Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1928-04-27
eBy MRS. NJ. f. pLAssMANN)

IT is a strange fact that as the Indians
are apparently a vanishing race. they
L are becoming interesting TO the DOM
inant race which has nearly stamped
them out OF existence. And yet IL is not
so strange after all. when We consider
the comparatively small number OF per-
sons today who can see nothing 10 admire.
nothing TO learn outside OF the small
group, class. or race, to which they be-
long. 1t is this ignorance and gross ego
tism that has led to the bestowal Of
contemptuous nicknames on foreigners.
Those outside the sacred circle are even
held not to be white" as though there
were innate superiority conferred by the
color of the skin.
The story is told Of one Of our north
ern tribes OF Indians. that when the
first white man strayed into their midst.
they thought him either badly fright
ened or i'll. Their ina decision was that
III was cold. and they wrapped him in
blankets to bring back the good red color
TO his face.
1t is now generally admitted that for
a white man to live In certain tropical
countries is suicidal. yet it is the chosen
habitat of the black man. The British
who go to India are compelled to send
their children to a temperate climate If
they hope to have them survive. 1t
would seem as If the superiority of a
race was due to something else than
color. The white race thrives in a tenn
perate climate. When it lived as the
American Indians did, wearing. like the
ancient Britons, little else than a coat
Of dye, its members were undoubtedly
darker than we find them at present.
Many Of the Welsh, as We find them now.
are quite as dark as our Indians, but
without the red tinge to their complex
ton. This is also true OF the Latin races.
On second consideration, 1t is not sur
prising that not until now has the ma
tority Of people thought the Indians
worth studying. They were looked upon
as curiosities at first. and for q short
time u canny forefathers believed it
good policy to be on friendly terms with
a people who were familiar with the
country. taught them much they needed
to learn, and supplied them with pro-
visions. When these same red men had
the presumption to claim their native
land and attempted to eject the invaders,
they became enemies.
Relentlessly the Indians were driven
westward before the advance Of the
whites, until now so few are left they
no longer are regarded as a menace. and
we can study them at our leisure with
no fear Of losing our scalps while en-
BaBeO IN scientific Investigations
The first indian tribe with which the
whites came in contact. on their arrival
from overseas, was the Algonquin. They
made their home along the Atlantic coast
from Labrador to Pamlico sound, and
extending westward in the northern por-
ton of the country, to the Rocky noun
tains. Their sole rivals in strength, but
not in numbers, were the %Iroquois. and
the strength Of the latter grew out Of
their having united In a league offensive
and defensive. II the Algonquins had
manifested the same cooperative spirit,
they might have withstood the onward
march of the white for an indefinite
period.
E~thnologists now claim the Algon-
quins comprised several hundred tribes
and sub-tribes, speaking forty different
languages and many dialects" These
tribes we're known under different names,