St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1899-01-28
An Indian Dinner Raid
IT AM NOT able to sentimensalize

IT AM NOT able to sentimentaliz,
much about Indians" said Harry
Denman, a young man who had spen
his boyhood in the far west. There /,
no doubt that they have been unjustl!
and inhumanly treated, and what the.
might have been had conditions beer
I more favora BILE, it is hard to tell. Blu
they were the terror of my young days
and though never once did they harE
me or mine. was in constant fear tha
1 might do something which thel
should consider worthy OF their ven
geance. The braves struggled into ouI
hamlet from time to time. sometime
10 sell their bows and arrows. or ex
change them for 'eat,' but mole fire.
qaently begging or demanding wra'
they wanted, their fayorite articles o.
diet being rice. hominy anu meal.
The sq,saws came oftener. ant
brought herbs and berries Of variou.
kinds, and in TIE winter rush baskets
some of them being exceedingly pretty
'-Our little settlement was in tLs
neighborhocd of Elk Lake, Minn.. and
cur schoolhouse was only short dis
tnnce from our homes
.Did The Indians ever disturb The
school or frighten the pmpiis?' one ol
the little group hastened to ask. she,
with the rest of us, being eager for q
story.
They were in the habit. in the win.
ter. of coming into the schoolhouse 70
warm themselves tn, young man re
piled. "and they were generally cute
enough to arrive about dinner time,
You see. out of our fear we had es.ab-
lished very bad precedent Of dividing
our food with them"
81 should call it a very humane pre-
cedcnt, another lady remarked. Poor,
down-troddcn creatures. How they
have suffered"
svery true" was the smiling reply;
s.but of all the persistent and pestifer-
ous bsggars. the Indians carry of the
palm, and If YOU once begin to give
them You can never stop without row
Of some kind. 1t was no joke to nc,
can tell you. TO see three or four tall,
scDpper-coiorcd braves horribly paint
Cd and well armed, glide into the school
house and surround the stove. Indians
never walk like other folks. you know.
They must have had some respect for
education in the abstract, for in all my
acquaintance with them-and it was
much more intimate than desired
] never knew them to disturb recita-
ton. II one was in progress, they
waited silently until it was over. When
the class was dismissed. each brave
would Felect his victims, and begin the
cultural cry of: Eat. eat: Injun 'un-
CRY; eat, ea::
s'On these occasions ] used 10 be
frightened almost out Of my small wits.
j could not swallow a mouthful. and
they got not only my dinner. but my
dinner pail also, which they always re-
ceived with grunt Of satisfaction.
about half the pupils were like me
in this respect, and half of the other
half would divide equally with the vo-
lacious redskins. and the other quarter
would not give them single bite.
81 think that the Indians liked best
those that divided with them, and had
almost as much contempt for the cow
ards who gave up everything as they
had hatred for those who gave them
nothing
Among the latter class were two
girls. one IL. the other 16. Mary Ham,
mond and Lizzie Bradbury. who seemed
to have no more fear of the Indians
than they had OF each other. and would
frequently tantalize them by showing
large slices Of bread or cake, of which
the savages were very fond.
'.Snch behavior terrified me beyond
description. for I knew by intuition.
rs well as by what had read and hear0,
how merciless those red men were 10
those who offended them.
''Onr parents did not know what was
best to do. some counkseling one course
Of conduct and some another. But AT
last the teacher decided that the only
way TO put an end to these Indian din
ner raids was for us TO bring nothing
With us to eat for awhile, and be die
missed earlier.
II was old enough to know that a
ttop must he put to their work. for
every week the number of wonld-bc
dirers-out increased. and our parents
would before long have the whole tribe
on their hands. But I was distressed
beyond measure by this arrangement.
1t seemed to me it would be much wiser
to dismiss school entirely than Try
such an experiment.
But the teacher was firm, and the
hungry regime was inauguratcd. The
first time the Indians came after this
they simply grunted their disapproval
and departed peaceably. The next time
their grnnts were more pronounced.
and they held protracted powwow
outside the schoolhouse. The teacher
"a young woman who had been sent
TO Minnesota for her health-had the
courage of lioness. Those best nc-
qninted with the Indian character haG
advised her TO take no notice of these
undesired visitors. and no one would
ever have supposed from her manner
that the savages made the slightest i'm
preston upon her fears. to say nothing
of her inner consciousness of contempt
and disgust.
:..BetweeD the second and third cnll of
these dusky braves there was a much
longer time than usual. and we began
TO think that the teachers plan had
been successful.
..But one morning. Immediately after
assembling. squaw by the name of
Nooshna. whom we al knew and liked
very mpch. came hurriedly into the
schoolhouse and approached the teach
Il. She had picked up quite an aseort-
msnt Of English words, aud !, sitting