The Dickinson press., 1905-07-29
THE NAI'T[CHEZ INDIAN

AXA
s'ssssssf s8lax t4--..:-s-az
Ne AscRleE0 the SALVATION OF
HIS RACE TosA WOMAN.
Hradttions OF q Trike 70 Fire wor-
shippers That Were ~ofaOrientsl ORR
gin-The legend u How the sacredE
Flane Was sAlooWsrl1 70 Die. !
OF all Indian tribes, none was more
Interesting or Q rudely destroyed
than the Natchez. What Is remembered
of them is calculated to make g. deep
impression upon the imagination and
to cause regret that some historian has
not preserved a truthful history of this
singular people. In the early. tradi-
tons Of the Mexicans. preserved to us
In their hieroglyphical paintings. there
Is presented the wonderful spectacle
Of families and nations. from innate
impulses, moving from 'the north
and, ever restless, wandering over an
u%noccupied continent in search Of
homes. It Is evident that the same
wisdom that .confounded. the primitive
language at Babel and scattered the
swarmtng millions OF Asia impelled the
early occupants Of u continent TO-
move onward ike advancing waves OF
the sea. s ! If
.Inthese strange migrations some chief
must have separated from the parent
multitude and turned his face with
hb followers toward the southwest,
and. finally reaching the delectable
lands Of the valley Of the lower Mis-.
sissippi. here established what. was
aftafRard known as the tribe of the
Natchez. +,
The country SELECTED is Of surprising
loveliness, for Nom the precipitous
blum that so unexpectedly frowns down
upon the Mississippi, inland. to where
the nation erected its great mound Is
one continuous undulation of pic,
turesque scenery. originally enriched
with groves Of live oaks and magno-
las. It was really a fairyland, and
enough Of the primitive forest still re-
mains to give the sanction of truth to
the most forid description Of It pre-
served in legendary lore.
There cannot be a doubt that at the
time these nomadics took possession
Of their adopted homes the surround
ing country was comparatively with
out inhabitants, for the savage and
warlike nations which lived in the
neighborhood never would have per
mitted the Natchez In their infancy to
occupy lands which even afterward
the latter defended more by moral
than by physical force.
As FIRE worshipers the Natchez dis
played their oriental origin, and they
were more sincere in this most poetic
Of all idolatries' than the magi of the
east. They possessed a tradition
which. unlike the traditions of any
other nation, calamity ascribed the
salvation of their race to q woman.
This was that after the destruction Of
all the Inhabitants of the earth save q
single family. which family was about
to die because Of the continued dark
ness Of the heavens. aayoung girl, in
spired with a wish to save her race,
threw herself into, the fire which was
used as a light and that no sooner was
her body consumed than she arose in
the east, surrounded with such sur
passing glory that her form could not
be looked upon. Thus enshrined she
became the chief, her nearest female
relative being elected her successor;
hence were established the worship, of
the u and the living sacrifice of the
sacred fire, together with the belief
affairs the Natchez would be powerful
and happy. I
The sun, a female sovereign, was alb
solute in power. The rewards Of the
chase and Of the cultivation of the soil
were placed under her charge, imply
ing that they were the results of her
genial rays, and through her, as IL d.
rect from the hands Of Providence.
they were distributed among the peo-
pie.
The Natchez must have rapidly in
creased after their establishment on
the banks Of the Mississippi, for. their
tradition vas that in the first century
Of thets settlement they raised those
monuments Of industry on which to
erect their temples and bury their
dead, and the remains Of which are SO
much admired to this day. Their great
work was built upon a hill, where they
believed fire fell from the sun, indicat-
ing that their wanderings were at an
end. This series of mounds, the most
| $1,000 a. A.. r.
sissippl. has been almost entirely over
looked by the curious In such relics Of
ancient days.
A natural hillock was leveled upon
the top and used as the foundation Of
the mounds, the only example known.
Upon a base thus prepared were raised
the grand elevation for the great tenn
pie Of the sun, the inferior works used
for defense and the graves Of the no.
/ ~ - -a-Ex -