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<h2> IV. BARBARISM AND THE MORAL CODE </h2>
<p>Silence the Corner-Stone of Character. Basic Ideas of<br/>
Morality. "Give All or Nothing!" Rules of Honorable<br/>
Warfare. An Indian Conception of Courage.<br/></p>
<p>Long before I ever heard of Christ, or saw a white man, I had learned from
an untutored woman the essence of morality. With the help of dear Nature
herself, she taught me things simple but of mighty import. I knew God. I
perceived what goodness is. I saw and loved what is really beautiful.
Civilization has not taught me anything better!</p>
<p>As a child, I understood how to give; I have forgotten that grace since I
became civilized. I lived the natural life, whereas I now live the
artificial. Any pretty pebble was valuable to me then; every growing tree
an object of reverence. Now I worship with the white man before a painted
landscape whose value is estimated in dollars! Thus the Indian is
reconstructed, as the natural rocks are ground to powder, and made into
artificial blocks which may be built into the walls of modern society.</p>
<p>The first American mingled with his pride a singular humility. Spiritual
arrogance was foreign to his nature and teaching. He never claimed that
the power of articulate speech was proof of superiority over the dumb
creation; on the other hand, it is to him a perilous gift. He believes
profoundly in silence—the sign of a perfect equilibrium. Silence is
the absolute poise or balance of body, mind, and spirit. The man who
preserves his selfhood ever calm and unshaken by the storms of existence—not
a leaf, as it were, astir on the tree; not a ripple upon the surface of
shining pool—his, in the mind of the unlettered sage, is the ideal
attitude and conduct of life.</p>
<p>If you ask him: "What is silence?" he will answer: "It is the Great
Mystery!" "The holy silence is His voice!" If you ask: "What are the
fruits of silence?" he will say: "They are self-control, true courage or
endurance, patience, dignity, and reverence. Silence is the cornerstone of
character."</p>
<p>"Guard your tongue in youth," said the old chief, Wabashaw, "and in age
you may mature a thought that will be of service to your people!"</p>
<p>The moment that man conceived of a perfect body, supple, symmetrical,
graceful, and enduring—in that moment he had laid the foundation of
a moral life! No man can hope to maintain such a temple of the spirit
beyond the period of adolescence, unless he is able to curb his indulgence
in the pleasures of the senses. Upon this truth the Indian built a rigid
system of physical training, a social and moral code that was the law of
his life.</p>
<p>There was aroused in him as a child a high ideal of manly strength and
beauty, the attainment of which must depend upon strict temperance in
eating and in the sexual relation, together with severe and persistent
exercise. He desired to be a worthy link in the generations, and that he
might not destroy by his weakness that vigor and purity of blood which had
been achieved at the cost of much self-denial by a long line of ancestors.</p>
<p>He was required to fast from time to time for short periods, and to work
off his superfluous energy by means of hard running, swimming, and the
vapor-bath. The bodily fatigue thus induced, especially when coupled with
a reduced diet, is a reliable cure for undue sexual desires.</p>
<p>Personal modesty was early cultivated as a safeguard, together with a
strong self-respect and pride of family and race. This was accomplished in
part by keeping the child ever before the public eye, from his birth
onward. His entrance into the world, especially in the case of the
first-born, was often publicly announced by the herald, accompanied by a
distribution of presents to the old and needy. The same thing occurred
when he took his first step, when his ears were pierced, and when he shot
his first game, so that his childish exploits and progress were known to
the whole clan as to a larger family, and he grew into manhood with the
saving sense of a reputation to sustain.</p>
<p>The youth was encouraged to enlist early in the public service, and to
develop a wholesome ambition for the honors of a leader and feast-maker,
which can never be his unless he is truthful and generous, as well as
brave, and ever mindful of his personal chastity and honor. There were
many ceremonial customs which had a distinct moral influence; the woman
was rigidly secluded at certain periods, and the young husband was
forbidden to approach his own wife when preparing for war or for any
religious event. The public or tribal position of the Indian is entirely
dependent upon his private virtue, and he is never permitted to forget
that he does not live to himself alone, but to his tribe and his clan.
Thus habits of perfect self-control were early established, and there were
no unnatural conditions or complex temptations to beset him until he was
met and overthrown by a stronger race.</p>
<p>To keep the young men and young women strictly to their honor, there were
observed among us, within my own recollection, certain annual ceremonies
of a semi-religious nature. One of the most impressive of these was the
sacred "Feast of Virgins," which, when given for the first time, was
equivalent to the public announcement of a young girl's arrival at a
marriageable age. The herald, making the rounds of the teepee village,
would publish the feast something after this fashion:</p>
<p>"Pretty Weasel-woman, the daughter of Brave Bear, will kindle her first
maidens' fire to-morrow! All ye who have never yielded to the pleading of
man, who have not destroyed your innocency, you alone are invited, to
proclaim anew before the Sun and the Earth, before your companions and in
the sight of the Great Mystery, the chastity and purity of your
maidenhood. Come ye, all who have not known man!"</p>
<p>The whole village was at once aroused to the interest of the coming event,
which was considered next to the Sun Dance and the Grand Medicine Dance in
public importance. It always took place in midsummer, when a number of
different clans were gathered together for the summer festivities, and was
held in the centre of the great circular encampment.</p>
<p>Here two circles were described, one within the other, about a rudely
heart-shaped rock which was touched with red paint, and upon either side
of the rock there were thrust into the ground a knife and two arrows. The
inner circle was for the maidens, and the outer one for their grandmothers
or chaperones, who were supposed to have passed the climacteric. Upon the
outskirts of the feast there was a great public gathering, in which order
was kept by certain warriors of highest reputation. Any man among the
spectators might approach and challenge any young woman whom he knew to be
unworthy; but if the accuser failed to prove his charge, the warriors were
accustomed to punish him severely.</p>
<p>Each girl in turn approached the sacred rock and laid her hand upon it
with all solemnity. This was her religious declaration of her virginity,
her vow to remain pure until her marriage. If she should ever violate the
maidens' oath, then welcome that keen knife and those sharp arrows!</p>
<p>Our maidens were ambitious to attend a number of these feasts before
marriage, and it sometimes happened that a girl was compelled to give one,
on account of gossip about her conduct. Then it was in the nature of a
challenge to the scandal-mongers to prove their words! A similar feast was
sometimes made by the young men, for whom the rules were even more strict,
since no young man might attend this feast who had so much as spoken of
love to a maiden. It was considered a high honor among us to have won some
distinction in war and the chase, and above all to have been invited to a
seat in the council, before one had spoken to any girl save his own
sister.</p>
<p>It was our belief that the love of possessions is a weakness to be
overcome. Its appeal is to the material part, and if allowed its way it
will in time disturb the spiritual balance of the man. Therefore the child
must early learn the beauty of generosity. He is taught to give what he
prizes most, and that he may taste the happiness of giving, he is made at
an early age the family almoner. If a child is inclined to be grasping, or
to cling to any of his little possessions, legends are related to him,
telling of the contempt and disgrace falling upon the ungenerous and mean
man.</p>
<p>Public giving is a part of every important ceremony. It properly belongs
to the celebration of birth, marriage, and death, and is observed whenever
it is desired to do special honor to any person or event. Upon such
occasions it is common to give to the point of utter impoverishment. The
Indian in his simplicity literally gives away all that he has, to
relatives, to guests of another tribe or clan, but above all to the poor
and the aged, from whom he can hope for no return. Finally, the gift to
the "Great Mystery," the religious offering, may be of little value in
itself, but to the giver's own thought it should carry the meaning and
reward of true sacrifice.</p>
<p>Orphans and the aged are invariably cared for, not only by their next of
kin, but by the whole clan. It is the loving parent's pride to have his
daughters visit the unfortunate and the helpless, carry them food, comb
their hair, and mend their garments. The name "Wenonah," bestowed upon the
eldest daughter, distinctly implies all this, and a girl who failed in her
charitable duties was held to be unworthy of the name.</p>
<p>The man who is a skillful hunter, and whose wife is alive to her
opportunities, makes many feasts, to which he is careful to invite the
older men of his clan, recognizing that they have outlived their period of
greatest activity, and now love nothing so well as to eat in good company,
and to live over the past. The old men, for their part, do their best to
requite his liberality with a little speech, in which they are apt to
relate the brave and generous deeds of their host's ancestors, finally
congratulating him upon being a worthy successor of an honorable line.
Thus his reputation is won as a hunter and a feast-maker, and almost as
famous in his way as the great warrior is he who has a recognized name and
standing as a "man of peace."</p>
<p>The true Indian sets no price upon either his property or his labor. His
generosity is only limited by his strength and ability. He regards it as
an honor to be selected for a difficult or dangerous service, and would
think it shame to ask for any reward, saying rather: "Let him whom I serve
express his thanks according to his own bringing up and his sense of
honor!"</p>
<p>Nevertheless, he recognizes rights in property. To steal from one of his
own tribe would be indeed disgrace, and if discovered, the name of
"Wamanon," or Thief, is fixed upon him forever as an unalterable stigma.
The only exception to the rule is in the case of food, which is always
free to the hungry if there is none by to offer it. Other protection than
the moral law there could not be in an Indian community, where there were
neither locks nor doors, and everything was open and easy of access to all
comers.</p>
<p>The property of the enemy is spoil of war, and it is always allowable to
confiscate it if possible. However, in the old days there was not much
plunder. Before the coming of the white man, there was in fact little
temptation or opportunity to despoil the enemy; but in modern times the
practice of "stealing horses" from hostile tribes has become common, and
is thought far from dishonorable.</p>
<p>Warfare we regarded as an institution of the "Great Mystery"—an
organized tournament or trial of courage and skill, with elaborate rules
and "counts" for the coveted honor of the eagle feather. It was held to
develop the quality of manliness and its motive was chivalric or
patriotic, but never the desire for territorial aggrandizement or the
overthrow of a brother nation. It was common, in early times, for a battle
or skirmish to last all day, with great display of daring and
horsemanship, but with scarcely more killed and wounded than may be
carried from the field during a university game of football.</p>
<p>The slayer of a man in battle was expected to mourn for thirty days
blackening his face and loosening his hair according to the custom. He of
course considered it no sin to take the life of an enemy, and this
ceremonial mourning was a sign of reverence for the departed spirit. The
killing in war of non-combatants, such as women and children, is partly
explained by the fact that in savage life the woman without husband or
protector is in pitiable case, and it was supposed that the spirit of the
warrior would be better content if no widow and orphans were left to
suffer want, as well as to weep.</p>
<p>A scalp might originally be taken by the leader of the war party only and
at that period no other mutilation was practiced. It was a small lock not
more than three inches square, which was carried only during the thirty
days' celebration of a victory, and afterward given religious burial.
Wanton cruelties and the more barbarous customs of war were greatly
intensified with the coming of the white man, who brought with him fiery
liquor and deadly weapons, aroused the Indian's worst passions, provoking
in him revenge and cupidity, and even offered bounties for the scalps of
innocent men, women, and children.</p>
<p>Murder within the tribe was a grave offense, to be atoned for as the
council might decree, and it often happened that the slayer was called
upon to pay the penalty with his own life. He made no attempt to escape or
to evade justice. That the crime was committed in the depths of the forest
or at dead of night, witnessed by no human eye, made no difference to his
mind. He was thoroughly convinced that all is known to the "Great
Mystery," and hence did not hesitate to give himself up, to stand his
trial by the old and wise men of the victim's clan. His own family and
clan might by no means attempt to excuse or to defend him, but his judges
took all the known circumstances into consideration, and if it appeared
that he slew in self-defense, or that the provocation was severe, he might
be set free after a thirty days' period of mourning in solitude. Otherwise
the murdered man's next of kin were authorized to take his life; and if
they refrained from doing so, as often happened, he remained an outcast
from the clan. A willful murder was a rare occurrence before the days of
whiskey and drunken rows, for we were not a violent or a quarrelsome
people.</p>
<p>It is well remembered that Crow Dog, who killed the Sioux chief, Spotted
Tail, in 1881, calmly surrendered himself and was tried and convicted by
the courts in South Dakota. After his conviction, he was permitted
remarkable liberty in prison, such as perhaps no white man has ever
enjoyed when under sentence of death.</p>
<p>The cause of his act was a solemn commission received from his people,
nearly thirty years earlier, at the time that Spotted Tail usurped the
chieftainship by the aid of the military, whom he had aided. Crow Dog was
under a vow to slay the chief, in case he ever betrayed or disgraced the
name of the Brule Sioux. There is no doubt that he had committed crimes
both public and private, having been guilty of misuse of office as well as
of gross offenses against morality; therefore his death was not a matter
of personal vengeance but of just retribution.</p>
<p>A few days before Crow Dog was to be executed, he asked permission to
visit his home and say farewell to his wife and twin boys, then nine or
ten years old. Strange to say, the request was granted, and the condemned
man sent home under escort of the deputy sheriff, who remained at the
Indian agency, merely telling his prisoner to report there on the
following day. When he did not appear at the time set, the sheriff
dispatched the Indian police after him. They did not find him, and his
wife simply said that Crow Dog had desired to ride alone to the prison,
and would reach there on the day appointed. All doubt was removed next day
by a telegram from Rapid City, two hundred miles distant, saying: "Crow
Dog has just reported here."</p>
<p>The incident drew public attention to the Indian murderer, with the
unexpected result that the case was reopened, and Crow Dog acquitted. He
still lives, a well-preserved man of about seventy-five years, and is much
respected among his own people.</p>
<p>It is said that, in the very early days, lying was a capital offense among
us. Believing that the deliberate liar is capable of committing any crime
behind the screen of cowardly untruth and double-dealing, the destroyer of
mutual confidence was summarily put to death, that the evil might go no
further.</p>
<p>Even the worst enemies of the Indian, those who accuse him of treachery,
blood-thirstiness, cruelty, and lust, have not denied his courage, but in
their minds it is a courage that is ignorant, brutal, and fantastic. His
own conception of bravery makes of it a high moral virtue, for to him it
consists not so much in aggressive self-assertion as in absolute
self-control. The truly brave man, we contend, yields neither to fear nor
anger, desire nor agony; he is at all times master of himself; his courage
rises to the heights of chivalry, patriotism, and real heroism.</p>
<p>"Let neither cold, hunger, nor pain, nor the fear of them, neither the
bristling teeth of danger nor the very jaws of death itself, prevent you
from doing a good deed," said an old chief to a scout who was about to
seek the buffalo in midwinter for the relief of a starving people. This
was his childlike conception of courage.</p>
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