The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-09-16
OUR LAST CANNrBAL TRIBE.

Ii may not be generally known that
cdhnipaLsm was once prevalent over
large areas of the American continent
Such was the case, however, and, in fact
the very word cannibal Is but another
form Of Gambia or Cariba the Droner
name of the Carib Indians, the dreaded
Scourge OF the Antilles three Centuries
ago, among whom the Spaniards on first
landing, found human limbs hung IN to
dry In the sun for food MANY of The
tribes of South America were cannibals
and some OF the unconquered savages in
the Ozark forests of the upper Amazon
still feast upon human flesh The nrac-
tlce existed also in Central America and
MEXICO as readers of Prescott are wen
aware, but rather as sacrifice to the
god of war than from any depraye.j
taste for such food. AS a war ceremony
1t was found also among nearly all the
tribes of the Eastern United States and
Canada.
The Miamis had a cannibal society
whose members were under obligatiop
to eat any captives delivered to them for
that purpose; and the Kiowas. with
whom L lived for some time, had only a
few years ago secret brotherhood each
member of which was pledged to eat the
heart of the first enemy killed by him
in battle. The old war chief in whose
family | stayed was one Of this society.
All the tribes of the Texas coast and
back country were reputed cannibals,
and with good reason. One of these was
the Attakapa, from whom the Louisiana
parish gets It's name, which signifies
''man-eaters'' Another was the Kara,-
kawa tribe, on Matagorda bay, with
whom French captives from La Sales
expedition witnessed many a barbarous
feast. In 1850 the priests of the old San
Antonio mission drew up a cateehisnl
for the use of their Indian converts, and
among the questions to be asked in con-
fession the first one was, "Haye you
eaten human fiesh?"
But the worst cannibals of all were the
Tonkawas, who lived about San An
tonic, just back from the coast To all
the other tribes, even to the present day,
they are known simply as .'the Man-eat-
ers." They were strong, athletic men.
brave fighters, good hunters, and inveter-
ate rovers. Unlike other tribes of that
region, they planted nothing, having a
tradition that their first ancestor was a
wolf, and that they must always be like
him. shifting about from place to place,
and getting their living by hunting They
had pantomime dance in which the
performers, disguised as wolves scratch
ed man out from the ground where he
had previously been concealed in the
loose earth, gave him a bow and ar
rows, and then recited to him the traCli-
wolf always. Other Indians would make
no terms with them, and the Tonkawas
were an outlawed tribe among all their
red brethren, with every mans hand
against them They retaliated by act
ing as scouts and guides to the whites
in their expeditions against the hostile
tribes.
When the Texan missions were estab-
lished. in the early part of the eighteenth
century and the good Franciscans be-
gan the heavy task of Transforming wan
dering savages into Industrious Christian
subjects of the king, we find some bands
of Tonkawas among the score of tribes
gathered into San Antonio, San jose and
the old historic A1ama. 1T Is probable
that only few were thus brought under
restraint, for the love of the old free life
was strong in their hearts, and long be-
fore the missions were abolished, in
1872, we find the Tonkawas again rowing
over half of Texas. -Harper's Magazine