Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/129

 RECOLLECTIONS OF AN INDIAN AGENT. l'2l dressed up in war paint and feathers and accompanied his squaw to the woods, where she filled her basket with fagots, high above the brim, and hoisting it upon her back, passed the agent's house, her husband dancing around her and uttering war whoops to attract attention to this spectac- ular protest against an innovation degrading to aboriginal society. In company with General Palmer I was a witness to the scene, and so far as we could observe, the carrier of the burden was equally exultant with her far more powerful master. Such an incident broadened our vision as to the philosophy of conservatism in humanity, but it did not deter the agent from enforcing his edict by lectures, reprehensions and rewards. He summoned all the Indians in council and with the help of the doctor explained the evil effects of such burden-bearing upon the health and happiness of the Indian woman, the principal victim, and how through her the welfare of the whole family was injured by sickness, impoverishment, and premature death. The most effective weapon, however, the agent could wield against the custom was in the shape of rewards to the squaw, a new fire-red dress, to compensate for her wounded pride ; to the buck, an extra allowance of annuity goods commensurate with his loss of dignity by hauling wood. If we want to succeed in reforming whites or Indians, selfish- ness must be pitted against selfishness. At the Umatilla, agents found the same hindrances to im- provement, and while the males might be brought to the plow and harrow, gardening was the work of the female, as it probably had been, notwithstanding the teachings and example of Dr. Whitman. The principal hindrance to agricultural pursuits by the American aborigines lay in their false notions of honor and consequence attaching to the male. He was, first of all, a warrior, a brave, a hunter of wild and dangerous animals; a differentiation perfectly natural and necessary in the militant state, for the male of all species is physically stronger, more combative and hence more courageous than the female. Such was the inevitable sex-caste among primitive peoples, and it lingers among the most advanced ones.