Norwood High School - Silhouette Yearbook (Norwood, OH)

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Itefrzze HISTORY OF OHIO INDIANS HE red man followed the mound builderi He was inferior to the latter in that he built no permanent home, war and the chase being his chief occupations. Most people think of the Indian as a lurking, dangerous, unre- lenting savage. This is both wrong and unjust. True, they were alert and dangerous as enemies; but the Indians were not always the aggressors. History first heard of the Indians in Ohio in the latter part of the Seven- teenth Century. It was the Miamis who settled in southwestern Ohio. During the Revolution, they sided with England. Their chief, Little Turtle, con- tinually fought against the settlers; but after the war they made a treaty With the Americans, and never broke it. Because of their peaceful relations with the white man, they lived too generously and became almost extinct. Other tribes in Ohio were the Shawnees, Delawares, Ottaways, Wyandots and Mingos. The Mingus settled where Columbus now stands. Logan was their noted chief, and possessed influence over all tribes northwest of the Ohio. The Wyandots had first lived along the St. Lawrence River, but in a war with the Iroquois they were driven south across Lake Erie, and they finally settled between the Little Miami and Muskingum streams. All the tribes in Ohio had practically the same government. In the social organization there were four groupsethe family, the gens, the phratry and the tribe The family was the household or group of persons living in one Wigwam. The gens was composed of the blood kindred in the female line. The phratry pertained to medical and religious rites. The tribe was a body of kindred. To be a member of a tribe, it was necessary to belong to some family. The councils and chiefs in the social government were selected by a council of women. The Sachem 0r tribal chief was chosen by the chiefs of the gentes. Each gens had a right to the services of all its available male members in time of war, and a right to demand the work of all the able-bodied women in the cultivation of the soil. The great annual festival was the green-corn feast. They feasted and paid homage to the Great Spirit. Also, at this time, names were given to Children born during the previous year. The crimes recognized and punished by the Ohio tribes were murder, treason, theft, adultery and witchcraft. In murder, if the chiefs of the gens did not 12

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F0 9133! 4,342.09 SILHOUETTE STAFF vow Carson Whiting, Editor-z'n-Chief Jane Bryce, February Class Editor Robert Fink, Business M anager Advertising M anagers Robert Megrue and his assistant, Theodore Lehmeier. Circulation M anagers Marshall Hunt and his assistant, Byron Brown Literary E d 1Tt0rs Margaret Lord and her assistant, Helen Lakeman Features Editors Kathryn Townsley and her assistant, Willard Hesse! Mmmscript Editors Berniece Black and her assistant, Lillian Pohlmann Jack Siegman, Boyy Athletics Editor Hilda Heineman, Girls, Athletics Editor Dorothy Connor, Ar! Editor no: :o: v: HE Silheuette Staff wishes to thank Miss Cora Morton and Mr. W. Ross Dunn, Staff Advisers, for their patience with and their helpful suggestions for the progressive work of this yeafs staff. ' We wish to thank, also, all those who have helped to make this book possible. 11

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.F P' '1 1:11:13, f: L :L J3 settle the matter, it was the duty of the nearest relative to avenge the wrong. Treason was the telling of secrets of medicine or information to the enemy, and was punished by death. In war, the Indians did not move in a compact body, but broke into small groups. They traveled light and fast, and attacked when they were not expected. Their white captives were sometimes adopted into the family. One such, Simon Girty, became an active foe 0f the white man. No Indian surpassed him in cunning and craftiness. The territory of Ohio furnished an ideal home for the Indians, because the climate was excellent, and the streams abounded with fish and the forests with game. The red man remained until 1820, when game became scarce. Then Congress passed an act providing for an exchange of land with the Indians, and for their removal west of the Mississippi River. Thus the red race, which had inhabited Ohio for centuries, ceased to occupy this territory as a home. But, although our predecessors have disappeared in person, by using their name for our athletic teams and by making their activities the theme for this, the 1928 issue of The Silhouette, we are showing our recog- nition of their right to remembrance. 13