In the warmer and milder climates of America, none of the rude tribes
were clothed; for them there was little need of defense against the
weather, and their extreme indolence indisposed them to any exertion not
absolutely necessary for their subsistence. Others were satisfied with a
very slight covering, but all delighted in ornaments. They dressed their
hair in different forms, stained their skins, and fastened bits of gold,
or shells, or bright pebbles in their noses and cheeks. They also
frequently endeavored to alter their natural form and feature; as soon
as an infant was born, it was subjected to some cruel process of
compression, by which the bones of the skull while still soft, were
squeezed into the shape of a cone, or flattened, or otherwise
distorted.[266] But in all efforts to adorn or alter their persons, the
great object was to inspire terror and respect. The warrior was
indifferent to the admiration of woman, whom he enslaved and despised,
and it was only for war or the council that he assumed his choicest
ornaments, and painted himself with unusual care. The decorations of the
women were few and simple; all those that were precious and splendid
were reserved for their haughty lords. In several tribes, the wives had
to devote much of their time to adorning their husbands, and could
bestow little attention upon themselves. The different nations remaining
unclothed show considerable sagacity in anointing themselves in such a
manner as to provide against the heat and moisture of the climate. Soot,
the juices of herbs having a green, yellow, or vermilion tint, mixed
with oil and grease, are lavishly employed upon their skin to adorn it
and render it impervious. By this practice profuse perspiration is
checked, and a defense is afforded against the innumerable and
tormenting insects that abound every where in America.[268] Black and
red are the favorite colors for painting the face. In war, black is
profusely laid on, the other colors being only used to heighten its
effect, and give a terrible expression to the countenance.[269] The
breast, arms, and legs of the Indian are tattooed with sharp needles or
pointed bones, the colors being carefully rubbed in. His Manitou, and
the animal chosen as the symbol of his tribe, are first painted, then
all his most remarkable exploits, and the enemies he has slain or
scalped, so that his body displays a pictorial history of his life.[270]
In the severe climate of the north the Indian's dress is somewhat more
ample. Instead of shoes he wears a strip of soft leather wrapped round
the foot, called the moccasin. Upward to the middle of the thigh, a
piece of leather or cloth, fitting closely, serves instead of pantaloons
and stockings: it is usually sewed on to the limb, and is never removed.
Two aprons, each about a foot square, are fastened to a girdle round the
waist, and hang before and behind. This is their permanent dress. On
occasions of ceremony, however, and in cold weather, they also wear a
short shirt, and over all a loose robe, closed or held together in
front. Now, an English blanket is generally used for this garment; but,
before the produce of European art was known among them, the skins of
wild animals furnished all their covering. The chiefs usually wear a
sort of breast-plate, covered with shells, pebbles, and pieces of
glittering metal. Those who communicate with Europeans display beads,
rings, bracelets, and other gauds instead. The ear, too, is cumbrously
ornamented with showy pendents, and the tuft of hair on the crown of the
head is interwoven with feathers, the wings of birds, shells, and many
fantastic ornaments. Sometimes the Indian warrior wears buffalo
horns,[271] reduced in size and polished, on his head: this, however, is
a distinction only for those renowned in war or in the council. The
dress of the women varies but little from that of the men, except in
being more simple. They wear their hair long and flowing, and richly
ornamented, whenever they can procure the means.
The dwellings of the Indians usually receive much less attention than
their personal appearance. Even among tribes comparatively far advanced
in civilization, the structure of their houses or cabans was very rude
and simple. They were generally wretched huts, of an oblong or circular
form, and sometimes so low that it was always necessary to preserve a
sitting or lying posture while under their shelter. There were no
windows; a large hole in the center of the roof allowed the smoke to
escape; and a sort of curtain of birch bark occupied the place of the
door. These dwellings are sometimes 100 feet long, when they accommodate
several families. Four cabans generally form a quadrangle, each open to
the inside, with the fire in the center common to all. The numerous and
powerful tribes formerly inhabiting Canada and its borders usually dwelt
in huts of a very rude description. In their expeditions, both for war
and the chase, the Indians erect temporary cabans in a remarkably short
space of time. A few poles, raised in the shape of a cone, and covered
with birch bark, form the roof, and the tops of pine branches make a
fragrant bed. In winter the snow is cleared out of the place where the
caban is to be raised, and shaped into walls, which form a shelter from
the wind. The permanent dwellings were usually grouped in villages,
surrounded with double and even triple rows of palisades, interlaced
with branches of trees, so as to form a compact barrier, and offering a
considerable difficulty to an assailing foe.
The furniture in these huts was very scanty. The use of metal being
unknown, the pots or vessels for boiling their food were made of coarse
earthen-ware, or of soft stone hollowed out with a hatchet. In some
cases they were made of wood, and the water was boiled by throwing in a
number of heated stones.
The Indian displays some skill in the construction of canoes, and they
are admirably adapted for his purpose. They are usually made of the bark
of a single tree, strengthened by ribs of strong wood. These light and
buoyant skiffs float safely on stormy or rapid waters under the
practiced guidance of the Indian, and can with ease be borne on his
shoulder from one river or lake to another. Canoes formed out of the
trunk of a large tree are also sometimes used, especially in winter, for
the purpose of crossing rivers when there is floating ice, their great
strength rendering them capable of enduring the collision with the
floating masses, to which they are liable.
Even among the rudest Indian tribes a regular union between man and wife
was universal, although not attended with ceremonials. The marriage
contract is a matter of purchase. The man buys his wife of her parents;
not with money, for its value is unknown, but with some useful and
precious article, such as a robe of bear or other handsome skin, a
horse, a rifle, powder and shot. When the Indian has made the bargain
with his wife's parents, he takes her home to his caban, and from that
time she becomes his slave. There are several singular modes of
courtship among some of the tribes, but generally much reserve and
consideration are exhibited.[272] In many respects, however, the morals
and manners of the Indians are such as might be expected in communities
where the precepts of Christianity are unknown, and where even the
artificial light of civilization is wanting. There are occasionally
instances of a divorce being resorted to from mere caprice; but,
usually, the marriage tie is regarded as a perpetual covenant. As the
wife toils incessantly, and procures a great part of the subsistence,
she is considered too valuable a servant to be lightly lost. Among the
chiefs of the tribes to the west and south, polygamy is general, and the
number of these wife-servants constitute the principal wealth; but among
the northern nations this plurality is very rarely possessed. The Indian
is seldom seen to bestow the slightest mark of tenderness upon his wife
or children: he, however, exerts himself to the utmost for their
welfare, and will sacrifice his life to avenge their wrongs. His
indomitable pride prompts him to assume an apparent apathy, and to
control every emotion of affection, suffering, or sorrow.
Parents perform few duties toward their children beyond procuring their
daily bread. The father is by turns occupied in war and the chase, or
sunk in total indolence, while the mother is oppressed by the toils of
her laborious bondage, and has but little time to devote to her maternal
cares. The infant is fastened to a board, cushioned with soft moss, by
thongs of leather, and is generally hung on the branch of a tree, or, in
traveling, carried on the mother's back.[273] When able to move, it is
freed from this confinement, and allowed to make its way about as it
pleases. It soon reaches some neighboring lake or river, and sports
itself in the water all day long. As the child advances in years it
enjoys perfect independence; it is rarely or never reproved or
chastised. The youths are early led to emulate the deeds of their
fathers; they practice with the bow, and other weapons suited to a
warrior's use; and, as manhood approaches, they gradually assume the
dignified gravity of the elders. In some tribes the young men must pass
through a dreadful ordeal when they arrive at the age of manhood, which
is supposed to prepare them for the endurance of all future sufferings,
and enables the chiefs to judge of their courage, and to select the
bravest among them to lead in difficult enterprises.
During four days previous to this terrible torture the candidates
observe a strict fast, and are denied all sleep. When the appointed day
arrives, certain strange ceremonies of an allegorical description are
performed, in which all the inhabitants of the village take part. The
candidates then repair to a large caban, where the chiefs and elders of
the tribe are assembled to witness the ordeal. The torture commences by
driving splints of wood through the flesh of the back and breasts of the
victim: he is next hoisted off the ground by ropes attached to these
splints, and suspended by the quivering flesh, while the tormentors
twist the hanging body slowly round, thus exquisitely enhancing the
agony, till a death-faint comes to the relief of the candidate: he is
then lowered to the ground and left to the care of the Great Spirit.
When he recovers animation, he rises and proceeds on his hands and feet
to another part of the caban: he there lays the little finger of the
left hand upon a buffalo skull, as a sacrifice to the Great Spirit, and
another Indian chops it off. The fore-finger is also frequently offered
up in the same manner: this mutilation does not interfere with the use
of the bow, the only weapon for which the left hand is required. Other
cruel tortures are inflicted for some time, and at length the wretched
victim, reeling and staggering from the intensity of his suffering,
reaches his own dwelling, where he is placed under the care of his
friends. Some of the famous warriors of the tribe pass through this
horrible ordeal repeatedly, and the oftener it is endured, the greater
is their estimation among their people. No bandages are applied to the
wounds thus inflicted, nor is any attention paid to their cure; but,
from the extreme exhaustion and debility caused by want of sustenance
and sleep, circulation is checked, and sensibility diminished; the
bleeding and inflammation are very slight, and the results are seldom
injurious.
The native tribes are engaged in almost perpetual hostility against each
other. War is the great occupation of savage life, the measure of merit,
the high road of ambition, and the source of its intensest
joy--revenge.[274] In war the Indian character presents the darkest
aspect; the finer and gentler qualities are vailed or dormant, and a
fiendish ferocity assumes full sway. It is waged to exterminate, not to
reduce. The enemy is assailed with treachery, and, if conquered, treated
with revolting cruelty. The glory and excitement of war are dear to the
Indian, but when the first drop of blood is shed, revenge is dearer
still. He thirsts to offer up the life of an enemy to appease the
departed spirit of a slaughtered friend. Thus each contest generates
another even more embittered than itself. The extension or defense of
the hunting-grounds is often a primary cause of hostility among the
native nations, and the increase of the power of their tribe by
incorporating with them such of the vanquished as they may spare from a
cruel death is another frequent motive. The savage pines and chafes in
long-continued peace, and the prudence of the aged can with difficulty
restrain the fierce impetuosity of the young. Individual quarrels and a
thirst for fame often lead a single savage to invade a hostile territory
against the counsels of his tribe; but, when war is determined by the
general voice, more enlarged views, and a desire of aggrandizement guide
the proceedings.
As soon as the determination of declaring war is formed, he who is
chosen by the nation as the chief enters on a course of solemn
preparation, entreating the aid and guidance of the Great Spirit. As a
signal of the approaching strife, he marches three times round his
winter dwelling, bearing a large blood-red flag, variegated with deep
tints of black. When this terrible emblem is seen, the young warriors
crowd around to hearken to the words of their chief. He then addresses
them in a strain of impassioned, but rude and ferocious eloquence,
calling upon them to follow him to glory and revenge. When he concludes
his oration, he throws a wampum belt on the ground, which is
respectfully lifted up by some warrior of high renown, who is judged
worthy of being second in command. The chief now paints himself black,
and commences a strict fast, only tasting a decoction of consecrated
herbs to assist his dreams, which are strictly noted and interpreted by
the elders. He then washes off the black paint. A huge fire is lighted
in a public place in the village, and the great war-caldron set to boil:
each warrior throws something into this vessel, and the allies who are
to join the expedition also send offerings for the same purpose. Lastly,
the sacred dog is sacrificed to the God of War, and boiled in the
caldron to form the chief dish at a festival, to which only the warriors
and men great in council are admitted.
During these ceremonies the elders watch the omens with deep anxiety,
and if the promise be favorable, they prepare for immediate departure.
The chief then paints himself in bright and varied colors, to render his
appearance terrible, and sings his war song, announcing the nature of
the projected enterprise. His example is followed by all the warriors,
who join a war-dance, while they proclaim with a loud voice the glory of
their former deeds, and their determination to destroy their enemies.
Each Indian now seizes his arms: the bow and quiver hang over the left
shoulder, the tomahawk from the left hand, and the scalping-knife[275]
is stuck in the girdle. A distinguished chief is appointed to take
charge of the Manitous or guardian powers of each warrior; they are
collected, carefully placed in a box, and accompany the expedition as
the ark of safety. Meanwhile the women incite the warriors to vengeance,
and eagerly demand captives for the torture, to appease the spirits of
their slaughtered relatives, or sometimes, indeed, to supply their
place. When the war party are prepared to start, the chief addresses his
followers in a short harangue; they then commence the march, singing,
and shouting the terrible war-whoop. The women proceed with the
expedition for some distance; and when they must return, exchange
endearing names with their husbands and relations, and express ardent
wishes for victory. Some little gift of affection is usually exchanged
at parting.
Before striking the first blow the Indians make open declaration of war.
A herald, painted black, is sent, bearing a red tomahawk, on one side of
which are inscribed figures representing the causes of hostilities. He
reaches the enemy's principal village at midnight, throws down the
tomahawk in some conspicuous place, and disappears silently. When once
warning is thus given, every stratagem that cunning can suggest is
employed for the enemy's destruction.
As long as the expedition continues in friendly countries, the warriors
wander about in small parties for the convenience of hunting, still,
however, keeping up communication by means of sounds imitating the cries
of birds and beasts. None ever fail to appear at the appointed place of
meeting upon the frontier, where they again hold high festival, and
consult the omens of their dreams. When they enter the hostile territory
a close array is observed, and a deep silence reigns. They creep on all
fours, walk through water, or upon the stumps of trees, to avoid leaving
any trace of their route. To conceal their numbers they sometimes march
in a long single file, each stepping on the foot-print of the man before
him. They sometimes even wear the hoofs of the buffalo or the paws of
the bear, and run for miles in a winding course to imitate the track of
those animals. Every effort is made to surprise the foe, and they
frequently lure him to destruction by imitating from the depths of the
forest the cries of animals of the chase.
If the expedition meet with no straggling party of the enemy, it
advances with cautious stealth toward some principal village; the
warriors creep on their hands and feet through the deep woods, and often
even paint themselves the color of dried leaves to avoid being perceived
by their intended victims. On approaching the doomed hamlet, they
examine it carefully, but rapidly, from some tree-top or elevated
ground, and again conceal themselves till nightfall in the thickest
covert. Strange to say, these subtle warriors neglect altogether the
security of sentinels, and are satisfied with searching the surrounding
neighborhood for hidden foes; if none be discovered, they sleep in
confidence, even when hostile forces are not far off. They weakly trust
to the protecting power of their Manitous. When they have succeeded in
reaching the village, and concealing themselves unobserved, they wait
silently, keeping close watch till the hour before dawn, when the
inhabitants are in the deepest sleep. Then crawling noiselessly, like
snakes, through the grass and underwood, till they are upon the foe, the
chief raises a shrill cry, and the massacre begins. Discharging a shower
of arrows, they finish the deadly work with the club and tomahawk. The
great object, however, of the conquerors is to take the enemy alive, and
reserve him to grace their triumph and rejoice their eyes by his
torture. When resistance is attempted, this is often impossible, and an
instant death saves the victim from the far greater horrors of captivity
and protracted torment. When an enemy is struck down, the victor places
his foot upon the neck of the dead or dying man, and with a horrible
celerity and skill tears off the bleeding scalp.[276] This trophy is
ever preserved with jealous care by the Indian warriors.
After any great success the war party always return to their villages,
more eager to celebrate the victory than to improve its advantages.
Their women and old men await their return in longing expectation. The
fate of the war is announced from afar off by well-known signs; the bad
tidings are first told. A herald advances to the front of the returning
party, and sounds a death-whoop for each of their warriors who has
fallen in the fray. Then, after a little time, the tale of victory is
told, and the number of prisoners and of the slain declared. All
lamentations are soon hushed, and congratulations and rejoicing succeed.
During the retreat, if the war party be not hard pressed by the enemy,
prisoners are treated with some degree of humanity, but are very closely
guarded. When the expedition has returned to the village, the old men,
women, and children form themselves into two lines; the prisoners are
compelled to pass between them, and are cruelly bruised with sticks and
stones, but not vitally injured by their tormentors.
A council is usually held to decide the fate of the prisoners: the
alternatives are, to be adopted into the conquering nation, and received
as brothers, or to be put to death in the most horrible torments, thus
either to supply the place of warriors fallen in battle, or to appease
the spirits of the departed by their miserable end. The older warriors
among the captives usually meet the hardest fate; the younger are most
frequently adopted by the women, their wounds are cured, and they are
thenceforth received in every respect as if they belonged to the tribe.
The adopted prisoners go out to war against their former countrymen,
and the new tie is held even more binding than the old.
The veteran warrior, whose tattooed skin bears record of slaughtered
enemies, meets with no mercy: his face is painted, his head crowned with
flowers as if for a festival, black moccasins are put upon his feet, and
a flaming torch is placed above him as the signal of condemnation. The
women take the lead in the diabolical tortures to which he is subjected,
and rage around their victim with horrible cries. He is, however,
allowed a brief interval to sing his death-song, and he often continues
it even through the whole of the terrible ordeal. He boasts of his great
deeds, insults his tormentors, laughing at their feeble efforts, exults
in the vengeance that his nation will take for his death, and pours
forth insulting reproaches and threats. The song is then taken up by the
woman to whose particular revenge he has been devoted. She calls upon
the spirit of her husband or son to come and witness the sufferings of
his foe. After tortures too various and horrible to be particularized,
some kind wound closes the scene in death, and the victim's scalp is
lodged among the trophies of the tribe. To endure with unshaken
fortitude[277] is the greatest triumph of an Indian warrior, and the
highest confusion to his enemies, but often the proud spirit breaks
under the pangs that rack the quivering flesh, and shouts of intolerable
agony reward the demoniac ingenuity of the tormentors.
Many early writers considered that the charge of cannibalism[278]
against the Indians was well founded: doubtless, in moments of fury,
portions of an enemy's flesh have been rent off and eaten. To devour a
foeman's heart is held by them to be an exquisite vengeance. They have
been known to drink draughts of human blood, and, in circumstances of
scarcity, they do not hesitate to eat their captives. It is certain that
all the terms used by them in describing the torture of prisoners relate
to this horrible practice; yet, as they are so figurative in every
expression, these may simply mean the fullest gratification of revenge.
The evidence upon this point is obscure and contradictory; the Indian
can not be altogether acquitted or found guilty of this foul imputation.
The brief peace that affords respite amid the continual wars of the
Indian tribes is scarcely more than a truce. Nevertheless, it is
concluded with considerable form and ceremony. The first advance toward
a cessation of hostilities is usually made through the chief of a
neutral power. The nation proposing the first overture dispatches some
men of note as embassadors, accompanied by an orator, to contract the
negotiation. They bear with them the calumet[279] of peace as the
symbol of their purpose, and a certain number of wampum belts[280] to
note the objects and conditions of the negotiation. The orator explains
the meaning of the belts to the hostile chiefs, and if the proposition
be received, the opposite party accept the proffered symbols, and the
next day present others of a similar import. The calumet is then
solemnly smoked, and the burial of a war hatchet for each party and for
each ally concludes the treaty. The negotiations consist more in
presents, speeches, and ceremonies, than in any demands upon each other;
there is no property to provide tribute, and the victors rarely or never
require the formal cession of any of the hunting-grounds of the
vanquished. The unrestrained passions of individuals, and the satiety of
long continued peace, intolerable to the Indian, soon again lead to the
renewal of hostility.
The successful hunter ranks next to the brave warrior in the estimation
of the savage. Before starting on his grand expeditions, he prepares
himself by a course of fasting, dreaming, and religious observances, as
if for war. He hunts with astonishing dexterity and skill, and regards
this pursuit rather as an object of adventure and glory than as an
industrious occupation.
With regard to cultivation and the useful arts, the Indians are in the
very infancy of progress.[283] Their villages are usually not less than
eighteen miles apart, and are surrounded by a narrow circle of
imperfectly-cleared land, slightly turned up with a hoe, or scraped with
pointed sticks,[284] scarcely interrupting the continuous expanse of
the forest. They are only acquainted with the rudest sorts of clay
manufactures, and the use of the metals (except by European
introduction) is altogether unknown.[285] Their women, however, display
considerable skill in weaving fine mats, in staining the hair of
animals, and working it into brilliant colored embroideries. The wampum
belts are made with great care and some taste. The calumet is also
elaborately carved and ornamented; and the painting and tattooing of
their bodies sometimes presents well-executed and highly descriptive
pictures and hieroglyphics. They construct light and elegant baskets
from the swamp cane, and are very skillful in making bows and arrows;
some tribes, indeed, were so rude as not to have attained even to the
use of this primitive weapon, and the sling was by no means generally
known.
Most of the American nations are without any fixed form of government
whatever. The complete independence of every man is fully recognized. He
may do what he pleases of good or evil, useful or destructive, no
constituted power interferes to thwart his will. If he even take away
the life of another, the by-standers do not interpose. The kindred of
the slain, however, will make any sacrifice for vengeance. And yet, in
the communities of these children of nature there usually reigns a
wonderful tranquillity. A deadly hostility exists between the different
tribes, but among the members comprising each the strictest union
exists. The honor and prosperity of his nation is the leading object of
the Indian. This national feeling forms a link to draw him closely to
his neighbor, and he rarely or never uses violence or evil speech
against a countryman. Where there is scarcely such a thing as individual
property, government and justice are necessarily very much simplified.
There exists almost a community of goods. No man wants while another has
enough and to spare. Their generosity knows no bounds. Whole tribes,
when ruined by disasters in war, find unlimited hospitality among their
neighbors; habitations and hunting-grounds are allotted to them, and
they are received in every respect as if they were members of the nation
that protects them.
As there is generally no wealth or hereditary distinction among this
people, the sole claim to eminence is founded on such personal qualities
as can only be conspicuous in war, council, or the chase. During times
of tranquillity and inaction all superiority ceases. Every man is
clothed and fares alike. Relations of patronage and dependence are
unknown. All are free and equal, and they perish rather than submit to
control or endure correction. During war, indeed, or in the chase, they
render a sort of obedience to those who excel in character and conduct,
but at other times no form of government whatever exists. The names of
magistrate and subject are not in their language. If the elders
interpose between man and man, it is to advise, not to decide. Authority
is only tolerated in foreign, not in domestic affairs.
Music and dancing express the emotions of the Indian's mind. He has his
songs of war and death, and particular moments of his life are appointed
for their recital. His great deeds and the vengeance he has inflicted
upon his enemies are his subjects; the language and music express his
passions rudely but forcibly. The dance[286] is still more important:
it is the grand celebration at every festival, and alternately the
exponent of their triumph, anger, or devotion. It is usually pantomimic,
and highly descriptive of the subject to which it is appropriate.
The Indians are immoderately fond of play as a means of excitement and
agitation. While gaming, they, who are usually so taciturn and
indifferent, become loquacious and eager. Their guns, arms, and all that
they possess are freely staked, and at times where all else is lost,
they will trust even their personal safety to the hazard of the
die.[287] The most barbarous of the tribes have unhappily succeeded in
inventing some species of intoxicating liquor: that from the root of the
maize was in general use; it is not disagreeable to the taste, and is
very powerful. When the accursed fire-water is placed before the
Indians, none can resist the temptation. The wisest, best, and bravest
succumb alike to this odious temptation: and when their unrestrained
passions are excited by drinking, they are at times guilty of enormous
outrages, and the scenes of their festivities often become stained with
kindred blood. The women are not permitted to partake of this fatal
pleasure; their duty is to serve the guests, and take care of their
husbands and friends when overpowered by the debauch. This exclusion
from a favorite enjoyment is evidence of the contempt in which females
are held among the Indians.
In the present day, he who would study the character and habits of these
children of Nature must travel far away beyond the Rocky Mountains,
where the murrain of perverted civilization has not yet spread. There he
may still find the virtues and vices of the savage, and lead among those
wild tribes that fascinating life of liberty which few have ever been
known to abandon willingly for the restraints and luxuries of
civilization and refinement.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 266: "The custom of squeezing and flattening the head is still
strictly adhered to among the Chinooks. The people bearing the name of
Flat Heads are very numerous, but very few among them actually practice
the custom. Among the Chinooks it is almost universal. The process is
thus effected: The child is placed on a thick plank, to which it is
lashed with thongs to a position from which it can not escape, and the
back of the head supported by a sort of pillow made of moss or
rabbit-skins, with an inclined piece resting on the forehead of the
child. This is every day drawn down a little tighter by means of a cord,
which holds it in its place, until at length it touches the nose, thus
forming a straight line from the crown of the head to the end of the
nose. This process is seemingly a cruel one, though I doubt whether it
causes much pain, as it is done in earliest infancy, while the bones are
soft and cartilaginous, and easily pressed into this distorted shape by
forcing the occipital up and the frontal down, so that the skull at the
top in profile will show a breadth of not more than an inch and a half
or two inches, when in a front view it exhibits a great expansion on the
sides, making it at the top nearly the width of one and a half natural
heads. By this remarkable operation the brain is singularly changed from
its natural state, but in all probability not in the least diminished or
injured in its natural functions. This belief is drawn from the
testimony of many credible witnesses who have closely scrutinized them,
and ascertained that those who have the head flattened are in no way
inferior in intellectual powers to those whose heads are in their
natural shapes. This strange custom existed precisely the same until
recently among the Choctaws and Chickasaws, who occupied a large part of
the states of Mississippi and Alabama, where they have laid their bones,
and hundreds of their skulls have been procured, bearing marks of a
similar treatment, with similar results."--Catlin's _American Indians_,
vol. ii., p. 112.
With respect to the origin of this singular custom, Humboldt is inclined
to think that it may be traced from the natural inclination of each race
to look upon their own personal peculiarities as the standard of beauty.
He observes that the pointed form of the heads is very striking in the
Mexican drawings, and continues thus: "If we examine osteologically the
skulls of the natives of America, we see that there is no race on the
globe in which the frontal bone is more flattened or which have less
forehead.[267] (Blumenbach, _Decas Quinta Craniorum_, tab. xlvi., p. 14,
1808.) This extraordinary flattening exists among people of the
copper-colored race, who have never been acquainted with the custom of
producing artificial deformities, as is proved by the skulls of Mexican,
Peruvian, and Aztec Indians, which M. Bonpland and myself brought to
Europe, and several of which are deposited in the Museum of Natural
History at Paris. The negroes prefer the thickest and most prominent
lips, the Calmucks perceive the line of beauty in turned-up noses. M.
Cuvier observes (_Lecons d'Anatomie Comparee_, tom. ii., p. 6) that the
Grecian artists, in the statues of heroes, raised the facial line from
85 deg. to 100 deg., or beyond the natural form. I am led to think that the
barbarous custom, among certain savage tribes in America, of squeezing
the heads of children between two planks, arises from the idea that
beauty consists in this extraordinary compression of the bone by which
Nature has characterized the American race. It is no doubt from
following this standard of beauty that even the Aztec people, who never
disfigured the heads of their children, have represented their heroes
and principal divinities with heads much flatter than any of the Caribs
I saw on the Lower Orinoco."--Humboldt's _Researches on the Ancient
Inhabitants of America_.]
[Footnote 267: "L'anatomie comparee en offre une autre confirmation dans
la proportion constante du volume des lobes cerebrales avec le degre
d'intelligence des animaux."--Cuvier's _Report to the Institute on
Flouren's Experiments in 1822_.]
[Footnote 268: "Ces huiles leur sont absolument necessaires, et ils sont
manges de vermine quand elles leur manquent."--Lafitau, tom. i., p. 59.
It is supposed by Volney that the fatal effects of the small-pox among
the Indians are to be attributed to the obstacle that a skin thus
hardened opposes to the eruption.--P. 416. In the most detailed account
given of the ravages of this disease, Catlin particularly mentions that
no eruption was visible in any of the bodies of the dead. Forster, the
English translator of Professor Kalm's _Travels in America_, held the
same opinion as Volney.
"When the Kalmucks in the Russian dominions get the small-pox, it has
been observed that very few escape. Of this, I believe, no other reason
can be alleged than that the small-pox is always dangerous, either when
the open pores of the skin are too numerous, which is caused by opening
them in a warm-water bath, or when they are too much closed, which is
the case with all the nations that are dirty and greasy. All the
American Indians rub their body with oils; the Kalmucks rub their bodies
and their fur coats with grease; the Hottentots are also, I believe,
patterns of filthiness: this shuts up all the pores, hinders
perspiration entirely, and makes the small-pox always fatal among these
nations."--_Note_ by the translator of Kalm, p. 532.
"The ravages which the small-pox made this year (1750) among their
Mohawk friends was a source of deep concern to these revered
philanthropists. These people having been accustomed from early
childhood to anoint themselves with bear's grease, to repel the
innumerable tribes of noxious insects in summer, and to exclude the
extreme cold ill winter, their pores are so completely shut up that the
small-pox does not rise upon them, nor have they much chance of recovery
from any acute disorder."--_Memoirs of an American Lady_, vol. i., p.
322.]
[Footnote 269: M. de Tracy, when governor of Canada, was told by his
Indian allies that, with his good-humored face, he would never inspire
the enemy with any degree of awe. They besought him to place himself
under their brush, when they would soon make him such that his very
aspect would strike terror.--Creuxius, _Nova Francia_, p. 62;
Charlevoix, tom, vi., p. 40.]
[Footnote 270: St. Isidore of Seville, and Solinus, give a similar
description of the manner of painting the body in use among the Picts.
"The operator delineates the figures with little points made by the
prick of a needle, and into those he insinuates the juice of some native
plants, that their nobility, thus written, as it were, upon every limb
of their body, might distinguish them from ordinary men by the number of
the figures they were decorated with."--Isidor., _Origin_, lib. xix.,
cap. xxiii.; Solin., _De Magna Britannia_, cap. xxv.]
[Footnote 271: "These horns are made of about a third part of the horn
of a buffalo bull, the horn having been split from end to end, and a
third part of it taken, and shaved thin and light, and highly polished.
They are attached to the top or the head-dress on each side, in the same
place as they rise and stand on the head of a buffalo, rising out of a
mat of ermine skins and tails, which hangs over the top of the
head-dress somewhat in the form that the large and profuse locks of hair
hang and fall over the head of a buffalo bull. This custom is one which
belongs to all northeastern tribes, and is no doubt of very ancient
origin, having purely a classic meaning. No one wears the head-dress
surmounted with horns except the dignitaries who are very high in
authority, and whose exceeding valor, worth, and power is admitted by
all the nation. This head-dress is used only on certain occasions, and
they are very seldom: when foreign chiefs, Indian agents, or other
important personages visit a tribe, or at war parades. Sometimes, when a
chief sees fit to send a war party to battle, he decorates his head with
this symbol of power, to stimulate his men, and throws himself into the
foremost of the battle, inviting the enemy to concentrate his shafts
upon them. The horns upon these head-dresses are but loosely attached at
the bottom, so that they easily fall backward or forward; and by an
ingenious motion of the head, which is so slight as to be almost
imperceptible, they are made to balance to and fro, and sometimes one
backward and the other forward like a horse's ears, giving a vast deal
of expression and force of character to the appearance of the chief who
is wearing them. This is a remarkable instance, like hundreds of others,
of a striking similarity to Jewish customs, to the kerns (or _keren_, in
Hebrew), the horns worn by the Abyssinian chiefs and Hebrews as a symbol
of power and command--worn at great parades and celebrations of
victories."--Catlin, vol. i., p. 104.]
[Footnote 272: "When a young Indian becomes attached to a female, he
does not frequent the lodge of her parents, or visit her elsewhere,
oftener, perhaps, than he would provided no such attachment existed.
Were he to pursue an opposite course before he had acquired either the
reputation of a warrior or a hunter, and suffer his attachment to be
known or suspected by any personal attention, he would become the
derision of the warriors and the contempt of the squaws. On meeting,
however, she is the first, excepting the elderly people, who engages his
respectful and kind inquiries; after which, no conversation passes
between them, except it be with the language of the eyes, which, even
among savages, is eloquent, and appears to be well understood. The next
indication of serious intentions on the part of the young hunter is the
assumption of more industrious habits. He rises by daybreak, and, with
his gun or bow, visits the woods and prairies, in search of the most
rare and esteemed game. He endeavors to acquire the character of an
expert and industrious hunter, and, whenever success has crowned his
efforts, never fails to send the parents of the object of his affections
some of the choicest he has procured. His mother is generally the
bearer, and she is sure to tell from what source it comes, and to dilate
largely on the merits and excellences of her son. The girl, on her part,
exercises all her skill in preparing it for food, and when it is cooked,
frequently sends some of the most delicious pieces, accompanied by other
small presents, such as nuts, moccasins, &c., to her lover. These
negotiations are usually carried on by the mothers of the respective
parties, who consider them confidential, and seldom divulge even to the
remaining parents, except one or both of the candidates should be the
offspring of a chief, when a deviation from this practice is exacted,
and generally observed. After an Indian has acquired the reputation of a
warrior, expert hunter, or swift runner, he has little need of minor
qualifications, or of much address or formality in forming his
matrimonial views. The young squaws sometimes discover their attachment
to those they love by some act of tender regard, but more frequently
through the kind offices of some confidante or friend. Such overtures
generally succeed: but should they fail, it is by no means considered
disgraceful, or in the least disadvantageous to the female; on the
contrary, should the object of her affections have distinguished himself
especially in battle, she is the more esteemed on account of the
judgment she displayed in her partiality for a respectable and brave
warrior."--Hunter, p. 235-237.]
[Footnote 273: See Appendix, No. LVII. (see Vol II)]
[Footnote 274: "They firmly believe that the spirits of those who are
killed by the enemy without equal revenge of blood, find no rest, and at
night haunt the houses of the tribe to which they belonged; but when
that kindred duty of retaliation is justly executed, they immediately
get ease and power to fly away."--Adair's _Account of the American
Indians._]
[Footnote 275: "The modern scalping-knife is of civilized manufacture
made expressly for Indian use, and carried into the Indian country by
thousands and tens of thousands, and sold at an enormous price. In the
native simplicity of the Indian, he shapes out his rude hatchet from a
piece of stone, heads his arrows and spears with flints, and his knife
is a sharpened bone or the edge of a broken silex. His untutored mind
has not been ingenious enough to design or execute any thing so savage
or destructive as these civilized refinements on Indian barbarity. The
scalping-knife, in a beautiful scabbard which is carried under the belt,
is generally used in all Indian countries where knives have been
introduced. It is the size and shape of a butcher's knife with one edge,
manufactured at Sheffield perhaps for sixpence, and sold to the poor
Indians in these wild regions for a horse. If I should ever cross the
Atlantic, with my collection, a curious enigma would be solved for the
English people who may inquire for a scalping-knife, when they find that
every one in my collection (and hear, also, that nearly every one that
is to be seen in the Indian country, to the Rocky Mountains and the
Pacific Ocean) bears on its blade, the impress of G.R."--Catlin's
_American Indians_, vol. i., p. 236.]
[Footnote 276: See Appendix, No. LVIII. (see Vol II)]
[Footnote 277: The savage Cantabrians and the first inhabitants of Spain
sang songs of triumph as they were led to death and while they hung on
the cross. Strabo mentions this as a mark of their ferocity and
barbarism.--Strabo, lib. iii., p. 114.]
[Footnote 278: The American word "cannibal," of a somewhat doubtful
signification, is probably derived from the language of Hayti or that of
Porto Rico. It has passed into the languages of Europe, since the end of
the fifteenth century, as synonymous with that of Anthropophagi, "Edaces
humanarum carnium novi heluones Anthropophagi, Caribes, alias Canibales
appellati," says Peter Martyr of Anghiera, in the third decade of his
_Oceanics_, dedicated to Pope Leo X. "We were assured by all the
missionaries whom we had an opportunity of consulting, that the
Caribbees are perhaps the least anthropophagous nation of the New
Continent. We may conceive that the fury and despair with which the
unhappy Caribbees defended themselves against the Spaniards when, in
1704, a royal decree declared them slaves, may have contributed to the
reputation they have acquired of ferocity. The licendiado Rodrigo de
Figuera was appointed by the court in 1520 to decide which of the tribes
of South America might be regarded as of Caribbee race, or as
_Cannibals_, and which were Guatiaos, that is, Indians of peace, and
friends of the Castilians. Every nation that could be accused of having
devoured a prisoner after a battle was arbitrarily declared of Caribbee
race. All the tribes designated by Figuera as Caribbees wore condemned
to slavery, and might at will be sold or exterminated in
war."--Humboldt's _Personal Narrative_, vol. vi., p. 35.
Charlevoix and Lafitau speak of the cannibalism of the North American
Indians as a generally acknowledged fact: Lafitau mentions the Abenaquis
as the only tribe who held it in detestation.--Lafitau, vol. ii., p.
307.]
[Footnote 279: "On ne peut gueres douter que les sauvages en faisant
fumer dans le calumet ceux dont ils recherchent l'alliance ou le
commerce, n'ayent intention de prendre le soleil pour temoin et en
quelque facon pour garant de leurs traites, car ils ne manquent jamais
de pousser la fumee vers cette astre: ... Fumer donc dans la meme pipe,
en signe d'alliance, est la meme chose que de boire dans la meme coupe,
comme il s'est de tout tems pratique dans plusieurs nations."--Charlevoix,
tom. v., p. 313.
Calumet in general signifies a pipe, being a Norman word, derived from
_chalumeau_. The savages do not understand this word, for it was
introduced into Canada by the Normans when they first settled there, and
has still continued in use among the French planters. The calumet, or
pipe, is called in the Iroquois language _ganondaoe_, and by the other
savage natives, _poagau_.
Embassadors were never safe among any of the savage tribes who do not
smoke the calumet.--Lafitau, vol. ii., p. 313. At the time of the early
French writers on Indian customs, the calumet, since almost universally
in use, was only known among the tribes inhabiting Louisiana, who in
many respects were more advanced in civilization than those of the cold
northern regions.]
[Footnote 280: Wampum is the Indian name of ornaments manufactured by
the Indians from vari-colored shells[281] which they get on the shore of
the fresh-water streams, and file or cut into bits of half an inch, or
an inch in length, and perforate, giving them the shape of pieces of
broken pipe-stems, which they string on deer's sinews, or weave them
ingeniously into war-belts for the waist. The wampum is evidently meant
in the description of the _esurgny_ or _cornibolz_, given by Verazzano
in Ramusio, which has so much puzzled translators and commentators.
Lafitau and Charlevoix both describe it under the name of _porcelaine_.
"La porcelaine dont nous parlons ici, est bien differente de ces
ouvrages de porcelaine qu'on apporte de la Chine ou du Japan[282] dont
la matiere est une terre beluttee et preparee. Celle ci est tiree de
certains coquillages de mer, connues en generale sous le nom de
porcelaines--celles dont nos sauvages se servent sont canelees, et
semblable pour leur figure aux coquilles de St. Jacques. Il y a de
porcelaine de deux sortes, l'une est blanche, et c'est la plus commune.
L'autre est d'un violet obscur; plus elle tire sur le noir plus elle est
estimee. La porcelaine qui sert pour les affaires d'etat est toute
travaillee au petits cylindres de la longueur d'un quart de pouce et
gros a proportion. On les distribue en deux manieres, en branches et en
colliers. Les branches sont composees de cylindres enfiles sans ordre, a
la suite les uns des autres comme des grains de chapelet. La porcelaine
en est ordinairement toute blanche, et on ne s'en sert que pour des
affaires d'une legere consequence. Les colliers sont de larges
ceintures, ou les petits cylindres blancs et pourpre sont disposes par
rangs et assujettes par de petites bandelettes de cuir, dont on fait un
tissu assez propre. Leur longeur, leur largueur et les grains de couleur
se proportionnent a l'importance de l'affaire. Les colliers communs et
ordinaires sont de onze rangs de cent quatre-vingt grains chacun. Le
fisc, ou le tresor public consiste principalement en ces sortes de
colliers.... Les sauvages n'ont rien de plus precieux que leur
Porcelaine: ce sont leurs bijoux, leurs pierreries. Ils en comptent
jusqu' aux grains, et cela leur tient lieu de toute richesse."--Lafitau,
1720.
Catlin writes thus in 1842: "Among the numerous tribes who have formerly
inhabited the Atlantic coast, wampum has been invariably manufactured
and highly valued as a circulating medium (instead of coins, of which
the Indians have no knowledge), so many strings, or so many hands'
breadth, being the fixed value of a horse, a gun, a robe, &c. It is a
remarkable fact, that after I passed the Mississippi I saw but very
little wampum used, and on ascending the Missouri, I do not recollect to
have seen it worn at all by the Upper Missouri Indians, although the
same materials for its manufacture are found in abundance in those
regions. Below the Lions and along the whole of our western frontier,
the different tribes are found loaded and beautifully ornamented with
it, which they can now afford to do, for they consider it of little
value, as the fur traders have ingeniously introduced an imitation of
it, manufactured by steam or otherwise, of porcelain or some composition
closely resembling it, with which they have flooded the whole Indian
country, and sold at so reduced a price as to cheapen, and consequently
destroy, the value and meaning of the original wampum, a string of which
can now but very rarely be found in any part of the country."--Catlin,
vol. i., p. 223.]
[Footnote 281: "Among the numerous shells which are found on the
sea-shore, there are some which by the English here are called clams,
and which bear some resemblance to the human ear. They have a
considerable thickness, and are chiefly white, excepting the pointed
end, which both within and without hath a blue color, between purple and
violet. The shells contain a large animal, which is eaten both by
Indians and Europeans. The shells of these clams are used by the Indians
as money, and make what they call their wampum; they likewise serve
their women for an ornament when they intend to appear in full dress.
These wampums are properly made of the purple part of the shells, which
the Indians value more than the white parts. A traveler who goes to
trade with the Indians, and is well stocked with them, may become a
considerable gainer, but if he take gold coin or bullion he will
undoubtedly be a loser; for the Indians who live farther up the country
put little or no value on the metals which we reckon so precious, as I
have frequently observed in the course of my travels. The Indians
formerly made their own wampums, though not without a great deal of
trouble; but at present the Europeans employ themselves in that way, and
get considerable profit by it."--Kalm in Pinkerton, vol. xiii., p. 455.]
[Footnote 282: "Marsden et la Comte Baldelli ont rappelle, dans leur
savans commentaires du Milione de Marco Polo, que c'est la nom de la
coquille du genere Cypraea a dos bombe (porcellanor, de porcello, en
latin porcellus, pourcelaine du pere Trigault) qui a donne lieu a la
denomination de _porcelaine_ par laquelle les peuples occidentaux ont
designe les _Vasa Sinica_. Marco Polo se sert du mot porcellane, et pour
les coquilles _karis_, ou _couries_, employees comme monnaie dans
l'Inde, et pour la poterie fine de la Chine. ... La blancheur lustree de
plusieurs especes de la famille des Buccinoides, appellees de
pourcelaines au moine age, a sans doute suffi pour faire donner aux
beaux vases ceramiques de la Chine une denomination analogue. Ces
coquilles ne sont pas entrees dans la composition de la
porcelaine."--Humboldt, _Geog. du Nouveau Continent_, tom, v., p. 106.]
[Footnote 283: "Avant d'avoir l'usage des moulins, ils brisaient leurs
grains dans les piles, ou des mortiers de bois, avec des pilons de meme
matiere. Hesiode nous donne la mesure de la pile et du pilon des
anciens, et de nos sauvages, dans ces paroles, 'Coupez moi une pile de
trois pieds de haut, et un pilon de la longueur de trois coudees.'
(Hesiod, _Opera et Dies_, lib. v., 411; Servius in lib. ix., AEneid.
Init.) Caton met aussi la pile et le pilon, au nombre des meubles
rustiques de son temps. Les Pisons prirent leur nom de cette maniere de
piler le bled."--Lafitau.]
[Footnote 284: "Il leur suffit d'un morceau de bois recourbe de trois
doigts de largeur, attache a un long mouche qui leur sert a sarcler la
terre, et a la remuer legerement."--Lafitau, tom. ii., p. 76.
Catlin says that the tribe of Mandans raise a great deal of corn. This
is all done by the women, who make their hoes of the shoulder-blades of
the buffalo or elk, and dig the ground over instead of plowing it, which
is consequently done with a vast deal of labor.--Vol. i., p. 121.]
[Footnote 285: "Nothing so distinctly marks the uncivilized condition of
the North American Indian as his total ignorance of the art of
metallurgy. Forged iron has been in use among the inhabitants of our
hemisphere from time immemorial; for, though the process employed for
obtaining the malleability of a metal in its malleable state is very
complicated, yet M. de Marian has clearly proved that the several eras
at which writers have pretended to fix the discovery are entirely
fabulous."--_Lettres sur la Chine._
Consequently the weapons of brass and other instruments of metal found
in the dikes of Upper Canada, Florida, &c., are among the strongest
indications of the superiority of those ancient races of America who
have now entirely passed away.
"Know, then," says Cotton Mather, "that these doleful creatures are the
veriest ruins of mankind. They live in a country full of metals, but the
Indians were never owners of so much as a knife till we came among them.
Their name for an Englishman was 'knife-man.'"]
[Footnote 286: Chateaubriand, vol. i., p. 233; Charlevoix.
"The dances of the Red Indians form a singular and important feature
throughout the customs of the aborigines of the New World. In these are
typified, by signs well understood by the initiated, and, as it were, by
hieroglyphic action, their historical events, their projected enterprises,
their hunting, their ambuscades, and their battles, resembling in some
respects the Pyrrhic dances of the ancients."--Washington Irving's
_Columbus_, vol. ii., p. 122.
"In the province of Pasto, on the ridge of the Cordillera, I have seen
masked Indians, armed with rattles, performing savage dances around the
altar, while a Franciscan monk elevated the host."--Humboldt's _Nouveau
Espagne_, vol. i., p. 411.
See, also, Lafitau's Moeurs _des Sauvages Ameriquains compares aux
moeurs des premiers temps_, tom. i., p. 526. He refers to Plutarch, _in
Lycurgo_, for an account of similar Spartan dances.]
[Footnote 287: Charlevoix; Lafitau; Boucher, _Histoire du Canada_.
"The players prepare for their ruin by religious observances; they fast,
they watch, they pray."--Chateaubriand, vol. i., p. 240. See Appendix,
No. LIX. (see Vol II)]