CHAPTER XXI.

Character of the North-western Indians.-Misrepresentations refuted.-Their intercourse with the white people.-Its contaminating influence.-Their degeneracy. Their final expulsion from the land of their nativity.

Ir is stated in a former chapter that a memorial was sent to the Legislature of the North-western Territory, by Governor St. Clair, at the instance of the missionaries of the church of the United Brethren, (Moravians,) who had formed establishments, under the authority of Congress, at Shanbrun, Gnadenhutten, and Salem, on the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum river; on which a law was passed, to prevent the introduction of ardent spirits into those towns. It was also stated that, for a short time, the law produced a good effect; but that, as the white population increased, and approached nearer to the villages, it was found impossible, any longer, to carry it into execution. The result was, that the Indians became habitually intemperate, idle, and faithless; the missionaries lost all their influence over them; and eventually were constrained to abandon the settlements in despair.

What a contrast between this picture and that which was presented to the pioneers, when they first visited the country. The natives who then occupied it, were untaught and unpolished; but they were brave and generous. The art of war had been their study. The chase constituted their business and amusement, and furnished the food on which they subsisted. The warriors were too proud to labor, and imposed that drudgery on their women, as is the custom of all nations, in which Christianity is not taught and prac

ticed. They claimed the entire country, alledging that it had been made by the Great Spirit for them and their children forever.

Being unconscious of danger, they met and greeted the pioneers as friends, when they first crossed the river and entered their territory; and they continued to treat them as such, till they began to apprehend hostile designs against themselves and their country; suspicions of which were instilled into their minds by British traders, very soon after the American settlements began. These children of the forest had some vague notions of a Deity, to whom they were responsible. They had a confused, undefined belief, in a future state of existence. They had a general impression, that after death, the Great Spirit would send them to some pleasant region, abounding with game, and fish, and fruit. That they would carry with them their rifles and their dogs, and enjoy the same gratifications they had been accustomed to in this life; but in a higher degree of perfection. With such crude notions as these, they lived and died, ignorant of any correct knowledge of the duties they owed to their Maker, and to their fellow men.

That unfortunate race, who seem to have been destined by Providence to utter extinction, have been misrepresented and slandered, no doubt to palliate the guilt of the outrages which have been perpetrated against them. Among other falsehoods, it has been asserted, confidently, but without a shadow of argument or fact, to sustain the assertion, that they cannot be brought to a state of civilization, or be induced to form communities, and engage in the pursuits of agriculture and the arts, in consequence of some physical difference between them and the Anglo-Saxon race. This hypothesis is contradicted by experience, which has abundantly shown, that the two races, when placed in the same situation, and acted on by the same causes, have invariably resorted to the same expedients, and pursued the same policy.

This averment is sustained by a reference to the white people, who have been taken prisoners in childhood, and brought up among the Indians. In every such case, the child of civilization has become the ferocious adult of the forest, manifesting all the peculiarities, tastes and preferences of the native Indian. His manners, habits, propensities, and pursuits have been the same; his fondness for the chase, and his reluctance to labor, the same; so that the most astute philosophical observer has not been able to discover any difference between them, except in the color of the skin; and in some instances even this distinction has been removed by long exposure to the elements, and the free use of oils and paints. There have been cases in which the children of white parents, who have been raised among the Indians from early infancy, have been taken home to their relatives in middle life, but have refused to remain, and have returned to the tribe in which they were brought up, whose habits, feelings, and mode of life they preferred.

One case of this kind occurred within the knowledge of the writer. A female, captured in infancy, and reared by the Indians, was brought in by them at the treaty of Greenville, and sent home to her relations in Kentucky. She soon became so discontented and restless, that in spite of all their efforts, she left them, returned to her former associates, and was again happy.

The attempts that have been made, at different times, to improve the minds and cultivate the morals of these people, have always been attended with success. Witness the Cherokees of Georgia, and the Wyandots, at Upper Sandusky. From 1821 to 1828, inclusive, the writer of these sketches passed through the latter settlement, almost every year, and occasionally twice a year, which gave him an opportunity to know, that they were devoting themselves principally, and almost exclusively, to agriculture and the arts; and were making rapid advances in civilization, when

the policy of government compelled them to abandon their farms, dispose of their stock and other property, at a great sacrifice, and migrate to the "Far West."

The imaginary physical difference, pretended to exist between the Europeans and the natives of this continent, vanishes at once, on an unprejudiced comparison between the civilized white man, and the civilized, educated Indian. In what respects, it may be asked, have Ross, Boudinot, Hicks, Ridge, and others, differed from the educated men of our own race? Their moral sense is the same-they manifest the same taste;-their preferences and dislikes-their habits and manners are the same: and their reasoning powers are equally strong and active. Inasmuch, then, as the reclaimed, educated Indian, becomes assimilated to the white man; and the European brought up from infancy among the Indians, becomes identified with them, this alledged difference cannot be real,-it must be imaginary.

The fact is, the difficulty of civilizing the natives of this continent, is neither greater nor less, than that which retarded the improvement of the barbarous nations of Europe, two thousand years ago. Human nature, under the same circumstances is, has been, and will be the same, in all ages and countries. Men, uncivilized, have always had a propensity to roam-they have delighted in the chase, rather than in agriculture; and both history and experience prove, that nothing but necessity, arising from such an increase of population as destroys the game, has induced men to settle in communities, and rely on the cultivation of the earth, for subsistence. In the progress of civilization, the chase has given way to the pastoral state, and that has yielded to agriculture, as the increase of numbers has rendered it necessary.

The difficulty of reclaiming the Indians of North America from savage life, may be ascribed principally to two causes: first, the almost boundless extent of forest and prairie, which surround them on all sides, filled with game. Second, the

facility with which they learn and practice the vices of white men; particularly those of intemperance and idleness. The one invites them to the chase, and surpersedes the necessity of the labor, and the drudgery, which agriculture imposes: the other unfits them for any employment; and especially for judging and deciding, on the policy, best calculated to advance their interest, and promote their happiness. If it were possible to protect them, from those vices, till the forest and the river ceased to supply them and their increase with food, they would devote themselves to agriculture and the arts; in the same manner, as the barbarians of other times and other countries, have done.

Necessity has always been the stimulus, that has urged the idler to industry. Without labor, no dense population can exist, and in proportion as the number of inhabitants in any district of country have increased, industry has also increased, and agriculture has been resorted to, from necessity. As soon as the Cherokees, and the Wyandots, were surrounded by a white population, and their territory was so contracted as to cut off their dependence on hunting and fishing, they became farmers, and manifested a strong desire to till the earth, and cultivate the arts; and this would have been the choice of the whole Indian race, if the policy of government had permitted it.

It is not just, to consider the natives of this country, as a distinct, and inferior race; because they do not generally imitate us, when we not only remove every consideration that could induce them to do so; but in fact, render it impossible. What motive of ambition was there, to stimulate them to effort; when they were made to feel, that they held their country as tenants at will, liable to be driven off at the pleasure of their oppressors? As soon as they were brought to a situation in which necessity prompted them to industry, and induced them to begin to adopt our manners and habits of life, the covetous eye of the white man was fixed on their incipient improvements, and they received