North Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1867-current, 1867-04-24
indian Life.


A traveller in the ''far west" judging
from the subjoined extract from one of his
/. letters, has been pretty completely Olsen,
ohanted of his early romantic ideas con-
corning that "nobleman Of nature" the
wild Indian. He writes:
cannot say that the domestic life OF
the Indian is either noble or lovely. A
prairie brave, mounted on a strong pony,
with rifle on his saddle, blanket strap
ned behind him, dressed in handsome
skin Jacket, adorned with beads and tags,
with his squaw trudging heavily by his
side on foot, carrying her papoose on her
back and parcel of provisions in her
hands, was one of my earliest illustrations
of the chivalries Of Indian life. A mob
of Ute warriors, tearing through the streets
of Denver, rushing into shops and paint
ing their faces, while the squaws and pa
pooses tumblcd after them in the mire, la
den with cabbages. buffalo skins, and mis-
cellaneous fry, was another. A listless pack
of Pawnees, smoking and drinking on the
Pacific road, while their squaws were la
boring on the railway lines as navies,
hired out by the brave at fifty cents day
and a ration Of corn and meat uncooked,
was third. As such examples grow in
strength upon me, | began to think the
noble Indian was not so much of gentle
man as believing reader of the 'Last of
the Mohicans" might suppose.
The Sioux, the Pawnee, the Cheyenne
squaw, though she may hate certain
power in the wigwam, and an uncertain
liberty of speech in the council, when her
character as woman happens to be great,
is, in many respects, and as general rule,
no better than slave; such rights as she
may exercise belonging to her rather as Q
member Of the tribe than as mother and
her for blanket, for an old carbinc, for q
nv. &c -L:-L,-, al Il aonends wholly On
the mans humor, or his fondness, wheth-
er he shall treat her as a woman or as a
dog. lie can sell her, he can give her
away. The squaw's inferiority to the
hunter is like that of the horse to his mas
ter. She is one of the mans chattels-
one Of many like herself; for the Indian
is polygamist, and keeps harem in the
prairie. She has to perform all indoor,
all outdoor labor; to fix the wigwam in
the ground. to fetch water from the stream,
to gather billets from the brush, to dig
roots and pick up acorns, to dress and
cook the food, to make the clothes, to dry
tho scalp, to mend the wigwam, to carry
her children on the march. And while
she has a thousand tolls to endure, she has
scarcely any rights as either woman or
a wife. The man may put her away for
the most trifling fault. Her infant may
be taken from her lap Her modesty is
not always spared. While the sins into
which her own fancies may have led her
are visited with revolving punishment, she
may be forced by her husband into acts of
immortality which degrade her as wo-
man, not only in her own eyes, but in
those Of the companions Of her shame.
The theory of the wigwam is, that the
female member of it is chattel, and that
her beauty, her modesty, her service, be-
long to her lord only, and may be given as
he lists. For her there is nothing save to
hear and obey.
And the Indian squaw is what such rules
of life must make her. If her mate is
cruel in disposition, she is savage; if he is
dirty in person, she is filthy; if he is lax
in conduct, she is shameless. When any
thing base and monstrous has to be done,
it is left to the squaws. If any enemy is
to be tortured, the women are set upon
him. A brave might club prisoner to
death by a blow, but the sharper and slow
er agonics caused by peeling off his skin,
by tearing out his nails, by breaking his
finger joints, by putting fire under his feet,
by goug ing out.his eyes, are only to be in
fiji ted by the demons who have taken up
!, their dwellings, in female forms.