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Popular error respecting the Indian character and
history--Remarkable superstition--Theodoric--A missionary choosing a
wild flower--Piety and money--A fiscal collapse in Michigan--Mission
of Grand Traverse--Simplicity of the school-girl's hopes--Singular
theory of the Indians respecting story-telling--Oldest allegory on
record--Political aspects--Seneca treaty--Mineralogy--Farming and
mission station on Lake Michigan.
1840. Jan. 1st. Having determined to pass another winter
(some ten weeks of which are past) at Mackinack, I have found my
best and pleasantest employment in my old resource, the
investigation of the Indian character and history. The subject is
exhaustless in every branch of inquiry, but the more it is turned
over and sifted, the more cause there is to see that there is error
to be encountered at almost every step. Travelers have been chiefly
intent on the picturesque, and have given themselves but little
trouble to investigate. The historian has had his mind full of
prepossessions derived from ancient reading, and has, generally,
been seated three thousand miles across the water, where the work of
personal comparison was impossible. Left to the repose of himself,
mentally and physically, without being placed in the crucible of
war, without being made the tool of selfishness, or driven to a
state of half idiocy by the use of liquor, the Indian is a man of
naturally good feelings and affections, and of a sense of justice,
and, although destitute of an inductive mind, is led to appreciate
truth and virtue as he apprehends them. But he is subject to be
swayed by every breath of opinion, has little fixity of purpose,
and, from a defect of business capacity, is often led to pursue just
those means which are least calculated to advance his permanent
interests, and his mind is driven to and fro like a feather in the
winds. This man, and that man, are continually
bringing up Indians to speak for some selfish object, which, being a
little out of sight, he does not perceive in its true light, but
which he nevertheless is soon made to comprehend, if a public agent
sets it plainly before him. But there is a perpetual watch necessary
to protect him from deception, and this necessity becomes stringent
in the exact proportion that a tribe has funds or treaty
rights of any kind. If these attempts to make the Indian a
stalking-horse for masked or misstated objects be independently met,
and with just sentiments of dissent, the agent of the government is
liable to calumniation, and it becomes the policy of unscrupulous
men to get their affairs placed in hands having less well-defined
notions of moral right, or more easily swayed in their opinions.
7th. The season of New-year has been as usual a holiday, that
is to say, a time of hilarity and good wishes, with the Indians in
this vicinity, numbers of which have visited the office.
20th. Some of the superstitions of the Indians are explicable
only on the ground of their belief in magic. An old blind man of
Grand Traverse Bay, called Ogimauwish (literally bad chief),
referring to the early period of the visits of Europeans to the
continent, related the following:--
When the whites first came to this country, wars and atrocious
cruelties existed between the new race of men and the Indians. When
this animosity began to abate, a treaty was held, which was attended
by the Indians far and wide. They were told by an interpreter, one
of the white men who had already learned their language, that the
Indian tribes appeared, in the eyes of white men, while in action,
like the beasts of the forests and the birds of prey, changing from
one form to the other, and that the bullets of the foreigners had no
effect on them. The reason for this exemption from harm was this:--
In those times the Indians made use of the Pazhikewash, or
buffalo-weed, which is still used by some of them to this day,
especially on war excursions. This made them invulnerable to balls.
They made a liquor from it, and sprinkled themselves and their
implements, and carried it in their meda bags. They are under the
belief that this medicine not only wards off the balls and missiles,
but tends to make them invisible. This, with their reliance on the
guardian spirits of whom they have dreamed at their initial fasts,
throws around them a double influence, making them both invisible
and invulnerable.
There is a root used by the Pillagers, to which they attribute
similar protecting influences, or attribute the gift of courage in
war. It is called by them OZHIGAWAK.
22d. Theodoric (vide ante, April 19th,) writes me from
Detroit in terms of the kindest appreciation for my kindness of him.
On his arrival at Mackinack he most acceptably executed several
trusts--writing a good hand, being of gentlemanly manners and
deportment, and an obliging disposition, and withal a high moral
tone of character--as the winter drew on, I judged he would make a
good representative for the county in the legislature, and started
him in political life. He received the popular vote, and proceeded
to the Capitol accordingly.
He writes: "I wish to say to you that my reception here, both in my
public and private capacity, has been all that my best friends could
desire, and far above what I had any reason to expect. I allude to
this subject because it furnishes me with an occasion to acknowledge
my deep indebtedness to your kindness, and it affords me pleasure to
recognize it, under God, as the chief instrument in conferring on me
my present advantages. And I assure you my great and constant
anxiety shall be, so to conduct myself as not to disappoint any
expectations which you may have been instrumental in raising in
regard to me."
28th. A zealous and pious missionary of the Church of England
came to the Chippewas located on the left, or British, side of the
St. Mary's River some years ago, under the patronage of the
ecclesiastical authorities of Toronto. At this place he married one
of the daughters of the Woman of the Green Valley (Ozhawuscodawaqua)
heretofore noticed as the daughter of Wabojeeg. He now writes from
Canada West: "Charlotte and myself are very much obliged to you for
your kind offer of assistance, of which we will avail ourselves.
Although I have now a promise of this Rectory, or I may say, a
former one has been confirmed by Bishop Strachan two or three days
ago."
31st. A friend--a trustee of one of the principal churches at
Detroit, writes: "You may think it strange that we of the first
Protestant Society of this city are not able to pay our very worthy
and deserving pastor, and so it is; but it is no less strange than
true! Some of our subscribers are dead; some have failed, and so
they can pay nothing, and others have left the country in search of
a more congenial clime, and those remaining and much difficulty in
meeting their money engagements, though nearly all are in the habit
of attending the preaching of this best of men, and we are driven to
the necessity of making a call on you, though at a distance.
"Mr. Duffield is continuing his Sunday evening lectures, with his
Thursday evening Bible class exercises, and they are constantly
increasing in interest. We think him a wonder; he renders
every subject he touches, simple, and gives the doctrines he treats
upon, what the Scriptures pronounce them to be, 'A man, though a
fool, need not err therein.'
"Our legislature is moving on slowly; the shafts of wit wielded at
each other by ----, and ----, are, as the common phrase is, 'a
caution;' it requires a man of more than common discernment to see
their point. You have, doubtless, before this, seen the announcement
of the appointment of Hastings and Stuart, as Auditor and Treasurer;
what will become of the Internal Improvement system, is doubtful.
Committees are now engaged in examining the Bank of Michigan, and
the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank."
Another friend, who was au fait on fiscal affairs (5th Feb.),
says: "We get on quite well. The legislative committee will be
compelled to state facts, and if they do nothing more they must give
us a clean bill of health. I miss you much this winter, and hope, if
we are spared, you will not immure yourself again so long."
The fiscal crisis that was now impending over Michigan, it was
evident was in the process of advance; but it was not possible to
tell when it would fall, nor with what severity. All had been
over-speculating--over-trading--over-banking, overdoing everything,
in short, that prudence should dictate. But the public were in
for it, and could not, it seems, back out, and every one hoped for
the best. My best friends, the most cautious guides of my youth, had
entered into the speculating mania, and there appeared to be, in
fact, nobody of means or standing, who had been proof against the
temptation of getting rich soon. I "immured" myself far away from
the scene of turmoil and strife, and was happy so long as I kept my
eyes on my books and manuscripts.
Feb. 8th. The mission recently established by the
Presbyterian Board at Grand Traverse Bay, flourishes as well as it
is reasonable to expect. Mr. Johnston writes: "The chief Kosa, and
another Indian, have cut logs sufficient for their houses. This
finishes our pinery on this point. We cannot now get timber short of
the river on the south-east side of the bay, or at the bottom of it,
twelve miles distant. Mr. Dougherty has a prayer meeting on Saturday
night, and Bible class on Sabbath afternoon. His meetings on Sunday
are regularly attended by all the Indians who spend the winter with
us; they continue to manifest a kind feeling towards us, and appear
anxious to acquire useful knowledge."
March 7th. While politicians, financiers, speculators in real
estate, anxious holders of bank stock, and missionaries careful of
the Indian tribes are thus busy--each class animated by a separate
hope--it is refreshing to see that my little daughter (Jane) who
writes under this date from her school at Philadelphia, is striving
after p's and g's. "I am getting along in my studies very well. I
love music as much as ever. I like my French studies much. I have
got all p's for my lessons, but one g. G is for good, and p for
perfect." What a pity that all classes of adult men were not
pursuing their g's and p's with equal simplicity of emulation and
purity of purpose.
10th. Prof. L. Fasquelle, of Livingston, transmits to me a
translation of the so-called "Pontiac manuscript." This document
consists of an ancient French journal, of daily events during the
siege of the fort of Detroit by that redoubtable chief and his
confederates in 1763. It was found in the garret of one of the
French habitants, thrust away between the plate and the roof;
partly torn, and much soiled by rains and the effects of time.
13th. The Chippewa Indians say that the woods and shores,
bays and islands, are inhabited by innumerable spirits, who are ever
wakeful and quick to hear everything during the summer season, but
during the winter, after the snow falls, these spirits appear to
exist in a torpid state, or find their abodes in inanimate bodies.
The tellers of legends and oral tales among them are, therefore,
permitted to exercise their fancies and functions to amuse their
listeners during the winter season, for the spirits are then in a
state of inactivity, and cannot hear. But their vocation as story
tellers is ended the moment the spring opens. The shrill piping of
the frog, waking from his wintry repose, is the signal for the
termination of their story craft, and I have in vain endeavored to
get any of them to relate this species of imaginary lore at any
other time. It is evaded by some easy and indifferent remark. But
the true reason is given above. Young and old adhere to this
superstition. It is said that, if they violate the custom, the
snakes, toads, and other reptiles, which are believed to be under
the influence of the spirits, will punish them.
It is remarkable that this propensity of inventing tales and
allegories, which is so common to our Indians, is one of the most
general traits of the human mind. The most ancient effort of this
kind by far, in the way of the allegorical, is in the following
words: "The Thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the Cedar, saying,
give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild
beast and trod down the Thistle." (2 Kings, xiv. 9.)
April 5th. A representative in Congress writes from
Washington: "The House moves very slowly in its business--that is,
the business of the nation. The principal object seems to be to make
or unmake a President."
6th. The Rev. Benj. Dorr, of Christ Church, Philadelphia,
commends to my attentions a Mr. Wagner, a gentleman of intelligence,
refinement, and scientific tastes, who leaves that city on a tour to
the lakes and St. Anthony's Falls. "His object is to see as much as
possible, in one summer's tour, of our great Western World, and I
hope he may stop a short time at Mackinack, that he may have an
opportunity of forming your acquaintance, of seeing your beautiful
island, and examining your splendid cabinet of minerals, which would
particularly interest him, as he, has a taste for geological
studies."
8th. Hon. A. Vanderpool, M.C. from N.Y., observes: "The
Senate has, by the casting vote of the Vice President, decided in
favor of the Seneca treaty, i.e., that the Indians shall be removed.
Much opposition has been made to the treaty, as you will perceive
from the speech of Senator Linn, which I send you."
It has been alleged against this treaty that it was carried through
by the zealous efforts of the persons holding (by an old compact)
the reversionary right to the soil after the Senecas should decide
to leave it, and that the obvious interests of these persons
produced an undue influence on this feature in the result. It is
averred that the Tonewonda band of the Senecas, who hold a separate
and valuable reservation on the banks of the Tonewonda River,
opposed the proposition altogether, and refused to place their
signatures to the instrument.
It was supposed that small Indian communities, living on limited
reservations, surrounded entirely on all sides by white settlements,
could not sustain themselves, but must be inevitably swept away. But
the result, in the case of the Senecas and other remnants of the
ancient Iroquois, does not sustain this theory. It is true that
numbers have yielded to dissipation, idleness, and vice, and thus
perished; but the very pressure upon the mass of the tribes, and the
danger of their speedy destruction without resorting to agriculture,
appear to have brought out latent powers in the race which were not
believed to exist. They have taken manfully hold of the plough,
cultivated crops of wheat and corn, and raised horses, cattle,
sheep, and hogs. They have adopted the style of houses, fences,
implements, carriages, dress, and, to some extent, the language,
manners, and modes of transacting business, of their neighbors. And,
perceiving their ability to sustain themselves by cultivation and
the arts, now turn round and solicit the protecting arms of the
State and General Government to permit them to develop their
industrial capacities. Too late, almost, they have been convinced of
the erroneous policy of their ancestors, &c. Every right-thinking
man must approve this.
May 12th. Prof. Orren Root, of Syracuse Academy, New York,
appeals to me to contribute towards the formation of a mineralogical
cabinet at that institution.
30th. The new farming station and mission for the Chippewas
of Grand Traverse Bay is successfully established. The Rev. Mr.
Dougherty reports that a school for Indian children has been well
attended since November. A blacksmith's shop is in successful
operation. The U.S. Farmer reports that he has just completed
ploughing the Indian fields. He has put in several acres of oats,
and the corn is about six inches above the ground. The Indians
generally are making large fields, and have planted more corn than
usual, and manifest a disposition to become industrious, and to
avail themselves of the double advantage that is furnished them by
the Department of Indian Affairs and by the Mission Board which has
taken them in hand.
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Personal Memoirs of a Residence of Thirty Years with the
Indian Tribes on the American Frontiers, 1851
Thirty
Years with the Indians
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