Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1858-12-10

indians Of 1K..n~us

Account
several other tribes, as may have time and
> opportunity But before proceed fur,ha.
y IL may not be amiss to notice Some If a.
. characteristics, and habits which ara a,,:.U
u common, II not universal. anope, y,
without distinction of tribe or location ,bou
: are very generally much the Same j.,
= respects The force of circumstance
times, and IN some cases. ocr,s; INC ar
ence, but IN such cases, the danosr :.
= RADICAL general, or permanent, but tran
- slcnt and Partial
There are three habits to which r. =,
dams in Kansas If not evsrvvb,u
very generally inclined, and into vbi.h
'ney almost universally fall. These ara IN.
doffnee' prodt2an ny and Drunkenness Thos.
all need not say, tend to their aorr,,,
ton, aud contribute to mike them n,ar
Keep thsm poor to make them british. and
to keep them where they are.
They seem naturally inclined to be law
ldieness appears to be interviewer in their
natures. They will not work ii they can
avoid 1t. In Kansas they have strong in
ducenents t. work. The soil is most pro-
ductlSe, and exceedingly easy of cultivation.
and they are at perfect liberty to cultivate
as much OF the very best of it as they please
But still, with few exceptions they will not,
do not work, though want presses hard, and
hunger cries give, give With very ittl.
la har thp,- ,,,,lj a.,
life, Food and clothing for themselves, and
hay and provcnacr in plenty for their horses;
and yet they do neither Most of them arc
miserably POOR, and much Of the time are
quite destitute Of the comforts of life. and
often, actually suffer for want of both food
aud clothing; and generally their horses
OF which they raise many, for they can do i.
without much work-sutfer exceedingly dur
ing the winter for want of food; become very
poor and weak, and often die
But they are not only indolent, but prod-
gal. They seem 10 have no idea of economy.
but spend all they have. or can any way
get As fist as they can, and generally for
such things IS are % little, or NJ real value.
and too often injurious to them.
The government Of the L. S. PAYS them a
great deal Of money in annuities, for the
land purchased of them before they re-
moved to the West They have also made
liberal provision to help them Other wise
They sustain schools among them, in which
their children are clothed, boarded and
sehoolczi free Of charge to them They have
built mills for them, and employ men to at
te,d them. They employ black smiths and
carriage makers to live, and work among
them; aud in some cases, farmers to instrus.
then; and all this, gratuitous and i'll thew
are generally poor, and otteu suffer war.. be-
cause they Will not work, nor make tho bes.
they could CT what they have Their money.
much Of it, they spend for miserable trinket-
ry; loading their wrists. fingers, ears and
even their noses, with jewelry Much of
their money too, goes for whiskcy and tobac-
co, Their advantages for schooling, they
very much neglect, and the implements Of
hnshaaary with which they are provided,
NY u ii0t LIST. Ut ust thGtn 10 but lIttIo
purpose generally.
An! then, still worse, they are almost uni.
versaily Incorporate. With fsw exceptions.
they will get drunk. both msn and women.
whenever an wherever they can ge. whis-
&ey enough to do it on. And have it they
Will, ii 1t Is any way possible. Cost wha,
1t may OF money, sacrifice, Suffering or even
Labor, they will have whiskey and drink
thenselvc drunk. When drunken they
are lad and very troubles 3me ike other
drunkaris. Probably nearly as noisy, filthy
and qnarrelsome as drunken white men
They are not only incorporate in the Use of
whisky. but like most white men, theg bru-
tty them ELVES by the use Of tobacco. Yes,
the Indians 0. the Tar west have caught
this miserable aud degrading habit from
their white neighblrs and brothers, and
spend no little OF the money which should
% u feed and clothe their children for that
filthy weed which the drticst brute on earth
instinctvely avoids.
But, as have int, ,ntionally and distinct
- i"'I'H1'eu, ticrc are IN most, II not all
the Indian tribes, some honorable exceptions
to what have said Of them generally
Some who are sober, industrious, economi.
cal and do not even use tobacco. The result
Is, some OF them are ,eeR educated, and most
OF this class ara more or less So Some of
them are good farmers or mechanics; live
well and are independent
OF this class there are enough to show
very clearly what they all might be, with
the common blessing Of Providence, if they
would but be Just 70 themselves and Weld
ready obedience to the laws of nature and of
natures God. But if men will sin against
the laws Of nature, and the laws oil God ,they
must t'ke the consequcnce-they must, and
Will sGuer tor 1t, no matter whether they be
white OF rcd men.
Another trait OF character common 10 all
the Indians. Is independence. freedom and
liberty They will not be slaves. they can
not brook the idea Of being subject to, or
controlled by the whites, or by each other.
The sentiment, Give me liberty, or give me
death, is evidently deeply ergraven on their
hearts. And it is interesting u know that
almost universally, the Indians Of Kansas,
are ready 70 award to others, what they
claim for themselves With very few ex-