=Source.=--_Letters from America_, by John Robert Godley. London,
1844.
Within two miles of Brantford (which is called after Brandt the
Indian chief) is a village which may be termed the headquarters
of the Mohawk tribe of Indians. They lost their possessions in
the States by adhering to Great Britain in the revolutionary war,
and received in compensation a settlement here of 160,000 acres:
since that time they have decreased considerably, and now consist
of not more than 2200 souls. I went over to the Indian village on
Sunday morning, and attended Divine service in their church; it
was performed according to the forms of the English Church, but
in the Mohawk language, with the exception of the sermon, which
the clergyman delivered in English, and which was translated
with wonderful fluency, sentence after sentence, by an Indian
interpreter who stood beside him. It was good, practical, and well
adapted to the audience, who listened with the most unfailing
attention, though the plan of proceeding made it necessarily very
long: the Indian language, too, is far more prolix than ours, at
least the sentences as translated were at least three times as long
as in the original delivery; the singing was particularly good in
point of time and harmony, but the airs were somewhat monotonous.
Two children were baptised during the service, one of them
ensconced in a bark cradle, which fitted it accurately, and was
attached in a curious manner to a board so as to be carried easily
upon the mother's back. There were about 120 Indians present; the
men, with one or two exceptions, dressed like Europeans, but the
women wearing their native costume, which is rather becoming: it
consists of a calico or linen tunic reaching to the knee, below
which appears a petticoat of blue cloth, generally embroidered
with red and white bead-work, the legs are covered with a kind of
buskin of blue cloth, and the feet with mocassins; over all is a
large robe or mantle, of blue cloth also, thrown loosely round the
shoulders; completing a dress which, at this time of year, must be
dreadfully hot and heavy: the head is without any other covering
except very thick black shining hair. Those of the men who have not
adopted the European costume wear instead of trousers a tunic and
leggings which reach half-way up the thigh.
I had some conversation with the clergyman after service: he is
employed by the "New England Society," has been for a long time
among the Indians, and knows them well: he has a better opinion of
them and of their capacity for acquiring domestic and industrious
habits, than most white men to whom I have spoken upon the subject
have expressed. The society support a school in the village, where
about forty children are boarded, educated, and instructed in
trades; and they learn, Mr. N. says, as fast as Europeans: as yet,
however, they are not fit to be trusted in making bargains with
the whites, nor can they at all compete in matters of business
with them: much of their original grant has been trafficked
away to settlers, at prices wholly inadequate; and, though such
transactions are altogether illegal, they have been overlooked so
long that it is now impossible to annul them. A superintendent
lives close to the village, who is paid by Government for the
express purpose of protecting the Indian interests and managing
their affairs; yet encroachments upon their rights are still
perpetually made, which, however advantageous they may appear to
a political economist, are neither reconcilable with equity nor
with the real wishes and intentions of Government. Mr. N. is by no
means without hopes that in a generation or two these Indians may
become quite civilised: they are giving up their wandering habits,
and settling rapidly upon farms throughout their territory; and, in
consequence, probably, of this change in their mode of life, the
decrease in their numbers, which threatened a complete extinction
of the tribe, has ceased of late years: if it turn out as he
expects, this will form the sole exception to the general law which
affects their people. They are very much attached (as well they may
be) to the British Government; and in 1837 turned out under their
chiefs to the number of 500, and offered their services to it: they
wished to attack Navy Island in their canoes, but those who were
in command thought the enterprise too hazardous. The chiefs (whose
office is, as among the ancient Gothic nations, partly hereditary
and partly elective, _i.e._ ordinarily transmitted from father to
son, but liable to be transferred in cases of incapacity) have
still a good deal of authority among them, but, as it is of course
not recognised by law, they are gradually losing it; in fact, the
race is assimilating itself here far more than anywhere else to the
habits and manners of the surrounding Europeans, while at the same
time there is perhaps hardly any settlement where the red blood is
preserved with less mixture.