The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-04-01
TANEO.

"Wilt thou have this woman to be
thy welded wife ?"
"Hury, Anne, hurry! There's a
wedding going on in the kitchen !" cried
Nelly Howe, running before her cousin
up the garden walk.
"There seems to be one there every
day." languidly replied Anne. 81
should think your father would find his
duties as Squire too heavy for him."
cts only since the war that they
crowd in so fast. The negroes are
obliged to marry properly now. But
these are Indians. Papa brings the law
to bear on red as well as black skins"
"Indians in this State ?"
80, yes; about a thousand Cherokees
1t is they who live i'll the mountain
range that you thought so terrible yes
terday. 1t is solitary and savage enough.
The Indians live in their huts very much
as they did in their wigwams two hun
dred years ago, and fish, and hunt deer
and bears. This is the chiefs daughter,
Taneo, who has come to be married.
She's a Christian i'll her way, and good
girl-Taneo.
"Come, I'll look at her. Tn thank
full she's not civilized. It's so nice to
compare creature OF that sort with
ourselves"
Miss Parr hurried to the kitchen door,
and stood looking in at the tall, straight
Indian girl, with her bare feet and head,
and her wedding garment, which was a
petticoat and short gown of blue flannel.
The white girl was conscious as never
before of her civilization; which in her
case meant five years of training in fash
ionable accomplishments, and trunks
full of silks and muslins.
Nelly, who was a square, solid, down
right little body, eyed her critically
mentally commented upon her chalked
skin, false hair and teeth-and then
turned to the Indian.
"We haven't gained all that we might
out of civilization, Man," she whispered.
"Look at Taneo's feet-not corn
And how strong and delicate her shape
isl She carries HERSELF like one boIn iii
the purple ,
round, if it's an inch"
"Join your right hands" The
souires bass voice drowned the whispers
of the girls.
Holzus, the groom, big, slouching,
copper-colored fellow, grunted as he
thrust out his hand.
"Hokus thinks this is making entirely
too mu III fuss about woman, laughed
Nelly.
"He's but shabby-looking fellow" !"
viii 5pered Miss Parr. A chiefs
daughter ought to make better match
than that.
"Taneo has loved him long time.
Did you ever see a more shy and wlstfru
look than hers Just nowl She is not
civilized enough to think of the advan-
tages of a good match"
81 pronounce you man and wife, "
said Squire Howe, taking off his specta-
cles.
..-''" And now, Hokus, my lad, I've
word for you. Things are going to work
differently hyur in North Carolina, now
that the wars over; for whites, and
blacks, and the redskins must change
with the rest. You've been savages long
enough while perfessin' to be Christians.
For man to sit smoking his pipe while
his wife plows and hoes the corn, and
butchers the pig, is not Christianity, to
my notion. Heh?"
"No," grunted Hollus.
"It's not what I'll allow, at any rate.
You Indians are going to change with
the rest, 1 tell you, and you are the man
I've pitched on to set the example.
You're to work out of doors, and Taneo
will keep the house clean. Hey, Ia
neo? Pig must not sleep in the
kitchen"
Taneo dropped her head and laughed
''Well, now, that's settled. The laws
going to be strict Hokus, I give you
Vo,,,ra ,,o,,,,ia1 hlya 1xbifa
man, and you're to have but one wife,
call you lazy red nigger, and it's name
you've got to clear yourself of. :"
The new-made wife lifted her head,
the angry blood rushing to her cheek at
the name; but Hollus only slouched and
laughed.
"Now pronounce you man and wife;
and keep clear of the whisky still on
your way home"
The squire Cor colonel, for titles hung
thickly on his broad shoulders) watched
the two Indians go slowly up the noun
tain path, Hokus in advance.
"I'd like to better the condition of
those savages," he said. "Anne, you're
full of book learning just now, and have
nothing to do. You might give them a
powerful lift.
"Thanks. I don't feel as if my voca-
ton was that of a missionary" with a
contemptuous smile.
Missionary l'' she thought, bitterly.
Shea type of the cultured girls of New
York-to settle down into a teacher of
bare. footed redskins in their tiea-in-
tested cabins 1t might be very we'll
in some cases to follow Christ's example,
who taught the poor Galileans but an
Indian was an exceptional case, hardly
in her estimation to be considered one of
the creatures for whom He died. Anne
had heard that they "were a race i'm
possible to civilize, and destined to ex-
termination, and accepted the theory
as the easiest way of getting rid of the
matter.
AS for her uncle, with his bad gram
mar, and energetic kindness, and per-
petual enthusiasm about the beauty and
grandeur of nature in North Carolina,
he was beginning to be an intolerable
Rere, Nature was awefse bore than he,