The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1895-09-14
THE INDIAN'SLAMENT
HE MOURNS FOR THE VANISHED HAP
PlNESS OF HIS RACE.

A Chippewa Talks Familiarity of the Gus
toms of His Tribe-He Feels That the
Whites Did the Indian Grievous Wrong.
The Paradise That Is Gone.
Before the white men came we were
men," said Chippewa friend. These
people look back upon their past as upon
a lost paradise, in which there were
happiness and innocence. They repudi-
ate the descriptions of them written by
white historians as the work of enemies,
seeking to Justify cruelties and wrongs.
"Our fathers always did what was
right, and they punished bad men. They
were kind and true to their friends and
terrible only to their enemies We were
great warriors, and we fought for our
own long time. 1t was not the white
ruined us. -
"What makes you think that the old
times were so much better? You have
good laws, no wars, and the government
will not let you go hungry: Is not this
better than the old precarions and dan
gerous way of living!"
"We did not go hungry. We had more
than Wa wanted You can see for your
self what we had from what is left after
SO much destruction. There was no end
to the deer, moose, caribou, beaver,
lynx and all the smaller fur bearers, and
as for the fish, you said there was no
fun catching them when you came they
were too plenty-trout, bass, pike, pick
.erel, sturgeon-the waters swarmed
with them. Then look at the wild rice,
nuts, blueber1ies, wild plums--oceans
Of them. And then we had cornfelds,
and for smoking the kinnikinic. The
plains were black with buffalo. We had
no hard work to do. What we did was
manly sport, while it provided US with
food and clothing. And then we were
free, the freest people in the " orld, with
q whole continent in which to enjoy it,
We are not now what we were. Our
people have become drunkards, begg. ars
and towards. The white man has de-
stroyed US, along with everything else.
see that you have among your photo
graphs the picture Of Chippewa grave.
That is the grave of the last of the Five
Brothers, great warriors You may say
that is the grave of the last of the Chip
| pewas, because what were left after the
Seven Brothers and the Five Brothers
| were no longer true specimens Of" our
| great and noble people. The Seven
| Brothers were Tecumseh's best men,
They were known all over the MISSISSIPPI
pi valley, and the Five Brothers, who
came after them, were as good. They
adopted me when ny father died. The
last one died 80 years ago, very old
man."
u suppose you think the Seven Broth
ers made a president Of the United
States because he beat them at Tippeca-
noe?''
eyes, they made two, and the Chero-
KEGS made two The white men thought
it was a great thing when, four or five
to one, they could whip an Indian, and
they made heroes Of those who did it.
That is what the white man thought of
the Indisn.;'
"What about your sign language and
picture writing?'
'"That is nearly forgotten. Only few
know anything about it, and they are
old men. The sign language was what
deaf and dumb people have, only it was
simpler, and all the tribes understood
1t. For example, if you came stranger
to tepee Of a village, stamp Of the
foot Oh the ground meant that you were
welcome-two or three stamps, that you
were very welcome Hunting signals
were made with the hands. Four fingers
and the thumb down meant a bear
with the thumb up deer. If lynx or
other climber, climbing signs. It the
animal were running, the hand with
! fingers down made bounding motions.
If man, the forefnger was held up If
the man were hiding, the finger was
closed down to the hand. Picture writ
ing was done On bark and was a map
with various signs and animals here and
there upon it. 4 circle meant a yell
by which the reader was instructed to
call when he reached a certain point"
"You had afreemasonry for your fam
lies, did you not?''
Eyes, I can recognize a relative
though never met him before. The use
for this has died out, but we cannot
give it to any one not entitled to it. -
"What was your tctem?''
"The alligator. The alligator can live
in the water and Oh the land. He lives
to be very old. 1t means long life and
good luck in hunting and fishing, 1t
was the totem of the Five Brothers, and
they gave it to me- when they adopted
me-"
My friend thinks that the Indians
would have developed civilization by
this time if they had been let alone
They were already cultivators of the
soil and were no longer nomadic. One
element of their success in war was
their endurance and speed on foot
When he was a youth, he led a dog
team on the snow G5 miles in one day.
He walked from the St. Croix to Bay
field, u miles, in % hours, and this was
not exceptional among them. The sud
denness Of attack and swiftness in re-
treat rendered them the most difficn]t