Cherokee phoenix, and Indians' advocate. [volume], August 26, 1829, Image 1

About Cherokee phoenix, and Indians' advocate. [volume] (New Echota [Ga.]) 1829-1834

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CHEROKEE PHOSMX, AJtfD IOIANS' ADVOCATE.
VOL. 11.
PRINTED WEKKLY BY
JOHN F. WHEELER,
At #2 50 if paid in advance, $3 in six
months, or #3 50 if paid at the end of the
year.
To subscribers who can read only the
Cherokee language the price will lie #2,00
in advance, or 82,50 to be paid within the
year.
Every subscription will be considered as
continued unless subscribers give notice to
the contrary before the commencement of a
hew year,and all arrearages paid.
Any person procuring six subscribers,
#nd becoming responsible for the payment,
shall receive a seventh gratis.
Advertisements will be inserted at seven
ty-live cents per square for the first inser
tion, am' thirty-seven and a half cents for
each continuance; longer ones in propor.
tion.
Vll letters addressed to the Editor,
post paid, will receive due attention.
AGkNTS FOII THE CHEROKEE
PHOENIX.
The following persons arc authorized to
receive subscriptions and payments tor the
Cherokee Phccnix.
Messir. Pf.ikce &. Williams, No. 20
Market St. Benton, Mass.
George M. Tkacy, Agent of the A. B.
C. F. M. New York.
Rev. A. I). Eddy, Canandaigua, N. Y.
Thomas Hastings, Utica, N. Y.
Poll ar d St CofivEKSE, Richmond, Va.
Rev. James Campbell, Bi aufort, S. C.
William Moultuue Reid, Charleston,
S. C.
Col. GEonnr. Smith, Statesville, W. T,
Wili.um M. Combs, Nashville, Ton.
Rev. Bennit Roberts, Powal, Me.
Mr. Thos. R. Gold, (an itinerant Gen
tleman.)
Jeremiah Aijstil, Mobile, Ala.
Rev. Cyrus Kingsbury, Mayhew, Choc
taw Nation.
Capt. Wili.um Robertson, Augusta,
Georgia.
Col. James Turk, Bellefonte, Ala.
INDIANS.
From the Connecticut Mirror.
THE INDIANS.
The talk of the President of the
tinited States, to his reel children, and
the address of Mr. Secretary Eaton
to the Cherokee delegation, indicate a
new system of measures towards the
aborigines of our country, and a poli
cy the reverse of that which has here
tofore been pursued by our govern
ment. Unfortunately for the savage,
lie has ever been the sufferer, from
the inarch of civilization. As the
white population increased in our
country, that of the Indians has dimin
ished; the tribes that once inhabited
these lands, and roamed in savage in
dependence through the forests, have
gradually receded bcfoie the step of
the white man, or disappeared under
the influence of his temptations, until
scarcely a vestige remains, of the
thousands who were once lords of the
soil, and exorcised here the rights of
sovereign and independent nations.—
The disappearance of the Indians be
fore the white population, although it
may be considered as an acknowledg
ment of the superiority of a civilized
to a savage life, was at an early peri
od viewed as a misfortune incident
to the latter, and efforts were made
by our ancestors to arrest its progress,
and mitigate its evils. Missionaries
were sent among them, who should
teach them the arts of civilized life,
substitute tho certainty of an agricul
tural, for the hazardous and contingent
success of a predatory existence, and
point thein tho path to heaven. Trea
ties were made with them, which ac
knowledged their right of soil; and
the territory which is now converted
into the abodes of civilization and re
PRINTED UNDEII THE PATH ON AGE, AND FOR THE BENEFIT OF TIIE KK NA HO AND DEVOTED TO THE CAUSE OF INDIANS....J'. IIOUIHNOTT, l-DITOH.
finetnent, was purchased of them or
obtained with llioir consent. Alter
the adoption of the constitution of the
United States, tho duty of negotiating
with the Indians devolved on the go
vernment, and has ever since remain
ed with it. The Indian tribes were
considered as distinct anil indepen
dent. Treaties were made with
thern, by which the boundaries of their
teritories were admitted and regulat
ed, and by which their sovereignty
within those limits was distinctly re
cognized and acknowledged. The
government went farther; it adopted
a system of measures for teaching
them the arts of civilized life, for
making them a stationary and agricul
tural people, and for establishing them
as a civilized nation, within the limits
secured by treaty. While many of
the numerous tribes who once inhabit
ed the country, have even under this
system of policy disappeared, some
have hitherto shared a different fate;
and have encouraged their friends to
hope that a remnant of the aborigines
of America might yet bo saved, and
rescued from ignorance and barbar
ism. The Cherokee Indians, par l
ticularly, have made rapid ad-
iii civilization. Under tho
beneficent policy which our gov
ernment lias adopted toward them,
they have exchanged a wandering for
a stationary life; have substituted
agriculture for the chase, and have a
dopted those modes of subsistence
which tho example of the whites
taught them to prefer to their own.—
Many of them are the owners of hors
es, sheep, cattle and goats. Cotton
is cultivated among them to a consid
erable extent, and exported by some
of them in boats to New-Orleans.—
Cotton & woollen cloths are manufac
tured l>y them; the mechanic arts have
heen already introduced to sonic ex
tent, and the whole nation not only
shows marks of improvement and
prosperity, but proves conclusively
what has heretofore been doubted, that
the Indian character may be tamed,
and the Indian himself civilized and
enlightened. Up to the present time
a uniform system of policy and good
faith has been preserved by our go
vernment towards them; a policy
which had in View a sacred regard to
treaties, and an earnest and benevo
lent wish to ameliorate the condition
of the Indians, and to extend to them
the comforts and blessings of civiliza
tion. This disposition is manifested
by treaties which htrve been made
with the different tribes; by tho acts
of Congress appropriating monies for
their civilization; and by the speech
es which have been made to them by
different Presidents. Mr. Madison,
in a talk to them in 1812, urged them
to follow the example of the while
people, and to adopt their mode of ob
taining subsistence. In this talk he
says, "I have a further advice to give
my red children. You see how the
country of the eighteen lires is filled
with people. They increase like the
corn they pul into tho ground. They
all have good houses to shelter tbein
from all weathers, good clothes suita
ble to all seasons; and as for food, of
all sorts, you see they have enough
and to spare. No man, woman or,
child, ever perishes with hunger, ll
is in your power to be like them. The
ground that feeds one lodge by hunt
ing, would feed n great band by the
plough and hoe. Tho Great Spirit
has given you, like your white breth
ren, good heads to contrive, and strong
arms and active bodies; use them
like your brethren of the eighteen
fires, and like them your little sparks
will grow into great fires. You will
be well fed, dwell in good houses, and
enjoy the happiness, for which you,
like them, were created. These are
the words of your father to his chil
dren. The Great Spirit, who. is the
father of us all, approves them. Let
NEW ECHOTA, WEMESBAY AUGUbT 26, £829.
# #
# #
# # #
tliern pass through the ear into the
heart. Carry them lloine to your
people; and as long as you remember
your visit to the father of the eighteen
fires, remember these are his last and
best words to you!"
But the "straight and good talk" of
the new President is couched in differ
ent language, and is apparently an in
timation of a distinct and opposite
policy from that which has hitherto
prevailed. After demanding ihesui
render of certain Indians who had
been concerned in the murder of a
white-person, the President goes on
to point out the dangers lo which the
Indians are exposed by their proximi
ty to the whiles. "Where you are,'
s.iys ht, "you and my white children
aro too near each other to live in har
mony and peace. Your game is de
stroyed, and many of your people will
not work and till the earth. Beyond
the great river Mississippi, where a
part of your nation has gone] your fa
ther has provided a country large e
nough for all of you, and lie advises
you to remove to it. In thai country
your father, the President, now prom
ises to protect you, to feed you, and
to shield you from all encroachments.
Where you now live, your w&ite bro-
I thers have always claimed thu land."
And again, "My children, listen. My
white children in Alabama hive ex
tended their law over your Country.
If you remain in it you must be sub
ject to their law." The letter of
Mr. Secretary Eaton goes still fur
ther. It not only defends theilaims
ol Georgia to tlio Indian lands, but
expressly refuses on the part of the
government to interfere in bclialf of
the Cherokccs. Considering them
selves aggrieved by the "attempt to
extend the jurisdiction of Georgia over
their lands, the Cherokces had ap
pealed to the general government for
assistance and protection. The re
fusal of the government to comply with,
this request, is founded on the facts,
that during the revolutionary war, the
Cherokees weie the allies of Great
Britain, a power which claimed en
tire sovereignty within the limits of
he old thirteen United States; tha
by the treaty of 1788, the right of
sovereignty within those limits was
ceded to the United States; and that
he Cherokee lands are within those
limits, and consequently were includ
ed in the cession. The occupation of
the soil subsequently, by the In
dians, in the opinion of the Secretary,
furnishes proof of nothing more than
the permission of this government tiiat
they might occupy the territory; it is
not "a circumstance whence now to
deny to those slates the exercise of
original sovereignty." In noticing the
treaties which have at dilferent times
been mitde with them, Mr. Eaton con
siders them as securing to the Indians
merely the right of occupying the soil,
without confering any right to the ex
ercise of sovereignty. The hostility
of Georgia is attributed to an attempt
on the part of the Cherokecs to or
ganize a government of their own; and
they are told by way of consolation,
that this has been the cause why the
state of Georgia has departed from
the forbearance which she has so long
practised. The conclusion of this
letter, liko that of the "talk," is, that
the Indians must retire beyond the
Mississippi, or be subject to the laws
of the state. They aro no longer to
be protected as they have been; they
must abandon their homes, and their
improvements, and settle in the land
which has been provided for them,
or they have nothing to hope for from
the government of the United States.
We deny the construction which Mr.
Eaton puts upon the treaties with the
Cherokecs. Instead of being confin
ed to a bare permission to occupy the
soil, they expressly recognize the right
of the Indians to the exercise of sov
ereignty within the boundaries. The
treaty of Hopewell, made in • 1783,
not only marked out the boundaries al
lotted for tlvc Indian hunting grounds,
but also provided, "that if a citizen
of the United States attempted to set
tle on these lands, he might he pun
ished by the Indians, according to their
own laws." In 1791, another treaty
was concluded between the United
Slates and the Cherokees, by which
the boundary line was lixed, and all
the lands not ceded, were solemnly
guaranteed to the Cherokee nation.
It was further provided, that all citi
zens settling on the Cherokee land,
should forfeit the protection of the
United States; and that any citizen
of the United States committing any
offence within the Cherokee territory,
should be punished as if the same had
been committed "within the jurisdic
tion of the state, or district, to which
he may belong, against a citizen
thereof." By another treaty, in 1798,
after a further cession of territory, the
United States agreed to continue the
guarantee of the remainder of their
country forever. Subsequent trea
ties, as recently as 1819, expressly
confirmed the old treaties. And yel
the Secretary declares that these
treaties merely confirm the right of
using the soil, and fix the limits of
their hunting grounds; and that the
United States have no power to inter
fere to prevent their expulsion by the
slate. Our new rulers have discov
ered that the Indians are too near the
white population, and that the
only remedy for the evil is to drive
them from the soil which has been se-
cured to them forever, and compel
them to n new territory under a new
guaran'ee, which is also to last for
ever ■, and which will be broken as
soon as the cupidity or convenience
of the while men may render it ne
cessary. Under lliese different trea
ties the Indians have made rapid pro
gress toward civilization, and have
escaped the annihilation which threat
ened to exterminate their race. If
they submit to this new outrage on
their rights, they too must follow in
the footsteps of their brethren; their
confidence in the good faith and integ
rity of our government being destroy
ed, every incentive to exertion will
be destroyed with it, and tliey too
will descend to the tomb; the rem
nants of their race will lie scattered
abroad, and history will only record
of them that the Cherokecs once ex
isted. And yet we do not see how
they can avoid submission, l'ersocu
tcd and harrasscd by Georgia, and
denied the protection of the general
government, they have-no alternative;
they must either yield to the storm
and bend before the blast; or, if they
dare oppose it, they must meet the
destiny of the red man, and die. To
us it seems that the guarantee given
them by the general government, if*
about to be withdrawn, and that the
faith of the United States, which has
been pledged for their protection, is
about to be placed with the thousand
promises which have been made by
the White men to the Indian, and
made but to deceive and betray him
to his ruin.
From the N. Y. Journal of Commerce.
THE CHEROKEES.
' What has been the patience and
forbearance of Georgia? Has she
not waited twenty-seven years for
these tribes to remove, and evacuate
I a territory of which they are only ten
ants at will?"
This is a part of a pert little para
graph which appears in a late num
ber of the Georgia Athenian.
Wo had said Something of the con
duct of Georgia in wresting from the
defenceless Indians their lands, and
particularly of its last act of injustice
in seizing upon 1,1G7,3G0 acres of
Cherokee territory, under pretexts
which we now venture to say will
never bear the light:—a territory
which, one year ago, no Georgian ever
dreamed of, as belonging to the State:
—a territory ns truly and properly
the Cherokecs' as any other which
they pos'scss:—a territory snatched a- I
way from them, in clirect opposition'
to the rcmonstuuces of the Urn ted
States Agent, and under formt of jus
tice more insulting to justice itself,'
than the most barefaced violence.—
What! in the 19th century, in this'
land of light, undertake to decide up
on the rights of a fellow being, and'
yet exclude him and all his friends,
and all who possess the same com
plexion, from giving testimony in the
case! No wonder that the verdict
was given against the poor Indians.
The whole conduct oi Georgia in'
relation to these people, since liie ac
cession of "(j. JVI. Troup" to the
chair of government, has been violent
and unmerciful in the extreme. Th{f
Arch-enemy himself could scarcely
have hit upon a better plan for ochiev*
in? Ihe triumph, than the project of
dividing the spoil individually among
[ the people; thus appealing to the low'
est and most sordid of the human pas-'
sions, and sharpening still more the'
teeth of avarice, by providing for it#
distribution by lottery. With mOun'-
taint of gold set boiore their imaging
tions, wlio can wonder that the visiojf
of the people (with some few
blc exceptions) w as dead to the rightf
and sufferings of the Indians; —iliiif
they resisted the government of tlf-
United States, and did their part tOr
wards involving the country in all th}<
horrors of a civil war. Such conduct
may suit the taste of some persoiljff
and they may call it "wisdom in coUn«
selling and firmness in executing;" but .
to us it appears more like the craft of
a Macliiavel, and the raving of a mn<K
than.
It is in vain to plead precedent iif
justification of such proceedings, un*'
less tlie Georgian* are prepared to
defend the precedents themselves.—
The Athenian asks, "what has become
ol the vast hordes of Indian tribes
which formerly inhabited the state of
New York—what has become ol tho
great tribes of the Delawarcs, tin'
Iroquois, the Mohawk,, the Oneidasf
Ibo Onondagas, the Cayuga, t |>ti
Senecas, and the Tuscaroras?" Son.
pose we should answer, that they havo"
been butchered, persecuted and op,
pressed by the white man, till the
memory of their glory is written only
in the monuments of past generations:
that the conduct of (he New Yorker*
towards them inflicts everlasting disV
grace upon themselves and the conn*
try: will the Athenian therefore juS,"
tify tho same or similar conduct in
the Georgians? Do they seek out
tbo worst examples of their neighbors
in the worst of times, as models for
imitation; and neglect whatever is
noble or honorable or /'ice in thefr in<
stitutions and conduct?
But we can assure the AtheniaiJ
that, never, since we have been upon
the stage, has any treatment been in 4
llicted upon I lie Indians in New York,
worthy of being compared, on the
score of cruelty and injustice, with
that of the Georgians towards tlitf
Chorokees. Never, during (his peri
od, has a tribe, however small or de-
graded, been deprived, of its lands, ex
cept with their own approbation and
consent. Here is the point. If the
United States could by fair and hon
est means persuade tbo 'Cherokeoi to
remove beyond (he Mississippi, wo
would bo Ibo Inst to object: but. when
by n treaty (Ulterior to the compact
with Georgia for the purchase of I heir
lands "a& soon as it can bo done peace
ably and upon reasonable terms," tho
same government "solcrpnly guaran
tied to the Cherokee nation all their
lands not yot ceded," we are yet to
learn what is meant by the faith of
treaties, if this engagement is to bo
wantonly violated.
The policy of Washington, Jeflfer*
son and Madison, towards the Indians;
was humane and benevolent. Award
of the shocking injustice which mark
ed the conduct of our forefathers in
this rcspeet, and desirous to mako
some compensation to the remnant that
remained, they sought to induce them
NO. 21-