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Show I Hortb Jlmerican Indians - ' ... : H Civilized and Catholic Crib. (Written for The Intermountain and Colorado Catholic by a Protestant Clergyman.) It has been said that the civilized white man, whose knowledge of the Indian has been derii from Lo r;fel-low's r;fel-low's Hiawatha or tiic novels of tenni-more tenni-more Cooper, regaids "the noble red man" ?.s a sort of idealized human eagle, "free, fearless, fierce and unconquerable." uncon-querable." Without doubt "distance has lent enchantment to that view," for the Indian, when "nearer seen and better known," loses much of the romance ro-mance which has been associated with the real life of his former days, when wild in the woods the noble savage ran. The Indian has either so completely com-pletely improved or so completely deteriorated de-teriorated by the encroachments of the white man upon his ancient hunting grounds that his ancestors of generations genera-tions ago would hardly recognize him as a legitimate offspring. He has come to be either such a gentleman of fashion, fash-ion, affecting the ways and aping the manners of the best specimen of the superior race, or he has degenerated into the besotted loafer, skulking round in the ragged garments of a cast off white man's suit. There are Indians and Indians. Though I have often come across Indians In-dians who have knocked all the romance ro-mance out of me, I have, on the other hand, met with some who may be described de-scribed as "noble" in appearance and bearing. I have seen Indians with countenances which a sculptor might wish to imitate, and with a mazier and address that may be described as courtly, or even royal. Let those who doubt such statements read an article in a late number of the Century, where, with descriptions of the habits and peculiarities pe-culiarities of Indian chiefs, there are given a series of pictures of the faces of some living chiefs taken from models mod-els executed by a competent artist. Nothing that I have ever seen of pictures pic-tures of the imperial rulers of ancient Rome, with their proud and commanding command-ing expression of face, or the classic features of ancient Athenian sages as they appear in well accredited portraits are more strikingly stamped with that repose which is indicative of conscious strength than these facial models of Indian chiefs. One of these models is almost an exact likeness of the pictures pic-tures commonly seen in America of Henry Ward Beecher. There is a slight difference, but it is in favor of the Indian. In-dian. The Brooklyn orator does not quite compare with the Indian warrior; the latter, notwithstanding his magnificent mag-nificent psysiognomy, is said to have been particularly treacherous and cruel in his treatment of the whites in years gone by. It is a great mistake to suppose all j Indians are vile; that the only good Indian is the dead one, and that the onlv missions to Indians which are worth talking about are those which improve him from off the face of the earth. Many live Indians have become good by agencies very different from powder, pow-der, shot and firewater. The Indian of America, like the aborigine ol Australia Aus-tralia or the Maori of New Zealand, may be destined to ultimate extinction. but in the meanwhile do not 'let it be said that he has proved himself incapable incap-able of adapting himself in any degree to the civilization of- the white man. I have been assured that the only missions mis-sions which have proved of real and lasting benefit to the American Indians In-dians are those which were originally started by the French Jesuits, and which have been carried on under the wing of the Catholic Church. It was an American and a Protestant who said to me with a shrug of the i shoulder: "A Methodist, a Baptist or j a Presbyterian Indian I have o use for; he is pretty nearly always the I samepld scoundrel, plus that of being a canting hypocrite." He was strong in his affirmations that "the only religion re-ligion that does any good for the Indian In-dian is the Catholic religion." I was surprised to come across such a confirmation confir-mation of a lecture I had once read by aiuuiai wiseman, in wnicn ne so strongly pointed out the better results ! of Catholic, as compared with Protest- i ant missions. ! As a visitor from Australia I have been anxlus to learn something of Christian missions among the Indians, from my own observation and inquiries. Accordingly I have lately visited a tribe in this northwest corner of Uncle Sam's territory. The Indians of the Coeur d'Alenes reservation in the state f Idaho .will compare favorably favorab-ly with the average white settler of this state. It is more than 100 years since the Jesuits established a mission on the lake after which the reservation reserva-tion is named. So unimpressible at first were the Indians to the teachings of the good fathers, who were Frenchmen, that they named their mission the Coeur de'Alenes Mission, signifying that the Indian had a heart of flint. The beautiful Coeur d'Alene lake, said to. be even more beautiful than the lake Geneva in' Switzerland, is known far and wide, and has become a popular summer resort for DeoDle in the eastern part of the state of Washington A few years ago the whole country adjoining the lake wa.s Indian In-dian territory, but lately the United States government has purchased a large tract of this country from the Indians, and has since thrown it open for settlement. Though the nearest boundary of the present Indian reservation reser-vation is perhaps more than twenty miles away from the shores of the lake, it is still called the Coeur d'Alene reservation, and the Indians are known by the same old name, the Coeur d'Alene tribe. , The Indians are absolute proprietors of the reservation, and have complete control of all that which concerns their social and civil relations as an organized organi-zed community. I was introduced to Chief Saltese, wrhose picture I have since seen in the Century, to which I have referred above. He is a man 8ji years of age, but does not look 60; his squaw is perhaps, only half his age, and has already borne a large number of children to her husband, the youngest young-est of which is not much more than an infant. The gentleman who escorted me, and by whom I was introduced to the chief, told me that nine years ago he took Saltese down to Washington, and accompanied ac-companied him in an interview with President Cleveland. The Indian chief was delighted that the Great Father should have invited him to come forward for-ward and talk w-hile distinguished looking men were kept waiting for their turns. I was told that Saltese behaved himself like a perfect courtier, and conversed con-versed with the president in a manner quite composed, free alike from agitation agita-tion or affectation. Chief Saltese is said to rule his tribe with a just but a firm hand. His word is law. He is judge, jury and sometimes executioner all in one. He is said, on more than one occasion, to have inflicted not only the ordinary, but the capital punishment. punish-ment. In case of murder the criminal is shot, amidst certain old Indian for malities, in an cases, excepting murder, mur-der, the punishment is imprisonment and flogging. There are a number of Indian police who implicitly obey the commands of the chief. Whites who trespass on the reservation, or without authority cut down and 1 carry away timber, are arrested ' and put into the "shookums" or Indian prison. This building is constructed on the model of small country prisons. The Indians incarcerated here are generally such as have been guilty of theft, drunkenness or adultery. For the last named crime the male offender is only punished, the woman's plea, "I could not help it," being always admitted. ad-mitted. In addition to so many days j in the "skookum" there are always a certain number of lashes on the bare l baclc, m administered . pritlthe'giirVjJ a sort of cat o'nine tails. Saltese does not hesitate to lay on the quirt himseir, sometimes. The punishment vanes from ten to 150 lashes. The culprit 'bares his back, sits down, and takes t his punishment without a groan ana without flinching. My guide informed rne that at that time a member of the tribe was awaiting the usual castiga-tion castiga-tion for drunkenness. He had met the man a day or two before, and informed him "I hear Saltese says you are to get the 'quirt' and -skookum' for being drunk." The man replied in quite a matter of course sort of way, "I suppose if Saltese says so. it must be true." There is," I am told, very little drunkenness drunk-enness on the reservation. The Indians In-dians are for the most part so completely com-pletely under the influence of the religious re-ligious teachings which they receive at the mission station, that they seldom err in any of the respects to which I have referred. The mission station, with its pretty and quite commodious church, its schools, clergy house, and other buildings, build-ings, is situated on a picturesque knoll with many private residence, amongst these the house in which the Indian agent resides, at the foot, and an extensive ex-tensive plain of park like scenery spreads out in the foreground as far as the eye can gaze. The clergy and sisters of mercy, who are in charge of the mission, and are engaged in the spiritual oversight of the people and education of the young, received me most courteously, ana gave me all the information for which I asked. ask-ed. There are over 500 Indians on the reservation, 138 families, and 155 houses. There are about 100 children of both sexes in regular attendance at the schools. All the Indians, with few exceptions, ex-ceptions, attend service on Sunday mornings at least. Many of them have what they call their "Sunday house," at the mission station. The chief's Sunday house is a model of cottage architecture, and is furnished furnish-ed regardless of expense. Every Saturday Sat-urday evening he drives in his closed carriage, with his family, to the mission mis-sion station. His elegant carriage and fine pair of horses, driven by a white coachman, in gorgeous livery, presents a striking appearance. Chief Saltese is a model Indian. He feels it incumbent incum-bent upon him to show a good example to tho rest of the tribe, and never, if he can help it, misses the early Mass on Sunday morning. Saltese's farm house is not quite so grand. Here he lives in a more free and easy style of life. It is said that he I often puts up the old tepee, or wigwam, and lives for a time in that, according to the fashion of his forefathers. But, 1 In fact, the white people of this western state, during partof the summer months, go camping out in tents along the shores of Lake Coeur d'Alene. The farm house in which Saltese spends the greater part of his time is commodious and comfortable, well supplied with all the common conveniences of home life. This Indian chief is said to be a very wealthy man. He does not believe in putting his money into banks, and it may be safely said that he has not at all been affected by recent bank fail-urea. fail-urea. He loans out large suVs of money on interest to the neighboring farmers. I am not certain as to the actual amount of his wealth in ready cash, but think the amount mentioned was something like $20,000 or $25,000. When it is not out on loan it is hidden away in secret places, hidden so securely se-curely as to defy discovery. His money is always in gold, and between him, his squaw and a few true and trusted friends a constant guard is maintained. Saltese has unbounded confidence in j his friend, the gentleman by whom I j was escorted, and consults him when- i ever a white man applies to him for a loan. He asks for no bond or endorsement endorse-ment than the good word of his white friend. Most of the Indians on this reservation reserva-tion are what may be called wealthy. With a reservation of rich land of eight or ten square miles, why should they not be wealthy? But it is only of late years that they have begun to improve their splendid estates. The 138 families by which it is occupied do not culti- ' vate more than is necessary for their own immediate wants.. Each man has ! his own herd of cattle or horses, which j all roam about promiscuously through- j ! out the entire extent of the reserva- I tion. I was informed "that last year these Indians had 4,800 acres in crop, and sold $48,000 worth of farm produce ; and stock. This year they have more 1 than three times as many acres under ; crop." ! The money which they receive from j the government for their lands amount- i ed to over $500,000. It has not been j squandered, but expended in building j houses, improving the lands, adding to ! the stock and what has not been ex- pended in these several ways has either ! been carefully hoarded or loaned out j on interest. There is in short, only little left of the nrimitive savage in this tribe of North American Indians. They live in ; houses like ordinary civilized people, j they dress decently after the custom oi j the white man, they are quiet, peace able and law-abiding:. They attend ! their church with commendable regularity, regu-larity, pay liberally to the support of their clergy and schools on the mission station, are respectful and devout in their behavior while in attendance at religious services, and altogether furnish fur-nish as good an example of practical Christianity as anything that may be seen in the conduct of their white neighbors. I am told that this is the most civilized civi-lized rtibe of Indians to be found on the continent. It may be so. I can at least bear testimony to the fact that they are thoroughly civilized. If they are not civilized, then, indeed, our own people peo-ple of the white races are still barbarians. barbar-ians. One incident I may mention in conclusion. con-clusion. I was in company with the gentleman to whom I am indebted for this visit (and other opportunities of judging the Indian on the Coeur d'Alene reservation) on one occasion, when we were walking down the street of a small neighboring town. A well dressed Indian hailed my friend, and came in haste across the street to meet us. He reached out his hand and placed a $20 gold piece into the hand of my companion, with the remark: "This your money." And without saying another an-other word, turned and went away "That's some money I lent him the" other day when he was short," I was informed, and the further remark was made: "Not many white men would be so anxious to pay their debts." And my friend informed me further that he never knew any of these Indians to fail in paying promptly any debt to which they were justly due. |