The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1895-09-21

Before the white men caH:o We were
men, said . Chippewa friend. Those
people lGok back upon their past as upon
Il lost paradise, IL WLleh there we've
happiness and innocence. they repuGi-
ate the descriptions Of them written by
white historians Us TIE work Of enemies,
seeking u Jaatify cruelt;es and wrongs.
"Our fathers always did what was
right. and theg punished bad men. They
were k.rd end tEue 70 tneir friends and
terrible only to theIr eGenIies. We were
great warriors, and NE fought for our
WI a ions time. It WAS Aot the white
mems arms, but their vices, which
ruined us.
What makes Won think that the old
times Were 80 much better: You have
good laws, 10 wars, and the government
will not let YOU 20 hungry. Is not tits
better than tho old preyarious and dan
serous way Of living"
I'VE did act gohungry. Wehad more
than we wanted. You can see for Your
self what we had from what il left after
50 much destruction. There WAS no end
to the deer, moose, caribou, beaver,
lynx ana all lie snallertu bearers, and
as f0r the fish, you said there was no
fun catching them when you came, they
Were too plentv-trout, bass, pike, pick
erel, stulgean-the waters svafmed
with them. Then look at the wild rice.
nuts, b~luebcrlies, Wild rlUms-occans
4f Thorn A-,1 ffo., 70 MI ,,,-,eor1.
and for smoking the kinliLinic. The
plains were black with buI;llo. We mad
n0 hard work to do. What we did was
manly sport, while It provided Us with
food and clothing. And then we were
free, the ftoest people III the Y Grid, with
9 whole continent in which tn enjoy it,
We are net now what we were. Oar
people have become G~Iankards. beorars
and towards. The Write man b.ss de-
stroyed Us, along with everything else.
see that you have among your photo
graphs the picture Of Il 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 We're left after Tie
Seven Brothers and the Five Brothers
were no longer true specimens of II
great and noble people. The Seven
Brothers We're Tecamsel's bost men.
They vo1o lCnoWna Il over tie Mississip-
pl valley, and the Five Brothers, who
came after them, We're as good. They
adopted ne wien lily father died. The
last one died 30 years ago, a very old
man"
Il supnose You think the Seven Broth
ers maze Il president Of the United
States because he beat them at Tippeca-
noe?n
Yes, they made two. and the Chero-
KEGS made two. The white me- thought
It was Il great thing when, four or five
70 one, they. could whip an Indian. and
they lnado heroes Of these who did it.
That IL whist the white man thought OF
the Indian.
What about ycUr sign language and
picture writine:"
THAT isHcarly forgotten. ONLY few
know anything about il. and they are
Ole Ele!l. Ihe aign language vas what
deaf and damb people have, only it was
simpler, and al tic TRIES understood
It. Fer eHaaHla, if You came a stranger
e a tePee 81 4 village, Il sta.ap Of tie
foot o. tie ground meant That you We're
NelcoHle-tNO NY three stamps, that goa
We're vely welcome. Hunting signals
were made with thehands. Tour fingers
and tie thuMh down meant il b,ar-
with the thumb up u deer. II d lrnx OF
other climber. climbing signs. II the
we've running, the hand with
fingers down made bounding motions.
Ii q man, the f0retiHger was held mp. II
the man We're hiding, the finger was
down to the hand. Picture writ !
was done Oh bark and was i map
with various signs and animals here and
there upon II. 4 circle meant Il yell
by which the reader was instructed to
call when lie reached i certain point"
You had Il treemasonry for your FAM
lies, did yen nat::''
Yes, ] can recognize a relative. +
L never Eict HIN before. The use
this has died out, but we canno
II t. any not entitled u it."
Nv hat was ygur toteEt::
The alI gator. IAe tHi48t.rca n I've
~ tle Walar aAa cn the laud. IL hires
% BE- very Old. II }aeans long ite aad
good luck iii hunting and #slfins. II
the totem of tie I.vg g=ataars. Ana
gave IA 20 me Wien lhov alar-El {
My friend tlsrfs thtt ~ !e3=yas
9oa-d have ae44-cl l.l.4lD i,