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HISTORICAL NOTES

RESPECTING

THE INDIANS

NORTH AMERICA.

•I ?

HISTORICAL NOTES

IIESPKCTING

THE INDIANS

NORTH AMERICA

SVllH

REMARKS ON THE

ATTExMPTS iMADE TO CONVERT AND CIV IL12E TllEAI.

" Savages we call them, because their manners differ from ours, which we lliuilt the
l>crfcction of civility : they think the same of theirs. Perhaps, if we would examine
the manners of different nations with impartiality, we sliould find no people so rude as
to be without any rules of iwUteness ; nor any so polite as not to have some remains of
ludeuess."— On Fi-ankliu's hisaay on the North American Savagei,

,;<.•'
'.%-

Bv JOHN HALKETT, Esq.

LONDON:
PRINTED FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND CO. EDLNBUR(iH ;

A>D HUUST, nUUINSUN, AXD CO. 90, CHJiAPSlDK, AND C, I'ALL MALL.

1823.

LONDON:
PR1N>£D ny J. MOVtS, GRl- VILLL SinttT.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

rAO£

fiENKRAL OUSKUVATIUNS ON THK CHAHACTEH OK THE NOIITII
VMKniCAN I.VDIANS — 0!'IMON'S Ol' VAHIOl'S WHITKHS ON THIS
•> I ilj Ki T

CHAPTER II.

EAIILY (ONDUCT OK THE KRENCH WITH RESI ;( T TO THE
INDIANS — DANGERS AND DIFFICULTIES EXPERIEN(\:n BY THE
MISSIONARIES IN NEW FRANCE

CHAPTER III.

INJUDICIOUS SYSTEM ADOPTED BY THE FP.ENCH IN IMITATING
AND RETALIATING THE BARBARITIES OF THE INDIANS

CHAPTER IV.

TREACHEROUS CONDUCT OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT WITH
REGARD TO THE INDIAN NATIONS- ABSURD ACCOUNTS OF
THE JESUIT MISSIONARIES RELATIVE TO THEIR SUCCESS IN
CONVERTING THE HEATHEN 71

CHAPTER V.

FRIENDLY CONDUCT OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS TO-
WARDS THE EARLY EUROPEAN SETTLERS — KINDNESS SHEWN
BY THEM TO THE DUTCH COLONISTS UPON THE HUDSON —
SIMILAR CONDUCT TOWARDS THE ENGLISH SETTLERS IN VIR-
«. IMA — STORY OF POCAHONTAS

<«

CON IK NTS.

CHAPTER VI.

PA or

KINDNESS OF TIIK INDIANS TO THE KAIILV COLONISTS IN NKW
KNGLAND — IMPRUDENT CONDUCT OK 1 IIK ENGLISH — llySTILI-
TIES IN WHICH THE SETTLEHS WERE ENGAGED — WAR WITH
THE PEyUOTS U»

CllAPTEK VK.

WAR WITH IMIILII' THE CELEHRATEI) CHIEF OF THE I'OKANO.
KETS— DESTRUCTION OF THE NAIlRAliANSETS — HOSTILITIES
WITH THE EASTERN INDIANS m

CHAPTER VIII.

UANEFUL EFFECTS ARISING FHOM THE PRACTICE OF SU:'PLVIN(i
THE INDIANS WITH SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS KU

CHAPTER IX.

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED

Iii7

CHAPTER X.

CONDUCT OF THE FRENCH IN THEIR ENDEAVOURS TO CONVERT
THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS TO CHRISTIANITY Wi

CHAPTER XI.

ATTEMPTS OF THE ENGLISH, PRIOR TO THE REVOLUTIONARY
WAR IN NORTH AMERICA, TO CONVERT THE INDIANS.— SIMILAR
MEASURES SUBSEQUENT TO THAT PERIOD — ATTEMPTS OF A
LIKE NATURE BV THE AMERICANS OF THE UNITED STATES •• 2;tP

CHAPTER XII.

RITE OF BAPTISM PROMISCUOUSLY ADMINISTERED TO THE
INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA BV THE EARLY FRENCH MLS-
SIONARIES — QUESTION RESPECTING IT SUBMITTED TO THE
DOCTORS OF THE SORBONNE —SENTIMENTS OF NATURAL
RELIGION ENTERTAINED BV THE INDIANS— OBSTRUCTION TO
THEIR CONVERSION ARISING FROM THE RELIGIOUS DIFFER-
ENCES AND DISPUTES AMONG THE EUROPEANS 2'ir

fONTKNTS.

Vll

CHAPTKR XI If.

PA (IK

INJUDICIOUS CONDUCT OF THE PROTESTANT SETTLEMENTS IN
NORTH AMERK A WITH REOARI) TO THEIR (ONVERTEn IN-
DIANS-OENERAI- RELUCTANCE OF THE INDIANS TO RECEIVE
THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES l«)i

CHAPTER XIV.

niFFU ULTY OK RECONCILING THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS
ro EUROPEAN HABITS AND EDUCATION— UNFOUNDED ASSER-
TIONS OF SOME WRITERS AS TO THE ALLEGED NATURAL
INCAPACITY OF THE INDIANS WITH REFERENCE TO THE
ATTEMPTS MADE TO CIVILIZE THEM 31«

CHAPTER XV.

C.ENERAL REMiUlKS ON THE CIVILIZATION OF THE INDI/VNS

?*.»

CHAPTER XVI.

CJENERAL REMARKS ON THE ATTEMPTS MADE TO CONVERT
THE INDIANS, AND ON THE CAUSES OF FAILURE— OBSTACLES
ARISING FROM THE INFLUENCE OF THE NATIVE JUGGLERS-
BENEFITS WHICH WOULD JCOLLOW FROM THE AID OF MEDICAL
SKILL EXTENDED TO THE INDIAN NATIONS — INJUDICIOUS
VIEWS. AND INTOLERANT SPIRIT, TOO OFTEN ENTERTAINED
BY SOME OF THE MISSIONARIES— CONCLUSION

.Mi/

ERRATA.

36, Notef, line _ not |,„t

6 .Line 20 -leader leaders.

■ y«, Note vi'i!

— 101, Note ;.:.:::::::: z T!:.::::::. ~r

134, Notef _ Narrative Hist, of New Eiiff.

land, (>h. 51.

HISTORICAL NOTES

BESPECTINU THE

INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA.

CHAP. I.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE CHARACTER OF

THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS OPINIONS OF

VARIOUS WRITERS ON THIS SUBJECT.

The manners and customs of the Indians of North
America have often furnished matter of curious and
interesting inquiry. From the period when that
portion of the Western hemisphere was first dis-
covered, or rather from that in which the earliest
European settlers established themselves upon its
shores, the attention of various authors appears
to have been drawn towards the delineation of
those peculiar qualities which so strongly marked
the native tribes by whom that continent was
inhabited. Nor was the attention of those writers
less directed, perhaps, to the discovery of the pro-
bable root from whence the Amfiican population
had origina i^ sprung. This question, indeed, has
given rise to much discussion ; and history, both
sacred and profane, has been ingeniously referred

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. I.

to for the purpose of supporting the respective
theories of those who have taken an active part
in the controversy. The valuable researches, made of
late years in North America, regarding the languages
spoken by the Indian nations in that quarter of the
globe, promise, if followed up, to throw more light
upon this subject than is likely to arise from any
other species of investigation. But, however much
writers of eminence have differed respecting the
source from which America may have been peopled,
they will be found to have generally agreed with
regard to the peculiar customs, disposition, and
pursuits, of its aboriginal inhabitants.

It is not proposed to enter into any minute
delineation of the habits and manners of the North
American Indians. These have been so often and
so accurately described, by writers of different coun-
tries and various periods, that any description
of them now would contain little more than a
repetition of details to which there is every where
easy access and reference. The principal object
of these Notes is to give a concise view of facts
drawn mostly from the early authors who resided in
North America ; by which it will probably be seen,
that in every quarter a very erroneous system was
pursued with regard to the Indian population.
In addition to the observations upon the early
proceedings respecting the Indians — and upon
the results which flowed from them — it is also
intended to submit such remarks and suggestions

Ch. r. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

as appear more immediately applicable to the
attempts made in *he present day to effect their
civil and religious advancement. If, by pointing
out the errors of former times, it can at all
serve as a beacon in future attempts at Indian
civilization or conversion, one important step
towards success is likely to be attained. These
errors are obvious from an examination of the works
of the earliest writers, as well as those of later periods,
who had much communication with the Indians.
Travellers, who from curiosity — traders, who from
views of commercial enterprise — military officers,
who in the call of their professional duty — and the
missionaries, who from religious motives, were led
to explore the interior of thpt continent, have fur-
nished ample materials for reflection on this sub-
ject ; and by laying before the reader extracts from
their works, it will no doubt enable him, by refer-
ence to the most authentic sources, to judge of
the real nature of those endeavours which were
made during the course of two centuries — and
made in vain — to ameliorate the condition of the
Indians of North America.

It may be satisfactory, in this place, to notice
the recorded opinions of some of those writers,
most of whom had long resided in that country ;
and to describe, in their own words, the favourable
sentiments which their experience had taught them
to entertain respecting the Indian character. Tliese
opinions, indeed, are directly opposite to what has

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING

Ch.I.

been so strenuously asserted by some celebrated
authors, particularly by the Count de BufFon and
Monsieur de Pauw ; both of whom laboured to paint
the natives of the New World as despicable,
vicious, and brutal ; pronouncing them far inferior
to those of the Old, both in mental and corporeal
qualities. But there cannot be required a more sa-
tisfactory refutation of the assertion made by these
writers, than what is conveyed in the numerous and
concurring statements of those who, from a long
residence among the Indians, had fully qualified
themselves to judge of their real character and en-
dowments.*

The celebrated Lafitau, the Jesuit, who resided
a considerable time as a missionary in North
America about the beginning of the last century,
and who states, that to his own experience he added
that of Gamier, another Father of his order,
who had lived sixty years among the Indians, has
given the following description of them in his
learned and curious work, " The Manners of the
American Savages compared with thr Manners of
Ancient Times."

" They are possessed," says he, " of sound judg-
ment, lively imagination, ready conception, and

f'.'ji

-I

• Mr. Jefferson, the late President of the United States,
in his Notes on Virginia, and the Abb6 Clavigero, in his
History of Mexico, have ably combated the opinions main-
tained by Buffon in his Histoire Naturelle, and of De Pauw
in his Recherches Philosophiques sur les Americains.

Ch.I.

Ch. I. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

slebrated
ffon and
to paint
spicable,
inferior
lorporeal
more sa-
by these
rous and
1 a long
qualified
and en-
resided
North
century,
le added
order,
ans, has
in his
of the
mers of

d judg-
>n, and

d States,
}, in his
as main-
)e Pauw

wonderful memory. All the tribes retain at least
some trace of an ancient religion, handed down
to them from their ancestors, and a form of govern-
ment. They reflect justly upon their affairs, and
better than the mass of the people among ourselves.
They prosecute their ends by sure means; they
evince a degree of coolness and composure which
would exceed our patience; they never permit
themselves to indulge in passion, but always, from a
sense of honour and greatness of soul, appear mas-
ters of themselves. They are high-minded and
proud ; possess a courage equal to every trial, an
intrepid valour, the most heroic constancy under
torments, and an equanimity which neither misfor-
tune nor reverses can shake. Towards each other
they behave with a natural politeness and attention,
entertaining a high respect for the aged, and a con-
sideration for their equals which appears scarcely
reconcileable with that freedom and independence
of which they are so jealous. They make few
professions of kindness, but yet are affable and
generous. Towards strangers and the unfortunate
they exercise a degree of hospitality and charity
which might put the inhabitants of Europe to
the blush."*

Lafitau, indeed, qualifies the character he thus

* Moeurs des Sauvages Am^ricains, cotnparees aux Moeurs
(les Premiers Temps. Par Ic Pere Lafitau. Voi. i. chap. 3.
Paris, 1724.

6 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. I.

gives of the Indians, by contrasting with these
praises their defects and vices. He describes them
as idle, suspicious, vindictive — and the more dan-
gerous, as they well know how to conceal their
intentions of revenge. Cruel to their enemies,
gross in their pleasures, vicious through ignorance :
** but," adds he, " their simplicity and penury give
them one advantage over us, — that they remain
unacquainted with those refinements of vice which
have been introduced by luxury and abundance."

P^re le Jeune, another of the celebrated Jesuit
missionaries, who resided in Canada at a very early
period, also remarks : " I think the savages, in point
of intellect, may be placed in a high rank ; educa-
tion and instruction alone are wanting. Being well
formed in their persons, and having their organs
well adapted and disposed, the powers of their
mind operate with facility and effect. Their
reasoning faculties resemble a soil naturally fertile,
but which has continued choked up with evil weeds
since the beginning of time. These Indians I can
well compare to some of our own villagers who are
left without instruction ; yet I have scarcely ever
seen any person who has come from France to this
country, who does not acknowledge that the sa-
vages have more intellect or capacity than most
of our own peasantry."*

• RelcUion de ce qui s'est passe en la Nouvelle France en
I'annee 1634. Par le P^re le Jeune, de la Compagnee de
Jesus. Chap. 5. ParLs, 1635.

Ch. I. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

h these
es them
)re dan-
al their
inemies,
orance :
jry give

remain
e which
ice.

I Jesuit
ry early
n point

educa-
ng well

organs
>f their

Their

fertile,

weeds
s I can
ho are
y ever

to this
he sa-
most

ince en
inee de

^' Si

Mons. Boucher, who, about the middle of the
seventeenth century, held the situation of governor of
Three Rivers, in New France, makes a similar obser-
vation. ** In general all the Indians possess a
sound judgment; and it is seldom that you find
among them any who have that stupid and heavy
intellect which we perceive among some of our
French peasantry. They stand more in awe of
a simple reprimand from their parents or chiefs,
than in Europe they do of wheels and gibbets." *

P^re Jerome Lallemant, who about the same
period resided long as a missionary among the
Hurons, thus writes : " Many are disposed to
despair of the conversion of this people, from their
being prejudiced against them as barbarians; be-
lieving them to be scarcely human, and incapable
of becoming Christians. But it is very wrong
to judge of them in this sort ; for I can truly say,
that in point of intellect they are not at all inferior
to the natives of Europe ; and, had I remained
in France, I could not have believed that, without
instruction, nature could have produced such ready
and vigorous eloquence, or such a sound judgment
in their affairs, as that which I have so much
admired among the Hurons. I admit that their

* Histoire Veritable des Mneurs et Productions de la
Nouvelle France, &c. par Pierre Boucher, chap. 9- Paris,
1664.

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING

Cii. I.

habits and customs are barbarous, in a thousand
instances ; but, after all, in matters which they con-
sider as wrong, and which the public condemns,
we observe among them less criminality than in
France, although here the only punishment of crime
is the shame of having committed it." *

Vhre Vivier, another of the Jesuits, thus de-
scribes the Illinois Indians, among whom he resided
for a long period, about the middle of the last
century. ** The Indians are of a character mild
and sociable. They appear to have uiore intelli-
gence than most of our French peasantry; which
is probably owing to the liberty in which they are
brought up. Respect never renders them timid ;
and as they have no degrees of rank nor dignity
among them, every man appears to be on an equal
footing. An Illinois would speak as boldly to the
king of France as to the meanest of his subjects." f

Le Clercq, who belonged to one of the early
Recollet or Franciscan missions, gives the following
general description of those Indians with whom
he had long resided near the mouth of the river
St. Lawrence.

" As I took great pains to become thoroughly
acquainted with their manners, maxims, and reli-

• Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1645, par le P^re
Jerome Lallemant, p. 153.

t Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, ecritec des Missions
Etrang^res, vol.vii. p. 82. Ed. 1780-81.

Ck.I. the north AMERICAN INDIANS.

gion, I think I am able to give to the public a true
and faithful idea of them ; and happy shall I be if
the reading affords to them the same pleasure as
the writing has given to me, of those details which I
have selected as the most curious and agreeable,
in the missions I had the honour of belonging
to during the twelve years I resided in New France.
There exists in Europe a very prevailing error
which it is proper to remove from the mind of
the public, who suppose that the natives of Ame-
rica, in consequence of their never having been
educated according to the rules of civilized society,
possess nothing human but the name ; and that
they have none of those good qualities, either
corporeal or mental, which distinguish the human
race from that of brutes : imagining that they arc
covered with hair like bears, and more savage than
tigers and leopards." — " Nature has endowed them
with too much kindness towards each other, to-
wards their children, and even towards strangers,
to have ever given cause for comparing them
to wild beasts. This fact it will not be difficult
to establish in the course of the following History ;
in which I shall exhibit, with fidelity, the Indian
of this country in every view in which I can con-
sider him."*

• Nouvelle Relation de la Gaspesie, par le P^re le
Clercq, Missionaire RecoUet, chap. 1. Paris, 1691.

HISTORICAL NOTES IlESPECTING

Cu. I.

Lescarbot, who published liis History of New
France in 1618, and who had visited that country
from curiosity, makes the following remark respect-
ing the Indians. " I cannot avoid confessing that
the people whom I have to describe are possessed
of many good qualities. They are valorous, faitii-
ful, generous, and humane; and their hospitality
so great, that they extend it to every one who
is not their enemy. They speak with much judg-
ment and reason, and when they have any im-
portant enterprise to undertake, the chief is atten-
tively listened to for two or three hours together, and
he is answered, point to point, as the subject may
require. If, therefore, we call them savages, it
is an abusive appellation, which they do not de-
serve, as will be proved in the course of this
History."*

In the Report transmitted in 1656 from the
Jesuit mission among the Iroquois, that celebrated
people are thus noticed. " Among many faults
caused by their blindness and barbarous education,
we meet with virtues enough to cause shame among
the most of Christians. Hospitals for the poor
would be useless among them, because there are
no beggars; for those who have, are so liberal
to those who are in want, that every thing is

• Histoire de la Nouvelle France, par Marc Lescarbot,
Avocat en Parlement, liv. i. chap. 1. Paris, 1618.

Ch. I. THE NORTH AMEUICAN INDIANS.

almost enjoyed in common ; the whole village must
be in complete distress before any individual is left
in necessity."*

" When they talk in France of the Iroquois,"
writes La Potherie, who resided in Canada about
the end of the seventeenth century, " they suppose
them to be barbarians always thirsting for human
blood. This is a great error. The character
which I have to give of that nation is very dif-
ferent from what these prejudices assign to it. The
Iroquois are the proudest and most formidable
people in North America, and, at the same time,
the most politic and sagacious. This is evident
from the important affairs which they conduct with
the French, the English, and almost all the people
of that vast continent." t

The Indian confederacy, generally called the
Iroquois, or Five Nations, is supposed to have
existed from times of very remote antiquity. It
was composed of the Mohawks, Oneydas, Cayugas,
Onondagas, and Senecas. These were joined,
about the beginning of the last century, by the
Tuscaroras; but the confederacy still continued
to be known by the name of the Five, although
sometimes of the Siv Nations. Loskiel, in his
History of the Missions among the Indians, notices

• Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1656-57, chap, 12.
t La Potherie, Histoire de I'Amerique Septentrionale,
vol. iii. Preface.

HISTORICAL NOTES RF«>Pt;CTlNG Cu. I.

the political constitution of this l. galar people, as
described by one of the Moravian missionaries
about the middle of the last century. He states
that it resembled a republic, each of the six nations
being independent of the other^^or, as they expressed
it, having their own^re, round which their chiefs
and elders assembled to deliberate on the affairs
of their nation. They had also at Onondago a
large common firCy to which the great council
of the confederacy resorted. None in general
were admitted into the council house but the re-
presentatives of the nations. All public business
between the Iroquois and any other tribe, was
brought before the great fire in Onondaga; at the
same time they had agents among other nations
to watch over their interests. *

The writers of later times give similar accounts
of the Indians among whom they resided. Hecke-
welder, the celebrated Moravian missionary, who
lived upwards of thirty years among them, makes
the following observations. ** My long residence
among these nations, in the constant habit of
unrestrained familiarity, has enabled me to know
them well, and made me intimately acquainted

* Loskiel's History of the Missions among the Indians, t&c,
part i. chap. 2. An interesting and ample account of the
Iroquois Confederacy is to be found in Governor CUnton's
Discourse, delivered before the New York Historical Society
at their Anniversary Meeting in 1811. New York, 1812.

G Ch. I.

people, as
ssionaries
He states
X nations
5xpressed
eir chiefs
le affairs
tndago a
council
general
: the re-
business
be, was
; at the
nations

ccounts
Hecke-
y, who

makes
sidence
ibit of

know
jainted

ns, <tc.,
; of the
Ilinton's
Society
12.

Cii. I. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANb.

with the manners, customs, character, and dispo-
sition of those men of nature, when uncorrupted
by European vices. Of these I think I could
draw a highly interesting picture, if I only possessed
adequate powers of description ; but the talent of
writing is not to be acquired in the wilderness
among savages. I have felt it, however, to be
a duty incumbent upon me to make the attempt,
and I have done it in the following pages with
a rude but faithful pencil. I have spent great
part of my life among those people, and have
been treated by tiiem with uniform kindness and
hospitality. I have witnessed their virtues, and
experienced their goodness. I owe them a debt
of gratitude which I cannot acquit better than by
presenting to the world this plain unadorned picture,
which I have drawn in the spirit of candour and
truth."*

Of the numerous writers who have explored
the interior of North America, there is none whose
description of the Indians is more worthy of perusal
than what has been given by Captain Carver.
That celebrated traveller did not indeed reside
in the Indian country so long as many others who
have published accounts of the native tribes, but

• Account of the History, Manners, and Customs of the
Indian Nations. (Introduction, p. 24.) Published in the
Transactions of the Philosophical Society at Philadelphia,
by the Rev. John Heckewelder. (1819.)

IIISTOUICAL NOTES RESPECTING

Cit. I.

none observed them with a more skilful eye; and
besides, he has given us the interesting description
of nations who had never before been visited by
any European. In describing some of these, — then
powerful and populous tribes, — he admits that they
were cruel, barbarous, and revengeful ; persevering
and intlexible in their pursuit of an enemy ; sangui-
nary in their treatment of prisoners; and in their
wars sparing neither age nor sex. On the other
hand, he found them temperate in their mode
of living, patient of hunger and fatigue, sociable
and humane to those whom they looked upon
as friends, and ready to share with them the
last morsel of food they possessed, or to expose
their lives in their defence. In their public cha-
racter, he describes them as possessing an attach-'
ment to their nation unknown to the inhabitants
of any other country, combining, as if actuated
by one soul, against their common enemy; never
swayed in their councils by selfish or party views,
but sacrificing every thing to the honour and advan-
tage of their tribe, in support of which they fear
no danger, and are affected by no sufferings.

" In contradiction," says Carver, " to the report
of many other travellers, I can assert that, not-
withstanding the apparent indifference with which'
an Indian, after a long absence, meets his wife and
children— an indifference proceeding rather from
custom than insensibility — he is not unmindful of

ch. r.

Ch. I.

THE NORTH AMEKICAN INDIANS.

eye; and
escription
visited by
se, — then

that they
^rsevering
; sangui-
I in their
the other
jir mode

sociable
ed upon
hem the
) expose
jh*c cha-

attach- '
labitants
actuated
never
y views,

advan-
ley fear

report

it, not-

which'

ife and

from

tilul of

the claims either of connubial or parental tender-
ness. The little s^ory I have introduced in the
preceding chapter of the Naudowessie woman la-
menting her child, and the immature death of the
father, will elucidate this point, and enforce the
assertion much better than the most studied argu-
ments I can make use of."

The following is the story to which he alludes,
and in which he adverts to the custom among the
Naudowessie (or Scioux) Indians, of maiming and
wounding themselves while mourning for their
deceased friends and relations.*

" Whilst I remained among them, a couple,
whose tent was adjacent to mine, lost a son of
about four years of age. The parents were so
much affected at the death of their child, that
they pursued the usual testimonies of grief with
such uncommon rigour, as, through the weight
of sorrow, and loss of blood, to occasion the
death of the father. The woman, who had been
hitherto inconsolable, no sooner saw her husband

* A similar practice is noticed by Bradbury, as prevailing
among the Ricaras. — Travels in America, p. 95. Sir
Alexander Mackenzie observed the same custom among the
Beaver Indians. — Voyages in North America, p. 148. Lewis
and Clarke notice it also as now existing among the
Mandans. — Travels up the Missouri, chap. 4. And a similar
account respecting the Kanzas is to be found in James's late
Expedition to the Roeky Mountains, chap. 6.

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING

Cii. I.

IS'

i
f

■IS

expire, than she dried up her tears, and appeared
cheerful and resigned. As I knew not how to
account for so extraordinary a transition, I took
an opportunity to ask her the reason of it ; telling
her, at the same time, that I should have imagined
the loss of her husband would rather have occa-
sioned an increase of grief than such a sudden
diminution of it.

" She informed me, that as the child was so
young when it died, and unable to support itself
in the Country of Spirits, both she and her husband
had been apprehensive that its situation would
be far from happy ; but no sooner did she behold
its father depart for the same place, who not
only loved the child with the tenderest affection,
but was a good hunter, and would be able to
provide plentifully for its support, than she ceased
to mourn. She added, that she now saw no
reason to continue her tears, as the child, on
whom she doted, was happy under the care and
protection of a fond father ; and she had only
one wish that remained ungratified, which was
that of being herself with them.

" Expressions so replete with unaffected tender-
ness, and sentiments that would have done honour
to a Roman matron, made an impression on my
mind greatly in favour of the people to whom
she belonged ; and tended not a little to counteract

1
^"5

^?f'9>.:>

Cii. I.

Ch. I. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 17

J appeared
ot how to
an, I took

it ; telling
e imagined
have occa-

a sudden

ild was so
)port itself
Br husband
ion would
she behold

who not

affection,
e able to

he ceased

saw no

child, on

care and
had only
hich was

d tender-
e honour
n on my
to whom
ounteract

the prejudices I had hitherto entertained, in common
with every other traveller, of Indian insensibility,
and want of parental tenderness.

" Her subsequent conduct confirmed the favour-
able opinion I had just imbibed, and convinced
me that, notwithstanding this apparent suspension
of her grief, some particles of that reluctance to
be separated from a beloved relation, which is
implanted either by nature or custom in every
human heart, still lurked in hers. I observed
that she went almost every evening to the foot
of the tree, on a branch of which the bodies of
her husband and child were laid, and, after cutting
off a lock of her hair and throwing it on the ground,
in a plaintive melancholy song bemoaned its fate.
A recapitulation of the actions he might have
performed, had his life been spared, appeared
to be her favourite theme ; and whilst she foretold
the fame that would have attended an imitation
of his father's virtues, her grief seemed to be
suspended."*

Le Clercq, the French missionary whose work
has been already referred to, also records an instance
of natural affection which he witnessed among a
band of Indians, resembling, in some measure,
the anecdote mentioned by Carver, as above nar-

* Carver's Travels through the hiterior of North America,
chap. 15.

' 1

i!li

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING

Cn. I

rated. In the middle of the night a cabin took
fire, in which two Indian women, each with an
infant, were asleep. One of the two escaped
with her child, the other was almost suffocated,
and so scorched, that she became insensible, and
dropped her infant among the flames. On the
first alarm, Le Clercq, with some other persons,
flew to the place; and found the woman among
the burning ruins, in a state of utter despair. They
were obliged to force her from the spot ; and
Le Clercq, rushing through the smoke, brought away
the child, but in so scorched a state that it imme-
diately died. It was impossible, he adds, to de-
scribe the grief and despair into which the mother
was thrown, when informed of the death of her
infant. Overwhelmed with anguish, she continued
to refuse all consolation : and in her frantic agony,
scraped among the ashes in search of her child.
It was with difficulty they prevented her from
putting an end to her miserable existence; every
care was taken of her, but she died in a few weeks.
Some hours after her interment, her husband, igno-
rant of what had occurred, returned from a hunting
excursion. Bitterly did the Indian lament the loss
of his wife and his child. He often visited their
graves; and, upon one of these occasions, he was
heard, in the depth of his sorrow, to utter aloud :
" O Great Spirit, who governest the Sun and the
Moon, who created the elk, the otter, and the

Cii. I.

Ch. I, THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

:abin took
li with an
) escaped
juffocated,
sible, and
On the
r persons,
in among
lir. They
ipot; and
ught away
t it imme-
Is, to de-
le mother
h of her
continued
ic agony,
ler child,
ler from
;e; every
:w weeks,
ind, igno-
i hunting
the loss
ted their
, he was
r aloud :
and the
and the

beaver, be appeased, and do not any longer con-
tinue enraged against me. Be content with the
misfortunes I have suffered. I had a wife — thou
hast taken her from me. I had a child, whom I
loved as myself— it is gone, for so was thy pleasure.
Is that not enough ? Bestow on me henceforward
as much good as I now experience evil ; or, if thou
art not satisfied with what I now suffer, make me
die, for in this state I can live no longer."*

And yet does the Count de Buffon, among his
other rash and unfounded assertions respecting the
Indians of the American continent, declare that
" they are but slightly attached to their parents and
children ; and that among them the ties usually
the strongest of any, those of family connexion, are
always weak and feeble." But had Buffon con-
sulted with impartiality the works of many of his
own countrymen, and of others whose long resi-
dence in North America enabled them to furnish
authentic information, he would have discovered his
error with respect to the alleged indifference of the
Indians to their aged parents. " The Indians,"
says Lafitau, " entertain a high regard for the aged ;"
and as to their offspring, Charlevoix observes, that
" the care taken by the Indian mothers of their
children is beyond expression, and shews very sen-
sibly that we often spoil all by the refinements

* Relation de la Gaspesie, ch. 12.

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch.I.

ifi

which we add to what nature dictates. They never
quit their children, carrying them always with them ;
and when they appear to be sinking under the
weight usually assigned to them, the cradle of their
child counts for nothing, and one would even think
that the additional burden is an alleviation to
them."*

In Captain Franklin's interesting narrative of his late
journey to the shores of the Polar Sea, are to be found
several affecting instances of parental regard among
the Indians. He mentions the case of a poor Indian,
who came (in January, 1 820,) to one of the most
remote British trading posts, carrying his only child
in his arms, and followed by his starving wife. They
had separated from the rest of their band, and been
unsuccessful in the chase. Whilst in this state of
want, they were attacked by the measles and
hooping cough, which raged at that time throughout
the country. " An Indian," says Captain Franklin,
"is accustomed to starve, and it is not easy to
elicit from him an account of his sufferings. This
poor man's story was very brief: As soon as the fever
abated, he set out with his wife to Cumberland-
house, having been previously reduced to feed on
the bits of skin and offal which remained about
their encampment. Even this miserable fare was
exhausted, and they walked several days without

P^re de Charlevoix, Journal Historique, Lett. 22.

•<l%

tfO Ch.I.

riiey never
with them;
under the
le of their
even think
viation to

i of his late
3 be found
I'd among
)r Indian,
the most
)nly child
ife. They
and been

state of
iles and
oughout
'ranklin,
easy to
. This
he fever
ierland-
eed on

about
ire was
without

22.

Ch.I. the north AMERICAN INDIANS.

eating, yet exerting themselves far beyond their
strength, that they might save the life of the iniant.
It died almost within sight of the house. Mr.
Connolly, who was then in charge of the post,
received them with the utmost humanity, and in-
stantly placed food before them ; but no language
can describe the manner in which the miserable
father dashed the morsel from his lips, and deplored
the loss of his child."*

In a subsequent part of his work. Captain
Franklin observes, " We found several of the Indian
families in great affliction for the loss of their rela-
tives ; who had been drowned in the August pre-
ceding, by the upsetting of a canoe near to Fort
Enterprise. They bewailed the melancholy ac-
cident every morning and evening, by repeating the
names of the persons in a loud singing tone, which
was frequently interrupted by bursts of tears. One
woman was so affected by the loss of her only son,
that she seemed deprived of reason, and wandered
about the tents the whole day, crying and singing
out his name."t

In Mr. Tudor's Letters on the Eastern States, of
North America, he mentions the case of an Indian,
who, in consequence of his good conduct, had
received a grant of land in the state of Maine. It

''• Captain Franklin's Narrative, ch, iii. p. 60.
t Ibid. p. 472.

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING

Cii. I.

was situated in one of the new townships, where a
number of white settlers had established themselves.
Although not ill-treated by these settlers, it appears
that the common prejudice against his race pre-
vented them from feeling any sympathy with this
Indian. His only child died, but none of the
inhabitants came to condole with him on his loss.
He soon afterwards went to some of his neighbours,
and thus addressed them : " When the white man's
child dies, Indian man is sorry : he helps to bury
him. When my child dies, no one speaks to me ;
I make his grave alone. I cannot live here." — He
gave up his farm, dug up the body of his child, and
carried it away with him two hundred miles through
the forests, and joined the Indians of Canada.*

To this instance of want of sympathy on the
part of his white brethren, the following anecdote
affords a striking contrast in favour of the In-
dian. The occurrence took place soon after the
commencement of the colony of Pennsylvania,
and in a remote and unsettled part of it —
" Abraham and Joseph Chapman, when boys^
nine or ten years old, going out one evening to
seek their cattle in the woods, met an Indian, who
told them to go back, else they would be lost. Soon
after, they took his advice, and went back ; but it;
was night before they got home, where they found

'S'

* Tudor's Letters on the Eastern States, Lett. 12. Boston.

Cn. I.

where a
lemselves.
it appears
race pre-

with this
e of the

his loss,
iighbours,
ite man's

to bury

to me;
e."-~He
hild, and

through
Ja.*

on the
mecdote
the In-
fter the
ylvania,
►f it— -
n boys*
ning to
Ln, who
• Soon
; but it
' found

oston.

Cii. r. THE NORTH AMKUICAN INDIANS.

the Indian, who, being fearful lest they should lose
themselves, had repaired tliither in the night to see :
and their parents, about that time, going to the
yearly meeting at Philadelphia, (they being Quakers,)
and leaving a young family at home, the Indians
came every day to see whether any thing was
amiss among them."*

The North American Indians are not only af-
fectionately attached, indeed, to their own offspring,
but are extremely fond of children in general.
They instruct them carefully in their own principles,
and train them up with attention in the maxims and
habits of their nation. Their system consists
chiefly in the influence cf example, and impressing
upon them the traditionary histories of their ances-
tors. When the children act wrong, their parents
remonstrate and reprimand, but never chastise
them. P^re Le Jeune, in one of his early Reports,
states that a band of Indians came to Quebec,
where one of the party, having remarked a French
boy beating a drum, went close to him, in order
the more attentively to observe him. Upon this,
the boy wantonly struck the Indian on the face with
one of his drum-sticks, so as to draw blood pro^
fusely. The whole party of Indians were much
offended, and going to the French interpreter,

* Proud's History of Pennsylvania, vol. i. p. 223. Pliila-
delphia, 1797.

I
CI

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. I.

" See," said they, *'one of your people has wounded
one of ours. You know very well our custom ; give
us some presents to wipe away this offence." " As
there is no police amongst the savages," continues
Le Jeune, " if one of them kills or wounds anoth^'*,
he may be quit by giving some presents to the
friends of the deceased, or to the person offended.
Our interpreter replied, ' You also know our cus-
toms : whcii any one acts wrong, we punish him.
This boy has wounded one of your people : he will
be immediately flogged for it in your presence.'
They accordingly had the boy brought out to receive
the punishment ; but when the Indians saw that the
French were in earnest, and were stripping and
preparing to flog this little beater of savages and of
drums, they began immediately to beg he might be
pardoned, saying that the boy was too young to
know what he was about ; but as our people still
continued their preparations to punish him, one of
the Indians suddenly stripped himself, and threw
his robe over the boy, crying out to the man who
was going to flog him, * Scourge me, if you choose ;
but do not strike the boy.' Thus the youth escaped.
None of the savages, as we are informed, can
chastise, or bear to see chastised, any child. This,"
adds the good Father, " will occasion trouble to
us in the design we have to instruct their youth." *

* Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1633, p. 145.

¥■

Ch. I.

Ch. I. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN'S.

i wounded
torn ; give
:e." **As
continues
5 anothc",
ts to the
offended,
our ciis-
nish him.
: he will
)resence.*
;o receive
that the
)ing and
s and of
light be
oung to
>ple still
, one of
threw
an who
hoose ;
icaped.
d, can
This,"
ble to
Ih."*

'",»

i:
'i

Charlevoix records a circumstance in some de-
gree similar ; and which is introduced in one of his
works, with the following tribute of praise to the
Indian character : " Most of the Indians possess
a nobleness of soul and an equanimity which we
seldom attain, with all the aid we draw from phi-
losophy and religion. Always masters of them-
selves, no alteration is perceptible in their coun-
tenance, even when they meet with the most unex-
pected insult. An Indian prisoner, who is well
aware what will be the termination of his captivity,
or who is perhaps under the still more trying in-
certitude respecting his fate, never loses a (luarter
of an hour of his sleep, nor does any sudden
impulse ever lead him into error. — A Huron chief
was one day insulted and struck by a youth. Those
who witnessed this, were upon the point of instantly
punishing the offender for his audacity : * Let him
alone,' said the chief, * did you not perceive the
earth tremble ? The youth is sufficiently conscious
of his folly.' "*

It is unnecessary, in this place, to lay before the
reader any additional passages from writers who
have noticed the general character of the North
American Indians. Similar extracts, if thought
requisite, might be selected in abundance, from

• Charlevoix, Journal Historique, Lett. 21.

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING

Cn.r.

authors of the highest credit — English, French,
and American. That the civilization of a
numerous race, gifted with the qualities which
these writers have so ascribed to them, should
have been obstructed, rather than promoted, by
their communication with Europeans, affords matter
of melancholy reflection. The fact, however, is not
to be doubted ; and the farther we inquire into the
subject, the more shall we be convinced of the truth
of what is observed by Lafitau, " that the Indians
have lost more by imitating our vices, than they
have gained by availing themselves of those arts
which might have added to the comforts and con-
veniences of life."

■■3(i

Cir. r.

Cll. 11. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

I, French,
3a of a
es which

II, should
noted, by
'ds matter
ver, is not
3 into the

■ the truth
5 Indians
than they
those arts
and con-

CHAPTER II.

•

EARLY CONDUCT OF THE FRENCH WITH RESPECT

TO THE INDIANS DANGEU8 AND DIFFICULTIES

EXPERIENCED BY THE MISSIONARIES IN NEW
FRANCE.

For many years after the. government of France
had begun to establish a colony upon the St. Law-
rence, very little interest seems to have been taken
by the parent state, either in the success of the
settlers, or the improvement of the Indians. The
newly-ac(juired country, indeed, came to be digni-
tied with the title of New France, and a prince of
the blood royal was appointed by the crown to be
viceroy over it. But neither the king nor his
viceroy gave themselves much trouble concerning
its government; and the entire control over Ca-
nada was delegated by letters patent — for a valuable
consideration, no doubt — to a company of mer-
chants from Rouen, Saint Malo, and Rochelle.
The Prince de Cond6, in the year 1 620, disposed
of his viceroyship to his brother-in-law, the Mar6-
chal de Montmorency, for eleven thousand crowns ;
and the mar^chal, in his turn, sold it in 1622, to
his own nephew, the Due de Ventadour. While
the uncle seems thus to have had his own temporal

fl^

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. 11.

interest in view, the chief concern of the nephew
was the spiritual welfare of tliose heathen nations
who resided within his newly purchased viceroyalty.
" The Duke," says Charlevoix, *' had retired from
the court, and had even entered into holy orders.
It was not for the purpose of returning to the
bustle and business of the world, but to procure
the conversion of the savages, that he took upon
himself the charge of the affairs of New France ;
and, as the Jesuits had the direction of his con-
science, he cast his eyes upon them for the execu-
tion of his project. He submitted the proposal to
the council of the king, and his majesty the more
willingly assented to it, because the Recollet
Fathers, so far from objecting to the measure, had
themselves first recommended it to the duke." *

Thus commenced those celebrated missions into
the wilds of Canada, which were principally di-
rected by th'3 society of the Jesuits — that powerful
association, whose labours and perseverance were
so conspicuous, in whatever quarter of the globe
they endeavoured to extend their temporal influ-
ence, or to convert the heathen to Christianity.
They continued, year after year, to send their mis-
sionaries into the savage regions of North America,
in order to promote the great work in which they
were engaged. The labour and constancy with

* Charlevoix, Histoire de la Nouvelle France, liv. iv.

Cn. 11.

Cm. 11. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

J nephew
1 nations
:eroyalty.
ired from
ly orders.
g to the
I procure
ook upon
France;
his con-
le execu-
oposal to
the more
Recollet
iure, had
ke." *
ions into
Daily di-
powerful
ce were
le globe
al influ-
istianity.
leir mis-
America,
ich they
cy with

iv. iv.

which these men pursued their projects have never
been surpassed. In Canada, the French missionary
entered upon his task with the fervour of a zealot,
and often closed it by suffering the fate of a martyr.
But, after all, what was the result .'' Did the mis-
sionaries of New France, after a hundred and
fifty years of zeal and exertion, leave behind them
a single Indian tribe whom they had actually con-
verted to ChrisUanity ? " In the interior at least

where there were at one time about twenty missions
of the Jesuits — there is little, if any, trace of such
conversion. It is said, indeed, that silver crucifixes
are still to be found hanging at the necks of distant
Indians; and so would any thing else which their
ancestors had received, and handed down to them
as ornamental trinkets. In Father Hennepin's day,
he lamented that " if one gives them some holy
image, or crucifix, or beads, they will merely use
them as ornaments to adorn their persons."*
With the exception of a few straggling villages of
Praying Indians, as they were called t,--and which

* Voyages du R. Ptire Hennepin, ii. ch. 32.

t " The French priests," says Dr. Colden, ♦♦ had from
time to time persuaded several of the Five Nations to leave
their own country, and to settle near Montreal, where the
French are very industrious in encouraging them. Their
numbers have been likewise increased by the prisoners the
French have taken in war; and by others that have run
from their own country, because of some mischief that they

iril

! '-

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. II.

* I

were chiefly established upon the St. Lawrence,
near Quebec and Montreal — what remains to mark
the labours of the missionary in New France?
The annals of that period, indeed, display every
where to our view his exertions and sutFerings ; but
we look in vain for any dawning of moral improve-
ment, or the slightest trace of benefit obtained
among those remote and uncivilized nations to
which the missions extended. Throughout the
barbarous history little is to be discerned but war,
treachery, bloodshed, and extermination. As far
as the improvement of the Indian race was con-
cerned, the labour was thrown away ; and it is to
be lamented that no experience proved sufficient to
convince the government of France that the mode
adopted with respect to the civilization of that
people was not calculated to effect the object which
was expecttd.

Monsieur de Champlain, the founder of Quebec,
who had been deputed to command in New France,
as lieutenant to the viceroy, first carried over with

had done, or debts they owed the Christians. These Indians
are all professed papists, and for that reason are commonly
called the Praying Indians by their countrymen ; and they
are called Cahanagas by the people of Albany, from the
plac» where they Uve. The French value them on account
of the intelligence they give in time of war, and theii* know-
ledge of the countries." — ColderHs History of the Five
Nations of Canada, part i. ch. 3.

Ch. II.

Ch, II. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS,

Lawrence,

ns to mark

»^l

V France? |

play every 1

rings; but ''

il improve-

b obtained

nations to

ghout the

d but war,

1. As far

was con-

nd it is to

ufficient to

the mode

n of that

.> ■■,*■■

ject which

)f Quebec,

jw France,

over with

tese Indians

e commonly

; and they

r, from the

Ion ancount

Itheii- know-

■Sr'

Mf the Five

'4-

him (on his return to America in the year 16 15)
several Fathers of the Recollet or Franciscan
order. One of these, P^re le Caron, accompanied
him that year to the country of the Hurons, but
he shordy after returned to France, with the Superior
of the mission to which he belonged ; leaving,
however, another Father of that order in Canada.
When the Due de Ventadour was appointed vice-
roy, he continued Monsieur de Champlain in his
situation of lieutenant. At this time Quebec,
although fourteen years had elapsed since it had
begun to be settled, could only boast a population
of fifty persons, including men, women, and chil-
dren ; * so true is it, as observed by Lord Bacon,
that, *' Planting of countries is like planting of
woods ; for you must make account to lose almost
twenty years' profit, and expect your recompense
in the end."

In the years 1625 and 1626, the society of the
Jesuits in France sent out eight missionaries to
Canada. These, as well as several of the Recol-
lets, laboured for a considerable period to convert
the Indians in the more immediate neighbourhood
of Quebec and Montreal ; but no regular mission
was sent into the interior until the year 1634.

In the mean while matters proceeded very unfa-
vourably in Canada ; and the unpromising state of

* Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle Fvu.ice, liv. vi.

ill

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. II.

that colony having been represented to the crown,
it was determined to alter the syscem under which
the charge of it had been hitherto conducted.
The old mercantile company was abolished, and a
new and powerful association established ; at the
head of which was placed the Cardinal de Riche-
lieu. To this body the whole care of the com-
merce of Canada was delegated. The Due de
Ventadour resigned his viceroyalty into the hands
of the crown, and M. de Champlain was appointed
governor of New France. Canada having been
taken possession of by the English in 1629,
Champlain returned to Europe; but after its re-
storation in 1632, he again resumed in person the
administration of that government. On his return
to North America, he took with him some more of
the Jesuit missionaries. The Recollet missions
seem about this time to have been suspended, and
were not restored to their functions for thirty
years. An express prohibition, under the severest
penalties, was likewise put to all emigration of
protestants to New France.

The three Jesuit missionaries, Pferes Brebeuf,
Daniel, and Davost, proceeded to the interior
country of the Hurons, in the year 1634; and
after undergoing the greatest hardships and perils
in their route, arrived at the remote station where
they proposed to commence the regular duties of
their mission- Exclusive' of the various hardships

€
V
h

V Ch. II.

Ch.II. the north AMERICAN INDIANS.

he crown,
ler which
onducted.
ed, and a
i; at the
ie Riche-
the corn-
Due de
he hands
ppointed
ing been
n 1629,
r its re-
rson the
is return
more of
missions
ed, and
thirty
severest
ion of

rebeuf,
nterior
; and
perils
where
ties of
dships

which the missionaries suffered in the interior, they
had to undergo all the rigours of a Canadian cli-
mate, with scarcely any means of protecting them-
selves from the inclemency of the seasons, and
often destitute of food. It was necessary for
them to accompany the natives throughout their
long and wearisome hunting parties, in the course
of which they experienced the greatest privation
and distress. At one period the Huron mission
continued three years without receiving any intelli-
gence or communication from their countrymen
at Quebec or Montreal; but their perseverance
enabled them to overcome many of the difficulties
with which they were surrounded. Their situation,
however, seemed never to improve ; and, after
almost a century and a half of labour and priva-
tion, the missions of ihe Jesuits in New France
were subjected to the same dangers and difficulties
which they experienced at their commencement.
Professor Kalm, who travelled into Canada about
the middle of the last century, thus expresses
himself with respect to them : " Their business
here is to convert the heathens, and with that view
their miisionaries are scattered over every part of
the country. Near every town and village, peopled
by converted Indians, are one or two Jesuits who
take great care that they may not return to paga-
nism, but live as Christians ought to do. Thus
there are Jesuits with the converted Indians in

^'«'

HISTOUICAL NOTES RESPECTING

Ch. II.

Tadusac, Lorette, Becancourt, Saint Francois, Sault
St. Louis, and all over Canada. There are like-
wise Jesuit missionaries with those who are not
converted ; so that there is commonly a Jesuit in
every village belonging to the Indians, whom he
endeavours on all occasions to convert. In winter
he accompanies them on their great hunts, where
he is obliged to suflfer all imaginable inconveniences ;
such as walking on the snow all day, lying in the
open air all winter ; being Out both in good and bad
weather, the Indians not regarding any kind of
weather, and lying in the Indian huts, which often
swarm with vermin. The Jesuits undergo all these
hardships for the sake of converting the Indians,
and likewise for political reasons. The Jesuits are
of great use to their king ; for they are frequently
able to persuade the Indians to break their treaties
with the English, to make wars upon them, to
bring their furs to the French, and not to permit
the English to come amongst them." *

There can be little doubt, indeed, but that the
French religious missions were closely connected
with the prosecution of the Canadian fur-trade.
The Jesuits, in order to lessen the expense of their
establishments, had obtained from the Pope a
license to trade in all parts of the world with those
heathen nations whom they attempted to convert

* Kalm's Travels in North America, vol. ii. p. 290.

Cii. II.

Ch. II. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

ais, Sault
are like-
are not
Jesuit in
tvhom he
In winter
its, where
eniences ;
ng in the
1 and bad
kind of
lich often
) all these
Indians,
esuits are
"requently
r treaties
Ithem, to
to permit

that the
lonnected
Ifur-trade.
of their
Pope a
[ith those
convert

). 290.

to Christianity. When Monsieur de Champlain
first sent some missionaries into the country of the
Hurons, ** he thereby expected," says Charlevoix,
" to pave the way for those establishments in their
country, which was so well adapted for trade, and
fi'om whence it would be so easy to push our dis-
coveries to the utmostextremity of North America."*
It would appear, however, that the French mer-
chants had entertained serious objections to such
interference, and this produced a form»il declara-
tion on the part of the Associated Company of
New France, (dated Paris, Dec. 1643,) that the
Jesuits, neither directly nor indirectly, were at all
engaged in the Canadian fur-trade, t Father
Hennepin, the Recollet, however, some years later,
observes, *' We may, to our shame, truly say, that
as soon as the furs and beaver begin to grow scarce
among the savages, the Europeans retire, and not
one is to be found. The savages reproached us
with it once in the presence of the Count de Fron-
tenac, in full council, at Three Rivers, in Canada,
saying, * While we have beaver and furs, he who
prayed was with us ; he instructed our children,
and taught them to pray ; he was inseparable from
us, and sometimes honoured us at our feasts ; but

* Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. v.
t Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1642-43. (The De^
claration is inserted at the end of that volume.)

ii'j

# I

'5i

r "

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. IL

when our merchandise failed, these missionaries
thought they could do no further service among

us.

' "#

Another and grievous vexation experienced by
the missionaries, arose from the enmity of the
native Sorcerers. These Jugglers, called by the
English Powahs, a name adopted from the Indians
in their neighbourhood, and also known, in the
languages of the country, by the names of Medeu,
Hitch Lalage, Loache^ &c., and by the French
termed Jongleurs, every where opposed themselves
to the Christian missions.f They generally officiate
in the threefold capacity of physician, priest, and.
prophet ; and their influence over their countrymen
has been universal. Hakluyt, in the account he
gives of Laudonnifere's early description of the
Floridas (1560), says, ** They have their priests,
to whom they give great credit, because they are

'i;' ■ '

* Hennepin, ii. ch. 30.

t " The office and dutie of the Powah," says Purchas,
" is to be exercised principally in caUing upon the Devill,
and curing diseases of the sicke or wounded. The common
people joyne with him in the exercise of Invocation, but doe
not assent, or as we may say amen, to that he saith ; yet
sometime breake out into a short musicall note with him.
The Powah is eager and free in speech, fierce in countenance,
and joyneth many antick and laborious gestures with the
same, over the partie diseased." — Purchas his Pilgrimes,
part iv. I'ook x. ch. 5.

ii,!;]!;'''

Ch. II.

Ch.h. the north American Indians.

■m

onanes
among

ced by
of the
by the
[ndians
in the
Medeuy
French
mselves
officiate
St, and.
itrymen
)unt he
of the
priests,
ley are.

urchas,
Devill,
sommoa
3Ut doe
th; yet
th him.
;enance,
vith the
IgrimeSy

great magicians, great soothsayers, and callers of
devils. These priests serve them instead of phi-
sitions and chyrurgions."* Charlevoix, and the
other missionaries of New France, lament deepl}',
in their writings, the obstructions which the Jong-
leurs every where opposed to their labours. These
men considered the French priests as intruders
upon their vocation ; and they accordingly seldom
failed to exert their influence to the molestation
and, frequently, the destruction of the missionaries.
The Indians regarded their sorcerers as endowed
with supern-itural powers, looking upon them with
fearful and superstitious apprehension. They even
ascribed to the Christian missionaries the perform-
ance of miracles, and this created a rancour and
jealousy among their own conjurors, which often
caused much violence, and placed the missions in
extreme danger.

In the year 1636, the Jesuit missions among the
Hurons received an addition to their numbers;
but the situation of those who composed them
became now more perilous than ever. In conse-
quence of the hostilities which again broke out
between the Hurons and the Iroquois, the mis-
sionaries were doomed to share in all the terrors of
Indian warfare. Under the circumstances in which
they were placed, they could not avoid accom-

* Hakluyt's Voyages, vol. iii. p. 301.

•5 ■^

K.t

I ililii''

i •

■:l;

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. II;

panj'ing the Hurons in their war expeditions ; and
although they probably did not often engage in
active hostility, they were frequently present in
their conflicts, and underwent great personal danger
while performing their religious duties, baptizing
the dying savages, and endeavouring to convert to
Christianity the captured warriors before they were
consigned alive to the flames by their enemies.

Charlevoix has given an account of the cruelties
practised upon an Iroquois prisoner, taken during
the war ; and as this Indian was the first adult
person belonging to that celebrated confederacy
who had received the rite of baptism, the historian
has been induced to present to his readers, at full
length, the particulars of his fate. He takes his
statement from Father Brebeuf, who, as well as
another missionary, was present at the scene which
occurred upon that occasion. It is not necessary
to follow him through all his horrible details ; bv.t
the proceedings with respect to this Iroquois captive
may be noticed, as they exhibit the singular mix-
ture of savage and of generous feelings, so con-
spicuous among those North American tribes,
whom the Jesuits endeavoured to convert to Chris-
tianity.

When the prisoner was brought to a village where
the missionaries happened to reside, a council was
held by the Huron sachems, or elders, to deliberate
upon what should be done with their captive ; and

iiilll;

Cii. II.

Ch. II. THE NOllTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

s; and
fage in
sent in
danger
iptizing
ivert to
:;y were
;s.

ruelties
during
t adult
ederacy
istorian
, at fuU
kes his
well as
which
cessary
; bi'.t
captive
ir mix-
o con-
tribes,
Chris-

where
cii was
i berate
and

it was decided that he should be delivered to an
old Huron chief, to replace, if he chose, one of his
own nephews, whom he had lost in the war, or to
deal with him in any other mode he might think
proper. As soon as Brebeuf was informed of what
was going on, he went to the Iroquois, in order to
afford him every consolation, and to extend to him
the benefit of religious instruction, and the rites of
the church. He was permitted to communicate
freely with the captive, whom he found dressed and
ornamented in a superior manner, and perfectly
tranquil and composed. Upon approaching him,
however, Brebeuf observed that one of his hands
had been crushed between two stones, and a finger
pulled off; and that they had likewise cut off two
fingers of the other hand with a hatchet : the joints
of his arms were also dreadfully burnt, and a deep
wound appeared in one of them. These injuries
had been inflicted while led in triumph to the place
where the sachems held their council to determine
upon the ultimate fate of their prisoner. After he
was brought to the village where the council was
assembled, the captive was treated with the utmost
kindness and attention, though well guarded to pre-
vent his escape. The missionaries were permitted
to attend him ; and Brebeuf states that he received
religious instruction with satisfaction, and was
thereupon baptized.

The prisoner was now marched from village to

V.'

'if

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. II.

village, till they at length reached the residence of
the Huron chief to whom he was to be presented,
and who, as yet, had given no decision as to his
future fate. When a captive was thus presented
to an Indian, the latter sometimes adopted him,
and sometimes doomed him to suilbr death. No
other person had the slightest authority with respect
to him, this right being deemed sacred and in-
violable. The Iroquois prisoner appeared before
the Huron with the countenance and demeanour of
a man equally indifferent to life or death. He was
not long kept in suspense. " My nephew," said
the old Huron chief, " you cannot know the plea-
sure which I received, when I heard you were to
belong to me. I imagined that he whom I had
lost had again risen in you, and that you would
occupy his place. I had already spread a mat for
you in my cabin, and looked forward in the hope of
passing the rest of my days with you in tranquillity
and peace ; but the state in which I find you com-
pels me to change my resolution. The pains and
inconveniences you suffer would only make life a
burden to you, and in shortening your days you
cannot but think I do you a service : it is they
who have thus mutilated you that have caused this
determination. Have courage, therefore, my ne-
phew ; prepare for death this night. Shew that
you are a man ; and be not cast down by the dread
of torments."

1 Vitii>

, I' ■

Cii.II. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

The prisoner heard this sentence with the utmost
composure, and answered with a firm voice, " It is
well." — The sister of the warrior whom he was to
have replaced then approached him, presented him
with food, and attended him with all the appear-
ance of most sincere friendship. The old chief also
caressed him with tenderness, put his pipe into his
mouth, and displayed towards him the marks of the
most unfeigned atfection.

At mid-day, a feast was given by the uncle,
where every one was assembled. " My brethren,"
said the captive, " I am going to die ; deal with me
as it pleases you : know that I am a man. I nei-
thc fear death, nor the torments that you can make
me suffer." After the feast was concluded, he was
led to the spot fixed upon for his execution. About
eight o'clock in the evening, the fires were lighted,
and the spectators collected. The elders addressed
the younger part of the assembly, exhorting them
to act properly in the important ceremony which
was to take place : the address was received with
the most dreadful yells and howling. The captive
was now brought forth in the midst of the assembly,
between two of the missionaries : his hands we e then
bound, and at this sight the hideous shouts of his ex-
pectant tormentors were redoubled. He then made a
circuit, dancing, and singing the death-song. A chief
took off the prisoner's robe, and exposed him naked
to the assembly. The scene of horror now com-

*.' w

,}■■

±iy.\

N'.

HISTORICAL NOTKS KKSI'KCTING Cii. II.

¥\

nienced ; and Charlevoix states the description
given of it by P^re Brebeuf, who was present
during the whole of the dreadful ceremony, to be
such as to make human nature shudder. The
missionaries obtained for him a respit from time
to time, in which Brebeuf persevered in his religious
exhortations. During these, the greatest silence
prevailed, Brebeuf being listened to with profound
attention. The captive continued to answer him
with most perfect composure, conversing sometimes
about the affairs of his own nation, as if he had
been surrounded by his family and friends. His
sufferings were prolonged during the whole night,
because the elders had declared it was important
that the rising sun should find him yet alive : his
torments were therefore protracted till the dawn of
day, when at length he was put to death.*

The reports transmitted from the French missions
in the interior contain but too many accounts of
barbarities similar to what was thus witnessed by
P^re Brebeuf. While resident among the Indians,
the missionaries were themselves in constant danger;
and, indeed, they appear to have held their lives
by a very slender tenure. On many occasions, we
find that their persevering attempts to civilize the
natives, or to convert them to Christianity, were
repaid by the severest torture and the crudest
deaths.
'" * Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. v.

s
s
f
c
a

ii
e
o

w
I

Ch.H. the north AMERICAN INDIANS.

Brebeijf himself, after twenty years of zeal and
labour in his vocation, having been taken prisoner
by the Iroquois, in 1649, was put to death anridst
the most cruel torments. P^re Gabriel Lallemant,
another Jesuit missionary, made captive at the same
tinie, was also burnt alive. P^re Daniel, who had
accompanied Brebeuf in his first mission into the
interior, was likewise taken prisoner and killed by
them. Jogues, Charles Gamier, Buteux, La
Ribourde, Goupil, Constantin, Garreau, Liegcouis,
together with many of their European companions
and attendants, were also put to death, chiefly by
the Iroquois. A similar fate befe" many other
missionaries who resided among tlie tribes inhabit-
ing Louisiana and the countries of New France,
situated upon the rivers which run into the Missi-
sippi from the east. Numbers also who escaped
from death were cruelly maimed and mutilated ;
others entirely disappeared, whose fate was not
ascertained, and who were never afterwards heard of.

Upon the subject of these and numerous other
instances of barbarity, the French writers naturally
expatiated with the greatest horror. The military
officers, also, who were employed in opposing the
savages in the field, and who felt themselves sur-
rounded by the extreme dangers attendant upon
such sanguinary campaigns, confirmed, and every
where circulated, the accounts of these barbarities.
In war, nothing can exceed Indian ferocity ; every

4^3

■I I

i|ii

m I

■ i

¥-

HISTORICAL NQTES RESPECTING Ch. II.

term of reproach, every opprobrious epithet, has
therefore been heaped upon the natives, by those
who were witnesses of their fury, and who unwil-
lingly experienced the accumulated dangers of
Indian warfare. But let us not be too hastily led
away by these indiscriminate charges against the
North American Indians. No rational person
can, in the slightest degree, approve of the uncon-
trolled fury exhibited in their hostilities, nor con-
sider with indifference the barbarity with which tha
prisoners of war are put to death, in cold blood, by
the most studied and refined cruelty. How that
horrid custom came at first to be adopted among
the aboriginal inhabitants, is a subject probably far
beyond the reach of human inquiry. It had existed,
no doubt, for ages before North America was dis-
covered by the Europeans, and continued to 1 \
handed down from father to son with superstitious
adherence. It may be said to have formed part of
the fixed and admitted national code among all the
Indians of North America. Particular tribes may
have differed as to the adoption of particular rules
and customs ; but the practice in question appears
to have been always common to the whole of the
Indian nations. It was universally and rigidly
adhered to by their sachems, chiefs, and warriors,
and carefully inculcated to their children, who were
brought up to consider it equally imperative upon
them to inflict the most cruel torments upon their

may
rules

Ch.II. the north AMERICAN INDIANS.

■'if

foes, when captured in war, as to bear with fortitude
and contempt the tortures to which it might be
their own fate to be sentenced. " The Indians,"
writes Lafitau, " seem to prepare themselves for
this from the most tender age. Their children
have been observed to press their naked arms
against each other, and put burning cinders between
them, defying each other's fortitude in bearing the
pain which the fire occasioned. I myself saw a
child of five or six years old, who, having been
severely burnt by some boiling water accidentally
thrown upon it, sang its death-song with the most
extraordinary constancy every time they dressed the
sores, although suffering the most severe pain!"*
In short, to bear and to inflict torture formed a
principal part of their education ; and the Indian
was as much trained to consider it his duty to
punish and torture his enemy, as the Christian is
taught to forgive him.

But, were the American Indians to be branded
by the French, and other writers, as wild beasts,
blood-hounds, cannibals, heathen demons, &c., &c.,
for adhering to customs which had been regularly
and sacredly transmitted to them by their ancestors
from the most remote ages? By all civilized
nations these manners and customs are jusdy con-
sidered barbarous, and calling for every rational

* McEurs des Sauvages Americains, &c. vol. iv. ch. 1.

"^f^'
t

^ -%

W\-

■•i'\

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. N.

exertion to have them completely abolished. Bar-
barous, however, as they may be, are they more so
than those which have been perpetrated, hundreds
and thousands of times, among the European na-
tions who have boasted of Christianity and civiliza-
tion? The task, indeed, would not be a very
agreeable one to balance the account of barbarity
committed in the Old world, with that committed
in the New ; or to contrast the cruelties perpetrated
by the Indians of North America, with those
which were practised, about the same periods,
throughout the civilized and Christian nations of
Europe. But it surely cannot be denied, that the
bigotted and bloody persecutions so long carried on
amongst the Europeans — the executions caused by
the blind rage of fanaticism — the sanguinary mar-
tyrdoms — the prisons, racks, and flames of the
Inquisition — merited the title of barbarous fully as
much as any of the customs follov,iid by the North
American savages. In the latter case, these cus-
toms were handed down by established usage from
time immemorial, among a rude and uninstructed
race ; in the former, the cruelties were sanctioned
and directed by public authorities, and by the su-
perior classes, by priests and crowned heads, who
boasted the light of revealed religion, and whose
education and knowledge ought to have taught them
to prevent, rather than to permit, such unchristian
barbarities. At the very period when the Indians

Cii.ir. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

of Canada were so vilified for practising their ac-
customed cruelties upon enemies employed against
them— -employed by that mercantile association
who, with the Cardinal de Richelieu at its head,
vas directing the affairs of New France, — that
minister was himself gravely presiding in the council
of the King, upon the case of the celebrated curate
of Laudun, whom they condemned and burnt alive,
on the charge of raising legions of devils, and exer-
cising other practices of the black art ! During one
of the reigns also in which we find the American
Indians so much reviled by the French Jesuits for
their acts of savage ferocity, the widow of the Ma-
reschal d'Ancre, after her husband had been bar-
barously murdered by officers in the employment
of the crown, -v?,«5 tried and condemned by a judicial
tribunal in France, and burnt alive for being a sor-
ceress. And not many years before, about six
hundr jd persons, within the jurisdicU'on of the Par-
lian^ent of Bordeaux, were tried, condemned, and
most of them burnt alive, on like charges. — These,
and the worse than Indian barbarities inflicted on
the Huguenots, were committed in the reigns of
Louis the Just^ ana of Louis the Great !

But, in comparing the barbarism of the native
inhabitants of North America with that of people
professing the mild doctrines of Christianity, we
need not travel so far as Old France to exhibit
instances in which the former were equalled by the

vitll

ih y I

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. 11.

Europeans in their acts of ferocity. Some of the
Indian tribes might almost, froui their own wigwams,
and among their Christian neighbours, the settlers
of the then British colonies of New England, have
witnessed acts of cruelty scrace less savage than those
which immemorial custom had sanctioned among
themselves. Was it more barbarous for the Iroquois
to burr alive, in the course of many years of warfare,
some Vrench Jesuits and RecoUets, than for an
English colony in North America, during the short
period of a few months, (and under a regular legal
commission of oyer and terminer,) to try, convict,
and execute twenty persons — among whom was a
much respected clergyman — all gravely charged
with being witches and wizards ! And these were
only scenes in miniature, compared to what were
then acting in Europe, on a great scale, in the same
sanguinary drama. Does the well-known persecu-
tion of the New England Quakers, which raged
about the same period in a colony professing Chris-
tianity and pretending to civilization, appear less
savage than many of those acts of barbarity for
which the Indian has been so vilified by his op-
pressors? By the laws of Massachusets, any man
convicted of being a Quaker, was, for the first
offence, to lose one ear, and for the second, the
other. Several of them underwent these mutila-
tions. If women were similarly convicted, they
were, for the first and second offences, to be severely

be
Sc
in
ha
th
w

ne
[)(
cc
ai

Ch. II. THK NORTH AMJiHICAN INDIANS.

■■¥■

whipped ; and for the third — whether men or
women — their tongues were to be bored through
with a red-hot iron. Quakers returning from
banishment, were to be punished with death.
Several persons, both male and female, were hanged
in consequence of tiiese enactments ; and persons
harbouring, entertaining, or in any way assisting
the Quakers, were fined, imprisoned, and publicly
whipped ! In truth, the white Christian neighbours
— whether French or Eng'ish — of the five Iroquois
natioiiS, do not appear to have had much reason to
bo'^jt of their own humanity or civilization, when
com[)arcd to that of their red heathen brethren
among the savages of North America.

♦ *2

■If.'

i ; '1

1^ )

^ r>l

]'■■%

•* ■

. 1

niSIOIlICAL NOlliS RESPECTING

Cn. in.

CHAPTER III.

INJUDICIOUS SYSTEM ADOPTED BY THE FRENCH IN
IMITATING AND RETALIATING THE BARBARITIES
OF THE INDIANb.

The system generally adopted by the French in
their numerous wars with the North American
Indians, appears to have been guided by extreme
infatuation. To check the ferocity of the savage,
they began by taking the extraordinary step of
following his example, and retaliated, in practice,
many of those barbarities which in principle they
so loudly condemned. And yet, in the early
periods of the history of Canada, the conduct of
the French has been held up by various writers
as having been the most gentle, and best adapted
to conciliate and civilize the Indian nations with
whom they came in contact — an assertion which
will scarcely stand the test of inquiry.

About the beginning of the seventeenth century,
the French commenced their settlements in Canada
by imprudently taking an active part in Indian
quarrels. From the year ioo8, when Champlain
laid the foundation of Quebec, we find him rashly
embroiling himself with some of the neighbouring
tribes. He entered headlong into offensive and

cn. m.

Ch. Ill, THE NORTH AMEUICAN INDIANS.

KNCH IN
iARVriES

encli in
mericaii
extreme

savage,
step of
)ractiGe,
)le tliey
e early
duct of

writers
idapted

entury,
anada
Indian
mplain
rashly
ouring
'c and

defensive measures of alliance with the Algonquins
and Hurons, against their ancient enemy the Iro-
quois, or Five Confederated Nations. " Monsieur de
Champlain," says La Potlicrie, " wishing to evince
to his Indian allies the esteem he felt for them, and
to give them proofs of the hravery of the French,
placed himself at their head, and entering the river
of the Iroquois, advanced as far as the lake which
now bears his name." In this unjust aggression,
he made a first experiment of the cftect of fire arms
upon a people totally ignorant of the use of them.
The first shot that was fired, from a French arque-
buss loaded with four balls, and pointed by Cham-
plain himself, killed three of the Iroquois chiefs,
who had advanced in front of their fellow-warriors,
*?nd whose plumes of feathers had enabled him to
distinguish and mark them out for destruction.*
Their followers, struck with consternation at the
effect of those unknown engines, were speedily
routed : but the death of their leaders was amply
revenged by the Iroquois. This, and similar expe-
ditions carried on by Champlain, cost France a
hundred and fifty years of Indian warfare.

Champlain had not long to wait until he wit-
nessed the Indian treatment of prisoners taken in
war — a treatment to which numbers of his own

* Voyages dans la Nouvelle France par le Sieur de
Champlain, liv. ii, ch. lo. Paris, 1613.

".' ■■■I

' '?,* El

h- :

if :

Hlb*TOUrC AL NOTES ItKSIM-C I I N f.

c'vi, m

countrymen were afterwards subjected in New
France. Upon this liis tirst victory, his Indian
confederates selected an Iroquois captive, on whom,
in their accustomed manner, they inflicted the most
savage cruelties. The French were struck with
horror at the sight, and prevailed upon the Indians,
though with considerable difficulty, to allow their
tortured prisoner to be put to death at an earlier
stage of his torments than would otherwise have
been permitted. They at first refused this request,
but seeing that Champlain was extremely displeased
with them, they told him, he might shoot their
prisoner if he chose. Champlain accordingly
levelled his arquebuss at the captive, and put an
end to his misery. To such spectacles, however,
the French soon became accustomed; and, in the
course of the numerous and bloody campaigns
which succeeded each other, year after year, the
Iroquois on the one hand, and the French with
their Indian allies on the other, perpetrated in
every quarter the most barbarous excesses.

The barbarities committed upon the Indians
in Canada were particularly conspicuous during
the long administration of the Count de Frontenac.
The experience and zeal of that officer had induced
the French government, after having recalled him
to Europe, again to require his services in North
America ; but however zealous the count appears
to have been in promoting the views of his royal

in New
s Indian
on whom,

the most
uck with
; Indians,
low their
an earlier
mse have
s request,
lispieased
loot their
cordingly
d put an
however,
111, in the
ampaigns
^ear, the
[ich with
trated in

Indians
during
rontenac.
1 induced
lied him
in North

appears
lis royal

Ch. III. THli NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

master — whether these views were directed towards
the increase of die temporal power of the crown,
the extension of the Roman Catholic religion,
or the promotion of the Canadian fur-trade — there
can be little doubt that the means he resorted to
for accomplishing his object, were not very con-
sistent with the so much boasted humanity of
the French towards the North American savages.
Dr. Colden, in his History of the Five Nations,
has given various instances in proof of this asser-
tion. Among these it appears that, upon one oc-
casion, wh(Mi the governor sent an officer with a
hundred men to convoy some of their Ottowa allies
back to their own country, he presented them, on
their departure, witli two Iroquois captives, for the
purpose of convincing their nation of the success of
the French against the Iroquois. These prisoners,
as might have been expected, were afterwards
burnt alive by the Ottowas. The Iroquois, how-
ever, continued to retaliate with great fury, and
the injuries inflicted upon them by the French and
their Indian confederates were never allowed long
to pass with impunity. The war parties of the
Five Nations, under their celebrated chief Black
Kettle, made constant inroads upon the Canadian
settlements, to the very suburbs of Montreal, leaving
their traces every where marked with devastation
and bloodshed.

" The Count de Frontenac," says Colden, " was

*:i

)!'

.ii.

HISTOrUCAL NOTK.s KESPKCTIX(i Ck. flf.

Cn.

ii!ii|

pierced to tluj heart, when ho found that lie coold
not revenge these terrihle incursions of the i nvc
Nations; and his anguish made hinj guilty of such
u piece of monstrous cruelty, in burning a prisoner
alive after the Indian manner, as though I have
frequently mentioned to have hcen done hy the
Intlians, yet I forhore giving the particulars of
such barbarous acts, suspecting it might be too
offensive to Christian ears, even in the hi.tory of
savages. IJere, however, I think it useful to give
a circumstantial account of this horrid act ; to
shew, on one hand, what courage and resolution?
virtue, the love of glory, and the love of one's country,
can instil into men's minds, even where the know-
ledge of true religion is wanting ; and, on tt»e other
hand, how far a false policy, under a corrupt
religion, can debase even great minds."

He then proceeds to state, that the Count de
Frontenac condemned two prisoners of the Five
Nations to be burnt alive; that the Intendant's lady
and the Jesuits entreated him to mitigate this
sentence, but that the count declared there was
a necessity of making such an example to frighten
them from approaching the plantations, as the
indulgence hitherto sliewn had encouraged them
to advance to the very gates of the French towns ;
and that the Indians having burnt alive so many
French captives, justified this method of retaliating.
" But, with submission to the politeness of the

(jK.nr.

Cn.in. TH1£ NORTH AMKRICAM INDIANS

.5A

ic could
lie rive
of such
prisoner
I liiive
l)y the
liars ot"
1)0 too
•tory of
I to give
act ; to
olution,
:ountry,
3 know-
le other
corrupt

Mint (le
le Five
t's lady
itc this
ire was
lighten
as tlie
I tliem
towns ;
^ many
Hating,
of the

M
fs

French," adds Golden, ** may I not ask whether
every or any horrid action of a barbarous enemy
can justify a civilized nation in doing the like?"

In order to prevent this execution, (^olden men-
tions that the Jesuits applied to the Governor,
but without success. The two Indians, after hear-
ing their sentence, refused to listen to the instruc-
tions of the priests, and began to sing their death-
song. Some person threw a knife into the prison,
with which one of them despatched himself. *' The
other," says Golden, *' was carried out by the
Ghristian Indians of Loretto to the place of exe-
cution, to which he walked, seemingly with as much
indifference as ever martyr did to tlie stake. While
they were torturing him, he continued singing — that
he was a warrior, brave, and without fear; that
the most cruel death could not shake his courage j
that the most cruel torment should not draw an
indecent expression from him ; that his comrade
was a coward, a scandal to the Five Nations, who
had killed himself for fe&r of pain; and that he
had the comfort to reflect that he had made many
Frenchmen suffer as he did now. He fully verified
his words, for the most violent torments would not
force the least complaint from him, though his
executioners tried their utmost skill to do it. They
first broiled his feet between two red-hot stones,
then they put his fingers into red-hot pipes, and
though he had his arms at liberty, he would not

'II

'1^

»1*

HISTOUICAL >UII.> UKSl'fcCriNO C 11.111.

pull Ills fingers out ; tluy cut liis joints, and, taking
hold of liis sinews, twisted them round small bars
of iron. All this while he kept singing and re-
counting his own brave actions against the French.
At last they flayed his scalp from his skull, and
poured scalding-hot sand upon it; at which time
the Intendant's laily obtained leave of the (JovOrnor
to have the coup- (It-(>; race given ; and, I believe,
she thereby likewise obtained a favour to every
reader in delivering him bom a farther continuance
of this account of French cruelty."*

The account thus given by Coldcn was probably
taken from the more detailed narrative of the
Baron de la Hontan. ( But it should be remarked
that the French v\riters, and particularly some of
the missionaries, endeavour to throw much discredit
upon the statements of that author. The "great
liberty," says Charlevoix, " which La Hontan gave
to his pen, contributed much to the circulation
of his work, and has made it to be read with
avidity by all those who have not had the means of
knowing that the true is so mixed with the false,
that to separate them it is necessary to be well
acquainted with the history of Canada. His book

* Colden's History of the Five Nations, vol. i. part ii.
chap. 7.

t Voyages du Baron de la Hontan dans I'Amerique Sep-
t«ntrionale, let. 23.

til. i(r.

Cll. HI. THU NOKTII AMtUICAN INDIAN'S.

, taking
till bars
and re-
I'rencli.
ill, and
.'h time
ovOrnor
believe,
> every
inuiince

robably
of the
marked
Dme of
i so red it
" great
\n gave
uiation
with
eans of
2 false,
)e well
is book

part ii.
ue Sep-

conscquently furnishes no information to the one,
and only misleads the other. I'hc proper names
throughout his work are eorru|)tcd ; facts are dis-
torted, and entire episodes in.serted, whicii arc mere
fictions; such, for instance, as his voyage up the
Long Kivcr — as fabulous as the Island of liurataria,
of which Sancho Panza was governor. Vet in
France and elsewhere his Memoirs have Ijcen
regarded as the travels of a cavalier who wrote
ill, but with ease ; who was devoid of religion,
but wlio, at tlie same time, reported witl> sufficient
accuracy what he saw." Charlevoix, indeed, has
not scrupled to avail himself of the information
contained in La Hontan's work ; and it is from his
own " List and Account of Authors " c(msulted l)y
him (prefixed to his History of New France), that
the above-cited passage is taken.*

La Hontan appears to have been a person not
well calculated to ingratiate himself with his supe-
riors, whether of a civil, military, or religious order.
His father died when La Hontan was very young,
leaving his family affairs in great difficulty. The
son wertt out to Canada as a private soldier at the
age of sixteen, but soon received a commission,
and was successively entrusted with the charge
of some of the forts in the interior. He returned
to France after a ten years* residence in Canada,

* Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvellp France, vol. i. Preface.

i il

■J*

IlISTCllilCAL XOTKS UESPECTrNG C.'n. Ill-

».c.

■p

and was appointed Lieutenant due Roi at Piacentia
(in Newfoundland), where he arrived in 1693.
Ke soon quarrelled with the governor of that place,
and, finding he was likely to be put under arrest,
made his escape from the island, and returned
to Europe. He endeavoured in vain to have his
conduct investigated in France, and was finally
obliged to quit his native country. With respect
to his Voyages and Memoirs, it is probable that
they raised against him numerous enemies, — not,
however, by distorting the truth, as Charlevoix
asserts, but by exposing it. The government of
Canada was not very willing, any more than were the
mishionaries, to have the abuses committed by the
French laid open to the public ; and the manner in
which La Hontan appears to have dragged into
light the folly and absurdity of the constituted
authorities of that country, must have been ex-
tremely grating both to the church and state.

It has been asserted by some of the Jesuit
missionaries and others, that the works ascribed
to La Hontan were written by Gueudeville, whom
they designate " an apostate and defrocked monk ;"
but there appears no good foundation for this asser-
tion, unless, indeed, the supposititious dialogues
(not inserted in his first edition) between La
Hontan and the Indian chief Adario^ be from
Ciueudeville's pen. Nor can it be conceded to
Charlevoix, tliQt the voyage up the Rivi^'re Longue

I'd JII. THE NORTH AMFRICAN INDIANS.

from
to

is a mere fable, No possible inducement cnn
l)e imagined why La Hontan should fabricate that
which is much the dullest part of his work ; and
Charlevoix might have known how easily tlie early
travellers, while employed in navigating the large
American rivers, through forests of immense extent
might be led even into great mistakes respecting
distances and local situation. The Riviere Longue
of La Hontan has been thought by some to be
the same as the River St. Peters, although, by the
baron's description, the former is made to join the
Missisippi more to the southward. Be this as it
may, it cannot be doubted that the narratives given
by La Hontan of those military expeditions in
which he was personally engaged, may fairly be
depended upon for their accuracy ; nor is there any
reason to doubt the truth of the accounts he has
given of the Indians, and of the injudicious
measures taken with respect to them. It should be
farther observed, that on the subjeti; of the bar-
barous execution above noticed, and ascribed to
the Count de Frontenac, La Hontan has never
been contradicted. He asserts that he was himself
an eye-witness of the scene, (at least of the com-
mencement of it, for he would not stay till its
termination,) a scene stated to have occurred pub-
licly in Quebec in 1692, and sanctioned by the
governor himself, who was then at that place.
At Montreal, also, executions appear to ijave

'il

11^

■- 1 ■'

HISTOKICAL NOTKS ULSPF.CTINC; Cii.Jll.

■'i

occurred similar to those wliich were exhibited
at Quebec. In another of the instances related
by Colden, he says, " This party (of the French)
surprised, likewise, a cabin, where they took some
men and women prisoners, and four of them were
publicly burnt alive at Montreal. So far the Count
de Frontenac thought it more proper to imitate
the Indians in their most savage cruelties, than
to instruct them by his example in the com-
passion of the C/hristian doctrine." These bar-
biirities were of course retaliated by the enemies
of the French: '' A party of one hundred and
fifty of the Five Nations fell upon the Ottowas in
their way to Canada, and entirely routed them.
Ten prisoners were taken, nine of whom were
burnt alive in revenge of the same fate the men
of the Five Nations had received at Montreal." *
And in another case he relates, that " the Ottowas
being then trading at Montreal, the Count de Fron-
tenac invited them to a feast to be made of the
prisoner, and caused him to be burnt alive." f

Nor is it likely, while such savage proceedings
were allowed to take place at head quarters in
Quebec and Montreal, that the commanding offi-
cers at distant stations in the interior, conducted

* Colden's History of
chap, '2.

t Ibid. chap. 1<2.

the Five Nations, part ii.

(.H. III. THE XORTH -AMERICAN INDIANS.

the

11.

themselves wich less rigour towards their Indian
opponents. In one of the numerous campaigns in
which it was the fate of La Hontan to be em-
ployed, he mentions that the Hurons had captured
a party of fourteen Iroquois, of whom they distri-
buted twelve among their own band, and, of the
remaining two, one was presented to Juchereau, the
French commandant at Michillimakinac ; and the
other to the Ottowa Indians. '" Which of these
two prisoners," writes La Hontan to his corre-
spondent, " do you suppose had the better lot? No
doubt you would wager a hundred to one that it
was he who was presented to Monsieur do Juche-
reau. Your good sense would naturally pronounce
that a French officer, and a Christian, would
prove to be more humane than the savages : but
you are mistaken. M. de Juchereau had no
sooner received the captive who was thus presented
to him, than he had him shot. The Ottowas gave
their prisoner his life.*

When Monsieur de Louvigny commanded at the
same place, in 1695, the Iroquois and the Hurons
attempted, by secret negotiation, to terminate their
long and sanguinary wf^rfare. To this the French
were extremely averse; it being their wish to
destroy, if possible, the former, who were the allies
of the English ; and they were apprehensive, if

La Huiilaii, vul. i. lel. 14.

■^::l!j

HISTOttlCAL NOTES UESPtCTlNG Cii. III.

a peace took place between the Iroquois and the
Hurons, the latter would also become attached
to that nation. The French discovered that these
two rival Indian powers were carrying on this
treaty, by their restoring to each other the prisoners
respectively taken by them in war ; a measure
contrary to their usual practice. Seven Iroquois
captives having been brought in by the Hurons to
Michillirnakinac, it was perceived that the prisoners
were treated with that lenity wliich had recently
been adopted, and some Frenchmen itnmediately
stepped forward and killed two of them as they
were landing from the boat. Upon this the Hurons
indignantly seized their arms, in order to protect
their remaining captives, and to avenge the insult
offered to themselves. A third party of Indians
then on the spot drew out their warriors to oppose
the Hurons; upon which the latter, relying on
the generosity of the French, whom they consi-
dered incapable of injuring those who voluntarily
put themselves in their power, sought refuge in
the French fort, and gave up to the commandant
the chief of the Iroquois captives, to be disposed
of as he should see fit. ** Although," says La
Potherie, " the character of the French is averse
from inhumanity, they could not, in this instance,
dispense with making a public example. The con-
tinual lenity shewn to the Iroquois by our Indian
allies (who, in fact, are at bottom as much our enemies

Cu. HI. THF, XORTII AMERICAN INDIANS.

as the Iroquois themselves,) could only have the
effect of keeping up the mutual good-will they
in secret entertained towards each other ; and there-
fore, to embitter the minds of the Iroquois, it was
judged proper, on the present occasion, to make a
sacrifice of this chief." *

The cold-blooded reasoning of La Potherie can
only be equalled by the savage determination of
De Louvigny, whom Charlevoix describes as " one
of the most accomplished officers then in New
France." The account given of the wanton exe-
cution of this Iroquois warrior, whom his Huron
captors intended to spare, and who was brought to
the stake by an officer in the service of a Christian
nation— celebrated, as La Potherie would have it,
for its humanity — is scarcely to be credited ; and
cannot be read without feelings of indignation.
The details, indeed, are almost too horrid for
perusal ; but discredit having been thrown by
various writers upon similar accounts of French
cruelty towards the Indians, as detailed by the
Baron de La Hontan, the reader may peruse
the description given by La Potherie, which shews
that the French not only sanctioned, but aided in
these barbarities. His account has never been
questioned ; and it may be noticed, that his history
containing the narrative alluded to, was published

■ ■ -f .

'•'!*.'! I

■■<f.

„1 :-*.

':* 1

La Potherie, Hist, de la NouvtUe France, v(»l. ii. cli. •22,

64.

IIISTOIUCAI, NOTES UFSl'FXTING Ch. III.

at Paris, with the customary royal privilege and
approbation.*

* " The Ottowas (who had remained neuter) were invited
to attend at this coremony. The captive was bound by the
hands and feet to a post stuck in the ground, leaving him
sufficient hberty to move round it. A large fire was lighted
near him, in which they made several gunbarrels and other
instruments red-hot ; the prisoner in the meanwhile occupy-
ing himself in singing his death-song. Every thing being
now ready, a Frenchman began by passing a red-hot gun-
barrel along his feet, one of the Ottowas took another, and
they scorched him, one after the other, up to the hams,
during all which time he continued singing tranquilly. He
could not, however, forbear uttering loud crios when they
burnt his thighs with the red-hot irons, exclaiming fire was
powerful. All the assemblage of savages now mocked him
with shouts, asking him how he pretended to be a warrior,
being afraid of fire. In these tortures they kept him for
two hours without any respite ; and as often as he shrunk
and dropped his head upon tlie stake, they mocked and re-
viled him the more. An Ottowa, wishing to refine upon his
torments, made a deep slash in his body, from the shoulder
to the hams, and then putting gun-powder into the wound,
set fire to it. The prisoner felt this torture more severely
than the former ones, and being dreadfully parched with
thirst, they gave him to drink, not however for the purpose
of quenching his thirst, but to prolong his sufferings. When
they perceived his strength beginning to fail, one of the
Ottowas scalped him, leaving the scalp hanging down his
back, and then covered his head with burning sand and red-
hot ashes. They then unbound him, and told him to run
for his life. He set out reeling like a drunken man, falling
and gelling up again. They made him go towards the

Cii. III. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

being

The constant and severe losses felt in Canada
for a long course of years, did not prove sufficient
to open the eyes of the French goveininent to the
impolicy of the conduct adopted with regard to
the Indians. The Count de Frontenac himself
was not to be taught viisdom by experience ; and
the last campaign he directed against the Five
Nations, was as rash and useless as those which
had been conducted by Champlain, his predecessor
in the government, upwards of half a century
before. Frontenac set out, in 1696, with great
military parade, from Montreal, expecting to strike
a final blow at the existence of the Iroquois con-
federacy. He was attended by niany brave and
distinguished officers, at the head of a force con-
sisting of about three thousand Europeans, Cana-
dians, and Indians, accompanied with field-pieces,
howitzers, &c. As the French advanced into their
country, the Iroquois retreated before them, taking
with them their old men, women, and children.
The Indian forts, villages, and corn fields, were
entirely destroyed: but after a tedious and harassing
campaign, the governor-general, or as La Po-

•m

setting sun, (the country of departed souls,) preventing him
from turning towards the east, and only allowing him such
^pace to move in as they thought proper. He had still
strength left to throw stones by hazard at his tormentors :
at length he was stoned to death."— La Potherie, vol. ii.
ch. 22.

■tv-

<■ Sill III

G()

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cm. III.

,rii

Pil

II.

,• ' 15"-

therie blazons him, ** the love and delight of New
France, the father of all the savage tribes in alli-
ance with the French, and the terror of that for-
midable people the Iroquois," had to retrace his
steps to Montreal, without gaining any advantage
over the enemy, or ob^'^ining a single trophy
of victory: unless the vrj of burning alive
a couple of Indians can U. calk' "o. Of these,
one was a young Mohawk, who, having run away
from the village of Christian Indians, near Mont-
real, rejoined his own countrymen. He then,
from mere curiosity, (as admitted by Charlevoix
himself,) came to visit the Oneydas, and had joined
a party of their chiefs, who, after the French in
this expedition had burnt their villages, were going
to surrender themselves. The Mohawk volun-
tarily followed their example, and the result of his
confidence in the French was his being burnt
alive.

The other prisoner was an old feeble Onandago
sachem, who could not, or rather who would not,
accompany his countrymen in their retreat. This
Indian was supposed to be a hundred years old.
It might have been expected that the Count de
Frontenac, who had himself grown grey in his
campaigns against the Iroquois, and who, now in
the seventy-fifth year of his age, was obliged to be
carried to the field in his elbow-chair, might have
had a fellow-feeling for an old brother warrior, and

Ch.III. the north AMERICAN INDIANS.

ndago
not,
This
old.
int de
his

at least have ordered this ancient captive to have
been treated with generosity. Tlie old prisoner,
however, was given by the French, as usual, to
their Indian confederates ; by whom he was burnt
alive. " Never was a man," says Charlevoix,
" treated with greater barbarity, nor who shewed
more firmness and greatness of soul. It was, in-
deed, a most extraordinary spectacle, to see upwards
of four hundred savages let loose upon a feeble old
man, from whom all their tortures could not draw
forth a single groan ; and who, as long as life con-
tinued, never ceased reproaching them for being
the slaves of the French, of whom he spoke witli
the utmost contempt. When one of his tormentors,
either from compassion or rage, stabbed him with a
knife, in order to put an end to his existence,"
" I thank you," said the old captive, " but you
should not attempt to shorten my life ; you would
have the more time to learn from me to die like a
man. As for myself, I die content, having no act
of cowardice with which to reproach myself."*

At a still later period, not a hundred years ago,
Crespel, the Franciscan missionary, records a
similar expedition, equally useless, and still more
sanguinary. When the Chevalier de Beauharnois
was governor-general of New France, he sent

* La Potherie, vol. iii. let. 7 ; and Charlevoix, Nouvelle
France, liv. xvi.

' ,('■

lii^ll

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. III.

I'-

into tlie interior (in the year 1728,) an armament,
consisting of four hundred French, with eight
hundred of their native aUies, against a nation
called the Fox Indians ; and in order, no doubt,
that their enemies might be converted as well as
conquered, Father Crespel and Bertoni^rc, assisted
by another priest, were attached to the expedition.
The report which Crespel has given of this crusade
against the Infidels is a curious one. After a
march, or voyage, of no less than four hundred
leagues, they reached the country of their enemies,
having achieved nothing of importance in their
route, unless it was the surprising a village of the
Saukies, (allies of the Fox Indians,) four of whom
were taken prisoners by the French ; and, being pre-
sented by them to their Indian confederates, were
put to death with the most cruel torments.

" After this little coup- de-main f'' says P^re Cres-
pel, *' we ascended the Fox river, and arrived at a
village (of the Winnebagos), well disposed to destroy
all the inhabitants whom we might discover ; but
they had fied. We could therefore only burn their
cabins to the ground, and destroy all their Indian
com, the food upon which they principally subsist.
Next day, being the F^te of St. Louis, after mass,
we entered a little river, on the border of which was
situated the principal residence of the nation we
wfere in quest of. Their allies, the Saukies, had, no
doubt, given them information of our approach:

lay ij«ii

eight

Ca. III. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

they did not choose to wait our airival, and we only
found in their village some women, whom our In-
dians made captives ; and an old man, whom they
burnt alive at a slow fire."

Crespel then proceeds to detail the arguments he
urged, at full length, to the savages, through an in-
terpreter, against these barharous proceedings. One
of the Indians, in justification of himself and his
comrades, replied that when they fell into the hands
of their enemies, they were always treated in the
same manner, and that it was their immemorial
custom to conduct themselves towards their foe as
he behaved towards them. " I wished much,"
continued Crespel, "to have known the language of
the Indian who gave this reply, in order to have
exposed to him the weakness and fallacy of his
answer. I was under the necessity of having it
represented to him, that nature and religion required
of us to be humane to one another ; that modera-
tion should guide us in every thing ; and, that to
forgive and forget the evils which are done to us
was a virtue expressly ordained by Heaven."

" I do not know," adds the missionary, " if my
interpreter explained properly all that I said, but
these Indians would not allow that they were acting
upon a false principle : I therefore was going to
urge some further arguments, when orders were
issued that we should immediately march towards
the last fort of our enemies, situated in a small river

':^i

' m

'It

^'fi

HISTOIIICAI, NOTES RESPECTING Ch. III.

that runs into the Wisconsing. Here we found
nobody ; and as we had not been ordered to ad-
vance any further, we employed some time in
entirely ruining the crops, that the Indians might
be starved. This is a fine country, and the land
fertile. After this expedition — if we can give that
name to a measure which was absolutely useless —
we set out to return to Montreal."* Such were
the modes adopted by the French in Canada, in
order to convert and civilize the Indians of North
America.

Voyage du P^re Crespel au Nouveau Monde, p. 21,

1»:

Ch. IV. TflE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

CHAPTER IV.

TREACHEROUS CONDUCT OF THE FRENCH GOVERN-
MENT WITH REOAIID TO THE INDIAN NATIONS
— ABSURD ACCOUNTS OF THE JESUIT MISSIONA-
RIES, RELATIVE TO THEIR SUCCESS IN CONCERT-
ING THE HEATHEN.

In defence of one branch of the injudicious
pohcy adopted with respect to tlie Indians by the
government of New France, it has often been
alleged that, to secure their support in time of war,
it was requisite for the French to shut their eyes, as
much as possible, to the sanguinary cruelties of
their Indian allies.

This excuse might in some degree be admitted,
had the wars which France waged with the Indians
been necessary, and had Indian alliances been in-
dispensable in carrying them on. But this by no
means appears to have been the case; and the
French, as we have seen, were not satisfied with
permitting the barbarous acts of their Indian con-
federates to pass unrestrained, but they even copied
those barbarities themselves. The result of this
system might have beei anticipated, and it evidently
operated to the serious disadvantage of the Euro-
peans in all their subsequent proceedings. The
sagacity of the Indians, in penetrating into the cha-
racter, as well as appreciating the conduct, of the

1^1

I .

is. 4

' ill

HISTORICAL NOTES KKSPECTING Ch. lV^

adventurers from Europe, and their boldness in
declarino; their opinions regarding them, has often
been noticed in the early North American annals.
The celebrated instance of it wliich is recorded as
having occurred in the conference held ontlie shores
of Lake Ontario, between Monsieur de la Barre,
the governor-general of Cauiida,, arjd some of the
Iroquois, may be noticed.

In the year 1684, De la Barre resolving, like
several other governors of New France, to anni-
hilate the Five Nations, marched a large force into
the interior, at a time when that people were at
peace with the French. Before he had reached
Fort Cadarackui,* a dangerous sickness had broken
out in his army, in consequence chiefly of want of
provisions. This circumstance totally frustrated
Ijis operations. His next object vias to obtain a
conference with some of the Irocjuois chiefs, ima-
gining that they ^vere entirely ignorant of his plans,
and vkould willingly enter into any arrangeiiuent he
might propose to thero. He accordingly crossed
over the lake with a guard and party of officers ;
and iiaving sent Le Moine, a Frencli uiissionary,
into the country of the Oaondagas, in order to
prevail upon some of their sachems to meet hioi,
he remained in his camp until Ix' Moine's return.

* Cadtunchui^ on Lake Ontario, named by the French
Fort I''rontetiai, now Kir/gftton in tq)per Canada,

SW^

Ch. [V. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

In a few days, Garangula, an Iroquois chief, ar-
rived, attended by thirty of his waniors.* After
having been properly regaled by the French go-
vernor, a council was held with all due ceremony ;
and a circle i^eing formed of the French officers and
the Indian warriors, Monsieur de la Barre, placing
himself in his chair of state, thus commenced his
address to the old Iroquois chieftain :—

" The king, my master, being informed that the
Iroquois have for a long time infringed the peace,
has ordered nie to come hither with an escort, and
to send to the Onondagas, to invite their chief
sachems to visit me. The intention of this "reat
monarch is that you and I should smoke the pipe
<-)f peace together : provided you engage, in the name
of the Five Nations, to give reparation to his subjects,
and not to quarrel with them in future. The Five
Nations have robbed and abused ail our traders
who were going to the Illinois, Miami, and other
tribes, the children of my king. On these occasions.,
they have acted contrary to the treaty of peace
vi'ith my predecessor. I am ordered, therefore, to
demand satisfaction ; and to tell them that, in case
of refusal, or their plundering us any more, I have
express orders to declare war against them. This
>:x;?lt guarantees my words." f

* Charlevoix gives hitn the Indian name Uaaskouan ; the
French icalled hitn La Grande Gueulc. Hence probably he
got the more somuiing appellation of Garangula.

t The belt, or collar, of wampum, is given on these occa-

: '•')!

B,y

^^Bk' '

J=^

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. IV-

i J'

After several other similar threats, the French
governor thus concluded his speech : " This is what
I have to say to Garangula, that he may carry back
to the Five Nations the declaration which the king
my master has commanded me to make. He will
be concerned if they force him to send a great army
to Cadarackui Fort, to begin a war which must
prove fatal to them. He would also be sorry that
this fort, which was the work of peace, should
become the prison of your warriors. We must
endeavour, on both sides, to prevent such misfor-
tune. The French, who are the brethren and
friends of the Five Nations, will never trouble their
repose, provided the satisfaction which I demand
be given, and the treaties of peace hereafter punc-
tually observed. I shall be extremely sorry if my
words do not produce the effect which I expect, for
then I shall be obliged to join with the English
governor of New York, who is commanded by
the king his master to assist me in burning the
forts of the Five Nations, and in destroying you.—
This belt guarantees my words."

Garangula was tco well aware of the real intentions
of the French, and saw too clearly their inability, at
that time, to execute them, not to hear with the
utmost contempt the threats thus held out by

sions, according to the Indian fashion, as a record or solemn
remembrance of their speeches, treaties, promises, &c. The
wampum belts are handed down from generation to genera-
tion among the Indian nations.

Ch.IV. the north AMEPICAN INDIANS.

j'l

M. de la Barre. During the governor's address,
the Indian kept his eyes immoveably fixed upon
the end of his pipe ; and, after the speech was con-
cluded, he walked composedly several times round
the circle, and then, placing himself directly oppo-
site to the governor, thus addressed him :
" Onnontio,*

" I honour you, and all the warriors now uith me
likewise honour you. Your interpreter has finished
your speech : I now begin mine. My voice hastens
to reach your ear : hearken to my words.

" Onnontio, you must have imagined, when \rou
left Quebec, that the heat of the sun had burnt up
all the forests which make our country inaccessible
to the French, or that the lake had so much over-
flowed its banks, as to have surrounded our cabins,
and made it impossible for us to escape. Yes,
Onnontio, you surely must have believed this ; and
the curiosity of seeing so great a country destroyed
by fire or water, has brought you so far : but now
you are undeceived, since I, and my warriors here,
have come to assure you that the Five Nations are
not yet destroyed. I thank you, in their name, for
bringing back into their country the calumet of
peace which your predecessor received from their
hands. I also congratulate you that you left still

*■ Onnontio means the Great Mountain, and was the usual
appellation gi"( - by the Indians to the q;overnors-general
of Canada.

} ."

HlflVoaiCAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. IV.

buried uiidetground aiat hatchet which has been so
often dyed in the blood of the French.* Listen,
Onnontio : I ani not asleep ; my eyes are open,
and the sun, which gives me light, discovers to me,
at the head of a band of soldiers, a great captain
who speaks in his sleep. He says that be only came
to this lake to smoke the great calumet with the
Onondagas : but Garangula se«s the contrary, and
that it was to knock us on the head, if sickness had
not prevented the French from doing so. I see
Onnontio dreaming in a camp of sick men, whose
lives the Great Spirit has saved by visiting them with
this sickness : for, our women would have taken up
their clubs, and our old men and children carried
their bows and arrows into the heart of your camp,
if our warriors had not disarmed them, when your
ambassador came to my village. This is so ; I
have spoken it."

Garangula, after proceeding some time i,^ ihis
strain, closed his lecture to the governor-geiieial
of New France in the following words :

" Listen, Onnontio — My voice is that of the
Five Nations : hear what they answer : open your
ears to what they say. When they buried the
hatchet within the Fort of Cadarackui, in the pre-
sence of your predecessor, they planted on the same

* To burj/ the hatchet ''s the Indian expression for con-
cluding a peace, as the unourying it means the preparing to
go to war.

Cfi.IV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

spot the tree of peace, to be there careiully nourished :
that tfie fort, instead of being a rendezvous for ^o\-
diers, might become a retreat for traders ; and in
place of being made a deposit for arms and ammu-
nition of war, it should onl}' be used as a magazine
for beaver skins and merchandise. Take care that
in future so great a number of soldiers as appear
now enclosed in that little fort do not choke the
tree. It would be a great pity that, after taking
foot so favourably, its growth should be checked,
and prevent its covering with its branches both your
country and ours. I assure you, in the name of the
Five Nations, that our warriors will dance under
its leaves the dance of the calumet, and remain
quiet on their mats, and never dig up the hatchet
to cut down the tree of peace : unless their great
brothers Onnontio and Corlear* shall, either jointly
or separately, endeavour to attack this country,
which the Great Spirit gave to our ancestors. This
belt guarantees my words, and this other one the
authority which has been given to rne by the Five
Nations." f

Neither Charlevoix nor La Potherie take any
particular notice, in their Histories, of this speech
of the Iroquois chief; the former merely stating
that one of the Indian deputies had addressed

* Corlear was the name by which the Indians usually dis-
tinguished the governors of the English colony of New \ork.
t La Hontan, vol. i. let. 7,

l.t

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING

Ch. IV.

r'^%

Monsieur de la Barre with great arrogance. But
La Hoiitan, who was in the expedition, adds that
thfc governor-general was so much mortified, that
after concluding the treaty, he lost no time in
setting out on his return to Montreal: the Canadian
militia dispersing themselves, without order or
discipline, towards their respective homes.

About three years after this expedition, a similar
one was undertaken by the new governor-general,
the Marquis de Denonville : who set out from
Montreal, in ]687, with a force of two thousand
men, upon the old and favouriie project of totally
exterminating the Iroquois, with whom the French
were then at peace. La Hontan, who served in
the campaign, observe;:, in one of his letters, " As
to myself, without pretending to the gift of pro-
phecy, 1 look upon it as incontestable that we arc
unable of ourselves to destroy the Iroquois ; be-
sides, 'vhy should we attemj i: to destroy a people
who leave us at rest ? Such, however, is the
pleasure of certain turbulent spirits here ; who find
their advantage in disorder, and in compromising
the true interests of t'le k^ng, at the expense of
public tranquillity. 'A e shal! soon see the fruits
of these undertakings, which 1 expect will prove
to be the mountain in labour,"*

In his next letter, La Hontan states, that

La Hontan, let. 12.

J ■<}

Ch.IV. the north AMERICAN INDIANS.

Monsieur de Champigny, (the intendant of New
France,) who liad preceded in his march the rest of
the troops, arrived ten days before them at Fort
Frontenac. Not to lose time, he commenced his
operations by an act of the most treacherous hos-
tility. He sent three hundred Canadians to sur-
prise two Iroquois villages, situated a few leagues
from the fort. They reached them in the evening,
and having surrounded the unsuspecting inhabitants,
destroyed many of them, and seized and bound
several uf iheir chiefs, whom they brought to the
fort, where the intendant ordered them to be tied
to stakes by the neck, the hands, and the feet.
When the main body of the French arrived, La
Hontan was informed of what had occurred, and
hastened to the fort ; where he found the Indians
thus tied up, which struck him with great indigna-
tion. They were all occupied in singing, and they
loudly complained of the treacherous conduct they
had met with: particularly lamenting the fate of
their old men, who had been massacred when their
two villages were surprised. " What ingratitude ! "
they exclaimed, " what ingratitude! We have
never ceased, since the peacej to assist in supporting
this fort by our hunting and fishing— have supplied
the garrison with abundance of beaver and other
furs; and ii. return, they come treacherously into
our villages while we are ut peace, murder our old
men, and make slaves of us ! But the Five Na-

V^'s

HISTORICAL NOTES UESPECTING Cu. IV.

lions will take care to avenjre us ; our countrymen
will never forget this outrage."

La Hontan recognised, in one of these captives,
an Indian who had frequently received him in his
cabin, when formerly quartered at Fort Frontenac.
This prisoner being acquainted with the Algonquin
language, La Hontan expressed his sorrow to
see him in that distressing situation, but promised
he would take care to have meat and drink con-
veyed to him ; and would give him letters to his
friends at Montreal, in order that, if carried thither,
he might be favourably treated. The Indian re-
plied, that he saw very well the horror with which
most of the French were struck upon viewing the
cruelties inflicted upon him and his comrades ; he
thanked La Hontan for his offers, but did not wish
to be more favourably treated than his fellow-pri-
soners. He then ga' e an account of the manner
in vihich they were surprised — how their old men
were massacred ; and made many bitter reflections
in recounting the services they had done to the
iFrench.

The honest indignation felt by the Baron de la
Hontan at this treatment almost proved fatal to
himself. At the moment he was thus contemplat-
ing their unfortunate lot, some of the savages, the
allies of the French, began to employ themselves
in buining the hands of the captives with their
lighted pipes. The baron lost all patience, and

ati,

Itp':-

I: i ' ' I

Cu.IV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

I, '~i

Struck their tormentors some smart blows with his
cane; but his superior officers being informed of
what he had done, called him before them ; and
after severely reprimanding him, put him under
arrest. In the meanwhile the Indians whom
he had offended, demanded that he should be put
to death, threatening all to return home if it was
refused. *' The affair," says La Hontan, " began
to be somewhat delicate, as their assistance was
necessary. The worst part of the matter for nie
was, that these savages wanted to be my accusers,
Judges, and executioners. At length it was con-
trived to appease them, by their being told I had
been drunk ; and that there had existed a positive
order never to allow me any strong liquor.
Drunkenness is reckoned innocent among those
people : they look upon it as an excess of mad-
ness, and laugh at us for punishing that as a
crime which is efliected neither under the influ-
ence of reason nor will. The better to calm their
fury, they were promised that, at my return, I
should be put in prison. This they believed, and
I was let off for an arrest of five days. The pri-
soners were sent down to Quebec, from whence, it
is said, they will be transported to France, in order
to serve in the galleys."*

* La Hontan, let. 13. Neither this author nor Charle-
voix appears to have mentioned the number of Indian

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. IV.

Golden, in his History of the Five Nations, also
gives an account of this disgraceful proceeding.
'* These people were surprised," says he, " when
they least expected it, and by those from whom
they feared no harm, because they had settled there
at the invitation, and on the faith of the French.
They were carried to the fort, and tied to stakes,
to be tormented by the French Indians — Christians
as they call them — while they continued singing, in
their country manner, and upbraiding the French
with their perfidy and ingratitude." And he con-
cludes his narrative of the unsuccessful expedition
of which this shameful act of treachery was the
commencement, with the following remark. " The
French having got nothing but dry blows by this
expedition, sent thirteen of the Indians, whom
they surprised at Cadarackui, to France, as trophies
of victory, where they were put into the galleys."*

In order to entrap these Indians, Charlevoix
mentions, that two of the missionaries, P^res
Milet and Jean de Lamberville, had been made
instrumental, though, as he states, without their
knowledge. Whether they vere really guilty of
any participation in this perfidious act, it is not
very easy to ascertain. There can be little doubt

warriors who were thus trepanned and brought to the
French fort. La Potherie says, there were forty. Vol. iii.
let 2.
* Colden's History of the Five Nations, part i. ch. 5.

C». IV. THE NORTH AMKRICAN INDIANS.

but that the Jesuit missions among the Indians
directed their operations as often to political, as to
religious purposes; and if the account given by
Chaiirvoix be carefully examined, it will be thought
extremely probable that these two missionaries
played the part of spies at thnt time among the
Iroquois. Be this as it may, they narrowly
escaped the fate to which Indian spies would
have been consigned. Milet was sentenced to
be put to death ; but when on the point of being
burnt alive, his life was saved by his being adopted
by an Indian matron. Lamberville, as soon as
the Indians heard of the treachery which occurred
at Fort Frontenac, was summoned before their
sachems. He had every reason to suppose they
were going immediately to put him to death with
the most cruel torments ; but after reprobating, in
the strongest and most indignant terms, the per-
fidious conduct which had been pursued towards
their countrymen by the French, they informed
Lamberville that they had known him loo long,
and esteemed him too much, to suppose he had
been aware of the treachery employed against
them; adding, however, that he must rempin no
longer in their country, as they could not now
answer for his safety. The missionary was then
sent away, under the protection of safe guides ;
the savages thus exhibiting a degree of considera-
tion and generosity, which it would have been

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HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. IV.

well had their European opponents known how
to imitate.

Charlevoix, on the subject of this act of perfidy,
observes, that the king of France had commanded
that some of his Indian enemies, when taken pri-
soners of war, should be sent to Europe to assist
in manning his galleys ; but he adds, that the
governor of Canada, Monsieur Denonville, in cap-
turing them, had imprudently exceeded the royal
instructions. The courtly historian evidently la-
bours, in this delicate matter, both to defend the
king and the governor ; but his defence, at the
best, is of a flimsy description. The king, in a
letter written to Monsieur de la Barre (Denon-
ville's predecessor), had declared, ** As it is of
importance to the good of my service to diminish,
as much as possible, the number of the Iroquois ;
and that as these savages, who are strong and
robust, will serve usefully in my galleys, I desire
that you will do every thing in your power to make
as many of them as possible prisoners of war, and
send them over to France."* When Louis le
Grand thus ordered Indian warriors to be sent to
Europe for the purposo of being made useful in
his galleys, it is not to be wondered at if his repre-
sentative in Canada entertained little scruple as to
the mode in which these galley-slaves were to be

Chhrlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. xi.

Ch.IV. the north AMERICAN INDIANS. 85

procured; nor, amidst the triumphs obtained by
his royal master, was it likely tc become an object
of very rigid inquiry, whether a band of Iroquois
heathens, captured on the shores of Lake Ontario,
and consigned to France for the service of his
Most Christian Majesty, had been taken prisoners
in open war, or entrapped in time of profound
peace, ■■n,. -^-i j>. .'<j^_; ,i.: .w » >, . ;. : ,•

But Denonville found, when it was too late,
that this was not the right way either to gain the
friendship, or to break the spirit, of his Iroquois
enemies; and he accordingly, some time afterwards,
wrote to have the Indians whom he had trans-
ported to France returned to him. In the yeiit
1689, those of the Iroquois who had survived
their transportation, were unchained from the oar
and brought back to Canada, by the Count de
Frontenac, at that time re-appointed to the govern-
ment of New France. The history of one of
these liberated captives fills rather a conspicuous
place in the early Canadian annals, and furnishes
not only a curious instance of the boasted humanity
of the French towards the natives, but also of the
vanity so often exhibited by the Jesuit missionaries
as to their alleged success in converting the sa> iges
to the truths of Christianity. This Iroquois,
named Oureouhar6,* a ohief of the Oneydas, was

* Called Taweraket in several of the histories of New France.

'fir-

..-'i'

■M

' i'

Iff?'

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. IV.

' '"I

the principal of those who had been treacherously
seized at Fort Frontenac. He had been there tied
to the stake, tormented by the Indian confederates
of the French, taken down in fetters to Quebec*
from thence shipped off for Europe, and consigned
to Marseilles, to work as a slave in the galleys of
the Grand Monarque. • ; » r ' .-...! . -nu

Returned to Canada, Oureouhar6 was feasted
and flattered by the governor-general, treated as
his confidential favourite, and employed by him in the
important task of reconciling his countrymen to
the French. He prevailed upon the Count de
Frontenac to send back to the Five Nations some
of those Indians who had been his fellow-captives
in Europe ; but as to himself, he preferred remain-
ing during the rest of his life with his new friends^
The principles of Oureouhar^, it must be confessed,
do not appear to have been much improved, either
by his voyage to Old France, or by his subsequent
conversion to Christianity. Not being able to
prevail upon the Iroquois to continue long in
peace with the French, he sided with the latter in
all their contests, taking up the hatchet against his
own brethren. He became a most useful partisan ;
and with the assistance of the praying Indians of
the Canadian settlements of Loretto and La
Montague, he made numerous incursions into his
own canton, carrying fire and desolation among
his native villages, and returning to Montreal,

Cn. IV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

laden with the scalps of his countrymen. " He
enjoyed," says La Potherie, ** a pension from
the king; and he never failed to go to the public
treasurer regularly once a month to get his pay,
or, as he termed it, * to look for his moon.' "
After having thus, for seven years, conducted him-
self with activity and zeal in support of the French,
and with marked treachery towards his own nation;
and having escaped that fate which, according to
Indian practice, he had well merited, Oureouhar6
died at Quebec in 1697, lamented by Count Fron^
tenac, and eulogized by the church. " He ex-
pired," says Father Charlevoix, " as a true Chris-
tian ; and was buried with the same honours as are
usually paid to captains of companies." But
Charlevoix had probably forgotten what he had
himself already written on the subject of Indian
conversion: — " In truth one must not suppose
that a savage is convinced, because he appears to
approve of what is < declared to him. They assume
the appearance of being entirely persuaded of the
truth of matters to which they have not paid the
slightest attention, and which they had not been
able to comprehend." Of this number probably
was the dying Oureouhar6: who, no doubt, had
been induced more by his temporal than his spi-
ritual interests, to support the doctrines of the
French, and join them in their wars against his own
countrymen.

1 ''■.

r' *,

.r- i.

r I

HIbTOHICAL NOTES RESPECTING

Ch. IV.

Nothing, indeed, seems to have been mor^ com-
mon in Canada at that time, than for the French
authorities, both civil and religious, to enlist the
Christian Indians to fight against their own native
tribes. Whenever a missionary was under the
necessity of taking the field in hostility to the Five
Nations, he was always anxious to have an Iroquois
convert for his aide-de-camp. In one of those rash
and useless expeditions conducted against the In-
dians by Denonville, we find a celebrated Father
of the Jesuits severely wounded, and his principal
Indian convert killed. " In this action," says
Charlevoix, " we had five or six hundred men
killed, and about twenty wounded ; among whom
was Pfere Aujelran, the Jesuit, who found himself
among the Indians, when the enemy made their
iirst attack. The only person of note . whom we
lost upon this occasion was La Cendre Chaude,
the Indian chief from the Sault St. Louis. He
had been one of P^re Brebeuf 's executioners ;
and indeed, attributed his own conversion to the
prayers of that holy martyr. He afterwards made
ample reparation for his crime ; and few even of
the missionaries themselves have converted more
Infidels to the true religion than he has done."*
" This cliief," says La Potherie, " during his
paganism caused Brebeuf to be burnt alive ; but.

• Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. ii.

Ch. IV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 89

his

)Ut,

after his baptism, he preached the faith to the
Iroquois : commencing with the Mohawks, and
going through all the other confec^erated tribes.
He preached on the Sabbath to the youth assembled
in their village ; his influence converted some, and
his eloquence overwhelmed the elders. When the
war was declared against the Senecas, (another of
the Iroquois confederacy,) he joined Monseigneur
le Marquis de Denonville, and was killed gener-
ously fighting against the enemy;"* viz. against his
own countrymen.

Charlevoix and La Potherie also unite in re-
cording the praises of another Indian convert they
had named Paul, who was killed fighting against
the Iroquois. " Paul," says the former, " was
killed exhorting, by his voice and example, his
Indian followers to continue fighting, even unto
death, the enemies of the faith." 'f To the praises
of Paul, La Potherie adds those of his fair daugh-
ter; and as the reader is no doubt by this time
fatigued with battles and bloodshed, he ought to
be refreshed with the soothing accounts given by
some of the fathers of the church, and other writers,
respecting their favourite female converts. *' Paul,"
says La Potheiie, " was a brave warrior, and a
zealous convert. Heaven had recompensed him

* La Potherie, Hist, de TAmerique Septentrionale, vol. iii.
let. 1.

t Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. xiv.

■'Ail

'iH\

t'i'i

•ft

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING

Ch. IV.

fii.i

by giving him a daughter, who lived as a nun. At
thirteen years of age she possessed the innocence of
a child, and the wisdom of a person of thirty: she
died a virgin. Her mother, seeing that she was
very handsome, had trembled for her virtue. She
therefore prevailed upon her husband to have a
mass performed for the purpose of imploring
Heaven to inflict some blemish upon their daugh-
ter's beauty. One of her eyes, it is said, forthwith
became disfigured. She afterwards fell into a con-
sumption, and died exhorting her mother to hold
stedfast in the faith ; and she bequeathed to the chapel
her collars, bracelets, and other ornaments."* '
But who, among the female converts in Canada,
holds so conspicuous a place as " la jeune Tegah-
kouita, vierge Iroquoisef On the subject of this
interedting neophyte, this holy catechumen, as they
every where denominate her, the reverend Fathers
Charlevoix and Cholenec, as well as the lay his-
torian La Potherie, dwell with peculiar rapture.
The first of these, in detailing the virtues of Tegah-
kouita, devotes no less than fifteen ample quarto
pages of his elaborate History of New France ;
the second addresses to P^re Augustin Le filanc,
procureur des missions de Canada, an epistle in
her praise, occupying upwards of thirty octavo
leaves of the Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses ; and

* La Potherie, Hist, de TAmer. Sept. vol. iii. let 1.

Ch. IV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

the third, to compensate his readers for having
abbreviated the letter-press of his heroine's narra-
tive, not only gratifies them with a duodecimo
engraving of her person en taille-^douce, but he
also presents some verses of his own composing,
which he confesses he could not refrain from
addressing to her revered memory.* '» * » a^*-. ^^t
Tegahkouita was born in the country of the
Mohawks: her father was a pagan Iroquois, her
mother an Algonquin convert ; and she was left an
orphan at a very early age, under the charge of
an uncle and two aunts. As soon as she became
marriageable, they naturally wkhed that their niece
should have a husband. For tuis purpose ^hey
cast their eyes upon a young man "whove alliancei
seemed advantageous, and they accordingly pro^
posed the match to him and his family, although
without the knowledge of Tegahkouita. " It is
the business of the relations," says P^re Cholenec,'
"to make up marriages, and not those who are
to be united. When the relatives have agreed
upon the affair, the young man goes into the cabin
of his intended spouse, and seats himself down
beside her." Tegahkouita, when the young Indian
thus sat down, is stated to have been much discon-
certed. She blushed, and then arising quickly,
went out of the cabin in great indignation; nor

* La Potherie, Hist, de I'Amer. Sept. vol. i. let. 12.

■^i tlj:

-■..i5j,v

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. IV

would she enter it again until the youth had de-
parted. This conduct highly offended her relations ;
who, by threats and persecution, did every thing in
their power, but in vain, to make her change her
resolution. She bore all theii cruel treatment with
the most patient resignation; and at length they
ceased, for a time, to give her further trouble on
the subject.

Two of the missionaries, during their short stay
in the Indian village where Tegahkouita resided,
had some time before commenced those religious
instructions by means of which she afterwards
became so celebrated in Canada ; and P^re Jacques
de Lamberville the Jesuit, perceiving her increasing
zeal, at length baptized her, giving her the Christian
name of Catharine. The persecutions against her
having been again renewed by her hostile relations,
she contrived, although with much difficulty, to
escape from her native village, and to take refuge
with the mission at the Sault St. Louis, near
Montreal. But here, though freed from the ill
usage of her enemies, she was not exempted from
the persecution of her friends. Marriage — hate-
ful marriage— was again rung in the ears of this
maiden convert. Every means of persuasion were
used, but in vain, to induce her no longer to remain
single; at length, in consequence of her anxious
and continued entreaties, the church admitted her
into its bosom as a nun. '* She was the first of

Cll.IV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

her nation," says Charlevoix, " who entered into
vows of perpetual virginity."

Tegalikouita now began to prescribe for herself
the most rigid penance. She strewed her bed with
thorns, rolled herself among briers and prickles,
mixed up earth and ashes with her food, travelled
amid ice and snow, with her feet naked, and then
scorched them in the flames. Under this regimen, her
health, as mighc naturally have been expected, rapidly
declined, and she died at the early age of twenty-
four, to the inexpressible sorrow of the college of
Jesuits at Quebec. These, however, founn :ime
consolation in knowing that the effects of her virtue
survived her. ** It was the Mohawk tribe," says
Charlevoix, ** which gave to New France this
Genevieve of North America, the illustrious Catha-
rine Tegahkouita, whom Heaven has continued, for
almost seventy years, to render celebrated by the
performance of miracles, the authenticity of which
will stand the proof of the most rigid inquiry."*
And Father Cholenec thus concludes the long
epistle he addressed to his superior, P^re Augustin,
on this interesting subject.

" I confidently trust, my reverend father, that
Heaven will not refuse to honour the memory of
this virtuous young woman, by an infinity of mira-
culous cures ; many of which indeed have already

* Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. ix.

IIISTOIIICAL NOTES KF.SPECTING Cll. IV.

been effected, and still continue to be performed, by
her intercession. This is well known, not only
among the Indians, but by the French at Quebec
and Montreal, many of whom repair to her tomb in
order to perform their vows, or to offer her their
thanks for the favours which she has obtained for
them from Heaven. I could detail to you a great
number of these wonderful cures, attested by persons
whose honour and judgment cannot be suspected ;
but I shall content myself by giving you the testi-
mony of two persons of great virtue and merit, who
experienced, in their own persons, the influence of
the intercession of this holy girl, and who, in con-
sequence, thought it their duty to leave to posterity
a public record of their piety and gratitude."*

The first of these certificates is from one of
the fathers of the Jesuits, whom Charlevoix desig-
nates with a title of Persian-like length, Monsieur
fAbb6 de la Colombiere^ Grand Archidiacre et
Grand Vicaire de Qtiebec, et Conseiller Clerc
au Conseil SupSrieur de la Nouvelle France. —
Monsieur I'Abb^ thus deposes :—:.'! j ',. ,

** Having been ill at Quebec last year, from
January to June, of a slow fever, against which all
the usual remedies proved ineffectual, and also
attacked with a flux, which ipecacuanha itself could
not cure ; it was thought advisable I should make

* Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, vol. vi. p. 40.

Cil. IV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 95

a VOW, that in case it pleased Heaven to put a stop
to my malady, I should go to the mission of
St. Franpois Xavier, in order to ofier up my prayers
at the tomb of Catherine Tegahkouita. From that
day the fever ceased, and the flux being also much
diminished, I embarked some days afterwards to
acquit myself of my vow, and scarcely had I pro-
ceeded a third part of the journey, when I found
myself perfectly cured, w .* . « . . i j;: ,. . :

** I therefore feel that it would be unjust in me
not to ascribe to the missions of Canada the glory
which is their due ; and to testify, as I now do, that
I am indebted for my cure to this Iroquois virgin.
I accordingly make the present attestation, not only
to evince the sentiments of gratitude which I en-
tertain, but also to express, as much as in my
power, the confidence to be reposed upon the inter-
cession of my benefactress, and thus incite others
to imitate her virtues, j ^.> i. ;.i»; n,. u, .
, "DoneatVille Marie, this 14th day of Sep-
tember, 1696. .*

, , . • " J. DE LA COLOMBIERE, , . .

" P. I. Chanoine de la Cath^drale de Quebec."

The other certificate is presented to the faithful,
by Capitaine de Luth, " one of the bravest officers,"
says Charlevoix, " whom the king has ever had
in thir ^olony.

" I, the undersigned, certify to all whom it may
concern, that having, for three and twenty years,

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cir. IV.

been tormented with the gout, and suffering such
pain as to have been deprived of rest for three
months together, I addressed myself to Catherine
Tegahkouita, the Iroquois virgin who died in
odour of sanctity at the Sault St. Louis, and I
promised to visit her tomb, if Heaven should please
to remove my malady through her intercession. At
the end of a nine days' fasting and devotion, which
I performed to her honour, 1 was so completely
cured, that for the last fifteen months I have not
had the slightest fit of the gout.

** Done at Fort Frontenac, this 15 th day of
August, 1696. , v. ^, ,: , *

" J. DE LUTH,
•* Capitaine d'un detachement de la marine,

J t(.ii T ^' •'■1 »r- »• I

,'UJ i'.t

Commandant au Fort Frontenac."*

Should any sceptical reader of the good Fathers
Cholenec and Charlevoix suspect that the captain's
gout was probably as much relieved by his own
fasting, as by the good otHces of an Iroquois nun,
let him take warning from the lesson that was given
to the doubting curate of La Chine. " On every
anniversary of the death of La Bonne Catherine —
for that is the name by which, in deference to the
Holy See, she is honoured in Canada — the neigh-
bouring parishes were in the habit of repairing to

I f.

* Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, and also Charlevoix,
Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. xiii. • • : vj/ •

Cii. IV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

the church, at the Sault St. Louis, noar Montreal,
to perform a solemn mass. The o urate of La
Chine, M. Remy, who had recently arrived from
France, having been apprised of this custom, and
that his predecessors had always conformed to it,
declared that he did not think himself authorised
to sanction, by his presence, a public religious so-
lemnity not ordained by the church. Those of his
parishioners who heard him make this remark, fore-
told that it would not be long before their new
curate would be punished for his refusal ; and, in
fact, from that very day M. Remy fell dangerously
sick." The historian, however, happily adds, that
the worthy curate, *•' .perceiving at once the cause of
his sudden malady, made a vow to follow the pious
example of his predecessors, upon which he was
immediately restored to health!"* But enough
of the supernatural cures thus gravely recorded by
these sturdy disciples of Loyola in New France ;
to. be equalled only by the miraculous recoveries
effected by the celebrated medccine dance of the
savage, or the conjuring feats of the Indian Pm^ah, ,

if.:

^ih

* Charlevoix, Hist de la Nouvelle France, liv. xii.

. ^ » . J ( <

niSTOUUAL NOTES UESPF.CTING

Cii. V;

I '

CHAPTER V. ; '

' • t - ... • . i .t. 1 1

FRIENDLY CONDUCT OF THE NORTH AMERICAN
INDIANS TOWARDS THE EARLY EUROPEAN SET-
TLERS KINDNESS SHEWN BY THEM TO THE.

DUTCH COLONISTS UPON THE HUDSON SIMILAR

CONDUCT TOWARDS THE ENGLISH SETTLERS IN
VIRGINIA — STORY OF POCAHONTAS.

Having noticed the injudicious system which
appears to have been so generally pursued with
respect to the Indians, by the civil, military, and
religious authorities of New France, we may now
turn our attention to the early settlers in other
parts of the North American continent. In doirtg
so, it will be found that the Europeans, on their
first arrival, every where met with kindness and
cordiality from the natives, and that the Indian
good-will which had been shewn to Cartier, and
others of the early French discoverers of the coun-
tries situated upon St. Lawrence, vas in like man-
ner experienced by the Dutch settlers upon the
banks of the Hudson, and by the first British
colonists in Virginia, and in New England.

With regard to the reception whicn the Indians
gave to the Dutch on their arrival, there cannot per-
haps be a better delineation than what was conveyed

iR '-

Cir. V. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

in the words of the Indian chief of whom Dr. Bou-
dinot has related the following circumstance, as
falling under his own observation. In the year
1789, the American General Knox gave an en-
tertainment at New York, to a number of Indian
chiefs, sachems, and warriors. Before dinner,
several of these walked from the apartment where
they were assembled to the balcony in front of the
house, from which there was a commanding view
of the city and its harbour, of the East and Nortli
rivers, and of the island upon which New York
now stands, and which, at the first settlement
of the Dutch, got the name of Manhattan*.
On returning into the room, the Indians seemed
uejected, their principal chief more so than the rest.
This was observed by General Knox, who kindly
asked if any thing had happened to distress him.
^* Biother," replied the chief, " I will tell j^ou. I
have been looking at your beautiful city, the great
water, your fine country, and I see how happy you
all ore. But then, I could not help thinking that
this fine country, and this great water, were once
ours. Our ancestors lived here; they enjoyed
it as their own in peace ; it was the gift of the
Great Spirit to them and their children. At
length the White people came in a great canoe.
They asked only to let them tie it to a tree, that the
waters might not carry it away. They then said

* Purchas, however, notices the Manhatta Indians in his
account of Hudson's discovery of the.North (or Hudson) river.

•f, V;

•I*

. f .

100

HISTORICAL NOTKS RESPECTING

Cii. V.

i^^

.■■■'^■-

that some of their people were sick, and they asked
permission to land them and put them under the
shade of the trees. The ice afterwards came, and
they could not go away. They then begged a piece
of ground to build wigwams for the winter; this we
granted. They then asked for some corn to keep
them from starving : we furnished it to them, and
they promised to depart when the ice was gone.
When the ice was gone, we told them they must
now depart; but they pointed to their big guns
round their wigwams, and said they would stay;
and we could not make them go uway. Afterwards
more came. They brought with them intoxicating
and destructive liquors, of which the Indians became
very fond. They persuaded us to sell them some
land; and finally, they drove us back, from time
to time, into the wilderness. They have destroyed
the game; our people have wasted away ; and now
we live miserable and wretched, while the White
people are enjoying our fine and beautiful country.
It is this, Brother, that makes me sorry."*

In the colony of Virginia, also, the first British
settlers were cordially and kindly received by the
Indians of that country. Heckewelder has re-
corded what lie heard the descendants of these
Indians say on the subject of the English at their
first arrival. " We look them by the hand, and
bid them welcome to sit down by our side, and to

• Boudinot, Star in the West, ch. 5. Trenton, New Jersey, 1816.

Ch. V.

THE NOUTll AMERICAN INDIANS.

10:f

live with us as brothers; but how did they requite
our kindness ? They at first only asked for a httle
land on which to raise bread for themselves and
their families, and pasture for their cattle. This
we freely gave them. They soon wanted more,
which we also gave. They saw the game in the woods
which the Great Spirit had given us for our sub-
sistence, and they wanted that too. They pene-
trated into the forests, and discovered spots of land
which pleased them ; that land they also wanted ;
and, because we were loath to part with it — as we
saw they had already more than they had need of —
they took it from us by force, and drove us to a
great distance from our ancient homes." *

It was during the infancy of tiie colony in Vir-
ginia, when that singular occurrence took place, to
which the British settlers were so much indebted
for their security ; and a brief sketch of the story
of Pocahontas may not be deeined misplaced in
these Notes, as it tends to exhibit a striking example
of that native generosity for which the North
American Indians have been so often, and so jnstly,
distinguished.

After the unhappy attempts made in the reign of
Queen Elizabeth to plant a colony in North Ame-
rica, the small band of settlers under Captain
Newport, sanctioned by letters patent of James I.,

<.;_.,,,..,;.. , . -^ ■

* Hcckewelder's Account of the Indian Nations, ch. 3.

''*f

:>i^\i':

'•■^t

■ii;g.

•ffl

10f2

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING

Cii.V.

S.J . i

established themselves, in the year 1607, upon the
shores of one of the great rivers in Virginia. On
their arrival, they were kindly treated by the na-
tives; but, according to custom, the Europeans
soon embroiled themselves with their red brethren,
who, probably from experience, were often led to
look upon these white strangers in no other light than
as hostile and treacherous invaders of their soil.

Captain Newport returned almost immediately
to England, leaving in Virginia (at the settlement
which they named Jamestown) about a hundred
colonists. Of that number, one half died in the
course of a few months, and their survivors were
placed in a state of the greatest distress. In the
wretched circumstances to which they were reduced,
with frequent dissensions among themselves, and
constant alarm from the Indians, no hope was left
of their being extricated from their difficulties,
except by placing themselves under the command
of one of their party. Captain Smith, a man of
great bravery, talent, and enterprise ; but who had
been treated, by the chief officers of the colony,
with marked insult and injustice. By common
consent, Smith was now placed at their head, and
his conduct fully justified the confidence reposed in
him. By his prudent treatment of the Indians
when they were disposed .,0 be friendly, and by his
skill and bravery when it was deemed necessary to
adopt measures of hostility, he contrived to pre-

Cn. V. THE NOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 1(^3

serve the infant colony in a state of comparative
ease and security while he resided among them.*
. It unfortunately happened that, while engaged in
an expedition for the purpose of exploring the
country, and examining some of its principal rivers,
Captain Smith was attacked by a band of Indians.
He had proceeded a considerable way in advance

• " Captain John Smith," says Granger, " deserves to be
ranked with the greatest travellers and adventurers of his
age. He was some time in the service of the Emperor and
the Prince oi I'ransylvania, against the Grand Seignor,
when he distinguished himself by challenging three Turks of
quality to single combat, and cutting off their heads; for
which heroic exploit he wore a chevron betwixt three Turks'
heads on his arms. He afterwards went to America, where
he was taken by the savage Indians, from whom he found
means to escape. He often hazarded his life in naval en-
gagemeuts with pirates, Spanish men of war, and in other
adventures, and had a considerable hand in reducing New
England to the obedience of Great Britain, and in reclaiming
the inhabitants from barbarism." — Granger's Biographical
History, Mr. Jefferson, in his Notes on the State of Vir-
^nia, observes, " Captain Smith, who, next to Sir Walter
Raleigh, may be considered as the founder of our colony, has
written its History, from the first adventures to it, till the
year 1624. He was a member of the council, and afterwards
president of the colony ; and to his efforts principally may be
ascribed its support against the opposition of the natives.
He was honest, sensible, and well informed : but his style is
barbarous and uncouth. His History, however, is almost the
only source from which we derive any knowledge of the in-
fancy of our state." — Jefferson's Notes on Virginia. Query 22.

■w

•Pi; ^ ' f « r

1^ 'd'

■^n

1 ; ' faCT^

104

HISTOKICAL NOTtS UhSPECTING

Cn.V

,,■■»!

of his party, accompanied only by two of his men,
both of whom were killed. He afterwards made a
most gallant defence with his fire-arms, killing three
of his opponents ; but at length being disabled, he
was taken prisoner. His enemies, having decided
to put him to death, were fastening him to a tree,
that they might shoot him with arrows, when
Smith, with great presence of mind, pulled out a
pocket mariners'-compass, and presented it to their
chief. The astonishment felt by the Indians at
seeing the movements of the needle — which they
were unable to touch on account of its glass cover
interposing an invisible obstruction, the cause of
which they could not comprehend — and the extra-
ordinary appearance of the instrument and its
motions, induced the savages to postpone his exe-
cution. They probably looked upon Smith as a
magician, and determined to carry him to their
king, Powhatan. He was accordingly led in
triumph through many villages, among the nume-
rous tribes governed by that prince. Smith was
every where feasted on his march ; but he observed
that non^ of the Indians would, upon any occasion,
eat with him, although, after he had finished his
meal, they sat down, and partook of the provisions.
This he looked upon as a bad omen of the reception*
he was likely afterwards to meet with.

Powhatan was then supreme potentate over all
the Indians in that part of the country, and w as

■fW"

Ch. V.

THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

10^

supposed to have under his command a force of
between two and three tliousand warriors. ** He
lived," says Stith in his History of Virginia, " in
great barbaric state and magnificence. He usually
had about his person forty or fifty of the tallest
men his country afforded, which guard was in-
creased to two hundred on a :ount of the English;
Every night, upon the four corners of his house,
were placed four sentinels, each a flight-shot from
the other ; and every half-hour one from the main
guard hallowed out, shaking his finger between his
lips, and every sentinel was obliged to answer from
his stand. At all his ancient inheritances he had
houses, some of them thirty or forty yards long, and
at every house provisions for his entertainment,
according to the season."* .'a .« ? ^ ; !f

To the august presence of this aboriginal mo-
narch. Captain Smith was led captive in triumphal
procession; and he thus narrates, in the quaint
style of that age, the appearance of Powhatans
court : " Here were more than two hundred of
these grim courtiers stood wondering as liee had
been a monster, till Powhatan and his trayne had
putt themselves in theyre greatest braveries. Be-
fore a fire, upon a seate like a bedsteade, hee sat
covered with a great robe of rarowcan (racoon)

* History of Virginia, by the Rev. William Stith, book ii.
America, 1747. . r . . . .:,

T',. .'Ill t 1

106

msTouicAr notes respisctino

Cm. V.

1 ,

.M •'

A ■

skinnes, and all the *p.yles hangii. y. On either
hand did sit a young wench of about sixteen or
eighteen yearcs, and along on each side the house as
many women, with all theyre heades and shoulders
painted red; manie of theyre heades bedecked with
white down of birdes, buteverieone with something,
and a great chayne of white beades about theyre
necks. At his entrance before the king, all the
people gave a great shout. The queen of Appa-
matuck was appointed to bring him water to wash
his hands, and another brought him a bunch of
feathers, insteade of a towel, to dry them."*

After these and other Indian ceremonies, Captain
Smith was again feasted ; and a council being now
held, it was decided that he should be immediately
put to death. He was accordingly dragged forward
before the king, and his head placed upon a large stone
on the ground, in order to have his brains beat out by
two men armed with clubs. This sentence was on the
point of being executed, when, to the astonishment
of the whole assembly, the king's favourite daugh-
ter, Pocahontas, then about twelve or thirteen years
of age, rushed forward, and throwing herself down,
folded her arms round the head of the captive, to
save him from the blow of the executioner. Such
was her generous and persevering resolution, that

:^ The Generall Historic of Virginia, &c. &c., by Captaine
John Smith, ch. 1. 1632. ... .<,

Cii.V.

THE NOUTll AMERICAN INDIANS.

107

Powhatan at length ordered Smith to be released.
From that time he was treated with distinguished
regard by the king, as well as by his brave sons.
He was soon afterwards sent back to the settlement
at Jamestown, under an escort of twelve trusty
Indians ; peace was established between Powhatan
and the English; and the young Pocahontas,
having become their avowed friend and protectress,
was allowed to visit the colony with her attendants,
and to carry provisions and presents to them when-
ever they were in want.* ^ , >

. Some time afterwards, however, hostilities were
unfortunately renewed, and Powhatan became very
anxious once more to get Captain Smith into his
power. In order to save him, Pocahontas again
exerted herself. In a dark and dreary night, she
found her way alone through the woods, and having
reached the spot where Smith and a party of his
people were encamped near her father's residence,
she informed him that Powhatan, under the cloak
of friendship, intended immediately to send some of

• ** Her true name," says Purchas, " vtaa MatoJceSy which
they concealed from the English, in a superstitious feare of
hurt by the English, if her name were knowne," — Pilgrimetf
part v., book viii., ch. 5. The Indians had the notion that
the Europeans were great magicians, but that they could not
materially harm any one against whom their magic was
exercised, when the object was only known to them under a
fictitious name. < :. , ., /, ...: ;., . ; ., . .v..:; . .,

I li

■"'■'•j"!

^:.\^;

108

IIISTOUICAL NOTES RE«l'ECTI\C

Cii. V.

k «.^

Ij-.'

h >9

his people with presents of provisions, but that tiieir
real object was to surprise and carry him off ; adding,
that if they failed in their object, her father meant
immediately to come in person and attack the
English. In gratitude for this information, which
Pocahontas communicated with tears in her eyes,
Captain Smith oftered her such presents as he knew
she delighted in, but she refused them, being ap-
prehensive that her father might thereby discover
where she had been. She then returned as she
came, afraid of being observed by any of her own
people. The Indians, sent by Powhatan, arrived,
as was expected ; but means were taken by Smith
to prevent their treacherous scheme from being

executed. ,!,.■>:// /,:,■:•:;/ , 1.4 •i-iM.'j ■■i .•w?.'!!*^

'.. In the year 1609, Captain Smith having been
severely wounded by the accidental blowing up
of some gunpowder, and " seeing there was neither
chirurgian nor chirurgery in the fort to cure his
hurt," returned to England. From that period, the
colony was frequently reinforced from the mother
country, but for several years it was torn to pieces
by internal quarrels, and harassed with Indian
hostility. From the early accounts of the state of
Virginia, it would seem that Pocahontas never
ceased interceding with Powhatan in favour of the
English, when it was in her power to serve them;
but that their conduct became so imprudent and
treacherous, that she could no longer succeed in

Cii. V. THE XOttlll AMKUICAN INDIANS. 10<J

protecting tliem from her father's severity. Finding
tliut her efforts were ineffectual, and probably not
wishing to continue any longer a witness of the
cruelties inflicted upon tliem, she is stated to have
left her father's residence, and to have lived in a
state of concealment with some trusty friends, upon
the banks of the Potowmac. After Smitli»'s depar-
ture, she had never visited the English settlement.

Captain Argall, who commanded an English
ship which had been sent out to the colony of Vir-
ginia, went round in 1612 from Jamestown to the
Potowmac, in order to procure provisions for the
use of the settlers. He discovered that Pocahontas
was in that part of the country : and, in the view of
procuring advantageous terms of peace with Pow-
hatan, or of obtaining from him a good ransom for
his daughter, he enticed her on board his ship,
and carried her to the settlement. She was there
treated with every degree of attention and respect,
but not permitted to leave the place. A message
was sent to Powhatan, offering to restore her to
him, on condition of his returning several English
prisoners who were then in his possession, together
with some guns, and various articles which he had
seized. Powhatan accordingly sent back seven
men, but not the arms and other articles that were
demanded. He promised, however, fully to satisfy
the governor of the settlement on this point, if his
daughter was restored to him. In order to arrange

t*! .

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(■ !■■

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110

HISTOIIICAL NOTES KESPECTING C«. V,

■^*j

U .i;

i^'

the business, Sir Thomas Dale, who had then the
charge of the colony, proceeded with Pocahontas
towards the place where Powhatan was at that
time supposed to reside ; but Dale did not see him,
and the negotiation not being brought to a favour-
able termination, she was carried back, and detained
two years at the settlement. ' • •'^ • J- • ^i - -^ »*!•
During the period of her detention, an English
gentleman, named Rolfe, a young man of much
estimation in the colony, formed an attachment to
Pocahontas. Their aflfection being mutual, Sir
Thomas Dale willingly gave his consent to their
marriage. Information was also conveyed to her
father Powhatan, who sent one of her uncles, and
her two brothers, to communicate his acquiescence,
and to witness the ceremony of his daughter's
uuptials. This union fortunately led to a peace
between the English and Powhatan : a treaty which
the Indian faithfully adhered to during the rest of
his lifiB. ■ ■■. -■*• ■ ■ ^' ' '"'' '■ ■'■■
' In the year 1616 Dale returned io England,
accompanied by Mr. Rolfe and Pocahontas, to-
gether with their only son. She had been already
baptized, and had made considerable proficiency in
the English language. " Sir Thomas Dayle," says
Purchas, " having thus established things as you
have heard, returned thence, and arrived at Fli-
mouth in Mayor June 1616, to advance the good
of the plantation. Master Rolfe, also, with Re*

Cii.V. THE NOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS. Ill

bccca, his new convert and consort, and Utlamo-
tamakin, one of Powhatan's counsellors, came over
at the same time. With this savage I have often
conversed at my good friend's, Master Doctor
Goldstone, where he was a frequent guest; and
where I have both seen him sins and danee his
diabolicall measures, and heard him discourse of
his countrie and religion, Sir Thomas Dayle's man
being the interpretour, as I have elsewhere shewed.
Master Rolfe lent mee a discourse which he had
written of the estate of Virginia at that time, out of
which I collected those things which I have in
my Pilgrimage delivered. And hia wife did not
onely accustome herselfe to civilitie, but still carried
herselfe as the daughter of a king : and was accord-
ingly respected, not onely by the Company, which
allowed provision for herselfe and her sonne, but of
divers particular persons of honor, in their hopeful
zeale by her to advance Christianitie. I was pre-
sent when my Honorable and Reverend patron, the
Bishop of London, Doctor King, entertained her
with festivall pompe, beyond what I have scene in
his great hospitalitie afforded to other ladies/**

When Pocahontas arrived in England, Captain,
Smith happened to be in London ; but was pre-
paring for his immediate departure for New Eng-
land. Previously to his setting out, however, he

* Purchas his Pilgrimes. Part iv, b.ix. chap. 13.

'7;.:/ 1

!'"''' I

"i" ttt-]

121

HISTOKICAL NOTES UJ£SP£CTING

Cii. V.

determined to lay before the queen (consort of
James I.) the case of this Indian stranger, and to
supplicate the royal protection in her favour.
" Before she arrived in London," says the Generall
Historic of Virgimay ** Captain Smith, to deserve
her former courtesies, made her qualities known to
the Queene's most excellent Majestie and her court,
and writ a little book to this effect to the queene ;
an abstract whereof foUoweth." Although of con-
siderable length, the reader may not think this
document unworthy of his perusal, as it describes,
in strong and grateful language, the generous con-
duct, which Pocahontas had shewn towards the
British at their first settling in North America : ,

^** To the most high, and vertuous Princesse
- ' Queene Anne of Great Brittaine.

" Most admired Queene, ;'

*' The love I bear my God, my king, and
countrie, hath so often emboldened mee in the
worst of extreme dangers, that now honestie doth
constrayne mee to presume thus farre beyond my
selfe, to present your Majestie this short discourse :
if ingratitude be a deadlie poyson to all honest
vertues, I must be guiltie of that crime if I should
omit any means to bee thankful. So it is,

" That, some ten yeares agoe, being in Virginia,
and taken prisoner by the power of Powhatan, their

Cii.V. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

113

chief king, I received from this great salvage
exceeding great courtesie, especially from his son
Nantaquous, the most manliest, comliest, boldest
spirit I ever saw in a salvage, and his sister Poca-
hontas, the king's most deare and well-beloved
daughter, being but a child of twelve or thirteen
yeares of age, whose compassionate pityful heart of
my desperate estate, gave mee much cause to
respect her. I being the first Christian this proud
king and his grim attendants ever saw, and thus
enthralled in their barbarous power, I cannot say I
felt the least occasion of wante that was in the
power of those, my mortal foes, to prevent, not-
withstanding all their threats. After some six
weeks among tliese salvage courtiers, at the minute
of my execution, shee hazarded the beating out
of her own brains to save mine, and not onely that,
but so prevayled with her father, that I was safel
conducted to Jamestowne, where I found about
eight and thirtie poore and sicke creatures, to keeo
possession of all those large territories of Virginia;
such was the weaknesse of this poore common-
wealth as, had the salvages not fed us, we directlie
had starved.

" And this relyfe, most gracious Queene, was
commonly brought us by this lady Pocahontas ;
notwithstanding all these passages, "when incon-
stante Fortune turned our peace to warre, this
tender virgin would still not spare to dare to

|llli^

114 HISTORICAL NOTES EESPECTING Ch. V.

visit us, and by her our jarres have been often
appeased, and our wants still supplied ; were it the
policie of her father thus to employ her, or the
ordinance of God thus to make her his instrument,
or her extraordinarie affection to our nation, I
know not ; but of this I am sure, when her father
with the utmost of his policie and power sought to
surprize mee, having but eighteen with mee, the
darke night could not affright her from coming
through the irksome woods, and with watered eies
gave mee intelligence, with her best advice to
escape his furie; which had hee known, hee had
surely slayne her.

" Jamestowne, with her wild trayne, shee as
freely frequented as her father's habitation, and
during the time of two or three yeares, shee next,
under God, was still the instrument to preserve this
colonic from deathe, famine, and utter confusion ;
which if in those times had once been dissolved,
Virginia might have line as it was at our first
arrival, to this daye. Since then, this business
having been turned and varied by manie accidents
from that I left it at, it is most certaine, after
a long and troublesome warre after my departure,
betwixt her father and our colonie, all which time
shee was not heard of, about two yeares after
this her selfe was taken prisoner, being so detayned
neare two yeares, the colonie by that means was
relieved, peace concluded, and at last, rejecting her

Cn. V. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 115

barbarous condition, was married to an ^.nglish
gentleman, with whom at this present shee is in
Englande; the first Christian ever of that nation,
the first Virginian ever spake English, or had
a child by marriage by an EnHishman ; a matter
surely, if my meaning bee trulie considered, and well
understood, worthie a prince's understanding.

" Thus, most gracious Lady, I have related to
your Majestie, what at your best leisure our
approved histories will account you at large, and
done in the time of your Majestie's life; and
however this might be presented you from a more
worthie pen, it cannot from a more honest heart.
As yet I never begged any thing of the state or
any, and it is my want of abilitie, and her exceed-
ing desert, your birth, meanes, and authoritie, her
birth, vertue, want, and simplicitie, doth make mee
thus bold, humbly to beseech your Majestie to take
this knowledge of her, though it be from one so
unworthie to be the reporter, as my selfe ; her hus-
band's estate not being able to make her fit to
attend your Majestie, the most and least I can
doe, is, to tell you this, because none so oft hath
tried it as myself; and the rather, being of so great
a spirit, however her stature. If shee should not
be well received, seeing this kingdome may rightly
have a kingdome by her means, her present love to
us and Christianitie might turne to such scorne
and furie, as to divert all this good to the worst

■I

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■'■s-

I II

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116 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. V:

of evill; when finding so great a Queene should
doe her some honour more than shee can imagine,
for being so kinde to your servants and subjects,
would so ravish her with content, as endeare her
dearest blood to effect that your Majestie and all
the king's honest subjects most earnestlie desire.

** And so I humbly kiss your gracious hands,

" JOHN SMITH."

ill

The singular interview which soon afterwards
took place between Pocahontas and Smith (of
whose death it would appear she had been falsely
informed), ought also to be given in his own
words :

" Being about this time preparing to set saile for
New Englande, I could not stay to doe her that
service I desired, and shee well deserved ; but
hearing shee was at Branford with divers of my
friendes, I went to see her. After a modest salu-
tation, without any word, shee turned about,
obscured her face as no I; seeming well contented ;
and in that humour, her husband, with divers
others, wee all left her two or three houres,
repenting myself to have writ shee could speake
English. But, not long after, shee began to talke,
and remembered mee well what courtisies shee had
done, saying, ' You did promise Powhatan what

Ch.V. the north AMERICAN INDIANS. 117

was yours should be iiis, and hee the like to you.
You called him Father, being in his land a stranger,
and by the same reason must I doe you.' Which,
though I could have excused, I durst not allow
of that title, because shee was a king's daughter.
With a well set countenance shee said, ' Were you
not afraid to come into my father's countrie, and
caused feare in him, and all his people but mee ;
and feare you here I should call you Father? I
tell you then I will, and you shall call mee childe,
and so I will be for ever and ever your countrieman.
They did tell us alwayes you were dead, and I
knew no other till I came to Plimouth ; yet Pow-
hatan did command Uttamatomakin to seek you,
and know the truth, because your countriemen will
lie much."

' ', I

'I,''-

■?■ t 'i

vi :.i::

In England Pocahontas was well received, and
favourably noticed. She was presented at court,
and met with the kindest and most affectionate
treatment from persons of the first rank and station.
The English ladies and gentlemen flocked to offer
their services to their new countrywoman : but this
Indian stranger was destined to enjoy only for
a very short period their attentions and regard.
Her husband having been appointed to the situation
of secretary and recorder-general in Virginia, was
on the point of embarking for America with Poca-
hontas and their son, and had repaired to Graves-

i.;

-■m^

118

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. V.

if • '"
i

.'a'.

^■i

end for that purpose, when she was suddenly seized
with the small-pox, and, after a few days' illness,
died at that place in the twenty-second year of
her age.

The fate of Pocahontas called forth in England
the sympathy of all who knew how much she had
done to support the cause, and save the lives,
of the early British settlers in America. Her deatli
was also deeply regretted by the old Indian king
her father, who continued faithfully to keep his pro-
mise of friendship to the English. Powhatan ex-
pressed his joy that her son lived, and hoped that,
after the boy should have grown up, and become
strong, he would again return from beyond the great
salt lake, and visit him.

After his mother's death young Rolfe remained
in England to be educated under the care of an
uncle. He afterwards went to Virginia, and rose
to distinction and affluence in his native country.
By his marriage he had a daughter, an only child,
from whom have descended some of the principal
families, including many highly respected indivi-
duals, of Virginia. Among the latter, it may be
permitted to the compiler of these Notes to men-
tion, with peculiar regard, the name of John Ran-
dolph of Roanoake, with whom he had the good
fortune to become personally acquainted in America
: — one who has eminently signalized himself in the
United States, during a long and stormy period

g«. V. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 119

in which he has sat as a representative in Congress
for his native state of Virginia, and who, highly
and justly distinguished by his countrymen as an
orator and a scholar, perhaps esteems himself in
nothing more fortunate than that there flows in his
veins the blood of Pocahontas.

120

HISTOUKAL NOTKS RESPECTING Cii. VI.

CHAPTER VI.

KINDNESS OF THE INDIANS TO THE EARLY COI.O-
NI8'»'S IN NEW ENGLAND — IMPRUDENT CONDUCT
OF THE ENGLISH — HOSTILITIES IN WHICH THE
SETTLERS WERE ENGAGED — WAR WITH THE
PEQUOTS.

One of the most unfortunate errors into which the
early settlers of New England appear to have
fallen, was their propensity to disperse themselves
all over the face of the country. Instead of form-
ing a compact body, sufficiently strong to resist with
eflfect any serious attack from the natives, and con-
tinuing that system until they had obtained a com-
plete knowHdge of the Indian manners, habits, and
prejudices, and afterwards gradually extending as
from a common centre, they at once scattered them-
selves along the coast, and throughout the interior.
The successive bodies of emigrants from the mother
country seemed never disposed to plant themselves
in the same district, but endeavoured to obtain
rival patents, and exclusive grants of land, in dis-
persed and distant situations; commencing settle-
ments which they were unable to defend, and
building churches where they could not in safety
gather a congregation. " They were obliged," says
Dr. Trumbull, " to keep a constant watch and

Ch.VI. the north AMERICAN INDIANS. 121

guard at their liouses of worship on the Lord's day,
and at other seasons, whenever they convened for
tlie public worship." And, " In Connecticut every
family, in which there was a nnan capable of bearing
arms, was obliged to send one complete in arms
every Lord's day."*

In the scattered situations in which they had
thus placed themselves, it was impossible for the
settlers to cultivate their farms without running the
constant risk of injury from the natives when at
war with each other. The alliances, offensive and
defensive, which the English were soon induced
to form with some of the tribes^ had also the effect
of raising against them numerous and powerful
bands of Indians, whom they were never at any
subsequent period enabled to conciliate. At the
first landing of the colonists, they had met with the
utmost kindness from the Indians in tlieir neigh-
bourhood ; and indeed, without their assistance, the
emigrants would probably have all perished. Com-
mon prudence ought to have taught them to shun
the slightest interference in the contests and quar-
rels existing between the tribes; and they ought
never to have given any active assistance to either
party. " Do not win the favour of savages,"
says Lord Bacon, " by helping them to invade their
enemies." The consequence of an opposite line of

* Trumbull's History of Connecticut, book i. ch. 5 and 7, •

;l^>*

•')■«'■

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122

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. VI.

■■■$■

m '

conduct on the part of the settlers, was the inve-
terate hostility of the natives ; and the EngHsh
colonists found, when too late, that the Indians
were not to be injured with impunity.

The histories of the first British settlements in
North America, and particularly those relating to
the extensive colonies of New England, were com-
piled principally by the resident ministers of the
various churches which were early established in
that country. These historians appear to have
taken much pains in collecting the details of those
contests with the Indians, in which they naturally
felt a peculiar interest ; and although their writings
display no small degree of rancour against the
native population, yet enough may be gathered from
them to satisfy every unprejudiced reader, that
the Indians were treated by the Europeans with
extreme injustice. To this treatment is chiefly to
be ascribed the signal miseries which both parties
experienced for a long period of time. Great
allowance, indeed, ought to be made for the unfor-
tunate circumstances in which most of the first
New England settlers were placed. Driven from
their native land by tyrannical bigotry and perse-
cution, they had transported themselves across the
Atlantic, taking refuge among the wilds and forests
of an unexplored continent, where they were sur-
rounded by savage tribes, and almost destitute
of the necessaries of life. But, whatever sympathy

Ch.VI. the north AMERICAN INDIANS. 123

the sufferings of the colonists in New England
were calculated to excite, it will be found, even
from their own accounts, that their conduct towards
their Indian opponents savoured hut too much of
that spirit of persecution which they had themselves
so heavily experienced in Europe.

The unprincipled conduct of a British trader, a
few years before the landing of the settlers at New
Plymouth, proved sufficient of itself to instil into
the minds of the Indians in that part of North
America, the strongest feeling of hostility towards
their European visitants. Captain Smith (the
same able and meritorious officer who had sup-
ported the English colony in Virginia) having been
sent out in 1614 for the purpose of establishing
a settlement and trade in New England, left
behind him, on returning to Europe, one of the
ships he had commanded. Hunt, the captain of
this vessel, after procuring a cargo of fish upon
the American coast, set sail to dispose of it in the
Mediterranean, having previously enticed on beard
upwards of twenty Indians, whom he carried across
the Atlantic to be sold at Malaga as slaves. " A
most wicked shipmaster," writes Dr. Cotton
Mather, " being on this coast a few years before,
had wickedly spirited away more than twenty
Indians, whom, having enticed them aboard, he
presently stowed them under hatches, and carried
them away to the Streights, where he sold as many

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124 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. VI.

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11

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of them as he could for slaves. This avaricious
and pernicious felony laid the foundation of
grievous annoyances to all English endeavours of
settlements, especially in the northern parts of the
land, for several years ensuing. The Indians would
never forget or forgive this injury, but when the
English afterwards came upon this coast in their
fishing voyages, they were still assaulted in an
hostile manner, to the killing and wounding of
many poor men by the angry natives, in revenge
of the wrong that had been done them ; and
some intended plantations here were entirely nipt in
the bud."*

According to the account given by Hubbard, it
appears that the Spaniards would not purchase the
Indians who had been thus trepanned ; and one of
them found his way to England, from whence,
after residing two years in London, he was sent
back to his native country. The kindness he had
experienced from the English induced him after-
wards to prevail with many of his countrymen to
assist the early New England settlers. In this he was
aided by another Indian, who had in some measure
become acquainted with the English language.
These two men were of the greatest use to the

* Mather's Magnalia Christi Americana, or Ecclesiastical
History of New England, b, i. ch. 2. Fol. ed. London,
1702.

Ch. Vr. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 125

new settlers : they taught them liow to plant Indian
corn, and obtain such game r.nd other provisions
as the country aftbrded. They also informed them
of the state and number of the Indians in their
neighbourhood, and were the means of bringing
the celebrated Massasoit, the chief sachem of the
Narragansets, to give them a cordial welcome to
his country.* - •■ * - "' '

The Europeans, however, soon quarrelled with
some of the neighbouring Indian nations. '' Of
these," says Dr. Mather, " there was none more
fierce, more warlike, more potent, or of a greater
terror unto their neighbours, than that of the
Pequots."t And he then proceeds to point out,
as forming a ground for the subsequent hostilities
with that people, several successive aggressions
alleged to have been committed by them : but the
imputed murder of an English tmder, of the name
of Oldham, appears to have been the immediate cause
of this sanguinary war with the Pequots nation,

ipi

-■■■'yy

,'. 't ■>■»! '

* Hubbard's General History of New England, ch. viii.
Dr. Boudinot quotes a passage from a sermon that was
preached, soon after the landing of the settlers in New
England, by the Rev. Mr. Cushman ; " The Indians are
said to be most cruel and trea/::herotts in these parts, even
like lions ; but to us they have been like lambs, so kind, so
submissive, and trusty, as a man may truly say many Chris-
tians are not so kind or sincere." — Star in the West, ch. 5.

t Mather's Magnalia, book vii. ch. 6. j

'• : -i,

I I ij

126

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. VI,

'It

and its unfortunate consequences. The following
are the circumstances stated by Hubbard to have
taken place upon that occasion.

An Englishman, named Gallop, when sailing
across the sound from Connecticut to Long Island,
perceived a pinnace which had belonged to Old-
ham, in the possession of some Indians, who were
standing upon the deck armed. When hailed by
the other vessel, they gave no answer ; upon which,
says Hubbard, '* John Gallop, a man of stout
courage, let fly among them, and so galled them
that they got all down under hatches ; and then
they stood off again, and returning with a good
gale, they stemmed her upon the quarter, and
almost overset her, which so afFrightened the In-
dians, as six of them leaped overboard, and were
drowned. Y^t they durst not board her, but stood
off again, and fitted their anchor so, as stemming
her the second time, they bored her through with
their anchor, and sticking fast to her they made
divers shot through the sides of her, and so raked
her fore and aft (being but inch board) as they
must needs kill or hurt some Oi the Indians ; but
seeing none of them come forth, they got loose
from her, and then stood off again. Then four or
five more of the Indians leaped into the sea, and
were likewise drowned. Whereupon there being
but four left in her, they boarded her ; whereupon
an Indian came up and yielded : him they bound.

Ch. VI. THE NOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 127

ii!

n 1

and put him into the hold. Then another yielded :
him they also bound ; but John Gallop, being well
acquainted with their skill to unloose one another,
if they lay near together, and having no place to
keep them asunder, flung him bound into the sea."*
The English then discovered the body of Oldham
under one of the sails. Two of the Indians still
remained in a cabin below resolved to defend
themselves ; the vessel was then taken in tow ;
but the wind freshening, she was turned off, and
drifted to the Narraganset shore.

It does not seem very clear why, or even by
whom, Oldham was thus put to death ; nor is it,
perhaps, material now to inquire whether he had
imprudently given offence to the Indians, or if tiiey
had killed him without cause. The Pequots said
it was done by their enemies the Narragansets, and
the Narragansets " by the Pequots. At all events
it must be allowed, that upon this occasion, the
" stout John Gallop" took enough of the law into
his own hands; and as the lives of a dozen Indians
had thus been sacrificed to avenge the death of one
Englishman, the vengeance of New England might
have been propitiated, and the account between
the parties finally balanced. This, however, was
not the case. The English wished that the two
survivors of the Indian party should be delivered

■•i ..'1 ■*'"''

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Hubbard's History of New England, ch. 34.

,■1

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128

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. VI.

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up to them by the Pequots, with whom it was sup-
posed they had taken shelter ; and this somewhat
unreasonable demand the government of Massa-
chussets resolved to insist upon. They sent Captain
Endicot, with eighty men, to treat with the Pequots ;
first, to oflfer terms of peace if they would surrender
the two Indians, and forbear further acts of hos-
tility ; or, if not, to attack them. " The captain
aforesaid," says Hubbard, ** coming ashore with
his company, by a message sent them by an inter-
preter, obtained some little speech with a great
number of them at a distance ; bui after they un-
derstood what was propounded to them, first cun-
ningly getting behind a hill, they presently ran
away into the woods and swamps, where there
was no pursuing of them : however, one discharg-
ing a gun among them as they were taking their
flight, stayed the course of one, which was all that
could be done against them for that time."*

After this rather undiplomatic mode of breaking
off a negotiation, it was not likely that the Indians
would long delay the commencement of hostilities.
The war accordingly began, and was carried on
with great fury. In the course of it much misery
and bloodshed was caused in New England, par-
ticularly in the western parts of Connecticut. Many

* Hubbard's Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians,
p. 118. London ed. 4to. 1677.

Oil. VI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

129

of the best English officers and others fell in the
field, entire villages were burnt to the ground,
whole families destroyed in their houses, and many
individuals, having been taken prisoners by the
Indians, were put to death under the severest tor-
tures. In their hostility the Indians every where
added insult to their ferocity. '^ Sometimes they
came with their canoes into the river in view of the
soldiers within the fort ; and wlien they appre-
hended themselves out of the re«ch of their guns,
they would imitate the dying groans and invocations
of the poor captive English, which the English
soldiers were forced with silent patience to bear,
not being then in a capacity to requite their insolent
blasphemies. But they being by these horrible
outrages justly provoked to indignation, unani-
mously agreed to join their forces together to root
them out of the earth, with God's assistance." *

The sovereign, or chief sachem, of the Pequots
at that time was Sassacus, a bold and celebrated
warrior. At the commencement of the war he
endeavoured to conclude a treaty with his ancient
enemy the Narragansets, and did every thing in
his power to induce them to join him against the
English, *' using such arguments as to right reason
seemed not only pregnant to the purpose, but also
(if revenge, that bewitching and pleasing passion of

* Hubbard's Narrative, p. 118.
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130 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. VI.

man's mind, hath not blinded their eyes,) most
cogent and invincible; but they were, by the good
providence of God, withheld from embracing these
counsels, which might otherwise have proved most
pernicious to the design of the English."*

The arguments used by the Pequots upon this
occasion were — that the English were strangers,
who had taken possession of their lands and were
spreading themselves all over the country ; that
the ancient inhabitants would soon be deprived of
their rights by these intruders, if not speedily pre-
vented ; that the Narragansets, by helping to de-
stroy the Pequots, would be paving the way for
their own destruction, because if the Pequots were
subdued, the English would soon turn their arms
against the Narragansets, who would be rooted out
likewise : but if these two Indian nations would
join against the English, the latter would easily be
destroyed, or forced to leave the country ; that, in
order to effect this, it would not be necessary to
come to open battle, because they might destroy
them by burning their houses, killing their cattle,
and lying in wait for them as they went about their
usual occupations ; so that their new and unwel-
come neighbours could not long subsist, and must
either be starved, or forced to abandon the country.
" Machiavel himself," says Hubbard, " if he had

* Hubbard's Narrative, p. 120.

Ch. VI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 131

sat in counsel with them, could not have insinuated
stronger reasons to have persuaded them to a
peace."* i... . . . . ..,,,) • .; > >■., .,- ',

Strong, however, as were these reasons — and the
truth of them was fully verified in the result —
the Narragansets did not assent to the request of
the Pequots. With the former the English now
entered into a regular treaty, offensive and defensive ;
holding out to their Indian allies every inducement
to make them assist in the war. That they did
materially aid the settlers is sufficiently evident from
Hubbard's Narrative, which, in detailing one of
the campaigns, states, that " It was not long after
Captain Stoughton's soldiers came up, before news
was brought of a great number of the enemy that
were discovered by the side of a river up the coun-
try, being first trepanned by the Narragansets under
pretence of protecting them; but tliey were truly
hemmed in by them, though at a distance, yet so
as they could not stir, or durst not stir, from the
place, by which means our forces of the Massa-
chusets had an easie conquest of some i^undreds of
them, who were there couped up as in a pound ;
not daring to fight, nor able to fly away, and so
were all taken without any opposition." f The
women and children upon this occasion were dis-
tributed as prisoners among the Narragansets and

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132 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. VI.

•m

Other Indians who had assisted in the war ; but
the male prisoners were thrown into the sea.
This account is confirmed by Dr. Mather, who
observes : ** Heaven so smiled upon the English
hunting after them, that here and there whole com-
panies of them were, by the informations of other
Indians, trepanned into the hunters' hands ; par-
ticularly at one time some hundreds of them were
seized by Captain Stoughton with little opposition,
who, sending away the females and children as
captives, put the men on board of one Skipper
Gallop, (the ** stout John," no doubt,) which
proved a Charon's ferry-boat unto them, for it
was found the quickest way to feed the fishes
with 'em."*

Hubbard has given an account of the concluding
fight — if fight it can be called— of this war. The
English had driven the Indians into a swamp, which
they surrounded : some of them broke through,
and escaped into the woods ; the rest were left to
the mercy of the conquerors. Many of them
were killed in the swamp, " like sullen dogs, that
would rather, in their se!f-willedness and madness,
sit still to be shot through, or cut in pieces, than
receive their lives for the asking, at the hand of
those into whose power they were now fallen.
Some that are yet living, and woilhy of credit, do

Mather's Magiialia, book vii. ch. 6.

Ch.VI. the north AMERICAN INDIANS. 133

!«!'

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affirm, that in the morning en tering> into the swamp,
they saw several heaps of them sitting close to-
gether, upon whom they discharged their pieces
laden with ten or twelve pistol bullets at a time,
putting the muzzles of their pieces under the boughs,
within a few yards of them; so as besides those
that were found dead (near twenty), it was judged
many more were killed and sunk into the mire, and
never were minded more by friend or foe. Of
those who were not so desperate or sullen as to
sell their lives for nothing, but yielded in time, the
male children were sent to the Bermudas. Of
the females, some were distributed to the English
towns ; some disposed of among the other Indians,
to whom they were deadly enemies as well as to
ourselves." * Dr. Trumbull says, that '* a number
of the women and boys were sent to the West
Indies and sold as slaves."f Sassacus, their chief
sachem, made his escape ; but he was some time
afterwards killed by the Mohawks, and his scalp
sent as a present of high value to the English in
Connecticut.

The result of this war, which terminated in
1637, and of the mode in which the vanquished
were treated in the course of it, was the almost
total extinction of the Pequot Indians — a nation

* Hubbard's Narrative, p. 130.

i Triitnbuirs Hist, of Connecticut, book i. ch. 5.

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134 HISTORICAL NOTKS RtSPKCTlNG Ch. VI.

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which, in the time of its prosperity, is stated to have
been able to bring four thousand warriors into the
field.*

The distribution of the Indian prisoners taken
in the Pequot war, occasioned the rupture which
subsequently took place between the English and
their own allies the Narragansets ; who are stated
to have been instigated to hostilities by their cele-
brated chief Miantonimo. " This Miantonimo
was a very goodly personage, of tall stature, subtle
and cunning in his contrivements, as well as haughty
in his designs. It was strongly suspected that he
had contrived to draw all the Indians throughout
the country into a general conspiracy against the
English." t In consequence of these suspicions,
the governor and magistrates ordered all the Indians
within their jurisdiction to be disarmed ; but no
proof was discovered of any intention having
existed on their part to act with hostility. Mian-
tonimo, however, was c6nt for ; who appeared with-
out besi tuition before the general court of the
province. He boldly demanded that he should be

Joi

, * The Pequots, and those tribes under their immediate
protection, inhabited a large track of country, extending
from the Hudson Riyer to Narraganset— including, as is
generally stated, all Long Island. They are now reduced
to a few miserable, drunken, idle Indians, chiefly to be found
in the township of Stonington, in Connecticut.

t Hubbard's Narrative. . -

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Ch. VI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 136

confronted with his accusers ; and that if thev could
not prove their charges, they should be punished.
The English, however, upon this occasion at length
contrived to satisfy him.* But hostilities soon
afterwards broke out between the Narragansets and
Mohegan Indians; in the course of which Mian-
tonimo was taken prisoner; and soon after, " by
the advice of the commissioners of the four colo-
nies, his head was cut oft" by Uncas, (the chief of
the latter tribe,) it being justly feared that there
never would be any firm peace, either betwixt the
English and the Narragansets, or the Narragansets
and the Mohegans, while Miantonimo was left
alive. However, the Narragansets have ever since
that time bore an implacable malice against Uncas,
and all the Mohegans, and for their sakes against
the English, so far as they durst discover it : " t
and no wonder. ' ■ •

The same system, indeed, may be traced through
a great proportion of the public acts which affected
the Indian population at that period. In a de-
claration, issued by the New England comriiis-
sioners, we read, " Whereas also, it is the manner
of the heathens that are now in hostility with us,
contrary to the practice of all civ. > nations, to exe-
cute their bloody insolencies by stealth, and skulking

* Hubbard's History of New England, ch. 51.
t Hubbard's Narrative, p. 6. ...

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13G HI8TUUICAL NOTES UkSFtCTlNG Cii. VI.

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in siii'ill [)artie8, declining all open decision either
by treaty or by the sword." And — as it an Indian
had no ri^ht to fight his own battle in his own way —
** The council do therefore order ttiat it shall be
lawful for any person, whether English or Indian,
that shall find any Indians travelling or skulking in
any of the towns or woods, contrary to the limits
above named, to command them under their guard
and examination, or to kill and destroy thetn as
they best may or can." To this sweeping clause
however, was added a salvo : '* The council
hereby declaring, that it will be most acceptable
to them that none be killed or wounded that
are willing to surrender themselves into cus-
tody."* This proviso, however, was probably of
little use to the Indians, whose only alternative in
many cases seems to have been death or slavery.
** Captain Moseley being there, and plying about,
found eighty Indians, who surrendered themselves
and were secured in a liouse provided for them
near Plimouth. Thereupon Captain Moseley
came to Boston to know the pleasure of the
authorities about them, and in a day's time re-
turned with their order, he should kill none that he
took alive, but secure them in order to a transport-
ation. Whereupon afterwards there was shipped
on board Captain Sprague one hundred and seventy-

* Present State of New England, p. 8. London, 1675.

Cm. VI. THK NOUTH AMEKICAN INDIANS. 137

eight Indians, on the 28th of September, bound for
Cales." •

This Captain Moseley seems to have been a
very active partisan, or, as Governor Hutchinson
calls him, ** an old privatecrer from Jamaica, pro-
bably of such as were called Biiccanniers.'t ^ne
of his campaigns is thus recorded by Hubbard : —
" The next day the inhabitants sent to demand their
guns, (the guns of .some Indians then at peace with
the English ;) Captain Moseley acquainted there-
with, marched to the fort, and found much suspi-
cion against eleven of them for singing and dancing,
and having bullets and ski >, and much powder hid
in their baskets ; in so much that eleven of them
were sent down by him prisoners to Boston, upon
suspicion that they had an hand in killing the four
at Lancaster, and shooting at the Malberough
shepherd. But upon tryal, the said prisoners were
all of them quitted from the fact ; and were either
released, or also were, with others of that sort, sent
for better security, and for preventing future troublb
in the like kind, to some of the islands below
Boston towards Nantasket."J This was certainly
exercising a rigour beyond the law — even as laid
down by the "stout John Gallop" himself — for
Gallop only executed his prisoners before they
were tried, but the court of Massachussets punished

* Present State of New England, p. 8.

t Hutchinson's History of Massachussets, ch. 2.

I Hubbard's Narrative, p. 30.

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138 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. VI.

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theirs after they were acquitted. This, however,
was nothing when compared to the municipal code
of the Westonians. A Mr. Weston having sent
out a company of new colonists, they planted
themselves in a part of Massachussets, where they
soon contrived to make the neighbouring Indians
their deadly foes. ** These beginners," says Dr.
Mather, * '* being half refreshed at Plimouth, tra-
velled more northward :nto a place known by the
name of Weymouth ; wiiere these Westonians, who
were church of England-men, did not approve
themselves like the Plimoutheans, a pious, honest,
and industrious people, but followed such bad
courses as had like to have brought ruin upon their
neighbours as well as themselves. Having by their
idleness brought themselves to penury, they stole
corn from the Indians, and many other wa}^ pro-
voked them, although the governor of Plimouth
writ them his very sharp disapprobation of their
proceedings. To vSatisfie the exasperated salvages,
divers of the thieves were stockt and whipt, and
one of them at last put to death by this miserable
company ; which did no other service than to afford
an occasion for a fable to the roguish Hudibras."t
It is not, however, quite so clear tlmt the story

* Mather's Magnalia, book i. ch. 3.

t " Though nice and dark the point appear,
(Quoth Ralph) it may hold up and clear.
That sinners may supply the place < »

Of suffering saints, is a plain case. '^

Ch, Vr. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. J39

alluded to was di fable. " Certain it is," writes
Mr. Hubbard, in his History of New England,

Justice gives sentence many times .

On one man for another's crimes.

Our brethren of New England use

Choice malefactors to excuse,

And hang the guiltless in their stead,

Of whom the churches have less need :

As lately happened. In a town ' :

There lived a cobbler, and but one,

That out of doctrine could cut use.

And mend men's lives as well as shoes :

This precious brother having slain,

In time of peace, an Indian,

(Not out of malice, but mere zeal.

Because he was an Infidel,)

The mighty Tottipottimoy

Sent to our elders an envoy,

Complaining sorely of the breach

Of league, held forth by brother Patch, (

Against the articles in force '. ;

Between botli churches, his and ours ;

For which he craved the Saints to render

Into his hands, or hang the offender.

But they maturely having weighed.

They had no more but him o' the trade,

(A man that served them in a double

Capacity, to teach and cobble,)

Resolved to spare him, : yet, to do

The Indian Hoghan-Moghan too

Impartial justice — in his stead did

Hang an old weaver that was bed-rid."

Hudibras. Part II. canto 2.

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140

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. VI.

'* that the Indians were so provoked with iheir filch-
ing and stealing, that they threatened them, as the
Philistines did Sampson's father-in-law after the
loss of their corn ; insomuch that Weston's com-
pany, as some report, pretended in way of satis-
faction to punish him that did the theft; but in
his stead hanged a poor decrepit old man, that was
unserviceable to the company, and burthensome to
keen alive, which was the ground of the story with
which the merry gentleman that wrote the poem
called Hudibras did, in his poetical fancy, make so
much sport. Yet the inhabitants of Plimouth tell
the story much otherwise, as if the person hanged
was really guilty of stealing, as may be were many
of the rest ; and if they were driven by necessity
to content the Indians at that time, to do justice,
there being some of Mr. Weston's company then
living, it is possible it might be executed, not on
him who most deserved, but n him that could be
best spared, or who was not like to live long if he
had been let alone." *

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Hubbard's General History of New England, ch, 13.

Cii.VII. THE NOilTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 141

CHAPTER VII.

WAR WITH PHILIP THE CELEBRATED CHIEF OF THE
POKANOKETS — DESTRUCTION OF THE NARRA-
GANSETS — HOSTILITIES WITH THE EASTERN
INDIANS.

V. '" f'.U '

New England, after the termination of her hostilities
with the Pequots and Narragansets, remained for
many years at peace ; but at length *' those coals of
discention which had a long time layn hid under
the ashes of a secret envy, contracted by the hea-
then against the English and Christian natives of
that counlrey, brake out in June 1675."* It was
then that tuc stiuguinary contest, commonly known
by the name of King Philip's War, began. This
renowned chieftain, whose Indian name was Me-
tacom, generally had his head-quarters at a spot
called Mount Hope, now within the state of Rhode
Island. Philip was a son of the celebrated Mas-
sasoit, and succeeded to the command after the
death of liis elder brother Wamsutta, from whom
he inherited a secret and deep-rooted enmity against
the English colonists. f This heathen sovereign

* News from New England, being a true and last Account

of the present bloody Wars with the Infidels. London, 1676.

t When Massasoit's two sons, Wamsutta and Metacom,

142

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. VTI.

'i',

seldom paid much attention to the treaties entered
into with his Christian neighbours : he smoked the
pipe of peace when he thought fit, and raised the
hatchet when it suited his convenience. Philip of
Mount Hope, like his royal brother of Macedon,
appears to have been a politic but troublesome
prince ; and perhaps he has found in the Reverend
la . Hubbard as stern a composer of Philippics, as
did the Macedonian monarch in the celebrated
orator of Athens : " The devil, who was a mur-
derer from the beginning, had so filled the heart of
this salvage miscreant with envy and malice against
the English, that he was ready to break out into
open war against the inhabitants of Plimouth, pre-
tending some petite injuries done to him in planting
land," &c. And again : " Yet did this treacherous
and perfidious caitiff still harbour the same, or
more mischievous thoughts against them than ever
before ; and hath been, since that time, plotting with
all the Indians round about, to make a general
insurrection against the English."*

Dr. D wight, in his Travels through New En-
gland, has presented us with a more favourable view
of the character of this Indian sovereign. He
states that Philip was sagacious and politic, pos-

were at Plymouth, the o-overnor gave them the names of
Alexander and Philip. — Hutchinson s Hist, of Massachussef s
Bay, p. 276.
* Hubbard's Narrative, pp. 11 and 13.

Cii. VII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 143

sessing in an eminent degree that address in nego-
tiation which enabled him to persuade tiiose who
were hostile towards each other heartily to unite in
a common cause ; that he saw the colonists in-
creasing daily in power, and that their establishing
themselves upon his native shores would eventually
prove fatal to the independence of his countrymen.
Under this conviction, he began to adopt such
measures as he thought might prevent the evils
which he dreaded. " With the peculiar secresy,"
says Dwight, " which characterizes this people, he
dispatched his runners, first to the neighbouring
tribes, and then to those which were more distant.
To all he represented, in strong terms, the numbers,
the power, the increase, and the unfriendly designs
of the colonists, and the danger with which they
threatened all the original inhabitants. In various
instances, he pleaded the cause in person, and, by
himself and his emissaries, made a deeper and more
general impression than could easily have been
believed, or than some discreet inhabitants of this
country can even now be persuaded to admit."*

Governor Hutchinson, in his History of Massa-
chussets, observes : " Philip was a man of high
spirits, and could not bear to see the English of
New Plymouth extending their settlements over
the dominions of his ancestors ; and although his

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Dwight's Travels in New England, vol. ii., lett. 50.

144

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. VII.

father had, at one time or other, conveyed to thetn
all they were possessed of, yet he had sense enough
to distinguish a free voluntary covenant from one
made under a sort of duress, and he could never
rest until he brought on the war which ended in his
destruction." *

Previous to the commencement of this war, it
appears that Philip had been long preparing his
extensive plans for asserting the independence, and
restoring the power, of his countrymen. The more
immediate occasion, however, of the rupture be-
tween him and the English, ii, pointed out in a work,
already referred to, which was written by a person
who resided in that colony during the troubles in
question. *' About five or six years since, there was
brought up, amongst others, at the college at Cam-
bridge (Massachussets), an Indian named Sosoman,
who, after some time he had spent in preaching the
Gospel to Uncas, a Sagamore Christian in his terri-
tories, was, by the authority of New Plimouth, sent to
preach in like manner to King Philip and his Indians.
But King Philip (heathen-like), instead of receiving
the Gospel, would immediately have killed this
Sosoman ; but, by the persuasion of some about him,
did not do it, but sent him by the hands of three
men to prison, who, as he was going to prison,
exhorted and taught them in the Christian religion.

Hutchinson's Hist, of Massachussets, ch. 2.

Cii. VII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 145

They, not liking his discourse, immediately mur-
thered him after a most barharous manner. They
returning to King Philip, acquainted him with what
they had done. About two or three months after,
this murther being discovered to the authority of
New Plimouth, Josiah Winslow being then governor
of that colony, care was taken to find out the mur-
therers, who upon search were found and appre-
hended, and, after a fair trial, were all hanged. This
so exasperated King Philip, that from that day after,
he studied to be revenged on the English, judging
that the English authority had nothing to do to hang
an Indian for killing another." *

Hubbard also states, in his Narrative, that Soso-
man was well acquainted with the English language,
hau been confidentially employed by Philip, and
had betrayed his master's secret plans to the enemy.
He then went back to the English, by whom he
was baptized, and employed to preach to the In-
dians. But it appears that he again " had occasion
to be much in the company of Philip's Indians, and
of Philip himself, by which means he discovered,
by several circumstances, that the Indians were
plotting anew against us ; the which, out of faithful-
ness to the English, the said Sausamon informed the
governor of: adding also, that if it were known that

* Present State of New England, p. 3. 1675.

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14G HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cn. VII.

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he revealed it, lie knew they would presently kill
him."*

Philip was probably not fully prepared for the
war he was going to undertake, nor had he yet
attached to his cause all those separate tribes whom
he expected to support him. His influence among
the Indians, however, must have been very great ;
and the simultaneous attacks made by various bands
upon the distant and dispersed New England set-
tlements, evidently shew — although the circum-
stance is disputed by several of the American
authors — that his plan of operations must have been
ably directed. The Narragansets, however, not-
withstanding all his persuasions, refused to join
him ; and this determination only tended to hasten
the ruin of that powerful nation, as shall be pre-
sently noticed.

The war against Philip and his numerous allies
raged throughout New England with great fury,
but with various success. The settlements were
every where laid waste ; the cattle destroyed ; the
farm-houses, villages, and towns reduced to ashes ;
many of the inhabitants, English and Indian, put to
death without mercy, and the whole country involved
in one general desolation. In the spring of 1676,
however, the fortunes of Philip began to assume an

Hubbard's Narrative, pp. 14 and 15.

Cn. VII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 147

unfavourable aspect, and the superior force and
means possessed by his enemy induced many of the
Indians to desert from him. In the course of that
year he was driven from place to place, unable to
make any regular stand against the colonists. *' The
next news we heard of Philip," says Hubbard,
*' was that he had gotten back to Mount Hope,
now like to become Mount Misery to him and his
vagabond crew :" and, soon after, " Philip, like a
salvage wild beast, having been hunted by the
English through the woods above one hundred miles
backward and forward, at last was driven to his den
upon Mount Hope, with a few of his best friends,
into a swamp, which proved but a prison to keep
him fast till the messenger of death came to
execute vengeance upon him, which was thus ac-
complished."* The account then states that, having
been driven into the swamp, Philip was attacked
by the English forces and their Indian allies, and
when endeavouring to escape, he was shot by a
renegado of his own nation, " the bullet passing
directly through his heart, where Joab thrust his
darts into rebellious Absalom :" t or, as Dr. Ma-
ther describes it, " through his venomous and mur-
derous heart ; and in that very place where he first
contrived and commenced his mischief, was this
Agag now cut into quarters, which were then hanged

* Hubbard's Narrative, pp. 96 and 103. f Ibid. p. 105.

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148 HISTOUICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. VII.

up, while his head was carried in triumph to Ply-
mouth, where it arrived on the very day that the
church there was keeping a solemn thanksgiving to
God. — God sent 'em in the head of a leviathen for
a thanksgiving feast."*

During this war, hostilities also broke out between
the English and the Narragansets, their ancient
allies. These had refused to join Philip in his
opposition to the colonists. Had they supported
him, "* it would, according to the eye of reason,"
says Hubbard, " have been very difficult, if pos-
sible, for the English to have saved any of their
inland plantations from being utterly destroyed."
But, although the Narragansets were afraid openly
to join him, they appear to have wished well to his
cause; so little had a near inspection of the co-
lonists, and an acquaintance with them of half
a century, operated in raising any solid attach-
ment from the natives. And it shodld not be
forgotten that the Narragansets had, upon nu-
merous occasions, performed the most friendly
services towards the settlers. It was not however
to be expected that they would soon forget the
treatment which their chief sachem, Miantonimo,
had received from the hands of the English. Their
destruction, however, was now fast approaching ;
aiid the New England commission appears to have

* Mather's Magnalia, book vii. ch. 6.

Cu. VII. THL NORTFI AMERICAN INDIANS. 149

determined, during the early part of Pliilip's war,
to t.iect, if possible, tlie total extermination of the
Narragansets.

For this purpose, a strong armament of English
and Indians was fitted out under the command of
Governor Winslow ; and, in order to take the
enemy by surprise, he commenced his march in the
depth of winter, employing, as usual, a renegado
Indian spy as a guide. The first gallant feat re-
corded on the side of the English in this campaign
was, that " five files of men, sent out under Sergeant
Bennet, killed an Indian and his wife," — a debt,
however, which the Indians soon repaid with
interest. The whole English force was to have
assembled at a general place of rendezvous called
Bull's Garrison, but the enemy proved too quick
for their opponents ; for, " next day, Captain
Prentice, with his troop, returned with the sad
news of burning Jerry Bull's garrison-house, and
killing ten Englishmen and five women and chil-
dren !" *' This," quaintly adds the narrator, " is
the chance of war, which they who undertake^ must
prepare to undergo :" * and Dr. Mather — not to be
outdone at a joke — notices to his reader the "sur-
prisal of a remote garrison, belonging to one Bully
where fourteen persons were baited to death by
these terrible dogs — the Narragansets."')'

* Hubbard's Narrative, p. 50.

t Mather's Magnalia, book vii. ch. 6.

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150 HISTORICAL NOTES UESPECTING Cu. VII.

The Indians occupied a stron<» position in the
middle of a swamp of very difficult access, but the
New England troops attacked their fort with great
bravery, and carried it after a very severe action :
eight English officers fell in the attack. ** No less
than seven hundred fighting Indians," says IVlather,
" were destroyed in this desperate action, besides
three hundred which afterwards died of their
wounds, and old men, women, children, sans num-
ber."* The Narragansets, however, continued for
some time to carry on their hostile proceedings; nor
was it until the death of their chief, Canonchet,
that the final blow appears to have been struck at
the independence, or rather the existence, of that
once powerful tribe, which, on the first arrival of the
English settlers in that country, was stated to have
been able to bring five thousand warriors into the
field.f Canonchet had zealously exerted himself
to revenge the death of his father Miantonimo, and
to expel the English, through whose means that
chief had been sacrificed. Having been taken
prisoner by the English, his life was offered to him

* Mather's Magnalia, book vii. ch. 6.

t The Narragansets, in the day of their prosperity, were
probably the most powerful of all the Indians in that quarter.
They chiefly inhabited the country which now constitutes the
state of Rhode Island. But, like the remnants of the Pe-
quots at Stonington, there are only now to be seen a few
miserable lemains of the Narraganset nation.

Cii.VII. THE XOltTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 151

on condition of entire submission, and of his pre-
vailing upon the Indians who adhered to him to
follow his example. Canonchet disdained to accept
his life upon these terms ; and, " continuing in the
same his obstinate resolution, was carried to Sto-
nington, where he was shot to death by some of his
own quality, viz., the young sachem of the Mohe-
gins, and two of the Pequods of like quality."*

It was to these Mohegan allies of the English
that the latter had also presented another brave
Narraganset prisoner, in order to be put to death in
the Indian manner. Having already stated how
the French in Canada participated in, and encou-
raged these horrible executions, it should be noticed
that the English were sometimes in this respect
equally unjustifiable. " Among the rest of the
Narraganset prisoners then taken," says Hubbard,
"' was a young sprightly fellow, seized by the Mo-
hegins, who desired of the English commanders
that he might be delivered into their hands, that
they might put him to death more majorum ; sacri-
fice him to their cruel genius of revenge, in which
brutish and devilish passion they are most of all
delighted. The English, though not delighted in
blood, yet, at this time, were not unwilling to gra-
tifie their humour, lest by a denyal they might
disoblige their Indian friends, of whom they lately

* Postscript to Hubbard'.s Narrative.

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152

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ck. VIL

) ,

made so much use ; partly also, that they might
have an ocular demonstration of the salvage bar-
barous cruelty of the heathen. And, indeed, of all
the enemies that have been the subject of the pre-
cedent discourse, this villain did most deserve to
become an object of justice and severity : for, he
boldly told them that he had with his gun dis-
patched nineteen English, and that he had charged
it for the twentieth ; but not meeting with any of
ours, and unwilling to lose a fair shot, he had let
fly at a Mohegin, and killed him ; with which
having made up his number, he told them he
was fully satisfied. But, as is usually said. Justice
Vindictive hath iron hands, though leaden feet.
This cruel monster is fallen into their power that
will repay him sevenfold." Hubbard then proceeds
with the details of his execution, which, horrible as
it was, the captive bore with Indian constancy.*

But the New England ministers had no right to
revile the Indians for the sanguinary executions
which the English themselves had it thus in their
power to have prevented ; nor to inveigh against
their " cruel genius of revenge," and " brutish
devilish passion," while the members of their own
church, and almost under their own eyes, did not
scruple sometimes to act with similar barbarity.
" Sabbath day was se'enight, the women at Marble-

* Postscript to Hubbard's Narrative.

Ch. VII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 153

head, as they came out of the meeting-house, fell
upon two Indians that were brought in as captives,
and in a tumultuous way very barbariously murdered
them."* Whatever allowance ought to be made
for the resentment or revenge with which the
English were often actuated in consequence of the
aggression from the Indians, is it to be wondered at
if the latter suspected the meekness of their Euro-
pean teachers, when they saw such acts committed
by Christians at the very moment of their having
been employed in the holy offices of their religion?
The " Memorial of the present deplorable State of
New England," furnishes us with a striking con-
trast to such savage proceedings. It states that, in
one of the wars with the natives, a European " had
valiantly killed an Indian or two before the salvages
took him. He was next morning to undergoe an
horrible death, whereof the manner and the torture
was to be assigned by the widow squa of the dead
Indian. The French priests told him they had
endeavoured to divert the tygers from their bloody
intention, but could not prevail with them ; he must
prepare for the terrible execution. His cries to God
were hard and heard. When the sentence of the
squa was demanded, quite contrary to every ex-
pectation and the revengeful indignation so usual

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• Letter from the Rev. Increase Mather to Dr. Cotton,
May, 1677.

154

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cu. VII.

among these creatures, sl\e only said, * His death
won't fetch my husband to life : do nothing to him/
So nothing was done to him." *

After the death of Philip, the peace which was
concluded with the Indians proved to be of very short
duration. Hostilities soon broke out again — particu-
larly in the eastern parts of the country — which were
in a great measure to be ascribed to the unrelenting
severity shewn to their Indian enemies by the
English, even after the conclusion of the war. A
striking instance of this is furnished in the melan-
choly story of Major Waldron. A party of about
four hundred Indians, who had fought under Phi-
lip's standard, voluntarily placed themselves undef
Waldron's protection. In this situation they con-
tinued, when two other English officers having
received orders to seize all Indians who had been
engaged in the late war, arrived with their com-
panies at his station, in the year 1676. These
were going at once to fall upon the unsuspecting
Indians, but were dissuaded by Waldron, who
thought it safest to resort to the following stratagem :
He proposed to the Indians that there should be a
sham light between them and the English for
amusement; his own men, together with those of
the two newly arrived companies, forming one

* Memorial of the present deplorable State of New
England. Boston, 1707.

Ch. VII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 155

party, and the Indians the other. After thus
amusing them for some time, he caused the Indians
to fire the first volley, and contrived that they
should be immediately surrounded by the English.
The former, not suspecting any treachery, were
immediately seized and disarmed. Two hundred
of them were sent oft' to Boston, where seven or
eight of them were hanged, and the rest transported
as slaves.

This shameful instance of treachery is but slightly
noticed, either by Dr. Mather or Mr. Hubbard :
who appear, in their remarks, rather to applaud,
than to reprobate, thg transaction. " The stun-
ningest wound of all," says the former, " given to
the Indians was when, by a contrivance of the
English, near four hundred of them were surprized
at the house of Major Waldron, whereof one half,
which were found accessories to the late rebellion,
were sold for slaves."* Hubbard's account is
similar. " It was mutually agreed betwixt those
several commanders to seize upon all those Indians
that were met together about Major Waldron's
dwelling, at Quechecho. The contrivement suc-
ceeded according to expectation, and all the said
Indians were handsomely surprized, without the loss
of any person's life, either Indian or English, to the
number of near four hundred ; by which device,

I i

Mather's Magnalia, book vii. ch. 6.

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156

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. VII.

,^M:'

after our forces had them all in their hands, they
separated the peaceable from the perfidious that
had been our enemies during the late troubles.
Finding about two hundred involved in the former
rebellion, more or less, accordingly they sen^. down
to the governor and council at Boston, who ad-
judged seven or eight of them immediately to die ;
such as were known to have had their hand in the
blood of the English, or that had been shed by their
means. The rest that were found only accessories
to the late mischiefs, had their lives spared, but were
sent into other parts of the world, to try the difference
between the friendship of their neighbours here, and
their service with other masters elsewhere." *

And yet does Dr. D wight assert, that the
English have been most improperly and wrongfully
accused of cruelty and injustice towards the natives
in that quarter. " The last charge," says he,
" which I at present remember, and which has been
frequently urged against these colonists, and, like
several others, has been often reiterated on this side
of the water, is their abuse of the aborigines. This
charge is derived from ignorance or injustice. The
annals of the world cannot furnish a single instance
in which a nation, or any other body politic, has
treated its allies or its subjects, either with more

1;^.

* Hubbard (Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians
from Peskataqua to Pemmaquid), page 28.

Cii. VII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 157

justice, or more humanity, than the New England
colonists treated these people." * .^^

The act of treachery thus committed against the
Indians by Major Waldron, produced among them
a deep-rooted indignation and insatiable thirst of
revenge. The lamentable effect of it did not shew
itself for several years, but it may he riientioned here
as furnishing a signal instance or the danger of
trifling with Indian feelings, and as a corroboration
of Loskiel's remark, that "if the Indians cannot
themselves satisfy their resentment, they will call
upon their friends and posterity to do it : the
longest space of time cannot cool their wrath, nor
the most distant place of refuge afford security to
their enemy." The lapse of thirteen years did not
weaken the spirit of vengeance, nor shake the de-
termination of retaliating upon Waldron for the
treacherous aggression which a mistaken sense of
duty had probably induced him to commit. Some
of the unfortunate natives whom he had trepanned,
and who had been subsequently sent into slavery,
contrived to get back to their own country, and,
having been joined by a considerable number of
their comrades, they formed a plan for surprising
the garrison-house occupied by Waldron, who was
at that time living with his Indian neighbours in

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lett. 12.

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158 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. VII.

habits of friendship. The plan was arranged with
great secrecy. Some hints of his danger were given
to Waldron, but he paid no attention to them. In
the middle of the night several Indian women, who
had been imprudently allowed to remain within the
fort, opened the gates, and admitted their country-
men. After some resistance, they seized their vic-
tim, then eighty years of age, and, seating him
in an elbow-chair upon a table, asked him, " Who
shall judge the Indian now?" They then stabbed
and mangled him with their knives ; each of them,
as he struck him, saying, " Thus I cross out my
account." Having at length, with much cruelty,
put him to death, they likewise killed twehty-three
of his people, and carried off' twenty-nine captives.
The Indians then set fire to the houses, mills, &c.
and escaped without molestation.*

While narrating this case of Indian revenge, we
should not omit an instance recorded as having
occurred, at the same time, of an opposite descrip-
tion, and which has been attributed by some of the
New England historians to Ii.dian good faith and
gratitude. A Mrs. Heard, one of Major Wal-
dron's neighbours, was returning home in the night
time with her children, when some noise alarming
her, she ran to Waldron's house for protection.

* Belknap's History of New Hampshire, vol. i. chap. 5
and 10.

Cii. VII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 159

While waiting at the door for admittance, the
Indians were perceived in the inside, having just
put Waldron to death. Mrs. Heard was struck
with such terror that she was unable to move, but
had presence of mind enough to desire her children
to run away and take care of themselves. She
recovered so far, as to be able to creep among some
bushes to conceal herself. At break of day, and
while the Indians were still occupied throughout
the village in their work of destruction, one of
them perceived her, and went up to her with a
pistol in his hand. After looking at her earnestly,
he went away ; he once more came back, looked at
her, and again returned to the house. When the
Indians were gone, she ventured from her place of
concealment, and went to her house, where, amid
the general destruction, she found her children safe,
and her property untouched. " At the time when
the four hundred Indians were seized in 1676,"
says Dr. Belknap, " a young Indian escaped, and
took refuge in Mrs. Heard's house, where she con-
cealed him ; in return for which kindness he pro-
mised her that he should never kill her, nor any of
her family, in any future war, and that he should
use his influence with the other Indians to the same
purpose." * 4,

It is unnecessary to enter into the details of
several Indian wars which took place with the

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Belknap's History of New Hampshire, vol. i. chap. 10.

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160

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. VII.

English subsequent to that with Philip. These
hostihties were chiefly carried on towards the east-
ward, and the causes of most of them will probably
be found in the imprudence, the wantonness, or
injustice of the Europeans. In the History of
New Hampshire, v^?^* of a celebrated Indian
chief, Squando, who ad nach influence over some
of these eastern tribes. HtC wife one day passing
along a river in a canoe with her infant child,
attracted the notice of some English sailors, who
resolved to see whether it was true, as they had
heard, that the Indian children could swim as
naturally as the young of brute animals. To try
the experiment, they overset the canoe : the child
sank, but the mother instantly diving, brought it up
alive. It however died soon after, and its death
was imputed to the treatment it had received from
the seamen. " Squando," says the History, *' was
so provoked, that he conceived a bitter antipathy
to the English, and employed his great art and
influence to excite the Indians against them. Some
other injuries were alleged as the ground of the
quarrel; and, considering the interested views and
irregular lives of many of the eastern settlers, their
distance from the seat of government, and the
want of due subordination among them, it is not
improbable that a great part of the blame of the
eastern war belonged to them."*

* Belknap's History of New Hampshire, vol. i. chap. 5.

Cm. VII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. l6l

The hostilities which commenced in the eastern
parts of the country in 1676 lasted about three
years. They were renewed in 1688, and con-
tinued till 1698. In tlie year 1702 they recom-
menced; and ought to have terminated at the time
of the Peace of Utrecht in 1713, when Acadia
(or Nova Scotia) was ceded to the English. But
although peace then took place between France
and England (and it was the hostility of these two
nations that brought the North American Indian :
in general to share in the contests), the war st'l
continued between the English and their Indian
neighbours who were under the ir.f.uence or insti-
gation of the Canadian government. Hostil'*'es,
however, ended in the year 1725, but broke out
again in the year 1744, war having again com-
menced between England and France, when the
Indian allies of each of these powers came as
usual to be employed in the conflict. Peace being
at length restored in 1763, Canada was ceded to
Great Britain, and no longer retained the name of
New France.

During all these sanguinary contests between the
English and the Indians, the utmost barbarity
appears to have prevailed on both sides. The
latter were actuated by that strong spirit of revenge
to which the conduct of the former so often gave
rise. The settlers, in many cases, had defrauded
them of their lands, circumscribed them in their

5. '3'

■>,Miii

iG'i

HISTORICAL NOTKS RFSPECTING Cir. VII.

hunting grounds, neglected to pay them the regular
quantity of corn stipulated by treaty; and, by the
erection of mills and dams upon the great Indian
rivers, had put a total stop to the supply, in the
interior, of the (ish which had formerly contributed
so materially to their subsistence. These, and
many other vexations, together with the spirit of
arrogance with which they were generally treated,
made them always willing to rise up against their
oppressors, who seemed determined upon the ex-
tirpation of the Indian race. Can we wonder,
therefore, at those cases of retaliation which the
early New England authors have painted in terms
of such rancour and intolerance? To these, how-
ever, we may contrast tiie mild and charitable
sentiments of a more modern writer of the same
country : " Our historians," says Dr. Belknap,
" have generally represented the Indians in a most
odious light; especially when recounting the effects
of their ferocity. Dogs, caitiffs, miscreants and
hell-hounds, are the politest names which have been
given them by some writers; who seem to be in a
passion at the very mentioning of their cruelties,
and at other times speak of them with contempt.
"Whatever indulgence may be allowed to those who
wrote in times when the mind was vexed with their
recent depredations and inhumanities, it ill becomes
tis to cherish an inveterate hatred of the unhappy
natives." And in another part of the same

Ch. VII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. l()3

valuable work : ** However fond we may have been
of accusing the Indians of treachery and infidelity,
it must be confessed that the example was first set
them by the Europeans. Had we always treated
them with that justice and humanity which our
religion inculcates, and our true interest at all times
required, we might have lived in as much har-
mony with them, as with any other people in the
globe."*

* Belknap's Hist, of New Hampshire, vol. i. ch. i and 5.

•J

;j ir>4

IIISTOKICAL NOTES RESPECTING

Cii.VlH.

*t ■

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1 '

CHAPTER VIII.

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BANEFUL KFFECTS ARISING FROM THE PRACTICE
OF SUPPLYING THE INDIANS WITH SPIRITUOUS
LIQUORS. • '

Of the numerous vices imported from the Old
World into the New, there is none whicii has
proved so great a scourge to the Indians as the in-
temperate use of spirituous Hquors. To the French,
the Dutch, the Swedes, the British, and, in later
times, to the Americans of the United States, have
the North American Indians been indebted for the
pernicious effects which intoxicating liquors have
produced among them : and so far as Great Britain
is implicated in the charge, the only excuse which
can be reasonably advanced why her legislature
seems never, at any early period, to have interfered
in endeavouring to prevent the mischief in those
trans-Atlantic colonies subject to her control, is,
that the mother country was probably never fully
aware of the extent and magnitude of the evil,
which stood so much in need of legislative re-
striction.

TlK)t the baneful and destructive system of dis-
posing of spirits to the Indians had always pre-

Cm. VIII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. lO.'J

vailed in ful! f>. rcc, is not to be controverted ; and
the practice not oiily tetided to increase their
natural ferocity in time of war, hut to prevent their
improvement in time of peace. Those who iiavc
witnessed the effects of intoxication only upon
Europeans, can scarcely form an adequate notion
of the frenzy with which a North Auierican Indian
is infuriated when under the influence of liquor.
In thai state, every savage passion vhich nature or
habit has implanted in him, is let loose, lie will
then, with equal indifterence, shed the blood of
friend or foe ; will sacrifice his nearest and dearest
connexions, murdering without compunction, or the
slightest cause of offence, his parents, his brethren,
his wife, or his offspring. When the fit of insanity
has passed, and the unfortunate wretch has re-
covered his reason, he laments in vain the misery
which his own fury has entailed upon him ; but
while he justly ascribes to the European the blame
of having supplied him with what caused such
desolation, he will not scruple to seize the first
opportunity of again obtaining it, and plunging with
headlong infatuation into new scenes of riot and
bloodshed.

As the Indians, likewise, are but too wont to
transmit to U oir posterity their deep-rooted feelings
of revenge fo) murdered kinsmen, the extent of
the evil may, in some degree, be appreciated.

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HISTORICAL NOTJ:s RESPECTING Ch. VIII.

Indian intemperance has been often pioductive of
wars, which have ended only in the total extirpa-
tion of numerous tribeB, who took up the hatchet
to avenge the blood of their rehitions or country-
men M hose lives had been lost in a drunken feast or
quarrel. It is true that in many cases these mur-
ders are excused on the conveiiieot plea of their
having been committed under the influence of in-
toxication, or are expiated by the timely interven-
tion of fiiendSj, and the atonement of presents — a
custom termed by the Indians co'vering the (kad.
In the early account given by Monsieur Denys of
those Indians upon the river St. Lawrence,, among
whom he resided for almost forty years, he observes,
*' If any of the Indians happen to be killed in these
drunken frays, the person who committed the
offence is not only obliged to tntreat forgiveness
on the score of intoxication, but he must make
some present to the widow of the deceased."*
Volncy mentions a celebrated chief, mear Fort
Miami, who one day being drunk, met with another
Indian against wl'jom lie had retained a hatred for
t^vo-and- twenty years. Finding hirn alone, he
availed liimself of the opportunity, and murdered

** Doscripdon (it! TAmerique Septonl;riona.!e, &ic. par
M. D(in\!'. Gouvenjiour-Litiiiteiidrit poiir ic lloi, vol. ii.
ch. 27. V-Axh, 167V2.

Cii. VIII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. I67

him. The family of the deceased came in arms to
revenge the murder. The chief went to the com-
mandant of the fort (from whom Vohiey had
the story), and thus addressed him : " Father, they
want my death; that is just. My heart divulged
its secret; the liquor made me a fool. But they
wish to kill my son; that is not just. Try, Father,
if this matter can be accommodated. I will give
them all that I possess; my two horses, my gold
and silver ornaments, my fire-arms — except one
pair. If they will not receive these, let them fix
the time and place: I shall be there alone, and
they may take my life."*

Dr. Robertson, in his History of America, ob-
serves : " The people of North America, when
first discovered, were not acquainted with any in-
toj^ieating drink, but as the Europeans eariy found
it their interest to supply them with spirituous
liquors, drunkenness soon became as universal
among them as among their countrymen to the
south ; and the women having acquired this new
taste, indulge in it with as little decency and
moderation as the men."t Lafitau states, that the
natives of Mexico (as well as of the southern

( '•

par

* Volney's View of the United States of America, vol. iii.
art. 5. ■ - '

t Rob^iiison's History of America, book iv.

■I

fe :.i

ll^

168 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. VlU-

continent of America^ had the art of making in-
toxicating liquors from the fruits, grain, and roots
which formed a principal part of their food.* But
it no where appears that, in the more northern
parts, the Indians made any beverage of that
description, nor that they were at all acquainted
with strong liquors until introduced by the Euro-
peans. " The Mexicans," says Heckewelder,
'' have their pulque^ and other indigenous bever-
ages of an inebriating nature ; but the North
American Indians, before their intercourse with
us, had absolutely nothing of the kind."')' Of this
fact there can be no doubt; and it is curious to
observe, that, at more places than one of the then
newly-discovered continent of North America, the
very firzt article which was presented to the native
Indian chiefs by the European strangers was spi-
rituous liquors. Heckewelder, certainly no mean
authority in Indian matters, relates the following
tradition on this subject, as one currently handed
down among the Delaware and Mohegan tribes,
respecting the first arrival of the Dutch on that
continent : —

*' The Indians," says the tradition, ** observed a
large object on the surface of the water approaching,

* Lafitau, Moeurs des Sauvages Americains, vol. iii. ch. a.
t Heckewelder's Account of the Indians, ch. 36.

Cii. VIII. THE NOETU AMEUICAN INDIANS. 169

from the great salt lake, and which they ( jncluded
to be a huge cabin, in which their ManitOj or
Supreme Being, was coming to visit them. The
principal chiefs immediately assembled at the great
island upon the river since named the Hudson.
Their native sorcerers were employed without
delay to ascertain, by means of their conjurations,
what would be the result of this unexpected visit ;
and whether the great Manito was coming to aid,
or to destroy them. All was hurry, confusion, and
alarm. The ship at length approached the shore ;
and a boat full of men, but of a colour such as the
Indians had never seen before, left her and reached
the land. Among the strangers one appeared
dressed in red clothf^s, glittering all over with gold.
Him they supposed to be theii manito, but won-
deied why his skin should be white. The chiefs
and sachems assembled in council, forming a large
circle, and the man in red advanced towards them,
accompanied by two others. He saluted the In-
dians as a friend, and his salutation was returned.
He then ordered a bottle to be brought by one of
his attendants, and a cup of some unknown liquor
to be poured out and handed to him. After drink-
ing its contents, he desired the cup again to be
filled, and presented it to the chief who was next
to him. The chief smelled at it, and passed the
cup to the nearest Indian without tasting it. It

170

}UST0R1C iL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. VIII.

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was thus handed round the circle, and upon the
point of being returned untasted to the manito,
when one of the Indians, a bold warrior, sprang
up, and harangued on the impropriety of what
they were doing: ' The cup,' said he, ' was pre-
sented to them by the manito, in order that they
should drink as he had done. To follow his
example v.ould, no doubt, be pleasing to him, but
to return untasted wha, he had thus given to them,
might provoke his wrath, and bring destruction
upon them all. Since, therefore, it might be for
the good of the nation that the contents of the cup
offered to them should be drunk, and as no one
else would drink it, he would do so himself, let the
consequence l>e what it might ; for it was better that
one man should die, than that a whole people
should be destroyed.' He then took the cup, and
bidding the assembly a solemn farewell, at once
drank off its contents. Every eye was now directed
to see the effect of this unknown potioa upon the
resolute chief. He soon began to stagger, and
then fell prostrate on the ground. His companions,
thinking he had expired, bem.oaned his fate. He
had fallen asleep. He awoke, sprang up, and de-
clared that he had enjoyed the most delicious sen-
sations; and that he never felt so happy as after he
had drunk the contents of the cup. He asked for
Riorc, and his request was granted : the whole

'•>i -

VIII.

Ch.VIII. the NORTU AMEIUCAN INDIANS.

171

r %.

Iiey
his
but

assembly followed his example, and all became
intoxicated."*

Not very dissimilar to this was the first meeting
which took place l)etwcen the Nev/ England
settlers (in 1620) and the celebrated Indian sove-
reign Massasoit, when he came to welcome them
to his country. " Then instantly came our gover-
iiour," says Purchas, " with a drum and trumpet
after him, and some few musketiers. After salu-
tations, cur governour kissing his hand, the king
kissed him, and so they sate downe. Then the
governour called for a pot of strong water, and
dranke to him, and he (Massasoit) dranke a great
draught that made him sweate all the while after.^f
It was probably upon this occasion that Massasoit
acknowledged king James of England as his sove-
reign : and when, in the following year, six Indian
sachems also put their marks to a formal instru-
ment containing a similar recognition, ii is not
unlikely they did so when sweacing under the
duress of " strong water." Has any more absurd

t h

* Heckewelder's Account of the Indians, eh. 2. — It is re-
lated by Charlevoix, that an Ottawa Indian, a great drunkard,
being asked by the governor of Canada what he thought the
brandy which he hked so much was made of, ansv/ered, " Of
hearts and tongues; for when I drink, I fear nothing, and I
speak admirably." — Journal Historiqucy let. 21.

t Purchas his Pilgrirnes, part iv. book .\. ch. 4.

:. »,'

172 HISTORICAL NOTES RESrfiCTlNG Ch. MIL

-■%

pubiic document been recorded than the following
acknowledgment of allegiance to the European
Defender of the Faith by half a dozen American
heathens? ''September 13th, A,D. 1621. Know
all men by these presents, that we whose names ar<3
underwritten, do hereby acknowledge ourselves to
be the loyal subjects of king James, king of Great
Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the
Faith. In witness whereof, and as a testimonial
of the same, we have subscribed our names, or
maiks, as fblloweth. Oquamahud. Conwacomet.
Kattawahunt," kc. &c.* — This the Indians called
viaking the paper talk. But the Iro(juois chief
Gachradodow, who addressed a speech, irx j 744,
to the Virginia commissioners, at a grand council
held in Pennsylvania with the Five Nations,
shewed somewhat more of the independent spirit
of a sober Indian, " Brothers, the world at the
first was made on the other side of the Great
Water different from vvhat it is on this, as may be
known from the different colour of our skins j and
that which you call justice among you may not be
so amongst us. You have your laws and customs ;
so have we. Your great king might send you over
to conquer t!v Ind?irs; but it seems to us that
God did not approve :>f it . if he had, he would

* Hutchinson's Hiotory of Massachussets, ch. 2.

Cn. VIIT. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 173

: ,.: ^J

not have placed the sea where it is, as tlie limits
between us and you. Although great things are
well remembered by us, we do not remember that
we were ever conquered by your great king. If it
was so, it is beyond our memory."*

But to return. The pernicious effects produced
by the [)ractice of disposing of spirits to the
Indians, may be traced to the earliest periods.
The accounts transmitted by the missionaries, and
by other writers who had resided in Canada, are
full of complaints respecting the consequences of
that baneful traffic, — complaints in which the In-
dians themselves joined with their European well-
wishers. The French missionary Le Jeune, in
one of his early Reports from Canada to the su-
perior of his order in France, observes, " Our
interpreter told me that the Indians, belonging to
a tribe of whom one is now in prison for killing a
FVenchman, reproach us extremely ; saying it was the
liquor, not the Indian^ that committed the murder.
* Send your wine and brandy to prison,' they ex-
claimed, * it is these, and not we, who do the mis-
chief.' "t In the report for the subsequent year, the
same missionary remarks : " Since the arrival of the

* Colden's History of the Five Nations, vol. ii. p. 85.
t Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1633, par le Pere le
Jeu» e, p. 156.

IirSTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ca. VIII.

Europeans the Indians have hecomc such drunk-
ards, that although tlicy perceive very clearly that
the use of spirituous liquor is depopulating their
country, and, although they themselves complain
of this, yet they cannot abstain from drinking it.
They die in great numbers in consequence ; and in-
deed I am surprised that many of them resist its mor-
tal effects so long as they do; because if you give to
a couple of Indians two or three bottles of brandy,
they will sit <^own, and without eating any thing,
will drink, the one after the other, till they have
emptied tlie contents of the whole." * At another
place, he observes : — " There are many orphans
among these people, for since they have addicted
themselves to the use of spirituous liquors, there is
great mortality among them ; and these poor chil-
dren are dispersed among the cabins of their rela-
tions, by whom they are taken care of as if they
were their l vn offspring," t

In a later Report of the Jesuits, the missionary
who resided among the Mohawks observes : " To
the many obstructions which exist among these
people to the establishment of the Faith, may be
added the intoxication which is caused by the use

* Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1634, !'«'' '« P^'ie 'c
Jeune, cli. 6.
f Ibid. ch. ,'i.

Cii. Vm. THE NOlini AMKRICyVN INDIANS. 17^

of spirituous liquora sold to tliem by the Europeans.
It produces such disorders here, that the village is
often in one entire uproar. Tiiey tear our chapels
to pieces, burn our. papers, and threaten our lives.
These riotous orgies last frequently three or four
days together, during which period vvc have to bear
a thousand insults without complaint, without rest,
and often without food. In their fury the savages
destroy every thing, and frequently massacre
one another, sparing neither relations, friends,
nor strangers."*

Le Clercq, the Franciscan missionary, bitterly
regrets the effects of intoxication among those
Indians with whom he resided : " Violence, mur-
ders, parricides, are the fruits of this traffic ; and
we see with grief Indians dying in a state of
drunkenness; committing suicide; the brother cut-
ting the throat of the sister; the husband putting
to death his wife; the mother throwing her infant
into the flames or into the river; and the fathers
strangling their children, whom, when in their
senses, they love as they do themselves." f

Pere Rasles, the Jesuit missionary, (who resided
about thirty years among the Wapenacki Indians
on the eastern coast,) observes, on the subject of
the Illinois nation : "It is fortunate that they arc

* Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1667-68, article G.
t Nouvelle Ilelaliou de la Ga^pC-aie, &c., cli. i .',.

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176

IlISTOllirAL NOTES RKSPECTING Ch. VIII.

1 i- •«:*■■ '

far removed from Quebec, for spirituous liquors
cannot be carried into their country as is done into
other places. This beverage is the j^reatest obstacle
to the introduction of Christianity aniong the
savages, and is the source of numerous and enor-
mous crimes. It is well known that they purchase
it only to prolong their furious intoxication. The
disorders and horrible deaths which are caused by
it ought to put an end to the traffic of that fatal
liquor."* Raslcs, however, was mistaken in sup-
posing that the Illinois were beyond the reach of the
destructive beverage ; for Pfere Vivier, who resided
among that people, remarks, in noticing one of the
missions in their country — " The spirituous liquors
sold to the Illinois by the French, and particularly
by the soldiers, in spite of the repeated royal pro-
hibitions, (besides what is also sometimes distributed
to them, under pretence of thereby reta'ning them
in our interests,) has caused the ruin of that mis-
sion, and made most of them abandon our holy
religion. The Indians, even the Illinois, who are
the most mild and tractable of them, become in
their drunkenness like furies and wild beasts, tear-
ing each other to nieces, and stabbing one another
with their knives." f

Charlevoix laments in strong language the effects

* Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, vol. vi. p. 185.
t Ibid. vol. vii. p. 85.

Ch. Vni. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 177

arising from the conduct of the French in iiis day,
which counteracted, in every quarter, the exertions
of the missionaries. In describing some of their
own converted Indians, he complains, that even
in the streets of Montreal the most dis^ustinj;
spectacles were exhibited : husbands and wives,
fathers, mothers, and children, brothers, and sisters,
seizing each other by the throats, tearing one
another by the ears, worrying each other with their
teeth like wolves, and making the air resound all
night with their yells and bowlings. '^ Those who
perhaps have the most reason to reproach them-
selves with these horrors," says Charlevoix, '* are
the first to ask if these persons are Christians ?
One might answer, Yes, they are Christians, and
new converts, who know not what they do : but
with regard to those who have reduced them
to this state, may it not be asked, have they
any religion ? The Indians, it is well known,
will give every thing they have for brandy. This
has proved to be a temptation, against which
neither the reproofs of the priest, the power of the
magistrate, the respect due to the law, the severity
of the supreme authorities, the fear of Divine judg-
ment, nor the thoughts of hell uself — of which
these savages in the fury of their drunkenness fur-
nish a striking representation — have been able to
avail."*

* Charlevoix, Journal Historique, let. 8.

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178 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. VIII.

Similar to this is tlie description given of the
Iroquois by St. Valier, the bishop of Quebec, in
liis account of his diocese of New France, in the
year 1685. " Their natural haughtiness and fe-
rocity, joined to the fury caused by drunkenness,
renders them peculiarly averse to the virtues of
Christianity. In the time of their intoxication,
their cabins form a striking representation of hell.
They tear one another to pieces with their teeth :
they attack in their fury, and without distinction,
all who come within their reach ; destroying friends,
parents, wives, and children."* •! j ', . r rii , :

Other writers also — unconnected with the re-
ligious missions in New France — fully corroborate
these early accounts of the baneful effects arising
from spirituous liquors. The Baron de la Hontan re-
marks, that " The excessive use of ardent spirits has
made a dreadful havoc among the natives in New
France, the number of those who are addicted to it
far exceeding those who have the courage to abstain
from it. This beverage, murderous in itself, is
rendered worse by being adulterated before it is
brought into this country ; and its destructive
effects are so rapid that no one who has not wit-
nessed them would believe it/'f Boucher, who

• Etat present de I'Eglise, et de la Colonie de la Nou-
velle France, par M. I'Ev^que de Quebec, p. 205. Paris,
1688.

t La Hontan, vol ii p. 159.

Cm. VIII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 179

long held the situation of governor of Three Rivers,
in Canada, makes similar remarks in his early His-
tory of New France. " Those Indians," says he,
" who have communication with the Europeans,
almost always become drunkards; which causes much
mischief amongst us, many of those who had been
converted having again relapsed. The Jesuit
fathers have done all in their power to check the
evil. The savages drink for the sole purpose of
becoming intoxicated ; and when once they begin,
they would part with every thing they possess fcnr a
bottle of brandy in order to get drunk."* Monsieur
Denys, who was governor of a large district to-'
wards the mouth of the river St. Lawrence, and
Nova Scotia, thus expresses himself on the same
subject:-—" In their drinking entertainments they
are never satisfied unless they get completely and
brutally intoxicated ; and they think they cannot
have had enough without having beat and knocked
each other to pieces. The women upon these
occasions often take away the guns, hatchets, daggers,
and knives. This they are allowed to do if the drink-
ing has not begun, otherwise the women would not
venture to go into their cabins. When they have
thus taken away the weapons, the women sometli.ies

go into the woods, where they conceal themselves

"■• •' ■- •^■"i ^' - - - ■ ■ -J - -J - ---' ' - - ■

* Hist, de la Nouvelle France, par Boucher, chap. 10.
Paris, 1664.

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180 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. VIII.

lif

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with their cliildi

until

, not venturing to appear
the effects of the debauch are past ; and in the
course of which the men generally fight and beat
each other with the poles that support their bark
tents or lodges."* k.

** Of all the Algonquin nation," says Monsieur
de la Potherie, " there remain only a few villages
near Quebec, the inhabitants of which for the
most part die from excess in drinking. Beaver
skins were then extremely dear; but the savages
would always part with them to the French for
brandy." t And in a subsequent letter, he asks,
'* Why should this practice be allowed, which
every where causes such disorder and outrage,
producing ruin and perdition to those whom
such pains have been taken to educate in the
true religion? To such a degree does drunken-
ness brutalise them, that they do not scruple in
that state to commit all sorts of crimes. Every
thing is excusable among them when a man
is drunk. Homicide and parricide are the ordinary
consequences ; and they consider themselves as
acquitted of the crime by their being able to say,
* When I killed sucli a one, I was intoxicated.'" J

• Description de rAmerique Septentrionale, par M. Denys,
vol. ii. chap. 27.

t La Potherie, Hist, de TAmer. Sept. vol. i. let. 11.
X Ibid. vol. iv. let. 9.

Cu.VIII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 181

Professor Kalm, when in Canada, in the middle of
the last century, made a similar observation : " The
Indians, when in liquor, sometimes kill the mis-
sionaries who live with them, calling them spies,
or excusing themselves by saying that brandy had
killed them."*

Some of the governors-general in New France
appear to have been particularly active in prevent-
ing, a? much as they could, the disposal of spirits
among the Indians ; but one of these, the Baron
d'Avougour, finding himself unsupported in his pro-
hibitions by those from whom he had a right to
look for assistance, the evil was permitted to go on
unpunished, until at length it spread to a most
alarming degree. The circumstance is thus men-
tioned by Charlevoix : — A woman of Quebec was
found acting in express disobedience to the gover-
nor s proclamation on this subject, and was in
consequence sent to prison. Father Lallemant,
the Jesuit, was prevailed on by her friends to inter-
cede in her behalf; but he met with a cool recep-
tion from the governor, who, although he granted
the request, appears to have been offended at the
application. He sharply answered the priest, that
since the disposing of spirits to the Indians was not
to be considered deserving of punishment in the
case of this woman, it should thenceforward not

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* Kalm's Travels in North America, vol. ii. p. 290.

" i

182 IIISTOIllCAL NOTES llESPECTING Cu. Vlll.

be punished in tiie case of others. The governor
seems to have kept his word ; and the consequence
was, that the disorder rapidly increased ; and, as
Charlevoix expresses it, " baffled the bishop,
priests, and confessors ; so that neither the me-
naces of the Divine wrath, nor the thunders of the
church, could stop the torrent which had thus
broken down its banks."*

When the Count de Frontenac was at the head
of the government in Canada, he also was much
blamed by the missionaries for the little discourage-
ment given by him to the growth of this baneful
evil. An order of council was in consequence
issued in France (in 1678), directing twenty of the
principal inhabitants of New France to assemble,
and consider this subject, and after making every
inquiry, to report their opinions respecting it.
This was accordingly done ; and these opinions
being referred to the Archbishop of Paris, and to
P^re de la Chaise, the king s confessor, they decided
that the introduction of spirituous liquors should
be prohibited under the most severe penalties.
This was followed up by a royal ordinance,
which was transmitted by the Count de Fron-
tensjc, with directions that it should be punctually
obeyed.f ./;.;.. ■; < l

* Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. ix.
t Ibid. liv. X.

Cli. Vin. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 183

■ Some years afterwards, however, the same
excesses appear to have prevailed ; and application
was again made to the crown on the sul ject. " It
appears absolutely necessary," writes the Abb^ de
Brisacier to the king's confessor, " that his majesty
should be informed of the brutalities and murders
which have been recently committed in the streets
of Quebec by the Indians, male and female, when
intoxicated^ with spirits. The Intendant, touched
with these horrible excesses, but restrained by
the orders he had received, — to write nothing
to France except in concert with the governor-
general, — states, that if they command him to ap-
prize the court of the truth, he will do so ; but as
the evil presses, and the statements are confirmed
by various letters from persons worthy of belief, it
will be necessary at once to stop the permission of
disposing of spirits, — not only to prevent Heaven
from being offended at the continuance of such
crimes, but also to retain in our alliance the Indians,
who are now quitting us, during the present war.
It is only you, my very reverend Father, who are in
the situation of speaking upon this subject. The
cause of religion and the welfare of the public in
New France, are in your hands. Your zeal will
not fail to meet its recompense." * » ^ . , . .

It does not appear, however, that any very

' * Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. xv.

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184 HISTOUICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. VIII.

IS'

ciTectual measures were taken on the spot to stop
the evil complained of; and we again find
Charlevoix lamenting its consequences, " An
evident relaxation of morals," says he, " is now
observable among our converts, which can only be
ascribed to their drunkenness, now almost impos-
sible to remedy. The repeated prohibitions
ordered by the king have not proved sufficient,
and we cannot now depend even upon our own
Iroquois Indians at the Sault St. Louis and La
Montagne."* . .^ -. .< ., i :.., ii > w. i

In a letter written by the same author, (from
Detroit, in June 1721,) he mentions that Monsieur
de Tonti, the commandant, had then assembled
several of the neighbouring chiefs in council at that
place, for the purpose of communicating to them
some orders he had received from the governor-
general ; one of which related to a wish that the
Indians would not permit any more brandy to be
brought into their country. The chiefs heard
M. de Tonti without interruption; and, when he
had done speaking, the principal orr.toi' of the
Hurons told him they would consult about his pro-
posal, and give him their answer. .. ) :.ji i .• :*(...

Two days afterwards they assembled in great
numbers at the commandant's residence ; and Char-
levoix was present at the counqil, together with all

*• * Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. xix.

1-vi.v

Cii. VIII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 185

the officers of llie garrison. The Huron chief, in his
speech, stated, among other things, tliat on the
subject of brandy the French might do as tliey
pleased, and supply them or not as they thought fit ;
but that they would have done well had they never
furnished them with a drop of it. '* It was impos-
sible," says Charlevoix, " to imagine any thing
stronger than what was spoken by this Huron orator
whilst exposing the disorders occasioned by that
destructive beverage, and the mischiefs produced by
it among all the Indian nations. The most zealous
missionary could not have said more ; but he added,
that unfortunately they were now :o accustomed to
receive it that they could no longer dispense with
the indulgence."* " The Indians well kno v," says
the same writer, " that drunkenness is their ruin ;
but when one attempts to persuade them that they
ought, of themselves, to request that no more of
that destructive poison should be sold to them,
they answer you coolly, — * It is you who have
taught us ; we can now no longer do without it ;
and should you refuse to supply us, we shall cer-
tainly go to the English for it. This liquor, we
know, destroys us ; but you are the cause of the
mischief, which is now past all remedy.' "

" A disorder," continues Charlevoix, "which
attacks the morals never goes alone. It is either

*•' ',;■

•■ i.

Charlevoix, Journal Historique, let. 17.

■ ^;,M^

' t

18G HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. VIII.

the cause or the effect of several others. The In-
dians, before they fell into this vice, if we except
war, which they have always carried on in a bar-
barous manner, had nothing to trouble their happi-
ness. Drunkenness has rendered them sordid, and
has destroyed all the sweets and comforts of
domestic life."*

* Charlevoix, Journal Historique, let. 22.

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Cu. IX. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 187

CHAPTER IX.

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.

During the wars which were formerly carried on
in North America between the English and the
French, the native tribes, who respectively attached
themselves to the two rival powers, were profusely
supplied with spirituous liquors ; and the ui<»tritu-
tion of that article proved to be one of the strongts.*
ties which attached the Indians to their European
allies. After the cession of Canada to Great
Britain (confirmed by the peace of 17^3), when
there existed no longer any rivalship between the
French and English in that country, it might
have been expected that the practice of dis-
posing of spirituous liquors to the Indians would
have ceased ; but this was far from being the case ;
and the evil was found to extend itself almost
throughout the whole of the Indian country in
North America.

It may be noticed, however, that this fatal propen-
sity does not appear to have originated from motives
of selfish enjoyment or gratification to the palate of
the Indian. Selfishness, indeed, of any description,
is a feeling to which he is almost a total stranger.

!.l

H,C^:'-

¥m

Sf':

n* \

188 HISTOniCAL NOTES KRSPECTINO Cm. IX.

The American savage is not a solitary drunkard :
his eagerness to become intoxicated generally arises
from an uncontrolled wish to enjoy, in common
with his comrades, those frantic and riotous orgies
with which their drunken feasts are almost invari-
ably accompanied. A feast which does not end in
complete ebriety is insufficient ; and a present of
spirits to a band of Indians, unless the quantity be
enough to intoxicate and madden the whole party,
is but a paltry gift. Successive days and nights
must be consumed in the debauch; the women
commonly join in it with avidity ; the youths partake
of it ; the children are taught to share in it ; and the
acts of intemperance and riot which ensue, often
form throughout the tribe a subject of marked
record for a long period to come.

The season of the year, also, in which the Indians
were generally supplied with the means of carrying
on their drunken debauches, added materially to
the extent of the mischief. It was usually during
the rigour of the winter that they were in the habit
of obtaining spirituous liquors. At that period
of the year they ought to have been occupied
in procuring a stock of provisions for their families,
and obtaining the furs— most valuable in th<; winter
■' — which constitute the chief articles of their barter
for European or American manufactures : but by
the prolonged and enervating scenes of intern-

Ch. IX. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 189

pcrancc which occurred during the winter months,
they were rendered unable to hunt ; their pro-
visions failed them ; the clothing which they had
procured for themselves and families was often
wantonly burnt and destroyed ; the women, from
the effects of intoxication, in which they rivalled
the men, were rendered incapable of protecting
their children, or giving sustenance to their infants ;
— hunger, cold, and disease, visited them with
accumulated terrors; mutilations and murders every
where prevailed ; and the accounts of those writers
may well be credited, who state that, by the intem-
perate use of spirituous liquors, and its attendant
evils, whole nations of Indians have been swept
from the face of the globe.

It is not necessary to enter here into details,
or to furnish melancholy examples connected with
this subject; but if the reader wish to satisfy
himself more fully with respect to the unjustifiable
practices of those early periods, he may be referred
(among other works) to the Journals of Mr. Adair,
published in his History of the North American
Indians, and to those of Mr. Long, in his Voyages
and Travels of an Indian Interpreter; — both of
whom resided many years among the Indians, about
the middle of the last century.

It cannot be denied, indeed, that Great Britain
seems r^ver — at any period, at least, of the
more early history of her North American

■^i

''4

■m,

190 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cn. IX.

colonies — to have strenuously endeavoured to put
an adequate stop to this evil. In some cases
during the reigns of James I. and Charles I.,
proclamations had been issued for the purpose of
regulating the trade between the English and the
Indians, and " for prohibiting interloping and disor-
derly trading in New England in America ;"* but
these royal mandates seem to have been exclusively
calculated for the benefit of the former, and con-
tained no injunctions whatever against supplying
the natives with spirituous liquors, the most de-
structive article which they could have imported.
Neither does it appear that any very effectual
measures were ever adopted by the provincial
governments to effect its prohibition. We find,
indeed, some early restrictions in Pennsylvania, but
these were ineffectual. In Connecticut, also, a
fine was imposed upon the seller of spirits to the
natives ; and every Indian who got drunk was like-
wise fined five shillings, and sentenced to receive
ten lashes.t But these, and similar enactments
which were made in other provinces, proved of
little or no effect. , ^ ? - . ; ■ . ,

I In stating, howevei, that the government of

* See Rymer's Foedera, vol. xvii. p. 416, and vol. xix.
p. 210.

f Douglass's Summary of the Settlements in North
America, part ii. sec. 11.

Cii.IX. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 191

Great Britain seems not to have paid an early
attention to the t;jhject of the disposal of spirits
among the Indians within her Nortli American
territories, it ought to be noticed, that instructions
upon this subject were issued for the guidance
of what is termed the Indian Department in
Canada. That branch of the public service origi-
nated about the year 1 764, when Canada was ceded
to Great Britain. Its object, no doubt, was to gain
over and secure the good-will of the Indians ; and
its operation has been probably continued, in the
hope of retaining in the British interest those
tribes who principally reside towards the frontiers
of the territory belonging to the United States.
For this purpose that department, among its other
duties, has every year to distribute gratuitously
among the Indians a large quantity of clothing,
ammunition, cutlery, and other articles of British
manufacture ; but spirituous liquors are strictly
prohibited from constituting a part of these dona-
tions. • • ' ' • '
One of the powerful causes of the baneful traffic
of spirits among the North American Indians, was
the commercial rivalship of the European fur-
traders. These unfortunately considered the prac-
tice as very beneficial to them; and, while any
individual trader, or class of traders, followed the
pernicious custom, it could not be reasonably
expected, perhaps, that others would be disposed to

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192

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. IX.

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relinquish it. Thus the evil continued its rapid
progress, and the Indian becanDe its victim. In
the year 1821, in consequence of a junction which
had been effected between the two principal rival com-
panies by whom the fur-trade in British North
America was chiefly carried on, an Act of Parlia-
ment was passed (1st and 2d Geo. IV. ch. 66),
which, among other proposed ameliorations, pointed
to that of preventing the distribution of spirituous
liquors among the Indians ; and the result of the
measure, it is sincerely to be hoped, will ere long
become perceptible, in the total abolition of that
practice throughout the greater part of the extensive
Indian countries belonging to Great Britain.

It is true that in some parts of the interior,
where the Indian tribes are more powerful and
independent, and where, from the abundance of
game and provisions, they stand in less need of
assistance from the Europeans, the prohibition
of spirits would require to be somewhat more
cautious and gradual. But, even among these, the
period of a few years ought to be sufficient for the
termination of a system which has proved so
destructive to the welfare of the Indians in British
North America. To this, however, the^e may be
urged one objection, as applicable to those parts of
the British possessions more immediately adjoining
the territory belonging to the United States. The
same reasons which had naturally prevented one

lif'

Ch.IX. the north AMERICAN INDIANS. 193

class of British subjects from voluntarily relinquish-
ing this branch of trade while another class con-
tinued it, would operate in preventing Great Britain
from entirely suppressing it in the countries adjoin-
ing those where the same system is followed by the
Americans. This observation applies to those
extensive regions which form the frontier countries
of the two nations. Along the greater part of that
line, the trader who has the largest stock of spiri-
tuous liquors will always secure to himself the best
share of Indian traffic. If the one government
should prevent their own traders from vending
spirits to the Indians, and the other should per-
mit theirs to do so, the former will soon find that
their commercial rivals will speedily engross the
whole trade of the country. — This would be one
of the inevitable consequences of those ill-fated
lessons taught by the Europeans to their Indian
brethren.

With respect to the Americans of the United States,
it may be observed, that an Act of Congress was
passed in the year 1 802, enacting, among other things,
" that the President be authorised to take such
measures, from time to time, as to him may appear ex-
pedient, to prevent, or restrain, the vending, or distri-
buting of spirituous liquors among any of the said
Indian tribes," &c. But it could not well be expected
that this law, where no express punishment was fixed,
nor any specific penalty appointed - — particularly in

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194 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. IX

• • • » ' • I

such a government as that of the United States —
would produce the result that was looked for.
The experiment totally failed. The licenses, in-
deed, (granted by the government of the United
States to individuals, permitting them an exclusive
trade with the Indians,) forbid, under certain penal-
ties, the sale or disposal of spirits; but the pro-
visions contained in these are either secretly evaded
or openly disobeyed — a fact fully admitted by the
Americans themselves.

Captains Lewis and Clarke, in their Travels to
the Source of the Missouri, observe, that the
Indian superintendent at St. Louis, could not, from
the extent of the countryj and distance of the traders,
discover whether the stipulations in the American
licenses were adhered to. " They may, therefore, vend
ardent spirits," say these travellers, " compromise the
government, or the character of the whites in the
estimation of the Indians, or practise any other
crimes in relation to these people, without the least
fear of detection or punishment."* Major Pike,
in his Exploratory Travels through the Western Ter-
ritories of the United States, also notices various in-
stances where the traders violated the injunctions
contained in the licenses with respect to the dis-
posal of spirits to the Indians. Mr. James, like-

• Lewis and Clarke's Travels to the Source of the Mis-
souri, &c. (Appendix to the American edition.)

Cu. IX. THE NORTrt AMERICAN INDIANS. 195

wise, in his late Expedition to the Rocliy Mountains,
when remarking upon some of the Indian tribes
resident on the banks of the Missouri, makes the
following observation : — " Whiskey is furnished to
them freely by the traders, and the existing law of
the United States prohibiting the sale of it to the
natives, is readily evaded by presenting it to them
with a view of securing their custom, not in direct,
though implied exchange for their peltries. Nor
is this greatest of evils in the power of the agent
to remedy ; and until traders are efiectually inter-
dicted by law from taking any whiskey into the
country, even for their own consumption, it must,
in defiance of his authority, continue to exist."*
Mr. Schoolcraft, in his Narrative Journal of
Travels &c., (through the north-western regions
of the United States, in which he accompanied
Governor Cass's expedition in 1820,) observes,
with respect to some of the Chippewa tribes resi-
dent within the Union, " Nothing appeared to give
them so much satisfaction as the whiskey they re-
ceived ; and when it was drunk, they presented a
request for more. We have since observed, that
the passion for drinking spirits is as common to the
tribes of this region, as it is to the remnants of the
Iroquois inhabiting the western parts of New

'>.

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* James's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, &c. vol, i.

Ch. 12. \'-'r'\ ,-AH'f

iFi

196 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. IX.

York. To procure it they will part with any thing
at their disposal ; and if they have no furs or dried
venison to exchange, they will sell their silver orna-
ments, their guns, and even parts of their dress.
They generally become intoxicated whenever oppor-
tunity is presented ; and a trader, or traveller, can
present nothing which is of half so much value in
their estimation. We hav*. generally found it the
Jirst and last thing inquired for."* * '

In Dr. Morse's recent Report on the subject of
Indian affairs, he remarks, that the Act of Congress
above alluded to, and the injunctions contained in
the American licenses, have not. had the effect of
putting a stop to the sale of spirituous liquors
among the Indians. As whiskey is extremely cheap
in the United States, there is, therefore, no scarcity
of that destructive article for the purpose of barter
in the interior; nor have the Indian agents any
hesitation in avowing the fact. One of these
officers, who communicated much useful informa-
tion to Dr. Morse in compiling his Report, enu-
merates the various evils which, in his opinion, were
caused by the present mode of carrying on the
American fur-trade ; and among these, he notices
" the impossibility, on the nresent system, of pre-
venting the introduction of spirituous liquors into

* Schoolcraft'8 Narrative, &c. p. 100. Albany, New
York, 1821.

Cu. IX. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 197

the Indian country. The traders obtain their
licenses at Macicinaw (Michillimakinac), and make
their entries, and get their clearance. Their
whiskey, of the highest proof, so as to take up
little room, is privately conveyed to some spot on
the shore of the island, where they are to pass
under cover by night ; it is then taken on board
their boats, and carried into the country."* Tho
same agent, in noticing the effects of spirituous
liquors upon the Indians, states, that " no quarrels,
disturbances, or murders, have been known among
the Menomenies during the four years of my resi-
dence among them, except such as have had their
origin in whiskey '''\

These remarks, it should be observed, are made
by American writers who were employed at the
time in the service of the United States, and by
them officially communicated to the proper depart-
ment of their own government.

In the recent Memoirs of Mr. Hunter's Cap-
tivity among the Indians, the author has furnished
various and striking instances of the dreadful result
of Indian intoxication. The first time he ever saw
the effects of it he thus describes : " Here I first
saw drunken Indians, and witnessed with indescrib-
able astonishment its unsocial effects on the

.':' i. ■

1 I

* Morse's Indian Report, p. 40. Newhaven, 1822.
t Ibid. p. 42.

*<i

Ifl/8

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ce. IX.

sivbriieft RS well a« On some of the warriors. No
state of society is, in my opinion, more exempt
from strife and contention between husband and
wife, than that of the Indians generally. The
warrior thinks it beneath his character to meddle in
any way with the province of his squaw ; but vhen
this evil spirit is introduced among them by the
traders, this character undergoes a great modifica-
tion, particularly during the paroxysm of its influ-
ence. In fact, a drunken Indian and squaw act
more like demons than rational human beings;
and nearly a whole town in the same situation, as
I have since frequently witnessed, would, according
to the representations given of them by some poets,
bear a strong resemblance to the infernal regions.
Indeed, no language can describe its mischievous
effects. The traders take advantage of such occa-
sions to defraud the Indians ; who, when they
become sober, very often seek redress in the de-
struction of their property, or in that of the whole
white people themselves."*

\ t t t • t - ■ ■ t t ■ t ■ ^

* Memoirs of a Captivity among the Indians of North
America, &c. by J. D. Hunter, p. 37. Ptiblished in America,
1822, atid in England, 1823. Mr. Hunter was taken prisoner
by the Indians — he thinks the Kickapoos — when he was a
child. The whole party of the whites to which he belonged
were massacred, except himself and another little boy. He
was afterwards taken prisoner by a party of the Pawnees,
from whom he was transferred to the Kanza nation, where he

IX.

Ch. IX. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 199

It was Hunter's fate, while he led the life of an
Indian, to witness several cases of the dreadful
effects of intoxication among the natives, in conse-
quence of the spirituous liquors supplied them by
the American traders. It appears, indeed, from
his Memoirs, that his own " assumption of the
habits of civilized life" may iu a great measure
have been caused by a bold and successful exertion,
which his humanity prompted him to make at the
risk of his own life, in order to prevent the execu-
tion of a murderous plan formed by a party of
Indians when in a state of intoxication.

Some individuals belonging to an Osage hunting
party got drunk while carrying on their traffic with
a Colonel Watkins, at that time engaged in the
American fur-trade. On their leaving the colonel's
station, they stole six of his horses, murdered a
Mr. la Fouche, one of the traders, and plundered
the whole of his stores. " With their hands thus
stained in blood," says Hunter, " and rendered
furious by the excessive use of whiskey, they re-
turned to our camp, distributing the poisonous and
infuriating liquid among the rest of the hunters,

«i;, ■:

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ih^i\}

was adopted, and amoDg whom he resided. He subsequently
lived among the Osages : nor did he leave the Indian country
until he was, as he imagines, about twenty years of age.
The Indians gave him the name of the Hunter, which he has
since regularly adopted ; but he has never been enabled to
obtain the slightest trace of his family or parents.

'! S

200

HISrollICAL NOTES UESP

(NG Cil. IX.

threw down tlicir spoils, and trampled thetn under
foot; at the same time exhibiting the scalp of the
unfortunate La Fouche, and threatening a similar
vengeance on all the whites." The Indians then
got all intoxicated, and determined in their frantic
rage to cut off Watkins and his party. In this deter-
mination they went to rest; when Hunter, distressed
at their savage intention, and resolving, if possible
to prevent it, escaped in the night-iinie, and with
great exertion and risk, reached Watkins's quarters
early in the morning, apprized him of the plot, and
prevented its execution.* Hunter, of course, could
not venture to return to the Osages ; and he after-
wards took up his residence with several other
tribes, — among whom he obtained that valuable in-
ibrmation with respect to Indian customs, and met
with those curious adventures, which he has so ably
detailed in his meritorious and interesting work.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the Act of
Congress, and of the American licenses above re-
ferred to, it is evident that the government of the
United States has failed in putting a stop to
the sale or disposal of spirituous liquori among the
Indians ; and as both that country and Great
Britain had their full share in causing the mis<
chiefs complained of, it would become them now
cordially to unite in endeavouring to find out a

* Hunter's Memoirs, p. 101.

Ch.IX. the north AMEKICAN INDIANS. 201

remedy. If both governments would strenuously
join in laying the foundation of so good a work,
there can be little doubt of their ultimate success.
But neither the British nor American government
will ever succeed in protecting the Indians from
injustice, or in effecting their civilization, unless
they begin by entirely and for ever estranging them
from the use of those ardent liquors, which have
proved such a curse to the Indian race.

Some particular tribes, indeed, may perhaps at
iirst feel disappointed, and even indignant at being
deprived of their accustomed drunken entertain-
ments ; but the beneficial result will soon shew itself,
and the Indian will hail the prohibition as the greatest
boon he has ever yet received from his white brethren.
In some parts of the country the Indians have
strongly evinced their disapprobation of the use of
spirituous liquor, and have not suffered themselves to
be tempted to admit it among them. Bradbury, in
his Travels, states that the Indians resident towards
the Mandan country, on the Missouri, do not use
spirits.* In Lewis and Clarke's Travels we also
read, — " On our side we were equally gratified at
discovering that the Ricaras made use of no
spirituous liquors of any kind ; the example of the
traders who bring it to them, so far from tempting,
has in fact disgusted them. Supposing that it was

) V, I

Bradbury's Travels in America, p. 172.

'■,f

202

HISTOUICAL NOTES RESPECTTNG Cii.IX.

{U\

1: ::

as agreeable to them as to the other Indians, we
liad at first otfered them whiskey, but they refused
it ; with this sensible remark, that they were sur-
prised their Father should present to them a liquor
which would make them fools. And, on another
occasion, they observed, that no man could be their
friend who tried to lead them into such follies/' *
In James's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, he
also observes, in noticing the Kanzas, " Drunken-
ness is rare and much ridiculed : a drunken man
is said to be bereft of his reason, and is avoided." f
Thus it will be found, that many of the Indian tribes
of the present day entertain the same sentiments as
the Delaware nation expressed to the English, at a
conference held in New Jersey, as far back as the
year 1678: — "Strong liquors," said one of their
chiefs, *' were first sold to us by the Dutch. They
had no eyes, and did not see it was for our hurt.
The next were the Swedes : they were also blind in
selling us this liquor ; and although we know it to
be hurtful to us, we love it so much, that if people
will sell it to us, we cannot forbear drinking it. It
makes us mad ; we know not what we do ; we
abuse each other, and throw one another into the
fire. Seven score of our tribe have been killed by
reason of the drinking of it. But now a people are

* Lewis and Clarke's Travels, ch. 4.

t James's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, eh. 6.

Cil. IX. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 203

come among us who have eyes : they are not blind
— they are willing to deny themselves the protit of
it for our good. We are glad that such a people
are come among us. We must put it down by
mutual consent : the cask must be sealed : it must
not leak by day nor by night."* The seal^ how-
ever, was speedily broken, and the English became
soon as blind as the Dutch or the Swedes.

In some cases it would appear that the Indians
are so well aware of the mischiefs arising from the
introduction of spirituous liquors among them, that
they take a very decisive mode of preventing it.
Mr, Bartram, who spent niany years among the
Indians of the Creek confederacy, (Cherokees,
Chocktaws, Chickesaws, &c.) relates that the most
important object with them, in some of their treaties,
was to prevent spirits from being brought into
their country : the traders were allowed only two
small kegs for each company, that quantity being
thought sufficient for their consumption on the road.
If, upon their approaching the Indian towns, any
part of that allowance remained, they were obliged
either to spill it on the ground or secrete it. He men-
tions that, in his journey from Mobile, he was over-
taken by two American traders, who informed him that
they had been smuggling forty kegs of strong rum
into the country, and that they had been surprised

\*\

Proud's History of Pennsylvania, vol, i., p. 148.

li''

^..« f

" ■:*

204 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. IX.

by a party of Creek Indians, who discovered their
merchandise, and immediately struck their toma-
hawks into the kegs; and, without tasting the
contents, spilt the whole of it upon the ground;
** the traders," says Bartram, " having enough to do
to keep the tomahawks from their own skulls."* «
There can be no doubt that many of the chiefs and
men of influence among the tribes, in various parts
of the Indian country, would now give their cordial
support to any measure calculated to put a total stop
to the introduction of spirits among their people.
The celebrated Seneca, chief Cornplanter, effected
much among his nation in checking this baneful pro-
pensity. Mr. Hunter informed me, that many of
the leading men of the Louisiana tribes with whom
he was acquainted, do all in their power to prevent
spirituous liquors from being used among them.
In short, many of the North American Indian
chiefs of the present day will be found to entertain
sentiments similar to those expressed by their an-
cestors to the English many years ago : " Brothers,
you have spoken to us against getting drunk.
What you have said is very agreeable to us. We
see it is a thing very bad, and it is a great grief to
us that rum or any strong liquor should be brought
among us, as we wish the chain of friendship which
now unites us and our brethren the English may

• Bartram's Travels in Florida, &c. part iv. ch. 1.

Cn.IX. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 205

remain strong. The fault is not with us : it begins
with the white people. For if they will bring
us rum, some of our people will buy it : it is for
that purpose it is brought. But if there was none
brought among us, then how could we buy ii?
Brothers, be faithful, and desire our brethren the
white people to bring no more of it."*

* Boudinot, Star in the West, ch. 8.

^rP

': i

■M

206 HISTORICAL NOTES KESPECTING Cu. X.

> ^ .1

CHAPTER X.

CONDUCT OF THE FRENCH IN THEIR ENDEAVOURS
TO CONVERT THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS
TO CHRISTIANITY.

It is recorded of Francis I., that wishing to rival
Charles V. in the New World, as he had already
rivalled him in the Old, he ohserved, " My brothers
the kings of Spain and Portugal have divided
America between them, but I should like to know
what clause in the last will of Adam bequeaths it to
them, and disinherits me." To support, therefore,
his claim to a share in the heritage, and disregard-
ing the papal bull of the Pontiff Alexander VI.,
who had granted in full right the whole continent
of America, together with all its islands, to Fer-
dinand and Isabella, Francis sent Giovanni Vera-
zano, a Florentine captain, with four ships, across
the Atlantic to make discoveries ; and, in his name,
to take formal possession of as much of the Western
hemisphere as his two brothers had not yet laid
hold of. Verazano accordingly set out on his
destination in the year 1524, making three suc-
cessive voyages, and planting the arms of the king
of France on various parts of the American coast.

Ch. X. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 207

from tlie mouth of the Mississippi to that of the
St. Lawrence. It does not appear, however, that
his labours, in any other respect, met with success.
In his third voyage, Verazano, as stated by some
Spanish writers, was seized at the Canaries by a
band of Biscayans, and hanged as a pirate ; while
some French authors, with still less probability, say
that he and all his crew were caught and eaten by
the American ravages. At all events, from the
time of his third expedition, neither Verazano nor
any of the companions of his voyage were ever
heard of.

About ten years after this period, the same
monarch sent out Jacques Cartier, a captain from
St. Malo, with three ships, on a similar errand.
Cartier, after coasting along the shores of New-
foundland, crossed the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the
Baye des Chuleurs, and landed upon the American
continent, where he took nominal possession of the
country in that quarter for his royal master. In
his second voyage, he pushed his discoveries up the
St. Lawrence as far as the island where Montreal
now stands, taking similar possession of the newly
discovered countries on the shores of that river,
then called the Grand River of Canada. In the
year 1541, Monsieur de Roberval was appointed
by the king to be his viceroy over a great extent of
North America, and Francis gave him 4.5,000 livres
to pay the expenses of his outfit. Cartier was com-

< !

'm''-''' ■■■

''>:i

h<r^'\ii

208

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. X.

missioned to accompany him as captain-general,
and chief pilot of the expedition. They had with
them a squadron of five ships, and were directed to
commence the regular occupation and settlement of
Canada. In these appropriations, the inhabitants
of the country — at that time very numerous — were,
of course, never consulted. The bull of Pope Paul
III. indeed, had at length, among other more im-
portant matters, acknowledged the natives of
Ameiica as real men — utpote veros homines — and not
monkeys, as appears to have been long conjectured.
But yet Francis seems to have entertained no very
flattering opinion of his new transatlantic subjects,
if we are to judge, at least, from the expressions
contained in the royal commission granted by him
to Cartier : " Francis, by the grace of God, King
of France, to all to whom these letters shall come,
greeting : to acquire a due knowledge of several
countries, possessed by savages living without the
knowledge of God, and without the use of reason,
We have," &c. &c.* Nor did these Indians
receive a much better character in the commissions
granted for similar purposes by his successor Henry
the Fourth, upwards of half a century- afterwards :
" Prompted, above all things, by signal zeal and
devout resolution, we have undertaken, with the
aid of God, the Author, Distributor, and Protector

* Lescarbot, Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. iii. ch. 30.

iii

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Ch. X. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 209

of all Kingdoms and States, to guide, instru t, and
convert to Christianity, and the belief of our Holy
Faith, the inhabitants of that country, who are
barbarians, atheists, devoid of religion; and to
bring them out of their present ignorance and
infidelity," &c.* For this purpose, the Marquis de
la Roche was appointed the King's viceroy in
America, and was sent over, in 1598, to convert
and colonize that country. His expedition, how-
ever, appears to have been ill provided with the
materials for instructing the heathen, either by
precept or example. De la Roche had not with
him any clerical person to convert the Indians,
nor was much good to be expected from the moral
example of the Christian colonists whom he took
out to plant among them, as they consisted only of
about fifty miserable felons taken from the French
prisons. By some blunder, these were landed
upon the barren uninhabited Isle de Sable (about
thirty leagues from that part of the continent singe
named Nova Scotia) ; where, as Charlevoix observes,
they were less at their ease than \5'hen imprisoned
in the dungeons of France. Upon this island of
sand the marquis left his colonists ; having, as was
stated, been himself blown off the coast of America,
from whence he returned to Europe.

At the end of seven years^ " The King," says

* Lescarbot, Hist, de la Nouvelle Fiance, liv. iv. ch. i.

^;Ms

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210 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. X.

Cliarlevoix, *' having heard something of this ad-
venture, directed the pilot Chedotel, who had
sailed in the expedition with La Roche, to go and
search for the men who had heen thus left."
It appears that, after the marquis's departure, these
settlers — who had heen destined to be an example
for the North American savages — began their
colony by a mutiny and a massacre. The survivors
fortunately discovered the old remains of a Spanish
vessel which had been wrecked, by which means
they were enabled to build a few huts to shelter
themselves. Some sheep and cattle, saved from
the wreck, had increased upon the island, and for
some time afforded them subsistence; but they
afterwards maintained themselves chiefly by fishing.
When Chedotel reached the island, only twelve were
found to have survived their wretched companions.
These were brought away to France, together with
a large quantity of skins and peltries which they
had collected, and which Chedotel seized upon as
his own perquisite. The lords of the soil of the
Isle de Sable, however, suspected that the pilot
Chedotel had no right " to count upon the skin,
when he had not caught the bear ;" and they there-
fore commenced a lawsuit against him in France,
which afterwards terminated by a compromise be-
tween the parties.* " The King," continues Charle-

* Lescarbot, liv. iii. ch. 32.

Ch.X. the north AMERICAN INDIANS. 211

voix, " wishing to see these men in the garb in
which Chedotel liad brought them back, dressed in
seal-skins, and with beards and matted hair of a
horrible length — which made them look like the
river gods of ancient fable — had them brought
before him. His Majesty then presented each
of them with fifty crowns in money, and a pardon
for all old offences." * Thus ended the first attempt
of Henry the Great to bring the Indians of North
America out of that ignorance and infidelity with
which he charged them. - ' ■ •

Nor was his second attempt more successful.
About the year 1601, he granted a commission
(similar to that which La Roche had held) to
Monsieur Chauvin ; who, among other things, was
directed to spread the Roman Catholic faith all
over North America. This was rather a curious
task for the new viceroy, who happened to be a
Calvinist. But Chauvin extricated his conscience
adroitly from the dilemma. Like the pilot Che-
dotel, he steered his attention exclusively to the
collecting of peltry ; and when he gave up his vice-
royship, he does not appear to have prevailed upon
a single Indian to embrace either the Catholic or
Calvinistic creed.

The first religious mission of the French to North
America was in the year I6II, when two fathers
* Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. iii.

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212 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. X.

of the Jesuits were sent to the small settlement
commenced not long before by Monsieur de Pour-
trincourt in Acadia. In the year 1615, Champlain
took out with him, in one of his numerous voyage
to Canada, four priests of the RecoUet order. In
1626, several fathers of the Jesuits were sent out
to Quebec, who formed the first of those missions
which, whatever may have been their success, were
long and laboriously occupied in their endeavours
to convert the heathen. It has been already noticed
that the first mission of the Jesuits into the interior
country was in the year 1634 ; and, with regard to the
result of their early exertions, we cannot refer to a
better authority than Charlevoix. " The Indians
have been seen to attend our churches," says he,
" for years together with an assiduity and solemnity
which made it be supposed they entertained a sin-
cere desire to learn and embrace the truths of
Christianity : but they would suddenly refrain from
coming to church, saying coolly to the missionary,
* You had no one to pray with you ; I took com-
passion upon you in your solitude, and kept you
company. Others at present are willing to render
you the same service, I therefore take my leave.* "
This fact, Charlevoix says, he learned from a mis-
sionary to whom the circumstance happened at
Michillimakinac ; and that he also had read, in
some of their accounts, that several of the Indians

■■'in .

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Cm.X. the north AMERICAN INDIANS. 213

had even carried their complaisance so far as to
request and receive the rites of baptism, performing
for some time the Christian duties ; after which
they declared they had done all this only to please
the priest, who was pressing them to change their
religion.*

Hennepin observes, in his early account of the
Iroquois, "The Indians have an extreme indif-
ference for every thing : but they reckon it highly
iiii proper in their councils to contradict any thing
that is said ; and they will not dissent from you
even if you make the most absurd assertions. They
always answer, * Brother, you are right — it is well.*
Yet in private they only believe what they please ;
and shew the greatest indifference even for the
great truths of the Christian religion. It is this
which forms the principal obstacle to their con-
version."'!'

These observations, coming from two mission-
aries so celebrated as Charlevoix and Hennepin —
priests of different orders, which, according to La
Hontan, were not very apt to agree — are well
worthy the serious attention of those who listen in
confidence to the pleasing tales of sudden con-
version among untutored savages ; or who imagine
that any adequate notions of revealed religion can

* Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. v.
t Voyages de Hennepin, ch. 15.

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HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cm. X.

be justly expected to take root among them, unless
inculcated by a slow, gradual, and cautious pro-
gress. • - ....
K Sir Alexander M'Kenzie, in noticing the early
French missionaries in the interior, observes : "It
is seriously to be lamented that their pious endea-
vours did not meet the success which they deserved ;
for there is hardly a trace to be found, beyond the
cultivated parts, of their meritorious functions.
The cause of this failure must be attributed to a
want of due consideration in the mode employed
by the missionaries to propagate the religion of
which they were the zealous ministers. They ha-
bituated themselves to the savage life, and natural-
ized themselves to the savage manners ; and by
thus becoming dependent, as it were, on the natives,
they acquired their contempt rather than their
veneration."* i ih. -;. t
"' This account is corroborated by what the Jesuit
missionaries themselves frequently reported from
the interior. P^re Jerome Lallemant, in writing
from the country of the Hurons, in 1 640, mentions
how severely they felt the drudgery of travelling on
foot during the rigours of winter, laden with their
baggage, and the furniture for iheir chapels, and
often losing their way in the snow : " But the

* M'Kenzie's Voyages, &c. Preliminary Account of the
Fur Trade. ..... ,

, ?>•■ •

Cii. X. THE NOllTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 215

<;veatest misfortune," says lie, " is, that amidst these
hardships, no accommodation or retreat is to be
found, and we are obliged to search for the hut of
some savage who may be prevailed upon to receive
us ; and where the first salutation we meet with is
a bitter reproach for the mortality which has this
year taken place among them, and of which they
consider us as the cause. For bed we have nothing
but a piece of miserable bark of a tree laid upon
the ground ; for nourishment, a handful or two of
corn, roasted or soaked in water, which seldom
satisfies our hunger ; and after all not venturing to
perform even the ceremonies of our holy religion,
without being considered as sorcerers." And in
another part of the same report, he observes : "In
short, many of them hold us in utter horror, driving
us from their cabins, not suffering us to approach
their sick, nor even to look upon their children —
in a word, fearing us as the greatest sorcerers upon
earth."* P^re Marest, upwards of half a century
afterwards, does not appear to have met with a
better reception. When writing from his mission
in the Indian country, he remarks — ** Our life is
spent in traversing immense forests, climbing over
high mountains, navigating dangerous lakes and
rivers, in pursuit of some poor savage who flies

•* Relation de ce qui s'est passe dans le Pays des Hurons,
1640, ch. 3.

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21G HISTOIUCAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. X.

from us, and whom we cannot civilize either by our
discourses or entreaty."*

And yet many have believed that the Indians
actually felt the greatest gratitude for the exertions
made by the missionaries to enlighten them. As
a proof it has been stated, that the distant Indians,
and even the Iroquois, who were in such constant
hostility to the Frencli, had applied, upon the occa-
sion of a truce, to the governor-general of Canada,
to send missionaries into their country : which was
accordingly done. But this appears to have been
merely a stroke of policy on the part of that people,
who wished to have some of the French among
them, whom, if necessary, they might detain as
hostages. This is even admitted to have been
the case by La Potherie himself, who mentions in
his History, that " the Iroquois having come for the
purpose of asking a peace with us and our Algon-
quin allies, they also requested that some of the
priests might be sent to their country ; and the
Jesuits were happy to embrace so favourable an
opportunity of introducing the Gospel among that
people. But the Iroquois rather looked upon these
missionaries as hostages, than as persons who
could be useful to them ; and this being a sort of
hold over us, they in the meanwhile considered

* Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, vol. vi. p. 321.

I -if ,. -^

Cti.X. THK NOIlXa AMEHICAN INDIANS. 217

the means of more easily destroying the Algon-

quins

Upon the renewal of hostilities, liowever, the
Iroquois were generally too prudent to allow the
return of the missionaries to their countrymen ;
and hence it was that P^re Milet was detained (a
captive as the French said) for five years, in addi-
tion to the long period he had voluntarily resided
among them. But while the Iroquois thus thought
they were outwitting the French in detaining ihe
missionaries as hostages^ the French returned the
compliment by employing these missionaries as
spies during such detention. In the case of Milet,
it is admitted by Charlevoix himself, that the go-
vernor of New France did so employ him ; and the
consequence was, that upon one occasion he was
put to the torture ; and had he not been unexpect-
edly adopted by an Oneida matron, he would have
been burnt alive. P^re Jogues also, when detained
among the same people, (by whom he was afterwards
put to death,) acknowledged that he found means
of informing the governor-general of the military
movements of the Iroquois ; and that in order to
avoid the risk of the contents of his letters being
discovered, they were partly written in Latin, French,
and Spanish.f

''\

I.,

* La Potherie, Hist, de I'Amer. Sept. vol. i. let 11.
t See Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1642-43, ch. 12.

218

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING

Ch. X.

In noticing the influence of the early French
missions of Canada, La Potherie asserts, that " In
ppportion as the Holy Spirit expanded itself in the
hearts of the Indians, they repaired in crowds to
the missionaries, and threw themselves at their
feet, in order to be instructed in those truths, of
which till now they had been kept in ignorance.
Their principal chiefs came and demanded the
rites of baptism for themselves and their children.
This fervour increased from day to day, and entire
villages adopted the pious ordinances so zealously
prescrihed by the church."* The accounts, how-
ever, of many of the most celebrated missionaries
themselves do not warrant this statement; their
want of success being admitted both by the Recol-
lets and the Jesuits. " There are many obstacles,"
says Hennepin, the Recollet, " to the conversion of
the savages ; but in general the difliculty proceeds
from the indifference they have to every thing.
When we speak to them of the creation of the
world, and of the mysteries of the Christian re-
ligion, they say we are right ; and they commonly
assent to all that we advance on the subject of sal-
vation. They would think themselves guilty of
great incivility to shew the least appearance of in-
credulity with respect to what is asserted. But,
after having approved all our discourses on these

La Potherie, vol. i. let. 10.

'.. (.-■-(

Cii. X. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

219

matters, they require likewise that we should pay
all possible deference to what is said on their part.
And when we answer that what they tell us is false,
they reply — * We have acquiesced in all that you
stated, and it is from want of knowing what is
right, to interrupt a man who speaks, and to tell
him that he advances a falsehood. All that you
have taught respecting those of your nation is as
you say : but it is not the same as to us, who are of
another country, and who inhabit the land on this
side of the Great Lake.* "*

Charlevoix, the organ of the Jesuits, not only
admits the want of success of their missions in
New France, but also of those in the extensive
territory of Louisiana. He observes, in one of his
letters from the Missisippi, that an ecclesiastic from
Canada had remained for a considerable time with
the celebrated Indian nation of the Natchez, but
without gaining any proselytes. That missionary
having been killed by some Lidians, " since then
all Louisiana below the Illinois," says Charlevoix,
" has remained without a missionary, except the
Tonicas, among whom an ecclesiastic (named Da-
vion) has resided for several years, so much beloved
by them that they even wished to make him iheir
chief — but he has not been able to gain a single

convert."! ' ■ ' ' - '

* Hennepin, ii. eh. 30.

t Chadevoi;c, Journal Historique, let. 31.

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220

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. X.

These Tonicas were visited by Charlevoix, and —
bating always their dislike to conversion — he found
them a well-disposed and hospitable nation. In the
year 1718, when Monsieur du Pratz travelled up the
Missisippi, he also paid a visit to them, and found
the missionary Davion then residing among them.
" I asked him,' says Du Pratz, " if his great zeal
for the salvation of the Indians was attended with
success. He answered, with tears in his eyes, that
notwithstanding the great respect they shewed him,
it was with difBculty he could get leave to baptize
a few children at the point of death; that those
who were grown up excused themselves from em-
bracing our holy religion, saying, they were too old
to accustom themselves to rules so difficult to be
observed ; that their grand chief, since he put to
death the physician who had attended his only son
in a distemper of which he died, had taken a reso-
lution, in consequence of Davion's reproaches, to
fast every Friday during his life ; that this old chief
attended at church both morning and evening, the
women and children likewise assisting; but as to
the men, they did not come often, and when they
did, they took more pleasure in ringing the church-
bell."*

When we consider the harassing and fatiguing
duty which was generally imposed upon the yjung

iisi^I

* Du Pi-sitz, Hist, oi Louisiana, part. i. ch. 8.

Cm.X. the north AMERICAN INDIANS. 221

Indians by the French in their attempts to make
them Christians, we may well doubt the reality of
that zeal and fervour ascribed by La Potherie to
their catechumens and converts. P^re Rasles, who
was long a missionary among the Wapanacki In-
dians — or the men from the rising sun — who then
inhabited the eastern countries bordering upon
New England and the Atlantic, gives the following
account, in a letter to his nephew, of their church
discipline : —

" During the thirty years which I have spent in
the forests and among the savages, I have been so
occupied in teaching them the Christian virtues,
that I have not had leisure to write many letters,
even to those who are the most dear to me : but
as you have requested it, I cannot refrain from
transmitting to you a short account of my occupa-
tions among them." After some other preliminary
remarks, he then proceeds — " All my converts
repair to the church regularly twice every day;
first, vefy early in the morning to attend mass ; and
again, in the evening to assist in the prayers at sun-
set. As it is necessary to fix the imagination of
savages, whose attention is easily distracted, I have
composed prayers calculated to inspire them with
just sentiments of the august sacrifice of our altars;
they chant, or at least recite them aloud during the
mass. Besides preaching to them on Sundays and
Saints* days, I seldom let a working day pass

ii)«'\/i»

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222

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. X.

without making a concise exhortation for the pur-
pose of inspiring them with horror at those vices to
which they are most addicted, or to confirm them
in the practice of some particular virtue." * • . •■
P^re Marest, in writing from the country of the
Illinois, says — "The following are the rules we
follow in this mission : Very early in the morning
we assemble the catechumens in the church, when
they say prayers, listen to our instructions, and sing
some canticles. When they have retired, we per-
form mass, at which all the Christian Indians assist,
the men being placed on the one hand, and the
women on the other. Prayers are again said, and
then another exhortation. After this every one
follows his own occupation. We then employ our-
selves in visiting the sick, giving them medicines,
and consoling them op the subject of their afflic-
tions. In the afternoon the catechism is said, when
every one attends. Christians as well as catechu-
mens, men and women, old and young; and every
one, without distinction, answers to the questions
put by the missionary. As these people have no
books, and are naturally indolent, they would soon
forget the principles of our religion, if they were
not thus continually recalled to their recollection.
In the evening they all again assemble in the
church to hear another exhortation, to say prayers,

* Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, vol. vi. p. 127. ;

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Ca. X. THE NORTH AMEKICAN INDIANS. 223

and to sing some more canticles. On Sundays
and fast-days, we add to these exercises an exhort-
atioir after evening prayers."*

In general, however, it was only with the aged
and the children that the missionaries succeeded in
performing the rites of their religion. The Baron
de la Hontan, in writing from the interior, observes,
** Almost all the conquests gained to Christianity
by the Jesuits, are those infants who have received
the rites of baptism, and those old men who,
at the point of death, find no inconvenience in
dying baptized.'f This corresponds with what
was long before stated by P^re Lallemant, in
the account of his early mission among the Hu-
rons. " We have this year baptized more than
a thousand, most of them afflicted with the small-
pox ; of whom a large proportion have died, with
every mark of having been received among the
elect. Of these there are more than three hundred
and sixty infants under seven years of age, without
counting upwards of a hundred other little children,
who, having been baptized before, were cut off by
the same malady, and gathered by the angels as
flowers in paradise. With respect to adult persons
in good health, there is little apparent success : on

* Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, vol. vi. p. 337.
f La Hontan, let. 14.

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HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. X.

the contrary, there have been nothing but storms
and whirlwinds in that quarter."*

The chief cause of these whirlwinds amongt the
adults may be traced in several of the Reports trans-
mitted from New France by the J2suits. In one of
these P^re le Jeune, the superior of that order in
Canada, states his doubts whether the young Indians
ought to be baptized on their going ^o be married.
" When a young unconverted Indian wished to marry
a female convert, he in general addressed himself
to the priests, requesting to be instructed and bap-
tized, previous to his asking the woman's consent;
or, if she was attached to him, she informed him
that she would not marry without the concurrence
of her Catholic instructors." " But I am per-
suaded," continues Le Jeune, " that storms will
arise among them respecting these marriages made
in the Christian manner. The savages have for
many ages been in full liberty of changing their
wives when they choose ; but now that they are made
Christians, they must submit the neck to the yoke,
however burdensome."')'

P^re Vimont, a few years afterwards, has given
a detailed account of one of these storms, which
appears to have increased in his day to a perfect
hurricane : " There are many of our Indians,"

* Relation de la Mission des Hurons, 1641.

t Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1639-40, ch. 4.

>»

Ch.X. the north AMERICAN INDIANS. 225

says he, " who give us every satisfaction on these
points ; but two of them have this year caused much
scandal in this matter, and thereby troubled the
peace of our little church. Of these apostates one
was named Etienne Pigarowick, who before his
baptism was a famous sorcerer in his nation, giving
much trouble to those who laboured to convert
him ; but after his scruples were removed, he pro-
fessed much ardour in the faith, assembling the
other converts in the Indian villages, and preaching
in our churches with a fervour and eloquence which
savoured nothing of the barbarian. His zeal con-
tinued while he remained with the Christians at
St. Joseph's; but having left them to go up to
Three Rivers, where some of his Algonquin country-
men and other dissolute and debauched Indians
had assembled, he and his companion soon allowed
themselves to be corrupted by bad company, so
much so that they both quitted their lawful wives,
and the exercise of the faith, taking each of them
unto him a concubine."

The Report then proceeds to state, that Pigaro-
wick was severely admonished by Pfere Brebeuf,
who succeeded in prevailing upon him to return to
his Christian duties : but having again set off with
some of his comrades for Sillery, all his good reso-
lutions were forgotten. " In short, P^re Bressani,
having proceeded some days afterwards on his way
to Quebec, met the party, and was informed that

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226 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. X.

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Etienne had again associated with his concubine.
The wickedness of this man, as well as that of
some other bad Christians in the band — infidels
and sorcerers, who had behaved insolently at Three
Rivers — made the governor determine to give
them a bad reception, in order to convince them of
their faults, as well as of the horror we felt at their
conduct." . r ' ,;. - * '.J * ; i

Some time afterwards, famine, and the dread of
their Iroquois enemies, compelled them to go down
to Quebec, where they hoped to receive that pro-
tection and charity they had hitherto experienced
fi om the French. On their arrival, however, they
found themselves treated with coldness and insult,
the inhabitants shutting their doors against them as
against persons excommunicated. " In this state,"
continues the Report, " they presented themselves at
our house at Siller}^, but we reprimanded and drove
them away. They then repaired to the Mothers
of the Hospital, where they were dismissed without
receiving assistance. They next applied to the
establishment appropriated for the sick; but ad-
mittance was refused them. They then begged at
the houses of the inhabitants ; no aid was given to
them. They attempted to enter the church, but
were prevented. They resorted to the keepers of
the public stores, who drove them off without relief.
They exclaimed they were dying of hunger; no-
thing was given them to eat. They presented their

"•sj

Ch. X. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 227

beaver-skins, collars of wampum, and every thing
of value they possessed, in order to procure a
morsel of bread ; but their offerings were rejected.
They began to build huts in the neighbourhood
of the French ; the governor prevented their
approach, and prohibited all communication with
them, until they should have first driven away from
them the two apostates, and given satisfaction for
what was done at Three Rivers." The account
then adds, that even the converted Indians at Sil-
lery did not give them a better reception than the
French had done ; nor would their own country-
men admit them into their cabins. ** A Christian
woman, who after a legitimate marriage had been
abandoned by one of these apostates, having learned
that her husband wished to visit her, retreated to a
corner of her cabin, armed herself with a knife,
and determined to kill him if he approached her."
" This rigorous treatment," adds the Report,
" had an excellent effect, and caused the two
apostates to be abandoned by all the Indians, who
made a public declaration of the wickedness of
these two men."

The two Indians were now doomed to wander
about, shunned by every one. " What," excLimed
Pigarowick to P^re Dequen, who had repulsed
him, " what — is there no mercy for me? Do you
wish me to roam about like a wild and solitary
vagabond, abandoned by God and man ? I have

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228 HISTORICAL NOTES IlESPECTING Cii. X.

sinned, it is true ; but am I therefore to be thrown
into despair ? Do not the French themselves com-
mit faults ? You preach to us that God is merciful
to those who repent and confess their sins. Here
am I ready to confess mine, and to expiate them
by any penance you may require — why, therefore,
do you refuse to me what you grant to others?'*
What the subsequent fate of this Indian polygamist
was, it is not very material to notice. He appears
to have been handed over like a pauper from parish
to parish, running the gauntlet of almost the whole
Jesuit mission in Canada. From P^re Bressani
he was turned over to P^re Dequen ; from Dequen
to P^re Brebeuf: from Brebeuf to P^re Buteux —
under whose paternal direction the unlucky Pigaro-
wick made ample confession and lamentation,
performing penance in the church at Montreal, and
publicly scourging himself in the presence of the
faithful.*

This absurd mode of working out the conversion
of an Indian, is scarcely credible ; and yet at least
half a dozen of the Jesuit fathers were jointly and
severally employed in the process ; and Vimont,
the superior at that time of all the Canada
missions, officially transmitted the account, as above
related, to the head of his order in France. The
missionaries must have known, that however much

* Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1643-44.

Cii.X. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 229

polygamy is inadmissible in advanced society and
civilized life, the adoption of it among the North
American tribes did not originate from profligate or
debauched habits, — which alone could have sanc-
tioned even the slightest of those acts of severity
which the French priests, as well as the civil autho-
rities, thus resorted to.*

« «

Marriages among the Indians,** says Heckewelder,
** are not, as with us, contracted for life. It is understood,
on both sides, that the parties are not to live together any
longer than they shall be pleased with each other." — Account
of the Indians, Sfc. chap. 16. Dr. Morse observes, " Polygamy,
limited principally to their chiefs, and to the wealthy, is
allowed generally among the Indians." — Indian Report,
p. 73. Mr. Hunter states, that " The Indians in general
have but one wife ; though they, as well as the chiefs and
distinguished warriors, may have more, according to their
inclination and ability to support their different families."
<• They construct lodges at a short distance one from another
for the accommodation of their different wives, who fulfill
their respective duties separately, occasionally visit each
other, and generally Uve on the most friendly terms." On
the subject of divorce, he observes : " An Indian, when about
to leave his wife, conducts himself very distantly towards
her; maintains a sullen silence towards his ovti connexions,
but most generally hints his dissatisfaction to those of his
wife. During this time, if a separation should be dis-
agreeable to his companion, she appears exceedingly solicitous
to atone for any misconduct of her own, and uses every
possible means to conciliate her husband and regain his
affections, which very frequently are attended with the
sought-for result ; but should she fail in her endeavours, her

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230 HISTORICAL NOTES UESPECTINO Cii. X.

That it was the duty of the French missionaries
to endeavour, as far as they could, to make the
Indians relinquish polygamy, as well as every other
error adopted by them, cannot be uoubted ; but for
this purpose they could not have chosen more
ineffectual instruments than penance and persecu-
tion. And although the Indian Pigarowick was so
hardly dealt with for recurring to a practice per-
mitted by his nation, it does not appear why
the French gave a dispensation to their own coun-
tryman, the Baron de Castin, to hold, at one and
the same time, a plurality of Wapanacki wives,
besides the daughter of their principal chief Mado-
kawando.* La Hontan, indeed, — if he be serious,
— denies this ; observing that De Castin, " in order
to make the Indians believe that Heaven was
offended with men who were inconstant, never
changed his wife."t Perhaps he meant, that with-
out literally changing his helpmates, the baron

^i;.;:;'

husband, after burying the pledge he received at their
marriage, deserts her altogether, and never after is heard to
mention her name." — " When a female is disposed to leave
her husband, she burns or destroys the pledge she received
at her wedding, deserts his lodge, and returns with her
family and effects to her parents, or some of her near
relations." These separations, however, very rarely occur. —
Hunter's Memoirs of his Captivity, chap. 7.

• Belknap's History of New Hampshire, vol. i. chap. 10.

t La Hontan, Memoires de I'Amerique, p. 30.

I! ■ ■" f,\

Cii. X. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 231

only, as fancy prompted liim, added to their
nun)bers during tlieir lifetime ; an ancient practice
in the Indian country, which appears too often
followed in more modern times. We read, in
the account given by a missionary of the United
States, that when reproving an Indian chief ibr
taking a second wife, his first being still alive,
" Look," replied the Indian, ** there is A IJ
(naming a white trader who resided among them),
a great man — he has five wives, why may not
I have two ?" * And the Reverend Mr. Sergeant,
another missionary of the same country, tells us,
" that anoong the Indian Ir >es in the state of
Indiana, there are white men who have Ijalf a dozen

wives.

' The early suggestion, therefore, of M. de Champ-
lain, " to induce the Indians, by holding good
examples before their eyes, to alter their customs,"
appears to have been but little attended to : and it
has been well observed by Sir Alexander M'Kenzie,
in mentioning the early missions of New France,
that, " The Canadian missionaries should have
been content to improve the morals of their own
countrymen, so that, by meliorating their character
and conduct, they would have given a striking

\ ■ .

11,1

* Hall's Brief History of the INIissisippi Territory. Ame-
rica, 1801.

t Morse's Indian Report. Appendix, p. 117.

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232

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. X.

example of the effect of religion in promoting
the comforts of life, to the surrounding savages ; and
might, by degrees, have extended its benign in-
fluence to the remotest regions of that country which
WS& the object, and intended to be the scene,
of their evangelical labours."*

Without entering into any comparison between
the Romish missions cf the former and of the
present day, or inquiring whether the latter have
been more successful than were their predecessors
of New France in their endeavours to convert the
heathen, there is one point which cannot be dis-
puted — that the Indians of British North America
are treated by their present Roman Catholic in-
structors with great kindness and consideration.
So far as benevolence, charity, and paterne* -.are
can afford comfort to the Indian, he receives it
at their hands ; and to any one who feels an
interest in the fate of that race, it must be satis-
factory to observe the kindness of their Catholic
teachers in Canada, and painful to contrast with it
the barbarous conduct of the Spanish North Ame-
rican missions, bordering upon the shores of the
Pacific Ocean. It has not been thought necessary
in these Notes to enter upon the subject of the
treatment of the Indians by those early adventurers

If, ' I;

* M'Kenzie's Voyages. Preliminary Account of the Fur-
trade.

'*■: t~

Ch. X. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 233

from Old Spain who took possession of Louisiana,
the Fioridas, and those countries situated upon the
Missisippi and its tributary waters. The narrative
of the early progress of the Spaniards in North Ame-
rica may be very brief. Wherever they advanced,
their steps were marked with blood and desolation.
Their object was not to convert or civilize the
Indian, but to exterminate or enslave him. Nor
has the lapse of centuries materially improved their
treatment of him. He was formerly compelled
to march in chains to the south, and forced to
dig in the bowels of the earth to satiate the avarice
of his Christian masters ; in some parts of Spanish
North America he has since been compelled to
cultivate its surface, and for the exclusive benefit
of similar employers: — a fact confirmed by the
testimony of various travellers of different nations.

When La Perouse visited California in 1785,
there were then about tweniy-five Spanish missions
in that country. The Indians were stated to be
about fifty thousand, and of these, almost ten
thousand to have embraced Christianity. The
enumeration of both was probably extremely vague.
In one of these missions, Perouse thus notices
the usual occupation of the Indian converts :
" Evei V day they have s<?ven hours of labour, two
of prayers, and four or five on Sundays and feast-
days, which are set apart for repose and Divine
worship. Corporal punishment is inflicted upon

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HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING

Ch. X.

the Indians of both sexes who fail in their religious
exercises ; and several offences — for which in
Europe the punishment is left to the hand of Divine
justice — are punished here with irons. From the
moment that a neophyte is baptized, it is the same
as if he had taken perpetual vows ; and, if he
should escape from the mission, and take refuge
among his relations in their Indian villages, he is sum-
moned three times to return. If he refuses, the
missionaries apply for the authority of the governor,
who dispatches soldiers to drag him from the
bosom of his family and take him back to the
missions, where he is sentenced to receive so many
lashes. These Indians are of so timid a character,
that they never make any opposition to those who
thus violate every human right : and this practice,
against which reason cries aloud, is maintained
because theologians have deci^'-d that the rite of
baptism ought not, in conscience, to be admi-
nistered to men of so inconstant a turn of mind :
for whom the gover unent must, therefore, in some
degree, act as sponsors, and answer for their perse-
verance in the faith." *

Vancouver visited several of the California mis-
sions in 1792. " The same horrid state of
uncleanliness and laziness," says he, " seemed to
pervade the whole. A sentiment of compassion

* Voyage de la Perouse, vol. ii. chap. 11.

Cii. X. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 235

nous

vine

the

ame

involuntarily obtruded on the mind in contem-
plating the natural or habitual apathy to all kind of
exertion in this humble race. There was scarcely
any sign in their general deportment of their having
at all benefited, or of having added one single
ray of comfort to their own wretched condition, by
the precepts and laborious exertions of their reli-
gious instructors; whose lives are sacrificed to
their welfare, and seem entirely devoted to the
benevolent office of rendering them a better and a
happier people." *

Kotzebue, also, in the course of his voyages
of discovery a few years ago, landed at the Presidio
of San Francisco, in New California, and at the
time when the festival in honour of that saint
was to be celebrated. Upon entering the church,
wh'tjh is spacious and handsomely fitted up, he
found several hundred half-naked Indians kneeling,
who are never permitted afte*- their conversion to
absent themselves from mass, although they neither
understand Latin nor Spariih. *' As the mission-
aries," says Kotzebue, " do not trouble themselves
to learn the language of the Indians, I cannot
conceive in what manner they have been instructed
in the Christian religion." — " After dinner they
shewed us the habitations of the Indians, consisting
of long low houses, built of bricks, and forming

* Vancouver's Voyuge, book iii. chap. 1.

,■■4;

4 1

^■1.

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236

HISTOHICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. X.

several streets. The uncleanliness in these barracks
baffles description, and this is perhaps the cause of
the great mortality." — ** Both sexes are obliged to
labour hard : the men cultivate the ground. The
harvest is delivered to the missionaries, and stored
in magazines, from vt^hich the Indians receive only
so much as is necessary for their support. It
ser^ s also for the maintenance of the soldiers
of uie Presidio, but they are obliged to pay a very
high price for the flour.*'

" Twice in the year they received permission to
return to their native homes. This short time
is the happiest of their existence, and I myself
have seen them going home in crowds with loud
rejoicings. The sick who cannot undertake the
journey, at least accompany their happy country-
men to the shore where they embark, and then
sit for days together, mournfully gazing at the
distant summits of the mountains which suiTound
their homes. They often sit in this situation for
several days without taking any food : so much
does the sight of their lost home affect these
new Christians. " Every time, some of those who
have the permission to visit their homes run away ;
and they would probably all do it, were they not
deterred by their fears of the soldiers, who catch them,
and bring them back to the mission as criminals."
LangsdorfF, who had visited the mission of San
Francisco a few years before, made a similar obser-

V'i 3)

Cii.X. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 237

vation. " When the Indian is retaken, he is
brought back to the mission, where he is bas-
tinadoed, and an iron rod is fastened to one of
his feet; which has the double use of preventing
him from repeating the attempt, and of frightening
others from imitating his example."* The timidity
of those runaway converts is so great, says Kotze-
bue, that " seven or eight dragoons are sufficient
to overpower several hundred Indians." f

This mode of dragooning the American heathen
into Chi.stianity — and that, too, in the nineteenth
century — is scarcely to be credited; and yet the
circumstance is confirmed by the united testimony
of witnesses of various countries, and professing
different religions — by French, Russian, and
British travellers — and these of the Romish,
Greek, and English Church. It was observed
by the celebrated Eliot, known in New England
as the ** Apostle of the Indians," that in order
" to Christianize the savages, it was necessary
at the same time to civilize and make men of
them ;" but the priests at San Francisco seem
to have thought it more consonant with the mild
precepts of Christianity that they should begin
by enslaving them. " The savage," adds Kotze-
bue, ^' comes unthinkingly into the mission,

> '

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• LangsdorfF'a Voyages, part ii. chap. 7.

•f- Kotzebue's Voyages of Discovery, &c. vol. i. chap. 9.

WJ.

238 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. X.

Jit' 4: I

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receives the food which is willingly offered him,
and listens to their instructions. He is still free.
But as soon as he is baptized, he belongs to
the church, and hence he looks with pain and
longing to his native mountains. The church has
an unalienable right to her children, a right which
she exercises with rigour."* . '

IS; r -^

* Kotzebue, vol. iii. p. 43.

Ch. XI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 239

CHAPTER XI.

ATTEMPTS OF THE ENGLISH, PRIOR TO THE REVOLU-
TIONARY WAR IN NORTH AMERICA, TO CONVERT
THE INDIANS — SIMILAR MEASURES SUBSEQUENT
TO THAT PERIOD ATTEMPTS OF A LIKE NA-
TURE BY THE AMERICANS OF THE UNITED
STATES.

From the observations contained in the preceding
chapter, and from the authorities referred to on the
subject of the general result of the early Roman
Catholic missions in North America, the reader
will probably be of opinion that the labours of their
missionaries effected little towards the conversion
of the Indians. We may now inquire how far the
Protestants were more successful.

Almost all the early royal charters and patents
issued for British North America professed, among
other things, the object of converting the Indians.
King James I., in the Nova Scotia patent, (1621,)
declared, in reference to those countries, "as are
either inhabited or occupied by unbelievers, whom
to convert to the Christian faith" is a duty of great
importance to the glory of God." In the pre-
amble to the Pennsylvania charter/during a subse-

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240 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XL

quent reign, it is also stated to be a principal object
" to reduce the savage natives by just and gentle
manners to the love of civil society and Christian
religion." And the first royal charter granted to
the colony of Massachussets Bay (1628) declared,
" And for the directing, ruling, and disposing of all
other matters and things whereby our said people,
inhabitants there, may be so religiously, peaceably,
and civilly governed, as their good life and orderly
conversation may win and invite the natives of the
country to the knowledge and obedience of the only
true God and Saviour of mankind, and the Christian
faith : which, in our royal intention, and the advan-
turer's free profession, is the principal end of this
plantation." The corporation which this charter
established, bore, for its common seal, the figure of
an Indian, erect, naked, a bow in one hand, an
arrow in the other, and a scroll issuing from his
mouth, with these words,— Cowe over and help us.^
It may be curious to trace what followed this sym-
bolical invitation.

Fourteen years after the date of this charter, a
resolution passed the house of commons in England,
which in its preamble — but in its preamble only —
adverted to the subject of Indian conversion:
" Whereas the plantations in New England have,

Mi' t-"^'

• Douglass's Summary, vol. i., part 2, sect. viii.

i«^iS*

'it
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Cll.Xr. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 241

by the blessings of the Almighty, had good and
prosperous success without any public charge to
this State, and are now likely to prove very happy for
the propagation of the Gospel in those parts — ."
The rest of this document related to thecolonial trade
only ; and it is not easy to conjecture upon what
ground tlie resolution declared that the plantations
were so likely to succded at that time in the propaga-
tion of the Gospel, for, in point of fact, they do
not appear to have then attempted to pro[)agate it
at all. In the instrument of union, executed in
1643, by which the separate colonies of Massa-
chussets, Plymouth, Connecticut, and Newhaven,
became joined in confederacy, it was declared, —
** That they all came into those parts of America
with the same errand and aim, — to advance the
Christian religion, and enjoy the liberty of their
consciences with purity and peace;" but, until the
year 1646, it does not appear that any step was
taken by them, either separately or collectively, to
advance that religion by extending it to the Indians.
In that year, however, the general court of Massa-
chussets recommended to the elders to see what
could be done on this subject; and four persons
were appointed, by whom the first visit was made
for that purpose among the Indian wigwams, under
the direction of a native chief, called Wauban or
The Wind. There were four meetings of this sort
in the course of that year. An account of their

■?^i

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242 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XI.

proceedings was written by one of the resident
ministers at the time ; and the first chapter of his
work, under the head of " A true Relation of our
Beginnings with the Indians," thus described the
commencement of their visitation : —

" Upon October 28, 1646, four of us (having
sought God) went unto the Indians inhabiting
within our bounds, with desire to make known the
things of their peace to them." " They being ail
of them assembled, wee began with prayer, which
now was in English, being not so farre acquainted
with the Indian language as to express our hearts
herein before God and them, but wee hope it will
bee done ere long, the Indians desiring it, that they
also might know how to pray : but this wee began
in an unknown tongue to them, partly to let them
know that this dutiein hand was serious and sacred,
partly also in regard of ourselves, that wee might
agree together in the same request and heart-sor-
rowes for them even in that place where God was
never wont to be called upon. When prayer was
ended, it was a glorious aftecting spectacle to see a
company of perishing forlorn outcasts diligently
attending to the blessed word of salvation then de-
livered, professing they understood all that which
was then taught them in their owne tongue. It
much affected us that they should smell some
things of the alablaster box broken open in that
darke and gloomy habitation of filthiness and un-

Ch. XI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

243

cleane spirits. For about an liour and a quarter
the seru.on continued, wherein one of our company
ran tlirough all the principall matter of religion,
beginning first with a repetition of the Ten Com-
mandments, and a briefe explication of them, the
shewing the curse and dread fiill wrath of Cod
against those who brake them, and so applied it
unto the condition of the Indians present with much
sweet affection," &c.

After going on to detail the various points of
doctrine which they inculcated to the Indians, they
were proceeding " to propounde certaine questions"
to them ; but "before wee did this, wee asked them if
they understood all that which was ah'eady spoken,
and whether all of them in the wigwam did under-
stand, or onely some few ? And they answered to
this question with multitude of voyces, that they all
of them did understand all that which was spoken
to them." The proceedings of this their first
meeting concluded as follows : — *' Thus after three
lioures' time thus -spent with them, wee asked them
if they were not weary, and they answered, No.
But wee resolved to leave them with an appetite.
The chief of them seeing us conclude with prayer,
desired to know when wee would come again ; so
wee appointed the time, and having given the chil-
dren some apples, and the men some tobacco, and
what else wee then had in hand, they desired some
more ground to build a town together, which wee

. ! I'M

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244

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. XI.

m I

did much like of, promising to speake for them to
the gencrall court, that they might j)0ssesse all the
compasse of that hill upon which their wigwams
then stood, — so wee departed with many welcomes
from them."

Three similar meetings are stated to have taken
place in the course of the same year, and the pro-
ceedings of the whole were transmitted to England,
and published in the work above alluded to under
the title of ** The Day-breaking, if not the Sun-
rising of the Gospel with the Indians of New Eng-
land."* The sun indeed must have risen very
rapidly ; because — if an act of parliament is to be
credited — more progress was made by the English
in this respect in the short space of about two years
than was efiected by the French in one hundred
and fifty. " Whereas the commons of England
assembled in parliament," says the act (of 1649),
'* have received certain intelligence from divers
godly ministers in New England, that divers of the
heathen natives, through the pious care of some
godly English who preach the Gospel to them in
their own language, not only of barbarous are
become civil, but many of them forsake their accus-
tomed charms, sorceries, and Satanical delusions,
do now call upon the name of the Lord, and give
great testimony of the power of God drawing them

♦ Published in London, 1647, 4to.

Ch.XI. the NOKTII AMERICAN INDIANS. 245

from death and darkness to the light and life of the
glorious Gos{)el of Jesus Clirist, which appeareth
by their lamenting with tears their misspent lives;
teaching their children what they are instructed
themselves ; being careful to place them in godly
families and English schools ; betaking themselves
to one wife, putting away the rest ; and by their
constant prayers to Almighty God, morning and
evening, in their families, expressed in all appear-
ance with much devotion and zeal of heart. All
which considered, we cannot but, in behalf of the
nation we represent, rejoice and give glory to God
for the beginning of so glorious a propagation of
the Gospel among those poor heathens; which
cannot be prosecuted with that expedition as is de-
sired, unless fit instruments be encouraged and
maintained to pursue it, schools and cloathing be
provided, and many other necessaries. — Be it there-
fore enacted," &c.*

By this act a corporation was established, con-
sisting of a president and fifteen other members,
who were authorised to make a general collection
throughout England and Wales, for the furtherance
of the object proposed ; and it was recommended
that the clergy should exhort their respective con-
gregations cheerfully to contribute to so pious a
work. The universities of Oxford and Cambridge

* Hutchinson's History of Massachiissets, cli. I.

,' 4,1

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246 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XL

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also circulated letters throughout the whole country,
suggesting to the members of the church to exert
themselves in obtaining liberal contributions for the
same purpose. A considerable opposition appears
to have been made in the mother country to this
collection, but a sum was realized, producing, at
the time of the Restoration, an annual amount of
five or six hundred pounds. The charter of the
corporation was at that time pronounced void ; but
a new one was granted by Charles II. for the
propagation of the Gospel in New England and
adjacent parts of America. The number of its
members was increased. By the former charter
the Commissioners of the four United New Eng-
land colonies were appointed to be the agents in
America for the corporation in England, for the
disbursement of the funds ; and they continued in
that capacity as long as the union of these colonies
lasted.

From what has been thus stated, it appears that,
until about the middle of the seventeenth century, no
step of any consequence was taken by the English to
promote the conversion of the North American In-
dians; who were left, as before, under the influence of
those " charms, sorceries, and Satanical delusions,"
which were so solemnly denounced by the commons
in pariibintnt assembled. Is it therefore to be
wondered at that Governor Hutchinson, in alluding
to the original charter which directed the Gospel

,1 ,'

IS!* , i

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Ce.XI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 247

to be taught to the heathen, should have asserted
that " the Indians themselves asked how it hap-
pened, if Christianity was of such importance, that,
for six-and-twenty years together, the English had
said nothing to them about it?"* It may perhaps
be advanced, in exception to this charge, that Mr.
Eliot, usually designated " the Apostle of the In-
dians," was at this time labouring in New England
to convert them ; but although he arrived in that
country in the year 1631, it does not appear that
he held any religious communication with the
natives till 1646; nor was it until 1651 that he
gathered them together at the first church esta-
blished for them at Natick, in Massachussets. It
was from about that period when these and other
of the natives were brought together, with similar
views but in different quarters ; and they received
the name of the Praying Indians^ to distinguish
them from the mass of their unconverted country-
men. The fund which had been obtained in Eng-
land from the collection sanctioned by the act of
parliament (of 1649), was evidently the ground-
work of this the earliest of the Indian churches.
At the same time it should be noticed that Mr.
Eliot had been long preparing for his evangelical
labours, by his perseverance in making himself
master of the Indian language ; in whicli his success

* Hutchinson's History of Massachussets, ch. 1.

'■■;)-

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248

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch.XI.

1.41?

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must have been great, having translated the whole
Bible, besides other pious and useful works, into the
Indian tongue.* v ? n

*■ As Eliot was certainly the most eminent, and
probably the most earlyf of the English Protestant
ministers who laboured in endeavouring to convert
the Indians, it would have been very desirable to
have ascertained distinctly what the extent and
real nature of the changes were, which he is stated
to have effected in their religious sentiments and
belief. The accounts given by himself and others
of his success, have all the appearance of being
extremely exaggerated : but admitting, for a moment,
that these statements were accurate, how melan-
choly is the reflection that not a vestige remains of
the good effect arising from his labours ! The
memory of this Indian evangelist may long conti-
nue to be an object of veneration, but it cannot be
justly asserted that any real or solid benefit has
accrued to the savages from his zeal, or that he
even laid the foundation for a permanent conversion
of the native population. ** Mr. Eliot," says

1 ,

/ '

^ii't '

* Eliot's translation of the Bible into the Indian language
was printed at Cambridge (Massachussets) in the year 1664;
and, after his death, it was republished by the Rev. Mr.
Cotton of Plymouth, in that province.

t It appears, however, from Hubbard's General History,
that Mr. Mayhew began in the year 1645 to preach to the
Indians at Martha's Vineyard. Ch. 76.

Cn. XI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 249

Dr. Douglass, " with immense labour translated and
printed our Bible into Indian. It was done with
a good and pious design, but it must be reckoned
among the otiosorum hominum negotia. It was
done in the Natick language. Of the Naticks, at
present, there are not twenty families subsisting, and
scarce any of these can read. — Cui honoT*

We ought not, in the present day, to be blinded
by the flattering accounts, or sanguine views, of
Eliot's biographers, many of which appear more
calculated to afford amusement than information.
It is in one of these eulogies, where Dr. Mather hit
upon a novel mode of settling the knotty point
which has puzzled so many theorists, with respect
to the question of how America was originally
peopled. Of these, some had ascribed it to the
remnants of the antediluvian inhabitants who had
escaped the general Deluge, or to a baud of emi-
grants from the Old World, soon after the disper-
sion of the grandsons of Noah. Some attributed
it to the Japanese, by the way of the Pacific Ocean ;
others to the Carthaginians, by the way of the
Atlantic. Some say it was peopled by the Greeks,

* Douglass's Summary, vol. i. part i. sect. 3. In a subse-
quent part of his work, Dr. Douglass notices '^ tlie Indian
plantation of Natick, with a minister and salary from the
English Society for propagating the Gospel among the In-
dians in New England; he othciates in English, and his con-
gregation arc mostly English."

'ri

K:».

^'1

'^:.i

r-ig

250

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XI.

and some by the Jews. Some assert that its
original inhabitants had moved from the north-
eastern coasts of Asia ; others, that they had mi-
grated from the north-western shores of Europe.
A learned Dutchman conjectures, that during the
three years' voyage made by the Tyrian fleet which
King Solomon sent in search of elephants' teeth
and peacocks' tails, the Phoenicians proved to be
the fortunate discoverers of America. In short,
Phoenicians, Scythians, Tartars, Chinese, Spaniards,
Swedes, Norwegians — all lay their claim to the
first discovery and peopling of that continent ; and
last, though not least, " the most probable Historic
in this kind is, in my minde, that of Madoc ap
Orven Guyneth, who, by reason of civill conten-
tions, left his countrey of Wales, seeking adventures
by sea; and, leaving the coast of Ireland north, came
to a land unknowne, where he saw manie strange
thinges." * But the reverend biographer of Eliot
cuts the Gordian knot at once. " The natives of
the country," says he, " had been forlorn and
wretched heathen ever since their first herding
here ; and tho' we know not when or how the
Indians first became inhabitants of this mighty
continent, yet we may guess that probably the
devil decoyed those miserable salvages hither, in
hopes that the Gospel would never come here to

It ;.

* Purchas his Pilgrimes, vol. v. book viii. ch. 2.

1 .^,

• i

I. XI.

Ch. XI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 251

destroy or disturb his absolute empire over them.
But our Eliot was in such ill terms with the devil
as to alarm him with sounding the silver trumpets
of heaven in his territories, and make some noble
and zealous attempts towards outing him of his
ancient possessions here. There were, I think,
twenty several nations of Indians upon that spot of
ground, and our Eliot was willing to rescue as
many of them as he could from that old usurping
landlord of America."* Whether the ancient
landlord has, amidst revolutionary changes in that
country, recovered possession of any part of his
former dominions, need not at present be inquired
into ; but with respect, at least, to " our Eliot,"
Dr. Mather himself acknowledges that " the Indian
church at Natick, which was the first Indian
church in America, is, since blessed Eliot's death,
much diminished and dwindled away."')' The
lapse of years, indeed, has completed its downfal ;
and it is now a long time since there has been
at Natick either an Indian church or an Indian to
attend it.

A few years before Eliot's death, a letter was
addressed by Mr. Increase Mather, minister at
Boston, to Professor Leusden of Utrecht, on the
subject of Indian conversion, in which there is

■':i*i:

y\\

'<!?)' f

* Mather's Magnalia, book iii. part iii.
t Ibid, book vi. Postscript.

i t'^m

262

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii, XI.

an account given of the numbers of the churches
and religious meetings of the Indians in New Eng-
land at that time. It concludes thus : " In short,
there are si.v churches of baptized Indians in New
England, and eighteen assemblies of catechumens
professing the name of Christ. Of the Indians,
there are four-and-twenty who are preachers of the
Word of God ; and, besides these, there are four
English ministers who preach the Gospel in the
Indian tongue."* Upon this part of the letter,
Dr. Cotton Mather, in whose work it is inserted,
observes, " At the writing of my father's letter
(in 1687) there were/bwr, but the number of them
increases apace among us. At Martha's Vineyard,
the old Mr. Mayhew, and several of his sons.,
or grandsons, have done very worthily for the souls
of the Indians : there were, fifteen years ago, by
computation, about fifteen hundred seals of their
ministry upon that one island. In Connecticut,
the holy and acute Mr. Fitch has made noble
essays towards the conversion of the Indians ; but,
I think, the prince he has to deal widial being an
obstinate infidel, gives unhappy remoras to the
successes of his ministry. And godly Mr. Pierson
has in that colony deserved well, if I mistake
not, upon the same account. In Massachussets,
we see at this day the pious Mr. Daniel Gookin,

• Magiiaiia, book iii. part iii.

\Hy.

Cli. XI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 253

the gracious Mr. Peter Thatcher, the well-accom-
plished and industrious Mr. Grindall Rawson, all
of them hard at work, to turn these poor creatures
from darkness unto light, and from Satah unto
God. In Plymouth, we have the most active
Mr. Samuel Treat laying out himself to save this
generation ; and there is one Mr. Tupper who uses
his laudahle endeavours for the instruction of them.
'Tis my relation to him that causes me to defer
unto the last place the mention of Mr. John
Cotton, who hath addressed the Indians in their
own language with some dexterity. He hired an
Indian, after the rate of twelve pence per day,
for fifty days, to teach him the Indian tongue, but
his knavish tutor having received his whole pay too
soon, ran away before twenty days were out; how-
ever, in this lime he had profited so far, that he
could quickly preach unto the natives."*

These, and many similar accounts, were recorded
by the ministers who resided in various parts of
New England in the course of the seventeenth cen-
tury, and who, from their situation, were the most
competent persons to obtain information upon the
subject. They also slated the number of schools
they had established at which the Indian youth
were taught. Their accounts of the beneficial
result of these measures may have been exaggerated.

•■?.;

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* Magnalia, book iii. part. iii.

i^.

iieiif:'

iit

254

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cll. XI.

but there is sufficient to shew that, about that
period at least, there was no want of zeal among
them to promote the conversion and improvement
of the Indians.

In the year 1665, the commissioners appointed
by the king to inqui. ;nt the state of the New
England colonies, were, ..nonj:: their other duties, di-
rected ** to make due enquiry what progress had been
made towards the foundation and maintenance of
any college or schools for the education of youth
and conversion of Infidels ; the king having taken
abundant satisfaction in the accounts received of
the designs of the colony herein, which he hoped
would draw a blessing upon all their other under-
takings." The answer given by the general court
of the colony to this interrogatory, as far as related
to the Indians, was " that there was at Cambridge
a small fabrick of brick for the use of the Indians,
built by the corporation in England, in which there
were then eight Indian scholars, one of which had
been admitted into college ; that there were six
towns of Indians in the jurisdiction, professing the
Christian religion ; and they had schools to teach
the youth to read and write, and persons appointed
to instruct them in civility and religion, who had
orders to wait upon the commissioners and shew
them the towns, and manners of life of the Indians,
if it should be desired."* If any reasonable doubts,
• Hutchinson's History of Massachussets, chap. 2.

that

Cil. XI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 255

therefore, existed at that time as to the exertions
made in New England for the conversion of the
savages, the king's commissioners had full means of
ascertaining the truth upon the spot.

About the commencement of the last century,
some additional public institutions were formed
in Great Britain, which, among other objects,
directed their view to the propagation of Chris-
tianity abroad. A society was established in Eng-
land, by royal charter, in the year 1701, for pro-
pagating the Gospel in foreign parts; and. in 1709,
a similar one was formed in Scotland : which, in its
operation, was subsequently extended to the conver-
sion of the Indians in several of those parts of Ame-
rica to which it was supposed the act of 1649 did not
locally apply. Dr. Douglass states, that under the
patronage of this latter society a missionary was
employed for the purpose of converting the Narra-
gansets, but with what success does not appear. It
was by the same society that the celebrated
Brainerd was appointed a missionary among the
Indians, and in zeal he equalled any one who ever
engaged in their conversion. " Mr. Eliot, Mr.
Mayhew, and others," says Douglass, " spared no
fatigue, and were of great service in civilizing our
intermixed Indians, though their faith was not
strong enough to carry them out among the tribes
of the adjPiCent wilderness :" but Brainerd, he adds,
rode no kss than four thousand miles in the course

ttl

^4: ^

25G

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cn. XI.

of one year among the Indians in the interior,
clLiring which time it frequently liappened that
he did not sec a white person for five or six
weeks together.* ** Of all the missionaries,"
writes Mr. Smith, in his History of New
York, " Mr. David Brainerd, who recovered these
Indians (of New Jersey) from the darkness of
Pacanism, was most successful. He died in Oc-
tobcr 1747, a victim to his extreme mortification,
and inextinguishable zeal for the prosperity of his
mission." t But has Brainerd, any more than Eliot,
or Mayhew, left behind him any permanent trace
of the real conversion of the American Indian?
We read, indeed, of " the excellent Brainerd, who
at Crossweeksung converted by his preaching — so
far as the hunian eye can judge — seventy-five
Indians out of one hundred, to the faith and
obedience of the Gospel, within twelve months :" J
but it is to be feared that this "judging by the eye"
too often misleads us with respect to Indian con-
version ; and we may, therefore, fairly hesitate in
giving credit to tiie same writer, who, adopting the
accounts given by Gookin, says, '' we learn with
certainty," that in his time there were in Massa-

iLi.'-

.f.^i.

* Douglass's Summary, part ii. sect. 10.

f Smith's Hist, of New York, part i. Dr. Douglass says,
that Brainerd only preached to the Indians in EngUsh,
which, of course, the latter did not understand.

\ Dwight's Travels in New England, vol. iii. let. 9.

Ck. XI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 257

cliussets colony eleven hundred praying Indians in
fourteen villages ; in Plymouth colony, nearly six
thousand ; in Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket,
perhaps fifteen hundred more ; and when to these
were to be added those in Connecticut, he makes
the total number " not far from ten thousand."
But Gookin himself, in his account of the whole
Indian population in New England at their most
prosperous period, does not calculate them to
exceed eighty thousand souls (a number which
Dr. D wight even admits to be probably overrated
by at least ten thousand); so that we are thus
desired to believe, that at the time alluded to,
one-sixth or one-seventh part of the Indians in that
part of America was converted to Christianity !
The assertion is wholly incredible.

In the time of Queen Anne, attempts were made
to establish missionaries among the Iroquois. Go-
vernor Hunter, at a grand council held at Albany
with some of the Indians of that confederacy, after
distributing presents among them, told them, " The
queen had not only provided fine clothes for their
bodies, but likewise intended to adorn their souls
by the preaching of the Gospel, and that some
ministers should be sent to instruct them. When
the governor had finished his speech, the eldest
chief rose up, and, in the name of all the Indians,
thanked their good mother the queen for the fine
clothes she had sent them ; but that, in regard

tivl

258

HrSTORTCAf. VOTES RKSPECTTKO Cii.XI.

to the preachers, they Imd already \.jA some of
them, who, instead of preaching the Gospel, taught
them to drink to excess, and to cheat and quarrel
among themselves ; and they entreated the governor
to take from them the preachers, and a number of
Europeans who came among them : for, before
their arrival, the Indians were an honest, sober,
innocent people, but now most of them were
rogues ; that they formerly had the fear of the
Great Spirit, but they hardly now believed in his
existence." * The heavy charges thus made against
these preachers must have applied to the native
Indians who were employed by the Europeans as
teachers of the Gospel among the tribes. This
unfortunately was too common a practice both
among the French and British settlers in North
America. There were in New England, about the
year 1687, (as already noticed,) not fewer than
twenty-four of these native preachers ; and if we are
to judge of them from the sample presented by
Dr. Mather, in his Ecclesiastical History of that
colony, we cannot be much surprised at the Indians
of the Five Nations entreating their good Mother to
remove them from their country, t '-

* Long's Travels of an Indian Interpreter, page 32.

f In the year 1694 an Indian was executed for a murder
committc I by him when he was drunk. Dr. Mather states,
that after his condemnation, the Indian said, " The thing
that undid him was this. He had begun to come and hear

I' ^

J :
Mi',. ; ■

|ltf,!5fj,.

\t,

Ch. XL THE NOIITII AMERICAN INDIANS. 259

Dr. Coklen states, tl at a inissi&r.ary was sent
over by Queen Anne, with an allowance from her
privy purse, to reside among the Mohawks. " Tiic
Common Prayer," says he, " or at least a consi-
derable part of it, and some other pieces, were
translated for the minister's use, viz. an Exposition
of the Creed, Decalogue, Lord's Prayer, Church
Catechism, and a discourse on the Sacraments ; but
as that minister was never able to attain any
tolerable knowledge of their language, and was
naturally a heavy man, he had but little success,
and, his allowance failing by the queen's death, he
left them."* From that period a long time elapsed
without any teacher going among the Mohawks.
At length a young man voluntarily repaired to their
country, and set up a school to teach the Indian
children. He soon afterwards went to England,
where he took orders, and returned as a missionary.
Colden has inserted in his History a letter which

the preaching of the Gospel among the Indians ; but he
minded the Indian preacher how he lived, and he saw plainly
that the preacher minded his bottle more than his Bible.
He loved rhum too well, and when his rhum was in him,
he would quarrel with other people, and with himself par-
ticularly. This," b id he, " prejudiced him against the
Gospel, so he lived a Pagan still, and would be drunk too ;
and his drunkenness ha.d brought all this misery upon him."
— Magnolia, book vi. Appendix.

* Colden's History of the Five Nations. Introduction,
p. 18.

I .

:;.yi,

!*.

• ^^B

't : •
^'■'■1.'

If,

260

HISTOilICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cm. XL

he received frofu this missionary some time after-
wards, in which he gives a very flattering account
of his success in converting and improving tlie
Indians ; but as he admits in his letter his own
want of the Mohawk language, and that he could
not procure an iinter prefer, one cannot help sus-
pecting, in some degree, the accuracy of hie state-
ments.

in the year 173-1, an Indian mission (under the
patronage, also, of the Scottish Society for promoting
Christian Knowledge,) was commen-ied at Stock-
biidge, in Massachussets. The first missionary was
Mr. John Serjeant, a zealous and pious minister, who
translated for the use of the Indians most of the New,,
and parts of the Old Testament, into the Mohe-
kanew language. He instituted a school for the
Indian youth, and benefactions were procured botli
in England and America for its support. Two
masters were appointed, one to teach them in
the school, the other to superintend their lessons of
husbandry in the field ; there was also a matron
to direct the female children in pursuits of a
domestic nature. The d(2ath of Mr„ Serjeant
appears, in a great measure, to have put a stop to .
the benelits expected from this institution. His
inmiediale successor was a minister who was obliged
to preach to them tlirough the channel of an inter-
preter. He was succeeded by the son of the
original missionary, and, under his zealous ministry.,

Cn.XI. THK NORTH AftlERICAN INDIANS. 261

the Stockbridge Indians were invited by the Onei-
das (one of the Five Nations) to reside with them
in the Oneida Reservation, in the western part
of the state of New York. This invitation was
accepted, and they removed from New England to
that quarter, where their few descendants now
continue, under the government of the United
States.

A similar attempt to that at Stockbridge was
made in the year 1754, when another Indian school
wa!5 established in New England, and contributions
for its support obtained in Great Britain and
Aaierica. The funds collected in England were
put in the hands of a board of trustees, at the head
of whom was the Earl of Dartmouth : and those
collected in Scotland were committed to the Society
established in that country for the Promotion of
Christian Knowledge. From this institution arose
Dartmouth College, which was established in 1760,
in Haoover township in New Hampshire, and
Dr. Wheelock, its founder, was made president.
The school was united to the college, but the
institution, as far as the Indians were concerned,
did not succeed. " Experience had taught
Dr. Wheelock," says Belknap, " that his Indian
youths, however well educated, were not to be
depended upon for instructors of their countrymen.
Of forty who had been under his care, twenty had
returiied to the vices of savage life ; and some,

262

HISTOIIICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XI.

!- 'ii

whom he esteemed subjects of Divine grace, had not
kept their garments unspotted."*

In British North America, there are at present
— besides the Roman Catholic establishments
appropriated to the use of the Indians— three Pro-
testant missionaries among the Esquimaux on the
coast of Labrador. In Canada there is only one
regular Protestant Indian mission, but several
of the missionaries of the British settlements in the
Upper Province, act as occasional visitors for the
religious instruction of the Indians ; and there are
likewise schoolmasters appointed to teach them.
The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
is taking steps to extend and improve these esta-
blishments. The Church Missionary Society also
nominated, a few years ago, the chaplain of the
newly-formed British settlement on the Red River
of Lake Winnipic, to be their missionary in that
quarter; who, among his other duties, has to super-
intend the religious and school education of the
neighbouring Chippewa and other Indians, both
of the pure and the mixed breed. A regular
schoolmaster and schoolmistress have also been
sent out by the same society, who have appro-
priated a liberal allowance for these benevolent
purposes.

After the revolutionary contest which terminated

Belknap's Hist, of New Hampshire, vol. ii. chap. 24.

Cii.XI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 263

in the separation of Great Britain from those of lier
North American colonies with which she had been
at war, the Indian missions in that country con-
tinued, and were extended under the management
of the general government of the United States, as
well as of individual states within the Union. It is
unnecessary in these Notes to enter into detail as to
their exertions in this respect. The subject has
often occupied the attention of their executive
government, and of Congress, and the difficulties
attending it have been apparent. There has been
no want of zeal in those who have been employed
in this object; it appears to have received every
reasonable encouragement on the part of the Ame-
rican government; and has called forth the exer-
tions and liberality of various societies, which
have established themselves in different parts
of the Union for the promotion of this important
object.

President Monroe, in his inaugural speech (March
1821), adverted to the subject of those Indians who
are placed uncer the protection of the United
States. He observed, that the care of them had
long been an essential part of the American system,
but that unfortunately it had not been executed in a
manner to accomplish all the objects intended
by it. That they had been treated as independent
nations, without their having any substantial preten-
sion to t. dt rank ; this distinction flattering their

k\l

264

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. Xl.

pride, retardliig their improvement, and, in many
instances, paving the way to their destruction.
That the progress of many of the American settle-
ments had constantly driven the Indians back
with al'iiost the total sacrifice of the land, which
they have been compelled to abandon. " They
have claim?," says he, " on the magnanimity, and,
I may add, on the justice of the nation, which
we must all feel. We should become their real
benefactors ; we should perform the office of their
Great Father, the endearing title which they em-
phatically give to the chief magistrate of our
Union. Their sovereignty over vast territories
should cease, in lieu of which the right of soil
should be secured to each individual and his pos-
terity in competent portions ; and, for the territory
thus ceded by each tribe, some reasonable equi-
valent should be granted, to be vested in per-
manent funds for the support of the civil govern-
ment over them, and for the education of their
children ; for their instruction in the arts of
husbandry, and to provide sustenance for them
until they can provide it for themselves. My
earnest hope is, that Congress will digest some
plan, founded on these principles, with such
improvements as their wisdom may suggest, and
cany it into efl'ect as soon as it may be prac-
ticable."

Shortly before this period, the government of

Ch. XI. THE NORTH AMEUIC AN INDIANS. 265

the United States had appointed the Reverend
Dr. Morse to make a visit of observation and
inspection among various Indian tribes, and to
report to the President upon their ciicumstances
and condition. Dr. Morse was at that time
acting in some degree in a similar situation under
commissions from the Scottish Society for the
Propagation of Christian Knowledge, and from the
Northern Missionary Society of the State of
New York. His attention was now particularly
directed to ascertain, as distinctly as possible, the
actual state of the Indians in a moral, religious,
and political view ; the nature and climate of
the countries occupied by them ; and the cus-
toms, manners, and institutions of the native in-
habitants.

His Report was laid before Congress in the
spring of hS22, and was published in America
in the course of the same year, with all its nume-
rous accompanying documents. Dr. Morse states,
that a great deal has been alrcp.cly done, and is
now continuing to be effected, in several parts
of the Union, for the benefit of the Indians ;
and he recommends various measures as connected
with their future civilization and improvement.
The details contained in the Report are much too
voluminous to be particularly remarked upon here :
some parts of the work have already been ad-
verted to, and a few others shall be afterwards

11^' ^ii

■ ■■■. *■'#>

260

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING €u. XI.

noticed. Among other suggestions, Dr. Morse
recommended the formation of a society on a
very extended scale — a plan which appears to
have been since adopted — under the name of
the " American Society for promoting tlie Civi-
lization and general Improvement of the Indian
Tribes within the United States."

' 1?

Ts^:

lf..v

Cii.XII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 267

CHAPTER XII.

KITE OF BAPTISM PROMISCUOUSLY ADMINISTERED TO
THE INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA BY THE EARLY

FRENCH MISSIONARIES QUESTION RESPECTiNG

IT SUBMITTED TO THE DOCTORS OF THE SORBONNE
SENTIMENTS OF NATURAL RELIGION ENTER-
TAINED BY THE INDIANS OBSTRUCTION TO

THEIR CONVERSION, ARISING FROM THE RELI-
GIOUS DIFFERENCES AND DISPUTES AMONG THE
EUROPEANS.

In remarking upon the labours of the early Jesuit
iiiisbionaries in the interior of North America,
Cliarlevoix observes : " The fruits which they
gathered in the first season were inconsiderable —
five or six baptisms of grown persons — but they
consoled themselves with the happiness of having
secured the eternal salvation of a great many chil-
dren, who received the rites of baptism immediately
before their death." * The accounts from the
early Recollet missions are similar. P^re le Caron,
of that order, states, in 1624, " We continue to
send to heaven a great number of infants, and
some dying adults whose hearts God seems to
touch at their end, and whom we baptize without

* Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvcllc France, liv. 5.

. -A

r ' . ( ' :

if]'f>

268

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING CiJ. XII.

difficulty : but as to the others, there is little suc-
cess."* This sacrament, however, was afterwards
frequently extended to the savages, of all ages and
descriptions ; the Roman Catholic missionaries
appearing to have been more anxious about the
number than the selection of those whom they bap-
tized. What Dr. Robertson, in his History of
America, remarks on the subject of baptizing the
Indians of Mexico, applies, in a considerable de-
gree, to the more northern countries of that con-
tinent : " In the course of a few years after the
reduction of the Mexican empire, the sacrament of
baptism was administered to more than four mil-
lions. Proselytes, adopted with such inconsiderate
haste, and who were neither instructed in the
nature of the tenets to which it was supposed they
had given their assent, nor taught the absurdities of
those which .\ey were required to relinquish, —
retained their veneration for their ancient supersti-
tions in full force, or mingled an attachment to its
doctrines and rites with that slender knowledge of
Christianity which they had acquired." f

P^re Dablon, in one of the annual Reports
transmitted by the Jesuit missions in Canada, ob-
serves, " Thus we may say that the torch of the
faith now lights up the four quarters of this New

* Premier Etablissement de la Foy dans la Nouvelle
France, vol. i. chap. 8. Paris, 1691.
t Robertson's Hist, of America, book 8.

Ch. XII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 2G9

World ; upwards of seven hundred barbarians
have this year consecrated our forests ; more than
twenty missions constantly occupy the fathers of
our church, among at least twenty different nations ;
and the chapels, erected in the most distant regions,
are almost every where filled with these poor bar-
barians ; in some of which they have ten, twenty,
and thirty baptisms in a day." *

It would appear that the Jesuits and the Recol-
lets did not agree upon the propriety of these nu-
merous baptisms. While the former set almost no
limits to the administration of this sacrament, the
latter entertained great doubts respecting it, con-
ceiving that it ought not to have been so generally
and promiscuously extended to the savages. Hen-
nepin, the RecoUet, in describing the Illinois Indians,
among whom he had resided, observes, " They
will readily suffer us to baptize their children, and
would not refuse it themselves ; but are incapable of
any previous instruction concerning the truth of
the Gospel, and the efficacy of the sacraments.
Were I to have followed the example of some other
missionaries, I could have boasted of many conver-
sions ; for 1 might have easily baptized all these
tribes, and have said, as 1 fear they do without any
reason, that I had converted them.'' f

* Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1670-71,
t Hennepin, vol. i. ch. 33.

270

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPF.CTING Cli. XII.

The RecoUet Le Clercq mentions that they de-
puted one of their order to go from Canada to
France, for the purpose of consulting the doctors of
the university of Paris upon this subject. " For
such," says he, *' is the disposition of these Indian
nations, that they profess no reUgion, and appear
incapable of that ordinary degree of reflection
which would lead other men to the knowledge of a
Divinity, either true or false. These poor blind
creatures listen to what we say of our sacred mys-
teries as they would to idle tales : they comprehend
or assent to nothing that is not palpable or obvious
to the senses. Their superstitions are unmeaning,
their customs are savage, barbarous, and brutal ;
and they would consent to be baptized ten times
a day, for a glass of brandy or a pipe of tobacco.
They willingly offer us their children to be b^^.ptized,
but not from the slightest sentiment of religion ;
and even those who have been instructed during
the whole winter, do not evince any better know-
ledge of the faith. The few adults who had been
baptized, even after they had received instruction,
again relapsed into their usual indifference to every
thing that regards their salvation : and the children
to whom baptism had been administered follow the
example of their fathers, all of which is a profana-
tion of this sacrament."

" This case," continues Le Clercq, " was fully
stated and discussed ; and it was even carried into

■J

Cii. XII. THE NORTH AMEUICAN INDIANS. 271

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nil

tlie Sorbonne. The decision upon it was as fol-
lows : — That, with respect to dying infants and
adults, the missionaries might risk the sacrament of
uuptism when asked for, — presuming that God
would give to the adults some ray of light, such as
it was believed had already occurred in several
cases : that, as to the other savages, it ought not to
be administered, unless where, by a long trial, it
appeared that they were instructed, and detached
from their own barbarous customs, or where they
had habituated themselves to the manners of the
French ; and the same with respect to their chil-
dren. A formulary and species of canon was com-
posed, for the regulation and guidance of our mis-
sionaries on this subject." *

Upon what grounds, however, Hennepin asserted
the incapacity of the Indians to receive instruction
concerning the truths of the Gospel, or upon what
grounds Le Clercq pronounced them incapable of
that degree of reflection which would lead to a
knowledge of the Divinity, it is not easy to con-
jecture : for there appears to be scarcely any writer
who has carefully and impartially investigated this
subject, who does not admit that the North Ame-
rican tribes almost universally eniertain rational,
although rude, notions of natural religion, accom-
panied by the belief of a future state. There were,

• Premier Etablissement de la Foy, &c., vol. i. ch. 5.

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as might naturally be expected, considerable dif-
ferences among the numerous nations with regard
to their particular traditions, ceremonies, and faith,
but they every where acknowledged the Great
Spirit, the Disposer of all good, their supreme Guide
and Protector. " It is an insult to an Indian," says
Hunter, "to suppose it necessary to tell him he
must believe in a God." From the earliest disco-
very of North America, the belief in the existence
of a Supreme Power, and of a future state, was ob-
servable among the Indians, and the same opinions
prevail among them at the present day.

In "The briefe and true Report of the New-found
Land of Virginia," &c., by Thomas Hariot, who
was employed by Sir Walter Raleigh in that infant
colony, we find, as far back as the year 1587, the
following remark made upon the Indians in that
part of North America : — " Theye beleeve that
there are many gods, which theye call Mantaoc , but
of difierent sorts and degrees : one onely chief and
great God which hath been from all eternitie, who,
as theye affirme, when hee proposed to make the
world, made first other gods of a principall order,
to bee as means and instruments to bee used in the
creation and government to folow; and after, the
sunne, moone, and starres as pettie gods, and the
instruments of the other order more principall."*

* Hakluyt's Voyages, vol. iii. p. 276.

Cii. Xir. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 273

In the first of the Jesuit Missionary Reports,
transmitted from Canada by Pfere le Jeune, we
read : — " It is a great mistake to suppose that the
Indians acknowledge no Deity. I admit that they
have no prayers in public, or in common, nor any
worship ordinarily rendered to the Being whom
they consider as their God, and that their know-
ledge of him is mere darkness ; but it cannot be
denied that they believe in a Superior Power.
Having no laws nor police, so they have no or-
dinance which relates to the service of this Deity :
every one does in that respect as he chooses. I do
not know their secret sentiments ; but to mc it is
evident they believe in a Divinity. They say that
there is a Being whom they call Atahocan, by whom
every thing was created ; and one day, when I was
conversing with them about God, they asked me
what God was? I answered, that it was He who
could perform all things, and who had made the
heaven and the earth. They immediately said
to one another, Atahocan, Atahocan, Atahocan ! " *

In Heckewelder's Report concerning the Indians,
he observes that "the Indian considers himself as
a being created by an all-powerful, wise, and bene-
volent Manito : all that he possesses, all tiiat he
enjoys, he looks upon as given to him, or allotted
for his own use, by the Great Spirit who gave him

Ftw

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>* H

* Relation dc- la Nouvelle France, 1G33, p. 76.

■i, ■

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274 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. XII.

life. He therefore believes it to be his duty to
adore and worship his Creator and Benefactor ; to
acknowledge with gratitude his past favours ; thank
him for present blessings, and solicit the continuation
of his good will." *

Mr. Hunter states that, e^s far as his information
extended, the Indians acknowledge one supreme,
all-powerful, and intelligent Being, — the Great
Spirit, who created and governs all things. That
in general they believe that, after the hunting
grounds had been formed and supplied with game,
he created the first red man and woman, who were
very large in their stature, and lived to a great age ;
that he often held councils and smoked with them,
taught them how to take game and cultivate corn,
and gave them laws to be observed ; but that in
consequence of their disobedience, he withdrew his
favour, and abandoned them in some measure to
the vexations of the Bad Spirit ; that, notwith-
standing the offences of his red children, they
believe he continues to shower down on them all
the blessings they enjoy ; that, in consequence of
this parental regard for them, they are truly filial
and sincere in tlieir devotions, praying to him for
such good things as they need, and returning thanks
for those they receive, f

* Hecke welder's Account of the Indians, ch. 6.
t Memoirs of Hunter's Captivity, ch. 6.

1. i\

Ch. XII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 275

On the other hand, he states that, when in af-
fliction from some great calamity, they pray with
equal fervency to the Evil Spirit, whom they con-
ceive to be directly the reverse of the Good Spirit,
to whom he is inferior ; but who, at the same time,
is'constantly employed in devising means to torment
the human race. By the term Spirit, the Indians
have an idea of a Being which can at pleasure be
present and yet invisible ; they think the Great
Spirit possessed, like themselves, of corporeal form,
though endowed with a nature infinitely more ex-
cellent than theirs, and which will endure for
ever without change. " Although they believe in a
future state of existence," says Hunter, " they
associate it with natural things, having no idea of
the soul, or of intellectual enjoyments ; but expect
at some future time after death to become, in their
proper persons, the perpetual inhabitants of a de-
lightful country, where their employments, divested
of pain and trouble, will resemble those here ;
where game will be abundant, and where there is
one continued spring and cloudless sky." *

Similar to this, in some respects, is the remark
of P^re le Jeune : " The Indians having never
heard of any thing purely spiritual, they represent
the soul of man as an obscure and sombre image
like the human shadow, with head, hands, feet, and

itM^^^

* Memoirs of Hunter's Captivity, ch. 6.

276

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. XII.

a'-* <■*'

all other parts of the human body. Hence they
say that the souls eat and drink, and they therefore
set apart provisions for them after death. I often
conversed with them on this subject, asking them
where their souls went to after death : * They go,'
said they, * a far way off, to a great village in the
region where the sun sets.' " *

In Hunter's Memoirs, there are also various in-
teresting traditions connected with the Indian belief
of a future state. Having gone with some of his
Indian companions upon an expedition of curiosity
across the Rocky Mountains, they at length unex-
pectedly reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
" Here," says he, " the surprise and astonishment
of our whole party was indescribably great. The
unbounded view of waters, the incessant and tre-
mendous dashing of the waves along the shore, ac-
companied with a noise resembling the roar of loud
and distant thunder, filled our minds with the most
sublime and awful sensations ; and fixed on them, as
immutable truths, the tradition we had received
from our old men, that the great waters divide the
residence of the Great Spirit from the temporary
abodes of his red children. We here contemplated
in silent dread the immense difficulties over which
we should be obliged to triumph after death, before
we could arrive at those delightful hunting grounds

Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1634, p. 58.

* Hunter's Memoirs, p. 69.

t Charlevoix, Journal Historiquc, let. 24,

Ch. XII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 277

which are unalterably destined for such only as do
good, and love the Great Spirit. We looked in
vain for the stranded and shattered canoes of those
who had done wickedly : we could see none, and
we were led to hope that they were few in number.
We offered up our devotions ; or, I might rather
say, our minds were serious, and our devotions
continued all the time we were in this country ; for
we had ever been taught to believe that the Great
Spirit resided on the western side of the Rocky
Mountains, and this idea continued throughout the
journey, notwithstanding the more specific water
boundary assigned by our traditionary dogmas."*

This tradition, of the Indians being admitted after
death into a delightful country in the west, cor-
responds with what is said by Charlevoix : — " After
death, the Indians believe, that the souls go into a
region which is destined for their eternal dwelling,
which they say is situated far in the west; that
they take many months to reach it, having numerous
difficulties to surmount in their journey, and par-
ticularly a great river to pass, where many are cast
away."t In Hakluyt's account of Jaques Cartier's
discovery, in 1535, of the Island of Hochelago on
the St. Lawrence; (now the Island of Montreal,) he
relates of the Indians in that quarter : — " They

'■'il

B^w'

278 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. XII.

believe that, when they die, they gee into tiie stars,
and thence by little and little descend down into the
horizon, even as the stars doe : and that then they
goe into certain greene fields full of goodly, fair,
and precious trees, flowers, and fruits." * And the
early Franciscan missionary Sagard, who resided
among the Hurons, says of them : — " They believe
in the immortality of the soul, and that when it
leaves the body, it goes rejoicing along the road of
the stars, (the milky way,) which they call the path
of souls." t

The Indians, according to Hunter, have no fixed
days set apart for devotional purposes, but offer up
their joint prayers upon particular occasions, such
as the declaration of war, the restoration of peace,
and upon extraordinary natural visitations. They
have also rejoicings which assume a pious form, as
the time of harvest, the return of the new moon,
&c. " In general, however," says he, " a day sel-
dom passes with an elderly Indian, or others who
are esteemed wise and good, in which a blessing is
not asked, or thanks returned to the Giver of Life ;
sometimes audibly, but more generally in the de-
votional language of the heart." J
:-.. Was it therefore to be wondered at that numerous

* Haklujt's Voyages, vol. iii. p. 223.
t Le Grand Voyage du Pays des Hurons, par Fr^re
Sagard, ch. 18. Paris, 1632.
J Hunter's Memoirs, ch, 6.

Cll. XII. THE NOUTII AMERICAN INDIAN'S. 279

tribes, entertaining such views of religion, and car-
rying into practice its simple but sincere precepts,
as handed down to them from their ancestors,
should have been perplexed by the modes in which
new religious doctrines were attempted to be taught
to them by the Europeans ? Little or no inquiry
was made as to their existing notions of natural
religion, or of the worship of a Deity. However
much the early missionaries of the Romish and the
Reformed Churches disputed about the right road
by which the Indian was to be sent to heaven,
they cordially joined in the cry of " infidel sal-
vage," " impious heathen," &c. &c., unanimously
pronouncing him — for the pre&cnt at least — to be
under the sole and exclusive dominion of the devil.
" These parts," says the Rev. Dr. Mather, " were
then covered with nations of barbarous Indians and
Infidels, in whom the prince of the power of the
air did work as a spirit ; nor could it be expected
that nations of wretches, whose whole religion was
the most explicit sort of devil-worship, should not
be acted by the devil to engage in some early and
bloody acdon for the extinction of a plantation so
contrary to his interests as that of New England
was."* Again : " Satan," writes the superior-
general of all the Jesuit Canadian missions to the
head of his order in France, " Satan has made

■'M

* Mather's Magnalia, book vii. ch. 6.

■''-■ I

280

HlSTOItlCAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. XII.

'. .1.

mki

every effort to recover the ground which Jesus
Christ had gained from him, and to maintain pos-
session of a country where he had reigned peaceably
for so many ages." *

By Roman Catholic and Protestant the Indian
was called upon, with frightful denunciations, to
relinquish the worship of the Great Spirit, as taught
him by his forefathers, and to adopt in its place
the religion of the Whites. But what did the shrewd
Indian perceive in these his new religious instructors,
that was calculated to incline him to listen to their
exhortations ? Their morality he could not respect,
and their conduct towards his countrymen had
never been such as to merit his confidence and
esteem. Besides, what was he to think of the dif-
ferences and distinctions whicli appeared to exist
among the Europeans themselves on the subject of
the religious doctrines which they inculcated ?
" The different methods," says Heni.epin, "that are
used for the instruction of the Indians retard much
their conversion. One begins by the animal part,
another by the spiritual. There are diversity of
beliefs among the Christians ; every one believes his
own faith to be the purest, and his own method the
best : there ought therefore to be a uniformity
in belief and method, as there is but one Truth

* Relation de la Nouvelie France, 1643-44, par Ic Perc
Vimont, eh. 8.

il^

Cii. XII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 281

and one Redeemer; otherwise these barbarians
will not know what to resolve upon." * If, how-
ever, the account given by Dr. Mather of the colony
of Rhode Island be correct, its red abori«5ines must
have been somewhat bewildered with the variety
even of Protestant sectaries who had planted them-
selves among them : " It has been," says the
Doctor, " a colluvies of Antinomians, Familists,
Anabaptists, Antisabbatarians, Arminians, Soci-
nians, Quakers, Ranters — every thing in the world
but Roman Catholics and real Christians, (though
of the latter I hope there have been more tii: n the
former among them,) so thai if a man had lost his
religion, he might find it at that general muster of
Opinionists." f But, intolerant as was Dr. Ma-
ther in bis prose. Governor Dudley, of the same
colony, was no less so in his poetry. When the
governor died, there was found in his pocket a
copy of verses of his own composing, the concluding
lines of which shew that to the last gasp his Excel-
lency denounced all freedom of opinion and liberty
of conscience : —

Farewell, Dear Wife, Children, and Friends,
Hate Heresie ; make Blessed Ends :
Let Men of God in Courts and Churches watch.
O'er such as do a Toleration hatch,

. y.

.i. LI

* Hennepin, ii. ch. 30.

t Mather's Magnalia, book vii. ch. <h

282

HISTORICAL NOTES UESPKCTI NCi Cii. XII.

Lest that III Egg bring forth a Cockatrice
To poison all with Hercsie and Vice.
If Men be left, and otherwise Combine,
My Epitaph's— H JB\i"o no tibtrtinc*

But the religious differences which had the most
baneful effect in some parts of the Indian countries,
were those which existed between the missions of
the Roman Catholic and of the Reformed persua-
sion. These missions had pushed their way into
various parts of the interior, and, in their rivalship,
seemed often disposed to imbibe that rancorous
spirit of which their respective governments too
frequently set them the example. At one time it
was made a capital offence for a Protestant to settle
in New France; and in New England they re-
taliated by enacting a law in Massachussets, that
if a Roman Catholic priest found his way into the
colony, (after having been once turned out of it,)
he should be hanged. P^re Charlevoix himself is
far from being exempt from this spirit of intole-
rance. In noticing the country of the Iroquois, he
observes, " As I had the happiness of being intimate
with most of those missionaries who laboured in
that vineyard, which, notwithstai ding their care, has
remained an unproductive soil, I frequently inquired
of them what had prevented the seed from taking
root among a people whose good sense and generous

Mather's Magnalia, book ii. ch. 5,

Cii.Xn. THE NORTH AMERICAN INPFANS. 283

sciuiments they Imd so often praised ? They all
replied, that the great obstruction was the near
vicinity of the English and Dutch, whose want of
piety, although they profess to be Christians, had
made these Indians look upon Christianity as an
optional religion."* ' » ^

Charlevoix, however, does not always complain
of the seed being unproductive ; for, in another
part of his work, he states that " the Dutch, who
were in the neighbourhood of the Mohawks, thought
proper to dogmatize our neophytes, first addressing
themselves to the women, whom they supposed it
would be more easy to prevail upon. They attacked
them chiefly on the subject of their devotions to the
Mother of God, on the worship of the saints, of
the cross, and of the images ; but they found
these female converts well instructed, and firm in
their belief of what we had taught them on these
articles. The Dutch ministers then endeavoured
to inspire them with a distrust of the French mis-
sionaries, but they succeeded still less in this at-
tempt. These good women answered them in a
manner which covered them with confusion : re-
marking, that they observed in them neither that
piety, good conduct, nor disinterestedness which
rendered our priests so respectable, and which had

* Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. ix.

"^1

t 1

(r: '-

284 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XII.

always prepossessed them in favour of their doc-
trines."*

In these religious disputations the governors of
the English and of the French colonies often par-
ticipated. When Lord Bellamont was governor
of the province of New York, and the Count de
Frontenac of New France, they had frequent and
sharp altercation in their correspondence, on the
subject of their respective missionaries among the
Iroquois : " To convince you," writes the former,
in one of his letters to the count, *' of the little
estimation in which our Five Nations hold your
Jesuit and other missionaries, they have repeatedly
entreated me to drive them out of their country :
and they requested that I should send, in their
room, some of our Protestant ministers to instruct
them in the Christian religion. This I have pro-
mised to do, and you have acted right in prohibiting
your missionaries to interfere, unless they wis., to
undergo the punishment ordained by our law,
which I shall certainly execute if they fall into my
hands, the Indians having promised to bring them
to me."f Charlevoix, in observing upon this
letter, says that " it is very well known that these
Indians despise very much the Protestant ministers,

■* '- r

* Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle Fiance, liv. ix.
t Ibid. liv. xvii.

Hill

Ch.XII. the north AMERICAN INDIANS.

285

and that they have often reproached .e inhabitants
of New York with having no religion at all : it is
therefore more probable that, if they wished to
make themselves Christians, they would not have
chosen to be like the English ones. In truth, the
Iroquois who have become converted to Christianity
have all embraced the doctrines of the Romish
church." And La Potherie, in noticing some of
their Iroquois converts, who had been taken pri-
soners and carried to Albany by the English, boasts
that ** they were so well acquainted with the doc-
trines of their religion, that they confuted and con-
founded the heretics of Albany, on the subject of
the invocation of saints and other articles of the
faith." *

Lord Bellamont, however, kept his word, and
despatched Dellius, a Protestant missionary,
among the Mohawks. " Sieur Dellius, indeed,
did not incommode himself over much with
the duties of his mission," says Charlevoix, " al-
though his salary amounted to twelve hundred livres
per annum : he almost always resided at Albany,
where he had the children brought to him to be
baptized. An Iroquois woman, who lived in his
house, and who accompanied him in his short and
rare excursions, served him as interpreter to instruct
the adults ; but he had very few proselytes, nor did

La Potherie, vol. iii. iet. 1.

286 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch, XII.

he appear anxious to increase their number. I do
not exactly know how long this mission lasted, but
I find, in my memoranda, that Dellius was some
years afterwards driven away from Albany by M.
de Bellamont.* The Protestant religion has cer-
tainly not fared well among the Iroquois. It is not
the first attempt of this sort : which ought to have
convinced Messieurs les R6form^s that their sect
possesses neither that fecundity, nor laborious zeal
for the salvation of infidels, which forms one of *he
most distinguishing marks of the true church of

Christ."t

. Messieurs les R^form^s, it must be confessed,
often shewed themselves, in their writings, to be as
sarcastic and severe against the Catholics, as the
latter were against the Protestants. " Bommaseen,"
says Mather, ** was, with some other Indians, now
a prisoner at Boston ; and he desired a conference
with a minister there, which was granted to him.
Bommaseen then, with the other Indians assenting

* Dellius, however, in a letter '-'ritten in 1693, retorts
upon the Jesuit missionaries. It concludes thus : " I am,
under favour, of opinion that the Jesuit catechism, with the
cases of conscience added thereto, writ by their own hands,,
which they teach the Indians, may be very serviceable to
convince our proselytes, and other French that come here, of
their pernicious principles; and I wish the same might be sent
me." — Mathers Magnalia, book vi. ch. 6.

t Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. xvii.

Ch. XII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 287

to it, told the minister that he prayed his instruction
in the Christian religion — inasmuch as he was afraid
that the French, in the Christian religion which
they taught the Indians, had abused them. The
minister inquired of him what of the things taught
'em by the French appeared most suspicious to em?
He said the French taught 'em that the Lord Jesus
Christ was of the French nation : that his Mother,
the Virgin Mary, was a French lady; that they
were the English who murdered him ; and that all
who would recommend themselves unto his favour,
must revenge his quarrel upon the English as far as
they can. He asked the minister, whether these
things were so ? and prayed the minister to instruct
him in the true religion. The minister, considering
that the humour and manner of the Indians was to
have their discourses managed with much of simi-
litude in them, looked about for some agreeable
object from whence he might, with apt resem-
blances, convey the ideas of truth into the minds of
salvages, and he thought none would be more agree-
able to them than a tankard of drinks which hap-
pened then to be standing on the table. So he
proceeded in this method with 'em : — .

" He told them that our Lord» Jesus Christ had
given us a good religion, which might be resembled
unto the good drink on the table : that if we take
this good religion, even that good drink, into our
hearts, it will do us good, and preserve us from

288

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XII.

mV:*

death : that God's book, the Bible, is the cup
wlierein that good drink of religion is offered unto
us : that the French, having the cup of good drink
in their hands, had put poison into it, and then
made the Indians to drink that poisoned liquor,
whereupon they run mad, and fell to killing of
the English : that it was plain the English had
put no poison into the good drink, for they set the
cup wide open, and invited all men to come and
see before they taste ; even the very Indians them-
selves, — for we translatrd the Bible into Indian.
That they might gather from hence that the
French had put poison into the good drink, inas-
much as they, kept the cup fast shut (the Bible
in an unknown tongue), and kept their hands upon
the eyes of the Indians when they put it into their
mouths.

" The Indians expressing themselves to be well
satisfied with what the minister had hitherto said,
prayed him to go on with shewing them what
was the good drink, and what was the poison the
French had put into it. He then set before
them distinctly the chief articles of the Christian
religion, with all the simplicity and sincerity of
a Protestant : adding upon each, * This is the good
drink in the Lord's cup of life ;' and the Indians still
professed that they liked it all. Whereupon he
demonstrated unto them how the papists had, in
their idolatrous popery, some way or other, de-

i r\

■ V

^'4

Ch. XII. THE NORTH AMEHICAN INDIANS. 289

praved and altered every one of these articles with
scandalous ingredients of their own invention ; add-
ing upon each, this is the poison that the French
have put into the cup.'' *

There is a curious struggle recorded by P^re
Rasles, the French Jesuit, as having occurred be-
tween him and a Protestant minister of New-
England, on the subject of an attempt made by the
latter to obtain scholars and converts among the
Indians. Rasles had long resided as a missionary
in the frontier country situated towards the Eng-
lish settlements ; and he probably considered his
residence of nearly thirty years upon the spot, as
securing to him a prescriptive right against all
heretical intruders. He therefore employed his
leisure hours in instigating his flock to make inces-
sant hostility against their Protestant neighbours of
New England. Complaints were repeatedly made
on this subject to the government of Canada by the
governor of Massachussets, but no redress was
obtained. At length the patience of the English
being exhausted, a party was sent, which surprised
the Indian village where Rasles resided. He
escaped into the woods, but his papers were seized ;
and his correspondence with Monsieur de Vau-
dreuil, the governor of New France, distinctly
shewed that Rasles, under the direction of his

•i

• Mather's Magnalia, book vii. art. 22.

290 HISTORICAL NOtES RESPECTING Cii. XIF.

government (though the two powers were then at
peace), was constantly instigating the Indians
against the English colonists ; the consequence of
which was, that the cattle of the settlers were often
destroyed, their crops of corn wantonly injured,
their houses burnt, and many of the inhabitants
killed by the savages.* '

Matters continued in this deplorable state ; Ras-
les still instigating hostility against the British
settlers. At length a Protestant minister from Bos-
ton was sent to that quarter, for the purpose,
as complained of by Rasles, of gaining converts,
and establishing a school for the instruction of
Indian children, who were to be clothed and main-
tained at the expense of the government. This
minister appears to have omitted no means to pro-
cure them : he went about among the Indians,
encouraging them to have their youth educated
by him, distributing presents among them : but all
in vain ; not a child was sent to him.

" This Protestant minister," says Father Rasles,
" then addressed my Indians themselves. He put
various questions to them respecting their belief,
and, when they gave their answers, he turned into
ridicule all the pious observances of our Romish
church — our pu.gatory, invocation of saints,
images, crosses, beads, and tapers. I thought it

• Belknap's History of New Hampshire, vol. ii. page 45.

1-:

Ch. XII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 291

my duty to oppose these first seeds of seduction.
I wrote a polite letter to the minister, in which
I pointed out that my Christian Indians knew how
to believe the truths inculcated by the Roman
Catholic faith, but not how to discuss them ; that,
not being themselves sufficiently skilful to resolve
the difficulties he had started to them, he probably
expected that these doubts would be communicated
by them to me ; that I, therefore, seized with
pleasure the opportunity thus offisred either to con-
fer with him personally, or by letter ; that for this
purpose I sent him a Mimmre to which I requested
his serious attention. In this document — which
contained about a hundred pages — I proved by
the Scriptures, by tradition, and by argument, the
truths he had attacked by his stale pleasantries;
that if he was not satisfied with my proofs, I
expected from him a precise refutation, supported
by theological reasoning, and not by vague asser-
tions which proved nothing; and least of all, by
injurious observations, which neither suited the
gravity of our profession, nor the importance of the
subject."

One would almost suppose that the Jesuit father,
with his Memoir of a hundred pages, had laid
a plot to convert the New England minister himself
to the Roman Catholic faith. If so, he failed ; for
" two days after receiving my letter, he set out on
his return to Boston, sending me a short answer,

■ft

292 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii.XII.

mi ^

I i«it , '^>

which I was obliged to read over again and again
in order to comprehend its meaning; so obscure
was his style, and so odd his Latinity. I gathered
from it, however, that he complained of my attack-
ing him without cause ; that zeal for the salvation
of souls had led him to point out to the savages the
road to heaven ; and, as to the rest, my arguments
were ridiculous and childish. I sent a second
letter to him, in which I pointed out the errors of
his, and he replied, two years afterwards^ without
at all entering into the subject, but merely saying
that I possessed a captious and peevish turn of
mind which marked a temperament inclined to
the choleric. Thus ended our dispute, and ren-
dered abortive the project this minister had formed
to seduce my converts." *

Rasles appears to have continued his system of
endeavouring to drive the Indians into hostility
against the English. The governor of Canada,
Monsieur de Vaudreuil, was directly charged with
a full knowledge of these proceedings, and when
he denied it, his own letters, addressed to Rasles,
were produced as a proof of his participation.
Colonel Shute, the governor of the New England
colonies, wrote to Rasles, stating, among other
things, " We have found, by three score years'
experience, that we had always lived in peace with

* Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, vok vi. p. 136.

:ii.xii.

Cn. Xn. THE JTORTH AMEIllCAN INDIANS. 293

our neighbouring Indians, had it not been for the
instigation, protection, supply, and even personal
assistance of the French ; so that, in case any
unjust war should happen with the natives (which
God forbid), we shall look upon the French, and
particularly the Popish mir ionaries among them,
as the main cause thereof."* Hostilities, in fact,
soon afterwards did break out, and, in one of the
actions of that sanguinary war. Father Rasles
was killed, and his scalp borne away in triumph by
the Indian confederates of the English.

It is very evident, therefore, that the religious
rancour and mutual recrimination of the Europeans
were often productive of open hostility and blood-
shed. As far, also, as the native tribes were con-
cerned, the disputations alluded to could not fail to
create a most serious obstacle in every attempt
to convert them. When they perceived their Chris-
tian instructors, French and English, thus disputing
among themselves, it was not to be expected that
they could weigh the respective merits of the
matters in dispute ; and while the Romish and the
Protestant missionaries reviled each other, the
Indian lent a deaf ear to both. Hence Fr^re
Sagard, at a very early period, was led to observe,
*' So the Catholics had their priest, and the
Huguenots their minister, and while they occupied

'I\

* D wight's Travels in New England, vol. ii. let. 11.

294 HISTORICAL NO'i 1ESPECTINO Ch. XII.

themselves in disputes concerning different religions,
the Indians were confirmed in their want of any.
The latter perceived very clearly the violent wrangles
produced by such discussions ; for the savages are
not so blind as to be unable to see the distinction
which exists between those who do, and those who
do not, adopt the sign of the cross, — as they them-
selves have sometimes informed me/' *

* Histoirc du Canada par le Frfere Sagard, liv.^i. chap. 2.
Paris, 1636.

CHAPTER XIII.

In. XII.

Ch.XIII. THENOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 205

INJUDICIOUS CONDUCT OF THE PROTESTANT SET-
TLEMENTS IN NORTH AMERICA WITH REGARD TO
THEIR CONVERTED INDIANS GENERAL RELUCT-
ANCE OF THE INDIANS TO RECEIVE THE MISSION-
ARIES.

There is, perhaps, no subject connected with the
Indians of North America, which gives rise to more
melancholy reflection than that of the fruitless
endeavours which were made to effect their conver-
sion. It is evident that many causes concurred
to produce this failure; but in general it may be
traced to the imprudence, the folly, and the arro-
gance of the Europeans.

In the course of the preceding chapters, the rash
and injudicious conduct pursued towards the na-
tives by the early adventurers in that continent, has
frequently been noticed. From the first, the In-
dians were disposed to shew them hospitality and
friendship. Many of the tribes, indeed, were pro-
bably induced to assist the settlers from the hope
that, by their alliance with the Europeans, they
would obtain the more certain means of reducing
their own Indian enemies to submission. But the
interference of the colonists in the wars among the
natives eventually proved a great obstruction to

< \ 1

296 HISTORICAL NOTES RIlSPECTING Ch. XIII.

their acquiring the general good will of the Indians.
If they had studied tlie character of the inhabitants
of the country to which they had migrated, they
would soon have observed that the Indians, with
all their native generosity of disposition, seldom
forgave a serious injury ; and the early and un-
favourable impressions given to them by the con-
duct of the Europeans were such as could not
easily be forgotten.

In New England, the very first act almost of
the settlers towards the natives seems to have been
a robbery. Several of the English, while exploring
the country in November 16S0, found the Indian
houses deserted. Having examined these, " some
of the best things wee tooke away with us, and left
the houses standing still as they were."* The
infamous conduct of the English captain who, a
few years before, had trepanned on board his ship a
party of friendly Indians, carrying them off as
slaves to the Mediterranean, has already been
noticed ; and this act in itself could not fail to
raise the indignation of all the tribes in that part of
the country. It may likewise be observed, that
long before any attempts were made to persuade
them to receive the religion of the Europeans, some
of those sanguinary hostilities had taken place be-
tween the English and the Indians, which caused

• Parchas, part iv. book x. clmp. 4.

< 'I

Ch.XIII. the NOKiH AMERICAN INDIANS. 297

the latter to look upon the colonists as their inve-
terate, and often as their treacherous, enemies.

In New France, also, the folly of interfering in
Indian wars was evident from the earliest period.
In order to ingratiate themselves with the Algonquin
and Huron nations, tne French began their expe-
ditions by carrying fire and sword into the heart of
the country of the Iroquois — a people who had never
injured them. This was sufficient to fix that
powerful confederacy in almost unceasing hostility
to the French ; and the consequence was, that they
received with doubt and distrust every subsequent
attempt of that nation to civilize or convert them.
But, even among the Indian tribes with whom the
French were in alliance, the Roman Catholic
missions did not succeed in effecting any real and
general change in the religious sentiments of the
native population.

The harsh discipline and restraint inflicted upon
the Roman Catholic converts by the civil and
religious authorities in New France, has been
pointed out in a former chapter ; and unfortunately
the same system appears to have been too often
followed in the British Protestant coloni('S.

Long before the end of the seventeenth century
the European population had rapidly increased in
New England. Even about the year 1673 it is
stated to have exceeded 120,000 souls. Those
who endeavoured in that country to convert the

298 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. XIII.

Indians, continued generally resident in their own
townships, supported by their own people, and
living among their own countrymen. Even the so
much celebrated church of the Praying Indians,
under the superintendence of Mr. Eliot, at Natick,
was scarcely more than a dozen of miles from his
own regular parish of Roxbury, near Boston ; and
the other similar establishments, formed at a subse-
quent period, were all surrounded by, or adjoining
to, the English settlements. From their local situa-
tion, therefore, and from other circumstances, these
Indians were favourably situated for receiving every
benefit which the Europeans could- impart to them.
But the conduct pursued with respect to them by
the constituted authorities of New England, and the
services in which they were often employed — par-
ticularly in being sent as spies among their own
countrymen — were such as not only to prevent
their receiving any real advantage in consequence
of the endeavours to teach them Christianity, but
entirely to prevent conversion from spreading
among the general mass of the native population.

The accounts given of these acts of treachery are
every where to be met with among the details of
the contemporary writers. In the war with Philip,
it was already noticed that his chief counsellor,
Sosoman, after betraying his master's secrets, was
baptized by the English, and employed by them to
preach among the Indians; after which he was

V ***»$*;

Ch. Xril. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 299

prevailed upon to go back as a spy among Philip's
adherents. In the same war, Hubbard relates,
that, " while our forces were out, a couple of
Christian Indians were sent as spies into the
Nipnet and Narraganset country, through the
woods in the depth of winter, when the ways were
impassable for other sort of people. These two,
by name James and Job, ordered their business so
prudently, as that they were admitted into those
Indian habitations as friends."* It has been
already observed that, in their wars, the English
not only often engaged the Christian Indians thus
to act as spies among their countrymen, but also to
fight against them in the field, and for these services
they received marked encouragement and rewards
But every reflecting Indian — and of these there
were many — must have perceived that his conver-
sion to the religion of the Whites, and his treachery
to his own countrymen, went hand in hand; and
he could not comprehend why an Englishman
should be hanged for the same sort of conduct for
which a converted savage was remunerated. " The
scouts brought in one Joshua Tift, a renegado Eng-
lishman, who, upon some discontent among his
neighbours, had turned Indian, married one of the
Indian squaws, renounced his religion, nation, and
natural parents, all at once, fighting against them.

( HI

* Hubbard's Narrative, p. 76.

300 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XIII.

After examination, he was condemned to die the
death of a traitor. As to his religion he was found
as ignorant as a heathen, which no doubt caused
the fewer tears to be shed at his funeral."*

Nor can it be doubted, that in the English
colonies the Indian proselytes were retained in their
converted state more by fear than by attachment.
In many cases, indeed, they were treated by their
protectors as if they had been avowed enemies.
Even Uncas himself, the chief Sachem of the
Mohegan Indians, and the converted ally of the
English, did not meet with that treatment which a
Christian confederate might have reasonably ex-
pected from the public authorities of New England.
** This Uncas and all his Mohegan subjects pro-
fessing Christianity are called Praying Indians.
The authority at Boston sent an express to him to
come and surrender himself, men and arms, to the
English. Whereupon he sent along with the mes-
senger his three sons, and about sixty of his men,
with his arms, to be thus disposed of; viz., his two
youngest sons to remain as hostages (as now they
do at Cambridge), and his eldest son to go captain
of the men as assistants of the English against the
heathens, which accordingly they did. And the
English not yet thinking themselves secure enough,
because they cannot know a heathen from a

• Hubbard's Narrative, p. 59.

Ch.XIII. the north AMERICAN INDIANS. 301

Christian by his visage and apparel, the authority
at Boston published the following Order," &c. &c.*
By this order it was, atnongst other things, com-
manded, that none of the Praying Indians, under
pain of being treated as enemies, should, unless
in company with an Englishman, go above one
mile from their own dwellings, — a range, it must
be admitted, somewhat contracted for an American
Indian accustomed to roam at large through the
forest, and who naturally looked upon himself as
one of the lords of the soil. " This once great and
renowned nation (says Heckewelder, alluding to
the Mohegans,) has almost entirely disappeared, as
well as the numerous tribes who had descended
from them. They have been destroyed by wars,
and carried off by the small-pox and other dis-
orders; and great numbers have died in conse-
quence of the introduction of spirituous linuors
among them. The remainder have fled, an . re-
moved in separate bodies to different parts, where
they now are dispersed or mingled with other
nations.''^ And Dr. Morse, in his Report, says of
them : — " Those who remain have made few ad-
vances in any thing which pertains to civilization,
and are gradually wasting away, after the manner of
other tribes now extinct."J

• Present State of New England (1675), p. 7.

+ Heckewelder's Account of the Indian Nations, ch. 4.

X Morse's Indian Report (Appendix L).

302 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch.XIH.

If we turn our eyes also to the early English
settlements in Virginia, we shall find that the
Indians received no better treatment from the
colonists in that quarter. After the death of the
Indian sovereign Powhatan, the father of Poca-
hontas, the natives became much exasperated at
the conduct of the English settlers ; and in the
year 16^2 a sudden insurrection took place, when
they put to death about three hundred and fifty
English, or one half of the colony.* In retaliation,
the English commenced hostilities : — " They
hunted the Indians," says Dr. Robertson, " like
wild beasts rather than enemies ; and as the pursuit
of them to their places of retreat in the woods was
both difficult and dangerous, they endeavoured to
allure them from their inaccessible fastnesses by
offers of peace and promises of oblivion, made with
such an artful appearance of sincerity, as deceived the
crafty Indian chief, and induced the Indians to return,
in the year 1623, to their former settlements, and
resume their usual peaceful occupations. The be-
haviour of the two people seemed now to be perfectly
reversed. The Indians, like men acquainted with
the principles of integrity and good faith, on which
the intercourse between nations is founded, confided
in the reconciliation, and lived in absolute security,
without suspicion of danger, while the English with

"Douglass's Summary, vol. i. part i. sect. 3.

be-

en. XIII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 303

perfidious craft were preparing to imitate tlie
savages in their revenge and cruelty. On tiie ap-
proach of harvest, when a hostile attack would be
most formidable and fatal, the English fell sud-
denly on all the Indian plantations, murdered every
person on whom they could lay hold, and drove the
rest to the woods, where so many perished with
hunger, that some of the tribes nearest to the Eng-
lish were totally extirpated."* The neighbouring
Indian tribes soon retaliated. The governor of the
colony having encroached upon their lands, another
massacre took plac^ in ]639, when about five hun-
dred of the English were put to death.f

From what has been thus stated on the subject of
the general conduct of the early European colonists,
whether Protestant or Catholic, towards the Indians,
can it be considered surprising that the latter should
seldom have been disposed to listen with confidence
to those who were employed to convert them ?
Many, indeed, of the most sanguine missionaries
themselves, have fully admitted the reluctance
which the Indians have generally felt to receive the
religious doctrines of the Whites ; and that such re-
luctance originated in a great measure from the
aversion felt by the former to the conduct and ap-
parent principles of the latter. Even Brainerd

• .'kr

ii<

i t

* Robertson's History of America, book ix,
t Douglass's Summary, vol. i., part i, sect. 3.

304 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XIII.

himself has admitted this in a striking instance, which
occurred to him among a tribe of the Delaware
Indians, as thus narrated in his Diary : — " With
these Indians I spent some time, and first ad-
dressed their king in a friendly manner ; and, after
some discourse, I told him I had a desire to in-
struct them in Christianity, at which he laughed,
turning his back upon me, and went away. I then
addressed another principal man in the same man-
ner, who said he was willing to hear me. After
some time I followed the king into his house, and
renewed my discourse with him ; but he declined
talking, and left the affair to another, who appeared
to be a rational man. He talked very warmly, and
inquired why I desired the Indians to become
Christians, seeing that the Christians were so much
worse than they. The Christians, he said, would
lie, steal, and drink, worse than the Indians. It
was they who first taught the Indians to be drunk,
and they stole from one another to that degree that
their rulers were obliged to hang them for it, but that
was not sufficient to deter others from it ; and he
supposed that if the Indians should become Chris-
tians, they would then be as bad as these."*

It cannot be doubted, indeed, but that the
Indians, for successive generations, have looked
upon the Whites as a fraudulent, unjust, and im-

* Brainerd's Diary-

'Miff,

1 'i

Ch. Xlir, THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 305

moral race ; preaching what they did not practise,
and overreaching their red brethren upon every
occasion, and by all the means in tiieir power. We
need not, therefore, be surprised to find that the
Indians do not scruple, even at the present day, to
express, through their chiefs, their decided reluctance
to receive the instructions of the missionaries :
and this fact ought to operate as an indispensable
ground for using the utmost caution in every endea-
vour to convert them.

There is a passage in Dr. Morse's Indian Report
to the American Government, which appears closely
connected with this subject. The zealous and
benevolent feelings of that writer have naturally
made him very sanguine with regard to the mea-
sures he has suggested for the improvement of the
Indians ; but can it escape observation, that in
the very first speech which he addressed to them
in consequence of his mission, (in June 1820,)
while he was holding out to that unfortunate
race his cheering prospects of the future, most
melancholy — may we not add most galling —
were the truths told to them of the past !

" Brothers, your father, the president of the
United States, with whom I have conversed on the
present state of the Indians who live under his
jurisdiction, and with many pious Christians also,
far and near, are thinking of you for good ; and are
now engaged in devising together the best means to

til

306 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XIII.

IB m

m -

promote your welfare. We perceive that your
numbers and your strength are diminishing ; that,
from being a numerous and powerful people, spread
over a wide and fertile country, in which was plenty
of game for your support, you have becomtj few and
feeble ; that you possess but small tracts of land,
compared with what your fathers possessed; and
your game, on which you formerly depended for
your support, is gone. We see that there is no
place on earth where you and your brethren can go
and dwell together, unmolested, in the state in
which your fathers lived. We see that you cannot
many years longer live in any part of the United
States in the hunter-state. The white people will
push their settlements in every direction, and de-
stroy your game and take away your best lands.
You have not strength to defend yourselves, were
you disposed to make war with the white people :
they have become too powerful to be resisted, or
restrained in their course.

" In rtiese circumstances, your father, the president,
and the good white people, extensively feel for you.
We perceive that you are cast down and discouraged,
that you are perplexed, and know not what to do.
Your situation, and that of your red brethren gene-
i^blly, has lately excited an unusual interest. I am
authorised to say to you, that the American nation,
the civil ais welt as the religious part of it, are now
ready to extend to yoa the hand of sincere friend-

Ch. XIII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 307

ship, to aid you in rising from your depressed state ;
and ill the best ways which can be devised, to save
you from that ruin which seems inevitable in your
present course, and to cause you to share with us
all the blessings, both civil and religious, which we
ourselves enjoy. We fully believe, from the recent
events of Providence, tiiat God has great blessings
in store for you and the rest of your red brethren
in our country, if you will accept them ; and that
you may yet * see good days, according to the days
in which you have seen evil/ This is our most
ardent desire. Let not then your spirits sink within
you. Hope in God, who is able to save and to
bless you. Trust in him and he will not leave you,
but will be the health of your countenance, a refuge
from all your troubles, a present help in time of
need."*

The speech, of which this extract formed the
principal part, wab formally read to a council of
the Six Nations, Dr. Morse not being able per-
sonally to attend. On his return, some time after-
wards, he found the chiefs of these Indians
assembled on some affairs of their own. They had
no previous knowledge of his coming, but Dr.
Morse thought it better to attend their council, and
to learn if they were prepared to say any thing on
the subject he had so submitted to them. " I found

■ H

* Morse's Indian Report, Appendix, p. I.

308 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. XIII.

them," says he, " convened in their council-house in
very decent order, arranged in two parties, the
Christian party on my right hand. Captain Pollard
(a chief of the Senecas) at their head ; the pagan
party on the left hand, with the celebrated lied
Jacket (a chief of the same nation) at their head."
Dr. Morse gives the substance of what was spoken
by the tw o chiefs of these opposite parties. Pollard
began first, and thus addressed him: — . .
r " Father, we thank the Great Spirit for preserv-
ing you during your journey. If we had had more
notice of your coming, we should have been better
prepared to answer the speech you left us to con-
sider. We suppo-e our great father, the president,
appointed you to come and see us, to inquire into
our situation, because he had confidence in you.
We readily give you all the information we can.

" Father, we are convinced, such is our situation,
that we must have the Gospel. Without it we
shall fall to pieces, and come to ruin. The re-
servation on which we live is small. We have no
hunting grounds. We cannot live as we formerly
did. It is grateful to our hearts, therefore, to hear
the proposal of our father, the president, which
you have made to us : we grasp it with eagerness.
We have begun, and are now moderately advancing
to the accomplishment of what he wishes, as you
may see from a view of our fields and our cattle.
As to dividing our lands into farms, and holding

Ch. Xni. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 309

them as individual property, as among the white
people, we think it will not do for us. Holding
our lands in common, as we now do, keeps us
together. As Indians want goods from white
people, and buy them on credit, we fear difficulties
would arise in collecting these debts according to
your laws, and our lands would be taken to pay
them. ' • • I ' , . . . «.

" Father, as to the plan of removing to some
other part of the country and leaving our present
habitations, we have no idea of it, and are at present
determined to remain here. In this determination
we and our brethren on the other side are agreed.
Houses for religious worship and for schools are
built among us for our use ; and when once built,
they remain. Now listen to the pagans on the
other side." * •,•../

The pagan chief. Red Jacket, whose Indian
name is Saguoaha, was not well, and, having upon
this occasion been called upon suddenly, was not
prepared as he intended to have been, which was
probably the reason why he made so short and
abrupt a speech. The following was almost the
whole of what he addressed to Dr. Morse : — <
" I will be short. I understood that the time of
yoiir return would have been appointed, and that
we should have had notice of it. But you have
come unexpectedly. We have not yet^ made up
our minds on the subject you proposed to us. We

•'1

. 'il*

.^v

310 HISTORICAL NOTES IIKSPECTING Cii. XIII.

% '

! !**

intend to call a general council of our brethren
from a distance, and to take up the subject sub-
mitted to our consideration, which we think a great
and serious one. We will send the result of our
great council, when it is adopted, to the president.
By this we mean no disrespect to you : we regard
it as a favour that he has sent you to us."*

What the result of the proposed council was, or
whether it was transmitted to the president as in-
tended, does not distinctly appear : but Red Jacket,
only a few months after this meeting with Dr.
Morse, seems to have been somewhat more explicit
in a speech that he transmitted to the governor of
the state of New York, in which, among other
complaints, he detailed the following grievances : —

" The first subject to which we would call the
attention of the governor, is the depredation daily
committed by the white people upon the most
valuable timber on our reservations. This has
been a subject of complaint for many years ; but
now, and particularly at this season of the year, it
has become an alarming evil, and calls for the
immediate interposition of the governor in our
behalf.

" Our next subject of complaint is the frequent
theft of our horses and cattle by the whites, and
their habit of taking and using them when they

Morse's Report, Appendix, p. 5.

Ca.XIII. TU£ NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 311

please, and without our leave. These are evils
which seem to increase upon us, and call loudly for
redress.

" Another evil arising from the pressure of the
whites upon us, and our unavoidable communica-
tion with them, is the frequency with which our
Indians are thrown into jail, and that too for the
most trifling causes. This is very galling to our
feelings, and should not be allowed to the extent to
which our white neighbours, in order to grat'fy their
bad passions, now carry this practice.

" In our hunting and fishing, too, we are greatly
interrupted : our venison is stolen from the trees
where we have hung it to be reclaimed after the
chase ; our hunting camps have been fired into, and
we have been warned that we should no longer be
permitted to pursue the deer in those forests which
were so lately all our own. The fish which, in the
Buffalo and Tonnewanto Creeks, used to supply us
with food, are now, by the dams and other obstruc-
tions of the white people, prevented from multiply-
ing, and we are almost entirely deprived of that
accustomed sustenance.

" Our great father, the president, has recom-
mended to our young men to be industrious, to
plough, and to sow. This we have done, and we
are thankful for the advice, and for the means he
has afforded us of carrying it into effect : we are
happier in consequence of it.

■•^; ill

312 HISTORICAL NOTES UESPECTING Cu. XIII.

;. *' But another thing recommended to us has
created great confusion among us, and is making us
a quarrelsome and divided people ; and that is the
introduction of preachers into our nation. These
Black-robes* contrive to get consent of some of the
Indians to preach among us ; and whenever this is
the case, confusion and disorder are sure to follow,
and the encroachment of the whites upon our land
is the invariable consequence. The governor must
not think hard of me for speaking thus of the
preachers. I have observed their progress, and
when 1 look back to see what has taken place of
old, 1 perceive that whenever they came among the
Indians, they were forerunners of their dispersion ;
that they introduced the white people on their lands,
by whom they were robbed and plundered of their
property ; and that the Indians were sure to dwindle
and decrease, and be driven back, in proportion
to the number of preachers that came among them."
After some other, and stronger, complaints on this
subject, Red Jacket concludes by stating that
" The great source of all our grievances is, that the
white men are among us. Let them be removed,
and we shall be happy and contented among our-
selves. We now cry to the governor for help, and
hope that he will attend to our complaints, and
speedily give us redress." . ...'.'

The psual Indian appellation for the missionaries.

Cu. Xlir. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 313

Of the authenticity of this address there can be
no doubt. It was dictated by Red Jacket, in the
presence of several of his principal Indians, and
regularly transmitted in writing through the accre-
dited interpreter, in January, 1821, to Governor
De Witt Clinton, at Albany, by whom it was
deemed of sufficient importance to be officially laid
by him before the legislature of the state of New
York.

The objections urged by this celebrated Seneca
chief against the Christian missions, are by no
means confined to one party or band of Indians ;
and the same sentiments will generally be found
still to prevail among the tribes, which were felt
at a very early period by the Narragansets. When
Mr. Mahew, about the middle of the seventeenth
century, requested permission of a Narraganset
sachem to preach to his Indians, the chief re-
plied — " Go and teach the English to be good
first." It is but too probable that, throughout North
America, the greater part of the Indian nations
are little disposed to admit the religious inter-
ference of the missionaries. A distrust actuates the
Indian of the present day similar to that which
was once expressed in so characteristic a style
by the Delaware tribes, as recorded by Dr.
Boudinot, a corresponding member of the Scot-
tish Society for the Propagation of Christian
Knowledge. Two missionaries had been edu-

■ J' I

Ill'
w

•314 HISTORICAL NOTES U£SP£X:TINU Ch.XIII.

cated and ordained for the purpose of being
sent to convert that people: " When they were
ready to depart," says Dr. Boudinot, " we wrote
a letter in the Indian style to the Delaware
nation, informing them that we had, by the good-
ness of the Great Spirit, been favoured with a
Jsnowledge of his will as to the worship he re-
quired of his creatures, and the means he would
bless to promote the happiness of man, both in this
life and that which was to come. That, thus enjoy-
ing so much happiness ourselves, we could not but
think of our red brethren in the wilderness, and
wished to communicate the glad tidings to them,
that they might be partakers with us. We had,
therefore, sent them two ministers of the Gospel,
(who would teach them great things ; and we ear-
Bcstiy recommended these missionaries to their
careful attention."

The two missionaries accordingly set out, and
arrived in safety at the place of their destination in
the Indian country. The Delaware chiefs imme-
diately assembled, and said they would take the
subject into considerauon ; that, in the meantime
the missionaries might instruct the women, but
were not to speak to the men. The chiefs spent
fourteen days in council, and the result of their de-
liberation was, that they very courteously dismissed
the two strangers, with an answer to those by whom
they had been sent. " This answer," continues

Ck. XIII. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 315

Dr. Boudinot, " made great acknowledgments for
the favour we had done them. They rejoiced ex-
ceedingly at our ha[)piness in thus being favoured
by the Greait Spirit, and felt very grateful that .we
had condescended to remember our red brethren in
the wilderness ; but they could not help recollect-
ing that we had a people among us who, because
they differed from us in colour, we had made slaves
of, causing them to suffer great hardships, and lead
miserable lives. Now they could not see any rea-
son, if a people being black entitled us thus to deal
with them, why a red colour would not equally
justify the same treatment. They, therefore, liad
determined to wait and see whether all the black
people amongst us were made thus happy and joy-
ful, before they could put confidence in our pro-
mises ; for they thought a people who had suffered
80 mudi and so long by our means, should be
entitled to our first attention : that, therefore, they
had sent 'back the two missionaries, with many
thanks, promising that when they saw the black
people among us restored to freedom and happi-
ness, they would gladly receive our fnissionaries."

'" This," adds the narrator, " is what in any
other case would be called close reasoning, and
is too mortifying a fact to make further observa-
tions upon."*

'if

* Boudinot's Star in the West, ch. 8.

316 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. XIV.

CHAPTER XIV.

DIFFICULTY OF RECONCILING THE NORTH AMERI-
CAN INDIANS TO EUROPEAN HABITS AND EDU-
CATION UNFOUNDED ASSERTIONS OF SOME

WRITERS AS TO THE ALLEGED NATURAL INCA-
PACITY OF THE INDIANS WITH REFERENCE TO
THE ATTEMPTS MADE TO CIVILIZE THEM.

The same sentiments which prevented the North
American Indian from placing confidence iu the
Europeans, made him extremely averse to entrust
his children among them for their education. And
it may also be observed, that whenever he was in-
duced so to entrust them, the youths themselves
took every opportunity of running away from the
settlements, and joining their relations in the wil-
derness. " Indian children," says Dr. Golden,
" have been carefully educated among the English,
clothed, and taught by them ; yet I think there is
not one instance that any of these, after they had
liberty to go among their own people and were
come of age, would remain with the English, but
returned to their own nations, and became as fond
of the Indian manner of life as those who knew
nothing of a civilized manner of living."*

Charlevoix, when treating on this subject, states
that one of the first objects of the Chevalier de
Montmagny, (Champlain's successor in the go-

* Colden's History of the Five Nations, vol. i. ch. 13.

p.^

•u'fl

Ch. XIV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 317

vernment of New France,) was to carry into effect
the projected seminary for Indian youth in the col-
lege of the Jesuits at Quebec. It was thought advis-
able to commence the experiment with the Hurons,
whose children, it was also supposed, would serve as
hostages for the fidelity of their relations: t^-y
were therefore invited to send them, and to this
they assented. The missionary Daniel was ap-
pointed to convey these children to Quebec; but
notwithstanding all his exertions, he could only
succeed in collecting three or four, whose fathers
were absent at the time. " Even these," says
Charlevoix, " he could carry down no farther than
Three Rivers, where their parents meeting them,
they were taken back again, although they had
already consented to their going to Quebec. This
conduct, however, did not surprise the missionary,
who was fully aware of the extreme attachment
the Indians have for their children, and the in-
vincible repugnance they feel in being separated
from them."*

The same writer, in another of his works, laments
very strongly the difficulties which occurred ^n New
France, in their endeavours lo assimilate the Indians
to the habits of the French, and to make them
educate their children in the European manner.
" Many of the French," says he, '* have resided
among the savages, and have been so well pleased

t 'i I

''ill

f'-

Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. v.

318 HISTOniCAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XIV.

it P^

with their manner of life, that, although they lived
much at their ease in the colony, they could not be
prevailed upon to return to it. On the other hand,
there has been no instance of an Indian conform-
ing himself to our mod*^ of living."* It was like-
wise observed by the Marquis de Denonville, when
governor-general of Canada, in writing to the
minister of France — " It has been long imagined
that the Indians might be brought near us in order
to Frenchify them, (pour les Fran^iser^ but there
is every reason to believe that this is a mistake.
Those of the savages who have been brought among
OS have not become French, and the French who
have resided among the Indians have become
savages."t

Dr. Golden also mentions, that after the peace
of Ryswick, when all hostility had ceased between
the English and the French, many of the European
prisoners, who had long been captives among the
Indians, would not be prevailed upon to return to
their own country and friends. The commissioners
did every thing in their power to prevail both upon
the EngHsh and the French, who had been de-
tained among the Indians, to leave them, but with
little success; and " several of them who were
persuaded by the caressings of their relations to
come home, in a little time grew tired of our manner

* Charlevoix, Journal Historique, let. 22.
t Ibid., Hist, de la Nouvelle France, )iv. xi.

^1'

Cm. XIV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 319

of living, and ran away to the Indians, and ended
their days with them."*

These facts, among others, may be fairly pro-
duced as forming a strong proof of the natural
gentleness of the Indian character; because it
cannot otherwise be supposed that the Europeans
would have thus voluntarily passed their lives
among them, unless they had known from experi-
ence that — except perhaps in cases of intoxica^-
tion — they had nothing to fear from Indian fe-
rocity. While however they thus resided among
them, although they met with a cordial treatment,
the Indians shewed little desire to adopt their cus-
toms, or have their children educated in the Euro*
pean manner.

But if we are to credit the works of various
writers, and particularly the Recherches Philoso-
phiques of Monsieur de Pauw, it is useless to at-
tempt to civilize or educate the American Indian,
*— who, according to that author, is " superior to
animals only from having the use of lis hands and
his tongue ; and inferior to the meanest of the
Europeans. Void of intellect, and incapable of
improvement, he is only led by instinct. No idea
of glory can penetrate his soul : his unpardonable
debasement retains him in the slavery in which he
is plunged, or in that savage state which he has not
had the courage to abandon. It is almost three

* Colden's Hist, of the Five Nations, vol. i. ch. 13.

320 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. XIV.

m I ■

centuries since America was discovered ; from which
time they have not ceased to bring over to Europe
American Indians, upon whom they have tried
every sort of cultivation; but not one of them
could ever be taught to distinguish himself in
science, arts, or manufactures."* Who these In-
dians were, at what time brought over, how culti-
vated, by whom taught, and where educated, he has
not noticed ; and yet the unfounded calumnies of
De Pauw had, in their day, the effect of raising a
general and unjust prejudice against the Indians of
the Western World. " A Lie," says the American
adage, " will travel from Maine to Georgia, while
Truth is pulling on his boots ;" and so it was with
the assertions of that writer, who seems, in the
middle of the eighteenth century, to have been as
ignorant of the true character and qualifications of
the American Indian, as Francis the First was, two
hundred years before. To these unfounded and
illiberal charges brought against the uninstructed
Indians, in the Recherches Philosophiques, the
most appropriate answer may be found in the
anecdote recorded by the celebrated American
philosopher.

At a grand council held in 1744, between the
British Commissioners from Virginia and the In-
dians, the former, after the principal business was
finished, stated that there was a college at Williams-

* Recherches Philosophiques sur les Am6ricains, par De
Pauw, vol. ii. partie v.

Ch. XIV. THK NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 321

burgh with a fund appropriated for the education of
the Indian youth ; and that if the red chiefs would
send some of their children to that place, they should
be well provided for, and instructed in all the
learning of the whites. One of the Indian orators
answered by expressing the deep sense entertained
of the kindness of this offer : " For we know,"
said he, " that you highly esteem the kind of
learning taught in these colleges, and that the
maintenance of our young men, while with you,
would be very expensive to you. We are con-
vinced that you mean to do us good by your pro-
posal, and we thank you heartily : but you, who
are wise, must know that different nations have dif-
ferent conceptions of things ; and you will therefore
not take it amiss if our ideas of this kind of educa-
tion happen not to be the same with yours. We
have had some experience of it. Several of our
young men were formerly brought up at the colleges
in your northern provinces. They were instructed
in all your sciences : but when they came back to us,
they were bad runners ; ignorant of every means of
living in the woods ; unable to bear either cold or
hunger ; knew neither how to build a cabin, take a
deer, nor kill an enemy; spoke our lang ;age imper-
fectly; were neither fit for hunters, warriors, nor
councillors : they were totally good for nothing.
We are, however, not the less obliged by your kind
offer, though we decline accepting it ; and, to shew

"it

It !

322 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. XIV.

Cii.

mi
III.'

you our grateful sense of it, if the gentlemen of
Virginia will send us a dozen of their sons, we will
take great care of their education, instruct them in
all we know, and make men of them." *

It has been the common practice with many, in
imitation of De Pauw, to stigmatize the Indians for
their ignorance of arts and manufactures, and to
conclude that, as they have remained so long without
copying the improvements of the white population
in their neighbourhood, there is little, if any, chance
of their being now brought within the pale of civi-
lization. This impression originates from the pre-
judice so often entertained with respect to that ill-
fated race. Had the conduct of the whites been
more liberal and considerate towards the Indian, he
would, no doubt, long ago have been led to adopt
many of their improvements : but his simple habits
and few wants in a great measure rendered
unnecessary the exertion of his industry with re-
gard to objects which are considered indispensable
in more civilized life. To this, as well as to the
conduct of the Europeans themselves, must be as-
cribed the little advancement he has made in adopt-
ing their manners and customs. At the same time,
any person who will impartially notice the various
articles which the Indians, both male and female,
are in the habit of manufacturing for their own

* Dr. Franklin's Essays. Remarks on tlie North American
Savages.

\ '

Cii. XIV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 323

' ' I

•I

immediate use, will not feel disposed to pronounce
them deficient in handicraft skill and ingenuity.

Their instruments of war and of the chase, their
bows and arrows and spears, are skilfully con-
structed, and well adapted for what is required of
them. The skins of various animals usea by them
for their clothing and bedding are, in many cases,
dressed and prepared for the purpose with more
skill than has been attained by the European
manufacturer. Several of the tribes (chiefly towards
the Missisippi) seem, from the earliest periods, to
have made a sort of coarse but warm clothing,
woven from the wool and hair of the buftalo ; and,
before the introduction, by the traders, of metal
utensils for cooking and other purposes, the Indians
were in the habit of making vessels of clay and pot-
tery. Their baskets and various other articles
manufactured from the bark of the birch tree, in-
geniously contrived, and beautifully ornamented
with porcupine quills stained with the finest colours,
evidently shew their taste and skill in such em-
ployments. The many ingenious devices followed
by the Indian in pursuit of his game, and the ad-
dress with which he takes the nunierous sorts of fish
with which the American rivers abound, have for
ages been copied by his white brethren. His sin-
gular skill in traversing in a direct line his immense
native forests, and his accuracy in delineating maps
of the country, have often been the subject of sur-

M-

lltj.

I ' ■

I-

324

IlISTOllICAL NOTES IlKSFECTING Cu. XIV.

prise to the Europeans.* Tlie knowledge possessed
by the Indian ot" the use ot' many valuable medi-
cinal plants has been generally adniitted : he taught
the Europeans also the art of extracting sugar from
the maple-tree — a practice almost universally fol-
lowed in many extensive regions of North America.
Nor must it be forgotten, that without the Indian
snow-shoe and the Indian canoe, the trader or the
traveller, in the interior of that continent, would be
totally unable to prosecute his voyages at the
seasons during which it might be important for him
to undertake them. The invention of the bark-
canoe is of itself sufficient to redeem the Indian
from the charge of want of handicraft skill and
ingenuity. The superior mechanical knowledge of
the Europeans has never induced them to reject
that conveyance, or enabled them to improve it ;
although, from its lightness and elegance, it has
more the appearance of a toy for amusement than a
vehicle for transporting weighty articles of com-
merce. It can be conveyed without difficulty
through almost impervious forests, over rugged
portages, and along rapid and dangerous rivers,
with expedition and safety : and, though liable to
be broken by the slightest shock, it is constructed

* I was informed by Mr. Hunter, that the Indians can
march at night in a direct line through the forests, wheii, they
cannot see even a star to guide them, merely by feeling the
bark of the trees as they move along.

Ch.XIV. the NOUTII AMERICAN INDIANS.

325

of such sinij)le materials, that tlic neighbouring
forest seldom fails to furnish the bark, the gum,
and the fibres necessary for its immediate repair.
The extraordinary skill and boldness with which
the Indian navigates his canoe can only be credited
by those who have witnessed it, or whom lie has
taught to follow his example.

But tliere is no point in which the vanity of the
w bite man is more conspiciiutis than in his lamenta-
tion that the Indian cannot be induced to relinquish
his hunter-state, and follow, like him, the pursuits of
tmriculture. It is the common erv among us that the
savage must now at length be taught to till the
ground, to sow, and to reap; we all the while for-
getting that it was this same savage who actually
taught the European emigrant how to cultivate the
American soil, to clear the stubborn forest by
degrees, and to grow that valuable grain, the maize,
or Indian corn ; and that the farmers even of the
present day, throughout all the new settlements —
in the wooded parts, at least, of North America —
do little more than follow the agricultural lessons
taught to their progenitors by the Indians. It is
evident that, from the earliest periods, almost all
the natives of those countries in North America,
where the climate and soil permitted it, raised
abundance of that species of corn ; and they pro-
bably did not relinquish so beneficial a piacticc,
until tiieir habits and modes jf life came to be

II:
;i.

S26 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XIV.

Ch.

materially changed, and their manners corrupted by
communication with Europeans.

Sir Alexander Mackenzie, therefore, is mis-
taken when he blames the French missionaries
and other persons for not having taught the
Indians how to cultivate the soil. " Agriculture,"
says he, " so formed to fix and combine society,
and so preparatory to objects of superior consider-
ation, should haye been the first thing introduced
among a savage people. It attaches the wandering
tribe to that spot where it adds so much to their
comforts, while it gives them a sense of property,
and of lasting possession, instead of the uncertain
hopes of the chase, and the fugitive produce of un-
cultivated wilds."* The benefits of agriculture
cannot be too much extolled; but .. so happens
that most of the North American Indians practised
it long before even the earliest European mission-
aries visited their country.

In the account given by Hackluyt of Jaques Car-
tier's voyage up the St. Lawrence in 1535, (when he
first discovered the Island of Hochelago, now of
Montreal,) he says : " The Indians brought us great
store of fish, and of bread made of millet, casting
them into our boates so thicke, that vou would have
thought it to fall from heaven." " They have, on

* Mackenzie's V^oyages, Preliminary Discourse on the Fuj-
trade.

Cii.XIV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 327

the top of their houses, certain garrets wherein
they keep their come to make their bread withall.
They make also sundry sorts of pottage with the
said corne, and also of pease and of beanes, whereof
they have great store, as also with other fruits, as
muske-miliions, and very great cowcumbers," &c.*
Lescarbot, vvlio from curiosity accompanied Mon-
sieur de Pourtrincourt to Canada in the year I6O6,
mentions that " the Indians were then in the habit
of cuUivating and clearing the ground, of manuring
it with sea shells, raising the earth in small mounds,
or heaps at equal intervals, and planting their
Indian corn at regular distances, with beans sown
between them."'|'

Monsieur de Champlain also, in one of his earliest
expeditions against the Iroquois, mentions that he
at that time found the enemy all busily employed
in gathering in their corn. And P^re le Caron,
the first of the missionaries in New France who
advanced into the interior, and who is stated to
have travelled many hundred leagues up the coun-
try in the year 16 15, found every where fields of
corn, beans, squashes, and pumpkins.J When
P^re AUouez likewise first proceeded to the upper
extremity of Lake Superior, he discovered a large

* Hackliiyt's Voyages, vol. iii. p. 219.
+ Lescarbot, Hist, de la Nouvelle Fiance, liv. vi. eh. 23.
X Premier Etablissement de la Foy dans la Nouvelle
Franco, vol. i.

i I

r I

•M

'li

•1

'•f

•*

!;•

328

HISTORICAL NOTES UESPECTIN(; Ch. XIV.

village of mixed Indians, chiefly Ottawas, living
peaceably together, leading a sedentary life, and
cultivating iields of corn. He also describes the
Pottawatomies as " a warlike people, hunters, and
fishers, and cultivating the ground with Indian
corn."* When P^re Marquette undertook his
adventurous journey into the interior in 1673, he
found the Miami, Mascoutons, and Kickapoos,
raising abundance of Indian corn. As he advanced
into the country of the Illinois, they were similarly
employed, in grovving corn, beans, melons, and
pumpkins. Hennepin, who was in the interior, in
the year 1680, mentions that the Senecas — the
most numerous nation of the Iroquois confederacy
— cultivated and carefully manured the soil, raising
frequently sufficient in one season to serve them for
two, and securing their stores in granaries.^ The
Baron de la Hontan, ^" a letter written from Mi-
chillimakinac in 1685, observes: "The country
here is fine, and well adapted for agriculture. The
savages accordingly do not allow it to remain un-
productive ; they take great pains to sow Indian
corn, pease, beans, pumpkins, and melons. The
Hurons and Ottawas sell a great deal of Indian
corn ; but they sometimes put so high a price upon
it, particularly when their beaver hunts have been

* Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1666-67, ch. 3 et 9.
t Ileiiiiepin, vol. i. cli. 5.

Cn.XIV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 329

1 i

Hi-'

unsuccessful, that they indemnify themselves abun-
dantly for the excessive charges we make for our
merchandise." * . •

But one of the most satisfactory, as well as the
most early, accounts transmitted on this subject,
is that of Sagard, the Recollet missionary, who
went out to Canada in 1623. In describing the
Hurons, among whom he resided, he says they re-
gularly cultivated the ground, although, from their
want of proper instruments, the labour was great.
Every individual was allowed as much land for the
purpose of cultivation as he chose ; and, in that
case, the ground belonged exclusively to him as
long as he continued to cultivate it : if he entirely left
his allotment, another person might occupy it, but
not otiicrwise. Tn perusing the following early
account, as given by Sagard, one would almost
believe it to be that of a nodern American back-
woodsman, or of a New-Englander, when he first
begins the operations of bis farm in the wilderness.

** The Indians," sa^s Sagard, "cut down the trees
about two or three feet from the ground, then lop
all the b''anches and burn them at the roots of the
tree, which kills it, and in time they take away the
roots. Then the women carefully clean the ground
among the stumps, and dig, step by step, a round
liole, in each of which they sow nine or ten grains

La Ilontun, vol, i. let. 14.

330

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. XIV.

of Indian corn, which they have first carefully se-
lected and soaked some days in water. This cul-
tivation they continue until they have laid up two
or three years' provision ; either to secure food for
themselves, should there occur any year of ro ircity,
or to exchange it with other nations for peltries, or
any other articles they may stand in need of. They
every year plant their corn on the same spots,
which they turn up afresh with their little wooden
hoes ; the rest of the ground, in the intervals, being
left uncultivated, and only cleared of weeds, so that
they appear all like roads, so careful are they to
keep them clean. This has often caused me to
lose my way, more than in the plains and forests.

" The corn being thus sown in the manner that
we do beans, from each grain grows one stalk or
cane, and each stalk bears two or three ears, each
ear containing one, two, and sometimes four hun-
dred grains, and some even more. The stalk grows
to the height of a man, and is very thick. The
corn is better and more productive among the Hu-
rons than either in Canada or France. It ripens
in four months, and in some places in three. They
then gather it, tying back the leaves at the top, and
put them in regular parcels, which they hang upon
poles, in form of racks, all along their cabins from
top to bottom. When the grain is thoroughly dry, it
is separated by the women and children, who clean
it, and put it in large tubs or tuns appropriated for

l-l '.

Cii. XIV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. ?31

f'\ I '•

that purpose, and placed in the porch or some
other part of their cabins."* Sagard concludes his
account by describing their different modes of
making bread, and how they cooked their Indian
corn, mixing it with other ingredients. Before the
arrival of the French, he says, the Hurons had no
metal pots nor utensils, but made use of wooden
ones of their own construction, boiling the meat in
them by means of hot stones put in the water.
The Huron women, he adds, made excellent vessels
of eurthenware.

We cannot therefore concur with Mackenzie in
blaming the early French Canadians, any more
than we can the British in New England, for not
teaching agriculture to the Indians, however much
they may both be pronounced culpable for their fre-
quent and wanton destruction of the corn which the
Indian had raised. Dr. Turnbull, in his History of
Connecticut, says, ** The Indians, at the first settle^-
ment of the English, performed may acts of kind-
ness towards them : they instructed them in the
manner of planting and dressing the Indian corn ;"
— and " by selling them corn when pinched with
famine, they relieved their distresses, and prevented
them from perishing in a strange land and unculti-
vated wilderness.*'t The same writer, noticing a sea-

* Le Grand Voyage du Pays des Hurons, &c,, par Fr^re
Gabriel Sagard, Recollet, ch. viii. Paris, 1632.
I TurnbuU'p Connecticut, vol. i. ch. 3.

•hi

lli ■

332 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. XIV.

'^1

hi i

'rf
1 Jji

H^H

son in which the English settlers suffered severely
from a great scarcity, says, "In this distressful
situation, a committee was sent to an Indian
settlement called Pocomtock, where they pur-
chased such quantities that the Indians came
down to Windsor and Hartford, with fifty canoes
at one time, laden with Indian corn."* Yet the
English, in their useless expeditions against the
natives, hegan at a very early period to shew their
rancour against their enemies by the destruction of
" those fields of stately corn" of which mention is
every where made in the accounts of the Indian
wars. When Captain Endicot was deputed to
march against them in a campaign which has been
already noticed, we read that '* There were two
plantations on the island (Block Island), containing
about sixty wigwams, some of them very large and
fair. The Indians had also about two hundred
acres of corn. After the English had spent two
days on the island, burning the wigwams, staving
their canoes, and destroying their corn, they sailed
for the Pequot country," &c. &c. " Enough," adds
Dr. TurnbuU, " had been done to exasperate, but
nothing to subdue, a haughty and warlike enemy. "f
Similar to this were many of the campaigns
carried on by the French in Canada. La Hontan,
when employed in the expedition undertaken in

* TurnbuU's Connecticut, vol. i. ch. 6.
t Ibid. ch. 5.

•bill

Ch. XIV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 333

1687 by the Marquis de Denonville against the
Senecas, observes — in noticing an Iroquois village
which had been deserted by its inhabitants — '* We
found there no living being to kill, except horses,
cattle, poultry, and swine, but no men. Those of
us who were most vexed at this disappointment,
expended our ill humour upon the fields of grain.
This we cut down by vigorous efforts of the sword,
being employed five or six days in the gallant
occupation. Animating each other in this our
martial ardour, we advanced about three leagues,
always carrying on the war against our enemy — the
Indian corn."* Charlevoix likewise, in giving an
account of this wanton devastation, says that the
French encamped in one of the four large villages
w ' ich principally composed the canton of the Sene-
cas : they found nobody, and the village was burnt.
They then penetrated farther into the country, and
for ten days in which they overran it they found no
one. This time was spent in ravaging the country,
*' and, above all, in burning four hundred thousand
minots of corn."t " They also killed a prodigious
number of swine, which caused much sickness.
This, joined to the fatigue of two days' march
through frightful roads, and the fear the general had
of being abandoned by our Indian allies, who con-

* La Hontan, vol. i. let. 13.

t Mimt, an old French measure containing three bushels.

*i*

i;'ii

I'u.

I'M'

'•«'■;

> ni

h: •';..J|

334 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. XIV.

stantly threatened to leave him, obliged him to put
a limit to his exploits. Thus, after having again
taken possession of a country which be had
conquered, the general marched towards the river
Niagara," &c.*

These are the accounts recorded of this military
expedition, by a French officer and by a Jesuit mis-
sionary ; let us see what the then bishop of New
France says of the same campaign : — " The French
then entered into the fine plain of Gazeroar^, the
principal residence of the Senecas, that famous
Babylon, where so many crimes have been com-
mitted, so much blood spilt, and so many men
burnt alive. It is situated on an agreeable rising
ground, to which you ascend by two little eminences
in the shape of an amphitheatre, surrounded by
lofty hills, and a very fertile plain about a league
square, at that time almost entirely covered with
Indian corn nearly ripe, which the troops mowed
down with their swords. This village they burnt,
and three others, together with the fort ; and it was
supposed they destroyed about six hundred thou-
sand minots of new corn, and thirty thousand of
old, in order to starve the country, so that it might
be impossible for the savages to subsist themselves."
" It was thought necessary," continues the bishop,
" for many reasons, to remain contented for this

* Charlevoix, Hist, de la Notivelle Franco, liv. xi.

Cil. XIV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 335

year with these advantages ; a great deal had been
accomplished by securing the trade, humbling the
Iroquois, and causing their scalps to be carried
throughout all the land :" and the worthy prelate
thus concludes his account, — " One sees by the
success of the campaign what may be expected
from the wisdom and co-operation of those who at
present exercise the authority of the king in Canada ;
and it only remains for me to say that, in returning
to France, it was a great consolation to leave be-
hind me two men whose good conduct promises us
a long course of prosperity for religion and the
state."*

Leaving the bishop to the benefits of this conso-
lation, we may notice another similar expedition,
which was conducted by the Marquis de Tracy,
against the Mohawks. The French had hoped to
surprise the inhabitants, but they had fled ; and they
only took some old men, women, and children,
prisoners. " This canton," says Charlevoix, " was
much richer at that time than it has been since.
The cabins were well-built and neatly ornamented,
each about twenty-six feet long, and of propor-
tionate width, all boarded in the inside-t The

(

f:?.
i[..'

♦ Estat present de I'Eglise, et de la Colonie Fraiifoise
dans la Nouvelle France, par M. I'Eveque de Quebec, p. 262.
Paris, 1688.

t There can be no doubt that the Indians, since their con-

336 HISTOKICAL NOTES KESPEv;viNG Cii. XIV.

soldiers every where discovered iiiiigazines dug in
the ground full of corn, sufficient to subsist the
whole canton for two years. The first village we
reduced to ashes ; the two others were at a consi-
derable distance. At the last of these we found
the enemy ; but he fled at our approach, and we
could not follow him. The French avenged them-
selves upon tlie cabins, not one of which esca[)ed
beins; reduced to ashes throughout the whole
canton." Thus ended the campaign, — " the

nexion with the Europeans, and tlie corruption of manners
with its consequent penury, have become much more slovenly
and indifferent to their personal comfort, and to the cle anli-
ness of their habitations, than they were two or three cen-
turies ago. In Hackluyt's account of Cartier's discovcv of
the Indian town of Hochelaga, upon the St. Lawrence, i^e
says : " There are in the towne about fiftie houses, about
fiftie paces long, and twelve or fifteene broad, built all of
wood, covered over with the barke of the wood, as broad as
any boord, very finely and cunningly joyned togither : within
the said houses there are many roomes, lodgings, and cham-
bers : in the middest of every one there is a great court, in
the middle whereof they make their lire. They live in com-
mon togither : then doe the husbahds, wives, and children,
each one retire themselves to their chambers." — Hackluyt's
Voyages, vol. iii. p. 220. In New England, the Indian wig-
wams are described to have been " very large and fair." And
La Hontan states the cabins, in his day, as being eighty feet
long, twenty-five or thirty feet wide, and twenty high; and
that the Indians had also smaller cabins, with beds raised
above the ground, &c.

C». XIV. THE NOIITH AMERICAN INDIANS. 337

viceroy, on his return to Quebec, hanging three or
four "»£ his prisoners, as an example to the rest."*

In the expedition, also, which was formerly
noticed as being conducted by Chevalier de Beauhar-
nois, against several Indian tribes in the interior,
Father Crespel, who was present, states, that not
being able to find the inhabitants of a village they
had taken possession of, they could " only burn
their cabins to the ground, and destroy all their
Indian corn, the food upon which they principally
subsist." And, having advanced a little farther, for
the purpose of attacking another village of the Win-
nepagoes, they, in like manner, found it deserted ;
" we therefore," says Crespel, " employed some lime
in entirely ruining the crops, in order that the
Indians might be starved. "f This kind intention
to starve a whole nation did not succeed ; for when
Carver visited that people, in 176(), he found
them still raising " a great quantity of Indian corn,
beans, pumpkins, squash, and water-melons, with
some tobacco."J It is curious to observe that these
same Winnepagoes have continued to the present
day an agricultural and contented tribe, taking
good care that the white j)opulation should come
among them as little as possible. In Dr. Morse's

III"

* Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. ix.
t Voyage du P^re Crespel au Nouveau Monde, p. 21.
J Carver's Travels, p. 37.

338 HISTORICAL NOTIS RESri:CTIN(J Cii. XIV.

late Report, it is observed of tlicm, that " Ihcy
will sufter no encroacl)incnt upon tlieir soil, nor
any persons to pass througli it without givinjr a
satisfactory explanation of their motives and inten-
tions. In failing to comply with this preliminary
step, their lives would be in danger. They cul-
tivate corn, potatoes, pumpkins, squashes, and
beans ; and are remarkably provident. They pos-
sess some horses. The Winnepagoes are indus-
trious, frugal, and temperate." They appear also
to be increasing in numbers. In the year 1812
they consisted of 3500 souls, and in 1 820 they had
increased to 5800.*

It is certainly a striking circumstance thus to
observe a nation of Indians, concentrated among
themselves, prospering in agriculture, living con-
tented and temperate, and increasing in population;
while so many of their fellow-tribes, in consequence
of their communication with Europeans, or the
descendants of Europeans, have abandoned the
best habits of their ancestors, and dwindled away
in laziness, intoxication, penury, and disease.

It is not necessary to enter farther into the sub-
ject of the natural capacity of the North American
Indian for science, arts, or manufactures. The
experiment of teaching these to him has, in all pro-

umr

* Bforse's Indian Report, Appendix, pp. 48 and 59.

Cll. XIV. THE NOUTII AMERICAN INDIANS. XVJ

bability, never been fairly or judiciously tried. Nor
sliould it be admitted that the obstacles wbicii have
occurred, and still occur, to bis civilization, arise
from any constitutional inferiority or deliciency of
intellect. One other instance — and one only —
shall be given of the ingenuity of the North Ame-
rican Indian ; and, in noticing it. Monsieur I)c
Pauvv shall have ample credit for his triumphant
assertion, that " at the first arrival of the Euro-
peans in the Western hemis{)here, there was not
an Indian in America who could read or ztrite.'*

Although the aborigines of that continent do not
appear ever to have had an alphabet in use among
them, nor even to have supposed that the words of
their language might be composed of, or divisible
into separate letters, of which they had no notion,
they have generally, by means of hieroglyphical
representations, been enabled to communicate or
describe their most important affairs and transac-
tions. This practice — distinct from the custom of
delineating upon the collars of wampum their
national treaties and records — is certainly marked
with much ingenuity. By means of painting on
the stems of trees, when stripped of their bark, they
find the ready means of giving important informa-
tion to their roaming war-parties and allies respect-
ing their own operations and the movements of

Recherches Philosophiques, vol. ii. partie 5.

340

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. XIV.

.ill

theii enemies. When it is intended to represent
events in a more permanent and portable form,
they prepare the inner rind of the birch bark, and
sometimes the skins of animals, upon which they
paint, with charcoal or other colours mixed up with
grease or oil, the objects they intend to delineate.
The materials they use, and their mode of execu-
tion, probably depend upon the importance of the
subject, and the expected durability of the represent-
ation. I have occasionally seen, at the portages
in the interior, slight drawings of charcoal upon
small slips of birch bark, fastened upon the bushos,
or on sticks put in the ground, upon which were
drawn particular beasts, birds, or fishes. This
simple but convenient mode is adopted by the
Indians (who generally assume the names of parti-
cular animals), to let their friends know that
they had passed in that direction. And at other
places I have observed, deeply and distinctly
chiselled on lofty rocks of granite, large hiero-
glyphical representations of men fighting, of horses,
serpents, birdS; &c.,and which are supposed to have
remained there from the most remote antiquity.

With respect to their common emblematical de-
lineations upon the stems of trees, Carver has given
an instance of one of them during his travels
tov.ards Lake Superior from the Mississippi.*

■'%

* Carver's Travels, ch. 17.

given

ffk

Cu. XIV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 341

A chief of the Chippewas, who upon that oc-
casion acted as his guide, was apprehensive
that their small party might be perceived and
followed by some straggling band of the Naudo-
wessies (or Scioux Indians), with whom the Chip-
pewas were constantly at war. The chief ac-
cordingly stripped some of the bark from a tree
at a conspicuous spot near the mouth of the Chip-
pewa river, and having mixed up some charcoal
with bear's grease, drew, in a rough style, on
the stem of the tree, first, the town of the Otto-
gamies, then a man dressed in skins, intended to
represent a Scioux, with a line drawn from his
mouth to that of a deer — the symbol of the Chip-
pewas. He then painted a canoe as proceeding up
the river, and a man sitting in it with his hat
on : this was to represent an Englishman (Carver) ;
and another man was described with a handker-
chief tied round his head paddling the canoe ; viz.
the French canoeman by whom Carver was accom-
panied. He then added some other significant
emblems, among which was the pipe of peace at
the prow of the canoe. " The meaning," says
Carver, " which he intended thus to convey to the
Naudowessies — and which, I doubt not, appeared
perfectly intelligible to them — was, that one of the
Chippewa chiefs had received a speech from some
Naudowessie chiefs at the town of the Ottogamies,
desiring him to conduct the Englishman, who had

:i;i

342 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch.XIV,

lately been among them, up the river, and that they
required that the Chippewa, notwithstanding he
was an avowed enemy, should not be molested
by them in his passage, as he had the care of
a person whom they esteemed as one of their

own nation.

^'"v

!•:

r'i''

* The Chippewa Indians and the Scioux appear to have
been from time immemorial in almost constant rivalship ;
and their hostility continues to the present day. When I
was in the interior country of the Chippewas, in the year
1822, a gentleman who had resided a considerable time
among the Red Lake Indians (of the Chippewa nation),
related to me a circumstance that had occurred not long
before in his neighbourhood, and which exhibits an instance
of that respect with which the North American Indian often
regards acts of bravery, even in an inveterate enemy. A
band of the Scioux having killed two of the Red Lake
Chippewas, the latter tribe determined to take ample re-
venge. Sixteen of their warriors accordingly set out, and
reached the Scioux village, where they found their enemy
in great force. They stationed themselves in a small wood,
near the village, from whence they fired upon the Scioux.
The latter immediately assembled, and surrounded the wood.
One of the Chippewas made his escape, but the remaining
fifteen, after defending themselves gallantly, were all killed.
Seventeen of the Scioux also fell; but their chief ordered
that none of the Chippewas should be scalped, as they
had fought bravely. He then caused a large and deep
grave to be dug, in which those who had faller in battle
on either side were all honourably interred ; the body of a
Scioux and of a Chippewa being alternately deposited in
tlie grave.

Cii.XIV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 343

La Hontan, nearly a century and a half ago,
inserted in his Travels a graphic illustration of an
Indian hieroglyphic ; and his accuracy — so often
and so unjustly called in question — has received a
strong corroboration by the later statements of Car-
ver, Heckewelder, Hunter, Schoolcraft, and others,
upon this subject.

The drawing alluded to is divided into several
compartments. The first exhibits a tomohawke
(the symbol of war), with the fleur-de-lis, the arms
of France, underneath, meaning that the French
had commenced war ; eighteen other marks shewing
the number of their troops, each mark standing for
ten soldiers. On the right of the second compart-
ment is represented a mountain (the emblem of
Montreal), from which a bird is directing its flight,
meaning that the French had set out. A moon in
its first quarter, placed on the back of a deer, tells
the time of their departure — the beginning of the
month of July, termed by the Indians " the Moon
of the Deer." In another division, the picture
of a canoe shews that they first advanced by water,
and a group of cabins (as sleeping places) points
out the number of days occupied in their voyage.
The representation of a human foot shews that
the French marched by land (a day's march being
generally about five French leagues) as many days
as there are cabins marked in that compartment;
and, in the next, a hand pointing to three cabins

■■,1'

»u

1 <;, * ■

344 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XIV-

signifies that they had approached within three days'
inarch of the Seneca village, the emblem of which
is a long cabin or lodge with a tree at each end of
it. The sun is represented at the right hand of this
emblem, shewing that the affair took place on the
east side of the village. In the next division
of the picture there are twelve marks, each mark
meaning ten men, and the Seneca emblem accom-
panying them shews that they are Indians of ihat
nation. A person drawn lying as if asleep on the
ground, means that they were taken by surprise : a
war club and eleven human heads, that eleven
Senecas were killed ; and five men, represented
each witli a particular mark, imply that fifty of
them were taken prisoners. In another compart-
ment, nine heads within a bow, mean that nine
of the attacking enemy were killed ; and twelve
underneath it, that twelve of them were wounded.
Arrov/s represented as flying in the air in different
directions, shew that they fought well on both
sides ; and, lastly, a number of arrows flying all one
way, that the conquered party fled or retreated
in disorder.

" Thus," says the baron, in explaining his Itv-
quois Gazette^ " the French soldiers, to the number
of 180, having set out from Montreal about the
beginning of July, proceeded twenty-one days in
their canoes ; then advancing thirty-five leagues
on foot, they surprised 120 Senecas on the east

Is. ■

f
I

Ch. XIV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 345

side of their village, of whom eleven were killed
and fifty taken prisoners, with the loss, on the
part of the French, of nine killed and twelve
wounded— the battle having been well contested."*
Although, therefore, the author of the Recher-
ches Philosophiques may have triumphantly held
the Indians in contempt, because, at the time when
America was first discovered, iher^ was not to
be found a native in that continent who could read
or writCy yet enough has probably been inserted
in these Notes to shew that, at all events, the
Indian may fairly be reckoned not incapable of
being taught. And to the charge which the same
writer has gravely added, that " even in our days
there is not one of the Indians who has the power
to think" we may be permitted to close this part
of the subject with the thoughts so eloquendy
expressed by his own contemporary, the celebrated
Indian, Logan — whose speech has been so much
admired on both sides of the Atlantic. The
authenticity of this specimen of Indian eloquence
having been called in question, induced Mr. Jef-
ferson, the late president of the United States,
to ascertain it beyond the shadow of a doubt;
and in an Appendix (published at Philadelphia in
1800) to his Notes on Virginia, he expressed his
wish that in any subsequent edition of that work

iiii

!i!

^.M

* La Hontan, vol. ii. p. 210.

346

HISTORICAL NOTES llESPECTING Cii.XlV.

iili

the circumstance should be thus stated : — That in
the year 1774, a robbery having been committed
by some Indians upon the white settlers on the'
Ohio, the latter undertook, in a summary way,
to punish the outrage. They surprised, at different
times, several of the Indian hunting parties, with
their women and children, and murdered many
of them. Among these was the family of Logan,
a celebrated chief, who had always distinguished
himself as the friend of the whites. This ungrateful
return provoked his vengeance, and in the war
which ensued he highly signalized himself. In
the autumn of that year, the Indians were defeated
in a decisive battle, and sued for peace. Logan,
however, disdained to be seen among the sup-
pliants. But, in order that no distrust might arise
in the treaty on account of the absence of so
celebrated a warrior, he sent, by the hands of
General Gibson, the following speech, to be de-
livered to Lord Dunmore, the governor of Vir-

ginia

" I appeal to any white man to say if ever
he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave
him not meat : if he ever came cold and naked,
and he clothed him not. During the course of
the last long and bloody war, Logan remained
idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such
was my love for the vvhites, that my countrymen
pointed as they passed, and said, * Logan is the

Cii. XIV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS, 347

; 5

^■i

friend of white men.' I iiad even thought to have
lived with 3'ou, but for the injuries of one man.
Colonel Crespal, the last spring, in cold blood and
unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan,
not even sparing my women and childien. There
runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any
living creature. This called on me for revenge ; I
have sought it ; I have killed many. I have fully
glutted my vengeance. For my country I rejo'ce
at the beams of peace: but do not harbour a
thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never
felt fear. He will not turn his heel to save
his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan ? —
Not one."

But, in the Recherches Philosophiques, we are
desired to believe, that " a stupid insensibility forms
the foundation of the Indian character : no passion
is sufficient to animate their soul, or raise them
above their abject state." And yet, are not many
of them animated, like the high-minded Logan,
with feelings of indignation at European ingrati-
tude? " Brothers," said the celebrated warrior Te-
cum-seh, in a speech to the Osages in the year
1811, " when the white men first set foot on our
grounds, they were hungry ; they had no place on
which to spread their blankets, nor to kindle their
fires. They were feeble ; they could do nothing for
themselves. Our fathers pitied tlicir distress, and
shared ficely with them whatever the Great Spirit

348 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cic. XIV.

had given his red children. They gave them food
when hungry, medicine when sick, spread skins for
them to sleep on, and gave them grounds that they
might hunt and raise corn. Brothers, the white
people are like poisonous serpents : when chilled
they are feeble c ' hi'-'iless ; but invigorate them
with warmth, anu. hey 3ting their benefactors to
death."*

* Hunter's Memoirs of a Captivity, &c. p. 4.5.

mp:

XIV.

bod
for
:hey
hite
lied
lem
i to

Cii.XV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 349

CHAPTER XV.

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE CIVILIZATION OF THE

INDIANS.

It may perhaps be said, on the subject of civilizing
the North American Indians, that it is easier to
state objections to the efforts which have hitherto
been made for that purpose, than to suggest plan?
not liable to similar animadversion. It may, be
thought that no good can arise from attempting to
shew the inefficiency of one system of proposed i' -
provement, without substituting a better in its place.
This, in some cases, may be true ; but, amidst the
difficulties which are every where admitted to exist
on this subject, benefit may arise from experience ;
and, by shewing the errors of former periods,
similar faults may in future be avoided, and ulti-
mate success rendered more attainable. Yet, how-
ever much the early systems which were pursued
with respect to the Indians may be pronounced
blaineable, it must be acknowledged, that to pro-
pose in their stead any specific plan distinctly
calculated at the present moment to effect the
beneficial objects which all parties wish to pro-
mote, is fraught with extreme difficulty.

This very difficulty, however, ought to con-
vince us that the object can only be attained

l;;i!' ff»*

350 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XV.

\"ii\

by slow and gradual steps ; for it is evident
that we have not only to combat the native
prejudices of the Indians, but to effect the
more difficult task of making them forget the
impressions we had already given them. \Vere
it possible for the Indian of North America happily
to lose all knowledge or traditionary remembrance
of the interference imprudently exerted in behalf of
his race for two centuries — were it practicable
to replace him at once in that state of total igno-
rance with respect to the Christians in which he
was situated vvhen first discovered by them, it would
be far easier at the present time to teach him Chris-
tianity, and to effect his civilization. Measures
cannot now be adopted with regard to him as to an
unbiassed stranger : on the contrary, his educa-
tion and feelings strongly tend to make him repose
little confidence in those Europeans who would be
disposed to exert themselves for his benefit.

Many of those writers in America who have
of late years turned their attention to this subject,
think there is little prospect of success when the
Indians are mixed with the white population ; but
that the result would probably be favourable if they
were located in districts or reservations of their own,
with the aid of such establishments among them as
might tend to promote their general improve-
ment. These writers complain bitterly of many of
the white people who resort to the Indian countries

.^^J

Ch.XV. the north AMERICAN INDIANS. 351

■:l!

within and alonLi the frontiers of tlie United States.
Dr. Morse observes, that " The success of these
efforts (to civiHze the Indians) has doubtless been
much obstructed by the influence of depraved white
people who have insinuated themselves among the
Indians, and whose interest it is to keep ihein igno-
rant, and whose exertions, of course, would be against
all improvement." * Mr. Nnttall, in his Travels
into the Arkansaw Country of Louisiana, in 1819,
also remarks, that some of the white people settled
there, " as well as the generality of those who
till lately inhabited the banks of the Arkansaw,
bear the worst moral character imaginable, being
many of them renegadoes from justice, and such
as have forfeited the esteem of civilized so-
ciety."')' The natives readily follow the example
of these lawless and dissolute rovers, as men-
tioned by Mr. Hunter, in noticing the same Indian
countries of the United States, while, unfortu-
nately, they have no good examples put be-
fore them which might tend to counteract the
contagion. " I repeat," says he, ** that the bene-
volent of our race trust their hopes of benefiting
the Indians on a sandy foundation, so long as this
kind of intercourse is tolerated. "J And again,
Before any permanent good effects can result

W ^

((

* Morse's Indian Report, p. 26.

t Nuttall's Travels into the Arkansaw Territory, ch. 9.

+ Hunter's Memoirs, ch. 4.

352 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cil. XV.

(;

^'i

'■ l"!

\m ^

r^,M

to the Indians from the beneficept but mistaken
effects of the numerous associations organized for
their civilization in various parts of the world, all
their intercourse with this class of people shoukl be
broken off."*

It is certainly extremely difficult, if not almost
impracticable, for the law to reach these distant
and detached violators of it ; but, unless means are
taken to prevent the settling of such people among
the Indians, it need not be expected that much pro-
gress can be made in the improvement of the native
population. It will be wiser to take every possible
means to prevent them from going among the
Indians at all, and to encourage the Indians them-
selves to prohibit their approach, than to expect
that any legal restraint will keep them from those
lawless practices with which they are so constantly
charged.

It has been often observed, in considering the state
of the North American Indians, that the endeavours
to civilize and to convet^t them, should be carried on
at the same time. " Civilization and religion," says
the Reverend Mr. Sergeant, the missionary, " must
go hand in hand ; as I have read with regard
to Africa, the plough and the Bible must go
together." But this is extremely questionable. It
is much more probable that the attempt to convert
the ac'vilt Indian to Christianity, should invariably

* Hunter's Memoirs, ch. 15.

Cm. XV. THE NOIITH AMF.HICW INDIAN'S. 353

be [H'ecedcd by an k^ndtavour to iinjd'ove his habits,
and promoto his general advancement. It is more
likely that his civilization has been obstructed
by the steps taken to convert him, than that his
own tardiness in bein^ converted should 1)0 aUri-
buted to any want of docility in b( roming civi-
lized. Mr. Tudor, in his interesting Letters on
the Eastern States, observes, *' A strong reason
against commencing the attempts at civilization
exclusively with religious instruction, is the oppo-
sition that will be oft'ered by Indian supersti-
tion. The Indians, particularly the highest and
least vitiated among them, are attached to their
own notions, some of which are the soundest prin-
ciples of natural religion. They are very apt to
confound our religion with the evils our society has
brought upon them ; and their prophets take every
occasion to excite their distrust of our mission-
aries."* A similar feeling appears to have influenced
the Seneca chief, Red Jacket, in his address to the
governor of New York, which has already been
adverted to. After expressing his gratitude for
the means which had been furnished to enable
them to plou'^h and to sow, he added, that
they had no vish to change their religion.
" Each nation," says he, '* has its own cus-

■■'j

Jj!'«. 'I I

* Tudor's Letters on the Eastern States of North America,
let. 12.

A A

,^Jm

354 HISTORICAL NOTES RKSPECTING Cn. XV

toms and its ovvn religion,. The Indians nave theirs
given to them by the Great Spirit, under which they
were happy. It was not intended that they should
eiribrace the religion of the whites, and be destroyed
by the attempt to make them think differently on
that subject from their fathers." There can, indeed,
be little doubt that, among adult Indians, it will
be found a far easier task to civilize thtui to con-
vert them. If the European instructor succeed
in the former, iie may, in process of time, effect
the latter; but if he insist upon a simultaneous ad-
vancement in both, it is extremely probable tliat he
will obtain success in neither.

The experiment of endeavouring to civilize the
Indian before an attempt be made to convert him,
appears to have been begun by the Quakers. Dr.
Morse, in noticing the Shawanee Indians, says,
" For several years past the Society of Friends, at
a considerable expense, have supported an agricul-
tural estabiiiihment among them. They have a
grist mill, and saw mill, which are kept in complete
order for the use of these Indians. The Friends
are about to establish a school. This truly be-
nevolent denoniination of Christians do not yet
attempt to instruct these people in the principles
of Christianity, believin,s; that they are not yet
sufficiently acquainted with the arts of civilized
life."*

* Monse'SiReport, Appendix, p. 92.

Ch. XV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 355

On the subject of the Quakers, Mr. Hunter has
stated a circumstance which is worthy the most
earnest attention of those societies, on both sides of
the Atlantic, whicli interest themselves respecting
the improvement of the North American Indians.
He mentions that, along the frontier settlements of
the United States, as also among many of the more
distant tribes, tlie Quakers are, of all the white
l)eople, the most acceptable to the Indians. " If
these would undertake," says he, "to revolutionize the
habits and opinions of the Indians, they would
have the advantage of at least an entire generation
of confidence and good will in their favour, over
every other religious sect, — a circumstance that
would operate as a miracle in arriving at the mea-
sure in view."*

But whatever may be the class who turn their
minds to the improvement of the Indian popu-
lation, it cannot be too strongly impressed upon
them that, in attempting to introduce changes
among that people, slowness and caution are
indispensable ; and that it is necessary fully
to understand their peculiar habits, before any
endeavour be made to amend them. The custom,
for instance, of employing the women in those
works which, among civilized nations, are gene-
rally performed by the men, has often been

* Hunter's Memoirs, ch. 1,5.

356 HISTORICAL NOTES llESPECTING Ch. XV.

= {' u

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Stigmatized in the description of Indian man-
ners. But if any sudden change in this respect
is to be insisted upon, or attempted, it will probably
have no other effect than to disgust both the
men and the women. " The women," says Dr.
Frnnklin, " till the ground, dress the food, nurse
and bring up the children, and preserve, and hand
down to posterity, the njemory of the public
transactions. These employments are accounted
natural and honourable."* Heckevvelder also
observes, " There are many persons who believe,
from the labours they see the Indian women per-
form, that they are in a manner treated as slaves.
These labours, indeed, are hard, compared with
the tasks imposed upon females in civilized society;
but they are no more than their fair share, under
every consideration and due allowance of the hard-
ships attendant upon savage life ; therefore they
are not only voluntarily but cheerfully submitted to :
and as the women are not obliged to live with their
husbands any longer than suits their pleasure or
convenience, it cannot be supposed that they would
submitto be loaded with unjust or unequal burdens. "f
The same writer observes, that the women take upon
themselves the chief labour of the field ; nor do

♦ Dr. Franklin's Remarks concerning the Savages of North
America.

t Heckewelder's Account of the Indians, ch. 16.

I
I

Cm. XV. THE NORTH. AMERICAN INDIANS. 357

i "!

they think it hard so to do, because this employs
them only about six weeks in the twelve months,
while the labours of the husband to maintain his
family, by other means, last throughout the whole
year. *' The tilling of the ground at home, getting
in fire wood, and pounding corn in mortars, is fre-
quently done by female parties much in the manner
of those husking, quilting, and other /ro/ic*, as tliey
are called, which are so common in some parts of
the United States. The labour is thus quickly and
easily performed. When it is over, and sometimes
at intervals, they sit down to enjoy themselves, by
feasting on good victuals prepared for them by the
pCiSon or family for v»hom they work, and which
the man has taken care to provide beforehand
from the woods :" and he adds, " Even the chat
which passes during their joint labours is highly
diverting : and so they seek to be employed in this
way as long as they can, by going round to all those
in the village who have ground to till."*

This is merely noticed as one of many customs
where a hasty and inconsiderate attempt at altera-
tion may prevent the attainment of those very
benefits which are expected from the change. To
set an Indian hunter or warrior at once to labour
in the fields, and his squaw to resign the
healthy and varied occupations she has been

* Heckewelder's Account of the Indians, ch. 1 6.

'.Ft'

• 4'

3'>8 HISTOHTCAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XV.

accustomed to follow in the open air with her chil-
dren, and suddenly to fix her at the irksome task
of a spinning wheel, will only have the effect of
disgusting them with the beginnings of civilization,
ard inevitably prevent its progress. Keeping con-
stantly in view that, with regard to the Indian, the
slower and more gradual the attempts at change,
the more sure wil be the results that are ulti-
mately looked for, it would be better to encourage
the men gradually to share with the women in the
labours of agriculture, than at once to separate them
in their occupations, — as appears to be the case
with respect to some of the recent establishments
for Indian improvement.

But those who look the most anxiously towards
the civilization of the Indians, must direct their
attention chiefly to the education of the native
children. Kindness and regard "^-hewn to the
Indian parents will make them much less reluctant
than they formerly were to allow their children to be
taken from them : and there is no doubt— however
melancholy it may be to reflect upon the cause —
that the dependent and feeble state to which many
of the tribes have been now reduced, will render
them more disposed to agree to a partial separa-
tion from their offspring. It is at present much
mure diflScnlt for an Indian, in most parts of the
country, to maintain his family, than it was in earlier
times : and this circujustance, together with his

Cii.XV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 359

\'x

personal observation of the benetit arising from the
adoption of European arts and industry, will pro-
bably induce him to part with his children for the
purposes of their instruction. This, of late years,
appears to have been the case ; and, from the ac-
counts given of the Indian tribes, particularly within
the territory of the United States, that feeling
seems to be generally on the increase, and the re-
quisite advantage is taken of it.

A resolution having passed the house of represen-
tatives at Washington two years ago, requesting in-
formation from the President as to the condition of
the several Indian tribes within the United States,
and the progress of the measures hitherto adopted
for their civilization, an official Report was drawn
up by Mr. Calhoun, the secretary of war, by which
it appeared that there were then throughout the
Union fourteen schools, chiefly establ.'shed by the
missionary societies, where about five hundred
children, male and female, were tav'.ght ; and that
it was thought advisable, at the commencement of
the system, to proceed with caution, and to ex-
tend their operations as experience or circumstances
might dictate. " Whether the system," sayo Mr.
Calhoun, " which has been adopted by the govern-
ment, if persevered in, will ultimately bring the
Indians within the pale of civilization, can only be
determined by time. It has been in operation too
short a period to pronounce with certainty on Ihe

360 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch.XV

'■■)■ ■■ ).

result. The present generation, which cannot be
greatly afibctcd by it, must pass away, and those
who have been reared under the present system
must succeed them, l)efore its effects can he fully
tested. As far, however, as civilization may
depend on education only, without taking into con-
sideration the force of circumstances, it would seem
that there is no insuperable difficulty in effecting the
benevolent intention of the goveran^ent. It may
be affirmed, almost without any qualification, that
all the trilies within our settlements, and near our
borders, are even solicitous for the education of
their children."*

It cannot be doubted that the Indian mav be in-
duced, with cautious management, to permit his
children to be instructed by tlie whites, although he
at present appears but little disposed to ibllow their
instructions himself. " I see,'* observed ati Osage
chief, when urged at W^ashington upon the subject
of Indian civilization — ''I see, and admire your
manner of living, your good warm houses, your
extensive fields of corn, your gardens, your cattle,
your waggons, and a thousand machines that I
know nol the uos of. I see that you are able to
clothe yourselves even from weeds and grass : in
short, you can do almost what you choose. You

• Offir.al Report fiotn the SecrL'lary of War, to the Presi-
dent r' the United States, Feb. 8, 1822.

Ch. XV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 361

whites have the power of subduing almost every ani-
mal to your use. But you are surrounded by slaves;
every thing about you is in chains, and you are
j-laves yourselves. I fear if I should exchange my
pursuits for yours, I too should become a slave.
Talk to my sons ; perhaps they may be persuaded
to adopt your fashions, or at least recommend them
to their sons ; but for mvself I was born free, was
reared free, and wish to die free."*

Similar to these were the sentiments uttered by
the chief of the Grand Pawnees, Sharitarouish, in
a speech addressed to the President of the United
States, at a grand council held at Washington, in the
year 1 822.t The following are extracts from it : —

" My great father : J — I have travelled far to
see you. I have seen you, and my heart rejoices.
I have heard your words : they have entered
one ear, and shall not escape the other. I will
carry them to my people as pure as they came from
your mouth. The Great Spirit looks down upon
us, and I will call him to vvitness all that may pass
between us on this occasion.

" The Great Spirit made us all : he made my
skin red, and yours white, he placed us on this

* Morse's Report, Appendix, p. 206.

t The Indian speeches made at that council were trans-
lated and given to the public, by Major O'Fallon, the Indian
agent, with the assistance of the other interpreters.

I The Indian appellation given to the President.

362 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cu. XV.

'<lffn;

earth, and intended we should live difterently
from each other. He made the whites to cul-
tivate the earth, and feed on domestic animals ;
but he made us to rove through the unculti-
vated woods and plains, to feed on wild animals,
and to dress with their skins. He also intended
that we should go to war — to take scalps— to
plunder horses from, and triumph over, our ene-
mies — to cultivate peace at home, and promote
the happiness of each other.

" My great father, some of your good chiefs
have proposed to send several of their good people*
among us to cliange our habits, to make us work
and live like the white people. I will not utter a
falsehood ; I will tell the truth. You love your
country — you love your people — you love the
manner in which they live, and you think your
people bi ive. I am like you, my great father ; I
love my country — I love my people — I love the
manner in which we live, and think myself and my
warriors brave. Spare me then, my father; let me
enjoy my country, and pursue the buffalo, and the
beaver, and the other wild animals of our land,
and I will trade their skins with your people. I
have grown up, and lived thus long without work ;
I am in hopes you will suffer me to die without it.
We have plenty of buffalo, beaver, deer, and other

Meauing the inissiouaries.

n .

Cu. XV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 363

wild animals — we liave also abundance of horses—-
we have every thing we want — we have plenty of
land, if you will keep your people off from it. It
is too soon, my great father, to send those good
men among us. We are not starving yet — we
wish you to permit us to enjoy the chase until the
game of our country and the wild animals become
extinct. Let us exhaust our present resources
before you make us toil, and interrupt our happi-
ness ; let me continue to live as I have done ; and
after 1 have passed to the Good or Evil Spirit from
off the wilderness of my present life, the subsistence
of my children may become so precarious as to
make them embrace the assistance of those good
people."

The Indian chief thus concluded his speech to the
President : — " Here, my great father, is a pipe,
which I present you, as I am accustomed to present
pipes to all the red skins in peace with us. It is
filled with such tobacco as we were accustomed to
smoke before we knew the white people : it is
pleasant, and the spontaneous growth of the most
remote parts of our county. I know that the robes,
the mockasins, the bears'-claws, and other orna-
ments which we present, are of little vaiue to you ;
but we wish you to have them deposited and pre-
served in some conspicuous part of your lodge; so
that when wc are gone, and the sod turned over
our bones, our children, should they visit this place,

364 HISTORICAL NOTES IIESPECTING Cii. XV.

as we do now, may see and recognise with pleasure
the deposits of their fathers, and reflect on the
times that are past."

WT^.

If ■ •

I ** ''' ' ^* H^

fjf -

It appears unnecessary to enter further into
details on the subject of the obstructions which
have opposed themselves to civiiizinj^ the Indians of
North America ; or upon the general treatment
which might be advantageously extended towards
them. It is obvious, that to wipe away the
errors of at least two centuries, mucli caution is
necessary. We cannot now expect that the native
tribes will meet us half way in the object even of
their own improvement; but kindness, conciliation,
and regard may do much to recover the ground
which has been lost, and ultimately to effect their
civilization. Of this Mr. Hunter, th^^.n whom no
one is better acquainted with the character of
the Indians, does not despair, " Taught by ex-
perience," says he, " that the white people are
sincere in their efforts to serve them, their pre-
judices will gradually unbend ; and they will acquire
the knowledge of a few facts that will elicit and
confirm a taste for further and more important
attainments."* It cannot be doubted, that the Indians
of North America are much more likely now to
benefit from good example, and from their own

* Hunter's Memoirs, ch. 15.

* r

Cil. XV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 305

observation, than by the positive instruction of
others. One sinj^le Indian family copying, of its
own accorJ, some of the l)est habits of re<^uUuity
unci industry observable among their civilized neigh-
bours, would effect more for the ultimate advance-
ment of the tribe or nation to which it belongs,
than the active interference of generations of
European, Canadian, or Anglo-American i^ii-
provers : and in concluding the remarks upon
this part of the subject, it may be noticed
with regret, that those judicious suggestions
which were recorded by Monsieur de Cham-
plain upwards of two hundred years ago, should
have been so little carried into practical operation,
in those extensive regions of which he was one of
the most early and enterprising discoverers.

" It is not sufficient," says Champlain, " to
send missionaries among the Indians, unless there
are others appointed to support and assist them.
It would require population and families to keep
them to the proper course of duty, to prevail upon
them by mild treatment to improve themselves, and
by holding good examples before their eyes, to
induce them to alter their manners and customs.
P^res Le Caron and De Daillion, and I, have
often conversed with them on the subject of their
customs, laws, and belief They listened with
attention, sometimes saying, * You speak of things
beyond our understanding, and we cannot compre-

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366 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XV.

hend your discourse. But if you wish to do well,
you will reside in this country, and bring your
wives and children ; and when they come here, we
shall see how you serve the God whom you wor-
ship ; how you live with your wives and your chil-
dren ; how you obey the laws ; how you cultivate
and sow the ground ; how you raise up and feed
animals ; and how you make all those things which
we see of your invention. Seeing all this, we
should learn more in one year than hearing dis-
courses for twenty : and if we could not understand
you, you would take our children, who would be as
your own ; and thus judging of our rude mode of
life by comparing it with yours, it is likely we
should prefer the latter, and abandon our own."*

* Voyages et des Descouvertures faites en la Nouvelle
France, depuis I'ann^e 1615 jusques a la fin de Tann^e
1618, par le Sieur de Charaplain. p. 95. Paris, 1620.

Ch.XVI. the north AMERICAN INDIANS. 367

CHAPTER XVI.

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE ATTEMPTS MADE TO
CONVERT THE INDIANS, AND ON THE CAUSES OF
FAILURE — OBSTACLES ARISING FROM THE IN-
FLUENCE OF THE NATIVE JUGGLERS BENEFITS

THAT WOULD FOLLOW FROM THE AID OF MEDICAL
SKILL EXTENDED TO THE INDIAN NATIONS IN-
JUDICIOUS VIEWS AND INTOLERANT SPIRIT TOO
OFTEN ENTERTAINED BY SOME OF THE MISSION-
ARIES CONCLUSION.

It was justly observed of the Indians in the time
of Sir Walter Raleigh's early settlement in Virgi-
nia, — " Some religion theye have already, which,
although it bee farre from the trueth, yet, being as
it is, there is a hope it may bee the easier and sooner
reformed ;"* a remark which might have served as
a most appropriate text for the missionaries of
every sect, nation, and period, throughout all the
Indian countries of North America. Heckewelder
states, that the Indian believes he is highly fa-
voured by his Maker, not only in having been
created with mental and bodily powers difFerent
from other animals, but in his being able to master
even the largest and most ferocious of the brute

. :J1

■'}^

ir '

* Hackluyt's Voyages, vol. iii. p. 276.

ii. i''^

368 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch.XVI.

creation ; and that when he has performed any
heroic act, he acknowledges it as an instance of
divine favour, ascribing his success entirely to the
boldness instilled in him by the Great Spirit.
" Thus, habitual devotion to the Great First Cause,"
adds that writer, '* and a strong feeling of gratitude
for the benefits which he confers, is one of the
prominent traits which characterize the mind of
the uninstructed Indian."* Conrad Weisar, well
known in the early history of Virginia as a cele-
brated Indian interpreter, when travelling with one
of the natives in the year 1 737, has related an anec-
dote descriptive of the pious gratitude of his fellow
traveller. By some accident this Indian was on
the point of falling down a dreadful precipice that
lay in their route; and on perceiving the danger
from which he had so narrowly escaped, he ex-
claimed with great earnestness, and outstretched
arms, — "I thank the Great Lord and Governor of
this world that he has had mercy upon me, and
that he has been willing I should live longer."t In
fact, " There are no people more frequent than
the Indians in their acknowledgments of gratitude
to God : their belief in him is universal, and their
confidence astonishingly strong."J

* Heckewelder's Account of the Indians, ch. 6.

t Boudinot's Star in the West, ch. 10.

X Appendix (R.) to Dr. Morse'^s Indian Report.

>'l

Ch. XVI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 369

But in place of endeavouring to conciliate and
encourage the Indians, it appears that their early
teachers, both of the Roman and Reformed church,
treated them with arrogance and presumption.
" It is so obvious," writes the Jesuit Father Bre-
beuf, when residing among the Hurons, " it is so
obvious that there is a Divinity who made heaven
and earth, that the Hurons cannot be entirely de-
void of belief on that subject, although their eyes
and minds are obscured by the darkness of a long
ignorance, by their sins and their vices. They per-
ceive something, but are so grossly in error, that
they render to God no honour, no love, no proper
worship ; for they have neither temples, nor
priests, nor feasts, nor ceremonies."* In like
manner, and with similar intolerance, did the early
Protestant ministers denounce the whole Indian
face as " a subtile brood" — " a generation of
vipers" — " perishiiig forlorne outcasts" — ** for-
lorne wretched heathen," &c. &c. Was it likely
that the Indian, sincere in his own native devotion,
and impressed with feelings of gratitude to the
Great Spirit, by whom he considered himself to
be highly favoured, could entertain cordiality or
deference for those who thus avowedly looked upon
him as a miserable abandoned outcast? Instead
of cautiously engrafting the doctrines of Christianity

• Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1635.
B B

370 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii.XVI.

upon the sound, though rude, stock of natural re-
ligion, which had evidently taken deep root among
the Indian nations, the European generally exas-
perated his red brethren by an arrogant claim of
superior virtues, intellect, and acquirements. The
preacher called upon the Indian to forget the
lessons of his youth, to renounce the belief in
which he had been brought up, thus at once setting
Christianity in direct and hostile opposition to
those sentiments of natural religion with which he
was sincerely impressed. By imprudent abrupt-
ness in denouncing to him that there is no salva-
tion but in the name of Jesus Christ, the missionary
may undermine his veneration and gratitude towards
the Great Spirit whom he worships, without ad-
vancing him a single step in conversion to Christi-
anity. The savage may lose much, and gain
nothing: for although his native sentiments of
religion " bee farre from the trueth," they are
evidently such as would form a solid foundation for
his future reception of the Gospel. But by be-
ginning the work of conversion with harsh or hasty
attempts to pluck out by the root the opinions
which have been implanted in him, it will only
tend to that result which was lamented by the
Mohawk chief already noticed, who declared that
his Indians " had formerly the fear of the Great
Spirit, but that now they hardly believed in his
existence."

Ch. XVI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 371

In considering this important part of the subject,
I fee! unwilling to touch upon points of discussion
which might give offence to any sect of Christians
whatever ; but it cannot, and should not be con-
cealed, that one of the principal causes of failure in
the attempts made to convert the North American
Indians, is the manner in which Christianity has
been preached to them.

This observation will be found to apply both to
Roman Catholic and Protestant. Witli respect
to the former, it was not likely that the Indian, who
possessed strong powers of reflection, and, as Mr.
Tudor expresses it, " some of whose notions are the
soundest principles of natural religion," could re-
ceive any solid benefit from the abstruse doctrines,
idle ceremonies, harassing ordinances, and vexa-
tious penance approved of by the early Jesuits. It
has been already noticed how indignant Father
Charlevoix was at the Dutch Protestant ministers
for questioning the creeds, ceremonies, and doc-
trines taught to their female Roman Catholic con-
verts. " They attacked them," said he, " on the
subject of their devotions to the Mother of God,
on the worship of the Saiti^s, on that of the Cross,
and of the Images; but they found these female
converts well instructed, and firm in the belief of
what we had taught them on these articles." In
like manner did P^re Rasles complain of the mi-
nister from New England interfering vvith his

372 HISTOUICAL NOTES EESPECTING Ch. XVf.

neophytes, and *' turning into ridicule all the pious
observances of our Roman Catholic church, — our
purgatory, invocation of saints, images, crosses,
beads, and tapers." But it did not require tlie
ridicule of any sect whatever to make the Indian
entertain indifference towards these * pious obser-
vances,' — observances which no liberal Roman
Catholic would ever wish to see pressed upon the
mind of the savage whom he calmly hoped to con-
vert to Christianity. What then was the result?
"They have a great complaisance for all that is
said to them," writes Father Hennepin, " and in
appearance do every thing seriously which you en-
treat them to do. When we say to them, Pray
to God with us, they do so ; answering, word for
word, according to the prayers that have been
taught them in their own language. Kneel down,
they kneel ; take off your bonnet, they take it off;
be silent, they are so. If one say to them. Hear
me, they hearken directly ; and if one gives them
some holy image, or crucifix, or beads, they will
merely use them as ornaments to adorn their per-
sons." * And yet the Jesuit missionaries wished to
make the world believe that their young Indian
pupils and catechumens comprehended fully the
doctrines they inculcated to them. " I had last
year two scholars," says one of these early mis-

Hennepin, vol. ii. ch. 32.

Cn.XVI. THE NORTH AMEIllCAN INDIANS. 373

sionaries ; " but now I have above twenty. After
the departure of my master, (a native who was
teaching him the Indian language) I collected and
arranged a part of what he had taught me, and
which I had written in detached pieces, according
to his humour in dictating to me. Having there-
fore mustered my treasures, 1 set about composing
something upon the catechism, or the principles of
the faith ; and, taking my paper in my hand, I
began by calling some of the children to me by a
little bell. I then explained to them, in a general
way, the mystery of the Holy Trinity, and of the
Incarnation, and I repeatedly ?sked them if I spoke
right, and if they understood me iT*^ll ; they all an-
swered me, £oco, eoco, ninisitoutenan ; yes, yes,
we understand."* These young Indian scholars
were more polite than most of their masters. " The
religion, or rather the superstition of the Indians,"
says another of the Jesuit missionaries, " also con-
sists in praying ; but, O my God, what prayers !
In the morning, the little children, in coming out
of their cabins, cry aloud, Cakouaki packais,
amiscouaki packaisy mousouaki packais — Come
porcupines, come elks, come beavers. This — this
is all their prayers !"t And no bad prayer either for
little Indian children to make, whose daily sub-

* Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1633, p. 110.
+ Ibid. 1634, p. 80.

374

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. XVI.

sistence often depended upon the produce of their
father's chase. < '

What can be said also of the infliction of rehgious
penance upon the Indian converts? The French
missionaries must indeed have entered Httle into
the sentiments and character of the North American
Indian, if they thought that the prescription of
such discipline could serve them in their work of
conversion. Not that an Indian warrior, possessing
such extreme self-command, and educated to bear
with indifterence the most severe trials, would
shrink at the infliction of any penance which it was
likely the church would impose upon him. His own
voluntary penances, or self-devotion for the commis-
sion of what, according to Indian notions, amounted
to crimes or offences, were far more severe than
any thing ordained by even the rigorous bigotry of
tlieir Jesuit instructors. The anecdote related by
Volney of the Miami chief, who, havjng murdered
another Indian, offered his own life as an atone-
ment to the family of the deceased, has been already
mentioned. '* If they will not receive thefie pre-
sents," said he, " let them fi\ the time and place.
I shall be there alone, and they may take my life."
Heckewelder also relates a similar instance, which
occurred in Canada in 1793. Two Indians met
on the street of the village of La Chine, and one
of them, a man of great personal strength, in-
sulted the other, calling him a coward, and ad-

Ch.XVX, the north AMERICAN INDIANS. 375

dressing him in other opprohrious terms; upon
which the latter drew out his knife, and stabbed
him to the heart. A crowd immediately collected,
calling out, ** Kill him, kill him !" The Indian sat
down by the dead body, and placing himself in an
attitude proper to receive the stroke of the tomo-
hawke, coolly awaited his fate. This he expected
from the hand of some relative of the deceased, but
no person seemed inclined to strike the blow.
After the body was removed, the Indian was left
sitting alone on the spot. Not meeting the fate he
expected, he rose and went to a more pub!'.c part
of the village, and again lay down on the ground
waiting the fatal stroke ; but no one attempted to
touch him. He then went to the mother of the
Indian whom he had killed, an aged widow, and
thus addressed her : " Woman, I have slain thy
son. He bad insulted me, it is true ; but still he
was thine, and his life was valuable to thee. I
therefore now surrender myself up to thy will." *

* Heckewelder's Account of the Indians, ch. 6. The story
proceeds thus :— " Thou hast indeed killed my son, who was
dear to me," replied the woman, " and the only support of
my old age. One life is already lost, and to take thine on
that account can be of no service to me. Thou hast, how-
ever, a son, whom, if thou wilt give me in the place of him
thou hast slain, all shall be wiped away." The Indian then
said, " Mother, my son is yet a child, only ten years old, and
can be of no service to thee, but rather a trouble and charge :

■k

370 HISTORICAL NOTES llESPKCTING Cii. XVI,

Indians who could thus, with a spirit of self-
devotedness, offer their lives in atonement for their
offences, must have looked with contempt u|X)n the
penance inflicted by the church. Such an ordi-
nance could not but tend to lower, rather than to
raise, the moral feelings of the Indian ; to whom
also it taught a system of petty tyranny and hard-
ness of heart, evidently foreign to his natural cha-
racter. The contemptible self-scourgings publicly
exhibited by the Indian Pigarouick in the church
of Montreal, by order of the Jesuits, has been
already noticed ; and it is curious to observe, that
this same neophyte had himself, under the sanction
of these fathers, been instrumental to the infliction
of penance upon a female convert of his own na-
tion, charged with no heavier offence than availing
herself of a custom allowed by the institutions of
her country — that of quitting her husband when she
wished no longer to remain united to him. The
story is thus told in one of the early Jesuit mis-
sionary Reports :

" A young woman wishing to leave her husband
without sufficient cause, the most zealous of the

but here am I, capable of supporting anr^^ maintaining thee.
If thou wilt receive me as thy son, nothing shall be wanting
on my part to make thee comfortable whilst thou livest." —
The woman accordingly adopted the Indian as her son, and
took the whole family into her house..

■t

thee.

Cn.XVI. THE NORTH AMIlHICAN INDIANS. 377

converted savages begged the governor to permit
them to make a little prison at Sillery, and confine
her some time, in order to make her return to her
duty. Pigarouick undertook the commission, and
had her seized ; and wlien she was at the door of
the prison he thus addressed her : — * My niece,
pray to God all night : you will have leisure.
Entreat him to make you wise, and that you may
not continue obstinate, sutfer this imprisonment for
your sins. Take courage ; if you will be obedi-
ent, you will not remain long,*

" She entered the prison very quietly, and re-
mained there all night lying on the ground, without
fire or any covering, although on the second of
January, the most severe month of the year.
Next morning P^re de Rinen visited her with
Pigarouick, and gave her a little bread, and some
straw to lie upon, and he wished that she should
go out a short time into a neighbouring room to
warm herself ; but the savage said she must suffer
this for her faults, and encouraged her to bear this
penance patiently.* At night, however, it was
thought best to release her. It was enough thus to
frighten this poor creature, as the commencement
of discipline to these new Christians, joined to the

•r

'f'he reader may recolkot that in Lower Canada, in the
month of January, the mercury (of Fahrenheit's thermometer)
will fall to 20, 30, oi 40 degrees below zero !

378 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XVI.

melancholy which it gives to the miml of the
savages, soQietimes drives them to extremities, and
even to a violent death ; and the chastisement was
thought sufficient for this young woman, and for
several others."*

The natural result of all this might have been
anticipated. The Jesuit missionaries continued
labouring in the vineyard, but gathered no fruit :
and even their favourite convert himself, Etienne
Pigarouick, whom they lauded as " professing much
ardour in the faith, and preaching in our churches
with a fervour and eloquence which savoured
nothing of the barbarian," after thus inflicting
punishment on his countrywoman for leaving her
husband, had — alas ! soon after to perform a
more ignominious penance for leaving his own
wife.

The excess of zeal, also, which was so often evinced
by the missionaries in their attempts to convert the
Indians of North America, appears to have been
one of the principal causes of their failure. If
we reflect upon what has been generally understood
as the attributes of a zealous missionary among
the heathen, however laudable his intentions, and
eminent his perseverance, yet it is extremely ques-
tionable how far that very fervour which makes
individuals eagerly to volunteer in so laborious.

* Relation de la Nouveile France, 1642-43, ch. 5.

Ch.XVI. the north AMERICAN INDIANS. 379

and often dangerous a service, is ( iculated to pro-
mote the object which is looked for. In tracing
the history of the missions, it will often be found
that an over-sanguine hope of speedily effecting the
conversion which was expected, caused the mission-
ary to adopt those hasty and incautious pro-
ceedings which irrecoverably prevented his ultimate
success.

These premature expectations did not escape
the remark of some of the early ministers of reli-
gion themselves, both Roman Catholic and Pro-
testant. Fhe C. Lallemant, the Superior of the
Jesuit missions in New France, observed, " I
anxiously request that those who have any affection
for this country will not become impatient if they
have no speedy accounts of the results which they
look for. The conversion of savages requires time.
The first six or seven years will appear sterile to
some persons ; and if I were to add ten or twelve
years, I might, perhaps, be nearer the truth. But,
must there not be a beginning to every thing ; and
must we not make the necessary and gradual dis-
positions to attain the object which is proposed ?"*
Similar to this was the observation made by one of
the early Protestant ministers in New England,
when recounting the difficulties which arose in con-
verting the Indians of that quarter, and regretting

'■■;•'( i'.

tv I ■

Mercure Franjois, 1626, vol. xiii.

380 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cu. XVI,

how few the cases were which he stated to have
occurred of their conversion. " And wonder not
that wee mention no more instances at present ; but
consider, first, their infinite distance from Chris-
tianity, having never been prepared thereunto by
any civility at all ; secondly, the difficulty of their
language to us, and of ours to them, there being no
rules to learne either by ; thirdly, the diversity
of their own language to itselfe ; every part of that
countrey having its own dialect, differing mucl.
from the other ; — all which make their comming
into the Gospel the more slow."* ■

To any one who will inspect the Reports which
were annually transmitted to France for nearly half
a century, from the Jesuit missionaries in Canada, it
will appear evident that the unbridled zeal thus ad-
verted to often hurried them into steps which rendered
their labours abortive. Instead of gradually under-
mining his errors, and gaining upon him by slow and
secure approaches, the Jesuits seemed determined to
take the heathen by storm. The consequence was,
that they were foiled in their attem >ts, frequently con-
firming those tribes as their enemies, whom it was
their object to have conciliated as friends. In one
of these Reports a feat is recorded as having been
performed by two fathers of the church, which

* New England's First Fruits in respect of the conversion
of the Indians. 1643.

Ch. XVI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 381

may serve as an instance of the imprudent ardour
above alluded to. . •

P^res Allouez and Dablon — who seem to have
held a sort of roving mission in the interior — when
ascending the Fox river, in the year 1670, observed
a rock which bore the resemblance of a gigantic
human bust. This object was peculiarly regarded
by the neighbouring Mascouton Indians, who were
in the habit of painting it with their finest colours ;
and in passing by, during their excursions, fre-
quently left their little offerings of tobacco, arrows,
&c., in gratitude for their having got through the
adjoining dangerous rapids in safety. Our two
crusaders, however, declared they were shocked at
this sight; and, *' to remove this object of idolatry,"
said they, " we had it taken down by manual labour,
and thrown into the bottom of ihe river, never
to appear more."* Let us turn for a moment
to another of these missionary Reports. A party
of Hurons having come down from a great distance
to Quebec, . ** We made them enter our chapel,"
says P^re Le Jeune, " where they were much
astonished. We had placed the images of Saint
Xavier and Saint Ignatius upon our altar. They
regarded these with surprise, thinking them living per-
sons, and asked if they were not divinities, and if
they dressed themselves in the ornaments they saw

* Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1670-71, page 163.

382 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii, XVI.

upon the altar. Father Brebeuf havingexplained what
these images meant, they put their hands to their
mouth — their usual sign of astonishment. There
were also three other images of the Virgin in
different places. The Indians successively de-
manded what these were, one after the other. The
father* informing them that it was the mother of
Him who made every thing ; they laughed, asking
how that could be, and how one person could have
three mothers, for they supposed these representa-
tions were of three different persons ; and it was
explained to them that these only signified one and
the same person. O, how good it would be," adds
P^re Le Jeune, *' to have all the mysteries of
our holy faith well represented!"* But, had this
party of Hurons thought lit to have taken these
three representations, together with the images
of the saints Xavier and Ignatius, and tossed them
all into the St. Lawrence, no doubt the whole body
of the Jesuits would have been shocked and indig-
nant at the fancied profanation. Would these
savages, however, have been more faulty than P^res
AUouez and Dablon, when they demolished an
ancient fragment of rock immemorially prized by
the Indians, and which, for aught these fathers
knew, might have been as much a figurative and
symbolical representation among the Mascoutons,

* Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1663, p. 183.

\%\

Cii.XVI, THE NORTH AMERTCAN INDIANS. 383

as were the images of their own chapel to the
Jesuits of the college at Quebec ?

There is a judicious suggestion connected with
this subject to be met with in one of the letters
written from the interior, in 1 648, by P^re Rague-
neau, who was at one time superior of all the Jesuit
missions in New France. " Were I to give my
advice to those who commence the conversion
of the Indians, I would say, that we ought to
be very cautious in condemning many things which
we remark in their customs, and which clash
with the ideas of those who have been educated
in a different statfe of society. It is very easy
to accuse of irreligion those who are only charge-
able with folly, and to mistake for diabolical prac-
tices that which has nothing in it supernatural.
And we then feel ourselves obliged to forbid,
as impious, many things which are innocent, or
which, at most, are foolish customs, but not
criminal ones. These might be got the better
of more gently, and, I may say, more effectually,
by gradually enlightening the savages, who at
length would, of themselves, abandon those cus-
toms, not for conscience sake as crimes, but from
judgment and reflection as follies. It is difficult to
learn every thing in a day. Time is the instructor
most to be relied upon."* . . .

Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1647-48, ch. 9.

384 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. XVF.

Of these Indian customs, so often and so un-
justly attacked as sinful and diabolical, but which
better deserved the name of foolish than criminal,
was the practice or profession of the juggler.
This custom has continued almost universal
among the North American Indians to the present
day, and has always formed a great obstruction to
their conversion. These native conjurers — the
Jongleurs of New France, and the Powahs of
New England — have already been adverted to ;
and are described by Hakluyt as '* great majicians,
great soothsayers, callers of divils ; priests who
serve instead of phisitions and chyrurgions." And
Drn Mather obser^^es, " In most of their dangerous
distempers it is a Powah that must be sent for, that
is, a priest who has more familiarity with Satan
than his. neighbours. This conjurer comes, and
roars and howls and uses magical ceremonies over
the sick man, and will be well paid for it when
he has done. If this don't effect a cure, the man's
time is come, and there's an end."* The influence
and authority which the juggler enjoys among his
countrymen, whether as priest, prophet, or physi-
cian, is extensive and powerful. The superstitious
and uninstructed Indians of North America are
at present as much inclined to give credit to things
supernatural, as the Christian nations of Europe
were to believe in witchcraft not two hundred years

* Mather's Magnalia, b. iii. (Life of Eliot).

Ch»XVI. the north AMERICAN INDIANS. 385

»f

<-r

ago. In addition to his other impositions, the
conjurer arrogates to himself a close communion
with the Great Spirit, whose aid he affects to
propitiate, and whose operations he pretends to
foresee. Mr. Henry observes in his Travels, " In
all parts of the country, and among all the nations
I have seen, particular individuals arrogate to
themselves the art of healing, but principally by
means of pretended sorcery ; and operations of this
sort are always paid for by a present made before
they are begun.'** The conjurer, however, was
sometimes rather roughly handled by his employers.
If he prophesied falsely he lost his credit, and
if he prescribed unskilfully he stood a chance
of losing his life. We have already seen how
the grand chief of the Tonicas killed the physician
by whom his son was attended in an illness of
which he died ; and Mr. Henry relates an instance
which he witnessed of an Indian sorcerer being
stabbed to death by a Chippewa, whose brother
was supposed to have died in consequence of his
spells or prescriptions.!

In the early Reports transmitted from the mission-
aries in Canada, the obstruction they met with
from the jugglers is every where deeply complained
of. The French priests were often looked upon by
the Indians as sorcerers themselves ; and the

* Henry's Travels, part i. ch. 14.

c c

t Ibid.

386 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XVI.

native conjurers, of course, eyed them with jealousy
and hatred. In one of these Reports they state
that " the Indians raised horrible calumnies against
us, calling us sorcerers, impostors, magicians, who
caused the frost, destroyed the corn, poisoned
the rivers, and inflicted mortal diseases ; '* and the
hostility of these men was evidently one of the
principal causes of the hardships suffered by the
missions in the interior. The French, probably
without much difficulty, detected and incautiously
exposed their impostures ; and it was not to be
expected that the jugglers would tamely submit
to be deprived of the benefits and estimation which
they had hitherto enjoyed among their countrymen.
" I need not describe," says P^re Marest, ** how
often I have been subjected to insults, and run the
risk of being killed by them, if the Divine Pro-
tector had not secured me from their fury. It
happened that one of them would have split my
head with his tomohawke, had I not suddenly
turned away at the moment his arm was lifted
to destroy me."t

Notwithstanding the great influence which the
jugglers possess among the tribes, they appear to
be the most unprincipled of all the Indian popula-
tion ; and, therefore, probably the most opposed to

* Relation de la Nouvelle France, 1657-58. (Preface.)
t Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, vol. vi. p. 320.

Cii. XVI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 387

every measure which might lead to the conversion
of their countrymen. Mr. Hunter, in noticing the
Indian sentiments respecting natural religion, and
their belief in being accountable to the Great
Spirit, observes, " It is a fact worthy of remark,
that neither frigidity, indifference, nor hypocrisy
in regard to sacred things L known to exist among
them, excepting occasionally the young and incon-
siderate, some of their prophets or priests, and all
their conjurers."*

It may be proper to mention, however, that
besides the conjurers acting as priests and physi-
cians, there are among many of the Indian tribes
other individuals who practise the art of healing ;
and there can be no doubt — if the accounts of
travellers and others who have experienced their
aid are to be credited — that in many cases the
Indian treatment of the sick, and particularly of
the wounded, is attended with a success not to
be surpassed by the regular and graduated practi-
tioner among the whites. But these cases, perhaps,
were not of a difficult nature. It is very different,
however, with regard to their jugglers, whose treat-
ment of the sick is exclusively limited to pretended
spells and magical operations. In travelling through
the interior of the Indian country a few years ago,
I had the opportunity of observing, near Lake Win-
nipic, a Cree (or Knistinaux) woman, who had been

1 1

-I

* Hunter's Memoirs, p. 219.

388 HISTORICAL NOTF RESPECTING C«. XVI.

for several days watching over a sick daughter,
about twelve years of age, apparently extremely ill.
The anxious mother seemed to rest all hopes of
recovery in unceasingly waving over her child
the family conjuring-stickj which had probahly
been consecrated by one of their jugglers. This
holy instrument was ornamented with painted
patches, feathers, porcupine quills, and rags of
various colours. Upon inquiring into the symp-
toms of the child's illness, the Reverend Mr. West,
who was with me, undertook to select some of the
medicines we happened to have with us ; and,
having obtained a promise that they should be faith-
fully administered, we proceeded on our jo'Tiiey,
leaving the mother flourishing her enchanted rod
over ihe patient with great solemnity. In the
following week we returned by the same route,
when, upon inquiring after the sick child, we found
that the prescriptions had been regularly attended to
by the mother, and that the patient was almost
entirely recovered. With the consent of this
Knistinaux matron, therefore, I brought away the
magical wand in triumph ; and both my travelling
companion and myself no doubt felt that we had
taken a better mode of endeavouring to remove
an object of Indian superstition, than what, in a
similar case, would probably have been adopted
by the more hasty zeal of fathers Allouez
and Dablon. This incident may be thought a
trivial one ; but it was well observed by P^re

Cb. XVI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 389

)\\

Ragueneau, that these, and similar customs, would
be best got rid of " by gradually enlightening the
savages, who would abandon them, not from
conscience' sake as crimes, but from judgment and
reflection as follies." i j • i

There is no circumstance whatever that would
prove of more solid and permanent use to the
Indians of North America, than to introduce
among them the advantages which flow from
medical science. This is recommended both by
Dr. Morse and Mr. Hunter ; but the benefits
arising from it would, I conceive, prove much more
extensive than even the cure or prevention of
disease. Nothing would tend so rapidly to put
a stop to the reign of sorcery and conjuration
throughout^ all the Indian countries ; and that
alone would remove one of the grand obstacles
to their civilization and conversion. The reflecting
Indian would gradually perceive the benefits he
had obtained ; and instead of accusing the Chris-
tian of injuring him by his supposed incantations,
he would regard him as a successful protector from
the mischievous impostures of his own conjuring
priests. Gratitude and confidence would follow
the exertions of true medical skill, and the result
wouid be, that the Indians could not fail to become
more inclined to be guided by the religious instruc-
tions of a people from whom they were convinced
they had procured such substantial advantages —
whose judgment they had learned to respect, and

> !

hii

390

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cn. XVF.

whose benevolence they had experienced in the
removal or alleviation of those diseases, which make
such havock among the Indian race.

The ravages of the small-pox alone — a disease
introduced into America by the Europeans — have
often depopulated whole Indian nations. Umfre-
ville, in his account of the Northern tribes, has
given a lamentable description of the pestilent
visitation of this malady in his day. " Numbers
began to die on every side ; the infection spread
rapidly, and hundreds lay expiring together without
assistance, without courage, or the least glimmering
of hope of recovery. For when an Indian finds
himself sick, he resigns himself up to a state of
stupefaction, which hinders him from using even
those means that may be in his power towards
removing the cause of his malady." — " Without
the least medicinal help, or that common aid which
their case demanded, a prey to hunger and disease,
these forlorn Indians lay in their tents expiring
under the accumulated weight of every scourge
which human nature can experience. Wolves and
other wild beasts infested and entered their habita-
tions, and dragged them out, while life yet remained,
to devour their miserable morbid carcases: even
their faithful dogs, worn out with hunger, joined
in this unnatural depredation. Heads, legs, and
arms lay indiscriminately scattered about, as food
for the birds of the air and the beasts of the moun-
tains ; and, as none were buried, the very air

Cu.XVI. THE NOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 391

became infectious, and tended to waft about the
baneful contagion."*

At a later period, and in a difierent part of
North America, we find a similar account in the
Travels of Captains Lewis and Clarke. In noticing
the ancient Maha village, they state that it once
had consisted of three hundred cabins, but had
been burnt a few years before, when the small-pox
had destroyed four hundred men, and numbers of
women and children. " The accounts we have
had," say these travellers, " of the effects of the
small'pox on that nation, are most distressing. It
is not known in what way it was first communi-
cated to them, though probably by some war- party.
They had been a military and powerful people ;
but when these warriors saw their strength wasting
before a malady which they could not resist, their
phrensy was extreme. They burned their village,
and many of them put to death their wives and
children, to save them from so cruel an afflic-
tion, and that they all might go together to some
better country. "t

These are melancholy pictures ; but they tend to
shew how important it would be to introduce the
advantages of medical science into countries where,
from ignorance, and from the apathy of despair,
disease is accompanied with such dreadful results.

■ I

i. I

ii'^

* Umfreville's Hudson's Bay, p. 92.

t Lewis and Clarke's Travels, vol. i. chap. 2.

392 HISTOUICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XVI

The French missionaries, when they had it in their
power, appear to have been extremely attentive and
useful to the sick of the Indians among whom they
resided ; and it is very probable that in those cases
— not very numerous, perhaps — when they gained
advantages over the conjuring priests, or medicine-
merif it was chiefly in consequence of their medical
assistance, limited as that must have been. " Thank
God," says P^re Marest, in writing from tlie
Illinois, " thank God, that our village is now
purged of these conjurers. The care we have
taken of the sick, the remedies we administer to
them, most of which have cured their complaints,
have caused these impostors to lose their credit,
and compelled them to remove to other places.*
And, in New England, Mr. Eliot mentions, in
1648, " I find by God's blessing on our means
of physick and chyrurgery, the Indians are already
convinced of the folly of pow-owingj and are easily
persuaded to give it over as a sinful and diabolical
practice." t i

It would, therefore, be well worthy of the atten-
tion of those numerous and benevolent societies,
established both in the Old world and the New,
who have evinced such anxiety for the improvement
of the Indians of North America, to consider
whether a portion of their funds, which have been

* Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, vol. vi. p. 320.
t Hutchinson's History of Massachussets, ch. 6.

Ch. XVI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 393

SO long appropriated exclusively to tlie use of the
religious departments of the missions, might not,
for the present, be usefully transferred to the sup-
port of medical Indian establishments.

It has been already noticed how the mortality
which at one time raged among the Hurons, in
consequence of the small-pox (introduced, as Char-
levoix says, by the French *), was ascribed by the
Indians to the diabolical sorceries of the Christians
— a charge, no doubt, raised and circulated by the
native conjurers. A similar accusation is men-
tioned by Dr. Morse as operating upon Indians,
even close to the American settlements, at the
present day ; and nothing can shew more strongly
the little benefit that accrued from the labours of
the early missionaries, than the influence which the
jugglers have still retained among their countrymen
in those quarters where the missions had been
established. " The medicine influence, if I may so
designate it," says Dr. Morse, ** which is hostile to
schools and Christianity, and to civilization gene-
rally, is strongly felt by these Indians. They are
afraid to have priests come among them, because
it happened that immediately after one had visited
them, about the year 1799, the small-pox was
introduced among them from Canada, and carried
off nearly half their number. They were made to
believe, by their medicine-men, that the Great

■1 1

i' I

* Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle B'rance, liv.9.

•tf

394

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XVI.

Spirit was angry with them for receiving this priest
and his instructions, and that the fatal disease was
sent among them to punish them for this offence."*
And yet L'Arbre Croche, the place where this
tribe — a remnant of the once powerful nation
of the Ottawas — now resides, was, for upwards
of half a century, the seat of one of the principal
missions of the Jesuits, from whom many of the
ancestors of these Indians had received the rites
of baptism. In the year 1799 there remained
among them only one baptized Indian, an old
man; and their jongleurs seemed then, as they
seem now, resolved to exert their influence in pre-
venting any progress towards the conversion of
their brethren. For even when Dr. Morse held his
official conference with some of their principal
chiefs in the year 1820, he states that the same
influence was manifest during his interview with
them, and they believed, that if he paid a visit to
their tribe for the purposes intended, it would be
followed by the displeasure of the Great Spirit, by
pestilence and death. '

The reader may, perhaps, imagine that this tribe,
which — in the nineteenth century, two hundred years
after Christianity had first been introduced into the
country — thus declined to receive a Christian
mission, must be the most rude and savage of
the aborigines. " But," says Dr. Morse, " these

Morse's Report, Appendix, p. 24.

Ch.XVI. the north AMERICAN INDIANS. 395

Indians are much in advance, in point of improve-
ment, appearance, and manners, of alL Indians
whom I visited. Their dress was in the Indian
style, neat, and highly ornamented with silver
bands, plates, &c., in various forms, received prin-
cipally as presents from Drummond's Island. The
women and children, who are apart by themselves,
had a cleanly appearance ; in countenance and
manners intelligent and modest. Their warriors,
who occupied a separate station, would appear well
on any of our military parades— they are a tall,
straight, and well-faced band of men. The chiefs
are shrewd, sensible, well-behaved men, most of
them advanced beyond middle age, and of venerable
appearance."* He also states, that they have been
long in the habit of cultivating their lands and
raising corn, not only sufficient to supply their own
wants, but to carry the surplus to market at Michil-
limakinac, where they have sometimes sold hree
thousand bushels in the season. . j m i?^

However advanced this tribe of Indians might
be in point of improvement, *' it was evident," adds
Dr. Morse, " that these people, from some source,
were made to fear that my visit, should they listen
to my proposal, would be followed by a similar
calamity (the small-pox) ; and some effectual means,
therefore, must be used to remove this influence
before any thing can be done eflfectually for their

I. 'I

Morse's Report, Appendix, p. 23.

i M

396

HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cn. XVI.

improvement. An appeal to their good sense, and
reference to what has been effected among some
other of our Indian tribes, I think would accomplish
the purpose."

But let it be recollected, that in every such
appeal, the good sense of the missionary must
be exerted, as well as that of the Indian ; and while
tlie former endeavours to root out the superstition
which often leads that uninstructed race to ascribe
natural occurrences to extraordinary interpositions
of the Great Spirit, his instructor should, on his
part, be cautious in believing that any supernatural
interference of the Supreme Being is specially
exhibited in his own behalf, or in the promotion
of that work of conversion in which he is engaged.
While the remnants of the Ottawa nation are
called upon to forsake the superstitious impression
that the Great Spirit will inflict upon them a fatal
malady if they permit the introduction of Christian
missionaries, the latter should avoid every super-
stitious feeling of divine interposition, such as Char-
levoix entertained when he recorded the destruction
of a heathen village, and the massacre of its
inhabitants. " Shortly after P^re Jogues was
taken prisoner, an entire Huron village was de-
stroyed. A band of Iroquois entered it at break of
day, and, before the sun rose, not a single cabin
remained that was not reduced to ashes, nor an
inhabitant of any age or sex, except twenty that
escaped through the flames, who were not mur-

Cif. XVI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 397

dered. This village had always declined to receive
the Gospel, and had carried its impie'.^ so far as to
defy the God of the Christians. Its destruction
was regarded as a punishment from Heaven, and
many profited by so signal a mark of the Divine
vengeance."*

The doctrine of a particular and superintending
Providence is believed by the unconverted Indian
as well as by the true Christian ; but, in the inter-
pretation given to the Divine dispensations, every
degree of caution is requisite ; and there has not
been a more fatal error committed by missionaries,
than rashly appealing to passing events as a proof of
the special interposition of the Deity. While the mis-
sionary, therefore, endeavours to eradicate the super-
stitious notions of the North American Indian, let him
guard his own mind against those seeds of incipient
enthusiasm which often produce a similar supersti-
tion in those who repair to the wilderness for the
purpose of converting the heathen, and who, in
pursuing their meritorious object, so frequently
adopt those very measures which ultimately prevent
their success. ' ' . , . ; ",

It is true that, in general, the missionaries have
not acknowledged such failure: on the contrary,
they have been disposed to claim high merit for the
numbers, as well as the zeal of their alleged con-
verts. But in this both Roman Catholic and

* Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. 6.

398 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cii. XVI.

Protestant — each in their day — have deeply de-
ceived themselves. The silence and attention
shewn by a congregation of North American In-
dians neither proves that they understand what is
preached to them, nor, if understood, that they
have given their assent to the doctrines of the
preacher. " The Indians," writes the Baron de la
Hontan, " listen to all that the Jesuits preach,
without contradicting them. They are content with
joking among themselves on the subject of the
sermons delivered in the church by the fathers ;
and, before any Indian will speak openly to a
Frenchman on these subjects, he must be well
satisfied, indeed, of his discretion and his friend-
ship."* P^re Charlevoix himself admits, that " It
must not be supposed a savage is convinced be-
cause he seems to assent to what is expounded
to him ; because, in general, they dislike nothing so
much as disputation, and sometimes from pure
complaisance, sometimes through particular views
of interest, and still more frequently from indolence
or indifference, they give the marks of full con-
viction with respect to matters regarding which
they have not paid the slightest attention, or which
they have not been able to comprehend." f When
Mr. Hunter, in modern times, was among the
Grand Osage Indians, " I saw a number of white

* Memoires de la Hontan, p. 124.

t Charlevoix, Hist, de la Nouvelle France, liv. 5.

Ch. XVI. THE NOR': H AMERICAN INDIANS. 399

people,' says he, " who, from different mo-
tives, resorted to this nation. Among them was
a clergyman who preached several times to the
Indians through an interpreter. He was the
first Christian preacher I had ever heard or
seen. The Indians treated him with great respect,
and listened to his discourses with profound atten-
tion, hut could not, as I heard them observe, com-
prehend the doctrines he wished to inculcate. It
may be appropriately mentioned here, that the
Indians are accustomed in their own debates never
to speak but one at a time, while all others, consti-
tuting the audience, invariably listen with patience
and attention till their turn to speak arrives. This
respect is still more particularly observed towards
strangers, and the slightest deviation from it would
be regarded as rude, indecorous, and highly offen-
sive. It is this trait in ttie Indian character which
many of the missionaries mistake for a serious
impression made on their minds, and which has led
to many exaggerated accounts of their conversion to
Christianity."*

• Who the preacher was that is thus alluded to by
Mr. Hunter, or to what sect he belonged, is not
mentioned, nor is it material to inquire. His error,
no doubt, consisted in not adapting his discourses
to the capacity of his hearers; nor confining his
instructions to the more simple and intelligible

Hunter's Memoirs, p. 42.

400 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Ch. XVI.

truths, leaving to the progress of time to mature
and enlarge the conception of those to whom he
addressed himself. Heckewelder, in praising the
copiousness of the Indian languages, says : " We
see our ministers, when once familiar vii.'h the
language of the nation with whom they reside,
preach to them, without the least difficulty, on the
most abstruse subjects of the Christian Faiths *
It is unwise in the missionaries among the Indians
ever to touch upon such subjects, either in their
own language, or in any other. All classes and
descriptions of Christians must admit that there
occur many theological points connected with, or
arising from the sacred Scriptures, which are placed
above the reach of human intellect. It is upon
these that Christians have disagreed ; and in the
heat of discussion to which the difference has often
given rise, each party has been led to. assign a
paramount degree of importance to conformity of
opinion in those mystical points of controversy
to which they respectively lean; Missionaries
under such impressions cannot be expected easily
to relinquish the peculiar doctrines which may have
hitherto occupied so much of their zealous atten-
tion : and although, when locally established in
their several missions, there may be little call for
controversial discussion, yet habit and education
may naturally have the effect of inducing them

* Heckewelder's Account of the Indians, ch. 10.

Cil. XVI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 401

to lay too much importance upon points lliab
can only tend to perplex the judgment of tiie
Indian, and make him the more unwilliii(»to adopt
a i-eligion which, if so preached to him, he cannot
be expected to comprehend. ■■' ' ' • . »

Would it not be better that the Christian teachers,
in endeavouring to instruct the Indian, should con-
fine themselves to those simple truths upon wliich
Christians of every denomination have agreed, und
where there exists no subject of serious difference
or dispute ? And, further than this, might he not he
safely left to the operation of time, and to his own
powers of reflection, which are certainly in no
respect inferior to those of his white brethren ? . '

Hunter states, that the Indians are acute observersy
and look much more deeply into these matters than
people commonly believe; and that over-sanguine
reformers go among them with very erroneous views
of their character. '* I have myself known young
missionaries, and others also," says he, " who were
sent among them, and whose correct intentions I do
not pretend to question, to deal out long lectures on
morality, original sin, vicarious atonement, &c.
The disposition of the Indians never to interrupt
a talker by rising, nor even by yawning and other
indications of uneasiness, often causes the philan-
thropist to flatter himself that he has enlisted theic
whole affections and judgment in the cause, when,
perhaps, they feel themselves insulted. For when
they are dismissed, and converse among themselves

D D

'*■

402 IIISTOIUCAL NOTES UE3I'KCTlNCi Cir. Wf.

on these subjects, they say, * Tlie white men tell the
Indians to be honest ! The Indians have no prison,
no jail for unfortunate debtors; no locks on their
doors.' And when tlie preachers make their dis-
course more evangelical, they do not comprehend
them ; which shews they should become mere
acquainted with metaphysical disquisitions before
any attempts are made to teach them the mysteries
of Christianity." *

This, from one so well acquainted with the
Indian character, conveys a serious lesson to the
missionary ; and if we calmly consider what the
Board of Missions in America reported in September
1821, on the subject of those persons whom they
had been preparing for that vocation, the lesson
surely does not appear to be uncalled for. <

" It should be mentioned, with devout ascriptions
of pr«,ise," says the published Report of that Board,
" that the great Head of the church has made provi-
sion for a succession of ministers and missionaries in
the extensive revivals of religion with which the
churches of our land have been favoured for several
years past. In the progress of those revivals, many
young persons of both sexes have, in the judgment
of enlightened charity, become the subjects of
renewing grace ; and have had their minds enlarged
to contemplate the wants of mankind, and their
hearts filled with compassion for the millions
remaining in all the darkness and misery of pagan-

* Hunter's Memoirs, ch. 15.

Cu. XVI. THE XORTll AMERICAN INDIANS. 403

ism. It is not extravagant to hope, that from
among the numerous youths whose souls appear to
be imbued with a disposition to labour for the sal-
vation of men, a host will hereafter be marshalled
to carry on the war against Satan, in many parts of
the world where he has heretofore held an undis-
puted empire. Never before were half so many
young men in a course of education for the ministry
among ourselves, as at the present time; and it
may be safely asserted, that hundreds of these
young men were first led to think of becoming
preachers of the Gospel, by the interest which they
felt in missions to the heathen., and by the effect of
these missions in exposing the wants and miseries
of the greater part of the world, dead in sin, without
God, and without hope." *

These, surely, are not the sentiments with which
the missionary should go forth, in all reasonable
humility, to convert the heathen. However sincere
the faith, and good the intentions of the preacher,
he may rest assured that, if influenced by such
impressions, his preaching will be in vain, and that, as
far, at least, as regards the North American Indian,
his labours will prove fruitless. In deceiving him-
self as to his supposed success, the missionary will
only mislead the benevolence of his patrons. Let
the Christian, thankful for the light of Revelation,
.evince that consideration for the unenlightened

* See Cluirch JMis.sionary Register. August, iScj.

lO'l^ lllsrOHICAf. NOTKS UF.SPtCTING Cil. XVI.

Indian to wliicli liic lutter is justly entitled, and
which no one will prohubly withhold Ironi hiui, who
reflects upon the following passage from those
Memoirs which have been so oftin, and with such
siitisfaction, referred to in these Notes. Hunter,
when describing what occurred upon breaking up
their winter encampment in tiie course of that
long and dangerous expedition which he and an
Indian party made across the American continent
to the Pacific Ocean, thus observes : *' At the
breaking up of the winter, having supplied ourselves
with such things as were necessary, and the situa-
tion aftbrded, all our party visited the spring from
which we had procured our supplies of water, and
there offered up our orisons to the Great Spirit for
having preserved us in health and safety, and for
having supplied all our wants. This is the constant
practice of the Osages, Kanzas, and many other
Indian nations, on breaking up their winter encamp-
ments, and is by no means an unimportant cere-
mony. On the contrary, the occasion calls forth
all the devotional feelings of the soul ; and you
there witness the silent but deeply impressive com^
munion which the unsophisticated native of the
forest holds with his Creator." * • • "' '

And yet are we to be told that these people are
" dead in sin, without God, and without hope !"
l]ut the pleasing testimony above recorded by

llmiier's Mc'iuoii>., p. 77.

Cii.XV'I. THK NOUTIl AMKUICAV INDIANS. 405

Mr. Hunter respecting tribes by whom he was
adopted, and utnong whom he resided from his
boyliood, may tor a moment be contrasted with an
opposite account of the same Indians which was
comnmnicated to Dr. Morse while compiUng his
Indian lleport for the use of the American govern-
ment. The passage will be found referred to in the
index of that work, under the gloomy title oiMorai
Dai'kness of the Osages.

** The moral darknfcss in which this people are
involved, is greater than has yet been communicated
to the Christian world. It has been Commonly
reported that they worship God, and acknowledge
him as the great First Cause of all things. This,
however, will, I believe, be found to be a misrepre-
sentation. From the best information I can ob-
tain, it appears that they are an idolatrous race,
and that they worship the sun, the earth, the moon,
the thunder, and the stars. They worship those
creatures of God as creators. If asked who made
the sun, moon, earth, 5cc., they cannot tell. Hence
it is evident that they have no knowledge of
Him who made the heavens, and the earth, and all
things that are therein. O how apt is the hainan
mind to forsake and forget what is right, and to
learn and remember what is wrong ! How apt
to forget the God who made and governs all things,
and to worship the creatures of God, or the work-
manship of men's hands ! The Osages will rise
in the morning before the day dawns, black their

406 HISTORICAL NOTES RESPECTING Cu. XVI.

faces with earth, look towards the rising sun, and,
with an affected air, pray sometimes until the sun
has risen.* But their gods are not able to change
their hearts, or put right spirits within them. It is
no uncommon thing to see them start, immediately
after their morning devotion, on some mischievous
and atrocious expedition, perhaps to murder some
of a neighbouring tribe, or steal their substance.
I will mention the following as an instance of
their readily learning that which is sinful, and their
proneness to do evil." And what does the reader sup-
pose this Indian proneness to do evil amounted to ?
— " Many of them," adds their reformer, " are play-
ing cards around me while I am writing ; and
uttering in broken English, the oaths which are so
commonly uttered at the card table ; both the card-
playing and the profanity they have, doubtless,
learned from the tradero who pass much of their
time in the village." f ^

* Many Indian customs are reviled by those who are igno-
rant of the meaning of them. The ceremony alluded to, as
Mr. Hunter informed me, must have occurred in the course
of some of their solemnities while mourning for their dead.
Captain Franklin, in noticing a party of Northern Indians
who were lamenting the loss of some of their relations who
had been drowned, says: " They bewailed the melancholy
accident every morning and evening, by repeating the names
of the pernons in a loud singing tone, which was frequently
interrupted by bursts of ieara."— Captain Franklin" '! Narrative^
^c. ch. 3. p. 472.

t See Appendix, (E e) to Dr. Morse's Indian Report.

Ch. XVI. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 40?

This, it must be confessed, savours somewhat of
the olden time, — of those times when Francis
the First pronounced the Indians of America ta
be " without the knowledge of God, and without
the use of re<ison:" — when Henry the Fourth
denounced them as ** atheists sunk in ignorance
and infidelity**— and when our own Act of Par-
liament pleasantly preambled upon the " charms
sorceries, and Satanical delusions" of the infidel
salvage. But, with reference to these abomina-
tions of the Osages, would it not have been wiser
to have recommended to the government of the
United States to begin by reforming its own
white traders, than thus to have reviled the Indians
for card-playing and uttering oaths in broken
English, the meaning of which they probably did
not understand, and to the use of which they could
aicribe no sinfulness or immorality ?

It is not under such a system that we may expect
'* to reduce the savage nations, by just and gentle
manners, to the love of civil society and the Christian
religion." * The Christian missionary of the pre-
sent day may not, perhaps, be disposed to inveigh
against the Indians with the coarse and unbecoming
language resorted to by many of the early preachers
who attempted their conversion; but this is not
sufficient; he ought to evince, in every respect

* Royul Charter to William Penn.

408

HISTOKICAL NOTES &C.

Ch. xvr.

more candour and moderation than was generally
shewn in former times. If, proud of superior
acquirements, the ministers of religion commence
the duty of their missions by supposing the unin-
structed Indian to be " dead in sin, and without
hope," let them recollect the words of that apostle
who, in a case that may be fairly deemed analo-
gous, declared, '* Of a truth I perceive that God is
no respecter of persons : but in every nation, he
that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is
accepted with him."

Impressed with such conviction, the missionary
may, in due time, reap the benefit of his labours,
and be enabled successfully to inculcate, in all
their purity and simplicity, the principles of that
religion to which every well-wisher of the Indian
race would hope to see them truly, firmly, and
permanently converted. ' •

THE END.

PRINTED BY J. MOVES, GHEVILLE STREET, LONDON-

Ch. XVL

Ejenerally
superior
)mmence
he unin-
without
t apostle
i analo-
it God is
Ltion, he
iness, is

ssionary
labours,
!, in ail
of that
3 Indian
ly, and