Indians.
There was no subject of higher interest to me during my travels in North America, than the past and present condition of the Indian tribes. Were I to enter into the history of the past, I could easily fill three or four volumes with matter which I think would be found very well worth perusing. It is to be lamented that there has been no correct history of the Indian tribes yet published. There are many authors in America well calculated to undertake the task; and the only reason which I can give for its not having been already done, is that, probably, the American Government are not very willing to open the archives of the Indian department even to their own countrymen; and, at the same that time, an American author, who would adhere to the truth, would not become very popular by exposing the system of rapine and injustice which was commenced by the English who first landed, and has been continued up to the present day by the Federal Government of the United States. Nevertheless, it is to be lamented, now that the race is so fast disappearing, that a good historical account of them is not published. There is no want of material for the purpose, even if the Government refuse their aid; but at present, it is either scattered in various works, or when attempted to be collected together, the author has not been equal to the task.
There is a question which has been raised by almost every traveller in America, and that is—from whom are the American Indians descended? and I think, from the many works I have consulted, that the general opinion is, that they are descended from the lost tribes of Israel. We have never discovered any other nation of savages, if we may apply such a term to the American Indians, who have not been idolators; the American Indian is the only one who worships the one living God. In a discourse, which was delivered by Mr Noah, one of the most intelligent of the Jewish nation that I ever had the pleasure of being acquainted with, there is much deep research, and a collection of the various opinions upon this subject. To quote from it would not do it justice, and I have therefore preferred, as it is not long, giving the whole of it in the Appendix, as it is not (though should be more) generally known. In the second volume I have given a map of North America, in which I have laid down, as correctly as I can, and sufficiently so for the purpose, the supposed locations of the various tribes, at the period that the white man first put his foot on shore in America. I have said “as correctly as I can,” for it would be as difficult to trace the outer edges of a shifting sand-bank under water, as to lay down the exact portion of territory occupied by tribes who were continually at war, and who advanced or retreated according as they were victorious or vanquished. Indeed, many tribes were totally annihilated, or their remnants incorporated into others, living far away from their original territories: the Tuscororas, for instance, were driven out of Carolina and admitted into the Mohawk confederacy, which originally came down from the upper shores of the river St. Lawrence. The Winnebagoes, also, were driven from the south and settled on the river Wisconsin. The Sacs and Foxes fought their way from the river St. Lawrence to the Fox river, in Wisconsin, and were driven from thence, by the Menomonies and Chippewas, to the territory of Rock river, on the river Mississippi, where they remained, until deprived of their territory by the Federal Government, and sent away to the west of the river. I make these observations that the map may not be cavilled at by some hyper critic, who has thought that he has discovered a mare’s nest; it is as accurate as I can make it, and I profess to do no more.
Notwithstanding the vicissitudes which continually occurred, the tribes of North American Indians may be classed as follows:—
The Algonquin stock of the North—under which are comprehended the Chippewas, Ottawas, Menomonies, Hurons, etcetera.
The Southern tribes, who are also descended from one stock, and comprise Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws, Catawbaws, Chickasaws, etcetera.
The Horse Indians of the West, as the Pawnees, Osages, Sioux, Kansas, Comanches, etcetera.
The Indians of the Rocky Mountains, as Crows, Snakes, and Blackfeet.
All the above races were composed of numerous tribes, who acknowledged themselves as blood relations, but did not enter into any confederacy for mutual support; on the contrary, often warred they with each other. There were other powerful tribes, which resided between the lakes and the Ohio, bordering on the hunting grounds of Kentucky and Tenessee, which portion appeared to be set aside, by general consent, not only for hunting but for war. There were Delawares, or Lenni-Lenape, the Shawnees, Wyandots, Illinois, Peoria, and some others.
The confederate tribes, and with which the early settlers had to contend, were as follows:—