Adriaen van der Donck

“ That God, who is the highest good, almighty and gracious, and Lord of heaven and earth, in whom all power is, exists in heaven, but not alone, and without pastime; for he has there with him a goddess, a female person, the most beautiful ever known and beheld. With this goddess or beautiful person, he is so much engrossed, that the time is passed away and forgotten. ”

“ The soul, they say, is that spirit which directs all the actions of the body, and is the producing cause of all good and evil conduct, which, when the body dies, separates from it and removes to a place towards the south, where the climate is so fine that no covering against the cold will be necessary, and where the heat will never be troublesome. To this place the souls of all those who have been good and valuable in this life will go, where they will be satisfied and have an abundance of good things, without any trouble or labour for the same, forever ”

“ Since that time I have never held to that religion, but regard the sun and moon much more, as being better than all your Gods are; for they warm the earth and cause the fruits to grow, when your lovely Gods cannot preserve themselves from the fire. In the whole country I know no more than one Indian who is firm in his religious profession, nor can any change be expected among them, as long as matters are permitted to remain as heretofore. ”

“ The nearest relatives of the deceased, particularly the women, (the men seldom exhibit much excitement,) have their periods of lamentations, when they make dreadful and wonderful wailing, naming the dead, smiting upon their breasts, scratching and disfiguring their faces, and showing all possible signs of grief. But where a mother has lost a child, her expressions of grief exceed all bounds, for she calls and wails whole nights over her infant, as if she really were in a state of madness. ”

“ Having treated of the manners of the natives, of their appearance, of their clothing, of their ornaments, of their subsistence, and of their dwellings; we will continue the description, and treat of their customs in their marriages and connections, without which they could not be. Marriages, and the fruits of marriage connections between males and females, keep up the succession of every living species in the world; and there has been no nation discovered or known, so barbarous as not to be benefited by marriage connections, and who have not upheld and supported the same. ”

“ But they say God is good, kind, and compassionate, who will not punish or do any injury to any person, and therefore takes no concern himself in the common affairs of the world, nor does he meddle with the same, except that he has ordered the devil to take care of those matters. For they say that all which happens to persons, on the earth, is ordered and directed by the devil as he pleases. God, the chief of all, who dwells in heaven, is much greater and higher than the devil, over whom he has power, but he will not meddle in, or trouble himself with, those concerns. ”

“ The colour of their skin is not so white as ours; still we see some of them who have a fine skin, and they are mostly born with good complexions; otherwise they have a yellowish colour like the Tartars, or heathen who are seen in Holland, or like the Outlanders who keep in the fields and go uncovered as they do- Their yellowness is no fault of nature,, but it is caused by the heat of the scorching sun, which is hotter and more powerful in that country than in Holland, which from generation to generation has been shining on that people, and exhibits its effects stronger. ”

“ From sixteen to eighteen families frequently dwell in one house, according to its size. The fire being kept in the middle, the people lay on either side thereof, and each family has its own place. If they have a place for a pot or kettle, with a few small articles, and a place to sleep, then they have room enough; and in this manner, a hundred, and frequently many more, dwell together in one house. Such is the construction of an Indian dwelling in every place, unless they are out on fishing and hunting excursions, and then they erect temporary huts or shanties. ”

“ Of the Food and Subsistence of the Indians
In eating and drinking the Indians are not excessive, even in their feast-days. They are cheerful and well satisfied when they have a sufficiency to support nature, and to satisfy hunger and thirst. It is not with them as it is here in Holland, where the greatest, noblest, and richest live more luxuriously than a Calis, or a common man; but with them meat and drink are sufficient and the same for all. Their common drink is water from a living spring or well, when it can be had, wherein they seldom fail, as in days of old. ”

“ In deadly diseases, they are faithful to sustain and take care of each other. Whenever a soul has departed, the nearest relatives extend the limbs and close the eyes of the dead; and after the body has been watched and wept over several days and nights, they bring it to the grave, wherein they do not lay it down, but place it in a sitting posture upon a stone or a block of wood, as if the body were sitting upon a stool; then they place a pot, kettle, platter, spoon, with some provision and money, near the body in the grave; this they say is necessary for the journey to the other world. ”

“ Their weapons formerly were bows and arrows, with a war-club hung to the arm, and a square shield which covered the body up to the shoulders; their faces they disfigure in such a manner that it is difficult to recognize one known before; they bind bands or snake-skins round the head, and place a fox's or wolf's tail perpendicularly upon the head, and walk as proud as peacocks. At present many of them use fire-arms, which they prize highly and learn to use dexterously. They spare no pains in procuring guns and ammunition, for which they trade with the Christians at a dear rate. ”

“ They are all free by nature, and will not bear any domineering or lording over them; they will not bear any insult, unless they have done wrong, and they will bear chastisement without resentment. Delicious food or drink they disregard; they fear no accidents, and can endure heat, cold, hunger, and thirst, in a wonderful manner, and they can all swim like ducks from their childhood. ”

“ This is so common among the Indians, that they seldom pass a day without it, unless they are on a journey or hunting. We seldom visit an Indian lodge at any time of the day, without seeing their sapaen preparing, or seeing them eating the same. It is the common food of all; young and old eat it; and they are so well accustomed to it, and fond of it, that when they visit our people, or each other, they consider themselves neglected unless they are treated with sapaen. Without sapaen they do not eat a satisfactory meal. And when they have an opportunity, they frequently boil fish or meat with it ”

“ If they interpret the answers incorrectly, the fault is theirs sometimes they utter things beyond the devil's texts. If there be any Christians present on those occasions, who observe all their doings, then their devil will not appear. Their devil-drivers sometimes bewitch some of their common people, and cause them to appear possessed or besotted, which otherwise is not seen, when they cast themselves into glowing fires without feeling it. When the person who has been afflicted for some time, and one of the charmers whisper in his ear, he again becomes as gentle as a lamb. ”

“ They despise lying, and still they are not very precise in the performance of their engagements. Swearing and scolding are not heard among them, unless it be among those who have learned those habits from us. They do not possess great wisdom or extensive knowledge, but reasonable understanding, resulting from practical experience, which they certainly possess without any desire for further instruction; they are naturally civil and well disposed, and quick enough to distinguish between good and evil, but after they have associated amongst us, they become cunning and deceitful. ”

“ The use of tokens of mourning is common, which usually are black signs upon their bodies; when a woman loses her husband, she shaves off her hair, and paints her whole countenance black as pitch, and men do the same when their wives die, and they also wear a buckskin vest next to their skin, and mourn a whole year, even if they have not been long married, or if the connection had not been happy still they observe the ceremonies religiously, without marrying again until the season of mourning is over. ”

“ No Indian will keep his wife, however much he loved her, when he knows she is unchaste. When their women are young, free, and unmarried, they act as they please, but they are always mercenary in their conduct, and deem it disgraceful to be otherwise; neither is the fruit of illicit connexions despised, but the same are disregarded in a marriage connexion. Few females will associate with men in a state of concubinage when they will not marry. Those women are proud of such conduct, and when they become old they will frequently boast of their connexion with many of their chiefs and great men. ”

“ The women they treat as they do their own, and the children they bring up as their own, to strengthen their nation. They all serve as volunteers in war, and they receive no pay to retain them in service. They cannot subsist long in a body together, nor can they conduct sieges. Their men will not readily divulge any of their secret designs, unless it be to their own women, and they usually do not know enough to withold a secret from the Christians, particularly when they expect to derive any advantages from the development. ”

“ Their old men, when we reason earnestly with them on the matter, seem to feel pensive or sorrowful, but manifest no-other emotions or agitations when we reprove them for bad conduct and reason with them on its impropriety, and say that there is a God in heaven above whom they offend, their common answer is – 'We do not know that God, we have never seen him, we know not who he is - if you know him and fear him, as you say you do, how does it then happen that so many thieves, drunkards, and evil-doers are found among you. ”

“ This food they usually prepare at the close of the winter and in the spring, when the hunting season is- past, and their stock of provisions is nearly exhausted. They also use many dry beans, which they consider dainties. Those they boil sow with fresh meat. They use for their subsistence every kind of fish and flesh that is fit for food, which the country and the places of their settlements afford, and that they can obtain. They observe no stated times for their meals, as our people do, but they suppose it best to eat when they are hungry. ”

“ The offering up of prayers, or the making of any distinction between days, or any matter of the kind, is unknown among them. They neither know or say any thing of God; but they possess great fear of the devil, who they believe causes diseases, and does them much injury. When they go on a hunting or fishing excursion they usually cast a part of what is first taken into the fire, without using any ceremony on the occasion, then saying, "stay thou devil, eat thou that." ”

“ It is necessary that we support the planting of a colony, and the removal of people from the old world, and not a separate creation, as by the latter the doctrines of the Holy Scriptures would be subverted and ruined. ”

“ It sometimes happens when we enter into a curious discourse with them, that they ask us our opinions on the origin of man, and how they came to this country; and when we inform them in broken language of the creation of Adam, they cannot believe, or will not understand relative to their people and the negroes, on account of their great difference and the inequality of colour. According to their opinion the world was not created as described in the first and second chapters of the book of Genesis; but they say the world was before all mountains, men and animals ”

“ The Indians, because they fear those subjects, do not travel by night unless it be necessary, and then go in parties or companies; when they go alone they always carry a fire-brand with them, with which they believe they can keep off those evil spirits and prevent them from doing them any injury, which, they say, are always disposed to frighten them and do them wrong. They acknowledge also that the soul proceeds from God, and that the same is his gift. ”