THE INDIAN KEY
As we have seen, the Indians had much to do with Roger Williams’
history from the very beginning of his life in the New World. He had
lodged with them, befriended them, studied their language, traded with
them, and had been their interpreter. All this was of benefit to both
natives and colonists.
In 1643, another opportunity came for Roger Williams to be of still
further service to his countrymen and their red neighbors. An important
mission (about which we will speak later) took him to England that year
and he made the most of the leisure afforded by the long sea voyage to
put into book form what he had learned about the Indian language and
customs. “I drew the materials,” he explained, “in a rude lump at sea,
that I might not lightly lose what I had so dearly bought in some few
years’ hardship.”
Roger Williams’ purpose was to bring about a closer relation between
the whites and the natives. He believed they could be mutually helpful
if the book were used as a guide.
“A little key may open a box where lies a bunch of keys.... One candle
will light ten thousand, and it may please God to bless a little leaven
to season the mighty lump of those peoples and territories.”
The work was published in London before the close of the year under an
odd and lengthy title which indicated that the labor put into it was
at least thorough. It was called “A Key into the Language of America;
or, An help to the Language of the Natives in that part of America,
called New-England. Together, with brief Observations of the Customs,
Manners and Worships, etc. of the aforesaid Natives, in Peace and War,
in Life and Death. On all which are added Spiritual Observations,
General and Particular by the Author, of chief and special use (upon
all occasions,) to all the English Inhabiting those parts; yet pleasant
and profitable to the view of all men.” Let us hope that the persons
who asked for the volume in the London bookshops did not attempt to
give the title word for word!
No man of that day was better fitted to undertake such a task as the
writing of the Indian Key than Roger Williams, for no man had lived
so intimately with the New England Indians. The quaint book is to-day
considered very valuable and very precious among book-lovers. Of course
most of the history concerns the Narragansetts particularly, but Roger
Williams also made use of the knowledge he had gained from other tribes.
Suppose we take a few peeps into this fascinating old volume, for
nowhere can we find a better picture of the author’s “barbarians.”
We notice, first, that it is made up something like a dictionary. On
the left side of each page are the Indian words and phrases and, on
the right, their meaning in English. But what a difficult dictionary!
Think of mastering such mouth-filling words as “Muckquachuckquêmese” or
“Maumashinnaunamaùta.” Only the patience of a Roger Williams could ever
have discovered that such enigmas meant “a little boy” and “Let us
make a good fire.” It is interesting to know that the very first phrase
in the book is the familiar “What cheer, Netop?” or the first greeting
that reached Roger Williams’ ears in the land of the Narragansetts.
Besides explaining the commoner expressions of the Indians, the author
includes notes about their life and habits. At the close of each
chapter are a few lines of simple, crude verse that sounds for all the
world like the pointed sermons with which good old-fashioned stories
used to end.
As to the religion of the Indians, Roger Williams tells his readers
that he has been given the names of thirty-seven different gods which
they solemnly worship. Among these, Cautantouwit, the great god of the
southwest, was a general favorite. From his field came their corn and
beans and it is to his abode their souls will go at death, provided
they have lived good lives. All murderers, thieves and liars, on the
other hand, must wander restlessly abroad. Besides Cautantouwit, many
other gods are mentioned, such as the Eastern, Western, Northern and
Southern Gods, the House God, the Woman’s God, the Children’s God, the
Sun and the Moon Gods, and the Fire God.
“The Indians find the sun so sweet,
He is a god, they say;
Giving them light and heat and fruit,
And guidance all the day.
“They have no help of clock or watch,
And sun they overprize.
Having those artificial helps, the sun
We unthankfully despise.”
The superstitions of the Indians were many and curious, as is seen by
the following: Though crows frequently stole their corn, yet scarcely
one native in a hundred would put them to death. Why? Because they
firmly believed that the crow first brought them a grain of Indian
corn in one ear and an Indian bean in the other from Cautantouwit’s
field. Another superstition was their childlike faith in the power of
their priests and conjurers to work cures. To Roger Williams’ way of
thinking, these “wise men” did nothing but “howl and roar” over them.
Still, Roger Williams, always just, took care to record the good
points of the natives as well as their failings. This was unlike many
Englishmen of his time, who looked down upon the savages as little
better than animals. For one thing, hospitality was a common virtue
among them. Had it not been so, Roger Williams could never have found
for his book such a list of friendly expressions as “Warm you,” “Sit by
the fire,” “Come hither, friend,” “Come in,” “I thank you,” “I thank
you for your kind remembrance,” and “I thank you for your love.”
“The courteous pagan shall condemn
Uncourteous Englishmen,
Who live like foxes, bears and wolves,
Or lion in his den.
“Let none sing blessings to their souls,
For that they courteous are:
The wild barbarians with no more
Than nature, go so far.
“If Nature’s sons both wild and tame,
Humane and courteous be,
How ill becomes it sons of God
To want humanity!”
Again, Roger Williams tells us, “If any stranger come in, they
presently give him to eat of what they have; many a time, and at all
times of the night (as I have fallen in travel upon their houses) when
nothing hath been ready, have themselves and their wives risen to
prepare me some refreshing. In summer time I have known them lie abroad
often themselves, to make room for strangers, English or others.”
“I have known them leave their house and mat
To lodge a friend or stranger,
When Jews and Christians off have sent
Christ Jesus to the manger.”
Family affection and loyalty were strong in the Indian, while
drunkenness was an almost unknown vice. As for such crimes as robbery
and murder, Roger Williams says that the red men have as good, if not a
better, record than their white neighbors. In war, too, the example set
by the English was hardly what we would expect from a superior race:
“The Indians count of men as dogs,
It is no wonder then:
They tear out one another’s throats!
But now that Englishmen,
“That boast themselves God’s children and
Members of Christ to be,
That they should thus break out in flames,
Sure ’tis a mystery!”
Roger Williams gave the natives credit, too, for being punctual. “They
are punctual in their promises of keeping time; and sometimes have
charged me with a lie for not punctually keeping time, though hindered.”
The Indians were exceedingly fond of news. So eager were they to learn
what was going on around them that if any stranger was able to satisfy
their curiosity in their own language, they called him a god. Forming a
circle about the news-bringer and silently puffing at their pipes, they
would listen with deep attention to what he had to say.
Being children of nature and living mostly in the open, they were
far better acquainted with the outdoor world than were their white
neighbors. Their five senses were trained to a wonderful degree and
they were intimately familiar with the sun and moon, the winds and
weather.
“The very Indian boys can give
To many stars their name,
And know their course and therein do
Excel the English tame.”
A good description of the Indian home is furnished by Roger Williams.
It consisted of long poles covered and lined with mats. Those on the
inside were embroidered by the women and took the place of hangings.
Mats often formed doors, too, though birch and chestnut bark and even
English boards and nails were sometimes used for this purpose. A large
opening in the middle of the house served as a chimney. “Two families
will live comfortably and lovingly in a little round house of some
fourteen or sixteen foot over.”
The principal occupations of the Indian braves were hunting, fishing,
trading, and the manufacture of canoes, bows and arrows. They raised
some tobacco, but left the planting and tending of other crops wholly
to their women folk. Tobacco was highly valued as a preventative
against toothache. While the Indians generally bore torture
uncomplainingly, a jumping tooth would make a coward of the bravest.
Says Roger Williams, “The toothache is the only pain which will force
their stout hearts to cry.”
Canoes were fashioned from pine, oak and chestnut trees. After being
felled, the trees were burned and hewed into shape. A single Indian
working by himself in the forest could finish and launch his boat
within ten or twelve days. Some of the larger canoes were big enough to
hold thirty or forty men. That they were not always the safest craft
for white men is shown by Roger Williams’ story:
“It is wonderful to see how they will venture in those canoes, and how
(being oft overset as I have myself been with them) they will swim a
mile, yea, two or more, safe to land. I having been necessitated to
pass waters divers times with them, it hath pleased God to make them
many times the instruments of my preservation: and when sometimes in
great danger I have questioned safety, they have said to me, ‘Fear
not, if we be overset, I will carry you safe to land.’”
As to food, parched meal seems to have been their main article of
diet, mixed with either hot or cold water. A little basket of meal was
commonly carried on the back or in a hollow leather girdle. This would
last for three or four days.
There was also natural food at hand, of which the Indians made good
use. The strawberry was greatly prized. To quote from the “Key”:
“This berry is the wonder of all the fruits growing naturally in those
parts. In some parts where the natives have planted, I have many times
seen as many as would fill a good ship within few miles’ compass.
The Indians bruise them in a mortar and mix them with meal and make
strawberry bread.” The natives were also very fond of a dish made of
meal and dried currants ground to a powder which was “as sweet to them
as plum or spice cake to the English.”
Another natural source of food was the clam-beds, for which New
England, and Rhode Island especially, has always been famous. Listen
to Roger Williams’ description of the clam:
“This is a sweet kind of shell-fish, which all Indians generally over
the country, winter and summer, delight in, and at low water the women
dig for them. This fish and the natural liquor of it they boil and it
makes their broth and their bread seasonable and savory, instead of
salt.”
The Indian wampum, made from shells found along the shores of New
England, took the place of money. Six small white beads, or three black
ones, were equal to one English penny.
These glimpses into the Indian “Key” give us a little idea of Roger
Williams’ friends among the Narragansetts and other tribes. Here and
there in the book are hints of his kindly dealings with these savages.
One story tells how he gladly went two miles out of his way to visit
a Connecticut Indian on his death-bed. The dying brave told Roger
Williams he had never forgotten the words in which he had preached the
religion of the white men, then added pitifully, “Me so big naughty
heart, me heart all one stone!”
In another place, Roger Williams referred to Canonicus, sachem of
the Narragansetts and his steadfast friend, as “a wise and peaceable
prince.” He tells us how he had hard work to overcome Canonicus’
suspicions of the English. To show he had cause to doubt the word of
the whites, the Indian chief picked up a stick and broke it in ten
pieces--one piece for each time the English had been untrustworthy. It
is not necessary to add that Roger Williams did his best to so improve
conditions that the Indians could put greater trust in the colonists.
The printer who published the “Key into the Language of America” was
Gregory Dexter. He early emigrated to Providence and became a leading
citizen of the little colony and also remained a “dear and faithful
friend” of Roger Williams.