‘However strange such an assertion may appear, we confidently affirm that Indians are not more revengeful than other people. They have the same feelings and passions as other men, neither stronger nor weaker. They are kind to each other. Every offence but murder is readily forgiven, and eventhat crime seldom finds its due punishment. Nine murderers out of ten among them go down to the grave in peace. An Indian rarely goes much out of his way for revenge. Time and opportunity being ministered, an individual will wreak a long-smothered resentment, and so, we presume, would any other man, if freed from the restraints of law. We take it upon us to say that murders are not so frequent among them as with ourselves, and that these, as well as all minor injuries, are not so often or so fearfully avenged by Indians as by white men. As it regards wrongs committed by enemies of the tribe, the case is different. These, the savage is taught, it is his duty to requite upon any member of the hostile nation. Such vengeance it is his glory to take, and it is one of the first requisitions of his moral code.
‘The courage of Indians is not to be measured by our standard. In a mere clan, the loss of an individual is severely felt. It subtracts largely from the strength of the band and the happiness of his family. Discretion, therefore, is considered the better part of valor. The war chief who conquers the enemy does well; but he who conquers without loss to himself does infinitely better. It is thought honorable to avoid risk as much as possible, and the decision of quarrels by single combat is called folly and madness. But when they have resolved on battle, no people strive more valiantly. Our history bears witness of the furious energy of their valor. Their ideas of moral courage might be adopted with advantage by all who call them savages. They think it weak and cowardly to yield to grief or anger; misfortune and pain they scorn, and death they endure not only without a murmur, but with cheerfulness. Suicide under any circumstances they brand as the strongest evidence of lack of courage.
‘Of the cruelty of Indians to conquered enemies, this only can be said, that it is the vice of all barbarians, that they know not what they do, that it is only exercised on their avowed foes, and that it is almost always perpetrated in the heat of blood. Captives, once spared, fare no worse than their conquerors. The sense of honor among Indians is, in some respects, very strong; in others, not so. It will not prevent an individual from falsehood, treachery, promise-breaking, flattery, beggary and a multitude of other offences. It will deter him from labor, which he considers the exclusive business of women, it forbids him to shun death, it commands him to requite a disgraceful blow with a stab, it forbids him to boast of deeds he never achieved, it commands him to sacrifice himself for the good of his tribe. Its scope is not very extensive; but where it operates, it operates effectually.
‘In their domestic relations, they are essentially, but not ostensibly kind. They provide for their families, they love their wives and children; but thinking it womanish to manifest the affections, they are not fond husbands or fathers. Tatunkah Nazhee, the best hunter of the Dahcotahs, lost his wife and five children by the hands of the Chippeways. The only sign of grief he displayed was painting his face black. Yet he abandoned his usual occupations, and pursued the enemy till he had taken life for life. “This,” said he, “is the best way of mourning for the dead.”
‘Indian hospitality and charity have no limit. No stranger enters their tents to whom they do not give meat: no person goes to them in need whom they do not relieve to the extent of their ability, and often to their great inconvenience. They will not look upon an execution, they will notsuffer a person who has wronged them to be whipped for it, and the idea of imprisoning a man for debt, or for a petty violation of the rights of property, fills them with horror.
‘Some years ago, the old chief of a Dahcotah band was robbed by a drunken soldier of eighteen ducks, which he had killed for the use of his family. The offender was detected, compelled to make restitution, and fastened to the whipping-post. When the old man comprehended the nature of the punishment about to be inflicted, he burst into tears, and threw down half his game before the commanding officer. “I will give you these,” said he, “if you will spare this man. Of what consequence are a few ducks?” The man had committed violence on the chiefs person. Which of the two best deserved to be called a savage?
‘In short, to end our remarks on the Dahcotah character, which is, with some trivial alterations, the character of most Indian tribes, we may say that their moral code is grievously defective, but that, such as it is, they adhere rigidly to it. Considering their ignorance, their extreme necessities and their wrongs, it is wonderful that their moral degradation is not deeper than it is. Their code is adapted to their mode of life, and it is only by applying it to others, who have more to lose and less to gain than themselves, that they become disagreeable and dangerous neighbors to the whites. An incessant irritation is the consequence, hatred succeeds, mutual wrong follows, and war consummates the drama.
‘Those of the tribes of Dahcotah origin who live on the Mississippi, and other wooded countries, live on the deer and other game of the forest. By entrapping the fur-clad animals, they get the means of buying guns, cloth and other articles, which have become indispensably necessary to them. In the summer, they live in permanent villages, and cultivate a little corn. The women perform this, as well as all other labors, and do not consider themselves aggrieved thereby. It is said that, as the men encounter the fatigues and perils of the chase, the dangers of war and the vicissitudes of the seasons, they have their full share of domestic duties. The women being unfit for these occupations, must fill the station which God has allotted to them, and neither party thinks the distribution of offices unjust or unreasonable. The women are sold, like the daughters of the patriarchs, by their parents to their husbands, and they are chastised or commended according to the degree of their industry or good conduct. Judging from their general cheerfulness, they see no hardship in their lot. Jealousy seems to be their chief annoyance, and often causes them to hang themselves.
‘In winter, the hunters leave their villages, and encamp in leathern tents on their hunting-grounds, removing from place to place as the game is more or less abundant. They are plentifully supplied by the traders with ammunition on credit, and pay their debts as they best can in the spring. This system is highly injurious to the Indians, and vexatious to the traders. As not more than half of the hunters pay their debts, the trader is obliged to charge a double price for his goods, in his own defence, and thus the honest and industrious Indians pay for the idle and vicious. Still this is the fashion of their fathers, and no persuasion will induce them to depart from it.
‘It only remains to be said of this portion of the race, that they live from hand to mouth, hunting and fishing when they feel so inclined, andfasting when the chances of the chase are against them. Few of them perish by starvation. The only circumstance that varies the monotony of their lives is war, and that they practise on so limited a scale that it has no perceptible effect on their population or happiness.