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RECEPTION OF THE SAUKS AND FOXES.

PREFATORY NOTE.

In the autumn of 1837, a numerous delegation of the Sauk and Fox tribes of Indians went to Washington, on business connected with their boundary. They were led by their chief, Keokuk, who from motives of prudence brought with them their late celebrated war chief, Black Hawk, then in disgrace. Several females and children accompanied the deputation, and Keokuk himself was attended by his favorite wife, and her son, a child of about ten years of age. It was deemed expedient by the United States government that this deputation should visit the cities of the Middle and Eastern States, and Boston was included in their tour.

In compliance with the wishes of the war department, a public reception was given to these interesting visitors by the municipal authorities of Boston and the state executive of Massachusetts. They were received on the morning of the thirtieth October, 1837, in the hall of the House of Rep resentatives, where the following speeches were made, in the presence of a very large assembly. After partaking a collation in the senate chamber, they exhibited their war dances on the Common in the afternoon, in the presence of a vast multitude of spectators from Boston and the neighboring country. The warriors were dressed and decorated in their national costume and taste, and afforded the best specimen of the native population of the continent which has been seen in this part of the country within the memory of man. Their deportment and conduct were uniformly decorous and orderly, both in public and at their lodgings, and in the private houses at which they were entertained.

The official address made to them by Mr Everett has been included in this volume, as a memorial of a highly interesting public occasion, of a nature not likely soon to return. The replies of two or three of the warriors have been also subjoined, as authentic specimens of native oratory. They spoke with fluency, animation, and much natural grace and ease, but their half-breed interpreter did not appear to be very skilful; and it is probable, for this reason, that full justice is not done to their speeches in the report. Dr Jonathan Edwards, in his observations on the language of the Muhhekaneew Indians, classes the Saukies and Ottagaumies (Foxes) with the tribes of the New England and Middle States, as belonging to the great Delaware

family. It was under this impression that the following speech was made. Further researches render this conclusion somewhat doubtful, except on the broad ground that all the native races of the American continent, notwithstanding the extraordinary phenomenon of radical differences of language, may be considered as of one stock. See Pickering's edition of Edwards, pp. 44 et seq.

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RECEPTION OF THE SAUKS AND FOXES.

CHIEFS AND WARRIORS OF THE UNITED SAUKS AND FOXES: You are welcome to our hall of council.

Brothers, you have come a long way from your home to visit your white brethren;- we rejoice to take you by the hand.

Brothers, we have heard the names of your chiefs and warriors. Our brethren who have travelled into the west have told us a great deal about the Sauks and Foxes; we rejoice to see you with our own eyes.

This is the Their wigwams

Brothers, we are called the Massachusetts. name of the red men who once lived here. were scattered on yonder fields; and their council fire was kindled on this spot. They were of the same great race as the Saukies and Misquakuiks.*

Brothers, when our fathers came over the great water, they were a small band. The red man stood upon the rock by the sea-side, and saw our fathers. He might have pushed them into the water and drowned them. But he stretched out his hand to them, and said, "Welcome, white men." Our fathers were hungry, and the red man gave them corn and venison. They were cold, and the red man wrapped them up in his blanket. We are now numerous and powerful, but we remember the kindness of the red man to our fathers. Brothers, you are welcome; we are glad to see you.

Brothers, our faces are pale, and your faces are dark; but our hearts are alike. The Great Spirit has made his children of different colors, but he loves them all.

* An ancient name for the Foxes.

Brothers, you dwell between the Mississippi and the Missouri. They are mighty rivers. They have one branch far east in the Alleghanies, and another far west in the Rocky Mountains; but they flow together at last into one great stream, and run down into the sea. In like manner the red man dwells in the west; and the white man in the east, by the great water. But they are all one band, one family. It has many branches and one Head.

Brothers, as you entered our council house, you beheld the image of our great father, Washington.* It is a cold stone; it cannot speak. But he was the friend of the red man, and bade his children live in friendship with their red brethren. He is gone to the world of spirits, but his words have made a very deep print in our hearts, like the step of a strong buffalo on the soft clay of the prairie.

Brother, (to Ke-o-kuk,) I perceive your little son between your knees. May the Great Spirit preserve his life, my brother. He grows up before you, like the tender sapling by the side of the mighty oak. May they flourish for a long time together; and when the mighty oak is fallen on the ground, may the young tree fill its place in the forest, and spread out its branches over the tribe.

Brothers, I make you a short talk, and again bid you welcome to our council hall.

The reply of Ke-o-kuk (Watchful Fox) was as follows:

"I am very much gratified to have the pleasure of shaking hands with the great chief of the state, and the chiefs who surround him.

"The remark you made just now, that the Great Spirit made both of us, though your skin is white and mine red, is true. He made our hearts alike. The only difference is, that he made you to speak one language, and me another. He made us hands to take each other by, and eyes to see each other.

* Chantrey's statue.

"Brothers, I am very happy to be able to say, before I die, that I have been to the house where your fathers used to speak with ours, as we now do with you; and we hope that the Good Spirit is pleased with this sight.

"I hope he will long keep friendship between the white and red men; and I hope that he sees that our hearts are friendly to each other.

"My remarks are short, and I shall say no more; but I take all our friends here by the hand, and hope that the Great Spirit will bless them."

After speeches from two other leading chiefs, Po-we-skeek, (Strawberry,) a principal chief, spoke as follows:

"You have heard what my chiefs have to say. They are much gratified by their visit to this town. They were invited to the council house (Faneuil Hall) of my brother on Saturday, and to-day they are brought to this great council hall.

"They are much pleased with these attentions, and will not forget them. Though I am not now able to reward you for these kindnesses, I hope the Great Spirit will reward you for them.

"This is the place where our race once lived. I have often heard my father and grandfather say that they once lived by the sea-coast, when the white man first came. I wish I had a book, and could read in it all these things. I have been told that is the way you get all your knowledge.

"As far as I can understand the accounts of the white people, it appears to me that the Americans have reached a high place among the nations of the white people; that very few could overpower them.

"I too belong to a race that is much respected by all others; and though I say it, where I live I am looked up to by others, and they all respect me. I am very happy that two great men like you and me should meet and shake hands together."

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