Stránka:book 1913.djvu/53

The Spartans of the West 31 Their wise men were not bKnd to the dangers of greed, as we know, from many sources, and, in particular, their attitude toward money-getting is full of interest: "The Indians, except those who live adjoining to the Euro- pean colonies, can form to themselves no idea of the value of money; they consider it, when they are made acquainted with the uses to which it is appUed by other nations, as the source of innumerable evils. To it they attribute all the mischiefs that are prevalent among Europeans, such as treachery, plundering, devastations and murder. " (Carver's "Travels, " p. 158.) Could we have a more exact paraphrase of "The love of money is the root of all evil? " Beware of greed which grows into crime and makes men for- get the poor. A man's life should not be for himself, but for his people. For them he must be ready to die. This is the sum of Indian economic teaching. (See Eastman "Soul of Indian," pp. 94 and 99-103.) CHEERFULNESS OR THE MERRY INDIAN Nothing seems to anger the educated Indian, to-day, more than the oft-repeated absurdity that his race was of a gloomy, silent nature. Any one that has ever been in an Indian village knows what a scene of joy and good cheer it normally was. In every such gathering there was always at least one recognized fun-maker, who led them all in joke and hilarious jest. Their songs, their speeches, their fairy- tales are full of fun and dry satire. The reports of the Ethnological Bureau sufficiently set forth these facts. Eastman, the Sioux, says on this subject: "There is scarcely anything so exasperating to me as the idea that the natives of this country have no sense of humor and no