Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri / Edited with Notes and Biographical Sketch

by Edwin Thompson Denig

Crime

Crime of any and all kinds among them is considered an offense to the individual and as such liable to punishment by the person offended. But no idea of a moral offense toward the Great Spirit is exhibited or consequent future punishment feared. All our endeavors to extract from them even an acknowledgment of the greatest crimes being morally wrong have been unavailing. They can not see that any act of theirs should meet with punishment after death because they think they have just cause for these acts, and also they do not believe in future punishments at all. To illustrate the first position, we will present their arguments on the greatest of crimes, murder. An Indian never commits what in his mind would be equal to murder in our estimation. There is no inducement in any case for them to murder a man for his horses, wife, or any other property they possess, for this step, instead of securing these advantages, would operate in quite an opposite direction, making it necessary for the murderer to relinquish his own property and that of his nearest relatives to pay the damage; also forfeiting his own life and becoming an outcast. And this is the reason why their disputes so seldom terminate in bloodshed, as the prospect of loss is far greater than that of gain. When they do kill among themselves it is in consequence of some quarrel about property, or about something, and this they are then in a manner obliged to do, to save their own life. It then becomes self-defense or a necessary action induced by the principle of fear and their constant habit of carrying and raising arms. In no instance does an Indian take life, except that of his enemies, without provocation.

A horse, a woman, a gun, or any other article may be the cause of a quarrel, and threats and menaces pass which place each under the necessity of destroying the other to save himself. They say they can not do otherwise, and often regret the necessity. To kill an enemy, instead of being reckoned an act ungrateful to Wakoñda, is thought by them to be highly pleasing, therefore his aid to accomplish this and even private revenge is sought in prayers, fasts, sacrifices, etc. All mankind have, they think, an equal right to live, and an equal right to preserve that right, and it is the sense of this self-preservation that compels them to remove any danger in their way, such as wild beasts, enemies, or any of their own people whom they are aware are only waiting an opportunity against themselves; and it is also this right to life and fear of being assassinated that compels them to take every advantage to accomplish the destruction of the danger pending. We have questioned several Indians on this subject who have killed their own people and all have led to the same subject, viz., the necessity imposed upon them by quarrels to kill or be killed. To act otherwise when all peaceful means have failed would be considered as the height of foolishness and cowardice. An Indian does not take life from mere thirst for blood, nor, as has been stated, to acquire property, as in either case no advantage would be gained. When they waylay and murder whites they believe they are doing right; that whites have no business in their country, and are therefore looked upon in the light of enemies.

They do not kill the white traders among each nation, or in the few instances they have done so it was from some motive of revenge, right in their estimation and in conformity to their law of retaliation. When the Blackfeet kill the whites at the Crow Fort it is from no enmity to the whites as a people, for they could if they wished kill plenty in their own country; it is that they do not wish the Crows, their enemies, to have traders who supply them with the means of killing them, by trading guns, ammunition, etc. The same reasoning on their own side is the cause of their friendship toward their own traders. Revenge, the great principle of destroying life, is strongly contended for by the Indians as necessary to their existence, both individually and as a body. The fear of the consequences of dispute prevents it, or generally is settled amicably by payment. There being no competent judiciary to try and punish crime renders it necessary for each one to retaliate, or they would be liable to constant imposition. That revenge among them supplies the want of courts of justice, prisons, and public executions. If the revenge is disproportionate to the offense, it can not be helped; their habits, customs, and organization all have that tendency. In all this they see no offense to Wakoñda nor any idea of moral wrong, even if they did believe in future punishment, which they do not, yet they know it is an offense to the individual and all his relatives, incurring their retaliation, which is the only punishment they expect.

Inasmuch as the warrior believes that by prayers, fasts, personal inflictions of pain and sacrifices they can secure the aid of Wakoñda to effect the death of their enemies or for the gratification of private revenge, by the same train of reasoning it must be manifest that the soul of a warrior must occupy a high degree of happiness in Indian paradise for accomplishing these acts through his instrumentality.

The death of a man who killed another would suffice if it were possible to stop there, but we have said enough on this subject to show they have no power to stop. The taking of the second life produces an obligation on the part of the kindred of the deceased to revenge, and retaliation is continued. The original cause of quarrel is lost in the greater necessity of defending life on either side. Therefore in their yet deplorable state of ignorance the crime of murder as an act of the same nature in our ideas can have no existence among them, neither can anything be morally wrong in which the aid of Wakoñda is invoked and if successful obtained. Robbery or theft is also an individual offense though not by them considered as such to Wakoñda. An Indian gives for his reason for stealing an article that his necessities required it and he could not get it any other way. He will not steal an article he does not want or can not use and run useless risk of detection, but a horse, gun, knife, of other things will sometimes be taken and the act excused on the plea of his necessities.

The risk attending the extraction of large articles or the disgrace incurred by pilfering is, they grant, all the punishment necessary, and these seldom are attended with any serious consequences. All must live some way and the right to property not being well defined—besides each being accustomed to frequent reverses—stealing is looked upon more as a means of subsistence necessitated by the state of their peculiar wants, and does not present the idea of theft to them as an immoral act or one tending to aggravate Wakoñda. Robberies to the extent of depriving another of his means of living are seldom if ever attempted, though retaliation would of course be severe in proportion, and in the progress of this retaliation the property thus acquired, be it horses or women, would be destroyed, besides the risk attending the robber personally.

Fornication and adultery are not considered offenses to Wakoñda. If the consent of the woman has been obtained, punishment is seldom inflicted on the man unless caught in the act. The woman, however, is punished in various ways, sometimes, though not usually, by death. The property of the offender is taken or destroyed for his trespass on the property of the offended. The chastity of any woman not the property of another man may be violated without any moral sense of wrong presenting itself, though the seducer would be liable to be made to pay or in default of doing so his horses would be killed by the relatives of the woman. Moreover, they look upon women as intended for this purpose, and only take into consideration the different claims upon them as an article of property.

Rapes on virgins are nearly unknown. Were such a crime accomplished the law would be death to the perpetrator, not because it is morally wrong, but because it depreciates the price of the woman and lessens her chance of marriage. It is also considered as an insult to her relatives, intimating a contempt of their feelings and power of protection.

The evils arising from falsehood or lying are with them of small importance. Any lies an Indian could invent would not be productive of any great evil, and owing to their associations the falsehood would soon appear. This being the case it is not regarded as a great offense even to the individual, much less Wakoñda. They all lie occasionally, and the custom is so common as scarcely to attract any further notice than their ridicule. Therefore there is no punishment attending on it further than the person famed for lying would be neglected and despised by the others. To call an Indian a liar would be insult certainly, but not in the same degree as the same epithet among whites. It would not be aggravation enough alone to merit a blow or any revenge. There is no such thing as profane swearing among any of these prairie tribes, nor is there a word in their language equivalent to even the smallest profane oaths in such general use among whites. The name of Wakoñda is never mentioned without manifestations of awe and reverence. In this respect at least they are far superior to their Christian brethren. In conclusion of this answer we come again to the starting point.

What in their estimation is crime, is wrong, is an offense to Wakoñda? Crime and wrong can be nothing more than offenses to persons subject to their law of retaliation, the punishment being greater or less according to the object which entails it. Although they do not believe in future punishments, yet they think that Wakoñda can be offended and does punish in this life; not for crimes, as they have no existence, but for neglect of proper fasts, sacrifices, and personal privations and inflictions necessary to propitiate his anger. They believe that they are under obligations to worship Wakoñda, not from the fact of their creation or even as to the author of all good, but through fear of his power. In almost every emergency an Indian can be placed, the cause of which is not visible or the result doubtful, that is, where his own powers fail, he applies to Wakoñda. These applications are made by presenting to the Sun, Thunder, and other supernatural agencies offerings of considerable value, by fasting, by lacerating their bodies, prayers, and incantations, with the view of avoiding sickness in their families, personal harm of every description, attacks of enemies, to obtain success in war, to collect the buffalo near their camp, to avoid the attacks of bears, strokes of lightning, or even the appearance of ghosts. Where success has not followed these rites and ceremonies they believe it is caused by the offerings not being of sufficient value, or not of long duration, or their having been too seldom performed. Therefore the neglect or incompetency of these sacrifices constitutes the crime and the punishment is visible in the misfortune that occurs. This part of the subject will meet with further consideration under the head of religion.