The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1893-11-08
The Real Indian.

SeTGS WTlIcT Ill GilC OOoGou CVW"tci
| cial Bulletin. There is no doubt
| that, as long as the younger ones are
kept apart from their various tribes,
and the influence Of their example,
they do get a sort of whitewashing,
that looks like civilization; but the
moment they get back to the family
| tepee, and see the rain dance, the
| war dance or the scalp dance they for
get all they have learned at
\ school, and are Indians, the same as
/ before.
The recent uprising Of the savages
| in New Mexico is conclusive evidence
that they are not to be trusted under
any circumstances; for the Navajoes
have all they could ask for, in the
way Of land and opportunity, and
have had nothing to complain of; all
of which goes to prove that an Indian
can no more change his nature than a
leopard can change his spots, except
that when he gets tired of one spot,
he can go to another, which he gener.
| ally does. He has been fed and
| clothed and talked to and preached to,
and there has been the civilizing in
auence of Yankee schoolmarms thrown
around him, until he ought to, be an
angel. About the only tangible re-
suit is, that the schoolmarm has mar
ried some buck Indian, and instead Of
making him an angel. he has made her
squaw. ~.
It is more than useless to refer to
the nobility of Red Jacket, Logan,
Pontiac and Black Hawk. If their
nobility was not the emanation Of some
morbid Imagination, it certainly does
not show up to any degree in the In
dian of to-day, for he is pure and sim
Pile a thief, beggar. loafer and "a
worthless yagabond; physically, he is
a miserable little bow-legged, round
shouldered caricature Of ainan. There
is not single trace Of nobility man.
hood, or even cleanliness to be detee-
ted in him with the most powerful
microscope. When the average In
dian dresses himself up in an old pair
Of army trousers, dirty Blanket, and
an old hat with buzzard's feather in
it, you see him in all his esthetic
splendor. There is one thing that
| will always be an insuperable obstacle
in the way Of an indian becoming civ.
| ilized, and that is the necessity Of
washing himself, for if there is any
| one thing that he hates worse than
another, it is to come in contact with
| cold water. He would die first.
The next greatest obstacle is the
necessity Of working; for nobody
ever saw an Indian that would work.
When the announcement was made,
"by the sweat of thy brow shalt thou
| eat thy bread" the Indian must be
| the exception that proves the rule.
This has been demonstrated by the
| Indians in Kansas, namely the Kick
| apoos and the Powtawatamies, who
| had tract of the best land in the
State, numbering thousands Of acres,
given to them in severalty. General
Morgan, one of the best Indian COM
| missioners that the country has ever
had, did his best to get him to. settle
down on these lands and earn living
like other people, but they did not take
kindly to tie plan, for chat meant
work. :.
Occasionally you will find half
breed that will cultivate his farm and
make quite a respectable stagger to-
ward earning living; but this
was never known of full-blooded In
dian. He is not of a social nature
but on the contrary, is morose and
stolid. Nobody ever saw or heard an
Indian laugh, at least never did, and
1 have seen good many Of them.
Once in while grin will be no.
ticeable on his dirty face, but that is
all.
One would naturally infer that the
noble red man does not care for mon
ey. He does not if he has to work
for it; but as long as the government
disburses it to him, he is sure to be
present on pay day. Nobody has
ever been able to convince the Indian
that it is wrong to steal, and the man
who makes any headway in getting
him to take hold of the ten command
ments must eliminate the one that
says, "thou shalt not steal"
The Indians do not appreciate the
efforts of the government to educate
the rising generations Of the sons OF
the forest; this is shown by the fact
that they think they ought to be paid
for allowing their children to learn the
white mans way Of living.
The Indian, while he is quick to
learn anything that requires obserya-
ton, is slow in acquiring knowledge
that requires any mental effort. No
Indian ever learned mathematics. He
has not mathematical mind. It will
take the average Indian boy month
to learn the multiplication table; but
let him get off in the bushes with an
other boy and deck Of cards, and he
will learn the relative value Of pair,
/ or flush, or three OF a kind, with ad-
mirable celerity.
One of the most difficult habits to
break an Indian Of is that of walking
single file. No matter how wide the
walk or road is, he insists on walking
| single file; the buck in front, and his
squaw following some distance behind.
If he is travelling along road skirted
with timber, he will invariably prefer
to dodge along through the bushes at
the side of the road rather than walk
| in the road itself.
The average Indian has nothing
like emotion in his nature. He re-
CARDS it as an evidence of weakness,
and not without some cause, to show
any sign of wonder or surprise or as
tonishmcnt at any sight or revelation
however strange. Take an Indian
out of the depths Of the forest and
drop him down in Broadway, New
York, and he will evince no more sur.
prise or wonders at the sights around
him than if he had been to the manner
born.
There is marked difference in the
appearance and looks of the bucks
but the squaws all look alike. ]
never could tell one of them from the
other.
There aro pood many half-breeds