THE AMERICAN INDIANS.

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within the present limits of the United States, when first known to Europeans, was thinly inhabited by different Indian tribes. Those living east of the Mississippi and south of the St. Lawrence (perhaps 200,000 in number) have been arranged, according to their languages, in eight families, of which the Algon'quin and Huron-Iroquois (ir-o-kwoy') were the most important. The Algonquins covered the largest territory (see Map, p. 38); to this family belonged the Atlantic tribes, as far south as Cape Fear. The Huron-Iroquois, distinguished for intelligence and courage, occupied most of the present state of New York, and extended beyond Lakes Erie and Ontario. The southern Atlantic and Gulf tribes constituted the Mobilian family; while the Cherokees inhabited the mountain fastnesses of what is now Tennessee and Carolina.

CHARACTERISTICS.-The general characteristics of the natives were the same. They were mostly grave and taciturn, hospitable, generous, brave, and possessed of wonderful self-control in both bearing pain and repressing all show of joy or sorrow. On the other hand, they were often deceitful and treacherous,-always cunning and suspicious, cruel, improvident, and indisposed to labor except in war and the chase. They never forgot either a kindness or an injury. They were given to few words, but their language was full of eloquence. Their sight and hearing were remarkably acute. Nothing escaped their observation, and they were singularly sagacious in drawing conclusions from signs which Europeans would not notice at all. For the hunting-grounds and graves of their ancestors they cherished a patriotic attachment.

DRESS.-In summer, and in the more southerly regions, the dress of the Red Men was scanty. In winter, till the pale-faces supplied them with blankets, they wore robes of skins cured by drying and smoking, and on their feet moccasins of deer-skin. The women let their long, coarse, black

hair float over their shoulders; the warriors plucked out their thin beards, if any appeared, and generally removed their hair with the exception of the scalp-lock on the crown. Porcupine-quills, feathers, and beads made of clam-shells, served them as ornaments. They were in the habit of painting their bodies, using different colors and devices to express grief or exultation, war or peace; also, of tattooing on the chest the totem, or figure of some animal or bird—a bear, deer, beaver, turtle, eagle, crane, etc.—the great original of which was thought to be the special guardian of their clan.

FOOD, ETC.-Having neither iron implements nor domestic animals to help them, the Indians cultivated the soil but little. They raised tobacco to smoke (not to chew), and also produced small crops of maize, beans, and squashes. But their principal food consisted of animals and birds taken in hunting, and fish which they speared, or caught with bone hooks and rude nets. When food was plenty, they ate like gluttons, but took no care to provide for the future, and therefore often suffered from hunger.

The Indians were extremely agile; it was not uncommon for their runners to go seventy-five miles in a single day. Constant exercise in the open air kept them for the most part healthy. Pestilences, however, would sometimes sweep through the land, and these, with frequent wars, kept their ranks thinned. The doctor, or "medicine-man," was believed to be endowed with supernatural knowledge. Besides his herbs, he used magical rites to drive out the evil spirits which were supposed to possess the sick.

Indian Life. The Indian home was a wigwam, or cabin made by covering poles with skins or bark. A low opening was left for an entrance, and the ground served for seat, bed, and table. Many wigwams, and sometimes more permanent tenements, were grouped together in villages. But the warrior's life was essentially a roving one. Small hunting or war parties, leaving their women and children, would

go out for weeks together. During such expeditions they were without shelter-a fire at night, to keep off wild beasts, being their sole protection.

The original weapons of the natives were the bow and arrow, the spear, war-club, and stone hatchet, or tomahawk. These, though rudely made, they used with great efficiency.

Their ingenuity was perhaps best shown in the construction of light and graceful birch-bark canoes, in which with skillful strokes of the paddle they shot dangerous rapids in safety.

Labor was looked on as beneath a warrior, and fell to the lot of his poor wife, or squaw. She not only cooked

and took care of her little papoose, but carried the baggage on a march, erected the wigwam, gathered the wood, tilled the soil, and acted as drudge in general. Trade there was little or none. Wampum, consisting of beads made from clam-shells, strung in chains or fastened together in belts, served as money, or passed from hand to hand as a token of alliance or friendship.

Government.-Every tribe had its sa'chem, or chief, who owed his position sometimes to descent, sometimes to superior bravery or cunning. In war he was the leader; and at the council-fire, where the braves gathered to consider important questions, after smoking a long time in silence, he was the first to deliver his opinion. Ordinarily, however, he exercised little authority, for there were no laws, and whoever suffered a wrong was allowed to avenge it.

Children of both sexes were taught to weave mats, string wampum, and make bows and arrows. The boys were early trained to endure fatigue and hunger, and to perform feats requiring dexterity and courage. They were instructed by their elders in the traditions of their people, and as they approached manhood were in some tribes prepared for an honorable career by long fasts and other rigorous ordeals.

War was the Indian's favorite pursuit. It was carried on by small parties and personal encounters; the discipline which enables large bodies to act together was wanting. On the war-path, the chief cautiously led the way, following the trail of his enemies with unerring accuracy. The object was to surprise the foe, and to take as many scalps as possible without losing any in return.

A captive was sometimes adopted into the tribe of the victors, but more frequently put to death with exquisite tortures, which, to maintain his reputation, he had to bear without a groan. While his flesh was roasting in the flames, he would chant his war-song, or boast of his exploits, or denounce his persecutors as women who knew not how to

LANGUAGES AND PICTURE-WRITING.

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torture a chief, or tell how he had made their bravest warriors quail at the stake. Happy the sufferer, if at length the tomahawk of some enemy provoked beyond endurance cheated the flames of their prey.

The Indian Languages contained comparatively few words, for they lacked the terms of art, science, and the trades, as well as names for abstract ideas. As spoken, they were soft and musical. None of them were written, for letters were unknown. Facts, however, were recorded with some precision, by pictures and symbols. These were painted on birch-bark or chiselled on rocks. The following copy of a bark letter will give an idea of Indian picture-writing.

This letter was fixed on a pole by a party of Sioux (soo), who, under the direction of a United States officer, had gone out to make a treaty with some Chippewa hunters, but were disappointed in finding them. The scroll was intended to let the Chippewas know that the Sioux had been searching for them, and was at once understood by the Chippewas, who came to the spot and read it shortly afterward.

1 represents the United States flag; 2, the cantonment of the troops 3, the officer under whose auspices the expedition was made; 4, the leading Sioux chief; 5, the second chief, whose totem was the black dog, in command of fourteen lodges (6); 7, a third chief, with thirteen lodges, and a bale of goods (8) devoted to the object of the peace; 9, a fourth chief, with thirteen lodges (10).