Praying Indians

“ They will be made to work at these white men’s tasks; give up their own wild, free life in the open country; give up their old customs; give up their own god, even, to pray to the God of their masters. And thus will it be for many years, until the Indians disappear forever ”

“ I fear that a preference of this nature will cause our friends--the Indians--to be neglected, if not forgotten. As Providence seems, in so many ways, to be against the Indians, I often fear that no considerable portion of them are ever to enjoy the blessings of civilization and Christianity. ”

“ Now, it is because the Indians make them no company for the blessings that human association brings with it, but serve only for an insupportable martyrdom; for, in addition to the fatigues incumbent on them as missionaries, they must attend to all their quarrels, grudges, necessities, and troubles. ”

“ Where they have had good Christian agents—and they have had some—where they have missionaries, the Indian has made wonderful progress. I think we can point to a few civilized and Christianized communities among the Indians that can find no parallel among the whites of the country. There is less crime, less immorality, more faithfulness to the requirements of the Christian religion and better observance of the Sabbath, more sincerity and earnestness in the performance of every Christian duty, than we can find in the same number of whites anywhere. ”

“ And though they are still amongst us, picturesque figures which we value chiefly as relics of a gaily-coloured past, the Indians are the mystery of our continent. They speak to us, they smile at us, they sit within our churches and use our tongue, but for all that they remain forever strangers. What pagan beliefs vibrating through the chain of unrecorded ancestry, what hates, loves, aspirations and bitter griefs, separate from our comprehension as the poles, thrill out of the darkness of yesterday and die unspoken, unformed, beneath those calm, bronze brows? ”

“ It hath been already hinted, that the Indian prophets undertake by the emanation of the divine spirit of fire, co-operating with them, to bring down proper rains for crops, on the penalty of loosing their own lives; as the Indians reckon that a regular virtuous life will sufficiently enable their great beloved men to bring blessings of plenty to the beloved people; and if they neglect it, they are dangerous enemies, and a great curse to the community. ”

“ As in many cases the nature of the Indian was too elementary to be moved at first by the lessons and exhortations of suffering and self-denial of Our Saviour, and the bridling of the human passions; in many instances the Fathers would first win the Indians' confidence by giving them blankets, beads and such things as attracted them, then by degrees unfolded the tenets of religion and mysteries of faith, to which in most cases these erstwhile savages clung with firmness and gave many edifying signs of true and sincere christianity. ”

“ The Indians are as bigotted to their religion as the Mahometans are to their Koran, the Hindoos to their Shaster, the Chinese to Confucius, the Romans to their Saints and Angels, or the Jews to Moses and the Prophets. It is a principle of religion, at bottom, which inspires the Indians with such an invincible aversion both to civilization and Christianity. The same principle has excited their perpetual hostilities against the colonists and the independent Americans. ”

“ In whatever pertains to the fathers there is no grief or pity felt for the Indians; but as for some service of your Majesty, or a public work, in which an Indian may be needed, or as for anything ordered from them, the religious are bound to gainsay it, place it on one's conscience, hinder it, or disturb everything. Without doubt, if I did not exercise so much caution and moderation, some mutiny or rebellion might arise, in a country so new, at less opportunities than those which the bishop and his friars afford. ”

“ What good end can be answered by teaching the North American Indians a religion which has ever been followed by destruction, pillage, rapacity and bloodshed, persecution for opinion, and a long catalogue of evils? and which, however good it may be in some of its precepts, is nevertheless utterly unable to restrain the avarice and cruelty of its followers. ”

“ Of this humane community it is but just to say, that they were the only Europeans in the new world who always treated the Indians with probity like their own, and with kindness calculated to do honour to the faith they professed. I speak of them now in their collective capacity. They, too, are the only people that, in a temperate, judicious, (and, I trust, successful) manner, have endeavoured and still endeavour to convert the Indians to Christianity ”

“ In a minute every man was on his feet, and none too soon, for the Indians were upon them. There was a desperate fight in the grey light of dawn. The Indians fought more fiercely than ever before, and while the battle raged the Prophet stood on a hill near, chanting a war song, and urging his men on.
Every now and again messengers came to him with news of the battle. And when he was told that his braves were falling fast before the guns of the white men he bade them still fight on.
"The Great Spirit will give us victory," he said; "the Pale-faces will flee." ”

“ In order to know how to pacify the Indians, it is necessary to understand their character. Whether because of their naturally superstitious disposition, or because God has thus ordained it, they are very affectionate to the missionary fathers, and have much reverence for them ”

“ Everything seems to be coming to a focus in regard to our work for the Indians. Never has the time been so auspicious as it is to-day. Never have there been so many things combining to show to us that if we are to improve the opportunity God gives us to care for the Indian—this man who held this land before we came to it and from whom we have taken our possession—we must do [384] it to-day. ”

“ I charge you to remember that your mission gives repeated emphasis to the faith of the Christian church in the redeemability of the Indian. Lack of faith in this truth has been the cause of much of the cruel indifference on the part of many good people—even Christian people—to the wrongs that Indians have suffered, and has occasioned lack of enthusiasm in the prosecution of Indian missions. It has paralyzed endeavor, and [203] prepared the way for the indulgence of enmity. But notice this: No body of Christians have ever put themselves on record as not believing in the Indian’s redeemability. ”

“ We now see, brothers, that your society has manifested more regard for the welfare of the Indians, than any other people, for which we thank you. We also thank the Great Spirit that he has put it into your hearts to love and regard Indians. ”

“ The Indians will learn their ways, will live as they do, will become as they are. There will be no more great war dances, no more fights with other powerful tribes; it will be as if the Indians had lost all bravery, all courage, all confidence.' He hated the voices, he hated the dream; but all his power, all his big medicine, could not drive them away. He was the strongest man on all the North Pacific Coast. ”

“ You talk about sending black coats among the Indians; now we have no such poor children among us; we have no such drunkards or people who abuse the Great Spirit. Indians dare not do so. They pray to the Great Spirit, and He is kind to them. ”

“ But, while the Mormons have certainly been successful in maintaining good terms with the natives of the plains, it is not so certain that their influence upon the Indians has been advantageous to the government, or to the white settlers not of the church. It clearly has been for their interest to attach the natives to themselves rather than to the government ”

“ It is safe to affirm, in spite of all the obstacles in their path, that, under the efforts put forth in their behalf, many of the Indian tribes are making commendable progress in civilization, and large numbers of them are bringing forth in their lives the peaceable fruits of righteousness.
We, therefore, recommend not only that the Association continue its work for the evangelization of the Indians, but that it enlarge and extend it, as fast as God in His providence may open the way. ”

“ A miserably poor and weak race they were, and the Great Spirit was kindest, when he took them from their dismal dwellings to the happy mansions in the green vales and quiet lakes which lie hid in the mountains. And, so well convinced were the Indians that the exchange would be for the better, that they celebrated the death of a man with great rejoicing, but wept and howled loud and long when a child was born. ”

“ Nor have the Christian Missionaries acted towards the unfortunate red men as became their professions of peace and philanthropy. This is evident from the letter written by Red Jacket, an Indian chief, who was well acquainted with the conduct of the missionaries, and whose evidence is more worthy of credit than the ex parte [64] statements of these propagators of the gospel. The conduct of the whites towards the Indians, the rapacity with which they have treated them, and the manner in which they have broken all their promises, presents a powerful barrier to the progress of Indian civilization. ”

“ Agreeably to the theocracy or divine government of Israel, the Indians think the deity to be the immediate head of the state. All the nations of Indians have a great deal of religious pride, and an inexpressible contempt for the white people. ”

“ It was often with despair that the missionaries saw the Indians still clinging to their heathen rites, and the few additions to the churches do not indicate any great transformation of an Indian nation. ”

“ Yet, in spite of all this, the religious had dealt so well with them, and had shown them so much love and benevolence, that the Indians could not cease to feel and to show kindness for them. Hence, though they were able to kill the religious or to do them any harm they pleased, because the fathers were alone among them without any other protection than their good consciences—which is a great safeguard—the Indians not only did them no harm, but laid hands on nothing of theirs or of their convent. ”

“ The American people have accepted as truth the teaching that the Indians were a degraded, brutal race of savages, whom it was the will of God should perish at the approach of civilization. If they do not say with our Puritan fathers that these are the Hittites who are to be driven out before the saints of the Lord, they do accept the teaching that manifest destiny will drive the Indians from the earth. ”

“ The Indians seem now to have become aliens in the land of their nativity. There is one ray of possible hopefulness for them, and with such cheer as it may afford we may close the review of their sad history. What reason or assurance there may be for the hope now to be intimated will depend for each one on his estimate of the quality, the capacity, the destiny of the Indian race. At any rate those who, as philanthropists, grieve most over the wrongs, plead most earnestly for the rights of the Indians, and insist that there is a brighter future before them, ought to emphasize this hope. ”

“ And though the Indian people had all of these customs, I know not one of them that made the people prosper or brought life to them. I have not seen that brought life to the people. And thus from where I am now, I am always looking to the future. On this account I am looking forward. The Indians have been told the words of the Grandfather, (the President) . And they tell us that by these words the people will prosper. ”

“ The Indians come, sometimes a many days’ journey, on foot, of course, and when they arrive they bivouac all about the church as if they had reached “home.” What with babies crying, beggars begging—“por la Virgen,” “por la Santa Madre de Dios”—dogs yapping and venders hawking, the whole dominated by the acrid smell of the various pungent messes they roll up in their tortillas, it was, indeed, Indian life at its flood. They must have presented much the same scene when they gathered to receive instruction and baptism from the old friars. ”

“ It is in many respects so near what is right, that Indians do not easily perceive the necessity of change. They believe in one God, the fountain of all good; they believe in a future state and in future rewards and punishments. ”

“ Shortly afterwards he went to some of the inhabitants, and said to them. When white man’s child die—Indian man be sorry—he help bury him—when my child die—no one speak to me—I make his grave alone—I can’t no live here.—He gave up his farm, dug up the body of his child and carried it with him two hundred miles through the forest, to join the Canada Indians. ”

“ It is true that some measure of refinement and fine morals is peculiarly necessary to the Indians just now, but these are not any necessary part of civilization. They are, however, inseparable to Christianity, and by this token the red man needs Christianity for his everyday life even more than the white man, who is surrounded by a Christian atmosphere. If we would have the newly-liberated Indians a valuable and reliable part of the community in this world they must be Christianized. ”

“ Much of the change of opinion which has supervened, within the last century, may be fairly attributable to the intercourse of the Indians with white men, and in some situations, to the gradual and almost imperceptible influence of Christianity on their external manners and customs. ”

“ When the missionaries have preached to the shrewd Indians the genuine doctrines of Christianity, they have immediately been struck with the total discrepancy between these doctrines and the lives and practices of their European professors. “If these are the principles of your religion,” they have continually said, “go and preach them to your countrymen. If they have any efficacy in them, let us see it shewn upon them. Make them good, just, and full of this love you speak of. Let them regard the rights and property of Indians. ”