eatly corrupted in their simple and
barbarous manners, by their intercourse with Europeans, many of whom
have borne scarcely any other mark of the Christian character than the
name; and who have not only fallen into the habits of an Indian life,
but have frequently exceeded the savage in their savage customs. When a
female is taken by them, it does not appear that her wishes are at all
consulted, but she is obtained from the lodge as an inmate at the Fort,
for the prime of her days generally, through that irresistible bribe to
Indians, rum. Childbirth, is considered by them, as an event of a
trifling nature; and it is not an uncommon case for a woman to be taken
in labour, step aside from the party she is travelling with, and
overtake them in the evening at their encampment, with a new-born
infant on her back. It has been confidently stated that Indian women
suffer more from parturition with half-breed children than when the
father is an Indian. If this account be true, it can only be in
consequence of their approach to the habits of civilized life, exerting
an injurious influence over their general constitution. When taken to
live with white men, they have larger families, and at the same time
are liable to more disease consequent upon it, than in their wild and
wandering state. They have customs, such as separation for forty days
at the birth of a child, setting apart the female in a separate lodge
at peculiar seasons, and forbidding her to touch any articles in common
use, which bear a strong resemblance to the laws of uncleanness, and
separation commanded to be observed towards Jewish females. These
strongly corroborate the idea, that they are of Asiatic origin;
descended from some of the scattered tribes of the children of Israel:
and through some ancient transmigration, came over by Kamtchatka into
these wild and extensive territories. When they name their children, it
is common for them to make a feast, smoke the calumet, and address the
Master of life, asking him to protect the child, whom they call after
some animal, place, or object in nature, and make him a good hunter.
The Stone Indians add to the request, a good horse-stealer. The women
suckle their children generally, till the one supplants the other, and
it is not an uncommon circumstance to see them of three or four years
old running to take the breast. They have a burial ground at the
Settlement, and usually put the property of the deceased into the grave