Cherokee phoenix. [volume], December 03, 1828, Image 1

About Cherokee phoenix. [volume] (New Echota [Ga.]) 1828-1829

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VOL. I.
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AGENTS FOR THE CHEUOKEE
PHCENIX.
The .following persons are authorized to
receive subscriptions and payments lor the
Cherokee Phoenix.
Messrs. Pierce & Williams, No. 20
J«r-'fcet St. Boston, Mass.
Geoeoe M. Tracy, Agent of the A.B.
§. F. M. New York.
Rev. A. D. Euby, Canandftigua, N. Y.
Thomas H stings, Utica, N. Y.
Pollard & Converse, Richmond, Va.
James Campbell, Beaufort, S. C
William Moultrie Reid, Charleston,
S. C-
C 1. George Smith, Statesville,W. T.
"William M. Combs, Nashville Ten.
R --v BeSset Roberts —Povval Me.
M .*Thos. R. Gold, (an itinerant Gen
tleman.) ,
Jeremiah Austil, Mobile Ala.
From the National Intelligencer.
Gentlemen: Seeing in your paper a
noti' e from a New York paper, of the
somber, &e. of the Winnebago nation
of I.idians. from a deputation o! whom
W3 are expecting a visit, and stating
y their warriors to be 1200 —I take the
liberty of offering you a few observa
tions nil the same subject, extracted
from my manuscript journal, made
with great care and circumspection,
whils? travelling in the Winnebago
country in the Summer oi 1827.
Yours, &c. P.
The LiUle Hill of the Dead Fox River, )
■ August 1827. $
"The Indians in these regions, (the
Wmneba;rocs particularly,) are be
lieved to increase. From the Salu
brity of the atmosphere, the great
quantities of wild rice, the number &.
quality of their corn and bear patches,
but espe 'tally th© swarms oi children,
I presume it is so. Maj. Lrevoort,
the A ;ent at Green Bay, thinks there
are not less than 3000 Winuebagoes,
and 2,500 "vlenomontes. But I be-
Keve his stimate, r.sto the former, is
excessive. 1 spared no pains io as
certain their number wherever I trav
elled, by country the wigwams and
inhabitants at every village, and esti
mating the numbers at the villages
' only board of, in the same ratio; and I
am confident, that, at the very extent
on Rock river, and in its vicinity, from
the mouth of Turtle Creek, (40 miles
from the Mississippi,) up, embracing
the large village at the head of Winne
bago Lake, and the two at the foot,
besides the village at Bears-oil Lake
of Fox river, there are not more than
600 souls; and, according to the best
accounts I can get, these are more
than a third part of the whole nation.
'lf they can muster four hundred war
riors, it is as much.
CHEMOKEE
i'• Winnebago is a name given by otl
er Indians; from Weeny beegk, (
Chippewa town,) or Weenypayk\i
' (Menotnanie,) which, I am told, sign
j x lies at the dirty water-, literally the pet
be pic who liae at the dirty water. It is
word compounded of something whio
I don ot know, signifying dirty, & Wei
30 beesh, (Chippevvay,) water—ot Nij
" paywoo, Menomauia,) same signific;
as tion. Hence, some think they one
to dwelt on the borders of Lake Winin
'a pick oi' Weenyheegk. They are eal
ed, very appropriately, by the Frencl
s > Puant, (the Stinkers.) To specificate
I would say, Peditores; for thoui.li a
n Indians are much given to this disgus
r ~ ting practice, these eviuce far les
3iv concern in it than any others of vvhor
r- I have any knowledge. In other re
spects. they are as sweet a tribe of In
f > diwns as an}, though truly they d
give loose to almost every impulse c
nature, save one, without regard t
• age, ses, or condition. The temales
e. however, are not quite so indecent a
j the males. Their proper name i
j Hoat-shung-ur-nar, or Oat-shog-ur-ah
T The Wiuneb&goes have less inter
v course with the \Miites than any oth
er Indians east of the Mississippi; con
sequeatly, they retnin their prist imt
\ manners & customs in greater purity
and have contracted fewer vices.—
True, they will steal from White
People, (but this is no crime witl
- them,) and, like othei Indians, art
£ lazy.; yet we lost nothing by them
though entirely at their mercy, anc
0 the only uncivilized Indian I ever saw
e working in a corn field, was a Winne
bago. But he was good deal confu
0 sod being detected in the charactei
of a woman. They have no idea el
'• the strength ofthe United States. —
They suppose our chief strength lief
' at Prairie du Chien, Green Bay, anc
the Lead Mines—and those who have
seen St. Louis, think that no towr
can surpass it; and they believe thai
'* our nation is entirely dependent or
. Great Britain for all manner of mer
chandise; in which there is more trutl
thail there ought to be.
L * Considering their ignorance in re
gard to the United States, I do no!
think a proper course has been pup
5 sued towards them. They have nev
er, like other Indians, been shewec
a the strength of the nation; and the
e whites around them, instead ofendeav
n ouring to conciliate, treat them witl
n scorn, and as enemies; as intruders
g rather than as the rightful owners o
e the soil. Were a few of their chief
i- to be taken to our principal cities
d and afterwards some henest man p4ac
,e ed among them, who would be as tliei
i, own father, the Government woult
o have no friends more devotedly at
tached than they. Tljeir language i
badly understood; and it having beet
tjieir policy to avoid as much as pos
sible all intercourse with the Ameri
ie cans, (Mah-hayhuhterra) they know
J- less of them, and are less known In
i- them, than any Indians, perhaps, Easi
it of the Rocky Mountains. They are
Si ignorant, it is true, of what we know
i, but tlrey are naturally sensible anc
l, brave—of a lofty and independant sj.i
t, lit—and extremely, jealous of theii
e rights. They are warm in theii
s, friendships, but implacable in theii
resentments, antf of all Indians slioulc
is suppose them to be the most difficult
i- to treat with.
The Wennebagoes of Rock rive
I have fewer dogs, but more health)
■ looking children, are more industrious
> drink less., and have better corn an
I other patches, than any Indians I hav
t ever seen. They trim their hai
i more like white people than any othe
i Indians; and the custom of plucldn
; out the eye brmcs, is peculiar, I believe
■ to this nation. They paint so freely
I that this peculiarity might be unob
served, & perhaps it is only tempora
, ry, as several persons, who have bee
trading with them for years, never ob
■ served it until I pointed it out to them
The Winnebagoes have a wonder
• ful abhorrence of hanging. Then
perhaps, no other mode of taking a
NEW ECIIOTA, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 3, 1828.
)th- way life which they hate and shudi
(a at. The reason is singular; and
jw, nough indeed to harrow up iny sc
jni- which has a ' longing after immorts
oeo- ty," and make it "shrink back uj
is a itself" with horror, besides the m
ii,« tification of their pride, which is gre
ee- as they say hanging is the death for d<
, ip- —they think that the soul, or spirit
,ca- stopped by the cord, fy entirely preven
nee from escaping. Supposing the throat
me- be its only avenue of escape, they i
all- form no idea of what has become 01
ich, ivhen life is extinguished by a ci
ite, round the neck, unless it be destroi
all or fixed in the body, aud consigned
us- eternal amalgamation with it in I
ess grave, never to reach the happy If
orn of iheir fathers and friends. Su
re- idea, no doubt, cause them sometiu
In- to commit suicide in prison.
do They are exceedingly generou:
of at Bears Oil Lake having'shared >\
our guide our last supper, and the 1
s, of our provisions, we were surprii
as to see the poor hungry fellow, at
is walking and fasting all day, divide
h. without being requested, amonj
!v- number of Indians who had just co
h- from the village. He ate but lit
m- more than one mouthful, & appearec
ie well satisfied as if he had ate a full me
v, After our visiters retired, we gi
— the generous guide something wh
te remained of our share, at which
th expressed the most astonishing si
re prise, joy, and thankfulness. It
n, seldom that even a child will eat <
id thing that given to it, without fi
w running with it to its mother to ta
c- part or divide it among all the cl
u- dren. I have frequently been delig
er ed with this noble display of infant v
of tue.
The, Wir.nebagoes not having tf
■s Gospel, hate"the Americans, believir
d them to be their enemies.
wn DUTIES OF THE MIDDLE
AGED.
on Education.—The active spirit
r- the age is awake on the subject of <
th ucation. On no other subject, p
haps, is it more awake. It beg
e- to scrutinize the books in current ui
ot to pry into the different modes of
r- struction, to point out deficiencies,
v- expose neglects and abuses, and <
ed njand reform and improvement. A.
lie reform and improvement will be i
v- result. Children may be taught w
th but little increase of expense, a k<
rs- dred fold more knowledge during 1
of first fourteen or fifteen years of th
ifs lives, than that which has ordinal
;s, been obtained within this period,
c- You may regard this statement as I
:ir perbolical; but I believe it liters
Id true, though I cannot, in this pla<
it- enter minutely into the grounds of i
is confidence. My firm conviction
en that if God should spare any of
)s- who are now in middle life, to old a.
i i- we shall see such a complete refo
iw of the views of parents in regard to I
by importance of education, such an i
st [wovement in the books used, and i
re modes of instruction adopted in <
v; common schools, as well as in the si
id of the teachers, as shall make i
)i- whole system inconceivably mi
ir practical and efficacious than it now
ir Selecting Places for Children —H
•ir often do we hear parents use langue
Id not unlike this: I am going to pla
Jt my child with such a person, in th
or in that, situation. I do not al
3r gether iike the place. His employ
y- i6 not a man of principle; and I fc
s, he will not have correct sentimei
id instilled into his mind; that he ay
re not always hear the most decorc
ir language, or have exhibited befc
:r him the fairest examples of virti
ig but the situation is a very advani
e, geousone: my child's master is skill
y, in his art, and is a thorough man of b
mn ve than all,(he mak
I Bffers, and will prol
en bly be the means of setting him up
ib- the world. The situation is thei
rn. fore chosen, and the child, at a higl
:r- susceptible age, is consigned over
re the most pernicious moral influence
a- with perhaps a ?pleam charge not
Idtr suffer his mind to be "affected by the
i e- This is not fancy, but melancholy fa
soul Conduct strongly resembling this
;ali- not unfrequently exhibited; and ho
pon ever consistent it may be with kii
aor- ness of heart, the wisdom it evint
eat, resembles nothing so much as that
logs a parent who should precipitate
t, is child into the crater of a volant
riled charging him at the same time to gu;
t to himself against the assaults of t
can fiery waves that rolled below.
oi it My friends, you give your child
cord good moral and religious instruct
■oyed You do well; shew them both w
id to yOu are imparting it, and subsequi
the ly—shew them by all that you
land and say, that you believe what you te
Such —that you mean to act according
lines the elevated principles which you
culcate.
us— Influence of Sad Companions.—
with other unhappy cause of failure in n
last al education, too common to be p
ised i d over in silence, is the infiuenct
ifter bad companions. I here refer to
e it, companions of childhood. Thro
lg a their unhappy agency, your best
ome structions and most assiduous eff
ittle may be entirely defeated. Gu
sdas your dear child then, to every pra
leal, cable extent, against such pernici
;ave influence. He needs but few ass
hich ates out of your own family—ch(
he those for him; and if you cannot m
sur- him worthy of such as are good
t is were better than that he should h
any none. No parent ought ever to be
first norant where, and with whom, his c!
ake spends his hours of recreation, un!
:hil- he wishes to educate him for pe
ght- tion. It is task enough to train uj
vir- child in the way to life, without li
ing him often encompassed will
the throng, whose example and entire
ting fluence is calculated to entice 1
from duty, and hurry him down
broad road to destruction. Strivi
<E make home pleasant to your child)
Do not needlessly interrupt or
of courage their innocent amuseme
ed- but strive to raise their minds ab
per- undue attachment to them, by ex
gins ing a taste for beoks, and furnisl
jse, them with such as are most inter
in- ing and instructive, and wisely acli
i, to ed to their age and attainments,
de- person can imagine how much may
And done in this way, till he has mad
the thorough trial. The difference in
,vith feet, upon the mkid and heart,
\un- tween spending an evening in perui
the an entertaining book, and spending
heir with childish, not to say Wicked a
nily ciates, in folly, and in vain, perh
1.— corrupting conversation, is unspea
hy- bly great.—Linsley'.
ace, Elephant Hunting.—Extract o
f my letter from a Medical Officer, da
i is, Hambantoti, Island of Ceylon, Fcl
' us, ary 26th: "I have just returned fi
age, beholding a sight, which, even in
form country, is a rare occurrence, viz:
0 the Elephant hunt, conducted under
1 im- orders of Government. A minute
the scription, though well worth
our rusal, would be far too long for a
skill ter; I shall therefore only give
the what is generally termed a faint id
nore Imagine two or three thousand i
wis. surrounding a tract of country six
Hlow eight miles in circumference, e
uage one armed with different combu
lace bles and moving fires; in the m
this, suppose three hundred elephants,
alto- ing driven towards the centre by
oyer gradual and regular approach of th
fear fires, till, at last, they are confii
ents within a circle of about two mil
will they are then driven by the sa
rous means into a space made by the er
fore tion of immense logs of ebony, ;
tue; other strong wood, bound together
inta- cane, and of the shape, in minatu
illed of the longitudinal section of a funn
'bu- towards which they rush with
ikes greatest fury, amidst the most hor
oba- yells, on the approach of fire, of wh
p in they stand in the greatest dread
ere- Whan enclosed, they become out
glily geous, and charge on all sides w
i to great fury, but without any effect
ces, the strong barricado. They at lens
to gain the narrow path of the enclosu
hem. the extreme end of which is just large
(act. enough to admit one elephant, which
lis is is imriiediately prevented from break'
how- iug out by strong bars laid across.—
kind- To express their passion, their despe
mces ration, when thus confined, is iuipossi
lat of ble; and still more so, to imagine the
b his facility and admirable contrivance by
anoe, which they are removed and tamed s
■ uard Thus it is:* A tame elephant is plao
' the ed on each si 'e, to whom the wild one
is fastened by ropes; he is then allow*
ldren ed to pass out, and immediately on liis
:tion. making the least resistance, the tame
when °«e gives him a most tremendous
uent- squeeze between their sides, apd beat
i Jo, him with their tiunks until he submits;
teach they then lead him to a place ready
ig to prepared, to which he is sirongiy i
u in- tened, and return to perform the same
civility to the next one. In this way,
—An- seventy wild elephants were captur»
mor- ed for the purpose of Government la
pass- bor. The tagie elephants daily take
ce of each wild one singly to water and to
) the feed, until they become quite tame
■ough and docile. The remaining tiv-i I:; s
t in- were shot by the people. I took pos»
fforts session of a young one, and have got
iuard hi" 1 now tied up near my door; he is
•acti- quite reconciled, and eats with the
cious greatest confidence out of my hand;
ssoci- he is, however, too expensive to keep
lioose longi and I fear I must eventually shoot
make him. Some idea of the expense ir.ny
d, it be supposed*, when I tell you that in
have one article alone (milk) his e
ie ig- is two gallons per day. I was. at this
child scene with thirty other officers ii.d
nless their ladies, and we remained in tern
erdi- porary huts for nearly ten days."
lav- The Lakes of America.—We publish
h a ed a paragraph some time since, in
: in- which it was stated that Lake Supe
him rior was gradually wearing away tlie
the harrier which prevented the discharge
e to of its waters into the lakes below, and
i>en. that fears were entertained of a sud
dis- den inundation, before many years
nts; should have passed. Some attention
i 0 ve has been drawn to this fact—for a fact
:cit- it is stated to be-—and intelligent gen
lung tlemen living on the borders of the
est- lakes have investigated the subject
apt- with considerable scrutiny. Some of
No the facts which follow, are the re
j be su't-
le a The floods, this season, which have
l ef- prevailed in the lakes, have been
be- greater than those for many years past,
sing A regular ebb and flood exists in the
<r it lakes, not iike that in the ocean, but
isso- occurring every seven years, and pro
baps ceeding from a different and unknown
aka- cause. It is contended by some per
sons that this is not the fact: and that
the cause of the unusual height of the
)f a waters this season, is owing to the
ated great snows and rains of the preceding
bru- winter. They refer, triumphantly,
rom the high water of 1827 to Hie same
this cause. According to their theory , the
: an water should have begun to fall in
the 1827—but the fact is, it was then
de- some inches higher than it had been
pe- the preceding year. Last winter,
let"* 1827 —8, is known to have furnished
you few falls of snow, and comparatively
dea. few of rain; and in the regions of the
men lakes, there was less than had been
i or for many years previous, and the
;ach spring rains were not more than or
jsti- dinary round Lake Superior, Mirhi
lidst gan and Huron, though they were
be- heavy on Erie and Ontario; yet all the
the lakes below Superior are ibis summer
lose much higher than they were last: and
ned higher, too, than they were known to
les; be by the oldest person living in their
une vicinity. Lake Superior is now much
ec- lower than it has been for three years
and past. This fact is accounted for by
• by the circumstance of large fragments
ir», of rocks having been recently remov
uel, ed from the head of the Rapids be
the tween Superior & Huron, by the ac
rrid tion of the water on the barrier of lime
lich rock which fences up. this immense
.— sheet of water eighteen feet above L.
tra- Huron. This circumstance clearly
nth demonstrates that Lake Superior it*.
on gradually washing away the barrier
gth which keeps its waters in their prop
ire, er lace, ar>4 satisfactorily acedunte
JSO. 40-