The Indian’s civility and hospitality, both to his own kind and to
strangers, has been a marked feature of his character from the coming of
the white man to the present day. When Columbus touched the shores of the
New World the friendly Caribs gave him hearty welcome. The heart’s right
hand of fellowship was stretched out in welcome and hospitality as
explorers and settlers landed on American soil. Dignity, generosity, and
courtesy marked the attitude of the Indian toward these new white
strangers. The character generally attributed to the Indian is that of a
savage, but this blemish came upon him through contact with the white man.
Their ingenuous and trustful nature quickly degenerated as they were
enslaved, betrayed, and slain. Advantage was taken of their ignorance and
kindness. Then came on a race war unparalleled in ferocity and barbarism.
The inexorable march of civilization regardless of ethics swept on until
we heard the Indians’ war cry and failed to see the diviner grace of
friendship. The Indian returned with interest every injury and hardship,
every bitter assault and wicked aggression. He paid in full all accounts
in the coin of pitiless revenge. These shadows obliterate our thought of
him as courtier and hospitable host. The Indian will divide his last
crust and then go hungry himself that you may have his half of the crust.
Had it not been for Indian generosity in furnishing supplies of food, the
early settlers in both New England and Virginia must have perished with
hunger. Every guest entering an Indian wigwam is met by all the graces of
hospitality—in cordial greeting—in a splendid home feeling.
[A Bath in the Little Big Horn]