Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-08-14
TRAITS OF MEXICAN INDIANS.
About tho Only Ones in That Country q
Pure Blood.

ABOUT tno Ouly OneB IN In8t country %
Pure Blood.
It Is q wonderful blend Of races that
Is to make the Mexican population Of
the future; one sees Maya men of ed
ucation with wives of the old blonde
Gothic-Spanish type. Tarascans mar
ried with Spaniards, and all degrees
Of Aztec admiXture, while in Oaxaca
one notes the Zapotecan strain. There
is great hope for the Indian peoples Of
Mexico; they are, for the most part,
c.ean of blood, with a nervous force
which makes them, on being educated.
60 far. Many eminent men here are
of mixed blood, and 1t Is worthy Of
note that the Indian blood gives grav-
ity. mental poise and great will power.
The Indian is loyal, a good friend, a
tremendous enemy, and sometimes
none too enamored Of the ideas of the
white race. Down deep in his heart
is something aboriginal, intense and
sound. l have heard educated In
dians, talking in all confidence, ex-
press the hope that an Indian Mexico
may some day take the place Of the
Spanish Mexico.
We have lost something in the uni
ted States by holding the Indian at
arms length socially. Indian blood is
good blood, and renovates the white
race. You get good brains in the In
dian, because they are not vitiated,
and are not too far removed from that
strong old life that nature prefers, and
| in which she eliminates weaklings.
Had the German philosopher Nietsche
visited Mexico he would have found
some types Of his ''over-man," his
naturally superior being among the
Indians. Nature is a rough nurse, but
she makes men and women who de-
light In living, and who live long. Our
urban civilization and daintiness and
comforts destroy real manhood and
womanhood, and so do flourish dent
lists, doctors, faddists and milk-and-
water reformers.
Nothing but the sun and air, the
free life of nature, produces the best
in physique and in character. The
Indians grow up sans coddling. and
their strength of body is equaled by
their vigor of mentality. 1t is great
thing not to be nervous, to breathe
deep, to have plenty of quics-movng
blood.
One is amazed at the power of ap-
plication of Indians of culture; they
get fatlgued only after intense work.
They have stamina. 1t is goodly
sight to see coming down into warm
country valleys from the Sierras. the
Indian woman, straight, clear-eyed,
uncorseted. Maidens with fine and
eloquent eyes, walking as the Greek
goddesses did; their every motion
graceful, and, If gowned in civilized
manner, fit to adorn a drawing room.
Some of the tribes have many hand
some women; you look at them, and
all accepted civilized standards fall
away. You do not think of what we
call their poverty; they are simply
gowned, and their manner suggests
no notion of subserviency; they bring
to one thoughts of the antique world
when life was lived broadly, fashions
endured and the age Of fuss had not
begun. Contrast the erect and serene
Indian maidens on the country roads
| VI NncAlCO Win tuC paiiol ddiiihSS VI
civilization, under the care of special
lists, teeth yellow with gold, with a
hundred arts of the toilet, and nerves
easily tired and tangled. One gives
over thinking Of wealth when one sees
the riches of simple health these
young women possess.
Their eyes are wonderfully clear,
and their type Of beauty Is Greek, in
that there is no overfatness, no wad-
ding and never emaciation. A physi-
clan would delight in such young
women, fit models for sculptor. Only
the primitive nations, much in the
open air, the sun modelling their per-
feet forms, retain their sanity. In
our big cities Of white men the people
are spoiled, we get into grooves of en-
ployment, are twisted intellectually
and physically, lose nerve poise and
repose, and are packed full of preju-
dices which we mistake for culture.
/ have sat with Indians in the mar
ket places of little towns and enjoyed
their placidity Of thought, their direct
seeing Of things and their inability
even to envy US. We must resemble
in their minds strange, Economically
possessed creatures. They simply cam
not comprehend our restlessness and
our inability to be still an hour at a
time. Sometimes an Indian will tell
you that the day will come when the
land will be their once more, and then
note the light, as Of some interior sun,
that blazes in his eyes!-Boston Her
aid.
John Chinaman's Easy Raiment.