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INDIAN CHARACTER.

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served for money, a certain number of them representing a certain fixed value.1 But the Indian rarely needed these beads for this purpose. The forest supplied him and his family with food, clothes, and medicine. Under such circumstances a pocket full of money would have been as useless to him as to a bear.

He could

38. Social Condition of the Indians; "Totems." -Socially, the Indian had less liberty than the white man. He was bound by customs handed down from his forefathers. not marry outside his tribe. He could not sit in whatever seat he chose at a council. He could not even paint his face any color he fancied; for a young man who had won no honors in battle would no more have dared to decorate himself like a veteran warrior than a private soldier in the United States army would venture to appear at parade in the uniform of a major-general.

Each tribe had a "totem,' 11 2 or badge, to designate it. The "totem" was usually the picture of some animal. Among the Iroquois the figures of the Bear, Turtle, and Wolf were the coats-of-arms of the "first families" of the Indian aristocracy. The "totem" was also used as a mark on gravestones, and as a seal. The old deeds of land often bear these Indian marks, just as a grant of land made now by the United States has the government seal appended to it.

Indian Gravestone showing the Totem of the Turtle.

The Indian usu

39. Indian Religion; Indian Character. ally believed in a Great Spirit-all-powerful, wise, and good; but

1 For instance, a hundred white beads, or fifty colored ones, would buy a certain quantity of corn.

2 To'tem: the animal or other object represented by the "totem" was held in reverence by the tribe. They believed that they had descended from its spirit, and that it watched over them and protected them.

3 Some modern writers question this; but the weight of evidence would seem to show that the Indians worshipped—at least, at times -one omnipotent Power.

he also believed in many inferior spirits, some good, and some evil.

Often he worshipped the evil spirits most. He reasoned in this way: The Great Spirit will not hurt me, even if I do not pray to him, for he is good; but if I neglect the evil spirits, they may do me mischief.

Beyond this life the Indian looked for another. There the brave warrior who had taken many scalps would enter the happy hunting-grounds; there demons would flog the coward to neverending tasks.

It has sometimes been said that "the only good Indian is a dead Indian"; but judged by his own standard of right and wrong, the red man was conscientious. He would not steal from his own tribe, he would not lie to his friends, he did not become a drunkard till the white man taught him.

40. The Indian's Self-Control; Torturing Captives; Respect for Courage. — The Indian rarely expressed his feelings in words, but he frequently painted them on his face. You could tell by his color whether he meant peace or war, whether he had heard good news or bad. He sometimes laughed and shouted; he seldom if ever wept. From childhood he was taught to despise pain. A row of little Indian boys would sometimes put live coals under their naked arms, and then press them close to their bodies. The game was, to see which one would first raise his arms, and drop the coal. The one that held out longest became the leader. If an Indian lad met with an accident, and was mortally wounded, he scorned to complain; he sang his "death-song," and died like a veteran warrior.

Generally speaking, the Indians tortured their captives. They wanted to see how much agony they could bear without crying out. The surest way for a prisoner to save his life was to show that he was not afraid to lose it. The red man never failed to show

his respect for courage. An instance is found in the case of General Stark of New Hampshire. He was taken prisoner by the

THE INDIAN AND THE WHITE MAN.

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Indians (1752) and condemned to run the gauntlet. Two long rows of stalwart young warriors were formed. Each man had a club or stick to strike Stark as he passed. But Stark was equal to the occasion. Just as he started on the terrible race for life he snatched a club out of the hands of the nearest Indian, and knocking down the astonished savages right and left, he escaped almost unhurt. The old men of the tribe, who stood near, roared with laughter to see the spruce young warriors sprawling in the dust. Instead of torturing Stark, they treated him as a hero.

41. The Indian and the White Man; what the White Man learned from him. - The Indian was a treacherous and cruel enemy, but a steadfast friend. He thought at first that the white man was a celestial being who had come from heaven to visit him. He soon found out his mistake, and acted accordingly.

The Indian could return good for good, but he knew nothing of returning good for evil; on the contrary, he always paid bad treatment by bad treatment, and never forgot to add some interest. If he made a treaty he kept it sacredly; it is said that in no instance can it be proved that he was first to break such an agreement. Those of the early white settlers who made friends with the red-man had no cause to regret it.

Whatever the woods can

The Indian's school was the woods. teach that is useful—and they can teach much—that, he learned. He knew the properties of every plant, and the habits of every animal. The natives taught the white man many of these things, but the most useful of all the lessons the American barbarians gave the civilized Europeans was how to raise corn in the forest without first clearing the land.

They showed them how to kill the trees by burning or girdling them. Then, when the leaves no longer grew, the sun would shine on the soil, and ripen the corn. There were times in the history of the early settlements of white men when that knowledge saved

them from starvation; for often they had neither time nor strength to clear the soil for planting.'

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42. Influence of the Indians on the Early History of the Country. But the results of contact between the two races did not end here. The alliances formed between the Indians and the English on the one hand, or the Indians and French, who were rivals and enemies of the English, on the other, had important historical results. The hostility of the Iroquois nations of New York to the French in Canada prevented the French from getting possession of the Hudson River, and so separating the English colonies of New England from those of Virginia and Pennsylvania. This was a decided advantage to the English settlers, who thus got a firm foothold on the Atlantic coast.

Finally, the Indian wars prevented the English from scattering over the country. These contests forced them to stand by each other, and thus trained them for union and for dependence.

43. Effects of the Discovery of America on Europe. What, now, were the effects of the discovery of the new world on Europe? They may be summed up as follows:

a

I. There was a sudden and immense increase of geographical knowledge. That made a new map of the earth necessary, map representing it not only as a globe, but as a globe enormously larger than had been conceived, for it was found to contain the continents of North and South America and the Pacific Ocean.

II. The new world invited new enterprise: there were vast regions to be explored and conquered. Spain, Portugal, France, and England began to plan western empires beyond the Atlantic. These plans gave rise to a struggle for the mastery, and to important and decisive wars, especially between England and France. Men of every rank turned their attention to America, some seeking wealth, others political power, others a refuge from reli

1 In recent times, the Sibley army tent, which is extensively used at the West by the United States troops, shows that useful lessons may still be learned from the Indians. It is constructed on a plan borrowed from the wigwams of that region.

EFFECTS OF THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.

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gious or political oppression. Here was room and opportunity for all.

III. The discovery of the precious metals in Mexico and South America had far-reaching effects. Before the mines were found there had often been great scarcity of gold and silver in Europe. Kings robbed the Jews, and hired pretended chemists to try to turn lead into gold. Now the treasure obtained from America enabled them to equip armies, build palaces, and make public improvements of all kinds. Thus the riches which poured in from the west gave a new impulse to the life of the Old World.

IV. Intercourse with America had an immense influence on trade and navigation. Before Columbus sailed, the commerce of Europe was confined chiefly to the Mediterranean. Then little vessels crept cautiously along the shore, peddling out their petty cargoes from port to port. Now all was changed. Large and strong ships began to be built, fit to battle with Atlantic storms, and ocean commerce commenced. Trade took its first great step toward encircling the globe.

V. New products were obtained from beyond the sea. America gave Europe the potato and Indian corn, for which thousands. and tens of thousands of half-fed peasants were grateful.

To these important articles of food should be added such luxuries as cocoa and tobacco, and such drugs, dyestuffs, and valuable woods as Peruvian bark, cochineal, and mahogany.

VI. Before the discovery of America, sugar, cotton, rice, and coffee, when used at all, were imported by Europe from the Indies. Only the rich could, as a rule, afford them. Now they were either re-discovered in America, or transplanted here. They soon became cheap and plentiful, and even the poor of the Old World came in time to regard them as necessaries of life.

VII. The material and scientific results of the discovery and settlement of America were not the only ones. Men's minds grew larger to take in a larger world.

The voyage to America

1 Maize, or Indian corn, if not first introduced to Europe from America, was

first practically introduced from here.

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