Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-11-01


broken out in fresh Indian massa-
cres, we have thought it expedient
To show our readers how the matter
is looked upon by man who
| knows the Indians BY constant inter
course with them, and is truthful
enough to speak without sub
terfuge or disguise. The follow
ing remarks were made by Bishop
Whipple, an eminent missionary
ofth Episcopal Church, who de-
livered them at a conference on
missions recently held by that COM
munion; they are well worthy of
attention. So long as our Indians
are treated as wolves and panthers
they will accept the character and
act as ravenous brutes, but history
SLOWS that they are human when
treated with humanity. To our
savage treatment of them they have
but one reply, that of Shylock to
the prosecutors of his race: 1.-THE
evil that you teach us, that we'll
practice, and it shall go hard but
what we'll better our instruction"
REMARKS OF BISHOP WHIPPLE.
1 am sorry that 1 had to leave this
afternoon, and / thank my brother
for permitting me to mention two
q, II
which | thinN you may all draw
your own deductions. A few years
ago, when there was very great dis
content and impending civil war,
shortly after the massacre of Custer,
it was my privilege to visit an
Indian tribe with a commission
from. the government. An aged
chief, of Well-nigh ninety years,
came forward with quiet dignity
and handed me paper. 1t was a
treaty made in 1925. "My friend,
there is no blood upon the paper.
| am sorry to tell you that the white
man who came here did not speak
the truth. | made another treaty.
l am sorry to say he spoke with q
forked tongue. / made another
treaty, and the men who made it
were liars. In 1863 men came to
me that had the uniform of the
Great Father upon their backs; and |
l said that the men who wear the |
uniform of the Great Father will |
speak the truth, and we made a
treaty. | am sorry to say that they |
did not speak with straight tongues. |
My friend, ] have heard what you |
have said. He took from under
his blanket pipe. That is pipe |
of peace. When l give it to you,
you take it in your hand, which is /
the same as if you kissed the book
of the Great Spirit, for l hear that
that is the way that the white man
pledges the Great Spirit that he !
speaks straight. My friend take
that pipe, carry it to Washington;
do not let it go out of your hand. Go
through the door until you meet
the Great Father, and put it into
his hands with my word. / gave
those soldiers the pipe of peace, and
they threw it away. Did harm
come through it?" He stepped to
the door and pointed in the direc-
ton of the Custer massacre, sfThere
are white woman that are asking
for their husbands, and there are
white children that are asking for
and there are red women
asking for their husbands. My
friend, that came of lying, and the
Great Spirit does not love people
that have fOrked tongues. Go home
and rub it out"
That is an Indian estimate. One
other fact: We were all startled
those of us who knew exactly what
it meant-when the telegraph
brought the news of that brave sol
lier and the thought of the crushed
hearts and of the desOlate homes
that there might be on the border.
We know what it means. We have
waited a little while. The tele-
gram to-day tells you that the chief
Of those men who were engaged in
that strife had forbidden miners to
-respass upon his territory, and in
stead of needing the warming they
banded together and pursued the
chief, and the chief was supposed to
De dead. / know little of the histo-
y of the Utes, but know that the ;
border people are not profuse in
of the Indians; and at 1
ny only visit to Colorado l did not
near single person in the miners
amp, or in the village on the bor- [
Ter, who did not say that the Ute !
vas one of the truest and most faith
ul friends that this government had,
md could be trusted anywhere.
The week before that outbreak the !
indians in Minnesota had an agri- {
fair There were 1000 In {
lians present, nearly all of them {
lressed in civilized dress. The ex-
libitOrs were Indians. There were {
,520 entries, representing every I
yariety of agricultural product and
III the handiwork that belongs to [
civilized agricultural life. The [
Judges at the fair were Indians; the i
police on the ground were Indians. A |
United States Senator compliment [
d the Indians in words as warm as
,ver came from stateSman's lips, g
nd the head chief, in a graceful re- [
,ly, said that they were very thank I
ul for the help they had received, {
,ut that that which they saw with I
heir eyes was the result of the re- q
igion Of Jesus Christ; and he was |
light. / have very seldom listened f
o paper that so deeply interested
ne as the one Just heard and l |
wish that our legislators might
very one of them be compelled to |
4 IL 4. q L