Wisconsin School for the Deaf - Tattler Yearbook (Delavan, WI)

Page 20 text:

BURIAL CUSTOM OF AMERICAN INDIANS By Carmello Di Chiara The Indian; venerated their dond and hold peculiar ritci und ccrotnoniw at their burial. It has been aid there were two hundred different lungiiug. - among the Indiana, which shown there were many different tribe- who •mint IMve halt more or U ;-- different burial ceremonies. The accounts of writer.-), who traveled among the Indian-, and what hM been (Uncovered in the burial tnounde of there people, hive u some idea of their corumomei;. Some of the Indian placed their dead on platform.- ju»t to prevent the bodies boing molested or eaten by wild animal or dog . Th. Slout put the IhxIIio on the branches of trees. Other tribe built small pyramid under which the chief lay with plenty oI upplh- . which the Indian thought he could use m hi Jour-noy to the Happy Hunting Grounds. When an Indian died, it wtu a frequent custom for tint medicine tuau to - et him in u sitting position in front of u poxt or tree m ho looked like a live man. In the Last of the Mohicans Cooper gives on account of the burial of Corn and Cnc s, two of the principal character of the story. The body of Uncos, arrayed in tho movt gorgeous ornament that the wealth of the tribe could furni h, was put in a sitting position while directly n front of him hi father sat and during the wholi coremony kept a -toady gnr.r at the countenance of hit ion So quiet and eadfaat was he thut one could hardly tell between the living ond the dond. A warrior renowned for his bravery ndvanced -lowly from tho crowd, composed of ••h« whole tril-v, and placing him -If before the dead I'ncnj spoke of bis bravery and achievement nnd th. orrow of tho tribe in losing him. Most of the lending men of tho tribe followed him und upbke their tribute to the departed. Young Itidinn women spoke of Cora and her virtues and their hope that she would be happy In the hereafter. They then joined in n haul to the dead after which the bodies were taken to their lost resting place. George Cntlin, who traveled extensively among the Indian . -peak of the burial ground of a Mamlrtn Tribe. When one of the tribe died, the body wtu wrapped tightly in fresh buffalo robe securely bound und placed on a raised platform. ope of Hundred in thi Indian cemetery, nnd toft there until in tho course of time tho platform decayed and rnmc tumbling down. The ikull of tho dec cared was then taken nnd preserved while the re t of tho bom are buried. The skull, with many others, wa placed in a large circle, twenty or thirty feet In diameter. All faced the middle. Fresh age was placed under the sJculi nnd renewed from time to time. While tho body wa on the platform relative of the dnerus-I :l como out to the grave yard nnd throwing themselves on the ground with theh faces in the dirt gave vent to their grief in loud cries und bowling, tearing their hair nnd cutting themselves with kttiVttt. After the -kull had been placed in the citric, the wife or mother of the dwcuwod would mine out und it down on the ground before it nnd peak to it in a pleasant tone of voice ns if the wan talking to n living person and wi.-died to make thing us pleasant for him ns h« could. In some tribes ut a funeral the Indian made a great noine, howling and rhoulinvr n loud n» they could. They did thi s that the spirit could escape from the dead body und go to tile Happy Hunting Ground where there wu,« nothing 10 do hut hunt. flnh. cal, dunce nnd ring, add play games. Tlu Grr.it Spirit was their God. There Is an account of a Crow Chief who died. The Indian of the tribe a mil.led around the body and cried for nt out five day . They killed the chieT three horse- and gathered plenty of food nnd mipplh for hi Ion;- trip to the Happy Hunting Ground . Every one put hi hands on the brad of tho deceased und mini how sorry be vv» . Then the body WO buried in a crpvjcc. HI mother, cut off her hnlr dose to her head to show her orrow. The Indians of the different tribe realiy ro-peefced their dead und mourned the departure of loved one . They differed from os only in their mean of showing their reaped und grief. The memory of noted person of the tribe wa cherished for a lone time and in some rase- accounts of tho feat nnd adventures of the departs! were told over and over again until they became Iq-gend . bike u they believed there was one God, the Maidtou, or Great Spirit, nnd n life in the hereof tor. —IS— THE TATTLER

Page 19 text:

INDIAN WARFARE By Robert Schneider Ever nine© the white man has known anything about the Indian, he ban observed that Indian war have been numerous. The aim of the Indian neemed to be to Ret a tneny »cnlp» from Ida ©nemie im pofilhlo. There have been wars over hunting ground be.ween the difTercnt Indian rile aa they never remain-cd long In one region for they had lo live v here frame was plentiful. I often happened that when one til)»e -cttlcd a short d stance from another, war between he two frequently occurred. If one tribe hud boon beaten by another or had lost come of it' warrior in battle, then an attack to revenue be dead wn planned. Thi Indians often went to war agninnt the whites for the tamo reason. The story is told that an Indian, tn 'he fir-t white mon'i emtp in thi west, stole goblet and was hanged for that. This so affected the Indiana of the West that they always hated the whit© . The whites in their exploration of the far west to And new trapping ground hod to cro » the Plain'' to reach the western highland . One of the famous road through this region is the Oicgon Tr» 1. More than three hundred housand people pointed that wav to California ond .he Nntthwej . by ox-term, and at least twenty thourrnd met death ut the hand of the Indiana. It pi hr Indian custom to hold a council before going to war. The chief In hi feathered cap « od nt one aide of the e’rde of Indian warrior and delivered a fiery speech. Often the rnunw and children were not permitted .o remain near. The Indians put on their war puint and armed themnelvc with their best weapons. Mon of them wore war bonnet and carried lomahnwks, knives, and bows nnd arrow . A wnr dance was usually held before going to battle The Indian women, children nnd old men rII .-at In a large circle while the warrior danced intide around the war post which was a short tree with it hark removed. They struck it wt h the'r hatch©: until nothing wo left of it. On the plains Indians wen , to wnr on horse bock, bo , in the thick forests of the Hast it w»» necessary to take to foot. Smoke signal that could be seen nt least twelve mile were used on the prairies to convey message nnd lo worn o’her Indians of danger. Sometime swift Indian runner were a! o sent out with mri-•age . After battles were over, the Indiana usually carried home their dead and wounded. When they were brought in, the wailing of women begun and lasted through the period of mourning. The Indian played a great part in the Revolutionary War nnd in the colonial war . In the French and Indian War they were given fire water and fire arms to fight for the French who promised them bead nnd guns, if they brought in any Amorican captive , parents, although watching their children most closely, were often bereft of their little ones who, in some cones, were found in Indian camps years Inter. In the year immediately following the Civil War, companies of cavalrv were sent went of the Mississippi River to subdue the Indian who wire causing much trouble to ihc brave pioneer corning the plains. These men noted that the Indian mind wa like thn of u child in the body of «n adult, for Indian couldn’t be stopped from fighting. If there huppctied to be a lull in the struggle between the Indian and ;h« soldiers, the red men quicklv sent out war par-tic Into the camps of their nearby enemies. If an Indian had lost or couldn’t us , hi weapon, he would fight with fist, tooth, or nail an he though' it was cowardly to surrender. During the numcrou wars, some Indian chiefs become famous for their bravery. Other chief sought their aid and were proud to campaign wi h them. Thcv often held councils and made plan to attack wood cut'.«r or hands of cavalry In vn t numhi rs so they would be overwhelmed in n hort time. A story has bean told how thirty-two o!dier near Fort Phil Kearny entrenched themselves behind a screen of wagon-boxes nnd defeated Red Cloud’s Indian numbering about three thousand. Every time they came within close range, deadly work with the nrmy rifle was done, and It was said that bullets passed through one Indian into another. The Indian couldn't understand urh incewPPt nnd devastating a fire. It was in mid afternoon that thcv gave up a eleven hundred of their number lay in a mass in front of the wagon-boxes while only one of the whites had been killed and one injured. Thi story spread among the other Indiana and the two thousand that escaped death never fought white men again for they did not wish to have another bad medicine fight with vhe white men . Today almost all the Indian that are in the country live on reservations where they are being educated to give up their old time warfare, which ha become a thing of the past. —17— NINBTEEN THIRTY-FIVE

Page 21 text:

INDIAN HISTORY AND INDIAN RESERVATIONS OF WISCONSIN By George H oilman Mnny year ago there were probably ten thousand Indiana living within the prv»ent bound-trim of our state, Wisconsin. which wn being explored by the French people. Then: were several tribe and families in thia state which then belonged to these Indians. We. white people, usually classify a people depending on the lungu-age .poken. Those, who apeak English, Dutch or German are called Germanic and thox© who ►peak Norwegian, Swedish, or Danish are culled Scandinavian and the French, Spanish, ami Italians are called Latina. The families of the Indian aft clarified in the ■nine way u» Algonquin . Iroquois, and Dakotas. The tribes were divided in several divisions or family groups because often one separated from another on account of hunting or fishing. The Dakota lived chiefly to the west of the Mississippi and the others to the ea t. The Winneba-goc . n branch of the Dukotu . lived near the northern part of Green Fay and in the valley of the Fox und Wisconsin Rivers. The other Indians culled them. The Men of the Sea a it wn believed that they had come from near the wean. The Winnebago . have been known to the white people since 1634, when Nicolet, the French explorer, found them neur Green Hay. They are the earliest known Indian inhabitants of this itato and have probably been in Wis-con in for more than a thousand year . Now Green Fay, one of the oldest cities in this state, is only three hundred years old. The Algonquin , the biggot Indian family in Wisconsin, i the most intelligent, too. To this family have belonged many of the celebrated Indians of hintory such us King Philip, f'owhat-tan, Tammany. Pontiac. Tecumsoh und Black Hawk. The Ojibway . now called the Chippewa , were the least savage of thi-- family. They lived along the shore of Luke Superior and a far south a the Black River. In the northwest lived the quiet and genie Menominee , and they were called Wild Rice Eater . From south of Green Pay along the shore of Lake Michigan where the Pottowattoxnlc lived. Were the mor-t restless of the Algonquin-- tribe The San , lomctimo known a the Sauk and the FoXfc and also as the Outagamie , wer other important tribe- They were the only onei- that were unfriendly to the French explorer . Today wo learn about the early Indian in Wisconsin through legend and tradition from generation to generation IwcauM their history wn not recorded. If wo want to know much about the Indian ; their Ufc. manners, custom , belief and also historical places, wc mui-t go to the record of the French explorer and missionaries who first vi«u d them and traded with them, and alio lived among them. We all hava heard of Marquette. Louis Joliet. Nicolet, Father Alloucz and Kcnc Menard. We learned that Wiaconnin was once the home of three of the greatest Indian tribe . They were the Iroquois, the Sioux und the Algonquin . The Indian hud been reduced In number la-fore the white man came by famine, pestilence and many war . Wc know that the Indian tribe fought against other tribe , notion against nation, kinsman against kinsman n» their white brothers have done In the same way for a long time. Hut when the Indian hud war. it didn’t reduce their number as much us pcstib nee did. Hut naturally disease came from the war und in a settlement of savugc people who didn’t know much about mnitation. «n epidemic couldn’t be stopped so many died of small pox. typhoid fever a ml meads . If these diaeaxo kill people when they have the best medical care and sanitation, it is easy to imagine the great lon»e» of life among the Indians from diseases, especially contagious diseases. Nowaday the Wisconsin Indian Reservation are supported by the government of the United State through grant . Wisconsin really belonged to the Indian »o the United State should provide them thing that they need. Wisconsin has several Indian Reservations. They arc at Red Cliff, La Pointe, Lac Court Oreille, Lac Do Flambeau. Menominee, und Oneida. In Wisconsin, nt the present time, there are six reservations with a total of 337,624 acres of land where the Indian once owned all of the stnto. Imagine, he now own only about one per cent of the whole of Wisconsin. After the Black Hawk War in 1832. th - Indian wi n •• H to reservation in the Western states and also in Wisconsin. A mnll number of Indian have stayed on the laic Do Flambeau and the Lac Court Oreille reservations in the northern woods of Wisconsin. They make a living by sidling bend.-, basket and other trinket , und by going to fair , and exposition , and by guiding tourist on fishing und hunting trip . The percentage of Indian in the population of Wisconsin I small when we remember that three hundred years is a short time in the life of a race of people. —lU— N I X E T E E N TH1RTY-F1 V E