Show OUR CHICAGO LETTER LETIER Well this is Thanksgiving ving Day in Chicago and a wild blustery stormy snowy day it is Religious services are being held in all the t churches Thanks in honeyed words are offered to God for His bounty and beneficence but un- un unfortunately unfortunately un unfortunately fortunately for thousands in our city this abundance is a myth There are 10 00 children in Chicago desti desti- destitute destitute destitute tute of clothing decent enough to attend the public schools How many thousands of hungry stomachs cold firesides and frozen bedrooms sin in our city only the genius of starvation and misery knows Yet we read of the Misses Pullman bein being introduced to society as part of our thanksgiving celebrations These young persons have just stepped into womanhood and the event is celebrated with sp splendor endor magni magnificence cEnce and unlimited outlay the hall in ira which thi y met their friends is described as a vale of cashmere and their raiment rivals that of any Arabian fairy tales t Yes extremes meet even In Chicago The of November is an event event- eventful eventful eventful ful day in many respects It was wason wason wason on this day 51 years ago that Joseph Smith and several others were sent to Liberty Jail in Clay County Mo on a charge of treason What a mockery of justice and honesty This very county of Clay CIBY has since become the synonym for treason and murder and perhaps the fathers of Jesse James and of Cole Younger were of themen the men who charged Joseph treason eles eles arise and laugh It was on this day 50 years yeaN ago that Joseph Smith arrived in Wash Wash- Washington Washington Washington ington to seek Justice from the great father Did he get et it I It was on this day in 1816 1846 that r Elijah Freeman and Richard Car Car- Carter Carr Carter Carter ter of the Mormon Battalion died near on the Rio Grande and were mere buried there here The spirits of these brave brav m men n arise in protest z against the malignant wretches who now now charge that while in the flesh they were enemies to their country and rebels to the government in whose service they died It was on this day Nov 1854 that George Q Q Cannon arrived in Salt Lake from the Sandwich Islands where he had been on a mission of peace On November 28 1878 died at atS S ring City Orson Hyde On November November 28 1881 died at Provo El Elder er Beebee It was on November 28 1882 the gallant Phil Sheridan arrived in Salt Salt Lake City on his inspection tour of the military posts poets of Utah The brave soldier the gallant hero the honest map maJl is no mor more but his name will live Jive and in no place will it find warmer admirers than in Utah The present Thanksgiving day dayIs dayis dayis Is one that may prove significant for Utah The leading journals of the country contain articles and editorials all an urging still further penal enactments for Utah Terri Terri- Territory Territory Territory tory The nests of conspirators are still at their work Their cry cry cry- of constructive ye ve treason and alleged disloyalty is being re echoed throughout the land The preacher who asks God for justice echoes re-echoes re the Utah cry blood-cry The editor who rises from his jubilee dinner calls for Mormon blood and the politician cries for office and place no matter who suffers t I Iday But what of our Thanksgiving Thanksgiving- Thanksgiving day r day Where did we get it How came it to our land f In ode and sonnet in editorial and h hIn oration in sermon and homily weare we are told that the Pilgrim Fathers first instituted this great festival of thanksgiving on this continent There Is not a particle of tru truth tb in i n what is thus stated The Pilgrims had no more to do with instituting the harvest festival than shad had Bob v Baskin of Utah cr or Appetite Bill of Chicago The Pilgrims in 1621 un under un- un under un- un under der Bradford si simply conformed to tot toa toa t a custom prevalent from time im- im immemorial im immemorial J memorial among the 1 Indians Elijah M Haines in his book The Ameri Ameri- American American American can Indian completely explodes the theory of ot the thanksgiving of the pilgrims Among all tribes s of the American Indians feasting fasting and thanksgiving were regular observances observances observances ances all more or less of a religious character Among the the parent stock of there were nine established feasts all conducted according to prescribed method Among the Iroquois there were six regular thanksgiving festivals The first in order of time was the Maple festival a thanksgiving for maple sugar The second was the Planting festival festival-an festival an invocation to the Great Spirit to bless the seed The third was the Strawberry festival festival-a a thanksgiving for earths earth's earth first fruits The fourth was the Green Corn festival festival-a festival a thanksgiving for the ripening of corn beans and squashes The fifth was the great festival of all the Harvest thanks thanks- thanksgiving thanksgiving thanksgiving giving to the supporters of life The sixth or last was the New Years Year's festival and was characterized as the great jubilee during which the white dog was sacrificed Our November thanksgiving comes to us from the Green Cornand Corn Cornand Cornand and Harvest festivals of the Indi Indi- I Indians Indians ans ans of course through the Pilgrim Fathers who had bad the good sense to conform to a commendable observance observance observance ance even though borrowed from d despised savages The Green freen Corn festival dake Ah-dake- wa O wa-o wa continued f four ur days each dayS day'S proceedings con concluding luding with witha a feast The first day was devoted to introductory speeches to the theo o thanksgiving address to the burn burn- burning burning burning ing of tobacco and to s several veral dances ode OBe of which was the feather dance The second day was devoted to the great thanksgiving dance and to thanksgiving speeches and songs 1 y I Mr Haines reproduces several of the speeches in his book One reads I We return thanks to our mother the earth arth which sustains us Another rea reads s We return thanks to the sun that he has looked upon the earth with a ben beneficent eye Lastly we return thanks to the Great Spirit in whom is embodied d aU all goodness and who directs all things for the good of His children The thir third day was devoted to general thanksgiving speeches and original poems or songs and also to dances the rhe fourth day concluded the festi- festi festival festival val festi-val val with the peach stone game a species of gambling The harvest f festival stival was cele cele- celebrated celebrated almost exactly like the green greencorn greencorn greencorn corn ft festival val but later in the sea sea- season season season son when all the crops were gath gath- gathered gathered ered As Longfellow says And still later when the autumn Changed the long green reen ears to yellow And the soft and juicy kernels Grew like wampum hard ard and yellow Then the ripened ears earl he gathered Stripped the withered husks husks from off them themAs As he once had stripped the wrestler Gave the first feast of Chief Mayer of the Cherokees in his proclamation for the observance of thanksgiving says I As Aa our forefathers when wh natures nature's children of the forest in pursuit of game me around the council fire in sim sim- simplicity simplicity simplicity did give praise and thanks too to the Great Spirit in their yearly mystic green dance dance corn dance corn for tor the return of His great gift to them the them the Indian now corn now today as a Christian nation of people it is but meet that the okee Cher-okee Cher- Cher Cherokee Cherokee okee people should give thanks to the Christians Christian's God for His continued protection of our trl tribe be in the continued enjoyment of their government and homes and that through the many trials we have been compelled to pass He has continued to bless our people generalI Is it not fitting that in our general I rejoIcing we should remember the therace therace therace race who instituted our harvest fes- fes festival festival fes festival and not give all an the credit to the Puritans who only plagiarised it It will be bo noticed d that dancing enters largely into the Indian cele cele- celebration celebration celebration bration while the Puritan thanks thanks- thanksgiving thanksgiving thanksgiving giving was noted for the immensity of its dyspepsia producing e edibles Dancing is a prominent feature of all 1 Indian r rejoicings and here again he manifests strong pr proofs of his Hebrew origin Here we are taken back to some 1150 years B BC U and we are reminded of the fate of Jephthah's s daughter who came out with and dances to meet her father but unfortunately it was to meet her death dath d ath and bring sorrow to the brave Jephthah who had re- re recently recently re recently subjugated the Ammonites We are also reminded of the feasts and dances of Shiloh and of young maidens who came out to dance in dances and who were so unceremoniously unceremoniously unceremoniously abducted to make wives for the sons of Benjamin some 1400 years B C Weare We are also reminded of the women who came out of all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul but ascribing to David the greater praise for which Saul was envious and jealous and lost the fa favor vor of his God through his miserable weakness Can we not almost see David Davi himself girded in hi his linen and dancing with aU all his might before the Lord Do we not see Bee the prophetess Miriam sister of Aaron in hand at atthe atthe atthe the head of the women of Israel singing and dancing with joy after walking on dry land in iu the midst of the sea When the Indian dances t to the Great Great Spirit he ib b unconsciously unconsciously unconsciously adhering to the injunctions ill in the Psalms which say Let them praise His name in the dance Praise Him with and dance praise Him with stringed instruments and organs I think it is Shakespeare who says that there is in things evil some some- thing something good did man but distil it out and in the extermination extermination extermination tion of the which is certain certain- certainly certainly certainly ly an evil we Wt can learn a lesson which may be productive of good Here we see a people once the favored of the earth now razed from the land now trodden despised and depraved Why Simply because they lost the faculty of organization as a race They split up into fac fac- factions factions factions and tribes and engaged in in- in internecine internecine in internecine war even in face of the exterminating enemy It was not want of bravery nor want of valor that degraded the Indian Greece never produced a h hero ro grander than Logan Rome never had amore a amore amore more unselfish patriot than Black BlackHawk BlackHawk Hawk England has no parallel for Tecumshe and yet the race which produced these braves is vanishing vanishing vanish- vanish ing g aye ayi is dead all for want of ordinary foresight for want of ordinary sense to organize into a union for the common weal It was the same defect which h wiped out the national existence of the Hebrews It also destroyed the ancient Celts of Europe It will have the same effect today and lack latter of unity will wipe out latter day Hebrews latter-day latter Indians day and latter day Celts as well as it did the primitive ones Let latter-day latter peo peo- people people pIe in general distil good from evil JUNIUS JUNIUS CHICAGO November 1889 |