Let us not judge our Indian brethren as savages only because of what we accuse them of in war. They did deeds that were shameful and these we do not forget, but why do we with so great dilligence forget our own horrible deeds committed against the Indians,—deeds that their own but weakly parallel? We too have sinned, though our higher ideals all cried out for the virtues that we claimed, but in the heat of conflict forgot.
3. IMMORTALITY. One of the strongest beliefs of the red man was in a future life. Call the place of that life what you will,—the "World Beyond the Sky", the "Happy Hunting Ground", or the "Abode of the Creator",—to the red man it was heaven. That present conduct would affect the future life was believed.
4. BROTHERHOOD. If there is one belief above another that affects the conduct of the Indian it is his belief in the universal kinship of all created things. Man was not only the brother of man because a supreme Father had created both, but every animal, plant and rock, as well as every force of nature was believed to sustain a certain relation to man. The deer and the bear were brothers, and "very near man." The trees had spirits and so did the cliffs and the waterfalls. Thus the red man thought it quite rational to speak to them as friends and brothers. No animal was killed in a wanton way and every animal slain for meat or pelt was propitiated by a chant asking its pardon for the deed, since it had seemed a necessity for the hunter to have the meat and skin of the "brother." Then a little sacrifice was given, incense was burned and a gift to the spirit of the slain animal buried beneath the ashes of the fire. To the red man the creatures of the earth were kinsmen, but in a different
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