(1) _Loved each other with the truest affection._--p. 327.
It has been the practice to accuse American Indians of great coldness
of temper, and to represent them as incapable of sincere and permanent
attachment. It is a mistake. It is true that on the part of the males
all expressions of affection are repressed, from the belief that the
display of any passion or emotion inflicts deep and indelible disgrace
upon a man, especially if he is a warrior. This is the mere result of
education, and proves nothing. It is certain that the females, whom
the tyranny of opinion does not bind in this respect, are full of
tenderness and assiduity. The story of Pocahontas is too well known to
be repeated. When Mr. Nutall was with the Osages, he was near
witnessing a tragical termination to a trifling dispute, from the
belief of an Indian wife that harm was intended to her husband. She
had been several years married to a French hunter, living with that
tribe. Soon after the arrival of a trader at the Indian camp,
intoxication had taken place, and a quarrel ensued between the husband
of this woman and another of the French hunters. Their altercation
filled her with terror, and she gave way to tears and lamentations,
not doubting but that the antagonist, who was the aggressor, intended
the death of her husband, as threats among Indians are the invariable
preludes to fatal actions. When, at length, they began to struggle
with each other, without any more ado she seized a hatchet, and would
instantly have dispatched the man who fought with her husband, if she
had not been prevented by the bystanders. In another instance an
Omawhaw and his wife, on a solitary hunting expedition, were
discovered at a distance from their temporary lodge, by a Sioux
war-party. They endeavoured to escape from the enemy, but the wife was
soon overtaken, struck to the ground, and subjected to the terrible
operation of scalping. The husband, although at this time beyond the
reach of the arrows of the Sioux, seeing his wife in their hands,
immediately turned upon them, and drawing his knife, the only weapon
he had, furiously rushed among them, in order to revenge her death,
even with the inevitable sacrifice of his own life, but he was almost
immediately dispatched, without having accomplished his heroic
purpose.
When their affections have become deeply engaged, they will frequently
affect insanity with a view to melt the heart of the obdurate beloved.
"A Chippewa, named Ogemans, who resided near the Dog Lake, was married
to a woman called Demoya, but had conceived an affection for her
sister, named Okoj, who lived in the same cabin; the latter having
refused his offer to take her as a second wife, he affected insanity.
His ravings were terrible; nothing could appease him but her presence;
the moment he touched her hand or came near her, he was as gentle as
they could wish. At one time, in the middle of a winter's night, he
sprang from his couch, broke through the frail bark which formed his
cabin, and escaped into the woods, howling and screaming in the
wildest manner; his wife and her sister followed him, endeavouring to
calm him and bring him home, but he seemed to have set all their
powers at defiance. At last Okoj came near him, and the moment she
laid her hand upon him, he became quite tractable. In this manner he
continued for a long while, convincing all the Indians who saw him
that he was possessed by a spirit, which nothing but the approach of
Okoj could reduce. So deep was their conviction and her's, that she at
last consented to become his wife, and never after was he troubled by
a return of madness."
Another instance of a somewhat similar nature happened in the presence
of the same interpreter, (Bruce). "A young Canadian had secured the
affections of an Indian girl called Nisette, whose mother was a Squaw
that had been converted by the missionaries; being very pious, the
mother insisted that the young folks should be united by a clergyman.
None being in the country at the time, they travelled to an Algonquin
village, situated on the Lake of the Two Mountains, where there was a
missionary. Meanwhile the Canadian's love cooled away, and by the time
they reached the village he cared no more for the poor girl.
Disappointed in her affections, she was observed to sicken; she became
subject to fits, her intellect appeared disordered, and she was
finally considered as quite insane. The only lucid intervals which she
had were in the presence of her inconstant lover. Whenever he came
near her, her reason would return, and she would appear the same as
before. Flattered by what he deemed so strong an evidence of his
influence over her, the Canadian felt a return of kindness towards
her, and was finally induced to renew his attentions, which being well
received, they were soon united by the clergyman. Her reason appeared
to be restored, and her improving health showed that her happiness was
complete. Although she never was charged with having resorted to a
stratagem, our guide, who had been with her a long while, and who
represented her as a modest, virtuous, and interesting girl, had
always considered her insanity as assumed, with a view to work upon
the feelings of her inconstant friend."
Their other affections, especially the maternal, are equally exquisite
with those of civilised nations. I will relate one instance of
maternal fondness, from _James's Account of an Expedition to the Rocky
Mountains_, vol. i. p 223:--
"In the year 1814, a trader married a beautiful squaw of one of the
most distinguished families in the Omawhaw nation. This match, on the
part of the husband, was induced by the following circumstances. Being
an active, intelligent, and enterprising man, he had introduced the
American trade to the Missouri Indians, and had gained great influence
amongst them by his bravery and ingenuous deportment. But he at length
perceived that his influence was gradually declining, in consequence
of the presence and wiles of many rival traders, to whom his
enterprise had opened the way, and that his customers were gradually
forsaking him.
"Thus circumstanced, in order to regain the ground he had lost, he
determined to seek a matrimonial alliance with one of the most
powerful families of the Omawhaws. In pursuance of this resolution, he
selected a squaw whose family and friends were such as he desired. He
addressed himself to her parents agreeably to the Indian custom, and
informed them that he loved their daughter, that he was sorry to see
her in the state of poverty common to her nation, and although he
possessed a wife among the white people, yet he wished to have one
also of the Omawhaw nation. If they would transfer their daughter to
him in marriage, he would obligate himself to treat her kindly; and,
as he had commenced a permanent trading establishment in their
country, he would dwell during a portion of the year with her, and the
remainder with the white people, as the nature of his occupation
required. His establishment should be her home, and that of her people
during his life, as he never intended to abandon the trade. In return,
he expressed his expectation, that, for this act, the nation would
give him the refusal of their peltries, in order that he might be
enabled to comply with his engagement to them. He further promised,
that if the match proved fruitful, the children should be made known
to the white people, and would probably be qualified to continue the
trade after his death.
"The parents replied with thanks for his liberal offers, and for his
disposition to have pity on them; they would not object to the
connection, and hoped that their daughter would accept of him as her
husband.
"The parents then retired, and opened the subject to the daughter.
They assured her that her proposed husband was a great man, greater
than any of the Omawhaws; that he would do much for her and for them,
and concluded by requesting her to acquiesce in the wishes of the
white man. She replied, that all they said was, without doubt, true,
and that, agreeably to his request, she was willing to become his
wife.
"The agreement being thus concluded, the trader made presents,
agreeably to the custom of the nation, and conducted his interesting
prize to his house.
"The succeeding spring the trader departed for the settlements,
leaving her of course at his trading house.
"The ensuing autumn she had the pleasure to see him return, having now
conceived for him the most tender attachment. Upon his visit the
following season, she presented him with a fine daughter, born during
his absence, and whom she had nursed with the fondest attention. With
the infant in her arms, she had daily seated herself on the bank of
the river, and followed the downward course of the stream, with her
eye, to gain the earliest notice of his approach. Thus time passed on.
The second year the father greeted a son, and obtained his squaw's
reluctant consent to take their daughter with him on his return voyage
to the country of the white people. But, no sooner had he commenced
his voyage, and although she had another charge upon which to lavish
her caresses, than her maternal fondness overpowered her, and she ran
crying and screaming along the river side in pursuit of the boat,
tearing out her long flowing hair, and appearing to be almost bereft
of reason. On her return home she gave away every thing she possessed,
cut off her hair, went into deep mourning, and remained inconsolable.
She would often say that she well knew that her daughter would be
better treated than she could be at home, but she could not avoid
regarding her own situation to be the same as if the Wahconda had
taken away her offspring for ever.
"One day, in company with six other squaws, she was engaged in her
agricultural labours, her infant boy being secured to his cradle-like
board, which she had carefully reclined against a tree at a short
distance. They were discovered by a war-party of Sioux, who rushed
towards them, with the expectation of gratifying their vengeance by
securing all their scalps. An exclamation from her companions directed
her attention to the common enemy, and in her fright she fled
precipitately, but, suddenly recollecting her child, she swiftly
returned full in the face of the Sioux, snatched her child from the
tree, and turned to save its life, more precious than her own. She was
closely pursued by one of the enemy, when she arrived at a fence which
separated her from the field of the trading-house. A moment's
hesitation here would have been fatal; and, exerting all her strength,
she threw the child, with its board, as far as she could on the
opposite side.
"Four of the squaws were tomahawked, and the others escaped, of which
number the mother was one, having succeeded in bearing off her child
uninjured.
"The trader, on his arrival at the settlements, learned that his white
or civilized wife had died during his absence, and after a short
interval devoted to the usual formalities of mourning, he united his
destinies with another and highly amiable lady. The second season his
wife accompanied him on his annual voyage up the Missouri, to his
trading-house, the abode of his squaw.
"Previously to his arrival, however, he dispatched a messenger to his
dependents at the trading-house, directing them to prevent his squaw
from appearing in the presence of his wife. She was accordingly sent
off to the village of her nation, a distance of sixty or seventy
miles. But she could not long remain there, and soon returned with her
little boy on her back, and, accompanied by some of her friends, she
encamped near her husband's residence. She sent her son to the trader,
who treated him affectionately. On the succeeding day the trader sent
for his squaw, and, after making her some presents, he directed her to
accompany her friends, who were then on their way to their
hunting-grounds.
"She departed without a murmur, as it is not unusual with the Omawhaws
to send off one of their wives, on some occasions, while they remain
with the favourite one.
"About two months afterwards the trader recalled her. Overjoyed with
what she supposed to be her good fortune, she lost no time in
presenting herself before the husband whom she tenderly loved. But
great was her disappointment, when the husband demanded the surrender
of the child, and renounced for the future any association with
herself, directing her to return to her people, and to provide for her
future well-being in any way she might choose.
"Overpowered by her feelings, on this demand and repudiation, she ran
from the house, and finding a pirogue on the river shore, she paddled
over to the opposite side and made her escape into the forest with her
child. The night was cold, and attended with a fall of snow and hail.
Reflecting upon her disconsolate condition, she resolved to return
again in the morning, and with the feelings of a wife and a mother to
plead her cause before the arbiter of her fate, and endeavour to
mitigate the cruel sentence.
"Agreeably to this determination, she once more approached him upon
whom she believed she had claims paramount to those of any other
individual. 'Here is our child,' said she: 'I do not question your
fondness for him, but he is still more dear to me. You say that you
will keep him for yourself, and drive me far from you. But no, I will
remain with him; I can find some hole or corner in which I may creep,
in order to be near him, and sometimes to see him. If you will not
give me food, I will, nevertheless, remain until I starve before your
eyes.'
"The trader then offered her a considerable present, desiring her at
the same time to go, and leave the child. But she said, 'Is my child a
dog, that I should sell him for merchandize? You cannot drive me away;
you may beat me, it is true, and otherwise abuse me, but I will still
remain. When you married me, you promised to use me kindly as long as
I should be faithful to you; that I have been so, no one can deny.
Ours was not a marriage contracted for a season--it was to terminate
only with our lives. I was then a young girl, and might have been
united to an Omawhaw chief; but I am now an old woman, having had two
children, and what Omawhaw will regard me? Is not my right paramount
to that of your other wife; she had heard of me before you possessed
her. It is true her skin is whiter than mine, but her heart cannot be
more pure towards you, nor her fidelity more rigid. Do not take the
child from my breast, I cannot bear to hear it cry, and not be present
to relieve it[A]; permit me to retain it until the spring, when it
will be able to eat, and then, if it must be so, take it from my
sight, that I may part with it but once.'
[Footnote A: A mode of expression common to the Indians who are in the
habit of communicating their ideas by allusions to the senses.]
"Seeing her thus inflexible, the trader informed her that she might
remain there if she pleased, but that the child should be immediately
sent down to the settlements.
"The affectionate mother had thus far sustained herself during the
interview with the firmness of conscious virtue, and successfully
resisted the impulse of her feelings; but nature now yielded, the
tears coursed rapidly over her cheeks, and clasping her hands, and
bowing her head, she burst into an agony of grief, exclaiming, 'Why
did the Wahconda hate me so much, as to induce me to put my child
again into your power?'
"The feelings of the unhappy mother were, however, soon relieved. Mr.
Dougherty (an Indian trader), communicated the circumstance of the
case to Major O'Fallon, (the agent), who immediately and peremptorily
ordered the restoration of the child to its mother, and informed the
trader that any future attempt to wrest it from her should be at his
peril."
I will give an example of the generous self-devotion of an Omawhaw, to
procure the escape of a brother, and with it end the volume.
"Two Omawhaw brothers had stolen a squaw from an individual of their
nation, and were on their journey to seek a refuge in the Puncaw
village. But they had the misfortune in a large prairie to meet with a
war-party of Sioux, their implacable enemies. They immediately
concealed themselves in a deep ravine, which at the bottom was covered
with dry reed grass. The Sioux surrounded this spot, and set fire to
it on the windward side of the reeds, in order to drive them out. When
the conflagration had nearly reached the fugitives, one of the
brothers remarked, that the Wahconda had certainly not created him to
be smoked out like a racoon; the Indians smoke this animal out of
hollow trees, by kindling a fire at the root: he urged his brother to
attempt to escape in one direction, whilst he would attract the
attention of the enemy, by sallying out upon them alone, and by
endeavouring to destroy as many of them as possible, in anticipated
revenge for that death which he considered as inevitable. 'One or both
of us,' said he, 'must certainly be sacrificed; save yourself if you
can; I will be the victim, and may fortunately receive a death-blow in
the conflict, and thus escape the disgrace of captivity.' He then
rushed forth amongst the Sioux, shot one, and with his knife wounded
several before he was dispatched. His brother, availing himself of the
diverted attention of the enemy, effected his escape, but the squaw
was burned to death."