Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/732

Rh G90 AMERICA [AMERICAN INDIANS. ethnographical grounds, would be idle, we may notice one or two of the most remarkable nations or families. All the northern coast of the continent is tenanted by the Esquimaux, a dwarfish race, rarely exceeding five feet in height. Their territories commence near Mackenzie s River, in 68 N. lat., and extend to the Arctic Ocean. They occupy all the northern Archipelago, the shores of Hud son s and Baffin s Bays, of Labrador, and of Russian Ame rica round by Behring s Straits, to the peninsula of Al aska. They live entirely by fishing, the whale and the seal being their most common food ; they inhabit skin tents during their short summer, and in winter caves or houses built with snow in the shape of domes, within which a single rude lamp is kept perpetually burning. They are crafty and dirty, but appeared to Captain Franklin more intelligent and provident than the northern Indians. There is a wide diversity in their dialects, which still display decided marks of identity in their roots. The north-west coast of Alaska, from Cook s Inlet to the 48th parallel, is inhabited by four tribes, of whom the Kaluschi are the most remarkable. These people are distinguished from all the native races of America by having as fair a complexion when their skins are washed as the inhabitants of Europe; and this distinction, accom panied sometimes with auburn hair, has been considered as indicating an origin different from that of the copper- coloured tribes who people all the rest of the continent. The Indians of the east coast belong almost entirely to three stems; and, before the arrival of the English colo nists, occupied both sides of the Alleghany Mountains, from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada and New Brunswick. 1. The Delaware or Algonquin Indians, comprehending the Ottogamies, Shawnees, Narragansets, Chippeways, Knisteneaux, Delawares, and other nations, to the number of thirty or forty, were spread over the space between the Mississippi and the Atlantic, as far north as Hudson s Bay, and all spoke dialects of one language. 2. The Iroquois, often called the &quot; Five Nations,&quot; and the &quot; Six Nations,&quot; but comprehending 15 tribes or more, among whom were the Mohawks, Oneidas, Hurons, and Senecas, all spoke dialects of one language. They lived on the south side of the great lakes, and finally obtained a complete ascend ency over the Algonquin race. 3. The Florida Indians, including the Creeks, Seminoles, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Natches, and Mobiles. Tribes belonging to these three families (with the Wocons and Catawbas) occupied nearly all the region east of the Mississippi, from the Gulf of Mexico to Hudson s Bay, comprising more than a million of square miles. The Catawbas alone, however, are said to have included 20 tribes, and nearly as many dialects. The Powhattans were a confederacy of 33 tribes, comprehend ing 10,000 persons. It is probable that when the English settlers landed in the country, the region mentioned was inhabited by a quarter of a million of Indians, divided into many tribes, and speaking dialects belonging to half a dozen radically distinct languages. These nations have the virtues of savage life a high sense of honour, according to their perceptions of duty, mutual fidelity among individuals, a fortitude that mocks at the most cruel torments, and a devotion to their tribe which makes self-immolation in its defence easy. On the other hand, they treat their wives cruelly, and their children with indifference. The apathy under the good and ill of life which tho Stoic affected, is the grand element of the Indian s character. Gloomy, stern, and severe, he is a stranger to mirth and laughter. All outward expression of pleasure or pain he regards as a weakness ; and the only feeling to which he ever yields is the boisterous joy which he manifests in the moment of victory, or under the excitement of intoxication. He is capable of great exertions in war or cne chase, but has an unconquerable aversion to regular labour. He is extremely improvident; eats enormously while he has abundance of food, without thinking of the famine which may follow ; and, when liquors are supplied to him, will continue drunk for days. Most of the Indians of North America believe in the existence of a supreme being, whom they call the Great Spirit ; and of a subordinate one, whose nature is evil and hostile to man. To the latter their worship is principally addressed ; the Good Spirit, in their opinion, needing no prayers to induce him to aid and protect his creatures. They generally believe in a future state, in which the souls of brave warriors and chaste wives enjoy a tranquil and happy existence with their ancestors and friends, spending their time in those exercises in which they delighted when on the earth. The Dakotas believe that the road to these &quot; villages of the dead&quot; leads over a rock with an edge as sharp as a knife, on which only the good are able to keep their footing. The wicked fall off, and descend to the region of the Evil Spirit, where they are hard worked, and often flogged by their relentless master. Polygamy is allowed ; and a number of wives is con Custoi sidered as adding to a man s consequence. Marriage cus toms differ in different tribes, but in every case the pre senting of gifts to the father of the intended wife is an essential feature of the transaction, and shows that the wife is considered as procured by purchase. Deformed children, and lame or decrepit old persons, are destroyed sometimes ; but the practice is uncommon. Incest and unnatural vices are practised in some tribes, but they are always viewed as matters of reproach. The Indian fune rals are conducted with much decorum. The deceased is dressed in his best clothes, and laid in a grave, in a verti cal, horizontal, or inclined position, according to his own previous directions, with his moccasins, knife, money, and silver ornaments beside him, and a small quantity of food near his head. It is usual to mark the graves with a post, on which figures are carved expressive of the nature of the pursuits and achievements of the deceased. Some nations of Indians wear little or no clothing ; but Clothe tho general dress of the men in the temperate and cold houses parts of the country, previous to the arrival of the Euro- peans, consisted of three articles : a cloak of buffalo-skin hanging from the shoulders, a piece of skin used as an apron, and a pair of moccasins or loose boots, made of un dressed skin also. The women wore a long robe of the same material, which was fastened round the waist ; but among the tribes living near the whites, coarse woollens are now frequently substituted for the hides of wild ani mals, except for the moccasins. The habitations of the Indians are huts or cabins, generally of a circular form and small size, but sometimes of 30 or 40 feet in diameter, formed by stakes fixed in the ground, and covered with the bark of trees. Sometimes the spaces between the stakes are filled up with twigs, grass, and mud, and the roof is covered nearly in the same way. A hole in the top serves for the escape of the smoke, and the skins of wild beasts form the beds and seats. When they go to a distance to hunt, they erect for temporary use large tents, which are covered with skins. On the west side of the Mississippi, where the ground is open, many of the tribes make use of horses, which are seldom em ployed amidst the woods covering the territories east of that river. The custom of painting their bodies is nearly universal. They introduce the colours by making punctures on their skin ; and the extent of surface which this ornament covers is proportioned to the exploits they have performed. Some paint only their arms, others both their arms and legs, others again their thighs ; while those who have attained the summit of warlike