what in their opinion is crime. Can the Great Spirit be offended, and if so, what are deemed offenses to it?
The total absence of all moral restraint as regards futurity, and the sole object of their worship being self-aggrandizement in this life, compel us to conclude they have not the faintest idea of any moral responsibility. Crime therefore, of any kind, as viewed by us, viz.: as an offense toward God and to the laws of man, can have no existence with them. Take for instance the greatest of all crimes, murder. An Indian never commits what to him are equiva lent to our ideas of murder. As soon as he arrives at the age of 'manhood he finds himself thrown upon his own resources; he must depend upon himself alone to protect himself, his family, or property, and furnish his household with the means of living. As he is but a hunter, his horse and gun are his fortune; his life, even the lives of all his family, often depend on a few loads of ammunition. Property is of value to the Indian; he has no stock of ready cash to replace it if lost or stolen. Should any one endeavor to impose upon him, take his property or insult his family, to whom shall he look for redress? There are no courts of justice, no prisons or public executions amongst them, and their civil councils take no cognizance of private differences. Therefore he is bound by the nature of his isolated position to be the sole judge of his own acts and self-administrator of justice. He must be firm, obstinate, ready with his knife and tomahawk, as the Indian expresses it, or he is entirely unfit for the station he occupies.
The constant habit of carrying arms induces the necessity of using them, and many petty offenses that would be settled amongst whites with the tongue, or fists, are decided by them with arms. An Indian never strikes but with the intention to kill. Quarrels of all kinds, therefore, being liable to exact extreme measures of redress, they are by no means so common as one would suppose. When each man is aware that his life is at stake, he is cautious how he provokes. But if it be necessary, each will endeavor to take