The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1895-12-27

n NhippeWb Aaiks r1mlnarly Oh the Cus-
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 a Chippewa friend. These
people look back upon their past as upon
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
mems arms, but their vices, which
ruined us. F."
"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 precarious and dan
gerous way Of living?''
"We did not go hungry. We had more
than we 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, blueberries, 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 world, with
a whole continent in which to enjoy it.
We are not now what we were. Our
people have become drunkards, beggars
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 Mississip-
pi valley, and the Five Brothers, who
came after them, were as good. They
adopted me when my father died. The
last one died 80 years ago, very old
man.
II suppose you think the Seven Broth
ers made president of the United
States because he beat them at Tippeca-
uoe?''
"Yes, 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 Indian, :"
"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
it. For example, il you came stranger
to tepee Of village, stamp Of the
foot on 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 o lynx or
other climber, climbing signs. If the
animal were running, the hand with
fingers down made bounding motions
If a man, the forefinger 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 q map
with various signs and animals here and
there upon it. A circle meant a yell
by which the reader was instructed to
call when he reached certain point"
"You had afreemasonry for your fam
lilies, did you not?"
"Yes, I can recognize q relative,
though I never met him before. The use
lor this has died cut. but we cannot
give it to any one not entitled to It."
what was your totem!'
'The alligator. The alligator can live
in the water and ON the land. He lives
to be very old. 1t means long life and
good -luck in hunting and fishing. II
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 il they had been let alone.
They were already oultivators 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 q dog
team on the snow Cd miles in one day.
He walked from the St. Croix to Bay
field, 70 miles, in 28 hours, and this was
not exceptional among them. The sud
denness of attack and swiftness in re-
treat rendered them the most difficult
native people ever conquered. But their
paradise is gone. Interior.