The Indians have been frequently represented as almost devoid of natural affection, or indeed of feeling altogether; but this is a mistake, which probably arises from the great command over their feelings which they are in the habit of exercising, particularly when in the presence of strangers. Those persons who have had the best opportunities of knowing the real character of the Indians have remarked, amongst many other good traits, the great affection that they have for their children, and the respect which young people pay, not only to their own parents, but to all elderly people.
The children, both boys and girls, appear to be particularly under the care of their mother; she teaches them how to make leggins, moccasins, and many other things that have already been described; and if she be a good mother, as many of these poor squaws are, she is particular in keeping her daughters continually employed, so that they may have the reputation of being[134] industrious girls, which is a recommendation to the young men to marry them.
Corporal punishment is very seldom resorted to for the correction of children; but if they commit any fault, it is common for the mother to blacken their faces and send them out of the lodge: when this is done, they are not allowed to eat till it is washed off, and sometimes they are kept a whole day in this situation, as a punishment for their misconduct.
There is a considerable difference in the manners and characters of different tribes, some being brave, honorable, and generous, while others are noted for their treacherous disposition and filthy habits. In many tribes their families appear to be well regulated, and great pains are taken by the chiefs and principal men to impress upon the minds of the younger part of their respective nations what they conceive to be their duty.
When the boys are six or seven years of age, a small bow and arrows are put into their hands, and they are sent out to shoot birds around the lodge or village: this they continue to do five or six years, and then their father procures for them short guns, and they begin to hunt ducks, geese, and small game. In the winter evenings their father will relate to them the manner of approaching a deer, elk, or buffalo, and describe the manner of setting traps for different animals:[135] when he is able, he will take them a hunting with him, and show them the tracks of wild beasts. To all these instructions the boys pay the most earnest attention.
The Indians generally appear to be more afflicted at the loss of an infant, or young child, than of a person who has arrived at mature years; the latter, they think, can provide for himself in the country whither he has gone, but the former is too young to provide for himself.
The men appear ashamed to show any signs of grief at the loss of any relation, however dear he might have been to them; but the women do not attempt to conceal their feelings; and on the loss of either husband or child, they cut off their hair, disfigure their faces and limbs with black paint, and even with cuts, and burn all their clothes excepting a few miserable rags.
A striking display of the strong affection that an Indian feels for his child occurred some years since in a town in Maine. One of the Kennebec tribe, remarkable for his good conduct, had received a grant of land from the State, and settled himself in a part of the country where several families were already settled. Though by no means ill-treated, yet the common prejudice against Indians prevented any sympathy with him; and he felt this keenly, when, at the death of his only child, none of his neighbors came near him to attend the funeral.
[136]
A few months afterwards he announced his intention of leaving the village: he called on some of the inhabitants, and expressed himself in the following manner:—“When white man’s child die,” said he, “Indian man be sorry; he help bury him. When my child die, no one speak to me—I make his grave alone—I can no live here.” He gave up his farm, dug up the body of his child, and carried it with him two hundred miles, through the forest, to join the Canadian Indians.
Not long after the first English settlers had established themselves in Pennsylvania, during the winter a white man’s child strayed away from his parent’s house; and after having in vain been sought in every direction by the parents for a whole day and night, the father resolved to apply for assistance to one of his Indian neighbors, with whom he had always lived on friendly terms. He knew the superior facility with which the Indians, who are in the habit of constantly roaming the woods, can detect and distinguish objects of sight and sound.
Osamee, for that was the name of the friendly Indian, immediately went to the house of the parents, and looking attentively round it, soon discovered the little footsteps of a child, and the direction which they had taken; and although the child’s father could hardly discover the marks and signs by which he was guided,[137] he followed the track with as much apparent ease and confidence as an English traveler would a turnpike road, and after tracing it for about three miles ............