NYYM_scrapbook_193

get nearly all the money. These licensed traders are numerous, and generally plant themselves at the time the money is paid over in the im- mediate vicinity of the place where the payment is made: they sell the Indians the most trifling and worthless articles for an enormous profit: he is temp- ted oftentimes to buy these articles from their gaudy ap- pearance--after he has parted with his last dollar in money to the whiskey seller of licensed trader in payment of old debts for whiskey or some of the above mentioned articles (and they are always largely indebted to these dealers) he then takes the articles he has purchased of the licensed trader to the whiskey shop and sells them for a much less price than he gave, and takes his pay in whiskey at ten or even twenty times its actual cost to the seller. It is no uncommon thing for an Indian after he had parted with all his money and many other necessary articles; to barter away his gun, horse, and even his blanket of a few bottles of whiskey--we were credibly informed that these whiskey shops not unfre- quently have large piles of blankets, and large stacks of guns that have been taken from these poor natives for a little whiskey. Thus we see that the policy of the Government, and the benevolent efforts of those who are honestly labouring amongst them for their good are entirely defea- ted by the avarice and wickedness of these lawless men. On sixth day of the week and first of tenth month, agreeable to previous arrangement, we met about thirty of thier chiefs and principal men in Council at the Agents house. Our object in calling them together was explained to them by David Lowry the sub agent, and then our Certificates from our friends, the Letters and Tack from the Secretary of War, address- ed to them--we then felt constrained to make a few remarks and extend such advice as seemed proper. After which, Little Hill, one of the chiefs, replied, That what he had heard was very good, and that they had heard a number of such talks from thier great father the President; and he had promised to help them, and keep off the whiskey sellers, but he had not done it: and now it was too late: he supposed he had tried, but could not; and had such great matters to attend to that he could not see to their small concerns, and now it was too late to help them. We then told them we did not believe it was too late, for them to refrain from drinking whiskey; we told them that much that they had complained of we believed to be true, and that the white man had wronged them; but that we wished them to understand that they yet had good friends among the whites who were grieved with the conduct of bad white men towards them; we hoped they would not be disour- aged, but strive to do better themselves, and that we and our brothers at home were disposed to do all in our power to help them; and after making on our part some other remarks relative to their condition, they ex- pressed their satisfaction. Little Hill spoke to some of the elder Chiefs, and as we understood requested them to reply to us, as he was young, and wanted some of his older friends to make a speech. They said they were well pleased with our talk, but had nothing further to say. Little Hill then arose and shook hands with us, and then commenced speaking to us through the interpreter Young Lowry. Refering to their former con- dition previous to this intercourse with the whites, he said the Great Spirit had made us all, but he had made us different. Some men he made white, some he made red; and placed them at a distance one from the other. They the red man lived happy, and he supposed the white an lived happy too. They then had no sickness nor deaths amongst them except from old age; all thier people lived to be old and white headed; but when the white man came amongst them, they then became sick and died young. The white man brought fire water amongst them--they supposed that the white man got the whiskey from the bad Spirit, for surely they never got it from the Good Spirit. They began to sell it to the Indians and then thier miseries commenced; and they had be- come reduced and could not repair from drinking so long as the white men sold it to them; and now they dispaired of ever being any better--and the only way for them to be made better was to keep the whiskey away. The white man did not know what