Qualla Town, North Carolina, May, 1848.
_Qualla Town_ is a name applied to a tract of seventy-two thousand
acres of land, in Haywood county, which is occupied by about eight
hundred Cherokee Indians and one hundred Catawbas. Their district is
mountainous from one extremity to the other, and watered by a number
of beautiful streams, which abound in fish; the valleys and slopes
are quite fertile, and the lower mountains are well adapted to
grazing, and at the same time are heavily timbered and supplied with
every variety of game. This portion of a much larger multitude of
aborigines, in consideration of their rank and age, and of valuable
services rendered to the United States, were permitted by the
General Government to remain upon their native soil, while the great
body of the Cherokee nation were driven into exile. They (the
exiles) amounted in all to more than sixteen thousand souls,
_eighteen hundred and fifty_ having died on their way to the
“_promised land_” beyond the Mississippi. And here it may with
propriety be added, that since the removal those in the West have
gradually decreased in numbers, while the remaining portion have
steadily increased by births at the rate of four per cent. per
annum. In addition to the Indians above mentioned, it ought to be
stated that there is a remnant of two hundred still remaining in the
county of Cherokee; of those, however, I know but little, and
therefore purpose to confine my remarks to those of Qualla Town
alone.
The Indians of this district, having formed themselves into a
regular company, with appropriate regulations, they elected an old
friend of theirs, named William H. Thomas, (mentioned in my last
letter,) to become their business chief, so that the connection now
existing between the two parties is that of father and children.
What the result of this arrangement has been will be fully
understood when I come to speak of the advance which the Indians
have made in the march of civilization. As they are organized at the
present time, the Qualla Town people are divided into seven clans,
and to each clan is assigned what is called a town, over each of
which presides a regular chief. The Cherokee nation was originally
divided into seven clans, which were probably descended from certain
noted families, and the old party feeling is still preserved with
jealous care among their descendants in this vicinity. The names of
the clans are: In-e-chees-quah, or Bird Clan; In-egil-lohee, or
Pretty-faced Clan; In-e-wo-tah, or Paint Clan; In-e-wah-he-yah, or
Wolf Clan; In-e-se-ho-nih, or Blue Clan; In-e-co-wih, or Deer Clan;
and In-e-eo-te-ca-wih, the meaning of which is not known. And among
the customs which prevail among these clans is one which prevents
their marrying among themselves, so that they have to select their
wives from a neighboring fraternity. Formerly such marriages were
prohibited by penalty of death.
With regard to the extent of their civilization and their existing
manner of life, the following may be looked upon as a comprehensive
summary: About three-fourths of the entire population can read in
their own language, and, though the majority of them understand
English, a very few can speak the language. They practise, to a
considerable extent, the science of agriculture, and have acquired
such a knowledge of the mechanic arts as answers them for all
ordinary purposes, for they manufacture their own clothing, their
own ploughs, and other farming utensils, their own axes, and even
their own guns. Their women are no longer treated as slaves, but as
equals; the men labor in the fields, and their wives are devoted
entirely to household employments. They keep the same domestic
animals that are kept by their white neighbors, and cultivate all
the common grains of the country. They are probably as temperate as
any other class of people on the face of the earth, honest in their
business intercourse, moral in their thoughts, words, and deeds, and
distinguished for their faithfulness in performing the duties of
religion. They are chiefly Methodists and Baptists, and have
regularly ordained ministers, who preach to them on every Sabbath,
and they have also abandoned many of their mere senseless
superstitions. They have their own courts and try their criminals by
a regular jury. Their judges and lawyers are chosen from among
themselves. They keep in order the public roads leading through
their settlement. By a law of the State they have the right to vote,
but seldom exercise that right, as they do not like the idea of
being identified with any of the political parties. Excepting on
festive days, they dress after the manner of the white man, but far
more picturesquely. They live in small log houses of their own
construction, and have every thing they need or desire in the way of
food. They are, in fact, the happiest community that I have yet met
with in this Southern country, and no candid man can visit them
without being convinced of the wickedness and foolishness of that
policy of the Government which has always acted upon the opinion
that the red man could not be educated into a reasonable being.
By way of giving my readers a correct idea of the present condition
of the Carolina Cherokees I will describe a visit that I paid to one
of their churches on the Sabbath. I was anxious to see how far they
were advanced in the ways of Christian instruction, and, though I
noticed many little eccentricities, I was, upon the whole, very much
pleased with what I saw and heard. I was accompanied by Mr. Thomas,
and we reached the rude but spacious log meeting-house about eleven
o’clock. The first hour was devoted to instructing the children from
a Cherokee Catechism, and the chiefs of the several clans were the
officiating teachers. At twelve o’clock a congregation of some one
hundred and fifty souls was collected, a large proportion of whom
were women, who were as neatly dressed as could be desired, with
tidy calico gowns, and fancy handkerchiefs tied over their heads.
The deportment of all present was as circumspect and solemn as I
have ever witnessed in any New England religious assembly. When a
prayer was offered they all fell upon their knees, and in singing
all but the concluding hymn they retained their seats. Their form of
worship was according to the Methodist custom, but in their singing
there was a wild and plaintive sweetness which was very impressive.
The women and children as well as the men participated in this
portion of the ceremony, and some of the female voices reminded me
of the caroling of birds. They sung four hymns; three prayers were
offered by several individuals, and two sermons or exhortations were
delivered. The prayers were short and pointed, and, as the shortest
might be considered a fair specimen of the others, I will transcribe
it for the edification of my readers:
“Almighty Lord, who art the father of the world, look down from
heaven on this congregation. Bless the Indians, and supply them with
all the food and clothing they may want; bless, also, the white men,
and give them every thing they may need. Aid us all, O Lord, in all
our good works. Take care of us through life, and receive us in
heaven when the world shall be burnt up. We pray thee to take care
of this young white man who has come to this Indian meeting. Protect
him in all his travels, and go with him to his distant home, for we
know by his kind words that he is a friend of the poor, ignorant,
and persecuted Indian. Amen!”
The first preacher who addressed the meeting was a venerable man,
_Big Charley_, and he took for his text the entire first chapter of
John; but, before proceeding with his remarks, he turned to Mr.
Thomas and wished to know if he should preach with the
“_linguister_,” or interpreter, for the benefit of the young
stranger. I told him no; but requested Mr. Thomas to take notes,
and, through his kindness, it is now my privilege to print the
substance of that Cherokee sermon. It was as follows:
“In the beginning of creation, the world was covered with water. God
spake the word and the dry land was made. He next made the day and
the night; also, the sun, moon, and stars. He then made all the
beasts and birds and fishes in the world, and was much pleased. He
wanted some one to take care of all these creatures, and so he made
man, and from his body a woman, to help him and be his companion. He
put them into a beautiful garden, which was filled with all kinds of
good things to eat, but told them that there was one fruit they must
not touch. That fruit was an apple, I believe. The woman was not
grateful to God, and when a wicked serpent told her she might eat of
the beautiful fruit which she was so curious to taste, she did eat
of it, and gave some to the man, and he took some too. God talked
with the man about his wicked conduct, and told him that he and his
children should always have to work very hard for all they had to
eat, so long as they lived in the world; and to the woman, God said,
she must always suffer very much when she had children, and that the
man should be her master. The man and woman were then turned out of
the beautiful garden, and they were the father and mother of all the
Indians in the world, as well as the white men and the black men.
They had a great many children, and the world was very full of
people. The people were very wicked, and God warned a good man that
he intended to destroy the world by covering it all with water, and
that this good man must build a large boat like a house, and get
into it with his family, that they might not perish. The people
laughed at this good man for believing such a story; but he took
into his house two kinds of all the animals in the world, and the
waters came; so the world was destroyed. After many days the good
man sent out a dove to find some land, but it could not find any and
came back. He sent it out again, and it never returned, and soon the
great house rested on the top of a high mountain. Another race of
people then covered the earth; and a great many good men lived upon
the earth. One of the greatest of them it was who received from God
the _ten commandments_, which direct all men how to be good and
happy; but the world was yet very wicked. Long after this, God sent
into the world his only Son, whose name was Jesus Christ. This
wonderful being it was who gave up his own life that all the wicked
of the world might be saved, and the justice of God be satisfied;
and so it is, that all the Indians, as well as the white men, who
live like Jesus Christ, can get to heaven when they die.”
In delivering his sermon the preacher occupied about thirty minutes;
and the above facts were cemented together by a great number of
flowery expressions, which made it quite poetical. His manner was
impressive, but not particularly eloquent. After he had taken his
seat, and a hymn had been sung, a young man stepped into the rude
pulpit, who has distinguished himself by his eloquence. His name is
Tekin-neb, or the Garden of Eden. He spoke from the same text, and
his remarks bore chiefly on the redemption by Christ. At the
conclusion of his address he gave a sketch of his own religious
experience, and concluded by a remarkably affecting appeal to his
hearers. His voice, emphasis, and manner were those of a genuine
orator, and his thoughts were poetical to an uncommon degree. In
dwelling upon the marvellous love of the Saviour, and the great
wickedness of the world, he was affected to tears, and when he
concluded there was hardly a dry eye in the house.
After the benediction had been pronounced, Mr. Thomas delivered a
short address to the meeting on Temperance and a few secular
matters, when the Indians quietly dispersed to their several homes.
I retired to my own temporary home, deeply impressed by what I had
seen and heard, for my pride had been humbled while listening to the
rude savage, whose religious knowledge was evidently superior to my
own.