ABORIGINES OF AMERICA
Indian Cosmogony -- Traditions of Origin -- Identity of Religious
Notions -- Adoration of the Sun -- Shawnee Faith -- Anecdote of
Tecumseh -- Legendary Traditions -- Missionaries, and Success of the
Catholics -- The Indian's Heaven -- Burial Customs -- Ancient
Accounts -- Depositing the Dead on Scaffolds -- Superstition and
Witchcraft -- Indian Philosophy -- Polygamy and other Matrimonial
Affairs -- Abhorrence of Incest -- Difference in Character -- Indian
Hospitality -- Traits of the Ancient Asiatics -- Names --
Relationship of Different Tribes -- Dreadful Decrease of the
Indians.
It will hardly be expected from a work making so little pretension as
this to scientific accuracy and completeness, that the remarks which
my plan necessarily leads me to make, concerning the aborigines of
western America, should be either critical or comprehensive. Neither
can I feel that it is a topic which I am at liberty wholly to
disregard. The opportunities which I have enjoyed for [Pg284]
obtaining a knowledge of the character and habits of the western
Indians have been such, that I trust that a brief account of them may
prove in some measure new, and not altogether uninteresting to a
portion of my readers. Impressed with this belief, I propose, in the
few {235} following pages, to record such facts as shall seem to be
most novel, and to corroborate, in my humble measure, occasional
others which have before been related. With this view, I shall proceed
to notice, in the present chapter, such leading characteristics of the
aborigines generally, as shall seem most noteworthy; and then, in
those that follow, ask the reader's attention to many peculiarities
which make the most conspicuous differences between them.
No aboriginal nation or people has ever yet been discovered, to my
knowledge, which has not professed to have a mysterious ancestry of a
mythical character. It is interesting to mark the analogies and the
differences between their various systems. Although among some tribes
who have lived much in communication with the whites, their cosmogony
has been confounded very much with the Mosaic or Scripture account, so
that it is now often difficult to distinguish clearly the aboriginal
from the imported, yet all the Americo-Indian tribes have more or less
preserved their traditions on this subject. The old full-blood
Choctaws, for instance, relate that the first of their tribe issued
from a cave in Nunnewaya or Bending Mountain, in the 'Old Nation,'
east of the Mississippi; yet this tradition has but little currency
among the young men and mixed-bloods of the tribe. The minute account
of this supposed origin cannot now be readily procured; yet some idea
may be formed of it from a kindred tradition among {236} the Mandans
which has been preserved to us by Lewis and Clark, and is thus
related: [Pg285]
"The whole nation resided in one large village under ground near a
subterraneous lake: a grape vine extended its roots down to their
habitation and gave them a view of the light: some of the most
adventurous climbed up the vine, and were delighted with the sight of
the earth, which they found covered with buffalo, and rich with every
kind of fruits: returning with the grapes they had gathered, their
countrymen were so pleased with the taste of them that their whole
nation resolved to leave their dull residence for the charms of the
upper regions; men, women and children ascended by means of the vine;
but when about half the nation had reached the surface of the earth, a
corpulent woman who was clambering up the vine broke it with her
weight, and closed upon herself and the rest of the nation, the light
of the sun."[174]
Besides the Mandans it seems that other neighboring tribes had
somewhat analogous notions of their origin. An early explorer relates
that the Osages believed that their fore-fathers grew from a snail,
which, having become a man, married the daughter of a beaver, whence
sprang the present race.
The resemblance of the American Indians to each other, however, is not
more conspicuous in anything than in their religious opinions. They
seem to have no well-defined creeds: yet there are very few but
profess a faith in some sort of First Cause--a Great {237} Spirit, a
Master of Life, who rules the destinies of the world. Though the
different nations have not always typified their deity by the same
objects, yet by far the greater number seem to have fixed upon the sun
as the fit object of their adoration.[175] "Next to _Virachocha_, or
their supreme God," says Father [Pg286] Acosta,[176] speaking of the
Indians of Peru, "that which most commonly they have and do adore
amongst the Infidells is the Sunne." Many of the Mexican tribes[177]
profess the same faith, and particularly those of New Mexico, as has
already been mentioned. This seems also the most current among the
Comanches and other wild tribes of the Prairies: and the Choctaws and
several other nations of the frontier appear at least to have held the
sun in great veneration.
But of all the Indian tribes, none appear to have ascribed to the
'fountain of light' more of the proper attributes of deity than the
Shawnees. They argue, with some plausibility, that the sun animates
everything--therefore, he is clearly the Master of Life, or the Great
Spirit; and that everything is produced originally from the bosom of
the earth--therefore, she is the mother of creation. The following
anecdote[178] (as told to me by a gentleman of integrity), which
transpired upon {238} the occasion of an interview of Tecumseh with
Gen. Harrison, is as illustrative of the religious opinions of the
Shawnees, as it is characteristic of the hauteur and independent
spirit of that celebrated [Pg287] Shawnee chief. The General, having
called Tecumseh for a 'talk,' desired him to take a seat, saying,
"Come here, Tecumseh, and sit by your father." "You my father?"
replied the chief, with a stern air--"No! yonder sun is my father
(pointing towards it), and the earth is my mother; so I will rest on
her bosom"--and immediately seated himself upon the ground, according
to Indian custom.
But though the Shawnees consider the sun the type, if not the essence,
of the Great Spirit, many also believe in an evil genius, who makes
all sorts of bad things, to counterbalance those made by the Good
Spirit. For instance, when the latter made a sheep, a rose, wholesome
herbs, etc., the bad spirit matched them with a wolf, a thorn,
poisonous plants, and the like. They also appear to think there is a
kind of purgatory in which the spirits of the wicked may be cleansed
before entering into their elysium.
The worship of all the aborigines seems to consist chiefly in feasting
and dancing. A worthy missionary among the Shawnees related to me the
following legendary tradition, as explanatory of their ideas of
another world, and the institution of their worship, which may serve
as a fair sample of the traditions of many other tribes.
{239} In days of yore (say the Shawnees) there lived a pious brother
and an affectionate sister, who were inordinately attached to each
other. It came to pass that the sister sickened and died, and was
carried to the world of spirits. The good brother was inconsolable,
and for a while refused to eat or drink, or to partake of any kind of
nourishment: he wished to follow his beloved sister. At length he
resolved to set out in search of her; so he commenced his pilgrimage
toward the setting sun. Steadily pursuing the same course for days and
moons together, he at last came to where the sky and earth meet; and
finding [Pg288] an opening, he ascended into the upper regions. He
now turned his course towards the rising sun, which he continued,
above the sky, till he came to the abode of his grandfather--which
seems but another name for one of the good spirits. This sage, knowing
his errand, gave him 'medicine' to transform him into a spirit, that
he might pass through the celestial courts. He also gave him
instructions how to proceed, and where he would find his sister. He
said she would be at a dance; and when she rose to join in the
amusement, he must seize and ensconce her in the hollow of a reed with
which he was furnished, and cover the orifice with the end of his
finger.
After an arduous peregrination through the land of spirits, the
brother found and secured his sister as directed. He returned with his
charge to the habitation of his grandfather, who gave another
'medicine' to transform {240} them both into material beings again,
that they might revisit their brothers on earth. The sage also
explained to them the mysteries of heaven and the sacred rites of
worship, that they might instruct their tribe therein. When about to
start back, the venerable spirit told them that the route by which the
brother had come was very circuitous--there was a much nearer way; and
opening a trap-door through the sky, they beheld their native town
just below them. So the good brother and sister descended; and
returning home, a great feast was celebrated, accompanied by a solemn
dance--in accordance with the grandfather's instructions. Thus
originated, as they say, the sacred dances and other religious
ceremonies now in practice.
As they believe the Indian heaven separate, and essentially different
and distinct from that of the whites, and as they do not wish their
people divided, this has often occasioned a serious opposition to the
labors of the missionaries.[179] [Pg289] For the purpose of thwarting
the {241} measures of these, a noted anti-christian sage 'played off,'
a few years ago, the following 'vision.' Being very ill (as they
relate), this sage, to all appearance, died, and became stiff and
cold, except a spot upon his breast, which still retained the heat of
life. In this state he remained a day or more, when he again breathed
and returned among the living: and calling his friends about him, he
related the scenes he had witnessed. He had ascended to the Indian's
heaven, he said, which he described as usual: a fine country,
abounding in all sorts of game, and everything an Indian could desire.
There he met with his grandfather, who said to him, "It is meet, my
son, that thou return to the earth, and warn thy brothers against the
dangers that await them. Tell them to beware of the religion of the
white man: that every Indian who embraces it is obliged to take the
road to the white man's heaven; and yet no red man is permitted to
enter there, but will have to wander about forever without a
resting-place."
The identity of the notions which the different tribes have conceived
of a future existence, and the character of the 'world of spirits,'
seems still more general. They [Pg290] fancy {242} heaven but another
material world, superior, it is true, yet resembling this--a kind of
elysian vale, or paradise--a 'happy hunting-ground,' abounding in game
and all their comforts of life, which may be procured without labor.
This elysium they generally seem to locate 'upon the sky,' which they
fancy a material solid vault. It appears impossible for them, in their
pristine barbarism, to conceive of a spiritual existence, or of a
world differing materially from that which they see around them.
Father Hennepin (writing about 1680) relates, that the northern
Indians inquired about the manner of living in heaven, and remarks:
"When I made answer that they live there without eating or drinking,
'We will not go thither,' said they, 'because we must not eat;' and
when I have added that there would be no occasion for food there, they
clapt their hands to their mouths, as a sign of admiration, and said,
'_Thou art a great liar!--is there anything can live without
eating?_'"[180]
Similar opinions, among many different tribes, I have heard declared
in direct terms; yet, did we want further testimony, some of their
burial customs and funeral rites would seem to indicate their ideas of
the future state. The Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks, Kansas, and kindred
tribes, besides many others, or perhaps most others of the frontier,
have been accustomed to inter the most valuable property of the
deceased and many necessaries with them. "Their whole property was
buried {243} with them,"[181] says an intelligent Cherokee, in some
manuscript notes concerning his ancestors, I have in my possession:
and I have been assured by creditable natives, that, within their
recollection [Pg291] they have seen, at these burials, provisions,
salt, and other necessaries, interred with the dead for their long
journey.
There are very few of the prairie Indians but practise something of
this kind: many kill the favorite hunting-horses, and deposit the
arms, etc., of the deceased, for his use in the chase, when he arrives
at the 'happy hunting ground.' We are also informed by Capt.
Bonneville, and other travellers, that this is practised by some, if
not all, of the natives beyond the Rocky Mountains. The same is told
of the Navajoes, Apaches, and other uncatholicized tribes of the north
of Mexico.
Peter Martyr, a learned and celebrated protestant divine, who wrote
his "Decades of the Newe Worlde"[182] towards the middle of the
sixteenth century, observes that, "in many places of the firme lande,
when any of the kynges dye, all his householde servauntes, as well
women as men which have continually served hym, kyl themselves,
beleavynge, as they are taught by the devyl _Tuyra_, that they which
kyll themselves when the kynge dyeth, go with hym to heaven and serve
hym in the same place and office as they dyd before on {244} the earth
whyle he lyved.[183] And that all that refuse so to doo, when after
they dye by theyr naturall death or otherwyse, theyr soules to dye
with theyr bodyes, and to bee dissolved into ayer and become nothynge
as do the soules of hogges, byrdes or fysshes, or other brute [Pg292]
beastes."[184] In corroboration of a similar custom among the natives
along the Mississippi, in 1542, Herrera relates,[185] that, after the
death of Fernando de Soto, and his party had set out westward, they
were joined by a youth, who stated that he had fled to escape being
buried with his lord who had died; which was the practice in that
country. Travellers from the upper lakes to the Mississippi speak of
similar customs, at an early day, among the tribes of that quarter.
It would appear that they believe everything, both animate and
inanimate--beasts, arms, ornaments, etc.--to possess immortal
attributes, subject to resurrection in the world of spirits. However,
did not their motives seem so well defined by the direct allusions to
their notions of futurity, we might suppose, as is frequently urged,
that the burying of property, slaves, etc., with the deceased, was
only intended as a mark of respect; which, indeed, is hardly more
irrational than the custom {245} of interring costly garniture and
appendages with the dead among us.
Some of the modes of burial adopted by the American aborigines are
different, I believe, from those of any other people. Though, as among
civilized nations, even the wildest tribes sometimes inter in ordinary
graves, yet they frequently deposit their dead, in a sitting and even
in a standing posture, in pits, caves, and hollow trees; and
occasionally, they lay the corpse out upon scaffolds suspended from
the branches of trees, or resting upon them where they will admit of
it, so as to be out of reach of the wolves and other beasts.
I was once, with a little caravan, travelling up the course of the
Arkansas river, when, a thunder-storm coming up [Pg293] suddenly, and
night drawing near, we turned the wagons as soon as we could, to the
river-bank, to encamp. The bustle of ungearing and securing the teams
before they should be frightened by the tempest, was hardly over, when
we discovered a platform suspended above our heads, upon the branches
of a cottonwood, which, upon examination, was found to contain an
Indian corpse, from whose bones the putrid flesh had not yet
separated!
This mode of disposing of the dead would seem once to have been quite
extensive; for, as well as upon the western prairies, it formerly
prevailed among the Potawatomies of the north, and the Choctaws of the
south, at least while on their expeditions. In this case, if
practicable, they would leave a band of {246} aged men, known as
bone-pickers,' to clean the bones, when the flesh decayed, and carry
them to their village for interment.
Barbarians are generally superstitious to an extreme, believing in
hobgoblins, witchcraft, legerdemain and all sorts of mummeries.[186]
Like many grandmothers in backwoods life, they delight in recounting
the extraordinary apparitions, transmigrations, sorceries, etc., which
they pretend to have witnessed. Nothing seems too absurd for their
belief. Among many other cases of similar cast, an intelligent
Potawatomie once assured me that he had witnessed the death of one of
his nation, who had received [Pg294] a stab in his side with a knife
(probably in some illicit adventure); and it being unknown to his
friends how the wound had been inflicted, it was currently reported
and believed, that from their {247} present home on the frontier of
Missouri, he had visited the 'Old Nation' in Michigan,[187] poisoned
an enemy there, received the fatal stab, and returned and died, all in
one day.
If you tell an Indian that such things are absurd and impossible, he
is apt to answer, "It may be so with the white man, but how do you
know it to be impossible with the Indian? You tell us many strange
things which happened to your fathers--we don't contradict them,
though we believe such things never could have happened to the red
man." Or, they will reply, perhaps, as they did to Father Hennepin in
a similar case: "Fie, thou knowest not what thou sayest; thou may'st
know what has passed in thy own Country, for thy Ancestors have told
thee of them; but thou canst not know what has passed in ours before
the Spirits (that is to say the Europeans) came hither."
In their matrimonial customs there is also a similarity among most of
the American savages. Polygamy seems once to have been universal; and
I believe still is so among the uncivilized tribes. Every man takes as
many wives as he can obtain, or is able to support. The squaws,
however, the more willingly consent to this multiplicity, as it
affords additional helpmates in their labors. Polygamy among these
savages would appear, indeed, not altogether an unwise provision. At
least it seems palliated with such [Pg295] a belligerent people, who
lose so many males in their continual wars, leaving a great surplus of
females; and {248} where the duties of the latter are so numerous and
so severe.
The custom of buying wives, or at least making large presents to their
parents, has always been very general; and still exists, not only
among the more savage, but even with many of the partially civilized
nations. Yet, notwithstanding their depravity in other respects, there
is one thing truly remarkable in their marriages. All modern observers
seem to agree with the ancient authors, that they universally abhor
incestuous connections. Among the Creeks, even the marrying of cousins
was punished by cutting off the ears. The Cherokees (according to some
manuscript notes which I have of an intelligent member of the tribe)
were prohibited from marrying in their own clans (i. e. kindred) under
penalty of death; and their clans themselves were their executioners.
But, although the Indians thus so strictly prohibit marriage within
the degree of consanguinity, it is not so with those of affinity among
many tribes. The Otoes, Kansas, and others of the same stock, will not
only marry several sisters, but their deceased brothers' wives; in
fact, this last seems considered a duty so that the orphan children of
the brother may not be without a protector.[188]
While the aborigines of the New World {249} have been noted above
almost every other uncivilized nation in history, for their
vindictiveness and cruelty towards their enemies, there are, in these
attributes, wide differences apparent among them. The Indians along
the Pacific coast, as well as in most of Mexico, were always more mild
and peaceable than those of the United States. Hence it is, [Pg296]
in fact, that the Spaniards did not meet with that formidable
resistance to their conquests which they encountered among the fiery
tribes of Florida, or that relentless and desperate hostility which
the Anglo-Americans experienced in the first settlement of most parts
of the United States.
But in the common trait of hospitality to strangers all the western
tribes are alike distinguished. The traveller who is thrown upon their
charity, is almost universally received and treated with the greatest
kindness; and, though they might pilfer him to the skin, and even
place his person in jeopardy, if he show want of confidence in them,
and endeavor to conceal his effects, yet his property is generally
secure when under their charge: they appear to consider a breach of
confidence one of the greatest crimes.
Among the wild tribes, as well as among most of the unadulterated
border Indians, to set something to eat before a friend, and even a
stranger, immediately upon his arrival at a lodge or a cabin, is
deemed not only an act of hospitality but of necessary etiquette; and
a refusal to partake is looked upon as an unfriendly {250} token--an
insult, in fact, to the family. Travellers are often severely taxed to
preserve the good feeling of their hosts in this particular,
especially among the prairie Indians. One at all fastidious in matters
of diet, would find it hard to relish food from a greasy hornspoon
which every urchin had been using; and then to ladle it out of a pot
which had been common for all the papooses and pups of the premises:
or to partake from a slice rolled up in a musty skin, or a dirtier
blanket. And yet an apology even of having already dined half-a-dozen
times would scarcely palliate the insult of a refusal. Though one
visit fifty lodges in the course of a day, he must taste the food of
every one.
The Indian system of chiefs, which still prevails, and is nearly the
same everywhere, except with the Cherokees, [Pg297] Choctaws,
Chickasaws, and the Creeks to a degree, seems to bear a strong
resemblance to that of the patriarchs of old; which, with their clans
so analogous to those of our forefathers, perhaps affords as strong a
proof as any other of their Asiatic origin.[189] To this might be
added their {251} mode of naming;[190] for the Indians universally
apply [Pg298] names significant of acts, qualities, beasts, birds,
etc., to their offspring,--a practice which seems to have prevailed
generally among the ancient Asiatics. Surnames have only been adopted
by educated families {252} and mixed-bloods of the border nations, and
are generally taken from their missionaries or some favorite friends;
except they inherit surnames from parents of white extraction.
That the Indians of America are decreasing in numbers is very well
known, but many are dwindling away, perhaps, at a more rapid pace than
is generally suspected. The number of the Osages, it is confidently
believed, has diminished fifty per cent. within the last ten years:
the once powerful tribe of Missouries is now reduced to a mere
remnant; while the Mandans, as a nation, have become entirely extinct:
and others have shared or bid fair soon to share the same fate. This
has resulted partially from the ravages of the small-pox and other
diseases, yet as much no doubt from the baneful effects of
intoxicating liquors. On this account, their diminution has generally
been less in proportion as they are more remote from the whites. But
the 'red man' has suffered from his intercourse with the whites not in
this respect alone. The incentives to luxury and avarice continually
presented by them, have had a very pernicious influence. Formerly the
savages were contented with the indispensables of life--generally
sober, just and charitable; but now they will sacrifice their
comfort--risk their lives, and commit the most atrocious outrages to
gratify their vanity and lusts--to bedeck themselves with gewgaws and
finery.