History of the town of Plymouth, from its first settlement in 1620, to the present time : with a concise history of the aborigines of New England, and their wars with the English, &c., Part 36

Author: Thacher, James, 1754-1844
Publication date: 1835
Publisher: Boston : Marsh, Capen & Lyon
Number of Pages: 424


USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > History of the town of Plymouth, from its first settlement in 1620, to the present time : with a concise history of the aborigines of New England, and their wars with the English, &c. > Part 36


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ANNIVERSARY HYMN. Composed for the Anniversary Dec. 22d, 1834. BY W. S. RUSSELL. St. Martins .- C. M.


Lo where of old the Fathers dwelt, From home and temples dear, And oft in prayer devoutly knelt, Their children would appear.


And round thine altar, God of grace, With rev'rent homage stand, Through ages past thy love to trace In this our favor'd land.


352


HYMNS AND ODES.


.


By faith inspir'd with steadfast mind, To shun oppression's rage, The Pilgrims here their steps inclined, Bright heralds of their age.


No golden mines their visions lur'd, No conq'ror's pride was theirs ; The soul's pure worship once secur'd, Repays their generous cares.


Here freedom's sacred altars rose, Rear'd by the Pilgrim sires,; We'll guard them still from threat'ning foes, And light anew their fires.


Great God, thine all pervading sway, Each passing age controls, O may thy grace illume our day, And ever cheer our souls.


1


THE ABORIGINES OR INDIAN NATIVES


OF


NEW ENGLAND.


THE


ABORIGINES OR INDIAN NATIVES


OF NEW ENGLAND.


THE various tribes of American Indians differed but little from each other in manners and customs, and they all formed a striking picture of the remotest antiquity. In studying the character and manners of the natives of our country, we recog- nize in some measure the antiquity of all nations, and from which some light is thrown upon many parts of ancient authors both sacred and profane. In their persons, the American In- dians were from five to six feet in height, straight in their limbs, formed in muscle for great strength and activity, and capable of enduring astonishing privations and hardships. Their fea- tures were regular, but their countenance peculiarly fierce; of a reddish, and not unpleasant complexion, their eyes black, their hair long, black, lank and strong. It was their constant practice to oil their bodies and face with fat of bears and eagles, and to paint the face with various fantastic colors, as red, black and white. The dress of the men, was the skin of a deer.or wolf, though generally they were naked, except a slight cover- ing about the waist. Their moccasins were made of skins, and their snow-shoes were ingeniously constructed to walk on the snow. Their women were commonly attired in beaver skins.


They entertained the idea that cultivating the earth is de- grading to man, who they say was made for war and hunting, and holding council, and that " squaws and hedge hogs were made to scratch the ground." Their women therefore were held in perfect slavery, being put to all out-door drudgery as planting and weeding corn and carrying burdens, &c. while the men were indulging themselves in idleness. They called the white people " much fool to spoil their women by keeping them from out-door labor and making them lazy squaws." They manifested on all occasions a strong attachment and affection for their children. Their invariable rule for planting corn was when the leaves of the oak were of the size of a mouse's ear. They used large clam shells, or the shoulder bone of a moose


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INDIAN HISTORY.


or deer fixed to a handle, to dig the earth and weed the corn. Their wigwams were constructed with poles or young saplings set into the ground, and covered with bark and mats, the smoke passing out at the top. Their food was extremely simple; be- sides that procured by hunting and fishing, they obtained from the earth, acorns, ground nuts, Indian corn, beans, pumpkins, and squashes. · Whortleberries, gooseberries and strawberries, were plenty in their season. Their mode of cooking although very imperfect, afforded them some variety of food. Indian corn broken and boiled, they called nausamp or samp; corn when parched and reduced to powder resembling snuff, they called Nokekike or Nokake ; this article they always carried with them when travelling abroad, a little of which mixed with water would serve them for many days' support when hunting. Corn pounded to meal, and boiled, was called hominy, and corn and beans boiled together, they called succotash, and this is even now a favorite dish at our anniversary festivals and among an- tiquarians. The education of the natives from their infancy, was solely directed to fit their bodies for the endurance of the greatest hardships and privations, and to form their minds to in- flict, and to suffer the most appalling evils. It is really won- derful that the human constitution should be capable of sustain- ing such severe discipline as was on some occasions put in prac- tice. Their infants were from the birth corded down to a board and confined in one position for months in succession, and their young men who were educated for powows were forced to . swallow some nauseous draught as an emetic, and when the contents of the stomach were thrown up they were obliged to swallow the same again and again till the stomach itself was almost inverted. Their chief occupations were hunting and war. When their hunting season was over, they generally loitered in their cabins in entire indolence, and ate and drank with unbounded excess while their stores lasted. After the in- troduction of spirituous liquors among them they suffered inex- pressible miseries; they would drink without restraint, so long as they could procure liquor, and in their drunkenness they would lie exposed to the weather and perish in rivers, swamps, or tumble into the fire. They would quarrel, and frequently murder each other when intoxicated.


Their war weapons were, bows, arrows and tomahawks. With their strong elastic bows they could throw an arrow to a great distance, and strike an object with surprising precision. Their arrows were feathered with the quills of eagles and point- ed with a long sharp stone, or with bones, or eagle's claws. Their tomahawks were made of flat stone sharpened to an edge


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INDIAN HISTORY.


and fixed to a handle, they knew not the use of iron. But soon after the arrival of the English settlers, the natives were sup- plied with iron tomahawks, and even with fire arms, by the French and some others, and taught to use them with dexterity. When prepared for war the appearance of a company of Indians was truly formidable; their faces were painted in a manner to give them a fierce aspect, all the hair on each side of the head was plucked out to the naked skin, and a single narrow tuft tied up on the crown, extending from the forehead to the occiput, resembling a cock's comb. After they Jearnt the use of fire arms, powder horns and shot bags at their backs were among their war implements. The war dance and the ceremony of smoking in brotherly concord, the pipe passing from one to another, always preceded the war engagements, and was their bond of sacred obligation. Their mode of warfare was strata- gem and ambush, taking their enemy by sudden surprise, ac- companied by the most horrific savage yells. In their assaults upon defenceless houses for conflagration and slaughter, their indiscriminate butchery was marked by savage cruelty without the least regard to humanity or mercy; and the wretched in- habitants that were captured and carried into the wilderness suffered a fate little less dreadful than death. Those who were too feeble to travel were murdered on their way, others when arrived at their wigwams were put into Indian families as ser- vants and a master and mistress assigned them, unless indeed they were destined to be tormented for the amusement of their savage captors. When prisoners were taken in battle they were treated differently according to existing circumstances. Had one of the tribe been slain or captured, a prisoner either Indian or white man might have the good fortune to be adopted in his place. But otherwise, the prisoner was condemned to suffer the most cruel torment by being roasted alive, while the savages danced around the fire with awful yells; or the prison- er's body was tortured by tearing or biting off the flesh, or cut- ting off the fingers and limbs by pieces, tearing out the finger nails and protracting life as long as possible that the torment may be increased and lengthened. The Indian victim suffered the most exquisite torture with a fortitude almost beyond human nature; often in defiance pointing out to his tormenters means of greater torture.


It seems not to have been ascertained at what era the horrid practice of scalping victims was first introduced among the several tribes of North American Indians. It has been sup- posed by some that scalping was unknown prior to the arrival of the white settlers; but so early as 1608, according to Capt.


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INDIAN HISTORY.


Smith's history of the Virginia settlement, the Indians at one time killed 24 men-took off their scalps, and with the women and children prisoners returned to their village. The scalps they exhibited upon a line between two trees as a trophy. It appears that the good people of Massachusetts were not back- ward in adopting this savage custom. It is recorded that, the cruel and barbarous murders daily committed by the Indians upon the defenceless frontier inhabitants (about 1725) caused the general court of Massachusetts to offer a bounty of £100 for every Indian's scalp. In an excursion with 40 men, Capt. Lovewell fell in with a company of ten Indians who were asleep, and killed all of them. After taking off their scalps, these 40 warriors marched to Boston in great triumph, with ten scalps extended upon hoops, displayed in a formal manner, and for which they received £1000 .* At subsequent periods, the practice of scalping was common in various parts of our coun- try, as well also as that of torture by burning alive.


In the colonies, during the war between England and France in 1760, the tomahawk and scalping knife were employed by the savages in the colonies to all their victims indiscriminately of age or sex. In 1763, the natives actually " boiled and ate the body of Sir Robert Devers;" and these barbarians of the for- est were known to scoop up the blood of their victims and drink it in savage triumph. No language indeed can paint the hor- rors of Indian warfare, nor can one listen to even a feeble de- tail of their cruelties, without a blood-boiling shudder. Their adroitness in taking off the scalp is almost incredible; having inflicted the mortal wound with the tomahawk, the savage takes the dying body between his knees, and with his scalping knife makes a circular incision round the head, then seizing hold of the skin with his teeth, he strips off the entire scalp to the nak- ed skull in an instant. Numerous instances of recovery after this dreadful operation; can be adduced. The scalping In- dians have a singular method of drying the scalps, and of paint- ing on them different figures and colors designating the sex and age of the victim, and also the manner and circumstances of the murder. But the brighter shade of the Indian charac- ter is peculiarly striking. They were remarkable for gravity in their deportment upon all serious occasions; of a temper


* Drake's Indian biography, page 237: and it is noticed that one Indian wasscalped by the Chaplain.


t See a remarkable example of this in Capt. Greg related by the author, in his military journal, page 113, of this volume.


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INDIAN HISTORY.


cool and deliberate, never in haste to speak before they have thought well on the subject and are sure the person who spoke before them has finished all he had to say. They had there- fore, the greatest contempt for the vivacity of the Europeans who interrupted each other, and frequently speak altogether. It was edifying to observe their behavior in their public coun- cils and assemblies. Every one there was heard in his turn according to his years, his wisdom, or his services to his coun- try had ranked him. Their language was lofty, their sentences short, and abounding with metaphor. Not a word, not a whis- per, nor murmur was heard from the rest while one was speak- ing. No indecent contradiction, no ill-timed applause. Here the younger class were present to learn the history of their na- tion, and hear the songs of those who celebrate the war-like actions of their ancestors ; and here they were taught what belonged to the interest of their country, and the most proper means of contributing to its welfare. We know of no people amongst whom the laws of hospitality were more sacred, or executed with more generosity and good will. Has any one of them succeeded ill in his hunting? has his harvest failed? or is his wigwam burnt? He feels no other effect of his misfortune, than that it gives him an opportunity . of experiencing the be- nevolence and regard of his brethren. The stranger was al- ways welcomed to the cabin of the savage and permitted to share in all the comforts which it afforded even to the last mor- sel of food, and an act of kindness received is never forgotten. Instances have been known of prisoners being set free on re- collection of benefits received. The native Indians discovered a peculiar propensity to the indulgence of smoking tobacco. The Rev. Roger Williams says, "Generally, all the men throughout the country have a tobacco bag with a pipe in it hanging at his back." In their social intercourse, it was as much a mark of friendship to offer the pipe and tobacco as in our polite circles to present a glass of wine. But to the ene- mies of his country or tribe, or to those who have privately offended, the Indian is implacable. He conceals his inten- tions, he appears reconciled, until by some treachery, or surprise, he finds an opportunity of executing an horrible revenge. He is capable of disguising his feelings, and concealing his designs, at the moment, even when he is about to plunge the dagger into the heart of his victim. No length of time is sufficient to allay his resentment; no distance of place great enough to protect the object; he crosses the steepest mountains, he penetrates the most impracticable forests, and traverses the most hideous swamps and deserts for hundreds of


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INDIAN HISTORY.


miles, bearing the inclemency of the seasons, the fatigues of the expedition, the extremes of hunger and thirst with patience and cheerfulness, in hopes of surprising his enemy, on whom he is prepared to exercise the most shocking barbarities, even to the eating of his flesh and drinking his blood. Notwithstand- ing their ferocity, no people have their angry passions more under their command. From their infancy they are formed with care to endure scoffs, taunts, blows, and every sort of insult patiently, or at least with a composed countenance. They es- teemed nothing so unworthy a man of sense and dignity, as a peevish temper, and proneness to a sudden gush of anger. As to their religion, they manifested very little idea of a God, though they recognise the Great Spirit in the clouds and the winds, * and seemed to acknowledge him as eternal and omnipotent, the author of the seasons and of all good; yet they render to him no kind of worship. There were indeed nations in America who paid some religious homage to the sun and moon; and others who worshipped the Devil, with the hope of appeasing his anger, and of courting his friendship and protection. They appeared to have some obscure conceptions of a future state or spiritual . life, and they were accustomed to bury in the graves with the dead their war implements and household utensils and orna- ments, with the belief that they will be used by the disembodied spirits. They were full in the superstitious belief of demons and fairies, and great observers of omens and dreams, and re- lied much on diviners, augurs, and magicians, in all their affairs, whether of health, war, or hunting. Their priests or powows, were their physicians, who practised, for the relief of the sick, magical ceremonies and incantations. They acted in the char- acter of witches, calling on the Devil to assist them in the cure of diseases. In his incantations, the powow, sometimes with an assumed fierceness of countenance, and at others with antic gestures and horrible grimaces, labored to extreme sweating and weariness, promising to sacrifice many skins of beasts, ket- tles, hatchets, beads, knives, and other the best things they pos- sessed, to the fiend, if he would come to help the diseased per- son. A powow could not work his witchcraft in the presence of an English person, nor could his incantations have any effect on the English. They adopted one expedient for the cure of diseases, which may be deemed hazardous. The patient was shut up in a close cabin, and heated by steam until a copious perspiration was produced, when he was suddenly plunged into


* ' Lo the poor Indian, whose untutor'd mind Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind.'-Pope.


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INDIAN HISTORY.


a river. This is similar to the practice among the Russians, who, after being heated to the highest degree, roll themselves on the snow, and with impunity.


The American Aborigines were divided into numerous inde- pendent tribes, and their forms of government were various. In some tribes, their government was an absolute despotism, in the hands of the Sachem or Sagamores, and was hereditary. When a king or Sachem died, the powow married the squaw, that is, his queen, and became king in the right of his wife.


There were also among the Indians another grade of influen- tial men, called Paniese, who were selected for their great cour- age and wisdom; and to these also, the Devil, as they supposed, appeared more familiarly than to others, and would preserve them from death, by wounds with arrows, knives, hatchets, &c. The Paniese were held in high esteem, and were always of the Sachem's council, without whom they would not engage in war, or undertake any weighty business. Unwearied endeavors were used by the first settlers to civilize and christianize the native Indians. Under the management of the pious and be- nevolent Mr. Eliot, the bible was translated into the Indian lan- guage. Indian churches and societies were formed, and preach- ers and deacons were chosen among them; and at one period so considerable was the number of those called christians or pray- ing Indians, as to afford encouragement, that, by the blessing of Divine Providence, a more general conversion would take place. But there were not a few of their influential Sachems who were pertinaciously opposed to the introduction of christianity in their tribes. Some, who had adopted the christian profession, apostatized from the faith, and, like the dog to his vomit, re- turned to heathenism.


An honest Indian deacon of Natick, being asked the reason why, when their young men were educated in English families and became acquainted with their habits and manners, on re- turning to their tribe they immediately became idle, indolent drunkards? the deacon replied, ' Tucks will be tucks for all old hen be hatch em.'


In the town of Yarmouth, there was an Indian deacon, named Joseph Naughaut. He was very pious and exemplary, was oft- en called to pray with the sick, and at funerals; when at an ad- vanced age, he was, in his last sickness, visited by the late Rev. Mr. Alden, who asked him if he was reconciled to death? ' 0, yes,' said he, ' I have always had a pretty good notion about death.' Naughaut was once, while in the woods, attacked by a large number of black snakes. Not having a stick, a knife, or any article for defence, he knew not what to do. Knowing


31


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INDIAN HISTORY.


that he could not outrun them, he resolved to stand still on his feet. The snakes began to entwine themselves about him, and one reached his mouth, as if trying to enter; the deacon opened his mouth, and the snake put in its head, when the deacon in- stantly clapped his jaws together, and bit off the serpent's head. The streaming blood from the beheaded frightened the rest of the snakes, and they all ran off .- Alden's Epitaphs.


If the native Indians were remarkable for their gravity on some occasions, they were no less so for a propensity to cun- ning and shrewdness on others.


By permission of the author, I cite a few examples from Drake's valuable Indian Biography.


As Governor Joseph Dudley, of Massachusetts, observed an able-bodied Indian half naked come and look on as a pastime to see his men work, asked him why he did not work, and get some clothes to cover himself. The Indian answered by asking him why he did not work. The Governor, pointing with his finger to his head, said, ' I work head work, and so have no need to work with my hands, as you should.' The Governor told him he wanted a calf killed, and that, if he would go and do it, he would give him a shilling. He accepted the offer, and went immediately and killed the calf, and then went sauntering about as before. The Governor, on observing what he had done,


asked him why he did not dress the calf before he left it. The Indian answered, ' No, no, Coponoh, (Governor, ) that was not in the bargain. I was to have a shilling for killing him. Am he no dead, Coponoh?' (Governor.) The Governor, seeing him- self outwitted, told him to dress it, and he would give him anoth- er shilling. Being now in possession of two shillings, the Indian goes directly to a grog-shop for rum. After a short stay, he re- turned to the Governor, and told him he had given him a bad shilling piece, and presented a brass one to be exchanged. The Governor, thinking possibly it might have been the case, gave him another. It was not long before he returned a second time with another brass shilling to be exchanged; the Governor was now convinced of his knavery, but, not caring to make words at the time, gave him another; and the fellow got four shillings for one. The Governor determined to have the rogue corrected for his abuse, and meeting with him soon after, told him he must take a letter to Boston for him, and gave him a crown for his service. The letter was directed to the keeper of the Bridewell, ordering him to give the bearer so many lashes; but mistrusting that all was not exactly agreeable, and meeting the Governor's servant on the road, ordered him, in the name of his master, to carry the letter immediately, as he was in haste


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to return. The consequence was, the servant was tied up and received the number of lashes. The Governor felt no little chagrin, at being thus twice outwitted by the Indian. Falling in with him, sometime after, the Governor asked him by what means he had cheated and deceived him so many times? He answered, pointing with his finger to his head, 'Head-work, Coponoh, head-work !' The Governor was now so well pleased that he forgave the whole offence.


Two Indian chiefs being in England attracted great attention. Being asked their opinion of religion, or of what religion they were, one made answer, that they had no priest in their country, or established religion, for they thought, that, upon a subject where there was no possibility of peoples' agreeing in opinion, and as it was altogether a matter of mere opinion, 'it was best that every one should paddle his canoe his own way.' A mis- sionary, residing among a certain tribe of Indians, was one day, after he had been preaching to them, invited by their chief to visit his wigwam. After having been kindly entertained, and being about to depart, the chief took him by the hand and said, 'I have very bad squaw. She had two little children. One she loved well, the other she hated. In a cold night, when I was gone hunting, she shut it out of the wigwam, and it froze to death. What punishment must she have?' The missionary re- plied, ' she must be hanged.' 'Ah!' said the chief, 'go then, and hang your God, whom you make just like her.'


NOTE .- This sketch of the character and manners of the In- dians is taken partly from writers who have described them as they now exist on the continent, and partly from the early histo- rians among the colonists.


The prominent and essential features of the Indian character, where it is still allowed to display itself, are the same now that they were two centuries ago. Certain peculiarities, undoubtedly, may now, as then, be observed in particular tribes, from the effect of situation or other local circumstances, and some ex- ceptions to the account in the text of their religious ceremonies, and of the appellations of their rulers and priests, may probably be found; but the description will, in general, equally apply to the natives as they were seen by our forefathers, to those seen by the author while in the American Army, and to those still remaining in the land.


Among the principal nations of Indians in New England at the first settlement of the country by our ancestors were the Wampanoags, otherwise called Pokanokets. They occupied the whole colony of Plymouth, a part of Massachusetts, the Islands of Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod, and


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INDIAN HISTORY.


a part of Rhode Island, Mount Hope in Bristol being the seat of their chieftains. The Chief or Prince of this tribe was Massasoit, otherwise written Ma-sas-so-it, Massasoyt, or Massa- soyet. It was customary among the native chiefs to assume dif- ferent names when any great exploit was about to be performed, or on other occasions as caprice or fancy might dictate; ac- cordingly we find that Massasoit assumed the following; Woo- samequin, Osamekin, Orsamequin, or Ousamequin.




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