Roger Williams’ purpose was to bring about a closer relation between the whites and the natives. He believed they could be mutually helpful if the book were used as a guide.
“A little key may open a box where lies a bunch of keys.... One candle will light ten thousand, and it may please God to bless a little leaven to season the mighty lump of those peoples and territories.”
The work was published in London before the close of the year under an odd and lengthy title which indicated that the labor put into it was at least thorough. It was called “A Key into the Language of America; or, An help to the Language of the Natives in that part of America, called New-England. Together, with brief Observations of the Customs, Manners and Worships, etc. of the aforesaid Natives, in Peace and War, in Life and Death. On all which are added Spiritual Observations, General and Particular by the Author, of chief and special use (upon all occasions,) to all the English Inhabiting those parts; yet pleasant and profitable to the view of all men.” Let us hope that the persons who asked for the volume in the London bookshops did not attempt to give the title word for word!
No man of that day was better fitted to undertake such a task as the writing of the Indian Key than Roger Williams, for no man had lived so intimately with the New England Indians. The quaint book is to-day considered very valuable and very precious among book-lovers. Of course most of the history concerns the Narragansetts particularly, but Roger Williams also made use of the knowledge he had gained from other tribes.
Suppose we take a few peeps into this fascinating old volume, for nowhere can we find a better picture of the author’s “barbarians.” We notice, first, that it is made up something like a dictionary. On the left side of each page are the Indian words and phrases and, on the right, their meaning in English. But what a difficult dictionary! Think of mastering such mouth-filling words as “Muckquachuckquêmese” or “Maumashinnaunamaùta.” Only the patience of a Roger Williams could ever have discovered that such enigmas meant “a little boy” and “Let us make a good fire.” It is interesting to know that the very first phrase in the book is the familiar “What cheer, Netop?” or the first greeting that reached Roger Williams’ ears in the land of the Narragansetts. Besides explaining the commoner expressions of the Indians, the author includes notes about their life and habits. At the close of each chapter are a few lines of simple, crude verse that sounds for all the world like the pointed sermons with which good old-fashioned stories used to end.
As to the religion of the Indians, Roger Williams tells his readers that he has been given the names of thirty-seven different gods which they solemnly worship. Among these, Cautantouwit, the great god of the southwest, was a general favorite. From his field came their corn and beans and it is to his abode their souls will go at death, provided they have lived good lives. All murderers, thieves and liars, on the other hand, must wander restlessly abroad. Besides Cautantouwit, many other gods are mentioned, such as the Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern Gods, the House God, the Woman’s God, the Children’s God, the Sun and the Moon Gods, and the Fire God.
“The Indians find the sun so sweet,
He is a god, they say;
Giving them light and heat and fruit,
And guidance all the day.
“They have no help of clock or watch,
And sun they overprize.
Having those artificial helps, the sun
We unthankfully despise.”
The superstitions of the Indians were many and curious, as is seen by the following: Though crows frequently stole their corn, yet scarcely one native in a hundred would put them to death. Why? Because they firmly believed that the crow first brought them a grain of Indian corn in one ear and an Indian bean in the other from Cautantouwit’s field. Another superstition was their childlike faith in the power of their priests and conjurers to work cures. To Roger Williams’ way of thinking, these “wise men” did nothing but “howl and roar” over them.
Still, Roger Williams, always just, took care to record the good points of the natives as well as their failings. This was unlike many Englishmen of his time, who looked down upon the savages as little better than animals. For one thing, hospitality was a common virtue among them. Had it not been so, Roger Williams could never have found for his book such a list of friendly expressions as “Warm you,” “Sit by the fire,” “Come hither, friend,” “Come in,” “I thank you,” “I thank you for your kind remembrance,” and “I thank you for your love.”
“The courteous pagan shall condemn
Uncourteous Englishmen,
Who live like foxes, bears and wolves,
Or lion in his den.
“Let none sing blessings to their souls,
For that they courteous are:
The wild barbarians with no more
Than nature, go so far.
“If Nature’s sons both wild and tame,
Humane and courteous be,
How ill becomes it sons of God
To want humanity!”