Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri 69
To all this we would answer the course to be pursued is plain and can
be easily gathered from these pages, which, like other productions
of the kind, most probably will be thrown aside as soon as read
or disbelieved because the facts recorded do not coincide with
preconceived notions of Indian character.
We do not feel ourselves called upon by the inquiry to present a plan
of operations, neither do we feel capable of instructing superior men.
A plain statement of facts is sought and herein presented, though more
could have been done had it been requested. Extensive establishments
having for their object the civilization of the Indians have already
been commenced with several nations within the boundaries of the
United States and have met with success. Let others be tried, adapting
the means to the situation and necessities of the roving tribes. A
sudden revolution of feeling, an entire change in their habits and
occupations, can not immediately be expected, would not be natural,
neither would it be durable, but a gradual change brought about
in their present employments, by combining them with pastoral and
agricultural pursuits, a judicious introduction of mechanical arts,
their superstitions carefully undermined and replaced by moral truth,
their temporal welfare consulted, and a certain chance of subsistence
presented; these things being accomplished, the eyes of the present
grown generation would close in the rising prosperity of their children.
We perceive in the closing remarks of the inquiry these words: “In all
questions where the interests of the tribes clash with those of the
persons whom you may consult, there is much caution required.”
Now, our personal interests and those of every trader are at
direct variance with any innovations in the present employments or
organization of the Indians. Any improvement in their condition
mentally or the introduction of other pursuits such as arts and
agriculture, even the inculcation of the Christian religion, would
immediately militate against the trade and unfit the Indians for
being only hunters or being regarded only as a source of profit. We
are perfectly aware that the policy advised in these pages, if acted
upon, would effectually ruin the trade and with it our own personal
interest and influence in that capacity. All these things have been
well considered and had they any effect would only have led to our
remaining silent on the subject; but, having written, we prefer
placing things in their proper light, aiming at great general good, and
thus without further comment the whole is left in the hands of those
for whom it is intended.
INTERMARRIAGE WITH WHITES
The prairie tribes have not been much affected by intermarriages
with Europeans except the Cree. Most of the Red River settlement
of half-breeds are of Cree and Chippewa extraction, who though not
generally having the advantage of education, are, however, a bold,
hardy, and fearless people, invariably good-looking, active, and brave.
They unite hunting with agricultural operations but prefer the former,
the indisposition to work showing itself equally in the descendant as
in the original stock. Their parents and the Cree Nation generally
have been, if not benefited, much instructed by these people, and are
superior in intellectual acquirements to any of the other tribes. The
history of this settlement is no doubt well known to all, so that we
need not describe it here.
As far as these other tribes are concerned the only intermixture has
been of the fur traders and engagees of the fur company. Of these, all
that can afford it take their children to the States to be educated,
who usually make intelligent and respectable men. If it were not for
the popular prejudice existing, or if it were possible, we would advise
amalgamation of the races as the most efficient means for saving the
remnants of the Indian tribes.
POPULATION
Regarding the comparative population of these tribes with the years
1833 to 1854, the decrease is very great. Smallpox, cholera, measles,
and influenza, together with other diseases and wars, incidental to the
climate and their pursuits, have reduced the Sioux about one-third, the
Mandan three-fourths, the Arikara one-fifth, the Assiniboin one-half,
the Cree one-eighth, the Crows one-half, and the Blackfeet one-third
less than they were at the former period. They—that is, from the Sioux
up—are now slowly on the increase.
LANGUAGE
To answer the queries on this head would require a volume of itself,
but the Assiniboin being the same or nearly the same as the Sioux,
and as the Sioux has already been translated into the English
letters, books published in it, and the same taught in schools on the
Mississippi, it is presumed that any and all answers to these queries
can be obtained by procuring the books printed in the Sioux language
and by examining their manner of instruction. We have seen the New
Testament in that language, also several letters, and believe it to
be well adapted to the purpose of Christianity or general usefulness.
Should, however, it be the desire of the department that extensive
vocabularies be made out and explanations of their language given,
or should any other information regarding these tribes be sought, we
will at any time satisfy it on these topics, provided the efforts now
made for their instruction regarding the prairie tribes meet with the
success it is presumed to deserve.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The following bibliographical list of works is submitted to enable the
student to verify and extend the work of Mr. Denig.
BACQUEVILLE DE LA POTHERIE, C. C. LE ROY DE LA. Histoire de l’Amérique
Septentrionale. Tomes I-IV. Paris, 1722. (Same, Paris, 1753.)
CATLIN, GEORGE. Illustrations of the manners, customs, and condition of
the North American Indians. Vols. I-II. London, 1848.
[To be used only with caution.]
CHITTENDEN, N. M., and RICHARDSON, A. T. Life, letters, and travels of
Father Pierre-Jean De Smet, S. J., 1801-1873. Vols. I-IV. New York,
1905.
COUES, ELLIOTT, ed. New light on the early history of the greater
Northwest. The manuscript journals of Alexander Henry and of David
Thompson, 1799-1814. Vols. I-III. New York, 1897.
DE SMET, FATHER PIERRE-JEAN. _See_ Chittenden, H. M., and Richardson,
A. T.
DORSEY, GEORGE A., and KROEBER, A. L. Traditions of the Arapaho. (Field
Col. Mus. Pub. 81, Anthrop. ser. vol. V, Chicago, 1903.)
DORSEY, J. OWEN. A study of Siouan cults. (Eleventh Ann. Rept. Bur.
Ethn., pp. 351-544, Washington, 1894.)
—— Siouan sociology. (Fifteenth Ann. Rept. Bur. Ethn., pp. 205-244,
Washington, 1897.)
DOBBS, ARTHUR. An account of the countries adjoining to Hudson’s Bay in
the north-west part of America. London, 1744.
FLETCHER, ALICE C. The Elk mystery or festival. Ogallala Sioux.
(Rept. Peabody Mus. Amer. Archaeol, and Ethn., vol. III, pp. 276-288,
Cambridge, 1881.)
—— Hae-thu-ska Society of the Omaha tribe. (Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore,
vol. V, pp. 135-144, Boston and New York, 1892.)
FRANKLIN, JOHN. Narrative of a journey to the shores of the Polar Sea.
Philadelphia, 1824.
HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN INDIANS NORTH OF MEXICO. Bur. Amer. Ethn., Bull.
30, pts. 1 and 2, Washington, 1907-1910.
[The tribal and other articles in this work are arranged in
alphabetical order.]
HAYDEN, F. V. On the ethnography and philology of the Indian tribes of
the Missouri Valley. (Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. vol. XII, pt. 2,
Philadelphia, 1862.)
[Largely based on information supplied him by Edwin T. Denig.]
HENRY, ALEXANDER. Travels and adventures in Canada, and in the Indian
Territories, between the years 1760 and 1776. New York, 1809.
—— _See also_ Coues, Elliott, ed.
HIND, HENRY YUEL. Narrative of the Canadian Red River Exploring
Expedition of 1857, and of the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring
Expedition of 1858. Vols. I-II. London, 1860.
JESUIT RELATIONS. Relations des Jesuites contenant ce qui s’est passe
de plus remarquable dans les missions des pères de la Compagnie de
Jesus dans la Nouvelle-France. Embrassant les années 1611-1672. Tomes.
I-III. Quebec, 1858.
—— Jesuit Relations and allied documents. Travels and explorations of
the Jesuit missionaries in New France, 1610-1791. Reuben Gold Thwaites,
editor. Vols. I-LXXIII. Cleveland, 1896-1901.
KELSEY, HENRY. A journal of a voyage and journey undertaken by Henry
Kelsey ... in anno 1691. With an Introduction by Arthur G. Doughty
and Chester Martin. _In_ The Kelsey Papers, published by the Public
Archives of Canada, ..., Ottawa, 1929.
[He mentions “ye Stone Indians” and also has an “Account of
these Indians beliefs and superstitions,” which seems to be the
first sketch of the life and customs of the Plains Indians.]
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