North American Indians, General Customs and Peculiarities

Origin of the North American Indians. Some of their General Customs and Peculiarities.

"Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
Another race the following spring supplies."

It were far easier to foretell the period when the extinction of the Indian races must be consummated, and to ex plain the causes that must sooner or later terminate their national existence, than to trace back their early history.

Even a succinct account of the various theories, with the arguments upon which they are based, as to the probable sources whence the early inhabitants of the Western hemisphere derived their origin, would furnish matter for a volume: we shall therefore do little more than allude to the different hypotheses upon the subject, leaving the reader to follow up the inquiry, if his inclination so move him, by the examination of works especially devoted to the discussion of this vexed question.

The want of a written language among the aborigines of America; the blindness of the system of hieroglyphics used by the more advanced nations of the continent; and the wild discrepancies in their fanciful oral traditions, leave us little hope of satisfactorily elucidating the mystery by any direct information obtained from the people themselves. Analogies in physical conformation, customs, architecture, language, and religion, must form our principal clew in deciding the question of their origin.

That America was first peopled by wanderers from the Old World seems to be a conclusion to which most of those who have treated on the subject have arrived. Exclusive of the supposed necessity for maintaining the truth of Scriptural history by deducing all the races of the globe from a common ancestry, abundant facilities for an intentional or casual migration have been pointed out by geographers.

The numberless isles of the Pacific offer ready resting-places for adventurous or bewildered navigators, and might have been peopled successively by wanderers from Southeastern Asia. Some of the natives of that portion of the eastern continent possess a skill in nautical affairs which would abundantly qualify them for voyages as hazardous as any to which they would be exposed in crossing the Pacific from island to island in their swift proas. The near approach of the two grand divisions of the globe at Behring's Straits presents still greater facilities for a pas sage from one to the other, when the waters are closed by ice, during the severe northern winter, or when they lie open, affording a free passage for canoes.

That the northeastern portions of America were visited and probably peopled, at a very early date, by adventurers from the north of Europe seems to be fully established. Many wild and improbable legends indeed exist, touching these early voyages, and we can sympathize with the manner in which the old historian of Virginian colonization dismisses the subject: " For the stories of Arthur, Malgo, and Brandon, that say a thousand years ago they were in the north of America, or the friar of Linn, that by his black art went to the north pole in the year 1360. In that I know them not. Let this suffice."

Modern investigation has brought to light abundant evidence of visits by the Northmen to Greenland and the neighboring American coast, at the close of the tenth and in the beginning of the eleventh centuries, and it is not improbable that intercourse had subsisted between the two countries at a much earlier period. The marked difference between the Esquimaux Indians and all other tribes of the Western continent points plainly to a separate ancestry. We shall speak more at large upon this subject when we come to treat of the natives of that vast and desolate region lying between the Canadas and the frozen seas of the North.

Vague accounts of islands or continents at the West are found in the works of many early writers. The Atlantis of Plato, the Hesperides, and a host of other uncertain fables have been tortured by ingenious antiquaries into proof of more extensive geographical knowledge than is generally attributed to the ancients.

Some theorists have indefatigably followed up the idea that we are to search for the lost tribes of Israel among the red men of America, and have found or fancied resemblances, otherwise unaccountable, between Indian and He brew words, ceremonies, and superstitions.

Others have exhibited equal ingenuity in carrying out a comparison between the Moors of Africa and the Americans, claiming to establish a near affinity in character and complexion between the two races. They suppose the Moorish immigrants to have arrived at the West India islands, or the eastern coast of South America, and thence to have spread over the whole continent.

However variant, in some particulars, the different nations of America may appear, there are peculiarities of language which are noticeable throughout the continent, and which would seem to prove that neither of these nations has subsisted in an entirely isolated condition.

According to Humboldt, "In America, from the country of the Esquimaux to the banks of the Orinoko, and again, from these torrid banks to the frozen climate of the Straits of Magellan, mother tongues, entirely different with regard to their roots, have, if we may use the expression, the same physiognomy. Striking analogies of grammatical construction have been recognized, not only in the more perfect languages, as that of the Incas, the Aymara, the Guarani, the Mexican, and the Cora, but also in languages extremely rude. Idioms, the roots of which do not resemble each other more than the roots of the Sclavonian and Biscayan, have resemblances of internal mechanism similar to those which are found in the Sanscrit, the Persian, the Greek, and the German languages."

Of the primary roots of the different Indian dialects, it is said that there are four more prominent than the rest, and which can be traced over nearly the whole continent. These are the Karalit or Esquimaux, the Iroquois, the Lenni Lenape, and that of the Cherokees, Choctaws, and other tribes of the South.

The great body of the American aborigines, not with standing the country over which they are distributed, have many features of physical conformation in common. The exceptions to this general truth, exhibited principally in the persons of the Esquimaux, and in certain white tribes at the West, deserve a separate consideration: at present, our remarks will be confined to the red men, and particularly to those of the present United States and territories.

The appellation universally bestowed upon this people is in itself a strange misnomer, and would hardly have obtained so generally, had not the error in which it originated been one which early voyagers were slow to acknowledge.

The Americans have, indeed, usurped the name of those for whom they were so long mistaken, and whom we are now reduced to distinguish by the title of East Indians.

The general appearance of a North American Indian can be given in few words; the resemblance between those of different tribes with the exceptions to which we have referred being full as close as between different nations of either of the great families into which the human race has been arbitrarily divided. They are about of the aver age height which man attains when his form is not cramped by premature or excessive labor; but their erect posture and slender figure give them the appearance of a tall race. Their limbs are well formed, but calculated rather for agility than strength, in which they rarely equal the more vigorous of European nations. They generally have small feet.

The most distinguishing peculiarities of the race are, the reddish or copper color of the skin, the prominence of the cheekbone, and the color and quality of the hair. This is not absolutely straight, but somewhat wavy, and has not inaptly been compared to the mane of the horse less from its coarseness than from its glossy hue and the manner in which it hangs. Their eyes are universally dark. The women are rather short, with broader faces, and a greater tendency to obesity, than the men; but many of them possess a symmetrical figure, with an agreeable and attractive countenance.

It was formerly quite a general impression that the Indians were destitute of beards. This error resulted from the almost universal custom prevalent among them of eradicating what they esteemed a deformity. Tweezers, made of wood or muscle shells, served to pluck out the hairs as soon as they appeared; and, after intercourse with the whites commenced, a coil of spiral wire was applied to the same use. It was esteemed greatly becoming among the men to carry this operation still farther, and to lay bare the whole head, with the exception of a top-knot, or ridge like the comb of a cock, in which feathers or porcupine quills were fantastically interwoven.

Of the hideous custom of flattening the head, and the means by which it was accomplished, we shall speak when describing the tribes among whom it was practiced.

No nations on the Eastern continent approach so nearly to the American Indians, in bodily conformation, as do certain tribes of Tartars. A similarity in habits of life, in dress, festivals, and games, is also observable between the two nations. This combined with the proximity of their countries, and the ease with which a passage could be affected, would seem to afford a rational presumption as to the direct origin of no small portion of the red tribes of North America. Who can undertake to decide, however, as to what admixture of races has here taken place, or how often fresh arrivals, from different portions of Eastern Asia, have given rise to new colonies, or destroyed, by amalgamation, the distinctive characteristics of the earlier people. Above all, can we account for the wonderful remains of antiquity described in another chapter, by referring them to the same races as were found inhabiting these wilds when the white man first ventured to explore them?

The difficulty of the subject is sufficiently manifest from the contradictory conclusions drawn by laborious but dogmatic antiquaries; and still more by the doubt and uncertainty in which more candid but equally diligent laborers in the same field have confessed their researches to have resulted.

There have not been wanting those who have maintained the theory that the Indians were indigenous to America. Some who have adopted this idea consider that it involves the doctrine of a separate creation, while others, that they might not discard the ordinarily received opinion that all mankind have sprung from a single pair, place the seat of paradise somewhere upon the Western continent, and consider the Eastern nations as descendants of emigrants from America.

However interesting these speculations may prove to the antiquary, they must appear simply wearisome to the reader who is not willing to give the subject a full investigation. The two hemispheres remained sundered for so long a period, that the history of their former connection by intercourse of their respective inhabitants is now reduced to little more than speculation; and we will pass to matters of which we can speak with certainty, and which appeal more closely to our sympathies, and attract our attention with more lively interest than such groping amid the dim relics of antiquity.

A knowledge of the habits and peculiarities of the Indians can be acquired in the most pleasing manner by the perusal of their history, interspersed as it is with the quaint descriptions of old chroniclers, who wrote when the events and scenes were vividly impressed upon their minds, and before modern refinements had done away with that direct ness of expression which marks their narratives.

Such details make, moreover, a far stronger impression upon the memory than can be effected by a series of dry generalities. We shall therefore refer the reader to the historical portion of this work for most of the information, which we shall attempt to convey.

In this, and in the ensuing chapter, we may frequently speak of usages and characteristics, as belonging to a past age, which are still to be observed among the more remote Western tribes. The difficulty of always drawing the distinction in a series of such general remarks as are here submitted, must form our excuse for such seeming anachronisms.

We notice in the Indian a remarkable gravity and innate dignity, which leads him to avoid, with the most scrupulous care, all involuntary or impulsive expression of his feelings. This is not confined to the occasions upon which he calls forth his powers of endurance in suffering the most cruel torments with apparent insensibility or even with exultation, but enters into all the acts of his daily life. He betrays no unseemly curiosity or impatience under circumstances that would naturally excite both in the highest degree. Has he been long absent from home on a war-path, or on a visit to cities of the whites; has he learned some great and threatening danger, or has the intelligence reached him of the death of those whom he most values; his conduct and method of communicating his adventures or his information, are governed by the same deliberation and immobility.

Returning half famished from an unsuccessful hunt, he enters his wigwam, and sits down unquestioned, showing no symptom of impatience for food. His wife prepares his refreshment, and after smoking his pipe, and satisfying his hunger, he volunteers an account of his experience. Catlin gives a striking description of the meeting between a chief named Wi-jun-jon, who had just returned from an embassy to Washington, and his family. He landed from the steamer at his home in the far West, "with a complete suit en militaire, a colonel's uniform of blue, presented to him by the president of the United States, with a beaver hat and feather, with epaulets of gold with sash and belt, and broadsword; with high-heeled boots with a keg of whiskey under his arm, and a blue umbrella in his hand. In this plight and metamorphose, he took his position on the bank amongst his friends his wife and other relations; not one of whom exhibited, for an half hour or more, the least symptoms of recognition, although they knew well who was before them." The conduct of the chief was of the same character, but, half an hour afterwards, " a gradual, but cold and exceedingly formal recognition began to take place," after which, all went on as if he had never been absent. This strange demeanor does not, by any means, result from real indifference, but from the supposed propriety of suppressing any outbreak of emotion. No doubt all the parties to the scene above described, were in a state of the greatest curiosity and excitement, and the family doubtless felt the most exuberant joy at the reunion; but custom, or their ideas of good taste, prohibited the exhibition of a " scene." Those who are best acquainted with the character of the Indians agree that with them the ties of family affection are exceedingly strong and enduring. The most touching descriptions are given of the manner in which they mourn for the dead, and of the tender and faithful remembrance of lost relatives that no length of time seems to obliterate. Carver says, "I can assert that, notwithstanding the apparent indifference with which an Indian meets his wife and children after a long absence, an indifference proceeding rather from custom than insensibility, he is riot unmindful of the claims either of connubial or parental tenderness."

The same author who had witnessed the most bloody and savage scenes of Indian warfare, and who was familiar with the cruelties and unrelenting spirit of revenge peculiar to the race, candidly bears witness to their good qualities:

"No people," he says, "can be more hospitable, kind and free. The honor of their tribe and the welfare of their nation is the first and most predominant emotion of their hearts; and fro m hence proceed in a great measure all their virtues and their vices. , No selfish views ever influence their advice or obstruct their consultations. They are at once guided by passions and appetites, which they hold in common with the fiercest beasts that inhabit their woods, and are possessed of virtues which do honor to human nature."

The Indians are naturally taciturn, but fond of set speeches. Their oratory is of no mean order, and is distinguished for a pithiness, a quaintness, and occasionally a vein of dry sarcasm, which have never been surpassed. We have specimens of some of their orations, upon great occasions, which are models of stirring eloquence, adorned with metaphors and similes, which breathe the true spirit of poetry.

The most pleasing traits in the character of these strange people are their reverence for age, their affection for their children, their high notions of honor, and their keen sense of justice. The great stigma upon the whole race is their deliberate and systematic cruelty in the treatment of captives. It is hard to account for this, but it really appears, upon investigation, to be rather a national custom, gradually reaching a climax, than to have arisen from any innate love of inflicting pain. It is perfectly certain that, if the children of the most enlightened nation on earth should be brought up in occasional familiarity with scenes like those witnessed at the execution of a prisoner by the American savages, they would experience no horror at the sight. We need not seek farther than the history of religious and political persecutions in Europe, or the cruelties practiced on reputed witches in our own country, to satisfy us that the character of the Indians will suffer little by comparison with that of their contemporaries of our own race.

Among some of those nations which included an extensive confederacy, where a system of government had become settled by usage, and the authority of the chief had been strengthened by long submission to him and his predecessors, an arbitrary monarchy seems to have prevailed; but among the smaller tribes, the authority of the chief was rather advisory than absolute. There was generally a king who held hereditary office, and exercised the powers of a civil governor by virtue of his descent, while to lead the warriors in battle, the bravest, most redoubted, and sagacious of the tribe was elected. These two chief offices were not unfrequently united in the same person, when the lawful sachem, from a spirit of emulation, or from natural advantages, showed himself worthy of the position.

All matters of national interest were discussed at a solemn council, consisting of the principal men of the tribe, and at which great decorum and formality were observed. As the debate proceeded, the whole conclave, whenever a remark from the orator speaking excited their approbation, would give expression to their approval by a guttural ejaculation.

A natural instinct of retributive justice ordained that the crime of murder should be punished by the hand of the deceased person s nearest relative. An interesting incident, connected with this custom, is told in a notice of the public life of the Hon. Pierre A. Rost, of Louisiana, given in the United States Law Magazine, for March, 1852. He is here said to have been the first to suggest the propriety of interference in these matters on the part of the State Courts. In a drunken fray, an Indian had been accidentally killed. " The relatives of the deceased were absent at the time; but they soon heard of his death, and came from the Indian Territory to exact blood for blood from the homicide. He was advised to flee, but would not, and, in blind submission to the law of the red man, agreed to deliver himself on a certain day to be shot. The Court was then sitting, and Mr. Rost proposed to the presiding judge to prevent the horrid sacrifice, by giving the victim a fair trial by jury, many members of which were known and respected by the relatives of the deceased, and impressing upon the latter the necessity of abiding by the verdict, whatever it might be." This was done, and every thing was conducted with due form and solemnity. The Indian witnesses gave the most satisfactory-answers when questioned as to their ideas of the obligation of an oath, and, after a full hearing, the defendant was acquitted. The decision was translated to the complainants, and they were told that to kill the prisoner would now be murder, and would subject them to the penalties of that crime.

"Mr. Host then rose, and stated to the Court that the prosecutors had left their hunting-ground to come and avenge the death of their relative, as it was their duty to do; that justice had been done to the accused, but that was not sufficient. Justice must also be done to the other side; they must be indemnified for the inconvenience they had been put to, and the loss they had sustained; and, as the coffers of the treasury would not unlock at the bidding of his honor, he moved that the bar, jury, and by-standers, contribute a sufficient amount to satisfy them. This was done as soon as proposed, and the prosecutors declared themselves satisfied."

The institution of marriage among the American Indians is by no means so restrictive a system as that adopted by enlightened nations. It is for the most part dissoluble at the pleasure of the parties, and polygamy is extensively practiced. As with other barbarous nations, the woman is compelled to undergo the drudgery of daily labor, while her lord and master lounges indolently about the village, except at times when his energies are called forth for hunting or war. When once engaged in these pursuits, his fixedness of purpose, and the readiness with which he will undergo the extremes of toil, exposure, hunger, and privation, is marvelous.

Indian Races of North and South America

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Indian Races of North and South America, By Charles De Wolf Brownell, 1865