The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-05-12
REAL AND IDEAL
The Halo Which Romance Has
Given Poor Lo

4 44V04A q OOA AS<S
Whea tie Truth Il Told the Noble Eo<
Han Becomes Anything Bus tie
01and Creature Imaxinasien
Has Painted HIN.
The student of ethnoiosy finds M
more fascinating branch of humanit,
than the Indian. Not the race as de
picted By Catlin, Schooicrafs and
Drake, who have painted him in glow
ing colors. but the Indian as he exists
| to-day. The time has come when the
truth about Indian life should be told
The gentlemen mentioned gave much
Thought to the subject of which they
are the accepted authorities. but he
who goes among Indians as a studen,
will at once perceive that the whole
study Of the red men has been one OF
eXternals to the exclusion of the more
secret and inner life that discloses the
real character of the race. The fol-
lowing paragraph appears in the intro
duction of brakes masterpieces:
There was found in him (the In
dian) an unbounded hospitality, a
friendship vouched for with life itself,
an unfailing remembrance of kind
ness done him, nobility of soul that
held it firmly to bis ideas of honor,
filed him with reverence for the sages
and heroes of the tribe and inspired in
him an ardent longing to emulate
their renown. In social and domestic
life kindness and self-control were
constantly manifested, wrangling and
strife being unknown in the Indian
dwelling"
It is difficult, says the Pittsburgh
Dispatch, to conceive of more incor-
rect statement of the case regarding
the mental attributes Of the Indian.
In addition to the error that has been
constant in the minds of the people,
through such statements and ideas as
romantic and prejudiced writers have
given out as chronological data, there
has been fundamental error in the
study of Indians in CHASING or group
ing them all together. It is true that
there are certain constant character
istics among the Indians, just as there
ore in the Caucasian race, but it is also
true that the mental and physical diff
ferences between tribes are more
marked than between the European
nations.
It is through reading such authors
as viewed the outside or apparent life
Of Indians that the world to-day knows
almost nothing about the dominant
characteristics of the red man. In
civilized circles the belief is current
that the perceptive faculties of the
Indian are highly developed; that he
is acute in all things, and that his
mind almost intuitively grasps phil
osophical subjects; that he is born
orator with a natural rhetoric; that he
pierces the fallacies of sophistry with
almost divine powers of analysis; that
he has evolved religious system and
worships one God under the title of
Great Spirit. These are the mental at
tributes with which he has been
clothed by those who have been accept
ed as authority. His physical powers
are no less those of demigod. He is
supposed to be a bundle Of muscles
and nerves, capable of almost super
human endurance. His eye is SO true
that he distinguishes objects and tells
their characteristics before they come
within the range of vision of the
whites. Owing to his unerring aim his
workmanship is phenomenal. His idea
of location is so highly developed that
he finds his way over untrod plains
and mountains, and notices the slight
est displacement,o of stick or stone.
What are the facts? The Indian is
not an orator. He expresses himself
with extreme difficulty and in the SIM
plest manner. He has neither rhet-
orical nor analytical power. His
Is of the crudest sort, and
he has no religion. He does not wor-
ship great spirit except as he has |
been taught by the whites. His men, |
tai powers have nothing supernatural |
in them. Physically he is the inferior |
Of the whites as he is mentally. His |
are weaker and his nerves |
moro easily unstrung; his eye is less |
keen than that of the white plains
ship; his idea of location is bounded |
BY his environments. He sees few |
sights, hears few sounds, smells few |
doors, and tastes few favors. The re- /
suit Is that his whole life is narrow, as
The facts presented to him are few.
His perceptive faculties are of a low
order and his powers of discrimination
small. This, however, is a rule which.
ike all other rules, has exceptions, for
here are now, and have been in the
past. elevated minds among the In
liana