River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1893-07-20
MORALITY OF THE INDIAN.
Eject of Habits on the Mental Develop
nent of the Red Man.


1t Is one of the peculiarities of In !
dams. as of other savages where nutri- /
ton is sufficient TO develop the bodies, !
the the infants and young children are
lively, bri 'ht-eyed and cheerful. This
state often lasts even up to paberty, |
but then a blasting blight seems to
settle upon their men and women
alike. The indulgence of the passion
for revenge, the eruelties of pagan
religion, the inevitable degeneracy.
the result of superstitious fear. the
subversion of all individual rights to
the law of physical force send the be-
nighted soul downward. as it descends
step by step until the level of the brute
is reached; but il rs true that in the
poorest and lowest specimen of the
wOrm-fe feeding child of the desert, as of
the most highly cultured indi-
vidual of the most advanced race. that
no one ever remains stationary. and
that the attributes which elevate one
person are the very traits which must
by some means be tranferred to an
other. even this low, lost, and degraded
specimen of the desert, to admit of an
advance on his part. What these are
let scientists and moralists decide. The
most watchful scrutiny of the brute
may detect distinct signs of the devel-
opment of intelligence. but of moral
degeneraey he is incapa BILE; but man
may abandon himself to the base in
stincts of his nature. until he sinks to
the semblance of a brute. and vet his
offspring will during infancy and child
hood exhibit moral germs showing has
capability of adaptation to the great
heritage of which he has been robbed.
IL seems TO be in the self-saerifice of
the mother-nature, the long travail and
years of helpless dependence upon the
loving m other care is that the germ is
ever and ever renewed. For in the
women of the lowest race, loving kind
ness, patience and long-suffering are
notable traits The real life of the In
dian is given to slxulking about in the
woods with a nondescript foxy-lool-
ing cur. and by great cunning, and oft
entimes by exertiou of great personal
bravery, he secures wild game and fish,
and traps for the fury creatures. whose
hides when sold. supply his few wants;
and in this life is TO be found as much
happiness as he is capable of. The
hard work of the squaws is I'M
doubtedly, except under conditions
of great misfortune, pleasure
and relief to their otherwise
monotonous lives. What causes the
bright-eyed, vivacious maid of from
fourteen to sixteen years to present the
sad, lack-luster face of the woman,
wife, mother of few years later is not
so easy of explanation, unless the lack
of nutrition in the food eaten during
the period when the most nutrition is
demanded by the system, from the
extra draw on the bodily mechanism
during the period of maternity, ex-
plains it. 1t is true that none escape
the doom so clearly expressed in the
immobile features of dumb. cruel suf-
fering. Or is it the old, ever-recurring
question ''of the man eating, without
working, what another produces, who
must therefore go without'-''the trail
of the serpent here also-the great
social evil of all times and all classes
Pnla1tl La Sainnn.a NaxxrG