CHAPTER XXII.

THE CHARGE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT, &c.

It might perhaps be expected, that I should give more of the _political_ character of this Council, and make the Court itself as conspicuous, as the place they occupied; that I should report their progress in order, and develope their transactions in detail, from beginning to end. But the execution of the _entire_ of such a plan, I am disposed to think, would not be very edifying. I have wished all along to keep, as near as possible, to that course, which might throw the most light on these two questions:--What are the American Indians? And what is to become of them? And this is the course I still mean to pursue, under my best endeavours, to the end. There are circumstances and features of this Council, yet untouched, that are worthy of notice for such an object.

It is proper to observe, that all the affairs of the Indians, in their connexion and intercourse and official transactions with the Government of the United States, are in charge of the War Department. With what propriety and for what reasons, I am unable to say. Neither can I say confidently, that there is any impropriety, except that the _name_ wears somewhat of a belligerent character, and would not naturally lead one to expect so much _kindness_ from such a quarter, as the Indians have an undoubted right to claim. We may hope, indeed, that this is not the reason, that such a perpetual _war_ has been waged upon Indian rights, and threatens still to be carried on. I am quite sure, that this business was not originally committed to that department of government for such an object; and if we are to look to the _temperament_ of the War Department, for the secret of these troubles, the sooner a motion is made and carried, that this charge be transferred to another office, or that a new department be created for this specific object, the better.

It is in truth to the War Department of the United States, to which we must look for all the immediate Government movements and transactions in relation to the Indians. There every plan in the treatment of Indians is conceived and organized;--and thence issue all the authorities to hold agencies and commissions among them, for whatever purpose, of an official nature. The destiny of whole tribes is settled there, and often by a single mind, without consultation. There were conceived, and as we have reason to believe, at the discretion of one individual, the instructions of the Commissioners to Green Bay, for 1830; which, if they had been permitted to go into effect, would have annihilated all the rights of the Indians concerned, at a single blow. When I say this, I of course speak of the _principles_, on which the instructions were based. And it was no doubt the confident expectation of the War Department, that the Commissioners, on the present occasion, would execute these instructions in full, and bring the plan to immediate consummation.

But unforeseen obstacles interposed; the effect of which, however, was only to suspend the result. The New York Indians had caused to be prepared a vindication of their rights, on the basis of the covenants between themselves and the North-West tribes; and of the understanding between themselves and the General Government;--the whole of which, it was the design of the instructions from the War Department to set aside. In the considerations, specified in the instructions, as a basis and guide of the contemplated arrangement, there was no reference whatever to these covenants. It is possible, and not improbable, that the Commissioners had caused the New York tribes to be served with a copy of these instructions, for the very purpose of notifying them of the course of procedure to be adopted. They improved the advice, however, in a different way from that, which we have here supposed was intended:--they employed the mean time, in the preparation of an argument to establish their rights, and to show before this Court, before Congress, if needs be, and before the world, why they could not legally, and why they ought not to be disturbed. It was a document of the greatest interest, as being done by Indians, allowing for the little assistance they received. Themselves furnished the materials, collected the facts;--the final copy of the document was made by their own hand;--it was read before the Commissioners by one of their own number;--and laid upon their table, as the only basis, on which they could act;--and it is now on file in the public office, at Washington, not only as an unanswerable demonstration of the rights, which it vindicates, in this particular instance;--but as a proof equally unanswerable, that an Indian may be a statesman, not to suffer by a comparison with any other. The New York Indians had among them, on the present occasion, a plural number of men, of a liberal education. Having right on their side, they were more than equal to the Court. They were dignified in all their deportment; and when called upon, they entered their solemn protest against the course of procedure, of which they had been notified, as determined on; laid the defence of their rights upon the table; and pointed to the _Bond_.

What could the Commissioners do? Could they refuse to hear? and having heard, could they decently throw out the document?--and retaining it, could they act upon it? The ground of discussion, which it opened, was entirely beyond the scope of their instructions. Yet the course pursued by the New York Indians seemed reasonable--all the world would deem it reasonable. The moment this document was heard by the Commissioners, their good sense taught them at once, that the object of their mission to Green Bay was entirely defeated, under the limitations of their instructions. They could do nothing definitively, under that instrument, without disgracing themselves, and disgracing the Government. The course pointed out, was a course of violence;--and however the end contemplated, was evidently resolved, and must finally be attained--the Commissioners, suddenly opening their eyes to some rays of the truth and merits of the case, had not come to this duty sufficiently conscience-hardened, to jump at once to the conclusion, in defiance of these covenants. The ground taken by the New York Indians, and the noble and intrepid vindication of their rights, was unexpected. It had not been anticipated at the War Department;--nor by the prime movers of the mischief on the premises;--it was not dreamt of any where. It was taken for granted, that they would yield to the menace held over their heads, and take what was offered, rather than risk all.

But the Commissioners being there, they might as well do something. Notwithstanding the aspects of the case were entirely changed, by the declaration and vindication of the rights of the New York Indians, and an insuperable bar thrown in the way of their errand;--yet they might as well hear what the Indians had to say on both sides; they might collect information, and report thereon to the authority, under which they acted. They might also, perhaps, in existing circumstances, safely hazard the use of some discretion. And so, it seems, they did;--although within very prudent limits. They ventured to specify and recommend terms of compromise, between the parties in controversy; and not succeeding in this, they drew up a plan of settling the disputes, which they proposed to recommend to Government.

But it was impossible for _such_ men to settle this matter. It was impossible, because they had come with wrong views of the case, and on the general subject--themselves pledged to a policy ruinous to Indian rights; impossible, because they had no authority to do it, on proper grounds; impossible, because of the conflicting testimony they were obliged to receive on the spot; and _impossible, because they could not agree among themselves_.

The Council was held eight days successively--Sunday excepted--without result, except, that it furnished an admirable occasion for the developement of Indian character and Indian wrongs.

CHAP. XXIII.

SPECIMENS OF INDIAN SPEECHES.

_By_ JOHN METOXEN, _head Chief of the Stockbridge Tribe, on the occasion of laying on the table of the Commissioners, the Document, which contained at large the declaration and vindication of their rights_.

“Brothers: hear what I have to say. Thanks to the great Spirit, who has brought your faces to our faces in health and peace. We shake hands with our great father, the President, in our hearts. We are glad to take you, his children and our brothers, by the hand. May the chain of friendship, which has so long bound us together, still bind us, while the sun comes up in the Great Lake, and goes down in our forest.

“Brothers, you know we have always been friends of our great father, the President, who has promised to keep off our enemies, if we will help him keep off his enemies. We lived under his shadow first in the east country, (Massachusetts) next with our brothers in the State of New York; and because our great father said, it would be better for us to come out here, we obeyed his voice, and came. Our great father said, he would not let the white man trouble us any more. He wished us to come here, and buy land of our brothers, the Menomenies and Winnebagoes, and settle down among them, and make them learn the good ways of the white man--how to raise corn, and build houses, and make their own blankets, and other good things. Our father said, we should keep the peace between him and the wild people of the North-West--that he would give us and our children this land for ever--that he would never let his white children come among us to sell our people strong water, and cheat them, and get away their land--that the great lakes should be a wall between us and them--that he would send good men to come and see us, and ask what we want--that he would send us ploughs and all things good to raise corn--that he would send our women things to make cloth--that if any of the tribes should rise up against us, or quarrel among themselves, our father would reach out his long arm, and speak with his mouth, and tell them to be still--and that here, under his shadow, we should all live in peace, and grow up together, and become a great nation, like the white men,--and build good houses, and at last have one great father of our own, who should be in peace with our great father, the President.

“Brothers, as we knew our great father was a true man and honourable, and as we believed he would never break his word, and that he had a strong arm to make it good, we trusted to all he said. We were glad at his words. We let his white children take our lands and our homes in the State of New York, and we took our wives, and our children in our arms, and came across the great lakes to live here on Fox River. We lighted the council-fire, and made peace with our brethren, the Winnebagoes and Menomenies. We gave them money for lands. They said, they were glad to see us, and to have us come and live among them--and that we would all be one people. They promised to leave hunting and fishing, and raise corn like us, and that their women should spin like our women--and that we would become as good and as great as white men. We were all agreed--and we were all very glad.

“Brothers, we did not think our great father, President Monroe, would die so soon--or that another would come in his place to forget what he had promised. We did not think, that our great father had so many papers in his table-drawer, that he could not find the one, on which his agreement with us was written.

“You see, brothers, the white man is here--he has brought strong water to sell to our people, to the Menomenies, to the Winnebagoes, and to the Chippeways, to get them drunk, and make them quarrel. The Indian is good for nothing, when he can get strong water. It makes him mad. He will not work--he will whip his wife, and his child,--and perhaps kill one, to be sorry for it the next day, when he cannot help it. Strong water makes him quarrel with his neighbour, and they kill one another. There is no peace, when the Indian can get strong water--but all things go badly. Our great father the President, said--that the white man should never come here, and sell our people strong water.

“Brothers, you see the white people have come here to live--a great many. And they tell us, that they will stay--and that more will come--and that they will have our lands--and that we must go beyond the Mississippi. All this makes us very sorry.

“We lived in peace with the Winnebagoes and Menomenies, and with all the tribes of the North-West. Our council-fire burnt well, and did not go out. But, while we sat in peace around it, and smoked the pipe of friendship with our brethren--the white man came in, and threw a big stone against the fire, and scattered the brands among our feet, and knocked them upon our blankets--and cried out: It is no peace--it is war;--so that we could not stay. We run home, and our hearts were very sorry; and there has been no peace since. The white man will not let us speak peace to our brethren. He tells our brethren, that we are their enemies--that we came here only to get away their country--and to drive them off; and that if they will get back the lands, which they sold to us, they can sell them again to the whites, and get pay for them a second time; and that the whites will give a great deal more money, than we gave. Three years ago (1827) they received a great bag of money from the city of Washington to buy these very lands on Fox River, which they once sold to us. We do not know for what _good_ reason this money was given them. We are afraid.

“Brothers, I need not say much. We have put in writing what we think. It has just been read to you, and is now in your hand. We wish you to think on what is written in that paper. We wish you to carry that paper to our great father, the President--and shake hands with him for us, and ask him to read and think of it. We wish it to be read before the chiefs of the great nation, who stand around the fire of the great council-house, at the city of Washington--that they may think of it.

“Brothers, there is no longer peace between us and our brethren here. We cannot speak with them. They do not come and see us--and we cannot go and see them. The white man stands between us and keeps us apart. We say one thing, and they say another thing. We no longer smoke the pipe together. We desire you to ask our great father to take away his white children, and when they are gone, we shall do well enough.

“We need not tell you, brothers, to shut your ears against the words of the white men, who have come up here, and who want our lands. We have been made very sorry to hear what they say.

“Brothers, we look to you--we look to our great father, the President--we look to the chiefs of the great nation: we ask only for the performance of their agreement. While you have that paper, you know our mind. We shall wait with great desire to know the answer of our great father and of the chiefs at Washington.

“I have no more to say.”

* * * * *

It is proper perhaps to say, that the paper referred to in this speech, is the document noticed in the last chapter, as having had such an important influence on the doings of the Commissioners, arresting the current in which they were directed by their instructions, and defeating the object which those instructions contemplated. The New York Indians relied entirely upon this, as principal; and upon other minor written communications, which were afterwards sent to the Court, as occasion demanded--in consequence of which the speeches of their chiefs were few, and generally short--delivered for the purpose of explanation, or in answer to inquiries.

_Speech of the Menomenie chief, called_ “THE BRAVE,” _in answer to_ METOXEN.

“Brothers: hear me. We give you this hand, to say, we are glad to see you. You came from the rising sun. We thank the Great Spirit, who has carried you safely over the big waters, and set you down in our country, the centre of the world. This hand is our welcome. Peace be with us.

“Brothers, we wish you to say to our great father, that we love him, and that we will always do as he tells us. Does he live in a big house? We shall be glad to go and see him. Tell him, if he will send us some money, and ask us, we will come. We should like him to send us some tobacco also. Tell him, we shake hands with him in our hearts.

“Brothers, we are glad you are come to settle our disputes. We, Menomenies and Winnebagoes, have no learning, like our brothers here from the rising sun, (the New York Indians.) We cannot put our thoughts on paper, like them. We ask, that you will let us have a man of learning, and a friend to us, that he may read that paper, (the defence handed in by the New York Indians) and tell us what it means--and that he may give us advice how to act; for our brothers from the rising sun know more than we do--they have deceived us. They have got more land, than they ought to have--more than we ever sold them. We wish you to tell them how much they may have. Tell them what to give back to us--and we will sell it to our great father, and to our white brothers here, who are our friends--and they will give us a fair price, and blankets, and tobacco. We like our white brothers here, and are willing to have them stay. They sell us what we want, and take our skins.

“Brothers, may the Great Spirit keep you.

“This is all.”

* * * * *

The request made by this chief for learned counsel was granted by the Court; and a gentleman, residing at Green Bay, who filled the office of judge in the District Court of the United States for that territory, was the adviser of the Menomenies and Winnebagoes, through all the sessions of the Council and of the Commission;--and he prepared written answers to all the written communications of the New York Indians.

_Speech of_ DANIEL BREAD, _a chief of the Oneidas, about thirty years old_.

“Brothers, I have not much to say. I am glad, that your people and my people have one religion. We worship the same Great Spirit--we love the same Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of sinners. It was the white man, who brought us to know the true God--and how we may be saved. We are thankful. We thank the Great Spirit, who has kindly brought us together at this time. May he keep us in the right way, make us love one another, and not let us do any thing wrong.

“Brothers, what has been said by our brother, the Stockbridge chief, is true. I was glad to hear what he spoke. We have moreover told you all our thoughts in that paper. We wish you to consider what we have written--and to take it up to our great father, and to the chiefs of his nation--that they may consider it, and restore our rights.

“Brothers, I did not wish to speak. But it was desired, that one of my tribe should say something. We are all made sorry--we are in great trouble--we know not what to do. The white man is come upon us, and is taking up our lands. We came here to be free from the white man. But he follows us wherever we go. We are discouraged. The white man has broken peace between us and our brethren here in the North-West, and will not let us come together again. We cannot do what we had wished to do--what our father, the President, promised us we might do. The white people are surrounding us again--they are getting our lands--they will not let us have any influence over the native tribes--they fill the ears of our great father with wrong stories--and they have already threatened to drive us away.

“Brothers, we were well off in the State of New York--as well as we could be, while surrounded by whites. There we had good land, we raised corn, learned the good ways of our white neighbours, had houses for our families, and a house of God. There we enjoyed the protection of the laws. If the white man injured us, we told it to our great father, (the civil magistrate) who was near at hand, and could see and right the wrong. But here the white man can do us any wrong, and there is no help for us. We came here, because we wished to be by ourselves, and to make a separate people of the Indians. Our father, President Monroe, promised, that his white children should never come after us. He said, he had a desire to see us living by ourselves, in peace and prosperity--that it would be better for us to come out here, than to live in the State of New York--and that he would always remember and protect us by his great and strong arm. But, brothers, we remember it is written in your Bible, which is our Bible: ‘And there arose another king in the land, which knew not Joseph.’ We remember also, that Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard, and Naboth said: ‘The Lord forbid, that I should resign the inheritance of my fathers.’ But _we_ did give up the inheritance of _our_ fathers, for the sake of peace--because our great father said he wanted it for his white children. ‘Ahab said to Naboth: I will give thee for it a better vineyard.’ So said our father, the President, to us--and he promised to defend it for us and for our children for ever. Now, we do not complain of the vineyard. It is good enough. But Ahab wants this also; and we are more exposed to the cruelties and depredations of his people, than before we removed.

“Brothers, we cannot move any more. Tell our great father, that our hearts are made very sorry by the conduct of his white children--and that we have no peace.

“This is all I have to say.”

* * * * *

_Speech of_ FOUR-LEGS, _head chief of the Winnebagoes_.--N.B. It is not to be understood, that this man actually had as many legs, as his name indicates. The fancy of the American Aborigines, in the invention and application of names, especially to their chiefs, is well known to be greatly exuberant, and not a little removed from what the Europeans would call classical purity. All that _Four-legs_ exhibited to the eye, to entitle him to this name, was the suspension of a fox’s tail, from being attached to the external of each of his knees; which played and dangled, as he walked, making a show at least equal to, and altogether more attractive than, the calf and ankle of his own leg. But to his speech:--

“Brothers, attend to my words. Thanks to the Great Spirit, who has kept us all till now. We are glad to shake hands with you. May we long smoke the pipe of friendship. Before our chiefs went to see our great father, where is built the great council-house, we did not know the great nation. And we once drew our short knives against the long knives--(long swords of the whites) we took the tomahawk and rifle--and we said: We will have every scalp of them. But they were too many for us. And when our chiefs came back, and told us what they had seen, we said: we shall never dare to lift up our short knives against the long knives again. And so, we wish to live in peace.

“Brothers, I have counted the trees of the forests all around the lake of my fathers; (Winnebago Lake, thirty miles long and fifteen broad)--when the sun was asleep in the woods, I have looked up from the door of my cabin, and counted the stars--but our chiefs told us, when they returned: You cannot count the white men! Brothers, we do not wish to fight the white men; we wish for peace. Our chiefs told us of your big cabins, all put together in a great heap, so great, that one must walk a whole journey to get round it. They told us of your big canoes, with great wings, and how they let out the smoke and thunder from their sides. We were afraid at their story--and we wish for peace. Our chiefs told us of your warriors, how many they are, and how they all push together straight forward, and do not run and dodge like an Indian behind a tree. They told us of rifles, so big, that an Indian could not put his arms around one--and that four horses must draw it on rollers--and that when it fires, it makes a great noise like thunder. It makes the ground shake, and the clouds too. Brothers, we wish for peace.

“I have no more to say.”

* * * * *

It is true, _Four-legs_ does not seem to speak much to the point under discussion. Nor is it to be inferred, that he was not a brave man, from the singular turn, which he happened to take in his speech. He is notwithstanding (_was_--for he is dead now) a warrior of great fame. He no doubt really desired peace, and was sufficiently convinced, from all he had heard, that his nation could never beat the whites. It is but a few years since, however, that the Winnebagoes supposed themselves the greatest and mightiest nation on earth; and their pride was equal to their estimation of their own relative importance. But _Four-legs_, just at this time, seems to have been in the humour of compliments;--and besides, he has been reckoned an arch politician, for an Indian. He might say one thing, and mean another.

_By_ JOHN METOXEN, _at the breaking up of the deliberations of the Council_.

“Brothers, I speak now both to my white and red brothers--to all who are here. I am an old man--and my spirit will soon be with the spirits of my fathers. I have been at the head of my people for many years. I have been anxious for them. When I came before them from New York to Green Bay, and told them to build their cabins at the _Grande Kawkawlin_, I thought they would have peace, and that I should die in peace. But I see, that I must go down to the grave without comfort. It is not peace. All the doings of this Council show, that there is no rest for my people, who came here for rest.

“I wish to say a word to the Winnebagoes and Menomenies. Brothers. It is not good, that the white man has stood between us, and kept us apart. Once we smoked in peace. We came from the rising sun, and asked you to give us a home. We told you, there was no more home for us among the graves of our fathers--because the white man had come there. You took us by the hand, and said: We are glad to see you. Here is our country. Come and live among us. We said to you: Give us land that we can call our own, and we will pay you for it. You did so. And we made a covenant. We said: The white man shall never come here. And our great father, the President, said: My white children shall never trouble you. We lived in peace, till the white man came. He, brothers, has told you wrong stories. He has made you believe, what is not true. It is he that wants your land, and not we. We agreed, that we would keep him off. But he has divided us; and now there is no more peace. He will get your land and ours, and then what will our children do?--Brothers, come back to us. Let us smoke the pipe again. We told you the ways of the white man, that he is a snake in the grass--that he will bite and destroy, when we don’t see--that he has great power--and that he will drive away the Indians, and give their land to his own children. You now see, that our words are come to pass. The white man has come and set his foot and his cabin on Fox River--and is getting more of our land every year. First, he spoke smooth words. Now he speaks rough words--because he has got the power. Brothers, come back to us. We will be one people. We will unite together against the white man, and pray our great father to take him away. And then we shall have peace, and no more trouble. I give you the faith and love of our tribes. It is not rotten. It is good.

“I speak again to my white brothers. You will not blame me, that I have spoken the truth. You have seen, brothers, since you came to Green Bay, that what I have just told the Menomenies and Winnebagoes, is truth. We have shewn you what promises were made to us by your great father and ours. You know it is truth. We make you witnesses this day--you shall witness to our great father and to his chiefs--you shall witness to God--that all we have said, is truth. We have been sorry, brothers, that it was not in your power to do us justice. We thank you for your good intentions. You say your instructions do not allow you to make the treaties a rule of settlement. We left our lands in the East country, and came here on the understanding of those treaties. We have trusted entirely to the faith they have pledged to us. If _they_ cannot be depended on, we know not what to trust. You offer to make a _new_ treaty in the name of our great father. Make the _old_ treaty good, brothers, and then if there be any need, we shall have some reason to trust in a _new_ one. Till then, we do not wish to make another. It is better to have none, brothers, if both parties will not keep them. We have been deceived. It is not good. We do not wish to be deceived again.

“Brothers, we have learnt one good thing from the white man: to trust in the white man’s God. We believe him to be the only God--and that he is the God of all the tribes of men. We feel, that we have need to trust in him now. We are injured; and I know not what new injuries await the destiny of my people. I shall go down to the grave thinking only of the words of King David’s son, which I have read in the book presented to my father’s father by your father’s father, from over the big salt lake: ‘So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter. And on the side of their oppressors there was power--but _they_ had no comforter.’ God is witness of our old engagements--God is witness how they have been kept--and God will reward us, according to our deeds.

“Brothers, I have done.”