【英文原著类】THE SOUL OF THE INDIAN(印度安人之魂).pdf

THE SOUL OF THE INDIAN
THE SOUL OF THE
INDIAN
An Interpretation
BY
CHARLES ALEXANDER EASTMAN (OHIYESA)
1
THE SOUL OF THE INDIAN
TO MY WIFE ELAINE GOODALE EASTMAN IN GRATEFUL
RECOGNITION OF HER EVER-PANIONSHIP IN
THOUGHT AND WORK AND IN LOVE OF HER MOST INDIAN-
LIKE VIRTUES I DEDICATE THIS BOOK
I speak for each no-tongued tree That, spring by spring, doth nobler be,
And dumbly and most wistfully His mighty prayerful arms outspreads,
And his big blessing downward sheds. SIDNEY LANIER.
But there's a dome of nobler span, A temple given Thy faith,
that bigots dare not ban-- Its space is heaven! It's roof star-pictured
Nature's ceiling, Where, trancing the rapt spirit's feeling, And God Himself
to man revealing, Th' harmonious spheres Make music, though
unheard their pealing By mortal ears! THOMAS CAMPBELL.
God! sing ye meadow streams with gladsome voice! Ye pine-groves,
with your soft and soul-like sounds! Ye eagles, playmates of the mountain
storm! Ye lightnings, the dread arrows of the clouds! Ye signs and wonders
of the elements, Utter forth God, and fill the hills with praise! . . . Earth,
with her thousand voices, praises GOD! COLERIDGE.
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THE SOUL OF THE INDIAN
FOREWORD
"We also have a religion which was given to our forefathers, and has
been handed down to us their children. It teaches us to be thankful, to be
united, and to love one another! We never quarrel about religion."
Thus spoke the great Seneca orator, Red Jacket, in his superb reply to
Missionary Cram more than a century ago, and I have often heard the
same thought expressed by my countrymen.
I have attempted to paint the religious life of the typical American
Indian as it was before he knew the white man. I have long wished to do
this, because I cannot find that it has ever been seriously, adequately, and
sincerely done. The religion of the Indian is the last thing about him that
the man of another race will ever understand.
First, the Indian does no