So Insensible Are They,
However, To These Calamities, That The Shoshonees Are Not Only Cheerful,
But Even Gay; And Their
Character, which is more interesting than that of
any Indians we have seen, has in it much of the dignity
Of misfortune.
In their intercourse with strangers they are frank and communicative;
in their dealings they are perfectly fair; nor have we, during our stay
with them, had any reason to suspect that the display of all our new
and valuable wealth has tempted them into a single act of dishonesty.
While they have generally shared with us the little they possess,
they have always abstained from begging anything from us.
With their liveliness of temper, they are fond of gaudy dresses and all
sorts of amusements, particularly games of hazard; and, like most Indians,
delight in boasting of their warlike exploits, either real or fictitious.
In their conduct towards us they have been kind and obliging;
and though on one occasion they seemed willing to neglect us, yet we
scarcely knew how to blame the treatment by which we were to suffer,
when we recollected how few civilized chiefs would have hazarded the comforts
or the subsistence of their people for the sake of a few strangers.
. . . . . . . . .
"As war is the chief occupation, bravery is the first virtue
among the Shoshonees. None can hope to be distinguished without
having given proofs of it, nor can there be any preferment
or influence among the nation, without some warlike achievement.
Those important events which give reputation to a warrior,
and entitle him to a new name, are: killing a white [or
grizzly] bear, stealing individually the horses of the enemy,
leading a party who happen to be successful either in plundering
horses or destroying the enemy, and lastly, scalping a warrior.
These acts seem of nearly equal dignity, but the last,
that of taking an enemy's scalp, is an honor quite independent
of the act of vanquishing him. To kill your adversary is of no
importance unless the scalp is brought from the field of battle;
were a warrior to slay any number of his enemies in action,
and others were to obtain the scalps or first touch the dead,
they would have all the honors, since they have borne off the trophy.
. . . . . . . . .
"The names of these Indians vary in the course of their life.
Originally given in childhood, from the mere necessity of distinguishing
objects, or from some accidental resemblance to external objects,
the young warrior is impatient to change it by some achievement of his own.
Any important event - the stealing of horses, the scalping of an enemy,
or the killing of a brown bear - entitles him at once to a new name,
which he then selects for himself, and it is confirmed by the nation.
Sometimes the two names subsist together; thus, the chief Cameahwait,
which means `One Who Never Walks,' has the war-name of Tooettecone,
or `Black Gun,' which he acquired when he first signalized himself.
As each new action gives a warrior a right to change his name,
many of them have several in the course of their lives.
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