Treatise on the Six-Nation Indians | Page 7

this counter-proposition, it will then be a question between its operation,
and his marriage with the white, as to which explains the fact of the
decline now of the dark complexion with the Indian.
The custom of piercing the nose, and suspending nose-jewels therefrom,
has fallen into disrepute, the Indian, perhaps, having been brought to
view these as contributing, in a questionable way, to his adornment.
The Indian woman has a finer development, as a rule, than the white
woman. We may, in part, discover the cause for this in the prevalence
of the custom, already alluded to, of the mother carrying her offspring
on her back, which, with its not undue strain on the dorsal muscles, no
doubt, promotes and conserves muscular strength. The Indian woman
being commonly a wife and mother before a really full maturity has
been reached, or any absolute unyieldingness of form been contracted,
the figure yet admits of such-like beneficent processes being exerted
upon it. In making mention of this custom, and, in a certain way,
paying it honor, let me not be taken as wishing to precipitate a
revolution in the accepted modes, with refined-communities, of
bringing up children. To a community, however, like that of which we
are treating, such plan is not ill-suited, the Indian mother being secure
against any very critical observation of her acts, or of the fashion she
adopts. Let the custom, then, continue, as it can be shown, I think, to
favour the production of a healthier and stronger frame both in the
mother and in the child. A good figure is also insured to the Indian
woman, from her contemning, perhaps at the bid of necessity, arising
from her poverty, though, I verily believe, from a well-grounded
conception of their deforming tendencies, the absurdly irrational
measures, which, adopted by many among ourselves to promote
symmetry, only bring about distortion.
The Indian has very symmetrical hands, and the variation in size, in this
respect, in the case of the two sexes, is often very slight, and,
sometimes, scarce to be traced. The compliment, in the case of the man,
has, and is meant to have, about it a quite appreciable tinge of
condemnation, as suggesting his self-compassionate recoiling from
manual exertion; and the explanation of the near approach in the
formation of the hand of the woman to that of the man, may be found in
the delegating to her, by the latter, in unstinted measure, and in

merciless fashion, work that should be his. It is rare, also, to find a
really awkwardly shaped foot in an Indian. The near conformity to a
uniform size in the case of the two sexes, which I have noticed as being
peculiar with the hand, may also be observed with the foot. I would
sum up my considerations here with the confident assertion that the
examination of a number of specimens of the hand or foot in an Indian,
would demonstrate a range in size positively immaterial.
The Indian woman keeps up, to a large extent, the practice of wearing
leggings and moccasins.
I should be disposed to think that the blood coursing through the
Indian's frame is of a richer consistency, and has, altogether, greater
vitalizing properties than that in ourselves, since on the severest day in
winter he will frequently scorn any covering beyond his shirt, and the
nether garments usually suggested by its mention, and, so apparelled,
will not recoil from the keenest blast.

HIS CHIEFS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS.
The dignity of a chief comes to the holder through the principle of
hereditary succession, confined to, and operating only with, certain
families. In the cage of the death of one of these chiefs, the distinction
and powers he enjoyed devolve upon his kinsman, though not
necessarily upon the next of kin. The naming and appointing of a
successor, and the adjudicating upon the point as to whether he fulfils
the qualifications esteemed necessary to maintain the dignity of the
chiefship, are confided to the oldest woman of the tribe, thus deprived
by death of one of its heads. She has a certain latitude in choosing, and,
so long as she respects in the selection of her appointee, the principle of
kinship to the dead chief (whether this be proximate or remote is
immaterial) her appointment is approved and confirmed.
The chiefs are looked upon as the heads or fathers of the tribe, and they
rely, to a large extent, for their influence over the tribe, upon their
wisdom, and eminence generally in qualities that excite or compel
admiration or regard. In an earlier period of the history of the Indian
communities, when their forests were astir with the demon of war,
eligibility for the chiefship contemplated in the chief the conjoining of
bravery with wisdom, and