Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1894-02-23
INDIAN FREEMASONRY.
a secret Society Existing In tho
Cherokee Nation.
An Ancient Order That Has for It's Object
the Preservation OF Tribal
Legends and Ira.
ditiona

Not many persons arc ayvare that
there exists among the Chcro,;ees a
ec-ret society that is hundreds Of years
Old. as old, in fact. as the tribe itself.
Dad Is today stronger than It ever was,
1t lest in numbers. Ta.s society is
talleu the Ectoowah. which. literally
translated. means elder brother. The
st. Loaii Pojt-Dispatch says i Ia sort
OF Indian f-eenlaIoary and has its laws
ani rales of order u well n is officers
and secret siCns. So well arc is secrets
and its doings guar ID that there are
hundreds of people living in the Chcro-
kee nation. and who lave wed there
for years. who are rot cvca aware of
the '"istancc OF q society every mem
Der OF which is sworn to assi~: il the
defense OF their ho;lc5 froEa tic i1va-
son CT the palc-sace1 brother either by
scuat-cr cover, t'~lt- or by squawmcn
priv.l -os. Only full-blools arc eligi-
b. 70 member lip, but so j>alou"ly is
tAe ,ctoowai WATCHED that what else
is necessary for member hip Is not
known outside of the or,.cr. The
about a thousand full, lOods. each the
head of a family. anl thus tic or ;ani-
zatiol represents about I've thoueand
persons. Formerly the Eetoowah only
comprised the chiefs and some few of
tie Older men of TIE tribe. Then IL
vas a'l-powerfrl ard exercised full
control OYER all trial affairs: It's
naIdn-c o~cc i'S;cd was never ques-
ti"Ie1 even by the most powerful
cl'ef. il C:ctated trcatics. proclaimed
war or nee. settled d.aputcs ard
guided re wclfcre of the tribe in all
matters. spiritual and temporal. Such
was the Ke4oOyah until within the
past fifty years. When the white
mans government was formed crd the
Affairs of the people ~car taken from
the hands of the few al 5, administered
By men elected by the people and the
Indians saw their power and their
birthright steadily rasria- away. tacir
crStoms and lan~uH - recclirg before
the march Of civil.2G IA. they realized
that unless sonnet ing was done to
counteract these Influences the Chero-
kes would soon pass froia the face Of
The earth. TO prevent this became at
once the object Of the Ketoowah. and
il was so enlarged a. - include the
heeds of a'l full-5lo0l families, 80 that
from a privy courcii 4 became power
ful oath-bourd organization.
No Cherokee whose h,ool has been
tainted can become : member. and it
Ia said that the penalty for disclosing
The s.rple3t secret Is death The
chief aim Of tire Totoovah a. the pres
snt day Is to pc-~ctlcte the leCcGds,
customs and LANGUAGE of the Chcro-
KEGS. The existence of this society &C.
counts fer something that has often
puzzled incnirirg pcr1ons v,o Rave
found that it is vcry rarely that fall
blood Cherokee doc rot both rad and
write his ovr to@.sro .ivSItly. They
alt have a ci:" zeal ChCT5'-ee eiuca-
ton. anl as ter l;sl-ua is not
tau-ht in tie nabl:: - DOL AMI they
have no sclooiI OF thc.r own. when
and where taoy learned to write IL was
. mystery Every Netcowah il bound
to teach il to his ciil,ren, and there
exists pr lc amo1g them so strong
that the full-5.ooi who has not &c
ouircd these accowoli ii-1cnts is in
continual dis-racc and il made to feel
his ignorance most lsccnly and continu-
ally ANON its m Tlhcr5 arc some OF
the ablcst of the Ihcro';ccs, i2iians
who have acquired Thorough EpTlish
edu lations and WHO are lawyers. min
listers and born lca!rr- 1t Il natural
IN suppose that tic:c arc the leaders
but this Is not known. Certain 1t is,
che society excrtS power al influence
in the government by casting its en-
tire vote ss n nan for or against GER
tain measures. 1t i, never heard OF IN
politics, and yet il has o-tcn beca no.
ticed that at an election the full-bloods
are sure to support the same ticket,
There Ia no way for candidate TO ap-
proach the society to secure its sup
port. for he does not know who its
members arc. They select their ticket
and vote for II AID there are no but
tons. The members have a sign Ian
1uaye by which they can converse in
diligently among themselves wholly
unobservcd and employ this means OF
communication when others are near.
through the medium of their national
paper. one-half Of which is printed ia
Cherokee and is sent free to all citizens
who do not read En~lish the full-blood
Is thoroughly posted upon all public
matters ard In fact mich more con-
yersant with aTairs of state than his