With regard to this article, I have to say that it speaks the truth.
If an honest white man could look into our private affairs and know
what wrongs we have suffered, it would change his complexion to a hue
redder than the Indian's. But the crimes committed against our race
cannot be enumerated here below. They will each and all, however, be
judged at the bar of God, and it must be the comfort of the poor and
oppressed, who cry for justice and find it not, that there is one who
sees and knows, and will do right. The next is from the Boston Daily
Advocate, of July 12.
Rev. Mr. Apes, who has been conspicuous in the Marshpee
nullification, has, we learn, been taken and committed to jail
in Barnstable county; upon what process, we are not informed,
but we trust, for the honor of the State, that while our
mouths are yet full of bitterness against Georgian violence,
upon the Indians, we shall not imitate their example.
How true it is that men see the faults of others, rather than their
own. If the good people of Massachusetts were as ready to do right as
to have the Georgians do right, the Marshpee Indians might, perhaps,
send a Representative to the Legislature. I hope the remark will give
no offence. The next is from the same print, of July 15, 1833.
The Marshpee affairs, we are gratified to learn, are
more quiet than they have been. The Indians took forcible
possession of the Meeting-house the other day, and have
retained it ever since, but no farther act has been committed
on their part. They notified Mr. Fish that they had dismissed
him from their Parish, and also formally gave notice to the
overseers that their offices were at an end. Hon. J.J. Fiske,
of the Executive Council, has visited the Indians, by request
of the Governor, and has, we learn, discharged the duty in a
highly conciliatory and discreet manner. The Indians would
not at first consent to see him, but being satisfied of the
disposition of the Executive to listen to their grievances,
they met Mr. Fiske alone in the Meeting-house, where, by their
special request, the overseers also appeared. The Sheriff of
the county, Hon. John Reed, and others, were also present.
About one hundred of the Indians appeared, many of them armed
with guns. They were perfectly under the command of Apes, but
all of them conducted with propriety, and seemed peaceably
disposed. Mr. Fiske heard their complaints for one day. Their
demands were to have the overseers removed, and the books and
funds, now in the hands of the Treasurer, transferred to
them; and in fact to be left to the entire management of their
affairs. It was explained to them that the Governor had no
power to do this, if he were so disposed. That he could only
change their overseers, and lay their complaints before the
Legislature, who alone could alter the laws now governing the
plantation. To this, Apes would not agree, insisting that they
should be relieved of the guardianship of the State, and that
the Governor could do it at once.
He was questioned as to his own right to be on the plantation,
to which he does not belong, and finding all argument useless
with him, Apes was arrested in the assembly, (where he was
acting as moderator,) upon a warrant for assault and trespass,
in unloading the teams of Mr. Sampson. The Indians were
perfectly quiet, and Apes having been bound over for his
appearance to take his trial, in the sum of $200, he was
immediately bailed by Mr. Ewer, a Justice of the Peace, and
was not committed to jail, as has been represented. After his
arrest, he expressed some contrition, and admitted he had gone
too far. The ultimate understanding appears to be with the
Indians, that they will offer no further resistance, but wait
patiently for a redress of grievances, until the meeting of
the Legislature, when they confidently expect to have their
guardianship removed. As an evidence of their peaceable
disposition, "President" Amos, at the request of Mr. Fiske,
gave up the key of the Meeting-house, for Rev Mr. Fish to
occupy the pulpit, and asked as a favor, that the Indians
might occupy it half the time. The result of the mission
of Mr. Fiske, is therefore very favorable, and if a similar
course is pursued hereafter, there will be no further
difficulty with the tribe. They should be treated with
all possible lenity and kindness, for the honor of the
Commonwealth.
The Indians would not consent to see Mr. Fiske at first, because they
did not like to meet their enemies off their own ground, and I
presume they would not have consented to do so to this day. As to the
Counsellor's meeting us alone, it was the especial direction of
the Governor that he should hear the parties separately, because,
supposing the government to be oppressive, it seemed to him that the
Indians would be afraid to speak plainly in presence of their masters,
or proffer their complaints. The Indians wished to do nothing in a
corner; but rather to proceed with an open and manly spirit, that
should show that they were unjustly accounted abject and willing
slaves. As to my opinion of the powers of the Governor, I have already
admitted that I was in error; for I am not a man skilled in legal
subtleties. My reason for pressing our claims so strongly was, to make
the way easy for my brethren, till something could be done for them.
The Indians were requested to give up their own Meeting-house to
a gentleman who did not come at their request, and to gather other
people into it to suit his convenience. The Indians asked for their
own house for only half the time, and even this was denied them.
The law not bearing out their petition, they could only obtain it by
force, and, finding this to be the case, they forbore.
The question is, how can a man do good among a people who do not
respect him or desire his presence, and who refuse to hear him preach?
Yet Harvard College has forced such an one on the Marshpees against
their will, right or wrong.
I heard a white lady observe, that Mr. Fish was not a preacher for
every one; as though he was not fit to preach to any but us poor
ignorant Indians. Nevertheless, if any people need a talented,
enterprising preacher, we are the very ones. Some may suppose Mr. Fish
to be a Unitarian. He was, when he was first settled at Marshpee;
but his opinions underwent a change soon after, and he became what is
commonly called an orthordox Congregationalist. In order to be a good
one, he ought to make one more change--a change of inclination, to
force himself on poor Indians. One who has such an inclination cannot
be a good member of any sect, or an honor to it. Such a person can be
no ornament to any ecclesiastical body. I would not have it inferred
from this that a breath of reproach is in my mind, or in those of my
brethren against any denomination of Christians. We love all who love
the Lord Jesus in sincerity.
I expressed no contrition because I thought I had acted morally wrong,
or had asked any thing more than was right; but because I had mistaken
the _law_, which in this case was a very different thing from justice.
The next article is from the Barnstable Journal, of July 25. It will
serve to show that though the matter had been perfectly explained to
the inhabitants of Barnstable County; yet it contained some of our
worst enemies as well as best friends. Our enemies were those in
office, and those under their influence. The majority believed the
Indians to be wronged, and ought to have had redress; and these were
unable to act in our behalf. Those who did act were either our enemies
or persons who had no minds of their own, and were led by them in all
they did. Many of them did, nevertheless, sympathise with the Indians,
and pitied them when cast into prison, for all men can appreciate the
blessing of liberty.