Part 23 (1/2)

Brothers,--When the white men first set foot on our grounds, they were hungry; they had no place on which to spread their blankets, or to kindle their fires. They were feeble; they could do nothing for themselves. Our fathers commiserated their distress, and shared freely with them whatever the Great Spirit had given his red children. They gave them food when hungry, medicine when sick, spread skins for them to sleep on, and gave them grounds, that they might hunt and raise corn.--Brothers, the white people are like poisonous serpents: when chilled, they are feeble and harmless; but invigorate them with warmth, and they sting their benefactors to death.

The white people came among us feeble; and now that we have made them strong, they wish to kill us, or drive us back, as they would wolves and panthers. Brothers,--The white men are not friends to the Indians: at first, they only asked for land sufficient for a wigwam; now, nothing will satisfy them but the whole of our hunting grounds, from the rising to the setting sun.

Brothers,--The white men want more than our hunting grounds; they wish to kill our old men, women, and little ones.

Brothers,--Many winters ago, there was no land; the sun did not rise and set; all was darkness. The Great Spirit made all things. He gave the white people a home beyond the great waters. He supplied these grounds with game, and gave them to his red children; and he gave them strength and courage to defend them.

Brothers,--My people wish for peace; the red men all wish for peace; but where the white people are, there is no peace for them, except it be on the bosom of our mother.

Brothers,--The white men despise and cheat the Indians; they abuse and insult them; they do not think the red men sufficiently good to live.

The red men have borne many and great injuries; they ought to suffer them no longer. My people will not; they are determined on vengeance; they have taken up the tomahawk; they will make it fat with blood; they will drink the blood of the white people.

Brothers,--My people are brave and numerous; but the white people are too strong for them alone. I wish you to take up the tomahawk with them. If we all unite, we will cause the rivers to stain the great waters with their blood.

Brothers,--If you do not unite with us, they will first destroy us, and then you will fall an easy prey to them. They have destroyed many nations of red men, because they were not united, because they were not friends to each other.

Brothers,--The white people send runners amongst us; they wish to make us enemies, that they may sweep over and desolate our hunting grounds, like devastating winds, or rus.h.i.+ng waters.

Brothers,--Our Great Father, over the great waters, is angry with the white people, our enemies. He will send his brave warriors against them; he will send us rifles, and whatever else we want--he is our friend, and we are his children.

Brothers,--Who are the white people that we should fear them?

They cannot run fast, and are good marks to shoot at: they are only men; our fathers have killed many of them: we are not squaws, and we will stain the earth red with their blood.

Brothers,--The Great Spirit is angry with our enemies; he speaks in thunder, and the earth swallows up villages, and drinks up the Mississippi. The great waters will cover their lowlands; their corn cannot grow; and the Great Spirit will sweep those who escape to the hills from the earth with his terrible breath.

Brothers,--We must be united; we must smoke the same pipe; we must fight each other's battles; and, more than all, we must love the Great Spirit: he is for us; he will destroy our enemies, and make all his red children happy.

Conclusion of Major-General Brock's general order, Detroit, 16th August, 1812: ”The conduct of the Indians under Colonel Elliott, Captain M'Kee, and the other officers of that department, joined to that of the gallant and brave chiefs of their respective tribes, has since the commencement of the war been marked with acts of true heroism, and in nothing can they testify more strongly their love to the king, their great father, than in following the dictates of honor and humanity, by which they have been hitherto actuated. Two fortifications have already been captured from the enemy, without a drop of blood being shed by the hands of the Indians: the instant the enemy submitted, his life became sacred.”

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 86: To the facts and observations above stated I must add the extraordinary circ.u.mstance, that a staff officer was sent, express from Montreal to Upper Canada, to prevent General Brock from proceeding to the western district, but which most happily was prevented from taking effect by the extraordinary rapidity of the movements of that most zealous and gallant officer, who had arrived thither before the officer so sent could reach him.--_Letters of Veritas._]

[Footnote 87: See extract from Letters of Veritas on this point.

Appendix A, Section 1, No. 3.]

[Footnote 88: Appendix A, Section 1, No. 4.]

[Footnote 89: This letter was forwarded by Brigade-Major Shekleton with that of the 12th August (see page 217), from Sir George Prevost, who doubtless wrote another the following day relative to the armistice, but we cannot find it among Major-General Brock's papers.]

[Footnote 90: Coteau du Lac and Isle aux Noix are the keys of Lower Canada; the former completely commands the navigation of the St.

Lawrence between the Upper and Lower Provinces, and the latter had been so decidedly regarded as the barrier of Lower Canada from the Champlain frontier, that it excited the particular attention of the French engineers in the last defence of the country, and was afterwards fortified at considerable expense by General Haldimand, daring the war of the American revolution.--_Quarterly Review_.]

[Footnote 91: Fort Wayne is situated at the junction of the St. Mary and St. Joseph rivers, which form the Miami of the lake, and not more than twelve miles from the navigable waters of the Wabash. This post is nearly in the centre of the Indian settlements on this side the Mississippi. Many Indian villages lay from twelve to sixty miles from this place.--_Brown's American History_.]