Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1915-10-06

which was once his
that cannot be blown away. We have con-
uuercd him. driven him from his lands,
violated his ideals, abashcd his char
acter. corrslled him on reservations, but
we cannot loosen his hold on the mag
nation of mankind. With the Moors
OF Spain. he dwells forever in the gldod
afternoon Of history.
Whence came the IndiAn1 who were
his ancestors3 Was no an indigenous
product OF American SOIL or did his fore
fathers omigrate from another continent,
as did ours7
An ethnologtst would probably tell you
now that the place of origin of the
American sborlgines was eastern Asia.
That IL the latest opinion II may be
correct. but. n so. II tells us very little.
IL goes back beyond the boundaries
OF certain history. to a far off, hypOthe-
teal time, when there was natural
bridge across the Behring sea.
For our purpose Il Ia better to begin
with things as the earliest white settlers
found them, and try to work no farther
than the relics and monuments left by
the red men themselves will carry us.
That is not very far: only a few hundred
years beyond the date of the Spanish
conquests and settlements. The relation
OF tho various native tribes and nations
to each other IL still a mystery. The
Mohawk OF New York had never heard
OF tie AEtec OF Mexico. Was there any
racial connection between them3 The
Indians found In the Ohio valley could
tell nothing of the builders OF the strange
burial mounds that scar the face OF that
country with the forms of huge circles,
and ovals, and writing serpentA But
the skeletons in the mounds were found
sitting upright. with their weapons and
bowls about them. after the burial GUS
tom OF the Indians that William Penn
met. So Philip Freneau. In his poem
on The Indian Burial Ground (from
which Thomas Campbell filched it's most
beautiful line to adorn q poem OF his
own):
In spite OF all the learned have said,
still my old opinion keep;
The pasture that we give the dead
Points out the souls eternal sleep
Not SO. the ancient OF these. lands.
Tho Indian, when from life released,
Again is seated with his friends.
And shares again the joyous feast.
Tho very lack of history among the In
dams made them more interesting and
more mysterious to the white men,. Their
tradit ions. such as that of Hiawatha. de-
rive an epic grandeur from their indefin-
iteness. Whatever the Indian of the
western plains may have become, his east
ern predecessors impressed Europeans
with a deep sense OF personal gravity
md dignity. His nature was full oil
poetry. His language was as imagin'
alive as that OF the Arab, He was a nat
ural orator. No man ever spoke more
oloquently than did RED Jacket" the Iro-
quois chief, the friend OF Washington
and Lafayette. He was aware of his
power. When he lay dying he said:
when am dead It Will be noiset
abroad through the world. They will
hear It across the great waters, and
say. Red Jacket, the great orator. II
dead"
Traits like this render It impossibl,
not to respect any man who could exhibit
them. New England history would los'
half Its charm II the part played by thu
red men were eliminated. Witness ole
Samoset. with his grave and courteouI
"Welcome Englishmen Witness KinE
Philip and his woes. Witness. even, th'
midnight attacks on stockade settlements
and warwhoops. the painted countenances
the tomahawks. the scalp-locks, the long
weary marches OF captives through end
less forests, the hairbreadth escapes, tn,
cOuncilfires. the stake. the running of tn,
gauntlet, the strange adoptions-thes'
things are the red tragic touches which
give color to history.
Let US not be hypocritlcaI Let US TO
member that we were the invaders
Major Powell. who knew as much o
the nature OF the Indian as any whit
man could learn, said that the primitiv
savage idea that ones own tribe. or ma
ton. or people. IL the best In the woTl,
and superior to all others, was deeI
J planted in the Indian. Well. then, wha
) was to be expected OF him7 Are tn
} hands of white men clean In that regard
Major Powell also called attention 4
! the fact that the Indian tribes, when tn
white man came here. were In the main
sedentNry. and not nomadic. They werl
living in fixed habiiationB. Agncultur
was general among them yet not go IA
developed but that they were compelle,