Source: Amy Notes (ID702)
Author: Howard, Amy (ID633)
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when the head is sick, the feet cannot be well
when the head is sick, the feet cannot be well
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Indians explained why they disagreed with the European way of life
Date Created: 2023-10-12 20:56:17
Source: The History of the American Indians (ID 298)
Author: Adair, James (ID 213)
Content_id: 21123
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS I shall now give their opinion of our social and military virtues; which joined with the foregoing, will set the Indians in a yet clearer light. We can trace people by their opinion of things, as well as if we saw them practise them. Most of them blame us for using a provident care in domestic life, calling it a slavish temper: they say we are covetous, because we do not give our poor relations such a share of our possessions, as would keep them from want. There are but few of themselves we can blame, on account of these crimes, for they are very kind and liberal to every one of their own tribe, even to the last morsel of food they enjoy. When we recriminate on the penurious temper of any of their people, they say, if our accusation be true, we by our ill examples tainted them on that head, for their fore-fathers were endued with all the virtues. They frequently tell us, that though we are possessed of a great deal of yellow and white stone, of black people, horses, cows, hogs, and every thing else our hearts delight in -- yet they create us as much toil and pain, as if we had none, instead of that ease and pleasure, which flow from enjoyment; therefore we are truly poor, and deserve pity instead of envy: they wish some of their honest warriors to have these things, as they would know how to use them aright, without placing their happiness, or merit, in keeping them, which would be of great service to the poor, by diffusing them with a liberal hand. They say, they have often seen a panther in the woods, with a brace of large fat bucks at once, near a cool stream; but that they had more sense than to value the beast, on account of his large possessions: on the contrary, they hated his bad principles, because he would needlessly destroy, and covetously engross, the good things he could not use himself, nor would allow any other creature to share of, though ever so much pinched with hunger. They reckon, if we made a true estimate of things, we should consider the man without any false props, and esteem him only by the law of virtue, which ennobles men by inspiring them with good sentiments and a generous disposition; they say they are sure, from sundry observations, we sell to the highest bidder, our high titles of war, which were only due to brave men who had often fought the enemy with success in defence of their country: that they had seen, even in Charles-town, several young, lazy, deformed white men, with big bellies, who seemed to require as much help to move them along, as over-grown old women; yet they understood these were paid a great deal of our beloved yellow stone for bearing the great name of warriors, which should be kept sacred from the effeminate tribe, even if they offered to purchase it with their whole possessions. -- That these titles should only be conferred on those who excel in martial virtue; otherwise, it gives a false copy of imitation to the young warriors, and thereby exposes the whole body of the people to contempt and danger, by perverting the means which ought to secure their lives and properties; for, when a country has none but helpless people to guard it from hostile attempts, it is liable to become a prey to any ambitious persons, who may think proper to invade it. They allow that corpulency is compatible with marking paper black with the goose quill; and with strong-mouthed labour, or pleading at law; because old women can sit best to mark, and their mouths are always the most sharp and biting. But they reckon if our warriors had gained high titles by personal bravery, they would be at least in the shape of men, if not of active brisk warriors; for constant manly exercise keeps a due temperament of body, and a just proportion of shape. They said, some were not fit even for the service of an old woman, much less for the difficult and lively exercises which manly warriors pursue in their rough element -- that they could never have gone to war, but bought their beloved, broad paper with yellow stone, or it must have passed from father to son, like the rest of their possessions; and that by their intemperate method of eating and drinking without proper exercise, they had transformed themselves into those over-grown shapes, which our weavers, taylors, and plaiters of false hair, rendered more contemptible. The old men tell us, they remember our colonies in their infant state, -- that when the inhabitants were poor and few in number, they maintained prosperous wars against the numerous combined nations of red people, who surrounded them on all sides; because in those early days, the law of reason was their only guide. In that time of simplicity, they lived after the temperate manner of the red people. They copied after honest nature, in their food, dress, and every pursuit, both in domestic and social life. That unerring guide directed them aright, as the event of things publicly declared. But time is now grown perverse and childish, and has brought with it a flood of corrupting ills. Instead of observing the old beloved rule of temperance, which their honest forefathers strictly pursued, they too often besot themselves with base luxury, and thereby enervate all their manly powers, so as to reduce themselves to the state of old women, and esteem martial virtue to consist in the unmanly bulk of their bodies, and the fineness and colour of their glittering coats and jackets: whereas such forms and habits only enable the red people to sort the large buffalos, the fine-feathered parroquets, and wood-peckers -- their religious, civil, and martial titles are conferred on the lean, as well as the fat-bodied, without minding whether their clothes are coarse or fine, or what colour they are of. They say, their titles of war invariably bespeak the man, as they always make them the true attendants of merit, never conferring the least degree of honour on the worthless. [Mend must have earned a war title. Make sure Chief Jospogue is in Mend’s Yamasee chapter, perhaps as a father figure.] -- That corpulency, or a very genteel outward appearance, would be so far from recommending any as war-leaders, that those qualities would render them suspected, till they gave sufficient proof of their capacity of serving their country -- that when any distinguished themselves by martial virtue, their fine clothes reflected new beauties on the eyes of the people, who regard a genteel appearance, only on account of the shining virtues of the gallant men who wear them. They often ridicule us, in our gay hours, that they have observed our nominal warriors to value themselves exceedingly on those unpleasant shapes and undue covering -- that like contemptible shining lizards, they swelled their breasts almost as big as their bellies, spoke very sharp to the poor people who were labouring in distress, frowned with ugly faces at them (whereas they ought to have smiled, in order to make their hearts cheerful,) and kept them off at a great distance, with their hats in hand, as if they were black people. But such conduct, always a sure token of cowardice, testified with convincing clearness, they were unable to act the part of even an honest black man. The Indians imagine the corruption is become too general to be cured, without a thorough change of our laws of war, because when the head is sick, the feet cannot be well: and as our capital towns and regular troops are much infected with that depressing and shameful malady, they reckon our country places suffer much more by our fat fine men. They fail not to flourish away as much in their own favour, as against us, saying, that though they are unskilful in making the marks of our ugly lying books, which spoil people's honesty, yet they are duly taught in the honest volumes of nature, which always whisper in their ears, a strong lesson of love to all of their own family, and an utter contempt of danger in defence of their beloved country, at their own private cost; that they confer titles of honour only on those who deserve them, -- that the speaking trophies of war declare the true merit of their contented warriors, without having the least recourse to any borrowed help. They say, that the virtue even of their young women does not allow them to bear the least regard to any of the young men, on account of their glittering clothes, and that none of their warriors would expect it, nor their laws allow it, if ever their country should unhappily produce so contemptible an animal. Imitation is natural, and the red people follow virtue in the old track of their honest fore-fathers, while we are bewildered by evil custom. As their own affairs lie in a very narrow circle, it is difficult to impress them with a favourable opinion of the wisdom and justice of our voluminous laws -- They say, if our laws were honest, or wisely framed, they would be plain and few, that the poor people might understand and remember them, as well as the rich -- That right and wrong, an honest man and a rogue, with as many other names as our large crabbed books could contain, are only two contraries; that simple nature enables every person to be a proper judge of promoting good, and preventing evil, either by determinations, rewards, or punishments; and that people cannot in justice be accused of violating any laws, when it is out of their power to have a proper knowledge of them. They reckon, that if our legislators were not moved by some oblique views, instead of acting the part of mudfish, they would imitate the skilful bee, and extract the useful part of their unwieldy, confused, old books, and insert it in an honest small one, that the poor people might be able to buy, and read it, to enable them to teach their rising families to avoid snares, and keep them from falling into the power of our cunning speakers -- who are not ashamed to scold and lie publickly when they are well paid for it, but if interest no longer tempted them to inforce hurtful lies for truth, would probably throw away all their dangerous quibbling books. -- That the poor people might have easy redress and justice, this should become a public concern, and the Governor-Minggo, all the head warriors, and old beloved men, should either entirely destroy those books, or in an artful manner send them to their enemy the French, in order to destroy their constitution: but they were of opinion, common sense would not allow even those to receive them, under any pretence whatsoever -- therefore they ought to be burnt in the old year's accursed fire. By that means, the honest poor could live in peace and quiet; for now they were unable by poverty, or backward by their honesty, to buy justice, in paying those people of cunning heads and strong mouths to speak the truth: and the hearts of rich knaves must then become honest, as they would not needlessly give those large bribes, for painting their black actions with a white colour. [Maybe an old Indian uses this lecture to try to dissuade Mend from joining the Spaniards.] They urge, that while litigious, expensive, and tedious suits are either encouraged by our artful speakers, or allowed by our legislators, the honest poor man will always be a great loser; which is a crying evil. Because he is humble, modest, and poor, his feeble voice cannot be heard. The combined body of the noisy rich must drown his complaints. His only satisfaction is, that his heart is honest, though that must prove very small comfort to a wife crying over helpless children, in a small waste house. They say, that as no people are born rogues, truth appears plain enough; for its native dress is always simple, and it never resides in troubled waters, but under the striking beams of the sun. It is not therefore just, either to compel, or tempt people to buy justice; it should be free to all, as the poor are not able to purchase it. [Have these various wise words appear in every Indian scene, so that the always wax wise and poetic.] They affirm, that as all laws should be enacted by the joint voice of the honest part of the society for mutual good, if our great chieftain and his assistants refuse altering those that are hurtful to the people, we ought to set them aside on account of their ill principles, and for striving to support their own bad actions, by bad laws -- that as wise free-men, we should with all speed chuse honest men in their room, to act the part of fathers of their country, and continue them just as long as they behaved such: for leading men are chosen only to do good to the people; and whenever they make a breach of their trust, injuring the public good, their places of course become vacant, and justly devolve to the people, who conferred them. Our law, they say, condemns little rogues, but why should it spare great ones ? That we hang the former with strong ropes of hemp, but we should first do so to, or shorten the heads of, the latter, with a poisoned tomohawk, as a just emblem of their mischievous poisoning conduct. I told them, that the essential part of our laws was fixed and unalterable, and also the succession of each of our great chieftains, while they observe them faithfully, and order them to be honestly executed, but no longer. That formerly when the people's hearts became sorely aggrieved, and bitterly vexed, as pride for unlimited power, had made some of the rulers heads giddy, the enraged community had shortened some of them, and drove away others from corrupting the beloved land, without any possibility of returning in safety. May none of our present or future statement, by wilful misconduct, and bad principles, be ever forced to appear at the dreadful bar of an abused and enraged community! For as they mete, so it will surely be meted to them again. The Indian system seems to coincide with the grand fundamental law -- "A natura lex, a virtute rex;" which the great conqueror of the east feelingly declared in his last moments to be just, by willing his crown to him who most excelled in virtue. The ill opinion they entertain of our courts of judicature, may have risen in some degree from the wrong information of our interpreters, who have occasionally accompanied them to the courts: but they generally retain a long time first impressions they imbibe from any one they esteem. One law cause which the Chikkasah attended, proved tedious, and was carried contrary to their opinion of justice and equity: on their return to their own country, they said, that two or three of their old women would have brought in a quicker, and honester verdict. They compared our counsellors to the mercenary Choktah, who often kill people, and even one another, for the sake of a French reward, as they earnestly strove to draw suffering truth to their own side of the debate, and painted it contrary to its native form, with a deformed lying face. They tell us, that when their head-men are deliberating on public affairs, they dispassionately examine things, and always speak the naked truth; for its honest face hates a mask, having nothing to hide from a searching eye, and its dress plain and simple; that people can as easily distinguish it from falshood, as light from darkness, or clear and wholesome water from that which is turbid and hurtful, without giving up their reason to hired speakers, who use their squint eyes and forked tongues like the chieftains of the snakes, (meaning rattle-snakes) which destroy harmless creatures for the sake of food. They say, that the quotation of dark quibbles out of their old books, should be deemed as white paint over a black man's face; or as black over one that is naturally white. They wonder that, as an honest cause is always plain, judgment is not given freely in its favour, and without the least delay; and insist, that every bad cause should meet with a suitable and severe award, in order to check vice, and promote virtue in social life. One of the red Magi asked me, whether in our scolding houses, we did not always proportion the charges of the suit in debate, to the value of the debt, or damages. Suggesting that it was wrong to make a perplexed science of granting equity with any charges attending it, to honest poor people; that we should pity them on account of the distresses they labour under, and not in effect enslave or fine them because they are poor. I told him and the rest of his brethren by way of excuse, that the different nature, and multiplicity of contracts in our great trading empire, with the immense difference that often happened between the eloquence and abilities of the contending parties, required a series of decisions of right and wrong to be recorded in books, as an invariable precedent to direct future public determinations, in disputes of the like nature; that most of our people were more unequal to each other in fine language than the bred lawyers; and that none were so fit to search, or could possibly understand those registers as well as they, because they spent the chief part of their time on such subjects. He granted that they might be useful members of the community, but doubted their honesty was too much exposed to the alluring temptations of our rich people's yellow stone; and that though our fore-fathers were no doubt as wise and virtuous as we, yet they were but men, and sometimes had passions to gratify, especially in favour of a worthy and unfortunate friend, or relation, who was beloved. He said, the length of stealing time must have naturally occasioned such an event; and that our wise men ought to be so far from quoting a wrong copy, as a fixed precedent, that they should erase it out of their old court books, and profit by the foibles of the old, the wise and the good. At his request, I spoke also of our skilful physicians and quack-doctors -- I told him that the former commonly cured the sick, or diseased, unless the malady was of an uncommon nature, or very dangerous by not applying in time, before it took root beyond the reach of any cure; but that the empirics seldom failed of poisoning their weak patients by slow degrees; and that we had old women likewise who frequently did much good with bare simples. He said, if our physicians used simples in due time, to assist nature, instead of burning corrosive mixtures, they would have no occasion to dismember poor people, cutting off their limbs in so horrid a manner, as several were reported to do; and that, if our law was so weak as not to condemn those to death, who took away the lives of low innocent people, yet the strong feelings of nature ought to incite the surviving relations of the murdered persons, to revenge their blood on the murderers, by beating them with long knobbed poles, while they were sensible of pain, and as soon as they recovered a little, to cut off their ears and nose with a dull knife, as in the case of adultery, in order to quench innocent blood, and teach unwary people to avoid and detest the execrated criminals. Here, the red audience highly applauded the wisdom and justice of his medical observations, because they exactly corresponded with their own standard in similar cases.