The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-03-06
ruEINDIAN'SLAMENT
,,ons FOR THE VANISHED HAP
Nc WV p,Ness OF HIS RACE.

V" - Tribe-He Feels That the |
toms V nj, the Indian Grievous Wrong.
whites Did the Con-.
paradise That Is Gone
,o.o the white men came we were
an !" said Chippewa irienu' THESE
men, look back upon their past as upon
peCpi . PARADISE, in which there were
lOS' ps and innocence. They repudi-
happln'Sde oscriptions of them written by
' Unite historians as the WORK Oh enen a,i
vn npiug 70 Justify cruelties and wrongs.
'eeAinof otbers always did what was
,%t and they punished bad men They
riSn'', IND and true 10 their friends ana
welv uI h only to their enemies. We were
'elilO, ,yorriors, and we fought for our
sl "n long time. 1t was not the white
owl u,S arms, but their vices, which
'" MWbot makes You think that the old
rrore SO much better? You have
'' uS laws. no wars, and the government
gu NOT LET YOU go hungry. Is not this
S w., than the old precarious and dan
oerous way of living"
s, "wo did not 90 hungry. We had more
,hon we wanted. You can see Tor your
'n nW What we had from what is left after
SeH destruction. There was no end
y ,ho deer. moose, caribou, beaver,
w. and all the smaller fur bearers, and
Cor the fish, you said there was no
s"n catching them when you came, they.
. 40" roo nlentv-truut, bass, pike, pick
vol stnroeon-the waters swarmed
18th them. Then look at the wild rice,
mis- blueber1ies, wild plums--oceans
If them. And then we had cornflelds'
and for smoking the kinnikinlc. Inc
nlons we're black with buffalo We had
70 hard work to do. What we did was
manly sport, while it provided us with
Good and clothing And then we were
free the freest people in the orld, with
a whole continent in which to enjoy it.
Wa are not now what we were. Our
raonle have become drunkards, beggars
and towards The white man has de.
stroved us. along with everything else.
see that you have among your photo
cranhs 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 wero 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
ri 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 Ole
man.
1 "Isuppose you think the Seven Broth
eH made a president Of the Unltec
States because he beat them at Tippeca
nOe?"
"Yes, they made two, and the Chero
KEGS made two. The white men though
it was great thing when, four or fiv'
to one, they could whip an Indian, ant
they made heroes of those who did it
That is what the white man thought o
the Indian -
"What about your sign language am
picture writing?"
"That is nearly forgotten. Only few
know anything about it, and they IN
old men, The sign language was wha
deaf and dumb people have, only it wa
simpler, and all the tribes understood
it For example, if you came strange
toa tepee of village, stamp OF tn
foot on the ground meant that you wer
welcome-two or three stamps, that 20
were very welcome. Hunting signal
were made with the hands. -Four finger
and the thumb down meant q bear
with the thumb up deer. If a lynx c
other climber, climbing signs. Ii th
animal were running, the hand wit
fingers down made bounding motions
II man, the forefinger was held up.
the man were hiding, the finger WI
closed down to the hand. Picture wri
Ing was done on bark and was ma
with various signs and animals here an
there upon it. A circle meant yell
by which the reader was instructed
call when he reached a certain point.
You had freemasonry for your fan
lies, did you not?"
Yes, l can recognize relative
though never met him before. The III
ior this has died out, but we cann'
give It to any one not entitled to it. "
What was your totem?''
The alligator The alligator can liz
IN the water and on the land. He liv'
10 be very old 1t means long life al
good luck III hunting and fishing.
was the totem of the Five Brothers, al
'ney gave 1t to me when they adopt'
me- :"
My friend thinks that the Indian
would have developed civilization
IN .nis time if they had been let alon
iney were already cultivators of Il
sui and were no longer nomadic o.
eiement of their success in war w
W wer endurance and speed on foe
"neh he was youth, he led d.
M nam on the snow 60 miles in one da
ne walked from the st. Croix to Ba
neio' ~ miles, in 20 hours, and this W
so' exceptional among them. The su
aenness of attack and swiftness in I
ueat rendered them the most difficu