, 1884-02-23
WALT WHITMAN.
An Indian Bureau "Reminiscences by
the Gray Poet
Something In the ara of h
Aboriginal which Neither Poet
Painter Nor Historian
Have Caught

WALT Whitman In Baldwin's Monthly.l
After the close of the secession war in rs, l
worked several months until Mr.. Harlan
turned me out for writing Leaves OF CRASH
in the interior department at Washington. in
the Indian bureau. Along this time there
came to see their great father an unusual
number OF aboriginal visitors, delegations
for treaties. settlement of lands, etc-some
young and middle-aged, but mainly old men,
from the west, north, and occasionally from
the south-severnlh hundreds OF them in parties
Of from five to twenty each-the most won
derful proofs of what nature can produce THE
survival of the fittest, no doubt, all the Trailer
samples dropped, sorted out by DEATH, a. IL
to show how the earth and woods, the
a~ttrition OF storms and elements, and the
exigencies of life at first hand, can train and
fashion men: indeed chiefs. in heroic mass
iveness, impsrturbability, muscle, and that
last and highest beauty, consisting of strength
tho full exploitation and truitage
Of a human identity, not from the culmina-
ton point of culture" and artificial c~iviliza-
ton, but tallying our race, as 1t were, with q
giant, vital, gnarled, enduring trees, or
monoliths OF. separate hardest rocks, and hui
mnnity holding its own with the best OF tho
said trees and rocks, and outdoing them
There were Omahas, Poncas, Winnebagoes
and many Others. Let me give a running
account OF what I ses and hear through ono
of these exhibitions at the Indian bureau,
going back TO the present tense. Every
head and face is impressive; nature redeems
herself out of her crudest recesses. Most
nave red paint on their cheeks, however, or
some other paint ["Little Hill" makes the
opening speech, which the interpreter trans
lates by scrapsl Many wear head tires of
gaudy-colored braid, wound around thickly
some with circlets Of eagles feathers. Neck
Ia caa ~ haa 80 ola uyc ara nlaptv arOund THAR
necks. Most Of the chiefs are wrapped in
large blankets of the brightest scarlet.
Two or three have blue, and l see one black.
IA wise man called ''rhe Flesh" now makes a
short speech, apparently asking something.
Indian Commissioner Dole answers him, and
the interpreter translates in scraps again.
All the principal chiefs have tomahawks or
hatchets, some OF them very richly orna-
mented and costly. Plaid shirts are to DO
observed-none too clean. Now a tall fell
low, "Hole-in-the- Day." Is speaking. He
has a copious headdress composed Of feathers
and narrow ribbon, under which ap-
pears a countenance painted all over a
bilious yellow. Let us note this young chief,
however. For all his paint, @Hole-in-the-
Day" is a handsome Indian, mild and calm,
dressed in drab buckskin leggins, dark gray
surtout, and u soft black hat. His costume
will bear full observation, and even fashion
WOulu dCCtpI ulm. MS hppdTel Ii worn
loose and scant enough to show his superb
physique, especially in neck, chest, and legs.
1.-THE Apollo Belviderel" was the involun-
tary exclamation OF a famous European
artist when he first saw a full-grown young
Choctaw.l
One of the red visitors-a wild, lean-look-
ing Indian, the one in the black wooden
wrapper-has ar empty buffalo head, with
the horns on, for his personal surroundings.
l see a markedly Bourbonish countenancs
among the chiefs-tit is not vary
among them, l Am toldl Most of them
voided resting on chairs during the hour Of
their "talk'' in the commissioners office; they
would sit around on the floor, leaning against
something, or stand up by the walls, partially
wrapped in their blankets. Though some of
the young fellows were, as l have said, mag
niicent and beautiful animals, l think the
palm of unique p-icturesqueness, in body,
limb. physiognomy, etc, was borne by the old
or elderly chiefs and the wise men.
My he~re-auuded-to experience in the Indian
bureau produced one very definite conviction,
as follows: There is something about these
aboriginal Americans, in their highest char
acteristic representations, essential traits,
and the ensemble of their physique and phys
iognomy-something very remote, very lofty,
arousing comparisons with our own civilized
ideals; something that our literature,
portrait-painting, etc, have never caught,
and that will almost certainly never DO
transmitted to the future, even as a reminis-
cence. No biographer, no historian, no
artist has grasped it-perhaps could not
grasp 1t. 1t Is 30 different, so far
outside our standards Of eminent humanity.
Their feathers, paint, even the empty buff
falo skull-did not, to say the least, seem
any more ridiculous to me than many of
the fashions / have seen In civilized society.
/ should not apply the word savage lat any
rate in the usual sense) as a leading word
in the description OF those great aborig-
inal specimens, Of whom l certainly saw
many of the best There were moments, as /
looked at them or studied them, when our
own exemplidcation OF personality, dignity,
heroic presentation anyhow, seemed sickly.
puny, inferior.
The interpreters. agents Of the Indian de-
partment, or other whites accompanying the
bands, in positions of responsibility, were
always interesting to me; 1 had many talks
with them Occasionally l would go to ths
hotels whore the bands were quartered, and
spend an hour or two informally. or course,
we could not nave much conversation,
though, through the interpreter, more OF this
than might be supposed, sometimes quite ami
mated and significant. | had the good luck
to be invariably received and treated by all
Of them in their most cordial and accepted
manner.
Tho ArIstocrat's Refuge.