Part 9
“Their first step was to address circular letters to the different tribes in 1796, accompanied by one from the executive government of the United States, expressive of its approbation. The letters merely contained an offer to instruct such as should apply to them, in husbandry. The Oneidas were the only tribe that at first made the application; and accordingly three Quakers repaired to their country, and settled there. At first, the natives were quite averse to labour of every kind; and the Quakers only cultivated their own ground, and worked a saw-mill for themselves. By degrees their example had its effect, and the use of the saw-mill became familiar to the tribe. In winter they opened a school for the children; and in summer they found the Indians beginning to assist their wives in cultivating little pieces of ground; a labour which had formerly devolved entirely on the latter. The want of a blacksmith being very greatly felt, a Quaker of that profession volunteered his services to settle there; and his wife accompanied him, to instruct the Indian girls. A number of the young men were hired and boarded by the Quakers, to assist them in working. The spirit of labour and taste for husbandry became more prevalent; the blacksmith’s work was generally attended to; the women learned to sew and spin. Implements of husbandry were judiciously and sparingly distributed. The use of these was acquired, and, in 1799, the natives began to clear lands for themselves, and sow wheat.
“Having proceeded thus far in reclaiming the tribe from the hunting state, and its attendant misery and idleness, an incident occurred, which displays in a remarkable manner, the happy mixture of judgment with which the promoters of this admirable plan tempered their zeal. The whites of other sects had not failed to spread abroad stories unfavourable to the scheme of the Quakers; and the Indians, naturally mistrustful, like all savages, began to entertain suspicions that these surmises were well founded. They knew that the labours of the Quakers must have cost money; and, as they never before saw any example of Europeans working for nothing, they suspected that the new settlers had a design of making a permanent establishment, and then laying claim to their lands. As soon as this notion came to the ears of the Quakers, they resolved to withdraw instantly, and leave the natives in the natural course of improvement, to benefit by the civilization which they had already planted among them. After a residence of three years, therefore, they disclosed their intentions in a council of the nation, and they left the place, accompanied by the unanimous thanks and good wishes of those rude tribes. A similar instance of suspicion afterwards occurred, and it was allayed with equal judgment. The Indians of another tribe having received many benefits from them, were afraid lest repayment should be demanded at some future time. A speedy and frank explanation from men whose honesty they never had even reason to doubt, at once allayed these apprehensions.
“The observations of what had been done among the Oneidas, induced the Senecas to send an invitation, requesting a similar assistance from the society. Three Quakers immediately repaired thither: they were welcomed with great joy; and thanks were given by the nation to the Great Spirit, for their safe arrival among them. Here, as in every other hunting tribe, the women and girls are left to the labour of rearing such vegetables as their husbandry affords, and in hewing timber for fuel. The chase, and amusements of different sorts, occupied the men and boys. The Quakers exhorted them constantly to give up such practices; and never failed to set before them, in the strongest light, the necessity both of general industry and temperance; a virtue almost unknown among the Indians at the commencement of the Quaker missions. The progress of improvement in the arts and comforts of life, uniformly kept pace with the disuse of spirituous liquors; and the speeches and other communications of thanks from the chiefs of the tribe, to the society and its emissaries, never fail to mark the state of morals, and especially of sobriety among the natives. The sketch of improvement given above, relative to the Oneidas, is also applicable to its history among the Senecas. But we shall be excused for extracting the following discourse, delivered by the Quakers to those Indians, in a council. It is, in our apprehension, the right model of a right missionary sermon. We shall also subjoin the answer of the chief:—
“‘Brothers,—It has afforded us satisfaction, in passing through your town, to notice marks of industry taking place; that you are building better and warmer houses to live in; and that so much of your cleared land is planted with corn, beans, potatoes, &c.; and to see these articles kept in good order.
“‘Brothers,—We observe, where your new houses are building, that the timber is very much cut off a rich flat, which we wish you encouraged to clear and make fit for ploughing. We hope more of your men will assist in clearing and fencing land, and planting it with corn; also sowing it with wheat; you will then have a supply of provision, more certain to depend upon than hunting.
“‘Brothers,—We are pleased to see your stock of cattle increased. The rich bottoms on the river will be plenty for them to live on in the summer season; but, as your winters are long and cold, it will require something for them to live on in the winter. The white people keep their cattle on hay, on straw, and on corn fodder. Straw you cannot get, until you have raised wheat or other grain; the rich bottoms, if put in order, would produce a great deal of hay. But, for an immediate supply, we think, that, as soon as you gather the corn, if you would cut the stalks close at the ground, bind them up in small bundles, and put them in stacks, as our young men do, they would keep your cattle part of the cold weather.
“‘Brothers,—We are pleased to see a quantity of fence made this summer, and we would not have you discouraged at the labour it takes; for, if you will clear a little more land every year, and fence it, you will soon get enough to raise what bread you want, as well as some for grass, to make hay for your cattle in winter.
“‘Brothers,—We understand you are desirous to discourage whiskey from being brought among you, with which we are much pleased, and should be glad you could entirely keep it away. To get it, you give your money, with which you should buy clothing, oxen, &c.’
“The Indians were also informed that one of the young men, who had been there since the settlement was first formed, (about sixteen months) appeared most uneasy to leave them, and return to his friends before winter. They hoped another would supply his place.
“Cornplanter, on behalf of the nation, made a reply, in substance as follows:—
“‘That, when our young friends first settled among them, many of his chiefs were averse to it; but they had this summer several councils among themselves respecting the young men, and all the chiefs seeing their good conduct and readiness to assist Indians, were now well satisfied. He hoped, several of his young men would do more at farming than heretofore; and friends must not be discouraged because so little was done; but exercise patience towards them, as it was hard for them to make much change from their ancient customs. He regretted the loss of the friend who expected to leave them soon; he said he had been useful to him in keeping whisky, and other strong liquors, out of the town; that they now drank much less than formerly; but feared, when the friend was gone, he should keep it away so well as he had lately done.’ p.p. 18, 21.
“We add the following passage, as an interesting account of the progress, in one of the grand circumstances which distinguishes the civilized from the barbarous state of society.
“‘In the ninth month of this year, (Sept. 1801), three of the committee visited the settlement, being accompanied by a young friend, a blacksmith, who went to instruct some of the Indians in that useful and necessary occupation. Two of the visitors had been there before. The preceding spring, the Indians first began to use a plough; and the men performed the labour with a little instruction and assistance from friends. They took a very cautious method of determining whether it was likely to be an advantageous change for them or not. Several parts of a very large field were ploughed; and the intermediate spaces prepared by their women with the hoe, according to ancient custom. It was all planted with corn; and the parts ploughed besides the great saving of labour, produced much the heaviest crop; the stalks being more than a foot higher, and proportionably stouter, than those on the hoed ground. The corn was now ripe and gathering in; and as their stock of cattle was much increased, instead of letting the stalks and leaves perish on the ground as heretofore, they preserved them for winter fodder. Several of them had mown grass, and made small stacks of hay; and they had made a fence about two miles long, which encloses the lower town, and a large body of adjacent land fronting on the river; also several other fences within it, to separate the corn ground from the pasture, &c.
“‘The cabins which they used to live in, were generally either gone to decay, or pulled down. Most of them had built good log houses, with shingled roofs, and some of them with stone chimneys.
“‘With the exception of houses and fences, the improvements at Jeneshadago did not bear a comparison with the upper settlements, where the Indians lived more scattered. Their thus settling separate and detached from each other, was already manifestly more to their advantage than living together in villages. A chief, who is not ashamed to be seen at work by the women of his own family, would be probably much mortified, were he discovered by a number of females, who, on such occasions, do not always refrain from ridicule. Yet this false shame on the part of the men, and ridicule of the women, is wearing away, in proportion as they become familiarized to each other’s assistance in their little agricultural labours.
“‘Friends requested a council with the chief women of the Jeneshadago town, which was readily granted, when they were favoured to make some communications pertinent to their situation. The women expressed their thankfulness to the Great Spirit for affording them this council; the words, they said, had sunk deep into their hearts, and they hoped would never be forgotten by them. Cornplanter and his brother Conedieu were present.
“‘The Indians were become very sober, generally refraining from the use of strong drink, both at home and when abroad among the white people. One of them observed to our committee, “no more bark cabin, but good houses; no more get drunk now this two year.”’—p.p. 24, 25, 26.
“We shall only add one proof more of the progress which industry had made among these tribes, by the laborious and judicious example of the Quakers. A single tribe had formed a road of twenty-two miles in length; and a few families, in one place, had cleared and fenced sixty acres of good land.
“It is impossible to contemplate the signal success which has attended these experiments, without remarking that it was owing in part to the character of the Quakers, as well as to the wisdom of the plans which they here adopted. The general reputation of that sect for peacefulness and honesty, and the quiet manner of those whom they sent to reside among the Indians, could not fail to disarm any repugnance of the savage natives towards strangers, and to conciliate their confidence and esteem. Even their taciturnity was favourable to the end in view. ‘Your young men,’ said a chief in one of their councils, ‘do not talk much to us, but when they do, they speak what is good, and have been very helpful in keeping us from using spirituous liquors.’ Their punctual performance of engagements, and the regularity of all their habits had the same good effects in gaining the respect of the Indians. ‘Brothers,’ said they, in a conference which had been held for the purpose of explaining some differences, ‘Brothers, we are well satisfied with your conduct towards us. You have always done what you promised.’ We subjoin the following anecdote as illustrative of the influence which the character of the sect has had on the success of their experiment and as interesting in itself. ‘In the evening, when friends were sitting with the chief warrior, he said he wished to ask them a question, but was almost afraid. They desired him to speak, and they would give him such information as they were able. It was, Do the Quakers keep any slaves? He was told they did not. He said he was very glad to hear it; for if they had kept any, he could not think so well of them as he now did. That he had been at the city of Washington last winter, on business of the nation, and found many white people kept blacks in slavery, and used them no better than horses.’
“From these causes, as well as from the admirable discretion and sound sense which directed the formation of these plans, this small society of Quakers have, at an expence inconceiveably trifling, secured the civilization of the Indian tribes, and laid the foundation of their entire conversion to the state of peaceful and industrious husbandmen, from that of wandering and turbulent and idle hunters. The missionaries left those children of their care mutually satisfied with the progress and result of their labours. For the first time Europeans had resided amongst them with no interested ends in view; for the first time they had learnt no bad lesson, and received no injury from intercourse with more polished communities; for the first time since the voyage of Columbus, a stranger and a friend became compatible appellations—the natural antipathy to new faces vanished in the course of further acquaintance—and he who had been welcomed with distrust, was only suffered to depart with tears. The Indian tribes view the departure of the Quaker missionaries as a national calamity, and are not afraid to consult with their society on all matters of general import.”[83]
The success which attended the benevolent exertions of the Quakers, affords demonstrable proof of the possibility of reclaiming the American Aborigines from the savage state. It must not, however, be supposed that the efforts of other missionaries have been equally successful; nor ought the reader to conclude that even the efforts of the Quakers were productive of any considerable and abiding change in the condition of the red men. However anxious we may be for the civilization of the American Savages, there is no historic fact more certain than that they are not yet civilized. Missionaries and preachers are not the men likely to produce any great change in the condition of these children of nature. That the efforts of the missionaries have, in most cases, proved ineffectual, the following letter from an Indian Chief will abundantly show:—
LETTER FROM RED JACKET.
Canandaigua, 18th. Jan., 1821.
“Brother Parrish,
“I address myself to you, and through you to the governor.
“The chiefs of Onondaga have accompanied you to Albany, to do business with the governor; I also was to have been with you, but I am sorry to say that bad health has put it out of my power. For this you must not think hard of me. I am not to blame for it. It is the will of the Great Spirit that it should be so.
“The object of the Onondagas is to purchase our lands at Tonnewanta. This, and all other business that they may have to do at Albany, must be transacted in the presence of the governor. He will see that the bargain is fairly made, so that all parties may have reason to be satisfied with what shall be done, and when our sanction shall be wanted to the transaction, it shall be freely given.
“I much regret that at this time the state of my health should have prevented me from accompanying you to Albany, as it was the wish of the nation that I should state to the governor some circumstances, which show that the chain of friendship between us and the white people is wearing out and wants brightening.
“I proceed now, however, to lay them before you by letter, that you may mention them to the governor, and solicit redress. He is appointed to do justice to all, and the Indians fully confide that he will not suffer them to be wronged with impunity.
“The first subject to which we would call the attention of the governor, is the depredations that are daily committed by the white people upon the most valuable timber on our reservations. This has been a subject of complaint with us for many years; but now, and particularly at this season of the year, it has become an alarming evil, and calls for the immediate interposition of the governor in our behalf.
“Our next subject of complaint is, the frequent thefts of our horses and cattle by the white people, and their habit of taking and using them whenever they please, and without our leave. These are evils which seem to increase upon us with the increase of our white neighbours, and they call loudly for redress.
“Another evil arising from the pressure of the whites upon us, and our unavoidable communication with them, is the frequency with which our Chiefs, and Warriors, and Indians, are thrown into jail, and that too for the most trifling causes. This is very galling to our feelings, and ought not to be permitted to the extent to which, to gratify their bad passions, our white neighbours now carry this practice.
“In our hunting and fishing too, we are greatly interrupted by the whites. Our venison is stolen from the trees, where we have hung it to be reclaimed after the chase. Our hunting camps have been fired into; and we have been warned that we shall no longer be permitted to pursue the deer in those forests which were so lately all our own. The fish, which in the Buffalo and Tonnewante Creeks, used to supply us with food, are now by the dams and other obstructions of the white people, prevented from multiplying, and we are almost entirely deprived of that accustomed sustenance.
“Our Great Father, the President, has recommended to our young men to be industrious, to plough and to sow. This we have done; and we are thankful for the advice, and for the means he has afforded us of carrying it into effect. We are happier in consequence of it; but another thing recommended to us, has _created great confusion among us, and is making us a quarrelsome and divided people; and that is the introduction of preachers into our nation_. These black-coats continue to get the consent of some of the Indians to preach among us, and wherever this is the case, confusion and disorder are sure to follow, and the encroachments of the whites upon the lands, are the invariable consequence. The governor must not think hard of me for speaking thus of the preachers; I have observed their progress, and when I look back to see what has taken place of old, I perceive that whenever they came among the Indians, they were the forerunners of their dispersion; that they always excited enmities and quarrels among them; that they introduced the white people on their lands, by whom they were robbed and plundered of their property; and that the Indians were sure to dwindle and decrease, and be driven back in proportion to the number of preachers that came among them.
“Each nation has its own customs and its own religions. The Indians have theirs, given to them by the Great Spirit, under which they were happy. It was not intended that they should embrace the religion of the whites, and be destroyed by the attempt to make them think differently on that subject from their fathers.
“It is true these preachers have got the consent of some of the chiefs to stay and preach among us, but I and my friends know this to be wrong, and that they ought to be removed; besides we have been threatened by Mr. Hyde, who came among us as a school master and a teacher of our children, but has now become a black-coat, and refused to teach them any more, that unless we listen to his preaching and become Christians, we shall be turned off our lands. We wish to know from the governor if this is to be so, we think _he_ ought to be turned off our lands, and not allowed to plague us any more. We shall never be at peace while he is among us.
“We are afraid too that these preachers, by and by, will become poor, _and force us to pay them for living among us and disturbing us_.
“Some of our chiefs have got lazy, and instead of cultivating their lands themselves, employ white people to do so. There are now eleven white families living on our reservations at Buffalo; this is wrong, and ought not to be permitted. The great source of all our grievances is that the white men are among us. Let them be removed, and we will be happy and contented among ourselves. We now cry to the governor for help, and hope that he will attend to our complaints, and speedily give us redress.
“RED JACKET.”
This letter was dictated by Red Jacket, and interpreted by Henry Obeal, in the presence of the following Indians:—
“RED JACKET’S SON, CORN PLANTER, JOHN COBB, PETER, YOUNG KING’S BROTHER, TOM THE INFANT, BLUE SKY, JOHN SKY, JEMMY JOHNSON, MARCUS, BIG FIRE, CAPTAIN JEMMY.”[84]
To this may be added the testimony of Timothy Flint, who had ample opportunities of judging of the effects of the proselyting scheme on the character of the Indians.
“During my long residence,” he observes, “in the Mississippi valley, I have seen them [the Indians] in every point of view, when hunting, when residing in their cabins, in their permanent stations, wild and unsophisticated in the woods, in their councils and deputations, when making treaties in our towns. I have seen their wisest, bravest, and most considered; and I have seen the wretched families that hang round the large towns, to trade and to beg, intoxicated subdued, filthy, and miserable, the very outcasts of nature. I have seen much of the Creeks and Cherokees, whose civilization and improvement are so much vaunted. I have seen the wretched remains of the tribes on the lower Mississippi, that stroll about New Orleans. I have taken observations at Alexandria and Nachitoches of the Indians of those regions, and from the adjoining country of New Spain. I have resided on the Arkansas, and have been conversant with its savages. While I was at St. Charles, savages came down from the rocky mountains, so untamed, so unbroken to the ways of the whites, that they were said never to have eaten bread until on that trip. While I was at St. Louis, a grand deputation from the northern points of the Missouri, the Mississippi, and the Lakes, comprising a selection of their principal warriors and chiefs, to the number of 1800, was there for a length of time. They were there to make treaties and settle the relations which had been broken during the war, in which most of them had taken a part hostile to the United States. Thus I have inspected the Northern, the Middle, and Southern Indians for a length of ten years, and I mention it only to prove that my opportunities of observation have been considerable, and that I do not undertake to form a judgment of their character, without at least having seen much of it.”