USA > Maine > The history of the state of Maine; from its first discovery, A. D. 1602, to the separation, A. D. 1820, inclusive, Vol. I > Part 48
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In their present fashions, or forms, they wear a woollen cap, or bonnet, cut diagonally and made of a conic shape, enclosing the ears and, terminating behind upon the neck. Next to the skin, both sexes wear a cotton or a linen under-shirt, extending down the third of an ell over the short drawers of the one, and the narrow petticoat of the other-severally begirt about the loins. The coats of the men, sewed at the folds, or sides, are lapped over in front and kept together by a belt, without any buttons, and reach below the knee ; and the tunic, or vest of the women is pinned before, also their petticoat, though very narrow, falls some lower. The stockings they both wear, are never knit, but usually made of blue cloth, sewed with selvedges on the outer sides, and extend over the knee. Though shoes can be con-
* Jeffreys, p. 94.
+ Oldmixon, p. 15, 23, 24 .- H. Trumbull's Indian Wars, p. 91 .- Indian Wars, (anon.) p. 229.
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A. D. 1615, veniently obtained, they prefer moccasins, and usually wear them. to 1675.
None of the females ever cut a hair from their heads, but club or cue the whole ; whereas the males shave off all, except a single lock about the crown,* ' that it may not be starved,' to use their own language, ' by the growth of the rest.'t
Their orna- ments.
The natives are excessively fond of ornaments, plumes, and finery ; as if gaudy brightness and beauty could vie for the palm with genuine taste and refinement. Whatever glitters, captivates. Both sexes, especially the females, adorn their fingers with gold rings ; their necks with wampam or silver collars; their arms with clasps ; their bosoms with brooches, or pendants ; their ears with jewels-all of the brightest silver. Among the more wealthy, the men, when appearing in their best, wear long sashes and the women broad scarfs over their shoulders, covered with brooches of the same precious metal ; and some have tinsel or silver hat- bands :- For many of both sexes now wear men's hats instead of the ancient caps. The maidens in their fondness for brilliant colors, and for ribbons and plumes which are gay, discover a wild unripe taste ; though by some, the English daughters of fashion
* 2 Belk. Biog. p. 102.
t Present State of Nova Scotia, p. 50 .-- John de Laet says, ' four leagues north from Kennebeck, following the direction of the coast, there is a bay containing in its bosom a large number of Islands, and near its entrance, one of them is called by the French navigators, the Island of Bacchus, from the great abundance of vines found growing there. The barbarians that inhabit here, are in some respects unlike the other aborigines of New- France -- differing somewhat from them both in language and manners. They shave their heads from the forehead to the crown ; but suffer their hair to grow on the back side, confining it in knots and interweaving feath- ers of various plumage. They paint their faces red or black ; are well formed ; and arm themselves with spears, clubs, bows and arrows, which, for want of iron, they point with the tail of a crustaceous creature called signoc. They cultivate the soil in a different manner from the savages, that live east of them; planting maize [Indian corn] and beans together ; so that the stalks of the former, answer the purpose of poles for the vines to run upon. Their fields are enclosed. They plant in May, and harvest in September. Walnut trees grow here, but inferior to ours. Vines are abundant; and it is said by the French, that the grapes gathered in July, make good wine. The natives, also, raise pumpkins and tobacco. They have permanent places of abode ; their cabins are covered with oak bark, and are defended by palisadoes.'-2 Lib. de Laet, chap. 19 .- Novus OR- BIS.
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are the enviable patterns of their imitation .* When A'tteon and A. D. 1615, Neptune were inaugurated chiefs, the Tarratine females were to 1675. attired in their best, wearing rich silks, tinsel fillets and all their ornaments-seldom, if ever appearing better dressed.
The military appearance of the men is both singular and war- Military ap. like. On their breasts, they wear glittering medals of copper or pearance. silver ; in their ears and sometimes their noses, pendant jewels ; and about their heads, turbans of waving feathers. With red pigment, they paint their faces, in a variety of ways, which make their appearance, according to design, truly terrific.
All our Indians have a peculiar cast of character. Among Their char- themselves, every right and possession is safe. No locks, no acter. bars are necessary to guard them. In trade they are fair and honest ;f astonished at the crimes which white men commit, to accumulate property. Their lips utter no falsehoods to each other, and the injuries done an individual, they make a common cause of resentment. Such is an Indian's hospitality, that if an unarmed stranger comes among them and asks protection, he is sure to find it. If cold, he is warmed; if naked, clothed; if hungry, fed with the best the camp affords. They are faithful and ardent in friendship, and grateful for favors, which are never obliterated from their memories. Ordinarily possessing great patience and equanimity of mind, the men bear misfortunes with perfect composure, giving proofs of cheerfulness amidst the most untoward incidents. With a glow of ardor for each other's wel- fare, and the good of their country ; all offer voluntary services to the public ; all burn with the sacred flame of patriotism ; and all most heartily celebrate the heroic deeds of their ancestors. The point of honor is every thing in their view. Sensibility in their hearts is a spark which instantly kindles. An injury, a taunt, or even a neglect, will arouse all the resentments of their untutored minds, and urge them on to acts of fatal revenge. An Indian is a being, grave and taciturn. He seldom laughs ; he
* " I'll shape like theirs my simple dress,
" And bind like them each jetty tress,
" And for my dusky brow will braid
" A bonnet like an English maid .- English Mary.
t But they are bad paymasters ;- being regardless of their promises. Many who have trusted them, have sustained total losses of their debts.
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A. D. 1615, rather prefers to hear, than to talk ; and when he speaks, it is to 1675.
always to the purpose.
But his darker shades of character are many. He is always strongly inclined to be idle. In peace he has no great stimulus to exertion, for wealth, learning and office are not motives of his ambition ; and in war or revenge the agitations subside, when the crisis is past. Bred, like the animals of the woods, unused to parental restraints, and trained to privations from their childhood, they affect never to dread suffering, never exquisitely to feel an- guish-never to have sympathies for the meekest tortured enemy.
Their dis- positions.
Jealousy, revenge and cruelty, are attributes of mind, which truly belong to them. If they always remember a favor, they never forget an injury. To suspect the worst-to retaliate evil for evil-to torture a fallen captive-to keep no faith with an enemy-and never to forgive, seem to be maxims, the correctness of which, according to their ethics, admits of no question. To them, so sweet in thought, and so glorious in fact, is successful revenge ; that they will go through danger and hardships to the end of life, for the sake of effecting their purpose. No arts, no plans, no means, are left unessayed to beat or kill the object they hate. To cite two or three instances. A butcher, accidentally meeting a Tarratine Indian was beat by him unmercifully, because at some previous period, he had, as the savage said, sold him tainted meat. John Neptune, in consequence of a supposed in- jury done some of his tribe, threatened the wrong-doer at Old- town from day to day, with certain death. Another man durst not be alone long in one place, through fear of being murdered by several Tarratines, who haunted and pursued him to avenge a suspected injury .*
Wrongs done to the natives.
In agreement with the defenders of the natives, however, it must be acknowledged, that Weymouth, Harlow, Smith, the mas- ter of Popham's ship, and perhaps otherst were aggressors, in kidnapping several of them from their shores; that they were deprived of their lands and privileges by the encroaching settlers ; and that many impositions were practised upon them in barter
* The natives hated Negroes, and generally would kill them as soon as they were taken captive.
+ Ante, A D. 1605 -- 11 -- 14 .-- Hubbard's Indian Wars, p. 286 .-- Smith, p. 18-20 .- Prince, p. 33, 40.
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and bargains. But, this was exclusively attributable to individ- A. D. 1615, uals ; most or all of the lands occupied by the planters, being to 1675. claimed under purchases of the Sagamores, all kidnapping of the natives being universally censured, and the prisoners gener- ally returned or set free. Nor could the ravages" of the small- pox,* nor yet those of ardent spirits among them, be sins laid to the charge of the English as a community-they never having made any use of these scourges of mankind to exterminate the natives. On the contrary, they have, when ready to perish, a thousand times, received of the settlers, provisions, clothing, fire- arms, edgetools and other articles of necessity and convenience.
Passions inflamed by trifles, often become settled malice and Their cru revenge, and render their wars bloody and cruel. Old men, elties. women and children, though too feeble to use a weapon, were sometimes barbarously dispatched ; and the Indians generally abused or neglected their captives. If a child cried, or an adult sunk under his burden, instant death was commonly their portion. How many houses of the unoffending inhabitants have been re- duced to ashes ? how many hundreds slain, or sold into Canadian slavery ? Nay, if the Indian's malignity was not satanical to a fearful degree, why did he wreak his vengeance on slender fe- males or sickly infants? why revengefully hunt for the precious life, when the war had ceased ?
Their inordinate thirst for ardent spirits has been attributed to
Their thirst their perpetual traverse of the woods, and their constant use of for ardent fresh water and unsalted meat. They will take strong liquor un- spirits. mixed, till they can swallow no more. They are then to a fright- ful degree, violent and mischievous. Their firearms and knives, must then be taken from them, to prevent murder.
Their manner of living is meagre and uncomfortable. The Their man- best wigwams in their villages, are constructed, one story in height, ner of living, from 20 to 40 feet in length, and two thirds the same in width. wams. and wig- The plates are supported by crotched posts thrust into the ground. The sides and roofs, were formerly thatched with bark ;- now sometimes covered with rough boards and battened. They are without glass windows, and without doors; the entrance into
* The natives considered the smallpox the greatest evil that ever befell mankind .- Pres. State of Nova Scotia, p. 45, 60.
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A. D. 1615, them being through a narrow opening, which is closed by a to 1675. hanging rug, like a curtain, to keep out cold and rain. Within, are platforms on each side next to the walls, or layers of boughs upon the ground. Here men, women and children, sit in a man- ner not unlike a tailor on his shopboard ; here they eat, with the victuals in their fingers ; here they sleep, with no other bedding than a bear skin underneath, and a few blankets over them. In the area between the platforms, the fire is built, without fire-place, chimney or hearth ; an aperture being left open for the smoke to escape through the roof. Four families are frequently tenants of a single wigwam. Yet, they have nothing like a chair, a mova- ble stool, or table ; all the furniture in these miserable cabins, consisting of a few wooden and iron vessels, knives and baskets.
The movable wigwams are of a conic form, constructed with slender poles, making angles of fifty or sixty degrees at the ground, converging to a point at the vertex, and inclosing a circular area of 12 or 15 feet in diameter. They are without floor, chimney or window. The inside ground is spread with boughs ; and the outside is thatched with bark. They have no regular meals, ex- cept in the evening ;- they take their repast when they have an appetite. Their victuals are indifferent, changing with the sea- sons. No creature they take is unfit for food. In the winter it is flesh ; in the spring, fish ; in the summer and autumn, green corn, maize, and vegetables. But they did not know how to make their maize into bread, till the Europeans came among them .* They smoke and broil their meats; they roast their groundnuts in the ashes ; and with the sap of the sugar maple, boiled to molasses, they sweeten their cakes. They pounded their corn in stone mortars, and made the water boil in wooden troughs, by means of stones heated in the fire.
The Indians are far from any thing like cleanliness, either in their persons or their huts. Their faces, hands, clothes, vessels, never know what it is to be washed ; and their dark and dirty abodes are equally offensive to the eye and the nose.
Social life.
Society; which commenced with the primitive pair, is one of the strongest propensities of human nature. This is even mani- fest in savage life. All the members of a family, are united by
* Oldmixon, p. 15, 23 .- H. Trumbull's Indian Wars, p. 91.
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the strongest attachments, and the individuals of a tribe are hol- A. D. 1615, den together by similar ties .* to 1675.
If the women were in truth as cleanly, as by nature comely, some of them might be called secondary beauties. The maids are modest and retiring ; and all the better sort prefer to barter their baskets and other articles, with the females only, of the En- glish. The continency of wives is seldom violated ;- all conver- sation between one and an Englishman, in presence of her " san- up," or husband, is quickly chided by him, whose command is, ' talk to me ;'-an usage which renders females reserved. Con- stitutional foes, as they are to contention ; their peculiar charac- teristic is that of peacemakers. As manual labor, in an Indian's view, is mean drudgery, it is performed by the other sex. To the mother and daughters, is assigned the whole business of agri- culture. They plant and hoe the corn ; secure the harvest ; take care of the fish and game, and do the cookery. But when the repast is prepared, the wife and children wait till the husband or father has finished his meal. The female savage seldom if ever intoxicates ; and in fact, she sustains a much better general char- acter than the man.
Among the Etechemins, marriages are negotiated by the fa- thers and solemnized, in modern times, by a catholic priest. Capt. Francis says, 'if an Indian is charmed with a squaw, he ' tells his parents, and they talk with her's ; and if all are pleas- 'ed, he sends her a string of wampam, perhaps 1,000 beads, ' and presents her with a wedding suit. All meet at the wigwam ' of her parents ; the young couple sit together till married ; they ' and the guests then feast and dance all that night and the next ; 'and then the married pair retire.'-Early wedlock is encour- aged, and a couple, in a fit of matrimonial union, will, for the purpose of finding a priest, traverse the woods to Canada. In later times, polygamyt is not known among them ; and divorces, which are never very frequent, are by mutual consent.
A sanup has unlimited control over his wife, having been known to take her life with impunity. A case of the kind oc-
* 1 Coll. M. Hist. Soc. p. 254 .- Some of the English who have lived with the Indians, were unwilling to leave them.
t Capt. Francis says, before the white people came here, sometimes " In- dians have four wives."
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A. D. 1615, curred in 1775, when one in a paroxysm of rage, slew his squaw and hid her body under the ice of the Penobscot, without being, according to report, so much as questioned for his conduct.
to 1675.
Children, who are strangers to the restraints and instructions of parents, leave them when able to procure a living for them- selves. The character of a community, formed of such materi- als, is readily anticipated :- It cannot be otherwise than bad.
Religion.
The religious notions of the natives are rude and full of su- perstition. They believe in a Great Spirit, whom the Abenaques called TANTO or TANTUM, and the Etechemins SAZoos ;- also in the immortality of the soul,-and in a paradise far in the west, where He dwells, and where all good men go when they die. To the wicked they suppose He will say, when they knock at the heavenly gates, ' go wander in endless misery,-you never shall live here.' For plenty, victory, or any other great good, they celebrated feasts with songs and dances, to His praise.
They had strong faith in an evil spirit, whose satanic Majesty they called " Mojahondo ;" --- supposing he possessed the attributes, in general revealed of that being, in the Scriptures. They believ- ed also in tutelar spirits, or good angels, whom they denominated Manniton ; and they entertained great veneration for their Pow- ows .* These, uniting in one person the two offices of priest and physician, were supposed to possess almost miraculous powers. By invocations uttered in an unknown tongue-by preternatural charms-by leaping and dancing through the fire-and by strange orisons ;- they pretended to have converse with occult oracles and demons, and to receive ambiguous responses like the Greeks of Delphos. +
The Indians told a traditional story, that the Great Spirit creat- ed one man and one woman ; and from them proceeded all man- kind .¿ But, before the arrival of the Europeans, the natives had no knowledge of the Sabbath, nor had they any religious meet- ings. ' All days,' Capt. Francis says, 'were alike to them.'
They believed in dreams, and sometimes commemorated them by feasts.§ No people are more superstitious. They re- garded an old tree in Nova Scotia with pious veneration, and loaded it with offerings. They thought it the residence of some
* Indian Wars, (anonymous) p. 299. + Oldmixon, p. 15 .- H. Moll, p. 256. # Purchas, p. 933-939. § Jeffreys, p. 81-94,
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great or good spirit. After its roots were laid open by the sea, A. D: 1615, they continued to venerate it so long as a branch remained. to 1675.
Their dead were generally buried in a sitting posture. In Burials. Pittston, upon the Kennebeck, are two old burying grounds, where skeletons are found in a posture half erect, the head bending over the feet. Relics of human bodies have been discovered in a tumulus near Ossipee pond, which were originally buried with the face downward. In these two places, and in others upon the Kenduskeag, and elsewhere, there have been discovered instru- ments, paints and ornaments interred,-the requisites to lielp the departed spirits to the "country of souls." The modern manner of burials is borrowed from the catholics. The corpse, enclosed in a rough coffin, is followed by an irregular procession to the burying ground ; and when interred, a little wooden cruci- fix is placed at the head of the grave, which is sprinkled with consecrated water, and perfumed with flowers or herbs. If a Tar- ratine dies abroad, he must, if possible, be borne to Old-town and buried in the common grave-yard.
The female lamentations for the dead are great and sometimes excessive. The death of a young child, swept away from the arms of its mother, as the two lay sleeping in a summer's day, between high and low water mark upon the Penobscot beach, affords a striking instance of savage grief. She burst into loud and excessive lamentations ; and mingled her cries with inarticu- late jabber ;- an hour scarcely closing this scene of shrieking and tears.
Christianity was early introduced and subsequently taught, Christianity. among the Abenaques and Etechemin tribes by the catholic missionaries, such as Biard, Masse,* Dreuillettes, } the two Bigots, Ralle,¿ and others. They effected great changes in the views and practices of the natives. The Powows lost their influence and came to an utter end. Superstitious rites and rituals, blend- ed with endeavors to inculcate and deepen the moral sense, and to encourage religious worship, becoming established, are still
* A. D. 1608, at Mount Desert.
t The Capuchin priests had a trading house and religious chapel at Pen- tagoet in 1646 .- 1 Charlevoix, p. 435.
Į A. D. 1689, at Norridgewock .- See Jeffreys, 103 .- 1 Hol. A. Ann. 344. -7 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. p. 245-50. 2d series .- Vincent Bigot, was at Pe- nobscot in 1688 ; and Jaques Bigot, was at Kennebeck in 1699.
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to 1675.
A. D 1615, extant among the remnants of the tribes. But neither their morals, manners, principles or virtues, nor yet their customs, sen- timents or taste, have undergone any very extensive or real im- provements. In all these, the Indians are natives still, without any essential change.
Govern- ment.
Among these eastern tribes, there was a great similarity of government. It was of the simplest form, which possesses the powers of restraint and coercion. Such were their exalted ideas of liberty, that they had no word by which to express our meaning of subject ; and the character of a master formed in their view, some attribute of a demon. In society, where filial obedience is unknown, political subordination can never be great. Here was civil freedom and an equality of rights, though not of rank.
The greatest aboriginal monarch of the east was entitled 'the Bashaba,' previously mentioned, whose residence was with the Wawenoek tribe. Besides his immediate dominions, extending probably from St. Georges to Kennebeck, the tribes westward to Agamenticus, and even farther, acknowledged him to be their paramount lord. His overthrow, in 1615 or 16, terminated the royal line and rank .*
Sagamore. Sachem.
At the head of every tribe was a Sagamore,t or chief magis- trate, whose councillors, or wise men, were denominated Sachems, -in modern times, captains. He and they knew their influence and felt their importance. In council they directed war and peace ; they had the oversight of the public dominions ; and with very few established rules, they; according to discretion, appoint- ed the punishments of offenders. The government was patriar- chal. The Sagamore, possessing superiority of rank and power, always presided when present ; and next to him, was a sachem of secondary grade and influence. On great occasions, all the prin- cipal men of the tribe were convened and consulted. These as- semblies, from which females were uniformly excluded, were con- ducted with the greatest order ; the old men spake first and were especially regarded and venerated, for their wisdom and experi-
* 1 Belk. Biog. p. 351-355 .- He had many under him. The Saco " is the westernmost river of the dominions of Bashebez."-Purchas' Pilgrims, 10 Book, chap. 6.
¡ Sounded by the Indians, " Sunk-a-muh,"-"' Sagamore" and " Sachem." -See Statement of Kennebeck Claims, p. 21.
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ence ; and all their debates and discussions were managed with the A. D. 1615, greatest decorum and secrecy also, when the occasion required to 1575. it.
The office of a Sagamore continues during life. When he dies, the tribe manifest a strong predilection to have his son, or some near relation, succeed him. In these designations, or selections, party spirit often runs high ; the aspirants and their supporters exhibiting all the violence of the competition, manifested in civiliz- ed communities.
The three Etechemin tribes have, severally and immemorially, selected their Sagamores and Sachems, or subordinate officers, in form of a general election .* But the candidate, when chosen, is not. inducted into office, without the presence and assistance of a delegation from each of the other tribes. This was the case when Francis Joseph Neptune, at Passamaquoddy, and John Ait- teon, at Penobscot, were made chiefs of their respective tribes ; and the most intelligent credible Indians agree in saying, that such is the practice among the Marechites, and has always been the usage among all three of the tribes. The ceremonies of a single induction, whereof the writer was an eyewitness, are worthy of a particular statement.
The parties in the Tarratine tribe were so sanguine and violent after they lost their chief, that they could not for many months chiefs in- agree upon a successor. Perplexed with the long controversy and deeply concerned in effecting an union, the catholic priest interposed his influence ; when they were induced to leave the rival candidates, and select John Aitteon, a reputed descendant of Baron de Castine, by an Indian wife.
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