Lives of Famous Indian Chiefs: From Cofachiqui, the Indian Princess, and Powhatan; down to and including Chief Joseph and Geronimo. Also an answer, from the latest research, of the query, Whence came the Indian? Together with a number of thrillingly interesting Indian stories and anecdotes from historyWood, Norman B. (Norman Barton)
History
Lives of Famous Indian Chiefs: From Cofachiqui, the Indian Princess, and Powhatan; down to and including Chief Joseph and Geronimo. Also an answer, from the latest research, of the query, Whence came the Indian? Together with a number of thrillingly interesting Indian stories and anecdotes from history
Wood, Norman B. (Norman Barton)
Indians -- Origin; Indians of North America -- Anecdotes; Indians of North America -- Biography
In this address he harangued against witchcraft, a thing much believed in
by the Indians, and said that those who practiced it or remained bewitched
could not enter heaven. He next denounced drunkenness, and stated on his
journey to heaven the first place he came to was the dwelling of the Devil.
Here he saw all who had died drunkards, with flames of fire issuing from
their mouths. He admitted that previous to this he had himself been a
drunkard, but his vision had frightened him so that he drank no more. Such
was the effect of his preaching against this pernicious vice that many of
his followers became alarmed and ceased to drink the "firewater," or
"crazywater," as whisky was appropriately called by the Indians. He also
preached earnestly against the intermarriage of whites and Indians, saying
that this was one of the chief causes of their unhappiness. And yet he
often boasted that his own grandparents were a noble Creek warrior, and the
daughter of one of the Governors of South Carolina. But as there is not a
scintilla of corroborative evidence we are forced to conclude that however
truly the Prophet foretold the future, he lied about the past. The Prophet
advocated a community of goods, an adjustment of things which would have
well suited that indolent reformer. He also preached, what Tecumseh
constantly practiced, the duty of the young to support and cherish the
aged and infirm. He denounced innovations in the dress and habits of the
red men, and appealed to their national pride, by boasting of the
superiority of the Shawnees over other nations. He promised to his faithful
adherents who would obey his injunctions all the comfort and happiness
enjoyed by their ancestors, before the advent of the whites.
Finally he announced that the Great Spirit had given him power to confound
his enemies, to cure all diseases, and to prevent death, either from
sickness or on the battlefield.
There can be no doubt that the Prophet succeeded in deceiving himself, and
was a firm believer in the methods and measures he advocated. Neither is
there any doubt that Tecumseh's gradually developing schemes inspired and
shaped the Prophet's plans. His was the master mind which controlled the
tribes through the machinations of the Prophet.
Elskwatawa shared to some extent the great talents of his brother, but it
might have been said of him: "His virtues another's, his faults were his
own." He was neither courageous nor truthful, but cunning, shrewd and
boastful. He equaled his famous brother in eloquence, and surpassed him in
graceful manners.
Opposition was naturally made to the innovations of the new prophet by the
neighboring chiefs, who felt that he sought to undermine their power. A
course of fanatical persecution for witchcraft was begun, shocking in its
cruelty and injustice, but only too much resembling something which
occurred at Salem, among people of our own enlightened race.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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