The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-08-15
CURIOUS VOCAL STUDIES.
The Character of the North American ii
dams as Revealed by the Voice. 4


magazine article two or three years
rious types of voice, not from their
musical pitch or pleasant quality, but,
instead, from the mental characters
ties heard in the tones. ! proved the
idea to be correct by experiments car
ricd on between two and three hun
dred students Of elocution in this city.
The subject of the Indian voice has
interested me whenever opportunity
was afforded for hearing the red men
speak. Having lived among the Cher
olice Indians in the south, and relying
upon the voice as an index of char
acter, certain qualities possessed by the
Indian voices at once interested and
surprised me. Prior to 1880 | spent
four weeks in camp of Cherokees
There were some four hundred and
fifty in the tribe, their ages ranging
from infancy to ninety-one years.
Pleased with the result of my investi-
cations with this tribe, pursued my
studies farther, with the Blaclzfoot
tribe, the Scminoles and Sioux.
found Z typical Indian voice, notwith-
standing the fact that they vary very
much in pitch and quality. Their emo
tional lives being necessarily sim% y
the tutorage of civilization htse.-fsslg.
taught them to conceal the real state
of their feelings, and their ordinary
mental habits were accurately re-
vcaled in the tones of their voices,
particularly when they spoke the
languages peculiar to their tribes. The
voice OF the Indian is usually sad and
reticent. 1t is indicative Of a mind
given to marveling rather than reason
ing. The voices OF the women are gen
orally me2Zo-s0prano. clear, and re-
semble somewhat those of the Spanish
women. The voices of the men vary
with age; the older having weird,
strange sound, which reminds one OF
the voices heard among certain class
of patients in hospitals for the insane.
1t is the voice of the early state of par
alytic dcmentia. The voices of the In
dian children resemble much the voices
of negro children. They are, however,
less musical and much more quiet.
/ Even in childhood mirth seems want
ing in the Indian character. They sell
. dom laugh with that hearty merrl-
ment for which the negro is famed.
/ The Indian voices are dreamy in ordi-
/ nary converse ton. When angry they
usually shrek without articulating
words. One hears among the Indians
very few characteristically individual
+ voices. Comparing them with their
more civilized brethren, we find that
4 the French voices show complex emo
! tional lives Those of the EngliShmen
vary in pitch great deal, as do those
of the American people. With the In
dian voices there is less variety both in
register and pitch, and the undertones
reveal similar emotional states. Com
parison with the Indian voices with
! those OF the Chinese israther favorable
to the latter. The voices of the edu-
Gated Chinese are flexible, and indica-
tive Of great shrewdness. The voices
of the educated Indians of which
! have known between twenty and
thirty, are whining and embarrassing.
Through the courtesy of Hon.
William Cody had the opportunity of
listening recently to the voices of some
OF the Indians in his famous company.
| wished TO delineate their characters
! by their voices, so did not know any
thing of the history OF those presented
to me previous to hearing them speak.
! also requested that they speak in
their own language, as l could not then
judge of their character by what they
said.
The first Indian, named Rocky Bear,
had a rich BARITONE voice. 1t was must
cal, and indicated greater degree OF
intelligence than is possessed by the
average Indian. The agent was much
surprised when | told him, knowing
nothing of Rocky Bears history, that
his voice indicated a man brave, quick
IN action and clear in his logical de-
{ auctions, of kindly temperament and
naturally atfectionate. He informed
me that my estimate of Rocky Bears
character was quite correct, and added
that he had always been friendly to
the whites, rendering valuable as
sistance to the United States govern
ment at one time.
The next Indian presented had the
voice of an old man. | told the agent
! that | thought him about sixty nine.
! He informed me that he was between
! seventy and seventy-one. His voice
was singular, of rather low pitch, and
revealed very fanatical type of mind
together with an unsuitable and irri-
table nervous system. l stated to the
agent that Flatiron, which was the
name of the second Indian, was moody
and mercurial, and withal not to be
trusted. The agent confirmed my
opinion of the mans voice and told me
that he had made great deal of'troulle
during his younger days, and that hl
was prominent in the famous ghost
dances. SO we'll remen bered.
The next Indian brought to me had
the remarkable name of Last Horse.
His voice was interesting. OF tenor
barytone quality, it was frank and
kindly, but there lurled in its tones
caution, shrewdness and executive
ability. l told the agent that thought
he had excellent executive ability, and
he replied that Last Horse was the
chief of police in the camp.
Two Indian women were next pre-,
scented, and were introduced as Mrs
Highbcar and Mrs. Redbear. The lat