The Falls City tribune., 1909-11-05
More of Aboriginal Folk lore and
Tradition.

l SAW us great HlhliS lol ih' hee
time. in the early history of the
country. | also INDUCED in some re-
Elections on the mysterious origin of
this singular race. but as the same
reflections might be INDUCED in con
corning all the races of men which
now exist. or have existed in past
ages, IL is of no geater importance
10 do that in the case of the North
American Indian. than It would be in
the Ease Of any other known subdi-
vision of the genus homo. The cir
cumstanee that this continent, when
discovered to the European nations
by Columbus, was as thiekly populat-
ed by human beings as the means
of their subsistence would allow, is
one of the insoluble secrets of crea-
ton, which has. and will always, en-
gage the thoughtful attention Of
thinking men. but probably TO no
geater extent. chan they have given
the same attention to other unknow.
able things, with which the realm Of
nature everywhere abounds. To me,
the Indian has always been a natural
curiosity, and rs such ! have studied
him as thoroughly as my means Of
doing so would permit; and what |
shall say of him here will be rather
my deductions from facts than n rec
itation of the facts themselves. for In
his history, MS. of himself, he has
none
In the order of nature there is moth
ing misplaced. or foreign to it's sur
oundings, no eXotics, but every
thing possessing organic life is in.
digenous to the soil and climate as
these exist in the place of it's origin.
| do not mean by this hat environ
ment makes the type or species of
any genera, but that they tend to Il
modification of such, there Is scarce
iy any doubt. That the Negro was
tob VI ~ tiA1 I VI Nv
regions of the earth is a sufficient
reason that he could not originate
there, and the same may be said of
the aboriginals all over the world. 1t
is now clearly established by reliable
scientific research. that the Aryan
and the Mongol existed mt the same
fine Md Ia, ahA,,t fbn a. F., dame,
of north latitude. but the difference
in the configuration of the earth in
their several habitats, was sufficient
to d~ifferentiate their physical char
acteristics into two essentially dis,
similar races in the course of ages
of which there is no written record
among ger The North American
Indians. unlike many other aborigi-
nal races. We're not builders. nor me-
chanical, beyond the art of construe-
ting bows and arrows, and other i'm
plements of warfare, and probably
some artificial means for catching
fish. etc. Their habitations were
mere temporary affairs, hat could
be taken down and carried with them
from place to place in their wander.
ings. which was made necessary in
order to obtain their wonted food sup
ply.
These people, spread over the
whole continent with the exception
of Mexico, must have had possession
of the country for untold ages, in
fact SO long that no trace of their
origin is possible of attainment. They
appeared to be as ignorant of their
%neighbors, the Toltecs of Mexico, and
their successors. the Aztecs. as
they were of their own predecessors.
the Mound Builders" and resem-
bled those superior races in no par
ticular whatever. We find only the
faintest CLEANS of civilization among
them, and no evidence of religion of
any kind beyond a vague notion of
a great spirit. and a confused belief
that one who has slain many of his
enemies in war and had their scalps
as trophies. would after death, go
TO what they called the happy hunt
ing lands; and to facilitate his for
tunes in that other state, his friends.
as a part of the funeral ceremonies,
would kill his favorite horse over
his grave, and bury all his warlike
accouterments with his body, that he
might have them for use over there.
A ceremonial of the kind was per-
formed over the grave of the head
man or chief of the Omahas, Henry
~Fontenelle, who was killed by one of
the half-breeds neal old Aspinwall,
up in Nemaha County, only a short
time before | became a citizen of Ne
braska; and a like honor was pro-
posed for Bob White Cloud, an Iowa
chief, who was pursued and shot to
death by members of his tribe. down