Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1903-04-16

- N"i'' even in the times
when eating Of human flesh was a
common practice among many bands
of our wild aborigincs, were known as
the most depraved of all New World
cannibals. The few remnants Of their
tribe are being kept on reservation
in Indian Territory, whittier they were
taken twenty years ago for protect, n
against their many enemies. TO al!
other tribes they are still known sim,
ply as "the man caters
The old home of the Tonkawa ca1ui.
balls was about San Antonio. Tex. Just
back of the coast In their prime they
were physically powerful, nimble a1t
letes, fearless fighters and good hult
ers, but inveteratc rovers.
The man eaters" are outlawcd ua,l
tahooed by all other Indians For Il
century and more the entire red race
in America have set their faces against
these depravcd people. For this the
Tonkawas have retaliated by servin.
as scouts for the whites and guides
in many government expeditions
against hostile tribes.
In 1867 the government placed them,
together with severa. other smaller
tribes, upon n reserva ion on the up.
per BraZos. The TeXa IS, who had de.
clared that no Indians should live iu
the State, attacked IT, agency, fired
on the soldiers protecting it, and scat.
tered the Indians. THIS but added q
further hardening to tb temper of the
forsaken man eaters" Their 300 sur.
vivors were collected uu)n Il new res.
ervation on the WishitN Indian Terri.
tory.
During the civil war, II len some In.
dams were persuaded to ght with the
North and others with the South, the
Tonkawas, with few others, pre-.
ferred to remain upon their own reser,
walton rather than take chances with
the Indians on either side. But, de.
spite the attitude of the Tonkawas,
their agent and all his employees took
the oath of allegiance to the Confcd.
crate government. The Tonkawas,
though unconsciously, We're now Con,
federate Indians.
On the night of October o., 1862, the
imam eaters" enemies-140 picked
Shawnees, Delawares, Wichitas and
Kickapoos-armed with modern rifles
surprised the agency, killed the white
employees and burned the buildings ia
the ground. The Tonkawas, only 300
in all, had only bows and arrows, but
kept up a stubborn resistance Iona
enough for part of their women and
children to escape to the hille. When
the battle ended 1856 Tonkawas-n mean.
ly half of the tribe-lay dead upon the
ground, more than 100 of these victims
being defenseless women and children
The attacking party lost 81 killed and
wounded. The hearts of the TOnka.
was now were hardened still more
than in their former defeats.
The surviving man eaters" aftel
this massacre, were marched in pitifu
procession to Fort Arbuckle under
guard of a single representative of thu
government. After a short stay al
Fort Arbuckle the imam eaters" drift
ed back to Texas, occasionally acting
as scouts against the wild COmanches
The word "Cannibal' is of Indian
origin, according to Mr.. Mooney. 1t il
corruption of "Cariba," of Gambia,
the proper name of the Garth, thai
dreaded scourge of the Antilles, whC
reigned over the West Indies 300 year!
ago.
Human limbs, hung up in the sun t
dry, like hams, were seen by Span
iards who first visited the Carlbs, Thu
Aztecs made great business of canni
balism in connection with their sacri
fees of prisoners of war and man
eating prevailed all through the ORR
noco and Amazon regions. American
Indians still eat their fellow men or
the upper Amazon, and it is ALLEGED
that cannibalism is still practiced OF
riburon island, off Lower California.