The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1912-01-12
TRAGEDY IN DEATH OF CHIP
PEWA CHIEF
Last Of ChippewaS Dies And With
Him Dies Many Ancient Legends
And Traditions Of His Own
PeoDle

Him Dies Many Ancient Legends
And Traditions Of His Own
People.
The last chief of the ChippeWas
is dead. There is something mole
tragic THAI death in that statement.
1t means oblivion. Ancient legends
songs, history and the traditions Of
his people were said TO have been
recorded in Chief Satago's memory.
He was called living Indian epic.
That is the pity of it. The Amen-
can Indian epic must always die
with the last of the tribe. Long
fellow appreciated the poetical value
Of the life of the Indian. He spent
MUCH time in the lodge of Chief
Satago and embodied much of the
material he obtained there in "Hia-
watha." AS the last IF the various
tribes die-and there are onlyIa few
left to die-and we are always re-
minded of "Hiawatha." It's" Hia-
Watha" alone that attempts to i'm
mortalize the strange, romantic peo
pie. .-. s-,. i;
We have lost our opportunity tc
claim an epic from our Indian tribes.
although we might have had a
"Beowulf" as savage and as myster
iousty powerful as the English poem
The ballads of Scotland could no
portray a more splendid courage o
those of Ireland and Wales a more
weird charm than could have beer
found in the stories of the Indians
the folklore of the European coun
tries could have produced nothing
more picturesque. And all we haV
left to Vss are the stories of the strug
giles between the Indians and TIN
white people and the Indian films a
the picture shows. The pctur
show man never lets anything ge
away from Jhim, but he realizes tn
vllue only Of Indian Stories to tn
detriment OF the Indian characte
and of the really poetical interest Q
the Indian life. There was an at
tempt to write an American oper
with an Indian subject, but it wa
like the picture shoWn--t, was onl
the representation OF an id "a abou
the Indian. The truth alone wa
worth writing about, and IT has bee
folgotte.L. We have lost our oppo
tunty to contribute unique an
valuable literature to the world.
And still we are a very interest
ing little country today. Eve
though we are civilized we are pl(
turesque ard strange, and the thing
we are doing while this country
in the process Of the making will +
OF tremendous interest to the peopI
who are coming aTrer US. II a te'
} of our prolific writer's care to Sto
r and take a look at us and Vrl'
: down the truth about us it is barrel
! possible that we may last longt
I than our Indian predecessors. "
are through the painful stage OF hi
torical novels and are emerging froI
the Spasm of sex novels. It's a
: most time for something real an
: something big. America is gettir
t almost bly, enough to have a re-
literature. Flashes of it illumira
AMI startle US new and then Fac
new thinking novel is heralded q
THE great American novel. It
9 encouraging to know that people a
$ looking for "the great America
K novel;" but we may soon demar
e something more thnn that. VII
J, we should be looking for IS a gre
e American literature. That means
6 literature that expresses the tru'
about life, that is filled with I
poetry Of lite--not the poetry
g ideals, but the poetry Of real thing
tx