Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1894-07-28
INDIAN FREEMASONRY.
A Secret Sooiety Existing in the
Cherokee Nation
An Ancient Order That Has for Ia Object
the Preservation O; Tribal
Legends and Tsa-
ditionS.

uitiOnS.
Net many persons are aware that
there exists among TIE Chero,rees a
secret society that i hundreds of years
>oid. as old, in fact. rs the t"ihe itself,
Nnd Is today stronger than it ever was.
al least in numbers. This society is
called the Ketaowah, which. literally
translated. means elder brother. The
st. Loui3 Post-Djspat.i says it i 4 sort
OF Indian freemasoary and has its laws
md riiiSa % C-;,or swell as it, officers
and sccret si~ns- So we'll a-o its secrets
and lis doing5 guar ed that there are
hundreds OF people living in The Chero-
kee nation. and VINO have fved there
for years. who are not even aware Of
the cxistcncc OF q society every MEM
Der of which is sworn to assist in the
defense OF their homes from the fnva-
sion of the pnlc-facci brother either 5v
squattc- sovereignty or by squawmcn
privileges Only frll-Bools are eligi-
bic to membership. but 50 jeIlodaly is
the Ketooyvah watched that what else
is necessary for membership is not
known outside OF the order. The
society now has a rleE5ership of
about Thousand fuil-bloods, each the
head OF 4 family. ana TINS the Crgani-
cation represents about Ave thousand
/ persors. Formerly the kctooVah only
comprised the chiefs ard some few OF
the older men of tie tribe. Then it
was all-powcrful and exercised full
control over all tribal affairs; its
I,4.
toned even by the most powerful
chief. 1t dictated treaties. proclaimed
war or peace. settled disputes and
guided the welfare of the tribe in all
matters, spiritual and temporal. Such
was the Ketoowah until within the
past fifty years. when the white
mans government was formed and the
affairs OF the people were taken from
the hands uf the few and administered
BY men elected by the people and the
Indians saw their power and their
birthriyht steadily passing away. their.
customs and language rcccding before
the march Of eiviii-a ton they realized
that unless something was done to
counterfeit these influences the Chero-
kee would soon pass from the face of
the earth. 10 prevent TINS became at
once the object of the kctoowah, and
it wa, so ENLARGED ~ u include the
heads of al fuil-jlool families, 80 that
from privy courcl it became power
full oata-bOuhd organization.
No Chcrokccvhosc blood has been
tainted caa become p n,S.n6er. and it
is said that the penalty for disclosing
=. 4 I.
chief aim OF the Ect00wah ut tie pres
eni day is 20 perpet1atc the legends.
custoGis and language CT the Chcro-
KEGS. Tho cx;stc-c, Of ~ coc.cty &C.
counts for something that has often
puzzled irqririrg pcr-nns who have
found that il is vcrv rarely that full
blood Cherokee does not both read ami
write his own tongue iinenuy. They
al have classical Cherokee caIca-
ton. aad as their LANGUAGE il not
taught in the public schools. aul thcy
have 10 schools Of their own. when
and where they learned % write i WIS
a mystery. Every kctoowah is bound
TO teach IL q his children, and there
existsa pride among tiom so strpar
that tire full-hi0cl who has not ac-
quirel these accomplishments is in
continual disgrace and is made to feel
his Ignorance most lSccnlv and continu-
ally. Among its members are some or
the ablest of the Chcrollecs, Indians
who have acquired thorough English
educations and who are lawyers, min
listers and born leaders 1t Is natural
to suppose that. these are the leaders.
but this is not known Certain it is,
the society eXe' IS a powerful influence
in the government by casting its en-
tire vote as man for or against GER
tain measures. It Is never heard of in
politics. and yet it has often been no.
tice1 that at an election the full-bloods
are sure to support tAe same ticket.
There is no way for a candidate to ap-
proach the society to secure it's sup
port for he does not know WHO ITS
members are. They select their ticket
and vote for it and there are no but
tons. The members have n sign Ian
Cuage BY which they can converse in
diligently among themocIres wholly
unobservcd ard employ this means OF
communication when others are near.
Through the medium of their national
paper, onc-half of which is printed in
Cherokee and is sent free TO all citizens
who do not read English. thefHll-blood
is thoroughly posted upon al public
matters and in fact much more con-
versant with affairs OF state than his
half-blood brother
SAVINGS BANKS FOR STAMPS.
To Ee !nt-os,c-ed Tato tho Boston Public
Schools ' CRY Shortly.