The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 29, July 1925 - April, 1926 Page: 285
330 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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A Trip to Texas in 1828 285
head, imitating the comb on a rooster. On the artificial bald
space they apply different colors in waving and snakelike stripes
that reach to below the neck. They are all fond of making their
faces show a vermillion red. The Indians thus give themselves
the name of red men, establishing thereby a race group like the
white or black races. Perhaps the predilection shown by the
American Indian for vermillion is derived from a vain idea of
race consciousness or lineage, for though they apply different colors
to their faces they prefer the red above all others. The harangues
are well thought out, and though they know they cannot be under-
stood as spoken and that these speeches must be translated by an
interpreter, they pronounce them with emphasis and vigor. They
begin (the Cherokees, Delawares, Kickapoos, Cuchates) by men-
tioning the Great Being or Spirit, to whom they give the title of
Father of Men, He Who is seeing everything. They then relate
their travels to the Mexican territory, giving as their object that
they came to solicit the friendship of their brothers with whom
they desire to live in peace, in token of which they offer them the
peace pipe trimmed with white beads. They declare that they
have followed the straight road, that their words are sincere, that
they offer their hand as friends to avoid war, the cracking of
rifles. They promise to respect property, and protest that they
are humble and ignorant people to whom the Great Being above
did not give the ability to read and write as to the white men, and
they generally insist on this as if they had a vehement desire to
secure these attainments. They conclude with a petition for per-
petual peace in terms that are remarkable for their loftiness and
figurative style. 'We are friends and live like brothers, but as our
life is short and it will not be long before we will be buried in the
earth, we teach our children to follow in our footsteps; we leave
them the white beads which we received from our elders, and
charge them to keep them and to give you their hand in friend-
ship, and to smoke with you the pipe of peace. We ask you to
teach your children in like manner now to be our friends.'
"The Delawares on their second visit, during which they asked
for lands to be granted them on the banks of the Red River, be-
cause the governor of Arkansas had deprived them of their hold-
ings, insisted that teachers of reading and writing be furnished for
them. They presented to me a written document in English which
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 29, July 1925 - April, 1926, periodical, 1926; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117141/m1/311/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.