Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1830-06-30

| HuSc IL Ill lily power W say tia. thooS "hieo
persons who are so troublesome to the
Indians, are generally men Of the lowest
grade and drugs of society. Such men
as are always unwilling to conform to the
laws that govern the civilized world.
They (the principal chiefs) stated that
if the laws were extended over them,
they had no belief that they would be
placed upon an equal footing with the
whites and, if they were made so by
law, all the officers of the law would be
composed Of white men; and, as they
were unskillcd in law suits, and the whites
would be partial to each other, they had
40 belief that they would be able to with
stand the encrOachments of the whites
upon them; and, if they did attempt it,
that in a few years they would not have
Il vestigo of property left, consequently
they would exchange their country for
any they could get, rather than, as they
conceive, lose their native freedom"
Extract Of The Report of n. NJ Liping-
sion Commissioner, Of the 28h Decem-
Der, 1928, 10 he Secretary Of Uar.
'I proceed to conclude this report by
submitting few observations as to "their
(thc Ncw-Yor Indians) condition as a
people, and 'chether advancing or deterio-
rating" Deprived ofthe advantage ola
lprevious acquaintance with the tribe, or
the state of their reservations, | am not
enabled, from personal observation alone,
to compare their condition, at this time,
with any former period of their history.
information derived from sources enti-
tied to credit, enable me to say that their
population has not materially changed in
the laft fifteen years. Their females
bear as many children as ours, but lose
more ofthcm in infancy; seldom rearing
to maturity more than two or three to
family. This excessive mortality, in
comparison with human life in the purely
savage or civilized state, is attributable
to the middle station which those natives
occupy on the scale of civilization; to
their having lost the hardihood and ami
nation oftbe hunter state without having
attained the ability to provide the com
forts essential to health in their present
more quiescent and supine condition.
An uninterrupted supply offood, raiment,
and bedding, medical aid, and indispen-
sable comforts for mother and child, are,
in too many instances, wanting. Their
dwellings are substantial, but the interior
with some eXceptions) present the ap-
pearances of poverty and uncleanliness.
Their advances in husbandry exceeded
my expectations; but they are lily sup
Piled with indispensable farming utensils,
and are deficient in both theory and
practice; their lands exhibiting that de-
gree of cultivation which our people
would term poor and slovenly. Their
cultivated fields do not produce sufficient
to sustain their population; the deficien-
cy is supplied by annuities, fish, and
horses and cattle that browse the COM
mons. A spirit of agricultural improve
mcnt, however, is pervading the nation,
and may, in my opinion, be so excited
and directed as to make that employment
yield them a surplus; establishing at the
same time wholesome habits, and elevat-
ing them to higher grade ofbeing. "A
spirit of emulation was manifested by the
chiefs of the Tonnawanta reserve, court
ing n comparison of their advances III
civilization with those of their opponents
of the Buffalo reserve. visited the
Tonnawanta village, and (waiving the
expression of preference as to buildings
and agricultural improvements general
lly) observed, that Tonnawanta far ex-
cccdcd Buffalo in the number, size, and
condition of their cattle, but fell as far be-
hind in another essential branch of civil
ization, the education of their children;
the school at Buffalo containing from SIX
ty to eighty scholars, that at Tonnawan-
ia, by reason that Christianity had been
not taught in the school, had dwindlcd tn
about ten or fifteen scholars, and they
were obliged to obtain their instruction
without the bounds of the reserve. As
well at Tonnawanta as at Buffalo, the
dcistical party expressed u desire that the
Quakcrs might instruct them and their
children in husbandry, in learning, and
in good habits. Of the moral feeling
of the nation, their genius and mental
powers, the nexibility and comprehen-
sion of their language, and ofthcir diver
silicd style in oratory, some estimate may
be formed by their reported speeches and
variations translated by the assistance
of several interpreters. Ihave scarcely
firmncss to suppress the expression of
feelings excited by an examination ofthc
school at Buffalo, and by Witnessing, in
the united religious exercise of a hundred
and fifty of all ages and sexes, germ
of hope rising among the troddcn down
children of the forest. leave the sub
jcct to be conceived by the hearts, and
portrayed by the pens ofthc worthy pa.
irons of the establishment. or the