The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1869-10-26
Whist Women are Made Of.

rgrE "a.
In an amusing and entertaining little
book entitled .Curicsities of the Olden
Times by s. Barring Fould occurs the
women's origin :sss
There was q time throughout the
great world, says the Kickapoos, when
neither on the land or in the water was
a woman to be found Vain things
there were plenty-there was the turkey,
the blue Jay, the wood duck and the wa
kon bird, and noisy chattering creatures
there were plenty-there was the jack
daw, the lnagpie, and the rock; and
gadabouts there were plenty-there was
the squirrel, tho startling, and the mouse;
but of women, vain, noisy. chattering,
CAD about women, there were none. It
was quite still world to what it is now;
and it Was . peaceable world, too. Men
were in plenty, made of clay, and sun
dried, and they were then happy, oh, so
happy. Wars were none then; quarrels
were none. The Kickapoos ate their
deer's flesh with the Pottowatomies,
hunted the otter with the Osages, snd
the beaver with the Hurons. Then the
great fathers of the Kickapoos scratch
ed the backs Of the savage Iroquois, and
the truculent Iroquois returned the com
pliment. Tribes which now seek one
another's scalps, then sat smiling benev-
olently in one another's faces, smoking
the never>laid aside cslumet of peace.
But the red men got proud; they were
so happy, and all things went SO we'll
with them that they forgot the Great
Spirit They no more offered the choic-
est Of their game upon the mcmahoppa,
altar-stone, nor danced in his praise who
dispensed the rains to cleanse the earth,
and his lightnings to purify the air.
Wherefore he sent his chief Manitou to
humble men by robbing them Of what
they most valued, and bestowing upon
them q scourge and aff1iction equal to
their ofense. The Spirit obeyed his
Master. and, coming on the earth, reach
ed the ground in the land of the Kicka-
poos He looked about him and ascer
tanned that the red men valued their tails
above every other possession. Sum
moning together all the Indians, he ac-
quainted them with the will of W ahcon-
da, and demanded the instant sacrifice
Of the cherished member. 1t is lmpos-
sible to describe the sorrow and com
junction which filed their bosoms when
they found that the forfeit for the obliv-
ion Of the Great Spirit was to be that
beautiful and beloved appendage. Tail
after tail was laid upon the block and
amputated.
.The mission Of the Spirit was, in
part, formed. He now took the several
tails and converted them into vain,
noisy, clustering, and frisky women.
Upon these objects the Kickapoos now
lavished their admiration; they loaded
them as before with beads, and wan
III 81 - -:xl
tinkling ornaments and colored ribbons.
Yet the women had lost one essential
quality which as tails they had possess
ed. The caudal appendage had brushed
off many Of the worrying insects which
had sought to sting or suck his blood,
whereas the new article was itself provi-
tongue, and far from brushing annoy
ances of man, it becomes an instrument
for accommodating them upon his back
and shoulders. Pleasant and soothing
to the primeval Klckapoo was the wag
ging to and fro of tie member strokine
and tanning the back. but the new one
become q scourge TO lacerate.
These first men were not quite like
the men now, for they had tails. Very
handsome tails they were, covered with
long silky hair; very convenient were
these appendages in country where
flies were numerous and troublesome
tails being more sudden in their move
ments than hands, and more convenient
~ situated for whisking off flies which
alighted on the back. It was q pleas
ant sight to see these ancestral mer
leisurely smoking and waving their dex
ible tails at the doors ofswigwams in the
golden autumn evening. and within were
no sQualling children. no wrangline
wives. The men doated ON their tails
and they painted and adorned them
they plated the hair into beautiful tres
ses, and wove bright beads and shells
and wampum with the hair. They at
tached bows and streamers Of colored
ribbons to the extremities Of their tails
and when men ran and pursued the ell
or the moose, there was futter of col
or behind them, and tinkle of preciou:
ornaments. gs-aasaeat.ts Is. &c arfe
However, woman retains indication!
Of her origin. She is still beloved as o
yore; she is still beautiful, with flowing
hair; still adapted to trinkery. Still sh'
is frisky, vivacious and happy; and still
as of old. does she ever follow man
dangling after him, hanging At his heels
and never, Of her own accord, separating
from him.
The Kickapoos, Invested of their tails
the legend goes on to relate, were tor
mented by the mosquitoes, till the Grea
Spirit, in compassion for their woes
mercifully withdrew the greater part o
their insect tormentors. Overjoyed a
their ,deliverance, the red men supplica
ted the Wahconda also to remove tn
other nuisance, the women; but he re
piled, the women are . necessary evi
and must remain ecssi4
A grandson Of Thomas Jefferson la
felt impelled to communicate to the pub
lie some fresh information relative t
his grandsire. Mr.. Jefferson was lit