He Is A Man Of Strong
Sense, Of Great Sagacity, And Considerable Ambition.
There is no reason why the Indians should not speedily become
civilized.
Those who have longest lived amongst them, and who best
understand their character, tell me so. I fully believe it. The Indian
follows his wild habits because he has been educated to do so. The
education of habit, familiar from infancy, and the influence of
tradition, lead him to the hunt, and as much to despise manual labor.
He does what he has been taught to consider as noble and honorable,
and that is what the most enlightened do. Certainly his course of life
is the most severe and exposed; it is not for comfort that he adheres
to his wild habits. He regards it as noble to slay his hereditary foe.
Hence the troubles which occasionally break out between the Chippewas
and the Sioux. To gain the applause of their tribe they will incur
almost any danger, and undergo almost any privation. Thus, we see that
for those objects which their education has taught them to regard as
first and best, they will sacrifice all their comforts. They have
sense enough, and ambition enough, and fortitude enough. To those they
love they are affectionate almost to excess. Only direct their
ambition in the proper way, and they will at once rise. Teach them
that it is noble to produce something useful by their labor, and to
unite with the great family of man to expand arts and to improve the
immortal mind teach them that it is noble, that there is more
applause to be gained by it, as well as comfort, and they will change
in a generation.
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