NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

The aboriginal inhabitants of the vast continent of America have been variously described by different writers, one man lauding them as models of chivalry and virtue, another decrying them as the personification of meanness and vice. Hence it is only at a recent period, comparatively speaking, that any reliable information has been obtainable on the subject. In the limited space that can be given to a consideration of the Indian and his social habits, we shall endeavor to reject both romance and vituperation. We do not believe him so stoically virtuous as the former class of writers depict, nor do we think that all of the race are so deeply sunk in depravity as the latter represent.

In addition to the authorities quoted in the progress of the chapter, we are under obligations to Mr. Horace St. John’s article on Prostitution, incorporated by Mr. Mayhew in his tracts on “London Labor and the London Poor.”

At the time of the settlement of Jamestown and Plymouth, it was estimated that there were about two millions of Indians scattered over this continent. They were then a brave and hardy people, who lived on the produce of the chase, varying their locations as the facilities for hunting required. When the last census of the United States was taken, their numbers were about four hundred thousand, exclusive of fifteen thousand in Canada and the British possessions. This decrease has been ascribed to the occupation of their hunting-grounds by white men, and the consequent extermination of the game upon which they depended for subsistence; the free use of intoxicating liquors, and the introduction of small-pox and other fatal diseases. These causes will, in all probability, result in the entire extinction of the race. In the small number mentioned are many half-breeds, children of white fathers and Indian mothers.

It might naturally be supposed that in the several tribes composing this people there would exist great diversity of manners, but these are found only in minor particulars. The social institutions of the North American Indians are so generally uniform as to render it possible to sketch the whole at one view.

Their occupations are still confined to the chase and the war-path. To perform a round of daily labor, even though it insured the most ample provision for his wants, would be contrary alike to the inclination and the supposed dignity of the Red Man, who will scarcely deign to follow any pursuit which does not combine enterprise and excitement. Woman, therefore, becomes the drudge and slave; upon her devolves the duty of cultivating the ground, whenever any attempt is made to assist the spontaneous efforts of Nature; she it is who must bear the load of game which her husband has killed; must carry wood and water, build huts, and make canoes. In fishing, and in reaping their scanty harvest, the man will, at times, condescend to assist her, but otherwise all the labor falls to her share. In those tribes visited by traders, her duties are still heavier; she must join in the hunt, and afterward dress and prepare the skins and furs which are to be bartered for whisky and other luxuries. To this degraded condition the women seem perfectly reconciled, and expertness at the assigned employment is a source of pride to them.

The treatment of the female sex is generally admitted to be a standard by which man’s moral qualities can be estimated. It may be doubted if this rule would apply to the Indian tribes, for those who treat their females most mildly are by no means the most virtuous, nor is their deference attended by any increase of attachment, the general opinion of a wife’s value being the consideration of her capacity to be useful. Where they aid in procuring food or luxuries for the tribe, they are held in more esteem; while in places where the chief burden of providing rests upon the men, they are treated with severity.[335]

Even when oppressed with these laborious occupations, the women have as much native vanity in respect to decoration as the sex in any part of the world; and an accurate observer remarks that, “Judging from the time a squaw often occupies in arranging her hair, or disposing her scanty dress, or painting her round cheeks with glaring circles of vermilion, it is evident that personal ornament occupies as much of her thoughts as among fashionable women in civilized society.”[336]

Courtship and marriage are differently arranged among various tribes. The predominant custom is for a man to procure a wife by purchase from her father, thus acquiring a property over which he has absolute control, and which he can barter away or dispose of in any manner he pleases. The example of Powhatan, who was chief ruler over thirty tribes in Virginia at the time of the English colonization, is a case in point. It is said that he always had a multitude of wives about him, and when he wearied of any would distribute them as presents among his principal warriors. In most cases the woman is not consulted at all, the whole transaction being a mercantile one; in others an infant female is betrothed by her father (for a consideration) to some man who requires a wife, either for himself or for his son. The girl remains with her parents until the age of puberty, when the contract is completed, at which time the father often makes a present to the husband equal in value to the price originally paid for his daughter.[337]

Another mode of obtaining a wife is to steal a girl from some neighboring tribe. Captain Clarke, who crossed the Rocky Mountains in the years 1804-1806, as one of the leaders of an expedition ordered by the executive of the United States, records instances of this kind. He says, “One of the Ahnahaways had stolen a Minnetaree girl. The whole nation immediately espoused the quarrel, and one hundred and fifty of the warriors were marching down to avenge the insult. The chief took possession of the girl, and sent her by messengers to the hands of her countrymen in time to avert the threatened calamity.”[338] “A young Minnetaree had carried off the daughter of a chief of the Mandans. The father went to the village and found his daughter, whom he brought home, and at the same time took possession of a horse belonging to the offender. This reprisal satisfied his vengeance. The stealing of young women is one of the most common offenses.”[339]

A more peaceable kind of preliminary to matrimony is for a man desiring a wife to offer a small present to the woman: if she accepts it and offers him one in return, the match is complete; or he may tell her his wishes without any introductory gift, and, if agreeable, she will reply accordingly. Others will not venture to express their thoughts, but will sit quietly by a girl’s side, and, if she does not remove from her seat, her assent is understood to be given.[340] Still another custom is for the lover to enter the woman’s tent at night, bearing a lighted torch. If she allows it to burn, it is a sign that his attentions are not desired; but if she extinguishes it, she thus intimates that he is accepted. It will not require much knowledge of human nature to imagine the consequences of these nocturnal visits.

A recently published work, “Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth, New York, 1856,” professes to give an accurate account of the domestic life of the Crow Indians, among whom he lived for some years, and became a chief of the tribe, who believed that he was one of themselves, and had been stolen from them in infancy. It may be necessary to say that we only quote him on points where corroborative evidence can be obtained from other sources. His character for veracity is questionable, and among the miners of California, where he is known, any extravagant tale is proverbially called “one of Jem Beckwourth’s lies.” His first experience of matrimony, showing that the woman’s consent was not asked, but that the arrangements were made by the parents, is thus stated: “While conversing with my father, he suddenly demanded if I wanted a wife; I assented. ‘Very well,’ said he, ‘you shall have a pretty wife and a good one.’ Away he strode to the lodge of one of the greatest braves, and asked one of his daughters of him to bestow upon his son. The consent of the parent was readily given. He had three very pretty daughters, and the ensuing day they were brought to my father’s lodge, and I was requested to take my choice. The eldest was named ‘Still Water,’ and I chose her. The acceptance of my wife was the completion of the ceremony, and I was a married man, as sacredly in their eyes as if the Holy Christian Church had fastened the irrevocable knot upon us.”[341]

Cases are also recorded by Indian travelers wherein a custom more assimilating to civilized notions is adopted. A young man will court a girl for a length of time, using all his endeavors to cultivate her affections, and the woman, upon her part, will entertain an equal tenderness for him. Again turning to the pages of Beckwourth, we find an instance of this in the case of a woman who attracted his attention. It must not be considered that he was a victim of the romantic affliction called “first love,” for he had some six or eight wives in the tribe at the time. His description is as follows:

It would occupy too much space to recite all the details of a long courtship, including scenes in war and chase, at the camp, or on horse-stealing excursions; suffice it to say that the heroine accomplished her vow, and seemed convinced of the sincerity of her lover. She concluded the courtship thus:

Women will sometimes voluntarily ask men to marry them, promising to be faithful, good-tempered, and obedient. This request is seldom refused, as the marriage tie is easily dissolved if the union proves unpleasant. Tanner, who was taken prisoner by a war-party, and lived among various tribes in the northwest for nearly thirty years, relates a case in point. The woman’s endeavors to secure him as her husband commenced with an invitation to smoke with her. He acceded; but either his blood was not so warm as that coursing through Indian veins, or from some other cause, it was long before he consented to the proposed companionship, which a Red Man would have accepted on the spot. The girl resolutely pursued him, and at last, with the consent of her father, took possession of his hut while he was absent. When he returned, “he could not put the young woman to shame” by sending her back to her friends, and so they became man and wife.[344]

Beckwourth also had some experience of this custom. “A little girl, who had often asked me to marry her, came to me one day, and with every importunity insisted on my accepting her as my wife. I said, ‘When you are older I will talk to you about it;’ but she would not be put off. ‘You are a great brave,’ she said; ‘and, if I am your wife, you will paint my face when you return from the war, and I shall be proud.’ The little innocent used such powerful appeals that I told her she might be my wife.”[345] He lived with her until he left the Indians, and her son is now (1855) chief of the tribe.

The women taken prisoners in war are frequently married into the tribe that captured them, but never to the captors, who stand in the relation of brothers to them, and by whom they are protected from insult. A warrior who has taken a female prisoner usually makes an exchange with another who has had the same fortune, each being thus accommodated without infringing upon custom. If a man has seized more than he can dispose of in that way, he generally gives them to any man who will accept them.[346] In the same manner, a woman whose husband has been killed in battle will ask a warrior for a male prisoner, who accordingly becomes the successor of one whom he has probably slain. In these cases the man is adopted as one of the tribe, is kindly treated, and entitled to his share of all their advantages.[347]

The marriages are without ceremony of any kind; the parties agree to live with each other as long as they can do so with mutual satisfaction, and the man conducts his bride to his hut at once, or resides with her at her father’s cabin. It must not be supposed that the ordinary requirements of a married life are systematically unheeded, for, as a general rule, the squaws are faithful to their husbands, who, upon their part, rigidly exact this fidelity, even if they do not practice it themselves.

The general description of the position of Indian women already given applies equally to their state after marriage. They continue sometimes the abject slaves, otherwise the patient servants of their husbands. While he eats the food she has cooked, and probably caught herself, she must wait in submissive silence. At all times she approaches him with the deference due to a superior being. An Indian will never evince the slightest symptom of tenderness toward his wife; this would be opposed to his idea of manly dignity; but the eagerness with which he will revenge her wrongs proves that his apparent apathy springs only from pride, or a fancied sense of decorum.[348] When Catlin proposed to paint the portrait of the wife of a Sioux chief, his offer was ridiculed, and it was considered marvelous that he should honor a woman in the same manner he had honored the warriors, as the former had never taken any scalps, never done any thing but make fires, dress skins, and other servile employments.

To infer from these facts that there is no conjugal affection among this people would be erroneous. Notwithstanding their assumed indifference, instances are not rare of strong mutual attachment. To an Indian there is nothing inconsistent with affection in his indolently walking through the forest, while his wife follows him bearing the heavy wigwam poles, his ideas never having been led to consider this as other than her natural duty. Many pictures of domestic happiness are exhibited among the Indians, and the Blackfeet, Sanee, and Blood tribes strongly desire that their wives may live long and look young. Heckewelder relates a singular instance of indulgence. In 1762 there was a scarcity of food among many tribes, and during the prevalence of this famine a sick woman wished for a mess of Indian corn. Her husband rode about a hundred miles to obtain it, gave his horse in exchange for a hatful, and returned home on foot with the coveted dainty.[349]

These “lords of creation” attempt to enforce their marital rights with much severity, and, if their suspicions are excited against their wives, become very indignant, and punish them by beating, biting off the nose, dismissing them in disgrace, or even killing them. The wife of a Mandan Indian ran away from him in consequence of a quarrel. By so doing she forfeited her life, which custom would have justified the husband in taking, and he would have murdered her but for the interposition of the travelers, who “gave him a few presents, and persuaded him to take his wife home; they went off together, but by no means in a state of much apparent love.” This trouble arose from jealousy.[350] In another case, a Minnetaree had much abused his wife for the same reason, and she sought refuge in the camp. Her husband followed and demanded her, and she “returned with him, as we had no authority to separate those whom even Indian rites had united.”[351]

Since an Indian considers his wife as so much property, equally valuable as his horse, and for the same reason—for the labor she can perform—we can easily understand that polygamy is universally allowed, though it is not generally practiced, being confined to great chiefs and medicine-men, as the rank and file are often too poor to buy a second wife. Many follow the custom for the mere purpose of amassing wealth, but others of the stoic warriors delight in the harem from the same sensual motives as a Turk or Hindu. Among the communities that Catlin had an opportunity of visiting, it was no uncommon thing to find from six to fourteen wives in the same lodge. He mentions an instance in which a young chief of the Mandans took four wives in one day, paying a horse or two for each. These brides were from twelve to fourteen years of age. An Indian marriage at this age is far from uncommon, and, indeed, it appears from good testimony that celibacy beyond the age of puberty is very rare. Some of the females are mothers before they are twelve years old. It is not universal for the wives to live all in one hut, some tribes requiring separate lodgings for each. This custom is in force among the Crows, and Beckwourth relates that, on returning from one of his excursions, he made a round of visits to his wives, some of whom he had not seen for months.[352]

It is not uncommon for a man to marry his wife’s sister, and, indeed, the whole family of girls, on the supposition that his household will thus be rendered more harmonious.[353] For the same reason, a Cherokee will marry a mother and her daughter at one time, though he will not, upon any account, take a wife from his own kindred. Among the Oregon tribes it is strictly required that each wife should be purchased from a different family.So well established among Indians is the custom of polygamy, that civilization meets the greatest difficulty in opposing it, and, if ever abolished, it will overthrow their whole social system, and, in changing their national character, tend to their speedy extinction. Sir George Simpson relates an amusing anecdote of an Indian who came into the settled districts of British North America, learned to read and write, and adopted the principle of monogamy. Returning to his tribe, he endeavored to persuade them to the same course. Long and earnest were the debates on the question, and the finale was, instead of converting them, they reconverted him. He took a great number of wives, foreswore books, and never again appeared in the character of a social reformer. Another chief offered to renounce polygamy, he having five wives, and a large fortune in horses and cattle. Falling in love with the daughter of a gentleman in the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company, he dismissed his harem, and presented himself, with great parade and confidence, to make his matrimonial proposal to the lady’s family. To his extreme disgust and mortification, they rejected the honor of his distinguished alliance. He revenged himself by refilling his hut with women as quickly as possible.

If the obligation of marriage is easily contracted, divorce is effected with as little trouble. It is not often that a separation takes place, for it is held dishonorable to forsake a wife for a trifling cause, particularly if she has borne children. When it does occur, the offspring are usually permitted to decide which of the parents they will accompany, although usage gives the mother the right to take charge of them. In some instances the form of divorce is simply for the husband to bid his wife go; in others he will not take the trouble to give her notice of his discontent, but will quietly put his gun on his shoulder and move off himself.[354] There are a few instances of this being done for very slight reasons; but, in addition to the restraint of custom just mentioned, the actual value of the wife is a subject of consideration. Where a separation does take place, the man will often endeavor to renew the connection. A missionary mentions a woman who contracted a new marriage after her husband left her. He returned and claimed her. The dispute was referred to a chief, and he, either wanting a precedent or distrusting his judicial capacity, could think of no better expedient than placing the woman at an equal distance from each claimant, and then ordering the men to run, promising that the one who first reached her should retain possession of the prize.[355] In some tribes divorce renders it impossible for the woman to marry again, but in others she can make a new alliance as soon as free from the old one.

It is difficult to form any opinion as to the morality of females among a people where marriages are contracted and dissolved so easily. We may safely say that they have very little idea of chastity as a positive virtue, notwithstanding their general, although not invariable fidelity when married, which may probably be induced more by fear of consequences than sense of duty. Of prostitution for a price, as known in civilized communities, we find no trace in the Indian nations while in a normal condition; but if we assume Webster’s definition, “the act of offering the body to an indiscriminate intercourse with men,” it can scarcely be claimed that they are free. The predominant motive seems to be an inordinate sexual appetite, which must be gratified, if not in legitimate marriage, then by illicit intercourse. We are told that in most large assemblies of Indians there are to be seen voluptuous looking females, whose passions urge them to this; and Carver, in his “Travels in North America,” says that among the Manedowessis it was a custom, when a young woman could not get a husband, for her to assemble all the leading warriors of the tribe at a feast, and, when their hunger was appeased, to retire behind a screen, and submit to the embraces of each in succession. This gained her great applause, and always insured her a husband. Though the custom is now almost obsolete, the principle still exists, and prostitution is regarded by many as the shortest road to marriage.

The birth of a bastard child entails little shame upon a girl, and that such children are not more frequent is due less to their chastity than to the means they employ to procure abortion. One of the reasons advanced for their early marriages is that the impetuosity of the girls would render it difficult to obtain a virtuous wife if the union was delayed. The confessions upon starting for war, or what is called the “war-path secret,” would also favor the opinion that abstract virtue is at a low ebb. At these times every warrior is required to relate to his companions each act of illicit intercourse he has committed since the last excursion, naming his partner, and enumerating the facts attending the frailty. This obligation is enforced by the most rigid oaths known to Indian customs.[356]This immorality is not confined to the single women, for the squaws are, at times, as ready to take part in an intrigue as any in civilized nations. Beckwourth, whose experience of Indian manners seems to have embraced every conceivable phase of life, relates his adventures in this way:

“A brave named ‘Big Rain’ was elected chief of the village. He possessed a most beautiful squaw, who was the admiration of the young men, and all were plotting to win her from her lord. I determined to steal her, be the consequences what they might.” Having enticed the husband to a smoking-party, he says, “I went to Big Rain’s lodge, dressed and painted in the extreme of fashion, and saw the lady reclining upon her couch. She started up, saying, ‘Who is here?’ ‘Hush! it is I.’ ‘What do you want here?’ ‘I have come to see you because I love you.’ ‘Don’t you know that I am the chief’s wife?’ ‘Yes, I know it, but he does not love you as I do. I can paint your face and bring you fine horses, but as long as you are the wife of Big Rain he will never paint your face. With you by my side I could bring home many scalps. Then we could often dance, and our hearts would be merry.’ * * * * ‘Go, now,’ she pleaded, ‘for if my husband should return I fear he would kill you. Go, for your own sake and for mine.’ ‘No, I will not go till you give me a pledge that you will be mine.’ She hesitated for a moment, and then slipped a ring from her finger and placed it on mine. All I had to do now was to watch for a favorable chance to take her away. * * * * The appointed time had arrived, and on going to the place of assignation, I found the lady true to her word—in fact, she was there first. We joined the party, and were absent about a week. We succeeded in capturing (stealing?) one hundred and seventeen horses, and arrived safe with them in the camp. Meanwhile Big Rain discovered the loss of his wife. When we rode in, he took no part in the rejoicing, but ordered his wife and me to be surrounded, and, with half a dozen of his sisters, all armed with scourges, administered a most unmerciful whipping. I received it with Indian fortitude. If I had resisted, they would have been justified in killing me; also, if they had drawn one drop of blood, I should have been justified in taking their lives.”

Without wishing to delay the progress of the narrative, we can not resist the impulse to express admiration of the Indian punishment for a seducer of married women. Could the same unromantic penalty be duly and zealously inflicted for similar transgressions, in places of more pretensions, some of the scandals of civilized life would be curtailed. To resume:

“I sent word to the wife of Big Rain that I should go out again the next night, and should expect her company. She returned a favorable answer, and was faithful to her promise. On my return I received another such flogging as the first. Two nights afterward I started on a third expedition, my new wife accompanying me, and received a third sound thrashing from her husband. Finally, he grew furious; but my soldiers said to him, ‘You have whipped him three times, and shall whip him no more; we will buy your claim.’ He acceded to the offer, and consented to resign all interest and title in Mrs. Big Rain for the consideration of one war-horse, ten guns, ten chief’s coats of scarlet cloth, ten pairs of new leggins, and the same number of moccasins.”[357] This was not a bad remuneration for a faithless woman.

In another case an intrigue resulted tragically. One of the wives of a Minnetaree chief eloped with a man who had formerly been her lover. He deserted her in a short time. She returned to her father’s hut, whither her husband traced her. He walked deliberately into the hut, smoked quietly for a time, and then took her by the hair, led her to the door, and killed her with a single blow of his tomahawk.[358] The caprice or generosity of the same chief gave a very different conclusion to a similar incident which occurred some time afterward. Another of his wives eloped with a young man who was not able to support her as she wished, and both returned to the village. She presented herself before her husband and asked his pardon. He sent for the man, inquired if they still loved each other, and on their acknowledgment gave up his wife to her lover, made them a present of three horses, and restored them both to his favor.[359]

With the exception of some national customs, the outward life of the Indian is generally decent. A temporary interval of wild license, corresponding to the Saturnalia of the ancients, and called the festival of dreams, is common among the Canadian tribes. This carnival lasts fifteen days, and, laying aside all their usual gravity, they then commit every imaginable extravagance.[360] Our authority does not say whether immorality forms a portion of this relaxation, but from the custom of other bands it is not improbable. Lewis and Clarke mention several instances in which they were present at dancing and similar festivals, and witnessed exhibitions of the most foul and revolting indecency.

Mr. Catlin records his opinion that the Old World has very little of superior morality or virtue to hold as an example to the North American Indians, and we are not inclined to enter into any long comparison of the races. The manners of each have been described; and while it would be unjust to expect the untutored son of the forest to display as much delicacy as his more cultivated fellow-men, it would be equally ungenerous to assert that the white female population, as an aggregate, are governed by the impulses which apparently sway the Indian woman.

But whatever doubts there may exist as to the immorality of the Indian women in their natural state, all are entirely removed as soon as they come in contact with the white race. Those in the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada have rapidly learned the worst of vices. They are drunken, sensual, and depraved. The venereal disease commits frightful ravages among them; in fact, most of their sickness arises from excess of one kind or another. Maclean, in his “Twenty-five years’ Service in Hudson’s Bay,” says that the men employed by the company are reconciled to their hard employment and poor remuneration by the immorality of the women, of whom numbers are prostitutes, selling themselves for the smallest remuneration. On the Northwest Coast chastity is scarcely even a name. The sea tribes are the most licentious, and at some places, where ships touch for supplies, hundreds of women come down to the beach, and by indecent exposures of their persons endeavor to obtain permission to come on board. Sir George Simpson received a visit from a chief who wanted to negotiate the loan of Lady Simpson, and offered his squaw in temporary exchange.

Many of the traders on the Upper Missouri, from motives of policy, connect themselves with women of the tribes. The most beautiful girls aspire to this station, which elevates them above their ordinary servile occupations. These engagements are not marriages in our sense of the word; a price is paid for the girl, and she is transferred at once to the trader’s house. With equal facility he can annul the contract, for which her father is not sorry, as he is thus enabled to sell her over again. The tariff of prices will range from two horses to a handful of awls: such is the remuneration for which an Indian chief will prostitute his daughter. It must be added that occasionally the couple live permanently together as man and wife, the possibility of their doing so being always supposed in the first instance.