An Indian Boy's Story

8/9/2019 An Indian Boy's Story

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An Indian Boy's Story

By Ah-nen-la-de-ni

[Ah-nen-la-de-ni, whose Americanname is Daniel La France, told hisown tale in neat typewritten form,

and has been aided only to theextent of some rewriting andrearrangement.--EDITOR.]

I was born in Governeur Village, N. Y.,

in April, 1879, during one of theperiodical wanderings of my family,and my first recollection isconcerning a house in Toronto,Canada, in which I was living with

my father and mother, brother andgrandmother. I could not have beenmuch more than three years old atthe time.


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My father was a pure-blooded Indianof the Mohawk tribe of the SixNations, and our home was in the

St. Regis reservation in FranklinCounty, N. Y., but we werefrequently away from that placebecause my father was an Indianmedicine man, who made frequent

journeys, taking his family with himand selling his pills and physics invarious towns along the border linebetween Canada and the United

States.This house in Toronto was winter

quarters for us. In the summer timewe lived in a tent. We had the

upper part of the house, while somegypsies lived in the lower part.


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All sorts of people came to consult the"Indian doctor," and the gypsiessent them upstairs to us, and

mother received them, and thenretired into another room with mybrother and myself. She did notknow anything about my father'smedicines, and seemed to hate totouch them. When my father wasout mother was frequently asked tosell the medicines, but she wouldnot, telling the patients that they

must wait until the doctor camehome. She was not purebloodedIndian, her father being a FrenchCanadian, while her mother, my

grandmother, was a pure-bloodedIndian, who lived with us.


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hunting the birds and little animalswith my bow and arrows. So Ilearned very little from all this lore.

My father was rather a strikingfigure. His hair was long and black,and he wore a long Prince Albertcoat while in the winter quarters,

and Indian costume, fringed andbeaded, while in the tent. Hismedicines were put up in pill boxesand labeled bottles, and were theresults of knowledge that had been

handed down through manygenerations in our tribe.

My brother and I also wore long hair,and were strange enough in

appearance to attract attentionfrom the white people about us, butmother kept us away from them asmuch as possible.


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My father was not only a doctor, butalso a trapper, fisherman, farmerand basket maker.

The reservation in Franklin County is avery beautiful place, fronting on themain St. Lawrence River. Tributariesof the St. Lawrence wander through

it, and its woods still preserve theirwild beauty. On this reservation wehad our permanent home in a loghouse surrounded by land, on whichwe planted corn, potatoes and such

other vegetables as suited ourfancies. The house was more thanfifty years old.


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The woods provided my father andgrandmother with their herbs androots, and they gathered there the

materials for basket making. Therewere also as late as 1880 somebeavers, muskrats and minks to betrapped, and pickerel, salmon andwhite perch to be caught in thestreams. These last sources ofrevenue for the Indians no longerexist; the beavers, minks andmuskrats are extinct, while the mills

of the ever encroaching white manhave filled the streams with sawdustand banished the fish.


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We were generally on the reservationin early spring, planting, fishing,basket making, gathering herbs and

making medicine, and then in thefall, when our little crop wasbrought in, we would depart on ourtour of the white man's towns andcities, camping in a tent on theoutskirts of some place, selling ourwares, which included bead workthat mother and grandmother wereclever at making, and moving on as

the fancy took us until cold weathercame, when my father would

generally build a little log house insome wood, plastering the chinkswith moss and clay, and there wewould abide, warm amid ice andsnow, till it was time to go to thereservation again.


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One might imagine that with such agreat variety of occupations wewould soon become rich--especially

as we raised much of our own foodand seldom had any rent to pay--but this was not the case. I do notknow how much my father chargedfor his treatment of sick people,but his prices were probablymoderate, and as to our trade inbaskets, furs and bead work, wewere not any better business

Nevertheless, it was a happy life thatwe led, and lack of money troubledus little. We were healthy and ourwants were few.


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Father did not always take his familywith him on his expeditions, and as I

grew older I passed a good deal of

time on the reservation. Here, thothe people farmed and dressedsomewhat after the fashion of thewhite man, they still kept up theirancient tribal ceremonies, laws andcustoms, and preserved theirlanguage. The general governmentwas in the hands of twelve chiefs,elected for life on account of

supposed merit and ability.There were four Indian day schools on

the reservation, all taught by youngwhite women. I sometimes went to

one of these, but learned practicallynothing. The teachers did notunderstand our language, and weknew nothing of theirs so much

progress was not possible.


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Our lessons consisted of learning torepeat all the English words in thebooks that were given us. Thus,

after a time, some of us, myselfincluded, became able to pronounceall the words in the Fifth and Sixthreaders, and took great pride in theexercise. But we did not know whatany of the words meant.

Our arithmetic stopped at simplenumeration, and the only otherexercise we had was in writing,

which, with us, resolved itself into acontest of speed without regard tothe form of letters.


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The Indian parents were disgustedwith the schools, and did not urgetheir children to attend, and when

the boys and girls did go of theirown free will it was more forsociability and curiosity than from adesire to learn. Many of the boysand girls were so large that theteachers could not preservediscipline, and we spent much of ourtime in the school in drawing

pictures of each other and the

teacher, and in exchanging in ourown language such remarks as led toa great deal of fighting when weregained the open air. Often boyswent home with their clothing tornoff them in these fights.


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Under the circumstances, it is notstrange that the attendance atthese schools was poor and

irregular, and that on many daysthe teachers sat alone in theschoolhouses because there were noscholars. Since that time a greatchange has taken place, and thereare now good schools on thereservation.

I was an official of one of the schools,to the extent that I chopped wood

for it, but I did not often attendits sessions, and when I wasthirteen years of age, and had beennominally a pupil of the school for

six years, I was still so ignorant ofEnglish that I only knew onesentence, which was common

property among us alleged pupils:


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"Please, ma'am, can I go out?"pronounced: "Peezumgannigowout!"

When I was thirteen a great changeoccurred, for the honey- tonguedagent of a new Government contractIndian school appeared on thereservation, drumming up boys and

girls for his institution. He made agreat impression by going fromhouse to house and describing,through an interpreter, all the

glories and luxuries of the new

place, the good food and teaching,the fine uniforms, the playgroundand its sports and toys.


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All that a wild Indian boy had to do,according to the agent, was toattend this school for a year or

two, and he was sure to emergetherefrom with all the knowledgeand skill of the white man.

My father was away from the

reservation at the time of theagent's arrival, but mother and

grandmother heard him with growingwonder and interest, as I didmyself, and we all finally decided

that I ought to go to this wonderfulschool and become a great man--

perhaps at last a chief of our tribe.Mother said that it was good for

Indians to be educated, as whitemen were "so tricky with papers."


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I had, up to this time, been leading avery happy life, helping with the

planting, trapping, fishing, basket

making and playing all the games ofmy tribe--which is famous atlacrosse--but the desire to traveland see new things and the hope offinding an easy way to muchknowledge in the wonderful schooloutweighed my regard for my homeand its joys, and so I was one ofthe twelve boys who in 1892 left

our reservation to go to theGovernment contract school forIndians, situated in a largePennsylvania city and known as the-------- Institute.


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Till I arrived at the school I had neverheard that there were any otherIndians in the country other than

those of our reservation, and I didnot know that our tribe was calledMohawk. My people calledthemselves "Ga-nien-ge-ha-ga,"meaning "People of the BeaconStone," and Indians generally theytermed "On-give-hon- we," meaning"Real-men" or "Primitive People."

My surprise, therefore, was great

when I found myself surrounded inthe school yard by strange Indianboys belonging to tribes of which Ihad never head, and when it was

said that my people were only the"civilized Mohawks," I at firstthought that "Mohawk" was anickname and fought any boy whocalled me by it.


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I had left home for the school with agreat deal of hope, having said tomy mother: "Do not worry. I shall

soon return to you a better boy andwith a good education!" Little did Idream that that was the last time Iwould ever see her kind face. Shedied two years later, and I was notallowed to go to her funeral.

The journey to Philadelphia had beenvery enjoyable and interesting. Itwas my first ride on the "great

steel horse," as the Indians calledthe railway train, but my frame ofmind changed as soon as my newhome was reached.


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The first thing that happened to meand to all other freshly caughtyoung redskins when we arrived at

the institution was a bath of aparticularly disconcerting sort. Wewere used to baths of the swimmingvariety, for on the reservation weboys spent a good deal of our timein the water, but this first bath atthe institution was different. Forone thing, it was accompanied by

plenty of soap, and for another

thing, it was preceded by a haircutthat is better described as a crop.


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The little newcomer, thus cropped anddelivered over to the untendermercies of larger Indian boys of

tribes different from his own, wholaughingly attacked his bare skinwith very hot water and very hardscrubbing brushes, was likely toemerge from the encounter with aclean skin but perturbed mind.When, in addition, he was preventedfrom expressing his feelings in theonly language he knew, what wonder

if some rules of the school werebroken.


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After the astonishing bath thenewcomer was freshly clothed fromhead to foot, while the raiment in

which he came from the reservationwas burned or buried. Thereafterhe was released by the torturers,and could be seen sidling about thecorridors like a lonely crab, silent,sulky, immaculately clean and mostdisconsolate.


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After my bath and reclothing andafter having had my name takendown in the records I was assigned

to a dormitory, and began myregular school life, much to mydissatisfaction. The recording of myname was accompanied by a changewhich, though it might seem triflingto the teachers, was very importantto me. My name among my own

people was "Ah-nen-la-de-ni," whichin English means "Turning crowd" or

"Turns the crowd," but my familyhad had the name "La France"bestowed on them by the Frenchsome generations before my birth,and at the institution my Indianname was discarded, and I wasinformed that I was henceforth tobe known as Daniel La France.


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It made me feel as if I had lostmyself. I had been proud of myselfand my possibilities as "Turns the

crowd," for in spite of their civilizedsurroundings the Indians of ourreservation in my time still lookedback to the old warlike days whenthe Mohawks were great people, butDaniel La France was to me astranger and a nobody with no

possibilities. It seemed as if myprospect of a chiefship had

vanished. I was very homesick for along time.


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The dormitory to which I was assignedhad twenty beds in it, and wasunder a captain, who was one of the

advanced scholars. It was his dutyto teach and enforce the rules ofthe place in this room, and to reportto the white authorities all breachesof discipline.

Out in the school yard there was thesame sort of supervision. Whetherat work or play, we were constantlywatched, and there were those in

authority over us. This displeased usMohawks, who were warriors atfourteen years of age.


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After the almost complete freedom ofreservation life the crampedquarters and the dull routine of the

school were maddening to all usstrangers. There were endless rulesfor us to study and abide by, andhardest of all was the rule againstspeaking to each other in our ownlanguage. We must speak English orremain silent, and those who knewno English were forced to be dumbor else break the rules in secret.

This last we did quite frequently,and were punished, when detected,by being made to stand in the"public hall" for a long time or tomarch about the yard while theother boys were at play.


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There were about 115 boys at thisschool, and three miles from us wasa similar Government school for

Indian girls, which had nearly asmany inmates.

The system when I first went to thisschool contemplated every Indian

boy learning a trade as well asgetting a grammar school education.Accordingly we went to school in themorning and to work in theafternoon, or the other way about.


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There were shoemakers, blacksmiths,tinsmiths, farmers, printers, allsorts of mechanics among us. I was

set to learn the tailoring trade, andstuck at it for two and a half years,making such progress that I wasabout to be taught cutting when Ibegan to cough, and it was said thatoutdoor work would be better forme. Accordingly I went, during thevacation of 1895, up into BucksCounty, Pa., and worked on a farm

with benefit to my health, tho I wasnot a very successful farmer--themethods of the people who employedme were quite different from thoseof our reservation.


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Tho I was homesick soon after comingto the Institute I afterwardrecovered so completely that I did

not care to go back to thereservation at vacation time, tho atfirst I was offered the opportunity.I spent my vacations working forQuaker farmers. All the money Iearned at this and other occupationswas turned in to the Institute bankcredited to my account, and I drewfrom thence money for my expenses

and for special occasions likeChristmas and the Fourth of July.


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When I returned from Bucks County in1895 I found that some of the boysof my class were attending the

public school outside the institution,and on application I was allowed to

join them, and finally graduatedthere from the grammardepartment, tho held back by thefact that I was spending half mytime in some workshop. I never wentback to tailoring, except to finish afew suits that were left when the

Institute shop closed, but I workedfor a time at printing and afterwardat making cooking apparatuses.


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After I had finished with the grammarschool I got a situation in the officeof a lawyer while still residing in the

institution. I also took a course ofstenography and typewriting at thePhiladelphia Young Men's ChristianAssociation. So practically I wasonly a boarder at the Instituteduring the latter part of my eightyears' stay there.

Nevertheless, I was valuable to theauthorities there for certain

purposes, and when I wanted toleave and go to Carlisle school,which I had heard was very good, Icould not obtain permission.


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This Institute, as I have said, was acontract Government school forteaching Indians. The great

exertions made by the agent, whovisited our reservation in the first

place, were caused by the fact thata certain number of Indian childrenhad to be obtained before theschool could be opened. I do notthink that the Indian parents signedany papers, but we boys and girlswere supposed to remain at the

school for five years. After that,as I understand it, we were freefrom any obligation.

The reason why I and others like me

were kept at the school was that weserved as show scholars--as resultsof the system and evidences of the

good work the Institute was doing.


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as the work of us boys. I was goodfor various show purposes. I couldsing and play a musical instrument,

and I wrote essays which werethought to be very good. Theauthorities also were fond ofdisplaying me as one who had cometo the school a few years beforeunable to speak a word of English.

Some of my verses that visitorsadmired were as follows:

THE INDIAN'S CONCEPTION.


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When first the white man's shipsappeared To Redmen of this woodedstrand, The Redmen gazed, and

vastly feared, That they could notthose "birds" withstand; As theymistook the ships for birds. Andthis ill omen came quite true-- Forlater came more; hungrier birds.Look, little papoose, your cradle'sunbound, It's strappings let loosefor you to be bound. Refrain:--Ohlittle papoose!............. On cradle-

board bound; My swinging papoose,Your slumber be sound. Tawn little

papoose, your mother is in: She'sroasting the goose, on the sharpwooden pin. Ref. Bound little

papoose, your father is out; He'shunting the moose that makes you

grow stout. Ref. Brawn littlepapoose, great hunter shall be; And


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trap the great moose behind thepine tree. Ref. My little papoose,swing, swing from the bough. Grow!

then you'll get loose--put plumes onyour brow! Ref. So little papoose,dream, dream as you sleep; Whilefriendly old spruce shall watch o'eryou keep. Ref. Now, little papoose,swing on to your rest. My redbrowed papoose, swing east andswing west. Ref.


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Over the superintendent of theInstitute there was a Board of LadyManagers with a Lady Directress,

and these visited us occasionally,but there was no use laying anycomplaint before them. They werearbitrary and almostunapproachable. Matters went frombad to worse, and when theSpanish-American War broke out,and my employer, the lawyer,resolved to go to it in the Red Cross

service, and offered to take mewith him I greatly desired to go,but was not allowed. I suppose thatthe lawyer could easily haveobtained my liberty, but did notwish to antagonize the LadyManagers, who considered anycriticism of the institution as anattack on their own infallibility.


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While waiting for a new situation afterthe young lawyer had gone away, Iheard of the opportunities there

were for young men who couldbecome good nurses, and of the

place where such training could besecured. I desired to go there, and

presented this ambition to thesuperintendent, who at firstencouraged me to the extent of

giving a fair recommendation. Butwhen the matter was laid before the

Head Directress in the shape of anapplication for admission ready to besent by me to the authorities of theNurses' Training School she flatlyrefused it consideration without

giving any good reason for so doing.


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She, however, made the mistake ofreturning the application to me, andit was amended later and sent to

the Training School in Manhattan. Itwent out through a secret channel,as all the regular mail of theinstitution's inmates, whetheroutgoing or incoming, was opened andexamined in the office of thesuperintendent.


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A few days before the 4th of July,1899, the answer to my applicationarrived in the form of notice to

report at the school for theentrance examination. Thiscommunication found me in theschool jail, where I had been placedfor the first time in all my life Ihad been charged with throwing anightgown out of the dormitorywindow, and truly it was mynightgown that was found in the

school yard, for it had my numberupon it. But I never threw it out ofthe window. I believe that one ofthe official underlings did that inorder to found upon it a chargeagainst me, for the schoolauthorities had discovered that Iand other boys of the institutionhad gone to members of the Indian


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Rights Association and had madecomplaint of conditions in the school,and that an investigation was

coming. They, therefore, desired todisgrace and punish me as one ofthe leaders of those who wereexposing them.

I heard about the letter from theTraining School, and was veryanxious to get away, but myliberation in time to attend thatentrance examination seemed

impossible. The days passed, andwhen the 4th of July arrived I wasstill in the school jail, which was therear part of a stable.


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At one o'clock my meal of bread andwater was brought to me by the

guard detailed to look after my safe

keeping. After he had delivered thisto me he went outside, leaving thedoor open, but standing there. Theonly window of that stable was verysmall, very high on the wall and was

protected by iron bars--but herewas the door left open.

I fled, and singularly enough the guardhad his back turned and was

contemplating nature with greatassiduity. As soon as I got out ofthe inclosure I dashed after andcaught a trolley car, and a few

hours later I was in New York.


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That was the last I saw of theInstitute and it soon afterward wentout of existence, but I heard that

as a result of the demand for aninvestigation the Superintendent ofIndian Schools had descended on itupon a given day and foundeverything beautiful-- for her visithad been announced. But shereturned again the next day, whenit was supposed that she had leftthe city, and then things were not

beautiful at all, and much that wehad told about was proven.

I had $15 in the Lincoln Institute bankwhen I ran away, but I knew that

was past crying for and I dependedon $3 that I had in my pocket andwith which I got a railroad ticket toNew York.


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to other details, all of which maylook trivial to an outsider, but whichcount in sanitation.

This new life was very much to myliking. I was free, for one thing,and was working for myself with

good hope of accomplishing

something. Our evenings were ourown after our work was done, andtho we had to return to the nurses'quarters at 10.30 o'clock at thelatest, that was not a hardship and

we could enjoy some of thepleasures of the city. While in theTraining School I received my boardand $10 a month pay, a very

decided gain over the Institute.Besides, the food and quarters werefar better.


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After I had been for twelve months inthe Training School I was allowed to

go to our reservation for a ten

days' vacation. It was the firsttime in nine years that I had seenmy old home and I found thingsmuch changed. My mother and

grandmother were dead, and therehad died also a little sister whom Ihad never seen. My father was aliveand still wandering as of old. Manyof my playmates had scattered and

I felt like a stranger. But it wasvery pleasant to renew acquaintancewith the places and objects that hadbeen familiar in my childhood--thewoods, the streams, the bridge--that used to look so big and was nowso small to me--the swimming hole,and with the friends who remained.


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Since that time I have paid one otherand much longer visit to thereservation and have quite renewed

touch with my own people, who arealways glad to see me and whoexpress much astonishment at the

proficiency I show in my nativetongue. Most of the boys who areaway from the reservation for threeor four years forget our language,but, as I have said, there weresome of us at the Institute who

practiced in secret. What I saw inthe reservation convinced me thatour people are not yet ready forcitizenship and that they desire andshould be allowed to retain theirreservation. They are greatlyobliged to those who have aidedthem in defeating the Vreeland bill.The whole community is changing and


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when the change advances a littlefurther it will be time to open thereservation gates and let in all the

world.

Of course, so far as the old Indiansare concerned, they will not andcannot change. They have given up

the idea that the Mohawks will everagain be a great people, but theycannot alter their habits and it onlyremains for them to pass away.They want to end their days in

comfort and peace, like the cat bythe fireside--that is all.


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To the white man these old people maynot seem important, but to us youngIndians they are very important.

The family tie is strong amongIndians. White people areaggravated because so many youngIndians, after their schooling, goback to their reservations and aresoon seen dressed and living just likethe others. But they must do thatif they desire to keep in touch withthe others.


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Supposing the young Indian who hasbeen to school did not return to hisfather's house, but stayed out

among the white men. The old folkswould say "He won't look at us now.He thinks himself above us." And all

parents who observed this wouldadd: "We won't send our children toschool. They would never come backto us."


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The young Indians are right to go backto the reservation and right todress and act like the others, to

cherish the old folks and make theirway easy, and not to forget theirtribe. It is a mistake to think thatthey soon lose all that they havelearned in the school. Compare theschool Indians with those who havenot been at school and a verymarked difference is found. Youfind on their farms improved

methods and in their houses pianos,which their wives, who have alsobeen at school, can play. All theseboys and girls who have been toschool are as missionaries to thereservation.


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The schools are doing a great deal ofgood to the Indians and are changingthem fast, and there is another

force at work occupied with anotherchange. On all the reservations the

pure blooded Indians are becomingrarer and rarer, and the half andquarter breeds more and morecommon--technically they'reIndians. Thus tho the tribe isincreasing, the real Indians aredecreasing. They are becoming more

and more white. On our reserve nowyou can see boys and girls with lighthair and blue eyes, children of whitefathers and Indian mothers. Theyhave the rosy cheeks of Englishchildren, but they cannot speak aword of English.


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After returning to the Training SchoolI completed the two years' courseand afterward took a special course

in massage treatment for paralysis.


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I have since been employed principallyin private practice. I like the workand the pay, tho the former is very

exacting. The nurse must be veryclean and very regular in his habits;he must be firm and yet good-tempered--able to command the

patient when necessary. He mustmaintain a cheerful attitude of mindand demeanor toward a patient, whois often most abusive and illtempered. He must please the

doctor, the patient's family, and toas great an extent as possible the

patient himself. He must bewatchful without appearing to watch.He must be strong and healthy.Nursing is tiresome and confining.Nevertheless I console myself withthe remunerations, financial andeducational, and with the thought


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that my present occupation,assisting in saving lives, is anadvance on that of scalp taking

ancestors.

I have been asked as to prejudiceagainst Indians among white people.There is some, but I don't think it

amounts to much. Perhaps therewere some in my Training Schoolclass who objected to beingassociated with an Indian. I never

perceived it, and I don't think I

have suffered anywhere fromprejudice.

I have suffered many times from beingmistaken for a Japanese.


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Some people when they find I am anIndian seek me out and have muchto say to me, but it is generally

merely for curiosity and I do notencourage them. On the other hand,I have good, stedfast, old-timefriends among white people.

When I first began to learn I thoughtthat when I knew English and couldread and write it would be enough.But the further I have climbed thehigher the hills in front of me have

grown. A few years ago the point Ihave reached would have seemedvery high. Now it seems low, and Iam studying much in my spare time.

I don't know what the result will be.


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Some ask me whether or not I willever return to my tribe. How can Itell? The call from the woods and

fields is very clear and moving,especially in these pleasant summerdays.

NEW YORK CITY.

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An Indian Boy's Story

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