The frozen bodies would be found in the
lodges. The improvident character of the Indian is well known. Their
annuities are soon spent; supplies received from government are used in
feasting; and no provision is made for winters that are always long and
severe. Though they receive frequent assistance from the public at the
fort, the wants of all cannot be supplied. The captain of the post was
generous towards them, as was always my friend Mrs. F., whom they highly
esteemed. Yet some hearts are closed against appeals daily made to their
humanity. An Indian woman may suffer from hunger or sickness, because
her looks are repulsive and her garments unwashed: some will say they
can bear the want of warm clothing, because they have been used to
privation.
The women of the Sioux exhibit many striking peculiarities of
character--the love of the marvellous, and a profound veneration for any
and every thing connected with their religious faith; a willingness to
labor and to learn; patience in submitting to insults from servants who
consider them intruders in families; the evident recognition of the fact
that they are a doomed race, and must submit to indignities that they
dare not resent.
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