The Myths of the North American IndiansSpence, Lewis
History
The Myths of the North American Indians
Spence, Lewis
Indian mythology -- North America; Indians of North America -- Folklore
The necessity of bringing the Indian tribes under the complete control
of the United States Government and confining them to definite limits
for the better preservation of order was responsible for the policy of
placing them on tracts of territory of their own called 'reservations.'
This step led the natives to realize the benefits of a settled
existence and to depend on their own industry for a livelihood rather
than upon the more precarious products of the chase. An Act of
Congress was passed in 1887 which put a period to the existence of the
Indian tribes as separate communities, and permitted all tribal lands
and reservations to be so divided that each individual member of a
tribe might possess a separate holding. Many of these holdings are of
considerable value, and the possessors are by no means poorly endowed
with this world's {32} goods. On the whole the policy of the United
States toward the Indians has been dictated by justice and humanity,
but instances have not been wanting in which arid lands have been
foisted upon the Indians, and the pressure of white settlers has
frequently forced the Government to dispossess the Red Man of the land
that had originally been granted to him.
The Story of Pocahontas
Many romantic stories are told concerning the relations of the early
white settlers with the Indians. Among the most interesting is that of
Pocahontas, the daughter of the renowned Indian chief Powhatan, the
erstwhile implacable enemy of the whites. Pocahontas, who as a child
had often played with the young colonists, was visiting a certain chief
named Japazaws, when an English captain named Argall bribed him with a
copper kettle to betray her into his hands. Argall took her a captive
to Jamestown. Here a white man by the name of John Rolfe married her,
after she had received Christian baptism. This marriage brought about
a peace between Powhatan and the English settlers in Virginia.
When Dale went back to England in 1616 he took with him some of the
Indians. Pocahontas, who was now called 'the Lady Rebecca,' and her
husband accompanied the party. Pocahontas was called a princess in
England, and received much attention. But when about to return to the
colony she died, leaving a little son.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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