The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, 1841-07-28
CHEROKEE INDIANS.

of people recede before the hitherto re-
sistIess march of the white man, every
thing connected with their history or IN
any way calculated to throw light upon
their character, manners and customs,
becomes matter of interest. 1t has always
been the misfortune Of the world, that the
most favorable opportunities for collect
ING historical facts have been suffered to
pass unimproved, and it was not, in most
cases, until the generation witnessing the
events, had passed away, that any one
seemed to have thought of making them
matters of record. So it has been in re-
gard to the Cherokee Indians. North
Carolinians have had abundant oPPortu,
mites to collect fund of interesting and
useful historical matter in reference to this
people, which if treasured up would have
been entertaining and instructive, for
generations to come. But these opportu-
mites to very great extent, have been
suffered to pass by, and now we either
seek in vain, or re ly upon the vague state
ments of Indifferent witnesses tor those
facts connected with their history, which
Justice to the future, required that some
competent witness should have made a
matter of record.
We lately spent a few days among that
portion of those Indians who, under diff
ferent treaties have been citizenized, and
are now living in the bounds ofthis State.
With the law, or policy, under, and by
which they were suffered to remain, we
at the present, have nothing to do. On
that subject we have not been sufficiently
informed, to make up an opinion atoge-
ther satisfactory to ourselves, though as
vet, we have neither seen or heard any
thing contrary to the belief that their
remaining here, is in perfect accordance
with equal justice and good policy
About their present condition, however,
we may venture few remarks as we
were somewhat particu!arto acquant our-
selves with It correctly.
There are two settlements or towns IN
this State, one on the waters OF Oconee
Lufty river in Haywood county, and the
other is, we think, in Cherokee county, on
a creek called Cheoee. The former, (the
one we vislted) contains about seven hun
dred people, and the latter, from four to
FIVE hundred. Of the seven hundred in
Haywood, we saw at least five hundred.
More than four hundred we saw together
at religious meeting, and without single
exception, they were all comfortably clad,
and had every appearance of being as well
fed and as healthy as we would expect to
find the same number ofpeope of anyna-
ton, or in any country. Their clothing
was all plain, not to say coarse, but it was
such as would make them altogether COM
fortable--in most cases ii was clean, and
what was much to their praise, it was
mostly of their own manufacture. Their
cabins presented, to be sure, but little neat
ness, or what the more civilized and re-
fined would call comfort, but they with
their corn fields, potatoe and bean patch
es, presented all assurance that their own
ers were likely forthe ensuing year at least,
TO have an abundance of the necessaries of
life and to be able to enjoy them under full
protection from the incemencies of the
season. In reference to their situation s
it regards sustenance, we confess we were
never more agreeably disappointed in our
lives.
They still retain many of the ancient
customs oftheir fathers, though we were
informed that many had been lost. Very
few of them speak or understand the
English language, and we are much in
clned to the opinion that it will be well
for them TO remain SO, at least for con-
siderable time to come, as knowledge cf
that language would br G them into an
/, association with class of the whites,
from whom they would be like to learn
many vices, and perhaps no virtues. AT
present, they are proverbially sober, and
for the most part industrious.-They have
a temperance society, to which with five
or six individual exceptions, they all be-
long, and no people on earth, adhere more
rigidly to their pledge The principal
Chief informed us that there were but
three or four individuals among them who
drank spirits at all, "and these he added
"neper drink here-THEY ALWAYS GO
AMONG THE WHITES TO GET DRUNK!"-
A fact thai must be looked upon by al,
as any thing else than creditable to the
~I.,@-