Page:Life among the Apaches.djvu/98

 incursions made either upon us or upon yourselves. You are free to worship after your own manner, and govern yourselves according to your own laws; but you must be ready at all times to furnish a proportionate number of warriors to protect the general weal, and, in the event of taking any booty, there shall be a fair division made by a council of sagamores, composed of equal numbers from each tribe, and their decision must be final.

These equitable and generous terms were accepted by the Maricopas, who immediately occupied a portion of Pimo territory, and imitated them in the construction of their dwellings and the cultivation of the land, being supplied with seed by the Pimos. In this manner the two tribes have continued together for one hundred years; yet, as an instance of the pertinacity with which an Indian will cling to his own particular tribe and customs, although many of them have intermarried, and their villages are never more than two miles apart, and in some cases not more than four hundred yards, to this day they cannot converse with each other unless through an interpreter. Their laws, religion, manners, ceremonies and language, remain quite as distinct as on the day they sought the Pimo alliance. Here we find no difference of color or diversity of pursuit. There is no clashing element, no cause for discordant controversy, or contention. They are and have been the warmest of friends for the period stated, have frequently intermarried, are bound together by one common sympathy and one common cause, have the same enemies to contend against and the same evils to deplore—the same blessings to enjoy; yet they are no closer together now than they were one hundred years ago. Ought not these indisputable facts to furnish us a lesson in Indian character?