American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1857-02-28
An Indian Republic.

Wefi the following interesting ac-
count of q Dakota community, or rath,
er, regular republic in St. Paul Adyer-
tiser of the 18th instant. The Adver-
tiser calls it the "The Hazlewood Re-
public" 3
Away up on the head waters of the
Minnesota, some fifty miles above Fort
Rldgeley, in a corner of the miserly
strip of territory of which the usufruct
was reserved to the Dekotas--all that
remains to them now of the magnificent
heritage to, which they were born--iD
the wilderness home of seven thousand
shiftless savages, the very Hades of In
dian barbarism, yet dim with ghostly
songs and legend--the philosophers of
France and the poets Of European re-
generation have been outstripped by
the Dekota hunter, and veritable re-
public organized, representative, free,
with q written constitution and code
of laws, has been established on the
banks of the Yellow Medicine.
a community of Dakota Indians, in
cluding some 25 families, rcnouncing
the tribal system, the habits, the super
stitions and the costume of their race,
leaping at single vault across ccntu.
rles OF barbarism, have adopted at once
by unanimous consent, the customs, the
dress, and at least the elementary ideas
of civilized society. -"'' '.A'.a.
The traditional principle of the com
munity ofproperty has been abandon
ed-the2 whole tribal fabric dissolved
and society reconstructed on the basis
ofjustice toothe individual, and its lie.
sponsibility. For this new order Of
things atmethodical organization has
been effected, in which all male adults
are represented and in which all di,
rectly participate. A President and
Secretary were regularly elected. A
Constitution and Code of By-L are
written, and the rights of property re-
cogriaed and defined. This is an alb
rupt transition, certaini;yi and presents
the phenomena not of growth but OF
transformation.
One finds the savage hunter of O yea,
since, to day dressed in the costume O.
the white man-the hair cut short anC
the paints and ornaments discarded
living in neat houses of the simple bu
comfortable architecture usual in the
frontier settlements, with an incloseC
field OF four or five acres around him
titled with the implements of modern
husbandry. The Indian woman is nov
released from the despotism of the tri
bal prescription, is no longer beast O
burden, but attends to the gentler du
tics of the household, while the husban,
accepts with pride the toll his recen
pride disdained.
The interior of these little houses
usually, built of logs, reminds one o
the simple and innocent cottage life o
the exiled Acadans. The rude furni
ture, fashioned by their uncducate,
skill, is in every thing an imitation O.
civilization. The idea of comfort pre-
cedes the idea Of elegance in the growtl
of mind, and ordinary comforts arc still
novelties in Indian life, to which tn,
sentiment of property, itself novelty
gives new charm. The rough bencl
or chair, the bed or bunk curtaincG
with musket gauze, the iron stove, the
various utensils of cookery, the set of
table ware upon high, clean shelf, the
lock and trunk, the suspended picture,
the well filled larder, and the cultivated
gardens outside enclosed with neat fen.
ccs, all attest the gradual deyelope-
ment of the principle of acquisition, &
the remuneration OF the lazy doctrines
of community. TO one familiar with
the bleak, comfortless, entirely animal
life and reckless improvidencc of the
Dakotas, this simple, domestic picture,
sketched on that harsh and desolatc
background, appeals with a force Of
dramatic contrast--while it has for the
student the interest Of new phase oil
historical devolopoment of which the
condition are new, and the causes not
apparent.
And what power wrought this radi-
cal revolution in the midst of tho De.
kotas? Was 1t the spontaneous devcl,
opcment Of a latenttendency accelera-
ted be the cxigencies of the new mode
of life forced on them by the policy OF
the government? Was it the reflex
influence of the civilization which sur.
rounds them? Perhaps these had the
effects of suggestions or Of arguments,
But the Haalewood Republic was the
fruit, in fact, Of long years of thankless
toll and of heroic solfsacriRcc, the tar-
dy result of the despised labors Of the
Dakotah Missionaries. Two excellent
men, the Rev. DR.. Williamson, and tho
Rev. s. II. Riggs, who have devoted
thpjr 1iycs 70 tho ny,,o,l;.. it,, e a. .