THE FRONTIER INDIANS
Causes of Removal West -- Annuities, etc. -- Dissatisfaction of
the Indians -- Their Melioration by the Change -- Superiority of
their present Location -- Lands granted to them -- Improvements,
Agriculture, etc. -- Their Slaves -- Manufactures -- Style of
Living, Dress, etc. -- Literary Opportunities and Improvements
-- Choctaw Academy -- Harpies and Frauds -- Games -- Systems of
Government -- Polygamy -- Ancient Laws and Customs -- Intemperance
-- Preventive Measures -- A Choctaw Enactment -- Marriage and
Funeral Customs of the Choctaws -- The Creeks -- Their Summary
Executions -- Mourning -- Indian Titles -- The Northern Tribes --
Census of the Frontier Nations.
For the purpose of a somewhat more discriminating notice of the Indian
tribes beyond our western border--for it is to those I intend my
remarks, in these pages, to be strictly confined--I will distinguish
them, according to the prevailing classification of the West, as
'Frontier' or 'Border Indians,' which title includes those occupying
that district lying west of and immediately adjoining Arkansas and
Missouri, and known as the _Indian Territory_; and the 'Wild Tribes'
or 'Prairie Indians,' by which are meant those who are found west of
the others, and who range those immense {254} plains from the borders
of the Indian Territory to the Rocky Mountains. Of these I will speak
in their order.
The most important of the frontier tribes, as is well known, are the
Cherokees, Choctaws and Chickasaws, Creeks and Seminoles, Shawnees,
Delawares, etc. It is equally well known that most of these tribes
were removed from within the States, not less because of the vicious
propensities which they contracted and the imposition to which they
were continually exposed, than on account of the difficulty of
maintaining peaceful relations between them and our own citizens,
while they remained in their midst. Their situation within the States
certainly presented quite [Pg300] an anomaly in government--
independent powers within the limits of others claiming sovereign
jurisdiction.[191]
A mistaken philanthropy--mistaken for want of a full knowledge of all
the bearings of the subject--among some people, has occasioned much
censure upon this branch of the policy of our government. But were we
to take into consideration the treatment of other nations towards the
aborigines of America, that of the United States, when placed in
contrast, would certainly present a very benevolent aspect. They have
always been removed by their own consent, obtained through their
chiefs and councils; and have not only been given equal amounts of
land, west of the border, but have generally been removed and
furnished a year's subsistence {255} at the expense of the government,
and received valuable equivalents beside, in utensils and other
necessaries, and in regular annuities. These are sums, generally in
money, annually paid, for a series of years, to the several tribes,
proportioned usually to the size of the tribe and the amount of
territory acquired from it. This institution of annuities, however,
though intended as the most charitable, has doubtless been the most
injurious branch of the policy of the United States towards the
Indians. Being thus afforded the means of living without much labor,
they have neglected manufactures, and even agriculture, to a
considerable degree, and many of them have acquired [Pg301] confirmed
habits of indolence and dissipation; and now that their annuities are
growing short, they are being left destitute, without the energy, the
industry, or the means wherewith to procure a livelihood.
But, notwithstanding the constant efforts of the general government to
make them comfortable, and the immense sums of money which have been
paid them, and their being located in regions far better suited to
their wants and their habits of life than those they abandoned, many
of them appear greatly dissatisfied with the change and with the
government; which seems painfully demonstrative of that perverse,
restless disposition, which appears ever to have characterized the
conduct of half-civilized nations.
One ostensible reason for their unwillingness {256} to remove, has
been a reluctance to abandon their native homes and the 'graves of
their fathers.' Many fabulous legends are told of the attachment of
the Indian to his native soil, yet but few who are acquainted with
their habitudes, will place much stress on this. Their own traditions,
as well as experience, have shown, that, when left to themselves, they
incline to migrate; of which the Azteques of Mexico, and the Osages,
with others of our border, afford striking examples: in fact, there is
scarcely a tribe on the frontier which has not its traditions of
migrations at some period. The Shawnees say their forefathers
emigrated from the south to the regions north of the Ohio--the Creeks,
as well as many of the Choctaws, that they were originally from west
of the Mississippi--besides many other cases.
But, with regard to this passage of our country's history, I will
merely say, in addition, that, so far as I am able to judge, the
condition of the 'red man' has been very materially bettered by the
change. The lands they at present occupy are, for the most part, of a
more fertile character [Pg302] than those which they have left. The
climate is equally or perhaps more healthy, in general;
notwithstanding the dreadful mortality which afflicted many of them
shortly after their removal--a calamity which was attributable,
primarily, to the change of climate, as well as to the change of
habits which their new dwelling-places involved; and secondarily, to
the too abundant use of {257} spirituous liquors, with which they were
frequently provided by both native and white peddlers and traders,
before any measures, efficient enough to check the evil, were taken
either by themselves or by the general government. But, although the
latter cause still prevails to some degree, I have little doubt that
the average mortality among the frontier tribes, at present, is less
than it was before their removal.
To each tribe has generally been granted a greater number of acres,
with definite metes and boundaries, than had been ceded by them east
of the Mississippi. It is deemed unnecessary, however, to swell this
brief notice with a statement of the several amounts of land given to
each tribe, and their localities, as these may be seen with sufficient
accuracy and definiteness by consulting the map which accompanies this
work.
The lands of each tribe are the property of the Indian commonwealth;
and, therefore, even among the most civilized of them, the settler has
a title only in his improvement, which he holds by occupancy, and can
sell at pleasure. To prevent collisions in improvements, the first
occupant is entitled to a certain distance in every direction. Among
the Cherokees, no one can build within a quarter of a mile of the
house or field of another: so, to extend their possessions, the more
wealthy sometimes make several isolated improvements, scattered in
different directions, within half a mile of each other. [Pg303]
{258} The game in the interspersed forests having now become scarce,
and that of the western prairies being too remote, the frontier
Indians have generally turned their attention to agriculture, and to
the raising of stock; and most of them have large numbers of horses,
cattle, and hogs.
Some of these Indians, particularly of the southern nations, have very
extensive farms: but the mass of their population extend their culture
no further than they seem compelled by necessity. The traveller,
passing through the Cherokee Nation, is struck with the contrast
between an occasional stately dwelling, with an extensive farm
attached, and the miserable hovels of the indigent, sometimes not ten
feet square, with a little patch of corn, scarce large enough for a
family garden. In fact, among all the tribes who have no slaves, what
little there is of cultivation, is mostly the work of the women.
Scattered through the country, one continually encounters dilapidated
huts with trifling improvements, which have been abandoned by the
owners for some fancy they may have taken to some other location at a
distance, better adapted, as they think, to the promotion of their
comfort, and upon which they may live with less labor.
Most of the labor among the wealthier classes of Cherokees, Choctaws,
Chickasaws, Creeks and Seminoles, is done by negro slaves; for they
have all adopted substantially the Southern system of slavery.[192]
Some individuals of these nations own over fifty slaves each: {259}
but they [Pg304] are the only slaveholders of the frontier tribes,
except very few among the Shawnees.
With some tribes, and particularly among the lower classes of the
Creeks, they are inclined to settle in 'towns,' as they are
called,--making large fields, which are cultivated in common, and the
produce proportionally distributed. But these 'towns' are rather
settlements than villages, being but sparse clusters of huts without
any regularity. Indeed, there is not, I believe, a regularly laid out
town in all the Indian country, nor a place that could even merit the
name of a village; except Doaksville near Fort Towson, and perhaps
Park Hill in the Cherokee Nation.[193]
Besides agriculture, most of the frontier tribes attend a little to
manufactures, though with no greater energy. The women have generally
learned to spin, weave and sew, at which they occupy themselves,
occasionally, during recess from the labors of the field. But very few
of the men acquire mechanical arts or follow trades of any kind: their
carpenter, wheelwright and smith work is done by a few mechanics
provided the several tribes in accordance with treaty stipulations. To
each tribe is furnished in particular one or more blacksmiths from the
United States.
These frontier Indians for the most part live in cabins of logs, like
those of our backwoods settlers; and many of them are undistinguishable,
except in color, language, and to some degree in costume, from the
poorer {260} classes of their white neighbors. Even in dress and
language the more civilized are fast conforming to the latter. In many
families, especially of the Cherokees, the [Pg305] English tongue
only is spoken; and great numbers of these, as well as of the Choctaws
and Chickasaws, dress according to the American fashions: but the
ruder portions of even these, the most enlightened nations, as is also
the case with nearly all of the northern tribes, wear the
hunting-shirt, sometimes of buckskin, but now more commonly of calico,
cotton plaid or linsey. Instead of using hats, they wreathe about
their heads a fancy-colored shawl or handkerchief. Neither do the
women of these classes wear bonnets, but leave their heads exposed, or
protected only with a shawl, somewhat after the manner of the Mexican
females; to the lower classes of whom, indeed, the mixed-bloods of
these Indians bear a strong resemblance. Their most usual dress is a
short petticoat of cotton goods, or as frequently with the tribes of
the north, of coarse red or blue broad-cloth.
The literary opportunities afforded to the border tribes are so
important in their consequences as to deserve some notice. To each
tribe has been granted, by the United States, a school fund, generally
somewhat proportioned to the extent of the tribe. The Cherokees and
Choctaws seem to have availed themselves of this provision to the
greatest advantage. These funds are for the most part invested in
American stocks, and the proceeds {261} appropriated to educational
uses, establishing schools, etc.[194] [Pg306] The tuition is, I
believe, in every case, free to the Indians; and yet it is painful to
know that comparatively few of the common classes will send their
children.
The most extensive literary institution which has ever been in
operation, for the benefit of the 'red man,' was the 'Choctaw
Academy,' established in Kentucky, and supported by a common fund of
several different tribes. It was not as successful, however, as was
anticipated by its projectors; and is now being transferred and merged
into an academy near Fort Towson, in the Choctaw country, wholly
supported out of the Choctaw fund. This Academy proved very
unsatisfactory to many of the tribes concerned. They said, with
apparent justice, that their boys, educated there, forgot all their
customs, their language, their relatives, their national attachments;
and, in exchange, often acquired indolent and effeminate, if not
vicious habits; and were rendered {262} unfit to live among their
people, or to earn a maintenance by labor. There seems but little
doubt that the funds of each tribe might be employed to a much better
advantage in their own country. The influence of the institutions
would there be more likely to extend to all classes; and by gradual,
the only practicable means, a change might be wrought upon the
nation.[195]
It is one of the calamities incident to the state of ignorance in
which most of these poor Indians remain, and their close, indeed
political connection with the more civilized people [Pg307] of the
United States, that they are continually preyed upon by the
unprincipled harpies who are ever prowling through their country,
ready to seize every opportunity of deceiving and defrauding them out
of their money or effects.[196] {263} The most depraving agencies
employed to this end are the ministration of intoxicating drinks, and
gaming, of both which the Indians are passionately fond, and by which
they are frequently robbed of their money as soon almost as received.
Apart from the usual games at cards, dice, etc., the Indians of the
border have some peculiar games of their own, as well at cards as
otherwise. Among these the most celebrated is the 'Ball Play,' which
resembles, in some respects, the old-fashioned game of _bandy_. The
wagers are usually laid upon beating the majority of a given number, a
dozen or more of these games; and large amounts in horses, blankets,
and other goods, and even money, are frequently staked upon the
result.
Besides the ball play, _dancing_ is a most favorite amusement of these
tribes, indeed of all the frontier as well as prairie Indians. They
formerly had many kinds of dances,--the green-corn dance, the
medicine, the eagle, the scalp and the war dances. But these are now
only practised by the ruder portions of the border nations and the
less improved tribes; among whom may still be witnessed frequently
their genuine aboriginal frolics. [Pg308]
The green-corn dance generally lasts several {264} days, commencing
when the new crop begins to ripen. A large arbor of green branches is
usually prepared, and numerous parties of both sexes dance in a body
to their native songs and rude instrumental music, accompanied by
their monotonous "heh! heh! heh!" with a chorus of yells at intervals;
and their movements are attended with the most comical gesticulations.
Having passed through a course of 'purification' by drinking a
decoction of certain stimulant herbs, prepared by their medicine-men,
and put out all the fires, they strike fire anew by rubbing sticks
together; and a quantity of corn, pulse and other fruits of the
season, being cooked with the 'new fire,' the dance is closed with a
general feast. Each family, as it is said, then takes a supply from
the 'new breed' of fire. A more interesting and salutary influence of
this custom, which is said to prevail among some tribes at this
festival, is the cancelling or composing of all old difficulties and
disputes.
The most advanced of these border nations, the _Cherokees_ and the
united tribes of the _Choctaws_ and _Chickasaws_, have adopted systems
of government, which are based upon [Pg309] the constitutions of our
States. The Cherokee being the most complete, some account of it may
not be out of place in this connection.
A council or convention of the wise men of the nation was convened on
the first of July, 1839, who framed a constitution, of which the
following are the general features, it being somewhat similar to one
previously adopted in {265} the 'Old Nation.' The three powers,
legislative, executive and judicial, are distinguished and
established. The legislative consists of a National Committee and
Council. The former is composed of two and the latter of three members
from each of the eight or ten districts into which the nation was to
be divided--elected for two years by the people. They convene annually
on the first Monday in October, and each house elects a presiding
officer out of its own body. Bills are introduced, discussed and
passed according to parliamentary usage.
The executive, called Principal Chief, and an assistant chief, are
elected for four years by the people. The executive has the usual veto
and pardoning power. He is assisted by an 'Executive Council' of five,
and the common cabinet of secretaries. The judiciary consists of a
Supreme and Circuit Court, and the ordinary justices of the peace.
Trial by jury is secured; and the common law of England appears to
have been generally adopted. Religious toleration is guarantied, but
no person can hold a civil office who denies the existence of a God,
and a future state of rewards and punishments.[197]
According to laws subsequently enacted by the same council, the
punishment for murder is death; and for an attempt to kill, a fine
correspondent to the damage, for the benefit of the injured party: for
rape, a hundred lashes--but [Pg310] for infanticide, only twenty-five
to fifty![198] Whipping seems the punishment {266} for all inferior
crimes; which is the same with the Choctaws and Creeks, among whom the
executioners are called the 'light-horse,' a kind of police-guard,
also formerly in use by the Cherokees, but now their place is supplied
by a common sheriff and _posse_.
As is to be inferred from their institutions, the Cherokees stand
first among the 'red men' in refinement, though in industry, morality,
and sobriety, they are no doubt excelled by the Choctaws and
Chickasaws, who are reckoned the most quiet and Christian-like Indians
of the border.
No laws have yet been passed to enforce the payment of debts, except
by the Cherokees; and these found it necessary to suspend their
operation for two years. Even the most improved have not prohibited
polygamy by any law; though, from the example of the whites and of the
more civilized among them, as well as the exertions of the
missionaries, it is growing out of repute with most of the border
nations. It is still occasionally practised, however; and the ruder
classes among them all, I believe, sometimes still take any number of
wives, and divorce them at pleasure. But the more enlightened are
married by preachers, or authorized civil officers.
With the united nation of Choctaws and Chickasaws, the executive power
is vested in four chiefs, called in Choctaw _mingoes_, who are
selected one from each of the districts into which the country is
divided, {267} and of which the Chickasaw tribe constitutes one.[199]
These chiefs are vested with the usual veto and pardoning powers, and
are elected [Pg311] for four years. Most of their other
constitutional provisions resemble those of the Cherokees. The
Choctaws, as well as the Creeks, punish the crime of murder with death
by shooting, which is generally executed immediately after trial, by
the 'light-horse.'
It has become evident, however, that written laws and courts of
justice, judges and juries, are still rather in advance of the state
of civilization of the ruder classes, even among these most
enlightened tribes. It has been found very difficult to bring them
under their subordination. They have had, notwithstanding, a salutary
effect in many cases, and especially with regard to murder. Among most
of these nations (as well as the wild tribes), it was formerly the
custom to leave the punishment of homicide to the relatives of the
murdered. With the Choctaws and Cherokees, in particular, the entire
clan or family of the murderer were held responsible for the crime;
and though the real offender might escape, the bereaved family had a
right to kill any one of his nearest relatives that could be found, up
to the most remote kindred. There seemed no exceptions for accidental
homicide, or killing in self-defence: the Mosaic precept of 'life for
life' must be fulfilled, unless satisfactorily commuted. This savage
custom had at least one salutary effect, however: the relatives
themselves, instead of assisting {268} the escape, as so often occurs
in civilized life, were generally the first to apprehend and bring the
fugitive criminal to justice.
But among the Choctaws, at least, any one might take the place of the
murderer, and in the death of the substitute the law was satisfied,
and the true criminal remained exempt. An intelligent and creditable
Choctaw related to me an affecting incident, for the truth of which he
vouched. An Indian had remained responsible for the appearance, on a
certain day, of his brother, who had killed a man. [Pg312] When the
day arrived, the murderer exhibited some reluctance to fulfil the
pledge, when the other said to him: "My brother, you are no brave--you
are afraid to die--stay here and take care of my family--I will die in
your place:" whereupon he immediately attended the appointed spot, and
was executed accordingly.
The highest honor known among them, in fact, being that of a 'great
brave,' it reflected the greatest credit to meet death boldly. Instead
of being visited by his tribe with infamy for the crime he had
committed, it rather tended to make his name illustrious, if he met
the consequences without fear or flinching: whereas, any effort to
avoid death was attributed to cowardice. It would have been esteemed
quite as ignominious for the murderer to flee the established forfeit
of his life, as for a 'gentleman' under the 'civilized code of honor,'
to back out from a duel.
But among most of the frontier, as also the {269} wild tribes, a
commutation, though not honorable to the perpetrator, was and still is
permitted, except by the Cherokees and Choctaws. Any recompense which
would satisfy the bereft family, released the murderer from further
penalty.
There is scarcely any temptation which the Indian tribes have to
encounter so frequently, and so seriously fatal to their social
improvement, as intemperance. Of this they are conscious themselves,
and most of them have adopted measures for prohibiting the
introduction of ardent spirits among them, and for checking the
propensity to use them, with various degrees of success. Among the
Choctaws, a law was passed upon this subject, which, though not
entirely, was measurably successful; and the spirit which effected its
passage was worthy of the most exalted state of civilization.
It seems that the tribe had generally become sensible [Pg313] of the
pernicious influences of strong drink upon their prosperity and
happiness, and had attempted various plans for its suppression,
without success. At last, it was determined by the chiefs, captains,
and head men, to strike a blow which should reach the very root of the
evil at once. A council was called, and many and long were the
speeches which were made, and much enthusiasm was created against the
monster 'Whiskey,' and all his brood of compound enormities. Still
every one seemed loth to move his arrest and execution. Finally, a
{270} captain of more than ordinary temerity arose, and offered a
resolution that each and every individual who should thenceforward
dare to introduce any of the liquid curses into their country, should
be punished with a hundred lashes on his bare back, and the liquor be
poured out. This was passed, after some slight changes, by
acclamation: but, with a due sense of the injustice of _ex-post-facto_
restrictions, all those who had liquors on hand were permitted to sell
them. The council adjourned; but the members soon began to canvass
among each other the pernicious consequences which might result from
the protracted use of the whiskey already in the shops, and therefore
concluded the quicker it was drank up, the more promptly would the
evil be over: so, falling to, in less than two hours Bacchus never
mustered a drunker troop than were these same temperance legislators.
The consequences of their determination were of lasting importance to
them. The law, with some slight improvements, has ever since been
rigorously enforced.
Among most of the Indian tribes the daughter has very little to do
with the selection of her husband. The parents usually require to be
satisfied first, and their permission being secured the daughter never
presumes to offer any important resistance. There is a post-nuptial
custom peculiar to the full-blood Indians of the Choctaws, which
[Pg314] deserves particular notice. For years, and perhaps for life,
{271} after the marriage of her daughter, the mother is forbidden to
look upon her son-in-law. Though they converse together, he must be
hidden from her by a wall, a tent, a curtain, or, when nothing else
offers, by covering the eyes. During their emigration, it is said
these poor superstitious matrons were put to infinite trouble so as
not to infract this custom. While travelling, or in camp often without
tents, the mother-in-law was afraid to raise her head or open her
eyes, lest they should meet the interdicted object.
It is another peculiarity, which they have in common with some of the
more northern tribes, that the Choctaw wife, of the 'old school,' can
never call her husband by name. But if they have offspring--she calls
him "my son's father;" or, more commonly using the child's name, when,
if Ok-le-no-wa, for instance, she calls the husband "Ok-le-no-wa's
father." And yet another oddity regarding names: the ignorant Choctaw
seems to have a superstitious aversion to telling his own name: indeed
it appears impossible to get it from him, unless he have an
acquaintance present, whom he will request to tell it for him.
In burials, the civilized Choctaws follow the customs of the whites,
but the ruder classes still preserve their aboriginal usages.
According to these, a painted pole with a flag is stuck up at the
grave, which usually remains three months. During this period they
have regular mourning exercises every morning and evening; and are
always prompt to avail themselves, {272} at any other hour of the day,
of the assistance of any friend who may visit them to help them to
weep. At the end of the prescribed term, the friends of the bereft
family attend a feast at their house, and, after dancing all night,
the next morning visit the grave and pull down the pole; which is
called 'the [Pg315] pole-pulling.' After this all mourning ceases,
and the family is permitted to join in the usual amusements and
festivities of the tribe, which was not allowable before.
Though the _Creeks_[200] are generally a very industrious people,
raising an abundance of corn and vegetables, yet they are quite behind
their neighbors, of whom I have been speaking, as well politically as
in a social and literary view. Their executive consists of two
principal chiefs, and their legislature or council of about forty
minor chiefs or captains, who are also, _ex officio_, justices of the
peace.[201] They have no trial by jury, and their judicial proceedings
are exceedingly summary--frequently without witnesses; for the
warriors are generally too proud to deny a charge, lest it be
construed into cowardice. Executions sometimes take place within an
hour after the commencement of trial. Murder, rape and a third
conviction of stealing are punished with death, usually by shooting;
but, in case of homicide, if claimed by the relatives of the {273}
deceased, the criminal is executed with the same kind of weapon, or,
if possible, the very same, with which he committed the murder.
Most inferior crimes, as has been mentioned, are punished by whipping:
for the first offence of stealing, fifty lashes; for the second, a
hundred and ears cropped. Adultery is punished by cutting off both the
nose and ears of the adulteress; but the husband has a right to say if
the law shall be executed: in fact, he is generally the executioner,
and that often without trial. Notwithstanding the severity of these
laws, they are for the most part rigorously enforced; though a
commutation satisfactory to the [Pg316] aggrieved is still permitted
to release the offender. Their laws, in cases of accidental homicide,
are still more barbarously rigid than those of the other nations.
The obsequies of the Creeks are peculiar in this,--that at the moment
an Indian expires, a gun is discharged. Their graves are generally
under the floors of their dwellings, and a husband's is apt to be
under the bed of his widow. The fate of the unfortunate relict is
miserable enough in any country, but among the Creeks her doom is
barbarously rigorous. She remains in strict mourning for four
years,[202] with dishevelled hair and without {274} combing,--unless
the relatives of the deceased interfere; whereby it is sometimes put
an end to in a few months, provided the sincerity of her grief be
evident and her conduct meritorious. In their mourning, however, they
do not weep and cry with such clamorous vehemence as the Choctaws and
others. But the Shawnees and Delawares are still more celebrated for
quiet mourning.[203] As warlike nations, they appear to disdain to
mourn and wail aloud, as is the practice among the greater portion of
the savage tribes.
Though these people have no family names, they generally take a kind
of honorary title or _sobriquet_, as is also the case with the wild
tribes, upon the occurrence of any important incident, or the
performance of a meritorious feat. A singular mode of inheritance
prevails among the Cherokees, the Creeks, and perhaps others. Though
the women in other respects are mostly held as very inferior beings,
the clans are all reckoned by them: the children pertain to [Pg317]
the mother, and the estates descend through the female branch of the
family. They say it is easy enough to verify the mothers of families,
but it is difficult to identify the fathers.
The remaining tribes, inhabiting the more northern frontier, as well
as the Seminoles who are located among the Creeks, possess so few
distinct or striking characteristics, and, indeed, are mostly so few
in number, that a particular notice of them seems hardly to be
required. Suffice it to say, that all of them, {275} as I believe,
still retain their ancient systems of arbitrary chiefs and councils of
sages and braves, nearly in their primitive state; and that the
greater portion of them live in log huts, and cultivate the soil to a
considerable extent. Though the Shawnees, Delawares, and Kickapoos,
are among the most agricultural of the northern Indians, yet a few of
these spend the greater portion of their time on the Prairies in
hunting and in trading with the wild tribes.[204]
FOOTNOTES:
[174] Consult Thwaites, _Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark
Expedition_, (New York, 1904-05) v, p. 347.--ED.
[175] The consensus of modern opinion is, that the Indians worshipped
the sun only as a symbol. They were in a stage neither monotheistic
nor pantheistic, but recognized all manifestations of the unseen,
without a sense of personal unity. Consult on this subject, J. W.
Powell, "Mythology of North American Indians," in U. S. Bureau of
Ethnology _Report_, 1879-80, pp. 17-56; D. G. Brinton, _Myths of the
New World_ (third edition, Philadelphia, 1896); R. M. Dorman, _Origin
of Primitive Superstitions among the Aborigines of America_ (Phila.,
1881).--ED.
[176] José de Acosta, a Jesuit historian (1539-1600), born in Spain,
was missionary to Peru for many years. Upon his return to Spain he
published _Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias_ (Seville, 1590),
both in Latin and Spanish. An English translation appeared in
1604.--ED.
[177] Clavigero asserts of the Indians of Mexico, that their first
heaven (that of the warriors, &c.) they called "_la casa del sol_"
(the house of the sun), which luminary they worshipped every morning
at sunrise.--GREGG.
[178] I have since met with the same, in substance, related by Mr.
Schoolcraft.--GREGG.
_Comment by Ed._ Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (1793-1864), for many years
Indian agent at Mackinac, and a prolific writer on Indian subjects.
[179] The Shawnees have four missionary establishments among them,
viz. a Methodist, Baptist, Moravian, and Quaker. There are also
missionaries of different sects among most of the tribes of the
border, the labors of whom have been attended with some degree of
success. There is, I believe, but one Catholic Mission upon the
frontier, which is among the Potawatomies, about a thousand of whom
have embraced this faith. The Catholics, however, appear to have
succeeded better than most other denominations, in their missionary
efforts. It is so in Mexico, so in Canada, and appears so everywhere
else that they have undertaken the Christianization of the heathen. I
would not be understood to attribute this to any intrinsic superiority
of their religion, but to the peculiarities of its forms and
ceremonies. The pageantry of their worship, the palpable
representation of the divine mysteries by the introduction of images,
better accords with their pristine idolatry, than a more spiritual
faith. Catholics, indeed, have had the sagacity to permit the Indians
(at least in some countries) to interweave many of their own heathen
ceremonies with the sacred Christian rites, forming a singular _mêlée_
of Romish and pagan worship, which is especially the case in Mexico.
Also, the less rigid Catholic creed and customs do not debar them from
their wonted favorite amusements, not to say vices. It is therefore
that whole tribes sometimes simultaneously embrace this imposing
creed.--GREGG.
[180] See Thwaites, _Hennepin's New Discovery_ (Chicago, 1903), ii,
pp. 537, 538.--ED.
[181] Adair, who resided forty years with the southern Indians,
previous to 1775, speaks of the same among them all.--GREGG.
_Comment by Ed._ Consult J. Long's _Voyages_ in our volume ii, p. 64,
note 31.
[182] Peter Martyr de Anghiera (1457 (?)-1526) was the first historian
of the New World. Born in North Italy, he went to Rome in 1477, in the
train of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza. Ten years later he was invited to
Spain, where he became tutor to the royal children, and later
protonothary and royal historiographer. His _Decades_ (_De Rebus
Oceanicis et Novo Orbe Decades_) first appearing in 1530, are a prime
source for the early history of America, he having known and conversed
with the Spanish discoverers.--ED.
[183] Also Clavigero speaks of similar beliefs and practices among the
Mexican Indians, particularly in the obsequies of the kings; and
adds--"El número de víctimas correspondía á la grandeza del funeral,
y, segun algunos autores, llegaban á veces á doscientas."--GREGG.
[184] Edition of 1555, translated from the Latin, fol. 181.--In
another place, the same author also says they buried corn, etc., with
the dead, for their use in the world to come.--GREGG.
[185] For Herrera, see our volume xix, p. 258, note 79 (Gregg).--ED.
[186] The Indians often so imposed upon the credulous ancients as to
make them believe they had direct communication with Satan. The
learned divine, Peter Martyr, has a whole chapter "Of the familiaritie
which certeyne of the Indians have with the devyll, and howe they
receave answere of hym of thynges to coome:" and very seriously and
philosophically concludes, that, "the devyll beynge so auncient an
Astronomer, knowethe the tymes of thynges, and seeth howe they are
naturally directed:" to which he appends numerous instances of the
evil spirit's revelations of the "tymes of thynges to coome" to his
ministers, the magi. And even as late as 1721, Father Charlevoix
gravely says, an instance he relates, and many others that he "knows,
which are equally certain, prove that the Devil is sometimes concerned
in the magic of the Savages." The Choctaws, and perhaps some others,
used to punish witchcraft with all the rigor of our own ancestors,
putting poor creatures to death upon the slightest proof of their
tampering with the black art: but this barbarity is now prohibited by
their more civilized laws. Yet the more barbarous tribes still have
their conjurers and medicine-men, who deal in auguries and mystic
ceremonies; which, with their dances, constitute the greater part of
their worship.--GREGG.
[187] For the early habitat of the Potawatomi, consult Croghan's
_Journals_, in our volume i, p. 115 note 84.--_Ed._
[188] Clavigero remarks of the Indians of Mexico, "Estaba severamante
prohibido . . . todo enlace matrimonial, entre parientes en primer
grado de consanguinidad, ó de afinidad, excepto entre cuñados."
--GREGG.
[189] The origin of the American Indians has been discussed by too
many able writers for me to enter into it here: nor will I attempt to
show the general traits of similarity that are to be observed in their
various languages: yet it may interest an occasional reader, to be
informed of the relations of consanguinity which subsist between many
of the different Indian tribes. They may be arranged principally under
the following heads: 1. The Dahcotah stock, which is by far the most
extensive of those indigenous west of the Mississippi. It embraces the
Arkansas (of which the Quapaws are now the only remnant), the Osages,
Kansas or Kaws, Iowas, Winnebagoes, Otoes, Missouries, Omahas, Poncas,
and the various bands of the Sioux: all of whom speak a language still
traceable to the same origin, though some of them have been separated
for several centuries. I call these indigenous to the West, because
most of them have been so from the period of the earliest explorers on
the Mississippi; yet the tradition among them is that they came from
about the northern lakes; which appears corroborated by the fact, that
the language of the Naudowessies, Assiniboins, and perhaps others in
that quarter, shows them to be of the same family.--2. The different
bands of the Comanches and Shoshonies or Snakes, constitute another
extensive stock, speaking one language.--3. The Blackfeet, Gros
Ventres or Minnatarees, Crows and Arrapahoes, speak dialects of
another.--4. The Pawnees and Rickaras of the north, and the Wacoes,
Wichitas, Towockanoes, Towyash and Keechyes, of Red River, are of the
same origin. The Chayennes, originally from near Lake Winnipeg, and
the Kiawas (or Caiguas, according to Mexican orthography), appear
unallied to any of the foregoing nations.--5. Of those from the north
and east, the Algonquin stock appears most extensive,--embracing the
Potawatomies, Ottawas, Chippewas, Knisteneaux, Crees, Sacs and Foxes;
with whom the Delawares have also been classed, though their language
would now appear very distinct.--6. The Wyandots, Senecas, and others
of the Six Nations, are of the Huron or Iroquois.--7. The Shawnees and
Kickapoos are of one stock.--8. The Kaskaskias, Piorias, Piankeshaws
and Weaws, are descendants of the Miamies.--9. The Choctaws and
Chickasaws are nearly the same people.--10. The Creeks and
Seminoles--though old authors speak of the Creeks as being akin to the
Choctaws, yet there is now but little relationship to be traced in
their language; while that of the Cherokees appears entirely _sui
generis_.--GREGG.
_Comment by Ed._ On this subject consult J. W. Powell, "Indian
Linguistic Families of America north of Mexico" in U. S. Bureau of
Ethnology _Report_, 1885-86. Gregg is unusually correct in his
classification, but nevertheless has fallen into a few errors.
[190] The _tribes_ often take the names of the seceding chiefs who
originate them, or are called from some circumstance attending their
separation; but frequently they assume a name from an important word
in their languages: thus _Choctaw_ and _Chickasaw_ are said to have
been the names of chiefs; _Seminole_ (or _Seminóleh_) and _Pioria_
imply runaways or seceders; while _Illinois_, in the language of that
ancient tribe, and _Lunnapáe_, by which the Delawares distinguish
themselves, signify _man_. This last is perhaps most common; for, as
each nations holds itself superior to all others, its members call
themselves _men_, in contradistinction to _boys_ or _squaws_, as they
are wont to denominate their enemies.--GREGG.
[191] Pressure of the white population upon the southern tribes,
induced them to migrate to the west of the Mississippi, a movement
which began with detached parties of Choctaw as early as 1805. In 1824
President Monroe recommended their removal, and in 1830 Jackson
ordered it. Large bands of these Indians had already received lands in
Arkansas; wherefore, in 1832, Indian Territory was set apart for the
tribes and removals thither began. The Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Creek
made but little difficulty; the Cherokee and Seminole opposed the
removal. The former were forcibly ejected (1836-38), and by 1839 were
united on their present site in Indian Territory. The Seminole
resistance led to the war with that people (1835-42), in which a large
portion of the tribesmen perished. The remainder were finally united
in Indian Territory in 1846.--ED.
[192] The civilized tribes had been slave-holders before their removal
to Indian Territory. At the outbreak of the War of Secession their
sympathies were with the Confederacy, with whom the Cherokee made a
treaty October 7, 1861. Early in 1863, however, they abolished slavery
by law, and the large majority of their regiments went over to the
Union side. A constitutional amendment in 1866, forever abolished
slavery or involuntary servitude, except for crime. See _Constitution
and Laws of Cherokee Nation_.--ED.
[193] Neither of these places has developed into towns of importance,
although both are still on the map of Indian Territory. By an act of
1898, towns were to be incorporated, and town sites surveyed. In 1900,
the largest town was Ardmore, in the Chickasaw Nation. There were
seven towns of more than two thousand population, and twelve more
exceeding one thousand.--ED.
[194] Their schools are mostly conducted in English, yet among some
tribes they are often taught in their native languages. As in other
respects, the Cherokees have made the greatest advancement in a
literary point. Their singular system of characters representing
syllables, invented by an illiterate native, is no doubt known to most
of my readers. In these characters, a considerable number of books
have been printed in their vernacular tongue. Many Cherokees, however,
as well as Choctaws, have received good English educations. In the
language of the latter also a great number of books have been
published, but in which the common letter is used. A few books have
also been printed in the languages of the Creeks, Wyandots,
Potawatomies, and Ottawas, Shawnees, Delawares, and some in the
different dialects of Osage, Kansas, Otoes, etc. There is now a
printing-office in operation at Park Hill, in the Cherokee Nation, and
another among the Shawnees at the Baptist Mission.--GREGG.
[195] By the treaty of 1825 with the Choctaw, a fund of six thousand
dollars per year for twenty years was to be allotted for the use of
schools. The Indians requested that a portion of this fund might be
used to educate boys at a distance from home. This was a cherished
plan of Colonel Richard M. Johnson, who was chosen sponsor for the new
academy, and began the erection of buildings near his home at Great
Crossings, in Scott County, Kentucky, where the first boys were
received in the autumn of 1825. Baptist co-operation was enlisted, and
Rev. Thomas Henderson chosen first principal of Choctaw Academy. At
first the school flourished, and Indian boys from many other tribes
were sent to Kentucky, until at one time the academy had an enrollment
of more than one hundred and fifty lads. In consequence of the
dissatisfaction which Gregg here describes the Choctaw and other
Southern Indians began to withdraw their boys about 1842, and the
school's usefulness terminated. Consult _House Ex. Docs._, 26 Cong., 2
sess., 109. The civilized tribes now maintain several higher boarding
schools and academies in the territory. The Choctaw and Chickasaw each
have five; the Cherokee two at Tallequah, in which the nation is much
interested.--ED.
[196] By no means the least considerable of the frauds practised upon
the frontier Indians, have been by contractors and government agents.
The character of these impositions may be inferred from the following
instance, as it is told, and very generally believed, upon the
southwestern frontier.
It had been pretty well known, that some of those who had been in the
habit of contracting to furnish with subsistence several of the
southern tribes, in the year 1838 _et seq._, had been imposing most
grossly upon the Indians as well as the Government, in the way of
'short rations' and other delinquencies, which resulted in the gain of
a very large sum to the parties concerned. About the close of their
operations, one of the _employés_, who was rather more cunning than
the principals, took it into his head, on account of some
ill-treatment he had suffered, to make an _exposé_ of their
transactions. He happened to hold a letter of instructions (which were
of course of a confidential character), wherein were set forth the
processes by which these frauds were to be practised. And to turn the
affair to his particular profit, he threatened the parties with a
complete exposure, unless a satisfactory _gratification_ should
interpose. A compromise being indispensable to the welfare of 'all
whom it concerned,' a negotiation was soon set on foot: but the 'noisy
customer' was not silenced, until he was paid $13,500 in cash;
whereupon he delivered up the obnoxious 'papers,' and agreed to
abscond. Some notice of the facts of this case are said to have been
brought to the knowledge of the Government; and how it has escaped an
investigation--and, more especially, how it escaped the attention of
the Superintendent of that immediate district, have been matters of
great surprise to those who had a knowledge of the particulars.
--GREGG.
[197] See _Constitution and Laws of Cherokee Nation_, published at
Tallequah. The constitution was signed at the latter place, September
6, 1839.--ED.
[198] These laws have now been changed, and correspond to those of the
United States.--ED.
[199] In 1837, the Chickasaw bought an interest in Choctaw lands; but
in 1855 they purchased from the latter tribe the right of
self-government, and established a Chickasaw Nation. Their
constitution, drawn in 1867, is liberal, being closely modelled on
that of the United States.--ED.
[200] These Indians call themselves _Muscogee_ or _Muscóhgeh_. They
acquired the name of _Creeks_, by the whites, from the great number of
small streams that intersect the country which they formerly
inhabited--being first called, "Indians of the country of
_creeks_."--GREGG.
[201] The Creeks established a republican government in 1867, modelled
upon that of the neighboring tribes.--ED.
[202] This custom seems to have descended from antiquity. Adair, prior
to 1775, writes, that "The Muscohge widows are obliged to live a
chaste single life for the space of four years; and the Chikkasah
women, for the term of three, at the risk of the law of adultery being
executed against the recusants." But I have not heard this custom
spoken of among the Chickasaws at the present day.--GREGG.
[203] The Delaware and Shawnee removed from Kansas in 1866-67, and
1869 respectively, and became incorporated with the Cherokee Nation.
The Delaware, however, still maintain a form of tribal autonomy.--ED.
[204] No complete census has been taken of the frontier Indians since
their removal; but the aggregate population of those settled west of
the border, exclusive of the Osages, Kansas, and others of the north
(who are more appropriately ranked among the Prairie Indians), is
76,664, according to the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs
for the year 1844. Of these there are reckoned of Cherokees, 25,911;
Choctaws, 12,410; Chickasaws, 4,111; Creeks, 24,594; Seminoles, or
Florida Indians, 3,136; Senecas from Sandusky, 125; Senecas and
Shawnees, 211; Quapaws, 400; Wyandots, 585; Potawatomies, Chippewas
and Ottawas, located on the waters of the Osage, 2,028; Kaskaskias and
Piorias, 150; Piankeshaws, 98; Weaws, 176; Shawnees, 887; Delawares,
1,059; Stockbridges, Munsees, &c., 278; Kickapoos, 505; In addition to
these, there still remain east of the Mississippi, of Cherokees,
1,000; Choctaws, 7,000, (but which are now, January, 1845, in progress
of emigration); Chickasaws, 20; Creeks, 744; Potawatomies, &c., 92;
Weaws, 30; besides some entire remnant tribes.
Many of the foregoing amounts, however, have been standing numbers in
the tables of the reports of the Indian Department, ever since the
removal of these tribes, and as it is known that most of them have
been on the decline, the above aggregate is no doubt excessive. For
instance, instead of 25,911, as given in the report for the Cherokees,
their very intelligent agent, Governor Butler, reckoned them, in 1842,
at only about 18,000: the Creeks in place of 24,594, have, in like
manner, been set down at about 20,000; and in the 'Choctaw Almanac'
for 1843, I find the population of that nation rated at 12,690,
instead of 15,177, as stated in the Commissioner's report for the same
year.--GREGG.