Present Condition and Future Prospects
The nations we write of are as yet in their savage state. But few steps have been taken by them in the path of knowledge. Their original manners and customs, if not entire, are but slightly changed, their superstitions the same as their ancestors, and their minds deplorably void of moral truth or useful science. Their idol worship remains undisturbed by religious teachers, and the humane efforts in this respect, extended to China and the South Seas, are withheld from the coppered brethren residing next door.
There are some points not to be overlooked, inasmuch as they have a general bearing upon the whole race, involving a subject of great interest to which the foregoing details form but the prelude. The principal of those to which we allude is this: “How far has knowledge, art, and commerce, and the progress of civilization, affected the improvement of the Indians, and changed or modified their original manners, customs, and opinions?”
As art and knowledge are yet in their infancy among them and as has been stated but little improvement in their moral condition is visible, yet great and important changes have been brought about by the commerce of trade, without which any plan for their future advancement would be retarded a century, and by correct appreciation of which views can be formed regarding contemplated measures for their prosperity.
In the foregoing pages, which present their savage life in detail, nothing speculative has been ventured upon, no conjectures hazarded, by us or by anyone well acquainted with the wild tribes, nor will any new opinions be perceived. The whole is merely a collection of facts, thrown together in the form of answers to certain questions without further comment than necessary for their illustration and clothed in the simplest garb of verbiage to facilitate their comprehension.
When we entered the fur trade in the spring of 1833, now 21 years since, all the Indians herein treated of, from the Sioux to the Blackfeet, inclusive, were much more ignorant in everything, degrading in their habits, slovenly in appearance, and barbarous in their actions than they now are. Life was then held by a slight tenure, crime was frequent, atrocious disorder and family feuds were general, and their occupations confined to slaughtering their enemies, murdering each other, and providing for their families only in extremes of necessity.
The traders of the Columbia Fur Co. and after them those of the American Fur Co. were men of ability, honesty, and truth. In the course of their dealings, intermarriages, and conversations with the Indians, the minds of the latter were enlarged, a different train of thought and action engendered, new desires created which gave a stimulus to industry, which raised the Indian from the level of the brute to the standing of an intellectual being.
The enmities formerly existing between different bands of the same nations, arising from the petty jealousies of chiefs or private family animosities, were soldered up by the traders. To be sure their object in this was personal gain, but that is immaterial, the beneficial results arising from their traffic, etc., were consolidation of force and interest of the Indians, unity of purpose and action, entailing order in their government, a great diminution of family feuds and private quarrels, and an application of their time to the comfort and welfare of their families instead of its being spent in bloody contention or domestic idleness or discord.
The introduction of firearms, metallic cooking utensils, and other tools gave them a greater reliance on their own powers, increased their hunting operations, and with them their domestic comfort, by these means withdrawing their attention from their barbarous practices and opening a new field for their exertions. With the substituting of European instruments and clothing arose a different kind of pride than that of olden time. The distinguishing features of the original savage were fierceness, obstinate will, and bloody determination, leading to barbarous and disgusting practices. Their women were worse than slaves, the extent of their labor was more than they could bear. With the stone ax, the bone awl, the clay pot, the rib knife, and all their primitive tools, even their most pressing wants were met with great difficulty. The process of procuring fuel alone was one of much toil, and occupied most of the time of one female to a lodge. On account of their inadequate instruments for dressing hides their clothing was wretched, often insufficient to protect from cold or to cover with decency.
Commerce has changed all this by facilitating their means, and the character of their women has risen from a state of intolerable slavery to one of ordinary labor scarcely more servile than that of European female operatives. Their persons are cleanly dressed, combed, and adorned, a desire to appear genteel is manifested, a neatness in their lodges and domestic arrangements perceptible, proving the transfer of their time and ideas to these ends from those of original filth and savage recklessness.
In former times the trade was carried on in their different camps by paying a number of desperate men (Indians) to restrain the populace from robbing the trader. This force was effective and necessary at the time, because the wants of the Indians were so numerous and pressing, their cupidity so great, that it was impossible for the trader publicly to display his goods or deal with them on anything like fair terms. And the Indians thus employed considered it an honorable station; it flattered their pride to rely for protection on their bravery, and no robberies could be committed nor the traders insulted without killing these men at the door of the lodge, which was never attempted. This gave rise to a body of men called soldiers, and the power first invested in them by the traders formed a nucleus around which collected a superior and coercive force, which, in the course of time, was applied to their own civil organization, producing order in their government, unity of action, and rendering effective the decisions by council.
The original natural authority was centered in the chiefs of small bands, supported only by their family connections, who could not or would not enforce decrees for general welfare nor interfere in any public differences not touching their private interests. Power being thus confined and circumscribed, separations into small camps took place and minor subdivisions into heads of families, resembling in this elementary form of government that of the ancient patriarchs who as their interests jarred or covetousness increased made war upon each other and were insufficient for any general purpose. But when the body of soldiers was established and their efforts united to support the chief and council, they soon collected in large bands, from two to four or six hundred lodges each, entered into effective measures of defense from the surrounding tribes, regulated their hunts to advantage, and by this consolidation of interest extinguished the principal sources of private discord. This was a great step in advancement produced by the traders and their commerce, for through the chief and council as the organ of public opinion and soldiers as its support the nation could be spoken to, their interest consulted, their feelings known, and the mass made to advance toward a further point of improvement.
Property by means of commerce having been acquired, rates of exchanges established, and hunting operations enlarged and facilitated, other things besides scalps became valuable in the eyes of the Indians. Each having something to lose, perceived the necessity of respecting the rights of others, giving rise to a spirit of compromise in difficulties, so that arms were less resorted to in settling disputes, payment in most cases superseding that ancient and barbarous custom; also they evinced a disposition to aid each other in times of need, which minor obligations bound still closer their hitherto feeble bonds of society.
These were some of the effects of the introduction of commerce. A still further improvement is visible in their expansion of ideas arising from association with white traders, exhibited in their amelioration of manners, desire for knowledge, doubts of their own superstitions, increase of their vocabulary and modes for expressing thought, reason supplying the place of passion, and the general usefulness of the whole, resulting in their minds having been made capable of comprehending religious or scientific instruction and their time and talents to be applied to either their moral or spiritual welfare.
This is the point to which these wild tribes are supposed by us to have arrived, but no further. Their future condition depends more upon their white allies than themselves. Traders have instilled education enough to serve their purposes and let them alone. It would be inexpedient for them to do more.
It is also apparent, if their present attainments be not improved upon by those in power, that they must recede, and in case of a discontinuance of trade or a worse influx of whites, their now to them useful organization must dissolve. In this event they must become more miserable than at first, because the desires and necessities induced by their partial elevation can not be satisfied from their original resources, these having been lost and abandoned during their advancement, consequently their present support withdrawn, their hunting ruined, distress, famine, and dissolution as nations must certainly follow.
If they are left in their present condition until the tide of emigration has reached their as yet undisturbed hunting grounds, and the green plains, now covered with multitudes of buffalo, shall be strewn with innumerable grog shops, occupied by nests of gamblers, and hordes of outlaws, bringing with their personal vices a host of infectious diseases, where will the poor Indian be then? Bitter would and should be the reflections of our great national reformers that they had not in time stretched out a saving arm to the aborigines.
It may be said, point out a way, state some feasible plan. Heretofore our policy has been lame, and our efforts retarded by our being but partially informed as to their capacity of improvement, or the practicability of bettering their condition.
To all this we would answer the course to be pursued is plain and can be easily gathered from these pages, which, like other productions of the kind, most probably will be thrown aside as soon as read or disbelieved because the facts recorded do not coincide with preconceived notions of Indian character.
We do not feel ourselves called upon by the inquiry to present a plan of operations, neither do we feel capable of instructing superior men. A plain statement of facts is sought and herein presented, though more could have been done had it been requested. Extensive establishments having for their object the civilization of the Indians have already been commenced with several nations within the boundaries of the United States and have met with success. Let others be tried, adapting the means to the situation and necessities of the roving tribes. A sudden revolution of feeling, an entire change in their habits and occupations, can not immediately be expected, would not be natural, neither would it be durable, but a gradual change brought about in their present employments, by combining them with pastoral and agricultural pursuits, a judicious introduction of mechanical arts, their superstitions carefully undermined and replaced by moral truth, their temporal welfare consulted, and a certain chance of subsistence presented; these things being accomplished, the eyes of the present grown generation would close in the rising prosperity of their children.
We perceive in the closing remarks of the inquiry these words: “In all questions where the interests of the tribes clash with those of the persons whom you may consult, there is much caution required.”
Now, our personal interests and those of every trader are at direct variance with any innovations in the present employments or organization of the Indians. Any improvement in their condition mentally or the introduction of other pursuits such as arts and agriculture, even the inculcation of the Christian religion, would immediately militate against the trade and unfit the Indians for being only hunters or being regarded only as a source of profit. We are perfectly aware that the policy advised in these pages, if acted upon, would effectually ruin the trade and with it our own personal interest and influence in that capacity. All these things have been well considered and had they any effect would only have led to our remaining silent on the subject; but, having written, we prefer placing things in their proper light, aiming at great general good, and thus without further comment the whole is left in the hands of those for whom it is intended.