The Diggers have been given that name in consequence of it being their custom to live chiefly upon roots, or whatever other food they can obtain by digging. They also find a scanty support from grass, seeds and locusts. They have been occasionally met wandering in Utah in a naked and half-starved condition. It is not possible to imagine human beings to be in a lower or more harsh state of existence. Misery and want do not however appear to influence the natural buoyancy and cheerfulness of these nomads. Possibly their freedom, the constant occupation of searching the hills and deserts for subsistence, and their unconstrained life, give them compensation for the hardships that they are forced to endure.
There is only one other race that I have seen living under similar conditions of continuous want and wretchedness, with whom the struggles for bare existence are equally severe.
That unfortunate people are the Fuegians, who wander in search of food upon the rugged coasts of Tierra del Fuego.
When passing through the Straits of Magellan in H.M.S. Pearl in January, 1877, we saw several families of the natives in Churruca Bay occupying wretched wigwams, placed close to the water’s edge.
Some of them embarked in their canoes and came alongside to ask for food and tobacco. They appeared to be in a half-starved and emaciated state, and were sustaining life upon mussel and edible roots. The medical officers of the ship measured the men, as I wished to ascertain their size and weight as compared with the Patagonians dwelling upon the opposite shores of the Straits. It was found that the height of these Fuegians was between four feet nine inches and five feet two inches. The average stature was under five feet. The measurements round the chest were comparatively large, being thirty-four to thirty-five inches.
We afterwards anchored in Gregory Bay, Patagonia. As soon as we were observed, a numerous tribe of Patagonians rode down to the beach, and pitched their tents opposite the ship. Several of the chiefs came on board and subsequently allowed themselves to be weighed and measured.
It was ascertained that their average height was five feet eleven inches, and their chest measurements averaged forty-four inches. Their weights averaged two hundred and thirty-two pounds.
The contrast in the physical condition between the Patagonians and Fuegians is extraordinary when it is considered that only a narrow channel of water, easily traversed by canoes, separates them. It is probable that the Utes, Shoshones and Fuegians may have been forced by adverse circumstances to retreat to the inhospitable regions in which they live. No race would willingly accept or undergo such unchangeable hardships.
CHAPTER VIII.
North American Indians.—Diversity of Languages.—The Iroquois.—Dialects.—Descent of Iroquois chiefs through the female line.—Pagan Indians.—Belief in a Great Spirit.—Ceremonies.—Dakotas.—Superstitions.—Dreams.—Fasts.—Sun worship.—Medicine men.—Customs of mourning by widows.—Supernatural influences.—Lightning.—Transmigration.—Worship of Spirit rocks.—Serpent worship.—Human sacrifices.—Burial customs.—Method of curing sickness by steam.—Note upon analogies between the customs of the Indians, Maoris, and the natives of the Sandwich Islands.
It is expedient with respect to the condition of the North American Indians, to take into consideration some of the circumstances relating to their languages, customs, and superstitions; particularly such of them as may appear to have remote analogies with the observances of other races, or with the more advanced state of civilisation that existed in the fifteenth century, among the tribes who had conquered the aboriginal inhabitants of Mexico, Central America, and Yucatan. It is also especially necessary that a brief investigation should be directed to certain exceptional forms of the Indian faith in the influence and power of the unknown gods by whom the Dakotas believed themselves to be surrounded and who were propitiated by acts of severe personal suffering and penance.
In the Northern continent there are two principal facts which attract the attention of those who are thrown into contact with the Iroquois, Chippewas and Dakotas. The first of these which comes under notice is the extraordinary number and diversity of their languages, and afterwards, upon a more extended acquaintance with the customs of these Indians, the strange and most grave nature of the higher character of their ancient religion. With regard to the differences of the languages my attention was first called to this circumstance by M. Cuoq, who, when I visited the Missionary establishment upon the shores of the “Lac des deux Montagnes” in Canada, was in charge of the converts. M. Cuoq was a learned philologist and had published a volume of studies upon the Indian languages.[43]
The assemblage of Roman Catholic converts brought together at the Mission was composed of two tribes, who spoke different languages which were so absolutely distinct that they were unable to converse with each other. One of these groups were Algonquins, whose ancestors originally dwelt to the north of the St. Lawrence, the other was formed from the Iroquois who came from territories bordering upon the southern banks of that river. M. Cuoq, when conducting the religious services, preached to them in their own languages alternately. It is not surprising that these scattered remnants of the two great tribes whose languages were radically dissimilar should still (although they have lived as neighbours for several generations) be unable to understand each other. It is, however, a different matter when the conditions are considered under which the original Iroquois language has become changed into the six languages spoken by the Senecas, Oneidas, Cayugas, Onondagas, Mohawks and Tuscaroras. The extraordinary manner in which the Iroquois language has thus become separated is especially noticeable at the Canadian reservation of those tribes situated near the banks of the Grand River.
According to the traditions of the Iroquois it appears that the nations were composed originally of one large tribe, all of whom spoke one language, and that they dwelt on the southern shores of Lake Ontario. It is stated that they became too numerous for the land which they occupied, and a great council was held to consider what steps should be taken to establish themselves in such a manner as to have hunting grounds sufficiently extensive to enable them to obtain supplies of food. After long discussion it was decided to disperse and to divide into communities. But, in order to prevent disaster from the possibility of being conquered by their enemies when thus separated, it was arranged that they should dwell near each other and thus be able to unite for the purpose of war. It happened, in consequence of this dispersion, that the language gradually became so greatly changed that the tribes were unable to understand each other, and in a period comparatively brief, six distinct dialects were formed which in the course of time became practically new languages.
When these Iroquois, who had been our allies in war, were gathered together and placed upon lands within the Canadian frontier, it was found expedient by them to make one of the dialects a language, which might be so far understood by the six nations, as to be employed upon all occasions when they had to perform their ceremonies, or carry out any purposes which they had in common.