Sketches of the History, Manners, and Customs of the North American Indians

Front matter

NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. SKETCHES or THE HISTORY, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. BY JAMES BUCHANAN, Esa. his majesty's consul for the state of new york. LONDON: PRINTED FOR BLACK, YOUNG, AND YOUNG, TAVISTOCK-STREET. MDCCCXXIV. LONDON PRINTED BY W. CLOWES, Northumberland .court DEDICATION. TO HIS EXCELLENCY LIEUT.-GENERAL THE EARL DALHOUSIE, G.C.B. GOVERNOR-GENERAL AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF ALL HIS MAJESTY'S POSSESSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA, *c. *c. lee. Well aware, my Lord, of the effects produced by splendid talents, great personal worth, and hereditary rank, in promoting any work of benevolence, I solicited and obtained permission to dedicate the following pages to your Excellency. It is quite unnecessary to speak here of your Lordship's deeds ; they are too recent, too illustrious, too intimately connected with the history and the glory of the British Empire.

Wishing your Excellency long to enjoy a reputation thus acquired and merited, I have the honour to remain, Your Lordship's Most obedient, humble servant, JAS. BUCHANAN. Nmv-Vork, 1st May, 1821. b

Preface

. In attempting to lay before the Public a sketch of the History of the Red Indians of North America, with a view to excite a general sympathy in behalf of an oppressed and suffering people, I am aware of the great importance of my undertaking, and sensibly feel my inability to stand forward as an advocate, in any degree equal to the task I have thus imposed on myself. With but few exceptions, the American Indians have been abandoned by the Christian world, as a cruel, blood-thirsty, and treacherous race, incapable of civilization, and therefore, unworthy of that attention which the inhabitants of other barbarous climes have received from the zeal and devotion of many learned and pious members of society. — Thousands have raised their voices against the wrongs of our black brethren of Africa.

From one end of Europe to the other, the humane have been aroused to a sense of their injuries, and are now actively engaged in the prosecution of every measure calculated to alleviate their sufferings ; while but few have been stimulated to similar exertions in behalf of the Red American Indians, from whose native soil the wealth of a great portion of the civilized world has been derived. The African is submissive ; his patient endurance of labour renders his servile and debased state important to us; he is therefore, preserved. The North American Indian, on the contrary, prefers banishment, and even death, to slavery; but his lands are serviceable to us, therefore his extinction b

PREFACE.

. VIII seems to be desired. The one submits to the yoke, — we oppress and pity him : the other disdains to become the servant of man — and his whole race is devoted to gradual extermination ; for such must be the inevitable consequence of all those measures which have been, and still are in operation against him, though their infliction is marked by different shades of guilt. In a few ages, perhaps a few years, these sons of Edom will be so far removed from the reach or eye of any but those engaged in the work of destruction, that no trace will be left to posterity of the wrongs which have been perpetrated upon the Aborigines of the great American Continent. 1 confess that I had no other idea of an American In dian, than that he was the most ferocious of human beings. Whenever he became named, his scalping-knife, tomahawk warwhoop, and thirst of blood, were at once associated in my mind ; and hence I was led to concur in the almost universal opinion, that he was totally incapable of being ren dered subservient to the arts of civilized life.

In the course of my travels through the United States and Upper Canada, I met with several Indians, whose external wretchedness in duced me to make -inquiries as to their present condition; and although many persons to whom I addressed myself appeared to be perfectly indifferent on the subject, and spoke of them in the most degrading terms, I was led to seek for further information respecting their character, in the pursuit of which I have been engaged for three years. Little did I imagine, that one of the most interesting sub jects that can present itself to the human mind, would open upon me ; the full developement of which would require the united and extended labours of men of talent and research, the absolute devotion of their time and energies, to place before the world an impartial view of the Indians of North America, whose virtues, independence of mind, aud nobleness of cha racter, have procured from their oppressors, as a justification

PREFACE.

. IX of those measures of severity which have been practised toward them, the most foul and unjust representations. They have been gradually wasting away from the effects of cruelty and oppression, unheeded and unpitied, until their aggregate num bers, it is conjectured, has been reduced to less than two millions. It has hitherto been the policy of those by whom the North American Indians have been most oppressed, to represent them as very contemptible in numbers; and although they have become nearly extinct on the borders, and in settled portions of the continent, it may be fairly presumed that the more war like and active tribes, have removed into the interior, as they have been found in numerous bodies by parties engaged in all the late expeditions. A sufficient number, however, yet re mains to excite our sympathy.

The wrongs which have been inflicted upon their whole race, have furnished ample regions for the occupancy of civilized man. And does not our past neglect of their suffering and abandoned state, loudly call upon us to make reparation for the ills they have endured — to re turn to acts of justice, mercy, and kindness; and, though late, to recommend to the surviving Indians the religion we profess, by all those means which the gospel enjoins ? In the earnest hope that many may be led to a serious contemplation of this great and glorious object — that many with the talents, energy, and benevolence of a Wilberforce, both in the United States and in Great Britain, may yet be found to interpose their power and energies in behalf of a race destitute of the use of letters — to vindicate their character, and to set forth some por tion of their wrongs, I have been led to prosecute my inquiries respecting the North American Indians.

While engaged in these pursuits, I learnt that the Historical Society of Philadelphia, actuated by a laudable desire to pre serve an account of the Aborigines, had requested the Rev. John Heckewelder, a Moravian Missionary, to furnish a de tail of the information he had acquired during a residence of X

PREFACE.

. the greater portion of his life among the Indians" of Pennsyl vania and the adjoining states. That gentleman, although seventy-five years of age, readily engaged in the arduous under taking, and his " Historical Account of the Indian Nations" has been puhlished in the transactions of the Society, who have thus rendered an important service to science and to mankind ; while the reverend author has left on record an unparalleled example of benevolence, sympathy, patience, and self-devotion. Erom the fulness of his work, I deemed the further prosecu tion of my labours unnecessary, lest my efforts might appear to many as a mere presumptuous display. I had, therefore, abandoned all intention of placing myself before the public ; but upon my arrival in London in the summer of 1820, having casualty spoken ofthe interest I had taken in the present state of the North American Indians, it was suggested, that from my observations and researches, which extended to other tribes than those more particularly noticed by Mr. Heckewelder, to gether with extracts from such parts of his useful and interest ing volume * as tend to confirm and illustrate the facts I had collected, or the views I had taken of the subject, the Public might be presented with a work, in some degree calculated to facilitate the adoption of measures in favour of the Indians.

Under this impression, I have consented to place my hum ble labours before the Public, disclaiming the slightest preten sion to merit as an author, and having no view to pecuniary advantage from the publication : yet I can with confidence state, that with diligence and zeal I have availed myself of every opportunity of collecting information from the most au thentic sources. Many curious statements have been rejected, though perhaps true; and the reader is earnestly entreated to keep in mind the fable of the Lion and the Panther, as he will * Mr. Heckewelder's " Historical Account" exists only in the printed transactions of the Philadelphian Society. It is, on this account, little, if at all, known among: the British Public; and I have therefore been copious in my extracts from the Rev. Author's pages.

PREFACE.

. XI thereby be induced to view with jealousy, reports which may be prejudicial to the Indian character. Let him also remember, that they have no historians, to record their wrongs, or plead their cause against their oppressors; — yet they believe, as I do, that the Great Spirit hears their sighs and regards their sufferings, and that He will appear to the oppressor and the oppressed as a God of Justice. Many recent acts of barbarity which have been committed upon the Indians, I have deemed it prudent to omit in the present work; but those who read the speeches Con gress on the late war against the Semanole Indians, will find therein much to excite their sympathy. My object is not to awaken national feelings or prejudices, but to unite the efforts of all good men in behalf of these oppressed children of the wilderness; so that societies may be formed, to watch over their rights, and, by the powerful agency of the press, to re strain lawless power from further acts of cruelty and injustice. — Happily this feeling has of late been extended in the United States; and the humane and just sentiments promulgated by His Excellency De Witt Clinton, Governor of the State of New York, the unwearied zeal of Mr. Colden, the mayor, and the humane disposition of many persons of the highest respect ability in the United States, lead me to avoid even the appearance of wishing to allow any sentiment to mingle in this work, which might attach to it an air of nationality.

The kindness and civility which I have experienced from all ranks in the United States, I shall ever be ready to acknowledge. With this exposition of my motives, sources of information, and desires, I trust my feeble efforts will be supported by all classes of people; and, entreating a favourable feeling towards the execution and arrangement, I commit the cause of the American Indians to an enlightened and benevolent Public. New York, 1 May, 1821. HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

Chapter I. Introductory

IVJlY design in the following pages is rather to collect a series of facts and observations, bearing on the recent and present state and character of the North American Indians, than to furnish an account of their remote history. Whether they are or are not the Aborigines ; whether their derivation is to be sought among the Tartars, who, in ages past, according to the sublime hypothesis of Governor De Witt Clinton, over-ran and exterminated nations who then inhabited great part of North America, and who had made considerable progress in the arts of civilized life ; whether the theory adopted by Adair and Dr. Boudinot be true, that they are the descendants of the long-lost ten tribes of Israel ; whether, in short, America was peopled from any of the countries of the old hemisphere, or those from America, are questions which, however interesting, I leave to be discussed by abler Antiquarians than myself. My anxiety, awakened by the present oppressed and demoralized condition of the red Indians, has indeed glanced backwards a few ij

Introduction

. years to ascertain their character previous to their intercourse with European man ; and I think it might be safely asserted that until that fatal period of their history, they were, in the unsophisticated qualities of mind, one of the noblest people of the earth. It is indeed astonishing how, without the aid of science or letters, they could have acquired so much of that moral power, dignity, and courtesy, which in our pride we attribute exclusively to civilized life. Their religious belief is, to say the least of it, purer than that of refined and philosophical Greece and Rome; and they follow its doctrines with perfect sincerity. Neither infidelity, luke-warmness, nor hypocrisy in regard to spiritual matters is ever found among them, excepting, indeed, their prophets, priests, and con jurers.

We are told by M. De la Salle, in the account of his last expedition and discoveries in North America, in 1678, " that at the decrease of the moon the Indians carried a great dish of their greatest dainties to the door of the temple, as an ob latory sacrifice ; which the priests offered to their god, and then they carried it home, and feasted themselves with it.3' Here, at any rate, is a little touch of sacerdotal refinement, worthy of an Euro pean Friar. Their languages are characterized by abundance, strength, comprehensiveness of expression, and ad mirable method in their grammatical structure ; *' indeed," says Mr. Duponceau, " from the view offered by Mr. Heckewelder of the Lenni Lenape idiom, it would rather appear to have been formed

INTRODUCTION.

. by philosophers in their closets, than by savages in the wilderness *." And in their oratory, which they take great pains to cultivate, they have never been exceeded, in ancient or modern senates, for perti nent argument, and eloquence both imaginative and pathetic. Governor Clinton, speaking of the Iroquois or Five Nations, tells us that, " their ex terior relations, general interests, and national affairs were conducted and superintended by a great coun cil, assembled annually in Onondaga, the central canton, composed of the chiefs of each republic ; and eighty sachems were frequently convened at this national assembly. It took cognizance of the great questions of war and peace ; ofthe affairs ofthe tribu tary nations, and of their negotiations with the French and English colonies. All their proceedings were conducted with great deliberation, and were^ distinguished for order, decorum, and solemnity.

In eloquence, in dignity, and in all the characteristics of pro found policy, they surpassed an assembly of feudal barons, and were perhaps not far inferior to the great Amphyctionic Council of Greece f." In another place he speaks of the sublime display of intellectual power in the address of Garangula, an Onondaga chief, to M. Delabarre, a French general, who in 1683, marched with an army against the Iroquois. This rhetorical talent, however, is declared by the same authority to be peculiar to the Five Nations. * Duponceau's Report to the American Philosophical Society, held at Philadelphia, p. 14. t De Witt Clinton's Discourse to the New York Society, p. 49, 50. B

INTRODUCTION.

. " The most remarkable difference," he states, " existed between the confederates and the other Indian nations, with respect to eloquence. You may search in vainin the records and writings of the past, or in events of the present times, for a single model of eloquence among the iMgonkins, the Abe naquis, the Delawares, the Shawanese, or any other nation of Indians except the Iroquois *." On the other hand, the Rev. Mr. Heckewelder, who has spent the greater portion of a long life among the Lenni Lenape, or Delawares, has affirmed in his historical account of the Indian nations, (of which the Lenni Lenape and the Iroquois form the two great divisions,) that the Delawares are also con spicuous for oratorical ability. He quotes a speech of Captain Pipe, a chief of that nation, and has made use of the following words in commenting on it. ** Here we see boldness, frankness, dignity, and hu manity happily blended together, and most elo quently displayed.

I am much mistaken if the com ponent parts of this discourse are not put together much according to the rules of oratory which are taught in the schools, and which were certainly un known to this savage. The peroration is short, but truly pathetic, and I would say, sublime ; and then the admirable way in which it is prepared ! I wish I could convey to the reader's mind only a small part of the impression which this speech made on me and on all present when it was delivered'!*." * De Witt Clinton's Discourse to the New York Society, p. 71. t Heckewelder' s Historical Account of the Indian Nations, p. 124.

INTRODUCTION.

. 5 The assertion of Governor Clinton seems to have resulted from his knowing more of the Five Nations than of any other tribe of Indians. The Shawanese, no less than the Delawares, are among his list of excep tions ; and yet we find, in the book lately published by Mr. Hunter, a most splendid example of eloquence in a speech of Te-cum-seh, a Shawanee warrior*. The effect it had on his hearers, one of whom was Mi*. Hunter himself, was electrical ; and I will quote his account of it, in order to shew that the high opinion of Indian oratory is not derived from any one authority which might be exaggerated, or through the medium of professed translators, who might be disposed to manufacture these harangues, after a given model, into the European tongues; but that it operates upon all alike, and shines with the same character through every variety and accident of interpretation.

The Indian orations have been rendered by illiterate persons sent among them to concilitate their favour ; by prisoners, male and female, who learnt the language during their captivity ; by learned missionaries ; by traders, who will not perhaps be suspected of romantic enthu siasm; by Dutchmen, Frenchmen, Englishmen, and Americans ; and the result, in all cases, has been very similar. The doubts, therefore, which have been, and still continue to be, entertained as to In dian eloquence, are, to say the least of them, incon siderate. The probability is that they are injured, rather than improved, by transmission into Euro- * Hunter's Memoirs of a Captivity among the North American Indians, p. 43, fye.

INTRODUCTION.

. pean languages. " I wish it was in my power," says Mr. Hunter, speaking of Te-cum-seh, " to do justice to the eloquence of this distinguished man ; but it is utterly impossible. The richest colours, shaded with a master's pencil, would fall infinitely short of the glowing finish of the original. The occasion and subject were peculiarly adapted to call into action all the powers of genuine patriotism; and such language, such gestures, such feelings, and fulness of soul contending for utterance, were exhi bited by this untutored native of the forest in the central wilds of America, as no audience, I am per suaded either in ancient or modern times, ever be fore witnessed. His discourse made an impression on my mind, which I think, will last as long as I live." The hospitality of the Indians has been pretty generally allowed ; and it is no small proof of the ex cellent regulation of their minds, that they are not in the lightest degree addicted to the pernicious practice of back-biting.

" Even the profligate look with contempt on the slanderer ; while he is singled out with the finger of scorn by the more respectable, who shun him as they would the poisonous serpent. None will venture to traduce those who sustain a fair and honorable character ; and as for the worthless, they never condescend to talk about them. Slander, therefore, the most pitiful vice of little and malicious minds, is beneath the notice even of the Indian women*." A strong sense of justice is innate among the In- * Hunter, p. 272.

INTRODUCTION.

. dians ; they entertain the greatest respect for the aged and tender, and are unwearied in lavishing deli cate attentions on them ; their friendship is inviolable ; and we are told by Carver in his travels, with what moderation, humanity, and delicacy they treat female prisoners, and particularly pregnant women. Their conduct in this latter particular is not confined to females of their own colour, but is extended to white women, the mothers of their inexorable de stroyers. Of this I shall have occasion, in the course of my work, to cite a touching instance from the valuable pages of Mr. Heckewelder. I might, perhaps, be thought their indiscriminate panegyrist, were I to go on and state the simple beauty and wisdom of their system of education; the faith they keep in their treaties ; their lofty courage, and the magnanimity they display on occasions in private life which are too apt to stir up the resentment and envy, and all the mean passions of civilized man.

It will be naturally expected, that having given this summary of Indian virtues, I should say something of Indian vices ; and I am happy that the latter will bear no proportion to the former catalogue. Cruelty and an eager appetite for revenge, are the chief, if not the only, deformities of their nature ; and these are scarcely ever manifested, except in their open hostilities, the causes of which are precisely similar to those which actuate civilized nations. Then, indeed, their ferocity breaks out with almost demonaical fury; their captives are generally doomed to death ; but it is not until they have undergone the the most exquisite tortures, the most ingenious, im-

INTRODUCTION.

. utterable, and protracted agony, that the final blow is given. These atrocious practices are not, how ever, peculiar to our unlettered Indians. The metal boot and wedge, the thumb-screw, the rack, the gradual burnings of Smithfield, the religious butchery of the bloody Piedmontese "who rolled mother with infant down the rocks," the dismemberment by horses, " Luke's iron crown, and Damien's bed of steel," sufficiently attest the claims of enlightened man to distinction in the art of torture. " But the Five Na tions," says Governor Clinton, in his masterly and eloquent discourse, " notwithstanding their horrible cruelty, are in one respect entitled to singular com mendation for the exercise of humanity; those enemies they spared in battle they made free ; whereas, with all other barbarous nations," and he might have added with most civilized nations, iC slavery was the com mutation of death.

But it becomes not us, if we value the characters of our forefathers ; it becomes not the civilized nations of Europe who have had American possessions, to inveigh against the merci less conduct of the savage. His appetite for blood was sharpened and whetted by European instigation, and his cupidity was enlisted on the side of cruelty by every temptation*." Our author in seeking for causes to extenuate the inhumanity of the Indians, might have said something of their natural and just resentment of the aggressions and tyranny of the man of Europe, by whom they have been reduced to the lowest state of wretchedness. In the wars be tween France and England and their colonies, their * De Witt Clinton's Discourse, p. 56.

INTRODUCTION.

. 9 Indian allies were entitled to a premium for even/ scalp of an enemy. In the war preceding 1703, the govern ment of Massachusetts gave twelve pounds for every Indian scalp ; in that year the premium was raised to forty pounds, but in 1722, it was augmented to one hundred pounds ! a sum sufficient to purchase a considerable extent of American land. An act was passed on the 25th of February 1745, by the Ameri can colonial legislature, entitled, " An Act for giving a reward for such scalps, &c. &c." Not content with this execrable pollution of their minds by the agency of lucre, we have sown party division among the Indians, which in all its discordant shapes rages with uncontrolled sway. "Their nations are split up into fragments ; the son is arrayed against the father ; brother against brother; families against families; tribes against tribes ; and canton against canton.

They are divided into factions, religious, political and personal ; Christian and Pagan ; American and Brit ish ; the followers of Cornplanter and Sagoua Ha ; of Skonadoi and Captain Peter. The minister of de struction is hovering over them, and before the pas sing away of the present generation, not a single Iroquois will be seen in the state of New York*." Yet with all this guilt at our doors we call the poor Indians " savages, — barbarians." Yes, they have, indeed, become so since they were debauched and contaminated by the liquor and the example of European man. "Our vices," says Heckewelder, " have destroyed them more than our swords.'' I do not hesitate to say that, in my opinion, their ignorance of * De Witt Clinton, p. SS, 89,

INTRODUCTION.

. letters has been the only hinderance to their being, politically speaking, a most powerful people. With the faculty of circulating and improving their natural information, by means of literature, they would either not have been objects for the crafty arts of civilized man, or they would have been invulnerable to them, and never could have been driven from their territories. Their courage and warlike character, unaided by learning, are things but of inferior force. " Knowledge" says Bacon, " is power." How with such elements of mind as they possess, they could, unlike other originally great people, have continued destitute of written wisdom, must ever remain a mystery. It is this important want which compels them to endure their wrongs in silence. They have no means of making their grievances known to the rest of the world; but must look for intercessors among those who have robbed and enslaved them.

" Why then," I may ask with the benign Heckewelder, " should not a white man, a Christian, who has been treated by them at all times with hospitality and kindness, plead their honest cause, and defend them as they would defend themselves, if they had but the means of bringing their facts and their arguments before an impartial public? Let it not be said that among the whole race of white Christian men, not one single individual could be found, who, rising above the cloud of prejudice with which the pride of civilization has surrounded the original inhabitants of this land, would undertake the task of doing justice to their many excellent qualities, and raise a small frail monument to their memory." 1!

Chapter II. Indian Account Of The First Arrival Of The Dutch At

NEW YORK ISLAND. The following simple and touching relation of this important event, was taken down many years since from the mouth of an intelligent Delaware Indian, by Mr. Heckewelder, and may be considered as a correct account of the tradition existing among them. It is given as much as possible in their own language. " A great many years ago, when men with a white skin had never yet been seen in this land, some In dians who were out a fishing at a place where the sea widens, espied at a great distance something remarkably large floating on the water, and such as they had never seen before. These Indians immediately returning to the shore, apprized their countrymen of what they had observed, and pressed them to go out with them and discover what it might be. They hurried out together, and saw with astonish ment the phenomenon which now appeared to their sight, but could not agree upon what it was ; some believed it to be an uncommonly large fish or animal, INDIAN ACCOUNT OF THE while others were of opinion it must be a very big house floating on the sea.

At length the spectators concluded that this wonderful object was moving towards the land, and that it must be an animal or something else that had life in it ; it would therefore be proper to inform all the Indians on the inhabited islands of what they had seen, and put them on their guard. Accordingly they sent off a number of runners and watermen to carry the news to their scattered chiefs, that they might send off in every direction for the warriors, with a message that they should come on immediately. These arriving in numbers, and having themselves viewed the strange appearance, and observing that it was actually moving towards the entrance of the river or bay, con cluded it to be a remarkably large house in which the Mannitto (the Great or Supreme Being) himself was present, and that he probably was coming to visit them.

" By this time the chiefs were assembled at York Island and deliberating as to the manner in which they should receive their Mannitto on his arrival. Every measure was taken to be well provided with plenty of meat for a sacrifice. The women were desired to prepare the best victuals. All the idols or images were examined and put in order, and a grand dance was supposed not only to be an agree able entertainment for the Great Being, but it was believed that4t might, with the addition of a sacrifice, contribute to appease him if he was angry with them. FIRST ARRIVAL OF THE DUTCH. 13 " The conjurers were also set to work, to deter mine what this phenomenon portended, end what the possible result of it might be. To these and to the chiefs and wise men of the nations, men, women and children were looking up for advice and pro tection.

Distracted between hope and fear, they were at a loss what to do; a dance, however, com menced iu great confusion. " While in this situation, fresh runners arrived declaring it to be a large house of various colours ; and crowded with living creatures. It appears now to be certain, that it is the great Mannitto, bringing them some kind of game, such as he had not given them before ; but other runners soon after arriving declare that it is positively a house full of human beings, of quite a different colour from that of the Indians, and dressed differently from them ; that in particular one of them was dressed entirely in red, who must be the Mannitto himself. They are hailed from the vessel in a language they do not under stand ; yet they shout or yell in return by way of answer, according to the custom of their country.