for aught
I know, with all the sacerdotal solemnities of their Hebrew fathers,
in ancient days. And it was again transported by the same religious
care to _this_ vast wilderness, of the North-West. And here it is, a
perpetual monument of their fear of God, and of their love of his word
and ordinances. Their reverence for this volume and for the _ark_,
which contains it, is almost superstitious. Nay, I had almost said--it
is idolatrous. But that would be unjust. While the white Christians
(_Christians?_? of Europe have fallen into the most egregious and
stupid idolatry, these descendants of the ancient Hebrews, and all
their brethren of the wildest tribes, in all their wanderings, have
never laid their hands upon an idol--have never worshipped an idol.
They have never worshipped the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars, nor
any image of things in heaven, or earth. They have never worshipped
gods _many_;--but One invisible, unchangeable, eternal Spirit! “The
_Great_ Spirit!”--as they always call him. But where else is the people
to be found, _not_ Christian, except among the scattered remnants of
Judah and Benjamin, who have not worshipped idols?
Let the pious descendants of the English race, both in Great Britain
and America, be encouraged to imitate the _faith_ of the “Reverend
Doctor Francis Ayscouth,”--and of “the learned and pious Mr. John
Sergeant.” For here, in the Stockbridge tribe, is their reward. “From
generation to generation,” even under all the disadvantages of their
condition, these Indians have been growing better and better, ever
since they were first blessed by the prayers and labours of those
venerable men of God.
Yesterday was the Sabbath--and a good day it was. I had never expected
to come into this wilderness, so called, and among these savages,
_so esteemed_, to enjoy a Christian Sabbath, without witnessing a
single impropriety, among a whole people of this description;--to see
the congregation, the parents with their children, “and the stranger
within their gates,” going up to the house of God in company; seating
themselves with a reverence and decorum, that might shame many
communities, calling themselves civilized, and professing Christianity;
listening with fixed and unrelaxed attention to all the public
services, many of them demonstrating a thorough religious abstraction
and absorption; and when their hearts and conscience were appealed to,
in the application of the subject of discourse, showing a depth and
quickness of feeling, which agitated their bosoms, and forced a passage
through the watery channels of the eye. And then to attend the Sabbath
school, reduced to all the order and discipline, which characterise the
best schools of this sort in the white settlements;--superintended,
indeed, by the Missionaries, but employing the adult natives, as
instructors, who engaged in their work with a ready aptitude and
apparent satisfaction:--this, too, was a scene unexpected and grateful
beyond my power to express. And all was done in the English language,
so pure, that if my eyes had been shut, and I could have forgotten
where I was, my ears would have assured me, that I was listening to the
common exercises of a Sabbath school among the whites.
The building consecrated and employed for these purposes, is made
of unhewn logs, resting upon each other from the foundation to the
roof, and dove-tailed at the angles; forming not only heavy and
substantial walls, but strongly “compacted together.” The interstices
are filled up with a species of clay, or mud, mingled with straw
to secure its tenacity, and to exclude the wind and storm. This,
it may be understood, is the ordinary mode of constructing houses
in the new settlements, until the inhabitants are able to erect
saw-mills, and produce boards and other lumber, essential to more
comely edifices. I have been gratified to remark, that this Indian
settlement has all the conveniences, and is equally well done, as
settlements of the same age, and in similar circumstances, in the
States. This church, or meeting-house, is planted in the midst and
under the overhanging trees of a wood, because it happens to be the
geographical centre of the tribe;--and is also employed, as a common
school-house, on the week days. It will admit a congregation, closely
packed, of 300, or more--quite sufficient for their purposes. It is
delightful to see them thus assembled, and for such a purpose, all
neatly dressed in a costume, about half-way between the European
_habit_ and that of the wild tribes; measuring not inaptly the degree
of their civilization:--the women, for the most part, especially the
matrons, wearing the old fashioned English short gown and petticoat,
with scarlet gaiters, and buckskin moccasins, tastefully in-wrought
with beads, with the white man’s beaver hat, and some gaudy ribband
for a band, which often hangs pendant down the back, nearly to the
ground. Some of the younger females may be seen, dressed nearly to
the top of the English fashion--always exhibiting, however, some
laughable incongruities. The men seldom wear hats--and their dress
also is ordinarily _midway_ between the European and Indian modes. The
flaps of their frock hang out to meet the trowsers, or high gaiters,
which terminate half way from the knee to the hip bone, and which are
supported by strings attached to the upper garments. They are generally
closely girded by a sash of _wampum_ or beaded mantle, the ends of
which are pendant, like the sash of a military officer. The children
are set off in a show of slight variations from the appearances of
adults. As among civilized people, the standing in society, the degrees
of respectability and domestic wealth, are marked in dress, by varying
degrees of richness and taste. Some of the men, as well as women, are
dressed in all respects after the European plainer modes.
In the second, or afternoon service of yesterday, the sermon of the
preacher was interpreted, as is always the practice in one half of
the day, for the benefit of a small portion of the tribe, who do not
understand English. This is a slow, and a somewhat tedious mode of
intercommunication. The process is simply this: as the preacher did
not understand Indian, he delivered himself successively in short
sentences, and waited at the end of each for the interpreter to present
the thoughts, in his own tongue, to the congregation. Or rather I might
say: the preacher rested where the current of thought more naturally
allowed a pause.
I had always understood, that the Indians are good singers. It is an
exercise, for which they have great fondness. But the half had not
been told me. They seem _all_ to be singers; and the mellowness and
sweetness of their voices, together with the accuracy of their ear,
and their horror of discord, ensure the sweetest harmonies in their
chorus. This tribe have been so long practised in the art of sacred
music, and their taste is so good in the selection of common tunes and
anthems, that they are surprisingly familiar with the most extensive
range of Christian psalmody. I heard about thirty of them last evening,
male and female, sing an hour and a half without interruption, passing
from one piece to another without repetition, except as requested;--all
done in good style of performance, (when we compare the ordinary choirs
of church singers, one with another) and in pure English;--except
occasionally, by particular desire expressed, they sung in their own
tongue. They have many psalms and hymns translated into the same
metre, so that a part of the congregation in public worship, for whom
it is more convenient, sing in their own language, simultaneously
with those, who sing in English;--and all without confusion. You may
recognise those, who sing in English, or Indian, by the movement of
their lips. It seems impossible for Indians, when they sing in chorus,
to avoid a simultaneous movement--which is never executed in churches
of white people, where all the congregation unite;--and not always in
choirs, that have had the best opportunities of being trained. This
unerring exactitude of movement must be owing, I think, to a natural
superiority in the quickness and nicety of their musical perceptions.
I was compelled to award these Indians the palm over the ordinary
performances of Christian psalmody, among the whites.
I noticed yesterday two interesting features, appertaining to the order
of their public worship:--one was the staff and office of the parish
beadle, introduced, no doubt, by Mr. John Sergeant, nearly a hundred
years ago. The staff, in the present instance, was a green switch,
about ten feet long, which the functionary had cut from the wood, as
he came to church;--and woe to the boy, that should play, or the man,
or woman, that should sleep, under his watchful eye. The former was
switched over the ears with a briskness, which I should judge, from the
sound of its whizzing, must have made them tingle and burn for the
rest of the day. And when a man or woman was seen nodding, the big end
of the switch was turned up, and made to thump violently against the
stove-pipe over head, till it rang like a bell, accompanied with the
startling cry from the beadle, in Indian: “_Wake up, there!_”--all to
the no small annoyance of the preacher;--for it happened in the middle
of his sermon. But the preacher gained at least the advantage of being
heard by the sleeper, as may well be imagined, after such a summons.
Now, although this may excite a smile among the whites, who in these
times, have generally abandoned this good sort of discipline, yet it
all passes off here by the power of custom, with the utmost gravity,
and produces a very quickening and salutary effect. The prerogatives
of this functionary, as I perceived, also extend to the keeping of
order out of doors, during the interval of public worship, and while
the congregation are assembling and retiring; so that no boy, or youth,
dares offend in his presence. And I am told there is no partiality
shown by this officer, even to his father, or mother, or wife, or
children; and that it is prudent even for the stranger, not to fall
asleep. Certain it is: I discovered no disposition to levity among the
youngsters, either within or without the house. But all was decency
and gravity, comporting with the solemnities of the day and the place.
The _other_ interesting feature which I noticed was: that when the
benediction was pronounced, the congregation all resumed their
sittings, and waited for those nearest the door to retire gradually
without crowding and bustle, the moral effect of which was very
pleasant. And this, too, not unlikely was a lesson taught them by Mr.
John Sergeant, ninety years ago.
In the evening, a prayer-meeting was held at the mission-house; at
which I had the pleasure of hearing two Indians pray in their native
tongue, with a ready fluency, and with great apparent fervour and
importunity. There were about fifty present:--and all kneeled during
the prayers. At the request of the missionaries, I had addressed the
Indians at their place of public worship in the day, on some of the
common topics of religion. In the evening, I spoke to them again, and
told them of their own interests, as a people; especially to watch and
defend themselves and their people against the evils of intemperance.
They were very attentive; and to my no small surprise, when I had done,
one of the chiefs rose to reply to me, apologized for not speaking
in English, and called upon an interpreter. It may be observed, that
he could speak English, as well as the man whom he selected and put
forward for that purpose. But whenever Indians hold a public conference
with strangers, they seem to like a little of the pomp and circumstance
of formality. And it does in fact give weight and importance to the
interview.
The venerable chief thanked God, that I had come so far to visit them;
and for all the good words I had spoken to them that day and evening.
He thanked all the well-wishers and benefactors of the Indians among
the white people. He reflected, with great feeling, upon the goodness
of God, in having put it in the hearts of his own people far over the
great and salt lake (the Atlantic) to send them a Bible, (alluding to
the Bible presented by Dr. Ayscouth) and a learned and good man (Mr.
Sergeant) to tell the Indians all that was in it, and teach their
children how to read it;--and for turning the hearts of Christian white
people so long time to their spiritual welfare. The wickedness of
man, he said, was very great, and they (the Indians) had abused their
privileges, and God had not taken them away. [Here I thought he might
well have indulged in reproaches for the injuries done them by white
men. But no--he was too noble--too grateful.] He said his heart was
_penetrated_, (laying his hand upon his heart) when I spoke to them of
the evils and dangers of intemperance;--and declared, they were ready
to do all in their power to keep their people from the use of ardent
spirits;--and concluded in the usual manner of an Indian oration: “I
have no more to say”--and then approached and gave me his hand.
I do not pretend to recite his speech, but have merely indicated some
of its leading thoughts. I found myself unexpectedly listening to an
eloquent _impromptu_ of an Indian chief, formally and most respectfully
addressed to myself, in presence of an assembly of Indians;--an event
I had never anticipated;--and with a manner and tone of voice, which
spoke directly from the heart. All that I had heard in report, or
imagined of Indian speeches and of their wild oratory, instantaneously
rushed upon my mind; and I saw the living reality before me, not to
detract from, but only to confirm, the vividness of the romantic ideal.
I have been constrained to feel, that the deference and respect,
which the Indian pays to a guest, when put upon the interchange of
good feeling, is unrivalled. No art of civilized life and manners can
pretend to keep company with his politeness. The white man feels his
littleness, and bows in reverence of such moral greatness and dignity
of character.
On the whole, the Sabbath I have spent at the _Grande Kawkawlin_,
is one I can never forget. While listening to the songs of
Zion, so sweetly attuned by these children of the forest, last
evening, accompanied with the suggestions of the occasion, and its
circumstances, I found myself involuntarily and repeatedly exclaiming
within:--Have I lived so long and enjoyed so many privileges, to come
here where it is supposed no such privileges are had, to enjoy a higher
zest and nobler interchange of religious sympathy, than I can remember
to have felt even in the most favoured gardens of Christian culture?
Many times did I think, in the midst of the scenes brought before me
yesterday: could the whole Christian world see and hear _this_, they
would forget all else they were doing, and run, and come bending over
these guileless children of the wilderness, like the angels of heaven,
who delight in errands of mercy, and never leave them, till they were
all raised to that dignity and to those hopes of man, which the light
and ordinances of Christianity are designed and calculated to confer.
Such a sight would open their hearts and all their treasures, and
nothing methinks would be wanting to advance and consummate a design
so benevolent and glorious. With what expressions of good feeling and
gratitude do these Indians, old and young, male and female, crowd
forward, without waiting for the forms of introduction, to shake hands
with a stranger, whom they believe to be kind towards them! What a
rebuke to the reserved and distant etiquette of that, which is claimed
to be a more refined condition! And never did a Christian people
cherish their pastor with kinder affections, or kinder offices, than
these do their missionaries.
And are these the people, who, as the white men say, can never be
cultivated?--these the people to be driven from one place to another,
“till they have no rest for the sole of their foot?”--till they are
compelled “in the morning to say--would God it were evening--and in the
evening, would God it were morning?”--whom it is right to rob, a virtue
to abuse, and pardonable to have annihilated?