commanded and to recommend the same course to others. His former
conductor then came and, leading him to the foot of the mountain, bid
him resume his garments and go back to his village. His return excited
much surprise among his friends, who had supposed him lost. They asked
him where he had been, but as he had been commanded to speak to no one
until he had seen the chief, he motioned with his hand to signify that
he had come from above. On entering the village he went at once to the
wigwam of the chief, to whom he delivered the prayer and the message
which he had received from the Master of Life. (_Schoolcraft, Alg.
Res., 2._)
Although the story as here given bears plain impress of the white
man’s ideas, it is essentially aboriginal. While the discrimination
expressed by the Master of Life in favor of the French and against
the English may have been due to the fact that the author of the
manuscript was a Frenchman, it is more probable that we have here set
forth only the well-known preference of the wild tribes. The occupancy
of a region by the English always meant the speedy expulsion of the
natives. The French, on the contrary, lived side by side with the red
men, joining in their dances and simple amusements, and entering with
fullest sympathy into their wild life, so that they were regarded
rather as brethren of an allied tribe than as intruders of an alien
race. This feeling is well indicated in the prophet’s narrative,
where the Indians, while urged to discard everything that they have
adopted from the whites, are yet to allow the French to remain among
them, though exhorted to relentless war on the English. The difference
received tragic exemplification at Michilimackinac a year later, when
a handful of French traders looked on unarmed and unhurt while a
crew of maddened savages were butchering, scalping, and drinking the
blood of British soldiers. The introduction of the trivial incident
of the hat is characteristically Indian, and the confounding of
dreams and visions with actual happenings is a frequent result of
mental exaltation of common occurrence in the history of religious
enthusiasts. The Delaware prophet regards the whole experience as an
actual fact instead of a distempered vision induced by long fasts and
vigils, and the hieroglyphic prayer—undoubtedly graven by himself while
under the ecstasy—is to him a real gift from heaven. The whole story
is a striking parallel of the miraculous experiences recounted by the
modern apostles of the Ghost dance. The prayer-stick also and the
heavenly map, later described and illustrated, reappear in the account
of Känakûk, the Kickapoo prophet, seventy years afterward, showing in a
striking manner the continuity of aboriginal ideas and methods.
The celebrated missionary, Heckewelder, who spent fifty years among
the Delawares, was personally acquainted with this prophet and gives a
detailed account of his teachings and of his symbolic parchments. He
says:
In the year 1762 there was a famous preacher of the Delaware
nation, who resided at Cayahaga, near Lake Erie, and travelled
about the country, among the Indians, endeavouring to persuade them
that he had been appointed by the Great Spirit to instruct them in
those things that were agreeable to him, and point out to them the
offences by which they had drawn his displeasure on themselves, and
the means by which they might recover his favour for the future.
He had drawn, as he pretended, by the direction of the Great
Spirit, a kind of map on a piece of deerskin, somewhat dressed like
parchment, which he called “the great Book or Writing.” This, he
said, he had been ordered to shew to the Indians, that they might
see the situation in which the Mannitto had originally placed them,
the misery which they had brought upon themselves by neglecting
their duty, and the only way that was now left them to regain
what they had lost. This map he held before him while preaching,
frequently pointing to particular marks and spots upon it, and
giving explanations as he went along.
The size of this map was about fifteen inches square, or, perhaps,
something more. An inside square was formed by lines drawn within
it, of about eight inches each way; two of these lines, however,
were not closed by about half an inch at the corners. Across these
inside lines, others of about an inch in length were drawn with
sundry other lines and marks, all which was intended to represent
a strong inaccessible barrier, to prevent those without from
entering the space within, otherwise than at the place appointed
for that purpose. When the map was held as he directed, the corners
which were not closed lay at the left-hand side, directly opposite
to each other, the one being at the southeast by south, and the
nearest at the northeast by north. In explaining or describing the
particular points on this map, with his fingers always pointing to
the place he was describing, he called the space within the inside
lines “the heavenly regions,” or the place destined by the Great
Spirit for the habitation of the Indians in future life. The space
left open at the southeast corner he called the “avenue,” which had
been intended for the Indians to enter into this heaven, but which
was now in the possession of the white people; wherefore the Great
Spirit had since caused another “avenue” to be made on the opposite
side, at which, however, it was both difficult and dangerous for
them to enter, there being many impediments in their way, besides a
large ditch leading to a gulf below, over which they had to leap;
but the evil spirit kept at this very spot a continual watch for
Indians, and whoever he laid hold of never could get away from him
again, but was carried to his regions, where there was nothing but
extreme poverty; where the ground was parched up by the heat for
want of rain, no fruit came to perfection, the game was almost
starved for want of pasture, and where the evil spirit, at his
pleasure, transformed men into horses and dogs, to be ridden by him
and follow him in his hunts and wherever he went.
The space on the outside of this interior square was intended to
represent the country given to the Indians to hunt, fish, and
dwell in while in this world; the east side of it was called the
ocean or “great salt-water lake.” Then the preacher, drawing the
attention of his hearers particularly to the southeast avenue,
would say to them, “Look here! See what we have lost by neglect and
disobedience; by being remiss in the expression of our gratitude to
the Great Spirit for what he has bestowed upon us; by neglecting
to make to him sufficient sacrifices; by looking upon a people
of a different colour from our own, who had come across a great
lake, as if they were a part of ourselves; by suffering them to
sit down by our side, and looking at them with indifference, while
they were not only taking our country from us, but this (pointing
to the spot), this, our own avenue, leading into those beautiful
regions which were destined for us. Such is the sad condition to
which we are reduced. What is now to be done, and what remedy is
to be applied? I will tell you, my friends. Hear what the Great
Spirit has ordered me to tell you! You are to make sacrifices, in
the manner that I shall direct; to put off entirely from yourselves
the customs which you have adopted since the white people came
among us. You are to return to that former happy state, in which we
lived in peace and plenty, before these strangers came to disturb
us; and, above all, you must abstain from drinking their deadly
_beson_, which they have forced upon us, for the sake of increasing
their gains and diminishing our numbers. Then will the Great Spirit
give success to our arms; then he will give us strength to conquer
our enemies, to drive them from hence, and recover the passage to
the heavenly regions which they have taken from us.”
Such was in general the substance of his discourses. After having
dilated more or less on the various topics which I have mentioned,
he commonly concluded in this manner: “And now, my friends, in
order that what I have told you may remain firmly impressed on your
minds, and to refresh your memories from time to time, I advise
you to preserve, in every family at least, such a book or writing
as this, which I will finish off for you, provided you bring me
the price, which is only one buckskin or two doeskins apiece.” The
price was of course bought (_sic_), and the book purchased. In some
of those maps, the figure of a deer or turkey, or both, was placed
in the heavenly regions, and also in the dreary region of the evil
spirit. The former, however, appeared fat and plump, while the
latter seemed to have nothing but skin and bones. (_Heckewelder,
1._)
From the narrative of John McCullough, who had been taken by the
Indians when a child of 8 years, and lived for some years as an
adopted son in a Delaware family in northeastern Ohio, we gather some
additional particulars concerning this prophet, whose name seems
to be lost to history. McCullough himself, who was then but a boy,
never met the prophet, but obtained his information from others who
had, especially from his Indian brother, who went to Tuscarawas (or
Tuscalaways) to see and hear the new apostle on his first appearance.
It was said by those who went to see him that he had certain
hieroglyphics marked on a piece of parchment, denoting the
probation that human beings were subjected to whilst they were
living on earth, and also denoting something of a future state.
They informed me that he was almost constantly crying whilst he
was exhorting them. I saw a copy of his hieroglyphics, as numbers
of them had got them copied and undertook to preach or instruct
others. The first or principal doctrine they taught them was to
purify themselves from sin, which they taught they could do by
the use of emetics and abstinence from carnal knowledge of the
different sexes; to quit the use of firearms, and to live entirely
in the original state that they were in before the white people
found out their country. Nay, they taught that that fire was not
pure that was made by steel and flint, but that they should make it
by rubbing two sticks together.... It was said that their prophet
taught them, or made them believe, that he had his instructions
immediately from _Keesh-she-la-mil-lang-up_, or a being that
_thought_ us into being, and that by following his instructions
they would, in a few years, be able to drive the white people out
of their country.
I knew a company of them who had secluded themselves for the
purpose of purifying from sin, as they thought they could do. I
believe they made no use of firearms. They had been out more than
two years before I left them.... It was said that they made use of
no other weapons than their bows and arrows. They also taught, in
shaking hands, to give the left hand in token of friendship, as it
denoted that they gave the heart along with the hand. (_Pritts, 1._)
The religious ferment produced by the exhortations of the Delaware
prophet spread rapidly from tribe to tribe, until, under the guidance
of the master mind of the celebrated chief, Pontiac, it took shape in a
grand confederacy of all the northwestern tribes to oppose the further
progress of the English. The coast lands were lost to the Indians.
The Ohio and the lakes were still theirs, and the Alleghanies marked
a natural boundary between the two sections. Behind this mountain
barrier Pontiac determined to make his stand. Though the prospect of a
restoration of the French power might enable him to rally a following,
he himself knew he could expect no aid from the French, for their
armies had been defeated and their garrisons were already withdrawn;
but, relying on the patriotism of his own red warriors, when told that
the English were on their way to take possession of the abandoned
posts, he sent back the haughty challenge, “I stand in the path.”
To Pontiac must be ascribed the highest position among the leaders of
the Algonquian race. Born the son of a chief, he became in turn the
chief of his own people, the Ottawa, whom it is said he commanded on
the occasion of Braddock’s defeat. For this or other services in behalf
of the French he had received marks of distinguished consideration
from Montcalm himself. By reason of his natural ability, his influence
was felt and respected wherever the name of his tribe was spoken,
while to his dignity as chief he added the sacred character of high
priest of the powerful secret order of the Midé. (_Parkman, 3._) Now,
in the prime of manhood, he originated and formulated the policy of
a confederation of all the tribes, an idea afterward taken up and
carried almost to a successful accomplishment by the great Tecumtha.
As principal chief of the lake tribes, he summoned them to the great
council near Detroit, in April, 1763, and, as high priest and keeper
of the faith, he there announced to them the will of the Master of
Life, as revealed to the Delaware prophet, and called on them to unite
for the recovery of their ancient territories and the preservation of
their national life. Under the spell of his burning words the chiefs
listened as to an oracle, and cried out that he had only to declare
his will to be obeyed. (_Parkman, 4._) His project being unanimously
approved, runners were sent out to secure the cooperation of the more
remote nations, and in a short time the confederation embraced every
important tribe of Algonquian lineage, together with the Wyandot,
Seneca, Winnebago, and some of those to the southward. (_Parkman, 5._)
Only the genius of a Pontiac could have molded into a working unit
such an aggregation of diverse elements of savagery. His executive
ability is sufficiently proven by his creation of a regular commissary
department based on promissory notes—hieroglyphics graven on birchbark
and signed with the otter, the totem of his tribe; his diplomatic bent
appeared in his employment of two secretaries to attend to this unique
correspondence, each of whom he managed to keep in ignorance of the
business transacted by the other (_Parkman, 6_); while his military
capacity was soon to be evinced in the carefully laid plan which
enabled his warriors to strike simultaneously a crushing blow at every
British post scattered throughout the 500 miles of wilderness from
Pittsburg to the straits of Mackinaw.
The history of this war, so eloquently told by Parkman, reads like some
old knightly romance. The warning of the Indian girl; the concerted
attack on the garrisons; the ball play at Mackinac on the king’s
birthday, and the massacre that followed; the siege of Fort Pitt and
the heroic defense of Detroit; the bloody battle of Bushy run, where
the painted savage recoiled before the kilted Highlander, as brave and
almost as wild; Bouquet’s march into the forests of the Ohio, and the
submission of the vanquished tribes—all these things must be passed
over here. They have already been told by a master of language. But the
contest of savagery against civilization has but one ending, and the
scene closes with the death of Pontiac, a broken-spirited wanderer, cut
down at last by a hired assassin of his own race, for whose crime the
blood of whole tribes was poured out in atonement. (_Parkman, 7._)
+Chapter III+
TENSKWATAWA THE SHAWANO PROPHET
I told all the redskins that the way they were in was not good, and
that they ought to abandon it.—_Tenskwatawa._
A very shrewd and influential man, but circumstances have destroyed
him.—_Catlin._
[Illustration: +Fig. 56+—Tenskwatawa the Shawano prophet, 1808 and
1831.]
EXPLANATION OF FIGURE 56
The first portrait is taken from one given in Lossing’s American
Revolution and War of 1812, +III+ (1875), page 189, and thus
described: “The portrait of the Prophet is from a pencil sketch
made by Pierre Le Dru, a young French trader, at Vincennes, in
1808. He made a sketch of Tecumtha at about the same time, both of
which I found in possession of his son at Quebec in 1848, and by
whom I was kindly permitted to copy them.” The other is a copy of
the picture painted by Catlin in 1881, after the tribe had removed
to Kansas. The artist describes him as blind in his left (?) eye,
and painted him holding his medicine fire in his right hand and his
sacred string of beans in the other.
Forty years had passed away and changes had come to the western
territory. The cross of Saint George, erected in the place of the
lilies of France, had been supplanted by the flag of the young
republic, which in one generation had extended its sway from the lakes
to the gulf and from the Atlantic to the Rocky mountains. By treaties
made in 1768 with the Iroquois and Cherokee, the two leading Indian
confederacies in the east, the Ohio and the Kanawha had been fixed as
the boundary between the two races, the Indians renouncing forever
their claims to the seaboard, the Delaware, and the Susquehanna,
while they were confirmed in their possession of the Alleghany, the
Ohio, and the great northwest. But the restless borderer would not be
limited, and encroachments on the native domain were constantly being
made, resulting in a chronic warfare which kept alive the spirit of
resentment. The consequence was that in the final struggle of the
Revolution the Indian tribes ranged themselves on the British side.
When the war ended and a treaty of peace was made between the new
government and the old, no provision was made for the red allies of the
king, and they were left to continue the struggle single-handed. The
Indians claimed the Ohio country as theirs by virtue of the most solemn
treaties, but pioneers had already occupied western Pennsylvania,
western Virginia, and Kentucky, and were listening with eager attention
to the reports brought back by adventurous hunters from the fertile
lands of the Muskingum and the Scioto. They refused to be bound by the
treaties of a government they had repudiated, and the tribes of the
northwest were obliged to fight to defend their territories. Under the
able leadership of Little Turtle they twice rolled back the tide of
white invasion, defeating two of the finest armies ever sent into the
western country, until, worn out by twenty years of unceasing warfare,
and crushed and broken by the decisive victory of Wayne at the Fallen
Timbers, their villages in ashes and their cornfields cut down, the
dispirited chiefs met their conqueror at Greenville in 1795 and signed
away the rights for which they had so long contended.
[Illustration: +Fig. 57+—Greenville treaty medal, obverse and reverse.]
By this treaty, which marks the beginning of the end with the eastern
tribes, the Indians renounced their claims to all territory east of a
line running in a general way from the mouth of the Cuyahoga on Lake
Erie to the mouth of the Kentucky on the Ohio, leaving to the whites
the better portion of Ohio valley, including their favorite hunting
ground of Kentucky. The Delaware, the Wyandot, and the Shawano, three
of the leading tribes, were almost completely shorn of their ancient
inheritance and driven back as refugees among the Miami.
The Canadian boundary had been established along the lakes; the Ohio
was lost to the Indians; for them there was left only extermination or
removal to the west. Their bravest warriors were slain. Their ablest
chieftain, who had led them to victory against St Clair, had bowed to
the inevitable, and was now regarded as one with a white man’s heart
and a traitor to his race. A brooding dissatisfaction settled down on
the tribes. Who shall deliver them from the desolation that has come on
them?
Now arose among the Shawano another prophet to point out to his
people the “open door” leading to happiness. In November, 1805, a
young man named Laulewasikaw (Lalawe′thika, a rattle or similar
instrument—_Gatschet_), then hardly more than 30 years of age, called
around him his tribesmen and their allies at their ancient capital of
Wapakoneta, within the present limits of Ohio, and there announced
himself as the bearer of a new revelation from the Master of Life, who
had taken pity on his red children and wished to save them from the
threatened destruction. He declared that he had been taken up to the
spirit world and had been permitted to lift the veil of the past and
the future—had seen the misery of evil doers and learned the happiness
that awaited those who followed the precepts of the Indian god. He
then began an earnest exhortation, denouncing the witchcraft practices
and medicine juggleries of the tribe, and solemnly warning his hearers
that none who had part in such things would ever taste of the future
happiness. The firewater of the whites was poison and accursed; and
those who continued its use would after death be tormented with all
the pains of fire, while flames would continually issue from their
mouths. This idea may have been derived from some white man’s teaching
or from the Indian practice of torture by fire. The young must cherish
and respect the aged and infirm. All property must be in common,
according to the ancient law of their ancestors. Indian women must
cease to intermarry with white men; the two races were distinct and
must remain so. The white man’s dress, with his flint-and-steel, must
be discarded for the old time buckskin and the firestick. More than
this, every tool and every custom derived from the whites must be put
away, and they must return to the methods which the Master of Life had
taught them. When they should do all this, he promised that they would
again be taken into the divine favor, and find the happiness which
their fathers had known before the coming of the whites. Finally, in
proof of his divine mission, he announced that he had received power
to cure all diseases and to arrest the hand of death in sickness or
on the battlefield. (_Drake_, _Tecumseh, 1._) To avoid repetition, it
may be stated that, except when otherwise noted, the principal facts
concerning Tecumtha and the prophet are taken from Drake’s work, the
most valuable published on the subject. The prophet and his doctrines
are also spoken of at some length by Tanner, Kendall, Warren, and
Catlin, as hereafter quoted, while the history of Tecumtha is a part of
the history of Ohio valley, to be found in any work treating of that
section and period.)
In an account quoted by Drake, probably from an English writer, it is
stated that the prophet was noted for his stupidity and intoxication
until his fiftieth (?) year, when one day, while lighting his pipe in
his cabin, he suddenly fell back apparently lifeless and remained in
that condition until his friends had assembled for the funeral, when
he revived from his trance, and after quieting their alarm, announced
that he had been to the spirit world and commanded them to call the
people together that he might tell them what he had seen. When they had
assembled, he declared that he had been conducted to the border of the
spirit world by two young men, who had permitted him to look in upon
its pleasures, but not to enter, and who, after charging him with the
message to his people already noted, had left him, promising to visit
him again at a future time. (_Drake, Ab. Races, 1._)
Although the language of this account is somewhat overdrawn, the main
statements are probably correct, as it is in complete accordance with
the Indian system by which all truth has been revealed in dreams and
trances from the first dawn of tradition down to Smohalla and the
messiah of the Ghost dance.
His words aroused an intense excitement among his hearers, and the
impression deepened as the tidings of the new gospel were carried from
camp to camp. Those who were addicted to drunkenness—the besetting
sin of the Indians since their acquaintance with the whites—were so
thoroughly alarmed at the prospect of a fiery punishment in the spirit
world that for a long time intoxication became practically unknown
among the western tribes. Their zeal led also to the inauguration of
a crusade against all who were suspected of dealing in witchcraft or
magic arts; but here the prophet took advantage of this feeling to
effectually rid himself of all who opposed his sacred claims. It was
only necessary for him to denounce such a person as a witch to have him
pay the forfeit with reputation, if not with life.