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* JT’ CHEROKEE :»St VOL. I. NEW ECHOTA, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 3, 1828. ■ 1 — -1 NO. 40. [-SUITED BY ELIAS BOUDINOFT. PRINTED WEEKLY BY ISAAC II. HARRIS, for 'THE CHEROKEE NATION. A.t #2 50 if paiil in advance, $3 in six months, or #3 50 if paid at the end of the year. To subscribers who can read only the Cherokee language th<* price will be $2,00 in advance, or $2,50 to be paid within the year. Every subscription will be considered as continued unless subscribers give notice to the contrary before the commencement ol a new year. Any person procuring six subscribers, and becoming responsible for the payment, shall receive a seventh gratis. Advertisements will be inserted at seven- W-five cents per square for the first inser tion, and thirty-seven and a half cents lor lach continuance; longer ones in propor tion. ^ l SCF* All letters addressed to the Editor, post paid, will receive due attention. J «f .9 U 0* AD IiSiJF. C.® A. X>9\V£&X TAAfl* V-V* JhrfBAa K4oi)Jt. B8AF, UTiWhAvey KTJ1 D^P D>ejBJ TCTZ TF.iBO-f* TCTZ t»VP -Td&O-A TB DO ii&trtJKo? KT tpojn.j; p-4<*a. otaA^Ez tb yiv 0-y/tT D,1P 0“e,lBJ *4<»A. Givyz unesna^y, wp*v** PS.TSJI I-4<».I r'MBtf", TCTZ TF..U(>!r»D0- KT/iz d^p Ooty-y* o>».ib- EMIt D6J»5ot)I v «l^I. kGENTS FOR THE CHEROKEE PHCENIX. The following persons are authorized to. write subscriptings and payments for the Dherokee Phoenix. Messrs. Pierce &, Williams, No. 20 Garnet St. Boston, Mass. George M. Tracy, Agent of the A.B. 5, F. M. New York. Rev. A. D. Eddy, Canandaigua, N. Y. Thomas Hastings, Utica, N. Y. Pollard &. Converse, Richmond, Va. Rev. James Campbell, Beaufort, S. C William Moultrie Reid, Charleston, i. C. Col. George Smith, Statesville, W. T. William M. Combs, Nashville Ten. Rev. Bennet Roberts—Powal Me. Mr. Thos. R. Gold, (an itinerant Gen- ieinan.) Jeremiah Austil, Mobile Ala. From the National Intelligencer. Gentlemen: Seeing in your paper a I ice from a New York paper, of the imber, &c. of the Winnebago nation Indians, from a deputation of whom s are expecting a visit, and stating eir warriors to be 1200-—I take the >erty of oiFering you a few observa- >ns ori the same subject, extracted im my manuscript journal, made ith great care and circumspection, lilst travelling in the Winnebago untry in the Summer of 1827. Yours, &c. P- fVie Little Hill of the Bend Fox River, ) August 1827. ) “The Indians in these regions, (the innebagoes particularly,) are he wed tA increase. From the Salu- ity of the atmosphere, the great entities of wild rice, the number & ality of their com and bear patches, t especially the swarms of children, iresutne it is so. Maj. Brevooyt, e Agent at Green Bay, thinks there e not less than 8000 Winnebagoes, d 2,500 Menomonies. * 1 , But I be- ive his estimate, as to the former, is cessive. 1 spared no pains to as- irtnin their number wherever I trav- ed, by counting the wigwams and labitatlts at every village, and esti- iting the numbers at the villages ly heard of, in the same ratio; and I l confident, that, at the very extent Rock river, and in its vicinity, from e mouth of Turtle Creek, (40 miles >m the Mississippi,) up, embracing ; large village at the hea.d of Winne- go Lake, and the two at the foot, sides the village at Bears-oil Lake Fox river, there are not more than 0 souk; and, according to the best counts 1 can get, these are more m a third part of the whole nation. they can muster four hamdretl war- rs, it fs as much. Winndffagoh a name given by oth er Indians; from Weenybeegk, (a Chippewa town,) or Weenypaykw, (Menomanie,) which, I am told, signi fies at the dirty water; literally the peo ple who liae at the dirty water. It is a word compounded of something whi-* I don ©t know, signify ing dirty, & Wee- beesh, (Chippeway,) water—or Nip- pay woo, Menomania,) same significa tion. Hence, some think they once dwelt on the borders of Lake Winne- pick or JVeenybeegk. They are call ed, very appropriately, by the French, Puant, (the Stinkers.) To specificate, I would say, Peditores; lor though all Indians are much given to this disgus- ting practice, these evince far less concern in it than any others of whom I have any knowledge. In other re- «per.to, they are as sweet a tribe of In dians as any, though truly they do give loose to almost every impulse of nature, save one, without regard to age, sex, or condition. The females, however, are not quite so indecent as the males. Their proper name is Hoat-shungrur-nar, or Oat-shog-ur-ah. The Wiunebagoes have less inter course with the Whites than any oth.- er Indians east of the Mississippi; con sequently, they retain their pristime manners & customs in greater purity, and have contracted fewer vices.— True, they will steal from White People, (but this is no crime with them,) and, like other Indians, are lazy; yet we lost nothing by them, though entirely at their mercy, and the only uncivilized Indian l ever saw working in a corn field, was a Winne bago. But he was good deal confu sed at being detected in the character of a woman. They have no idea of the strength of the United States.— They suppose our chief strength lies at Prairie du Chien, Green Bay, and the Lead Mines—and those who have seen St. Louis, think that no town can surpass it; and they believe that our nation is entirely dependent on Great Britain for all manner of mer chandise; in which there is more truth than there ought to be. Considering their ignorance in re gard to the United States, I do not think a proper course has been pur sued towards (hem. They have nev er, like other Indians, been shewed the strength of the nation; and the whites around them, instead of endeav ouring to conciliate, treat them with scorn, and as enemies; as inlvyders, rather than as the rightful owners of the soil. Were a few of their chiefs to be taken to our principal cities, and afterwards some honest man plac ed among them, who Would be as their own father, the Government would have no friends more devotedly at tached than they. Their language is badly understood; and it having been their policy to avoid as much as pos sible all intercourse with the Ameri cans, (Mah-hayhuhterra) they know less of them, and arc less known by them, than any Indians, perhaps, East of the Rocky Mountains. They are ignorant, it is true, of what we know; but they are naturally sensible and brave—of a lofty and independant spi rit—and extremely, jealous of-their rights. They are warm in their friendships, but implacable in their resentments, and of all Indians should suppose them to be the most difficult to treat with. The Wennebagoes of Rock, river have fewer dogs, but more healthy- looking children, are more industrious, drink less, and have better corn and other patches, than any Indians I have ever seen. They trim their hair more like white people than any other Indians; and the custom of plucldng out the eye bi'ows, is peculiar, I believe, to this nation. They paint so freely, that this peculiarity might be unob served, St perhaps it is only tempora ry, as several persons, who have been trading with them for years, never ob served it until I pointed it out to them. The Winnebagoes have a wonder ful abhorrence of hanging. Tliere ij», perhaps, no other mode of taking a way life which they hate and ihudder at. The reason is singular and e- nough indeed to harrow ui/ my soul which has a “longing after immortali ty,” and make it “shrink back upon itself” with horror, besides the mor tification of their pride, which is great, as they say hanging is the 4eath for dogs —they think that the soul, or spirit, is stopped by the cord, entirely prevented from escaping. Supposing the throat to be its only avenue of escape, they can form no idea of what has become of it when life is extinguished by a cord round the neck, unless it be deitroyed or fixed in the body, aud consijmed^o eternal amalgamation with it in the grave, never to reach the hapiy land of their fathers and friends. Such idea, no doubt, cause them sometimes to commit suicide in prison. They are exceedingly generous— at Bears Oil Lake having shared with our guide our last supper, and the list of our provisions, we were surprised to see the poor hungry fellow, after walking and fasting all day, divide t, without being requested, among a number of Indians who had just cone from the village. He ate but litte more than one mouthful, & appeared js well satisfied as if he had ate a full meal. After our visiters retired, we gave the generous guide something which r emained of our share, at which he expressed the most astonishing sir- prise, joy, and thankfulness. It is seldom that eVen a child will eat aiy thing that is given to it, without fust running with it to its mother to tale part or divide it among all the chil dren. 1 have frequently been delight ed with this noble display of infant vir tue. The Winnebagoes not having the Gospel, hale the Americans, believing them to be. their enemies. DUTIES OF THE MIDDLE AGED. Education.—The active spirit, of the age is awake on the subject of ed ucation. On no other subject, per haps, is it more awake. It begins to scrutinize the books in current use, to pry into the different modes of in struction, to point out deficiencies, to expose neglects and abuses, aud de mand reform and improvement. And reform and improvement will be the result. Children may be taught with but little increase of expense, a hun dred fold more knowledge during the first fourteen or fifteen years of their lives, than that which has ordinarily been obtained within this period.— You may regard this statement as hy perbolical; but I believe it literal!^ true, though I cannot, in this place, enter minutely into the grounds of my confidence. My firm conviction is that if God should spare any of us who are now in middle life, to old agej we shall see such d complete reform of the views of parents in regard to the importance of education, such an im provement in the books used, and the modes of instruction Jsdopted in our common schools, as well as in the skill of the teachers, as shall make the whole system inconceivably more practical and efficacious taan it now is. Selecting Places for ChiUren ---How often do we hear parents uie language not unlike this: I am goinj to place my child with such a person, in this, or in that, situation. I do not alto gether like the place. His employer is not a man of principle; and I fear he will not have correct sentiments instilled into his mind; that he will not always hear the most decorous language, or have exhibited before him the fairest examples of virtue; but the situation is a very advanta geous one: my child’s master is skilled in his art, and is a thorough man of bu siness; and more than all, he makes him the fairest offers, and will proba bly be the means of setting him up in the world. The situation is there fore chosen, and the child, at a highly susceptible age, is consigned over to the most pernicious moral influences, with perhaps a solemn charge not to suffer his mind to be affected by them. This is not fancy, but melancholy fact. Conduct strongly resembling this is not unfrequently exhibited; and how- eye r consistent it may be with kind ness of heart, the wisdom it evinces resembles nothing so much as that of a parent who should precipitate his child into the crater of a volanoe, charging him at the same time to guard himself against thq assaults of the fiery waves that rolled below. My friends, you give your children good moral and religious instruction. You do well; shew them both when you are imparting it, and subsequent ly—shew them by all that you do, and say, that you believe what you teach —that you mean to act according to the elevated principles which you in culcate. Influence of Bad Companions.—An other unhappy cause of failure in mor al education, too common to be pass ed over in silence, is the influence of bad companions. I here refer to the companions of childhood. Through their unhappy agency, your best in structions and most assiduous efforts may be entirely defeated. Guard your dear child then, to every practi cable extent, against such pernicious influence. He needs but few associ ates out of your own family—choose those for him; and if you cannot make him worthy of such as are good, it were better than that he should have none. No parent ought ever to be ig norant where, and with whom, his child spends his hours of recreation, unless he wishes to educate him for perdi tion. It is task enough to train up a child in the way to life, without hav ing him often encompassed with a throng, whose example and entire in fluence is calculated to entice him from duty, and hurry him down the broad road to destruction. Strive to make home pleasant to your children. Do not needlessly interrupt or dis courage their innocent amusements; but strive to raise their minds above undue attachment to them, by excit ing a taste for books, and furnishing them with such as are most interest ing and instructive, and wisely adapt ed to their age and attainments. No person can imagine how much may be done in this way, till he has made a thorough trial. The difference in ef fect, upon the mind and heart, be tween spending an evening in perusing an entertaining book, and spending it with childish, not to say wicked' asso ciates, in folly, and in vain, perhaps corrupting conversation, is unspeaka bly great.—Linsley. Elephant Hunting.—Extract of a letter from a Medical Officer, dated Hambantoti, Island of Ceylon, Febru ary 26th: “I have just returned from "I beholding a sight, which, even in this country, is a rare occurrence, viz: an Elephant hunt, conducted undar the orders of Government. A minute de scription, though well worth pe rusal, would be far too long for a let ter; I shall therefore only give you what is generally termed a faint idea. Imagine two or three thousand men surrounding a tract of country six or eight miles in circumference, each one armed with different- combusti bles and’ moving fires; in the midst suppose three hundred elephants, be ing driven towards the centre by the gradual and regular approach of those fires, till, at last, they are confined within a circle of about two miles; they are then driven by the same means into a space made by the erec tion of immense logs of ebony, and other strong wood, bound together by cane, and of the shape, in minature, of the longitudinal section of a funnel, towards which they rush with the greatest fury, amidst the most horrid yells, on the approach of tiro, of which they stand in the greatest dread.— When enclosed, they become outra geous, and charge on all sides with great fury, but without any effect on the strong barricado- They at length gain th« narrow path of the enclosure, the extreme end of which is jusi hu ge enougii to admit one elephant, wlikh is immediately prevented from ure 0 n- ing out by strong bars laid across.— To express their passion, iheir despe ration, when thus confined, is impossi ble; and still more so, to imagine the facility and admirable contrr. an. i y which they are removed and tamed. Thus it is: A tame elephant is plac ed on each side, to whom the wiid one is fastened by ropes; he is then allow ed to pass out, and immediately on . s making the least resistance, the tame one gives him a most tremendi h squeeze between their sides, and beat him with (heir ti unks until he subirn-s; they then lead him to a place ready prepared, to which he is suo;.. , tened, and return to perform (lie same civility to the next one. in this y.ay, seventy wild elephants were captur ed for the purpose of Governmei.. la bor. The tame elephants daily take each wild one singly Jto water and to feed, until they become quite tame and docile. The remaining i « were shot by the people. I took pos session of a young one, and have h m him now tied up near iny door; he is quite reconciled, and eats il!i t <- greatest confident e out of my hanc-,; he is, however, too expensive to ke< long, and I fear I must eventually sb>. t him. Some idea of the expense m:y be supposed, when I (ell you that in one article alone (milk) his allow ai; e is tw r o gallons per day. I was at tl is scene with thirty other officers , d their ladies, and we remained in tem porary huts for nearly ten days,” The Lakes of Jhncnca.—Wc publish ed a paragraph some time since, in which it was stated that Lake Supe rior was gradually wearing away the barrier which prevented the discharge of its w aters into the lakes below r d that fears were entertained of a sud den inundation, before many ytais should have passed. Some attention has been drawn to this fact—for a fa, t it is slated to be—and intelligent gen tlemen living on the borders of Hie lakes have investigated the subject with considerable scrutiny. Some of the facts which follow, are the re sult. The floods, this season, which have prevailed in the lakes, have l, greater than those for many years fast. A regular ebb and flood exists in the lakes, not like that in the ocean, but occurring every seven years, and pio- ceeding from a different and unknown cause. It is contended by some per sons that this is not the fact: and lin t the cause of the unusual height of' ihe waters this season, is owing to the great snows and rains of the preceding- winter. They refer, triumphantly^ the high water of 1827 to the same cause. According to their them v the water should have begun to fall -n 1827—but the fact is," it was then some inches higher than it had been the preceding year. Last winter, 1827—8, is known to have furnished few falls of snow, and comparatively few of rain; and in the regions of the lakes, there was less than had been for many years previous, and the spring rains were not more than or dinary round Lake Superior, Michi gan and Huron, though they were heavy on Eric and Ontario; yet all the lakes below Superior are this summer much higher than they were last; and higher, too, th»n they were known to be by the oldest person living in their vicinity. Lake Superior is now much lower than it has been for three years past. This fact is accounted for bv the circumstance of large fragments of rocks having been recently remov ed from the head of the Rapids be tween Superior & Huron, by the ac tion of the water on the barrier of lime- rock which fences up this imme* se sheet of lvater eighteen feet above L. Huron. This circumstance clearly demonstrates that Lake Superior gradually washing away the barrier which keeps its waters in their prop, er plaee, and satisfactorily account#