THE CHARGE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT, &c.
It might perhaps be expected, that I should give more of the
_political_ character of this Council, and make the Court itself as
conspicuous, as the place they occupied; that I should report their
progress in order, and develope their transactions in detail, from
beginning to end. But the execution of the _entire_ of such a plan, I
am disposed to think, would not be very edifying. I have wished all
along to keep, as near as possible, to that course, which might throw
the most light on these two questions:--What are the American Indians?
And what is to become of them? And this is the course I still mean to
pursue, under my best endeavours, to the end. There are circumstances
and features of this Council, yet untouched, that are worthy of notice
for such an object.
It is proper to observe, that all the affairs of the Indians, in
their connexion and intercourse and official transactions with the
Government of the United States, are in charge of the War Department.
With what propriety and for what reasons, I am unable to say. Neither
can I say confidently, that there is any impropriety, except that
the _name_ wears somewhat of a belligerent character, and would not
naturally lead one to expect so much _kindness_ from such a quarter,
as the Indians have an undoubted right to claim. We may hope, indeed,
that this is not the reason, that such a perpetual _war_ has been
waged upon Indian rights, and threatens still to be carried on. I am
quite sure, that this business was not originally committed to that
department of government for such an object; and if we are to look
to the _temperament_ of the War Department, for the secret of these
troubles, the sooner a motion is made and carried, that this charge be
transferred to another office, or that a new department be created for
this specific object, the better.
It is in truth to the War Department of the United States, to which we
must look for all the immediate Government movements and transactions
in relation to the Indians. There every plan in the treatment of
Indians is conceived and organized;--and thence issue all the
authorities to hold agencies and commissions among them, for whatever
purpose, of an official nature. The destiny of whole tribes is settled
there, and often by a single mind, without consultation. There were
conceived, and as we have reason to believe, at the discretion of one
individual, the instructions of the Commissioners to Green Bay, for
1830; which, if they had been permitted to go into effect, would have
annihilated all the rights of the Indians concerned, at a single blow.
When I say this, I of course speak of the _principles_, on which the
instructions were based. And it was no doubt the confident expectation
of the War Department, that the Commissioners, on the present occasion,
would execute these instructions in full, and bring the plan to
immediate consummation.
But unforeseen obstacles interposed; the effect of which, however,
was only to suspend the result. The New York Indians had caused to be
prepared a vindication of their rights, on the basis of the covenants
between themselves and the North-West tribes; and of the understanding
between themselves and the General Government;--the whole of which,
it was the design of the instructions from the War Department to set
aside. In the considerations, specified in the instructions, as a basis
and guide of the contemplated arrangement, there was no reference
whatever to these covenants. It is possible, and not improbable, that
the Commissioners had caused the New York tribes to be served with a
copy of these instructions, for the very purpose of notifying them
of the course of procedure to be adopted. They improved the advice,
however, in a different way from that, which we have here supposed
was intended:--they employed the mean time, in the preparation of an
argument to establish their rights, and to show before this Court,
before Congress, if needs be, and before the world, why they could not
legally, and why they ought not to be disturbed. It was a document
of the greatest interest, as being done by Indians, allowing for the
little assistance they received. Themselves furnished the materials,
collected the facts;--the final copy of the document was made by their
own hand;--it was read before the Commissioners by one of their own
number;--and laid upon their table, as the only basis, on which they
could act;--and it is now on file in the public office, at Washington,
not only as an unanswerable demonstration of the rights, which it
vindicates, in this particular instance;--but as a proof equally
unanswerable, that an Indian may be a statesman, not to suffer by a
comparison with any other. The New York Indians had among them, on
the present occasion, a plural number of men, of a liberal education.
Having right on their side, they were more than equal to the Court.
They were dignified in all their deportment; and when called upon, they
entered their solemn protest against the course of procedure, of which
they had been notified, as determined on; laid the defence of their
rights upon the table; and pointed to the _Bond_.
What could the Commissioners do? Could they refuse to hear? and having
heard, could they decently throw out the document?--and retaining it,
could they act upon it? The ground of discussion, which it opened,
was entirely beyond the scope of their instructions. Yet the course
pursued by the New York Indians seemed reasonable--all the world
would deem it reasonable. The moment this document was heard by the
Commissioners, their good sense taught them at once, that the object of
their mission to Green Bay was entirely defeated, under the limitations
of their instructions. They could do nothing definitively, under
that instrument, without disgracing themselves, and disgracing the
Government. The course pointed out, was a course of violence;--and
however the end contemplated, was evidently resolved, and must finally
be attained--the Commissioners, suddenly opening their eyes to some
rays of the truth and merits of the case, had not come to this duty
sufficiently conscience-hardened, to jump at once to the conclusion, in
defiance of these covenants. The ground taken by the New York Indians,
and the noble and intrepid vindication of their rights, was unexpected.
It had not been anticipated at the War Department;--nor by the prime
movers of the mischief on the premises;--it was not dreamt of any
where. It was taken for granted, that they would yield to the menace
held over their heads, and take what was offered, rather than risk all.
But the Commissioners being there, they might as well do something.
Notwithstanding the aspects of the case were entirely changed, by the
declaration and vindication of the rights of the New York Indians,
and an insuperable bar thrown in the way of their errand;--yet they
might as well hear what the Indians had to say on both sides; they
might collect information, and report thereon to the authority, under
which they acted. They might also, perhaps, in existing circumstances,
safely hazard the use of some discretion. And so, it seems, they
did;--although within very prudent limits. They ventured to specify and
recommend terms of compromise, between the parties in controversy; and
not succeeding in this, they drew up a plan of settling the disputes,
which they proposed to recommend to Government.
But it was impossible for _such_ men to settle this matter. It was
impossible, because they had come with wrong views of the case, and on
the general subject--themselves pledged to a policy ruinous to Indian
rights; impossible, because they had no authority to do it, on proper
grounds; impossible, because of the conflicting testimony they were
obliged to receive on the spot; and _impossible, because they could not
agree among themselves_.
The Council was held eight days successively--Sunday excepted--without
result, except, that it furnished an admirable occasion for the
developement of Indian character and Indian wrongs.
CHAP. XXIII.
SPECIMENS OF INDIAN SPEECHES.
_By_ JOHN METOXEN, _head Chief of the Stockbridge Tribe, on the
occasion of laying on the table of the Commissioners, the Document,
which contained at large the declaration and vindication of their
rights_.
“Brothers: hear what I have to say. Thanks to the great Spirit, who has
brought your faces to our faces in health and peace. We shake hands
with our great father, the President, in our hearts. We are glad to
take you, his children and our brothers, by the hand. May the chain of
friendship, which has so long bound us together, still bind us, while
the sun comes up in the Great Lake, and goes down in our forest.
“Brothers, you know we have always been friends of our great father,
the President, who has promised to keep off our enemies, if we will
help him keep off his enemies. We lived under his shadow first in the
east country, (Massachusetts) next with our brothers in the State of
New York; and because our great father said, it would be better for
us to come out here, we obeyed his voice, and came. Our great father
said, he would not let the white man trouble us any more. He wished
us to come here, and buy land of our brothers, the Menomenies and
Winnebagoes, and settle down among them, and make them learn the good
ways of the white man--how to raise corn, and build houses, and make
their own blankets, and other good things. Our father said, we should
keep the peace between him and the wild people of the North-West--that
he would give us and our children this land for ever--that he would
never let his white children come among us to sell our people strong
water, and cheat them, and get away their land--that the great lakes
should be a wall between us and them--that he would send good men to
come and see us, and ask what we want--that he would send us ploughs
and all things good to raise corn--that he would send our women things
to make cloth--that if any of the tribes should rise up against us, or
quarrel among themselves, our father would reach out his long arm, and
speak with his mouth, and tell them to be still--and that here, under
his shadow, we should all live in peace, and grow up together, and
become a great nation, like the white men,--and build good houses, and
at last have one great father of our own, who should be in peace with
our great father, the President.
“Brothers, as we knew our great father was a true man and honourable,
and as we believed he would never break his word, and that he had a
strong arm to make it good, we trusted to all he said. We were glad
at his words. We let his white children take our lands and our homes
in the State of New York, and we took our wives, and our children in
our arms, and came across the great lakes to live here on Fox River.
We lighted the council-fire, and made peace with our brethren, the
Winnebagoes and Menomenies. We gave them money for lands. They said,
they were glad to see us, and to have us come and live among them--and
that we would all be one people. They promised to leave hunting and
fishing, and raise corn like us, and that their women should spin like
our women--and that we would become as good and as great as white men.
We were all agreed--and we were all very glad.
“Brothers, we did not think our great father, President Monroe, would
die so soon--or that another would come in his place to forget what
he had promised. We did not think, that our great father had so many
papers in his table-drawer, that he could not find the one, on which
his agreement with us was written.
“You see, brothers, the white man is here--he has brought strong water
to sell to our people, to the Menomenies, to the Winnebagoes, and to
the Chippeways, to get them drunk, and make them quarrel. The Indian is
good for nothing, when he can get strong water. It makes him mad. He
will not work--he will whip his wife, and his child,--and perhaps kill
one, to be sorry for it the next day, when he cannot help it. Strong
water makes him quarrel with his neighbour, and they kill one another.
There is no peace, when the Indian can get strong water--but all things
go badly. Our great father the President, said--that the white man
should never come here, and sell our people strong water.
“Brothers, you see the white people have come here to live--a great
many. And they tell us, that they will stay--and that more will
come--and that they will have our lands--and that we must go beyond the
Mississippi. All this makes us very sorry.
“We lived in peace with the Winnebagoes and Menomenies, and with all
the tribes of the North-West. Our council-fire burnt well, and did not
go out. But, while we sat in peace around it, and smoked the pipe of
friendship with our brethren--the white man came in, and threw a big
stone against the fire, and scattered the brands among our feet, and
knocked them upon our blankets--and cried out: It is no peace--it is
war;--so that we could not stay. We run home, and our hearts were very
sorry; and there has been no peace since. The white man will not let us
speak peace to our brethren. He tells our brethren, that we are their
enemies--that we came here only to get away their country--and to drive
them off; and that if they will get back the lands, which they sold
to us, they can sell them again to the whites, and get pay for them a
second time; and that the whites will give a great deal more money,
than we gave. Three years ago (1827) they received a great bag of money
from the city of Washington to buy these very lands on Fox River, which
they once sold to us. We do not know for what _good_ reason this money
was given them. We are afraid.
“Brothers, I need not say much. We have put in writing what we think.
It has just been read to you, and is now in your hand. We wish you
to think on what is written in that paper. We wish you to carry that
paper to our great father, the President--and shake hands with him for
us, and ask him to read and think of it. We wish it to be read before
the chiefs of the great nation, who stand around the fire of the great
council-house, at the city of Washington--that they may think of it.
“Brothers, there is no longer peace between us and our brethren here.
We cannot speak with them. They do not come and see us--and we cannot
go and see them. The white man stands between us and keeps us apart. We
say one thing, and they say another thing. We no longer smoke the pipe
together. We desire you to ask our great father to take away his white
children, and when they are gone, we shall do well enough.
“We need not tell you, brothers, to shut your ears against the words of
the white men, who have come up here, and who want our lands. We have
been made very sorry to hear what they say.
“Brothers, we look to you--we look to our great father, the
President--we look to the chiefs of the great nation: we ask only for
the performance of their agreement. While you have that paper, you
know our mind. We shall wait with great desire to know the answer of
our great father and of the chiefs at Washington.
“I have no more to say.”
* * * * *
It is proper perhaps to say, that the paper referred to in this speech,
is the document noticed in the last chapter, as having had such an
important influence on the doings of the Commissioners, arresting
the current in which they were directed by their instructions, and
defeating the object which those instructions contemplated. The New
York Indians relied entirely upon this, as principal; and upon other
minor written communications, which were afterwards sent to the Court,
as occasion demanded--in consequence of which the speeches of their
chiefs were few, and generally short--delivered for the purpose of
explanation, or in answer to inquiries.
_Speech of the Menomenie chief, called_ “THE BRAVE,” _in answer to_
METOXEN.
“Brothers: hear me. We give you this hand, to say, we are glad to see
you. You came from the rising sun. We thank the Great Spirit, who
has carried you safely over the big waters, and set you down in our
country, the centre of the world. This hand is our welcome. Peace be
with us.
“Brothers, we wish you to say to our great father, that we love him,
and that we will always do as he tells us. Does he live in a big house?
We shall be glad to go and see him. Tell him, if he will send us some
money, and ask us, we will come. We should like him to send us some
tobacco also. Tell him, we shake hands with him in our hearts.
“Brothers, we are glad you are come to settle our disputes. We,
Menomenies and Winnebagoes, have no learning, like our brothers here
from the rising sun, (the New York Indians.) We cannot put our thoughts
on paper, like them. We ask, that you will let us have a man of
learning, and a friend to us, that he may read that paper, (the defence
handed in by the New York Indians) and tell us what it means--and that
he may give us advice how to act; for our brothers from the rising sun
know more than we do--they have deceived us. They have got more land,
than they ought to have--more than we ever sold them. We wish you
to tell them how much they may have. Tell them what to give back to
us--and we will sell it to our great father, and to our white brothers
here, who are our friends--and they will give us a fair price, and
blankets, and tobacco. We like our white brothers here, and are willing
to have them stay. They sell us what we want, and take our skins.
“Brothers, may the Great Spirit keep you.
“This is all.”
* * * * *
The request made by this chief for learned counsel was granted by the
Court; and a gentleman, residing at Green Bay, who filled the office of
judge in the District Court of the United States for that territory,
was the adviser of the Menomenies and Winnebagoes, through all the
sessions of the Council and of the Commission;--and he prepared written
answers to all the written communications of the New York Indians.
_Speech of_ DANIEL BREAD, _a chief of the Oneidas, about thirty years
old_.
“Brothers, I have not much to say. I am glad, that your people and my
people have one religion. We worship the same Great Spirit--we love
the same Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of sinners. It was the white
man, who brought us to know the true God--and how we may be saved. We
are thankful. We thank the Great Spirit, who has kindly brought us
together at this time. May he keep us in the right way, make us love
one another, and not let us do any thing wrong.
“Brothers, what has been said by our brother, the Stockbridge chief,
is true. I was glad to hear what he spoke. We have moreover told you
all our thoughts in that paper. We wish you to consider what we have
written--and to take it up to our great father, and to the chiefs of
his nation--that they may consider it, and restore our rights.
“Brothers, I did not wish to speak. But it was desired, that one of
my tribe should say something. We are all made sorry--we are in great
trouble--we know not what to do. The white man is come upon us, and is
taking up our lands. We came here to be free from the white man. But he
follows us wherever we go. We are discouraged. The white man has broken
peace between us and our brethren here in the North-West, and will not
let us come together again. We cannot do what we had wished to do--what
our father, the President, promised us we might do. The white people
are surrounding us again--they are getting our lands--they will not
let us have any influence over the native tribes--they fill the ears of
our great father with wrong stories--and they have already threatened
to drive us away.
“Brothers, we were well off in the State of New York--as well as we
could be, while surrounded by whites. There we had good land, we raised
corn, learned the good ways of our white neighbours, had houses for
our families, and a house of God. There we enjoyed the protection of
the laws. If the white man injured us, we told it to our great father,
(the civil magistrate) who was near at hand, and could see and right
the wrong. But here the white man can do us any wrong, and there is
no help for us. We came here, because we wished to be by ourselves,
and to make a separate people of the Indians. Our father, President
Monroe, promised, that his white children should never come after us.
He said, he had a desire to see us living by ourselves, in peace and
prosperity--that it would be better for us to come out here, than to
live in the State of New York--and that he would always remember and
protect us by his great and strong arm. But, brothers, we remember it
is written in your Bible, which is our Bible: ‘And there arose another
king in the land, which knew not Joseph.’ We remember also, that Ahab
wanted Naboth’s vineyard, and Naboth said: ‘The Lord forbid, that I
should resign the inheritance of my fathers.’ But _we_ did give up
the inheritance of _our_ fathers, for the sake of peace--because our
great father said he wanted it for his white children. ‘Ahab said to
Naboth: I will give thee for it a better vineyard.’ So said our father,
the President, to us--and he promised to defend it for us and for our
children for ever. Now, we do not complain of the vineyard. It is
good enough. But Ahab wants this also; and we are more exposed to the
cruelties and depredations of his people, than before we removed.
“Brothers, we cannot move any more. Tell our great father, that our
hearts are made very sorry by the conduct of his white children--and
that we have no peace.
“This is all I have to say.”
* * * * *
_Speech of_ FOUR-LEGS, _head chief of the Winnebagoes_.--N.B. It
is not to be understood, that this man actually had as many legs,
as his name indicates. The fancy of the American Aborigines, in
the invention and application of names, especially to their
chiefs, is well known to be greatly exuberant, and not a little
removed from what the Europeans would call classical purity. All
that _Four-legs_ exhibited to the eye, to entitle him to this
name, was the suspension of a fox’s tail, from being attached to
the external of each of his knees; which played and dangled, as
he walked, making a show at least equal to, and altogether more
attractive than, the calf and ankle of his own leg. But to his
speech:--
“Brothers, attend to my words. Thanks to the Great Spirit, who has
kept us all till now. We are glad to shake hands with you. May we
long smoke the pipe of friendship. Before our chiefs went to see our
great father, where is built the great council-house, we did not know
the great nation. And we once drew our short knives against the long
knives--(long swords of the whites) we took the tomahawk and rifle--and
we said: We will have every scalp of them. But they were too many for
us. And when our chiefs came back, and told us what they had seen, we
said: we shall never dare to lift up our short knives against the long
knives again. And so, we wish to live in peace.
“Brothers, I have counted the trees of the forests all around the
lake of my fathers; (Winnebago Lake, thirty miles long and fifteen
broad)--when the sun was asleep in the woods, I have looked up from
the door of my cabin, and counted the stars--but our chiefs told us,
when they returned: You cannot count the white men! Brothers, we do not
wish to fight the white men; we wish for peace. Our chiefs told us of
your big cabins, all put together in a great heap, so great, that one
must walk a whole journey to get round it. They told us of your big
canoes, with great wings, and how they let out the smoke and thunder
from their sides. We were afraid at their story--and we wish for peace.
Our chiefs told us of your warriors, how many they are, and how they
all push together straight forward, and do not run and dodge like an
Indian behind a tree. They told us of rifles, so big, that an Indian
could not put his arms around one--and that four horses must draw it on
rollers--and that when it fires, it makes a great noise like thunder.
It makes the ground shake, and the clouds too. Brothers, we wish for
peace.
“I have no more to say.”
* * * * *
It is true, _Four-legs_ does not seem to speak much to the point under
discussion. Nor is it to be inferred, that he was not a brave man,
from the singular turn, which he happened to take in his speech. He is
notwithstanding (_was_--for he is dead now) a warrior of great fame.
He no doubt really desired peace, and was sufficiently convinced,
from all he had heard, that his nation could never beat the whites.
It is but a few years since, however, that the Winnebagoes supposed
themselves the greatest and mightiest nation on earth; and their pride
was equal to their estimation of their own relative importance. But
_Four-legs_, just at this time, seems to have been in the humour of
compliments;--and besides, he has been reckoned an arch politician, for
an Indian. He might say one thing, and mean another.
_By_ JOHN METOXEN, _at the breaking up of the deliberations of
the Council_.
“Brothers, I speak now both to my white and red brothers--to all who
are here. I am an old man--and my spirit will soon be with the spirits
of my fathers. I have been at the head of my people for many years.
I have been anxious for them. When I came before them from New York
to Green Bay, and told them to build their cabins at the _Grande
Kawkawlin_, I thought they would have peace, and that I should die in
peace. But I see, that I must go down to the grave without comfort. It
is not peace. All the doings of this Council show, that there is no
rest for my people, who came here for rest.
“I wish to say a word to the Winnebagoes and Menomenies. Brothers.
It is not good, that the white man has stood between us, and kept us
apart. Once we smoked in peace. We came from the rising sun, and asked
you to give us a home. We told you, there was no more home for us among
the graves of our fathers--because the white man had come there. You
took us by the hand, and said: We are glad to see you. Here is our
country. Come and live among us. We said to you: Give us land that we
can call our own, and we will pay you for it. You did so. And we made a
covenant. We said: The white man shall never come here. And our great
father, the President, said: My white children shall never trouble you.
We lived in peace, till the white man came. He, brothers, has told you
wrong stories. He has made you believe, what is not true. It is he that
wants your land, and not we. We agreed, that we would keep him off. But
he has divided us; and now there is no more peace. He will get your
land and ours, and then what will our children do?--Brothers, come back
to us. Let us smoke the pipe again. We told you the ways of the white
man, that he is a snake in the grass--that he will bite and destroy,
when we don’t see--that he has great power--and that he will drive away
the Indians, and give their land to his own children. You now see, that
our words are come to pass. The white man has come and set his foot and
his cabin on Fox River--and is getting more of our land every year.
First, he spoke smooth words. Now he speaks rough words--because he has
got the power. Brothers, come back to us. We will be one people. We
will unite together against the white man, and pray our great father
to take him away. And then we shall have peace, and no more trouble. I
give you the faith and love of our tribes. It is not rotten. It is good.
“I speak again to my white brothers. You will not blame me, that I have
spoken the truth. You have seen, brothers, since you came to Green Bay,
that what I have just told the Menomenies and Winnebagoes, is truth.
We have shewn you what promises were made to us by your great father
and ours. You know it is truth. We make you witnesses this day--you
shall witness to our great father and to his chiefs--you shall witness
to God--that all we have said, is truth. We have been sorry, brothers,
that it was not in your power to do us justice. We thank you for your
good intentions. You say your instructions do not allow you to make the
treaties a rule of settlement. We left our lands in the East country,
and came here on the understanding of those treaties. We have trusted
entirely to the faith they have pledged to us. If _they_ cannot be
depended on, we know not what to trust. You offer to make a _new_
treaty in the name of our great father. Make the _old_ treaty good,
brothers, and then if there be any need, we shall have some reason to
trust in a _new_ one. Till then, we do not wish to make another. It is
better to have none, brothers, if both parties will not keep them. We
have been deceived. It is not good. We do not wish to be deceived again.
“Brothers, we have learnt one good thing from the white man: to trust
in the white man’s God. We believe him to be the only God--and that
he is the God of all the tribes of men. We feel, that we have need to
trust in him now. We are injured; and I know not what new injuries
await the destiny of my people. I shall go down to the grave thinking
only of the words of King David’s son, which I have read in the book
presented to my father’s father by your father’s father, from over the
big salt lake: ‘So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that
are done under the sun. And behold the tears of such as were oppressed,
and they had no comforter. And on the side of their oppressors there
was power--but _they_ had no comforter.’ God is witness of our old
engagements--God is witness how they have been kept--and God will
reward us, according to our deeds.
“Brothers, I have done.”