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The Soul of the Indian · 16 of 29

Chapter IVa

BARBARISM AND THE MORAL CODE Silence the Corner-Stone of Character. Basic Ideas of Morality. “Give All or Nothing!” Rules of Honorable Warfare. An Indian Conception of Courage. Long before I ever heard of Christ, or saw a white man, I had learned from an untutored woman the essence of morality. With the help of dear Nature herself, she taught me things simple but of mighty import. I knew God. I perceived what goodness is. I saw and loved what is really beautiful. Civilization has not taught me anything better! As a child, I understood how to give; I have forgotten that grace since I became civilized. I lived the natural life, whereas I now live the artificial. Any pretty pebble was valuable to me then; every growing tree an object of reverence. Now I worship with the white man before a painted landscape whose value is estimated in dollars! Thus the Indian is reconstructed, as the natural rocks are ground to powder, and made into artificial blocks which may be built into the walls of modern society. The first American mingled with his pride a singular humility. Spiritual arrogance was foreign to his nature and teaching. He never claimed that the power of articulate speech was proof of superiority over the dumb creation; on the other hand, it is to him a perilous gift. He believes profoundly in silence—the sign of a perfect equilibrium. Silence is the absolute poise or balance of body, mind, and spirit. The man who preserves his selfhood ever calm and unshaken by the storms of existence—not a leaf, as it were, astir on the tree; not a ripple upon the surface of shining pool—his, in the mind of the unlettered sage, is the ideal attitude and conduct of life. If you ask him: “What is silence?” he will answer: “It is the Great Mystery!” “The holy silence is His voice!” If you ask: “What are the fruits of silence?” he will say: “They are self-control, true courage or endurance, patience, dignity, and reverence. Silence is the cornerstone of character.” “Guard your tongue in youth,” said the old chief, Wabashaw, “and in age you may mature a thought that will be of service to your people!” The moment that man conceived of a perfect body, supple, symmetrical, graceful, and enduring—in that moment he had laid the foundation of a moral life! No man can hope to maintain such a temple of the spirit beyond the period of adolescence, unless he is able to curb his indulgence in the pleasures of the senses. Upon this truth the Indian built a rigid system of physical training, a social and moral code that was the law of his life. There was aroused in him as a child a high ideal of manly strength and beauty, the attainment of which must depend upon strict temperance in eating and in the sexual relation, together with severe and persistent exercise. He desired to be a worthy link in the generations, and that he might not destroy by his weakness that vigor and purity of blood which had been achieved at the cost of much self-denial by a long line of ancestors. He was required to fast from time to time for short periods, and to work off his superfluous energy by means of hard running, swimming, and the vapor-bath. The bodily fatigue thus induced, especially when coupled with a reduced diet, is a reliable cure for undue sexual desires. Personal modesty was early cultivated as a safeguard, together with a strong self-respect and pride of family and race. This was accomplished in part by keeping the child ever before the public eye, from his birth onward. His entrance into the world, especially in the case of the first-born, was often publicly announced by the herald, accompanied by a distribution of presents to the old and needy.
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Themes
◆Animismcosmology

The doctrine and worldview that natural phenomena, places, and objects possess inherent spirit, soul, or personality — and that the cosmos is populated by countless local, plural, embodied divine agents: kami in mountain and tree, sidhe in cairn and well, landwights in field and stone, nymphs in spring and grove, haltija in forest and lake, lares and penates in household and threshold, Iamblichean daemons in element and place. Distinct from monotheism (single transcendent God), pantheism (one underlying substance), and emanation_hierarchy (cascading single source); animism's signature is the plurality, locality, and embodied-in-landscape character of the divine.

The passage explicitly describes a worldview where nature is alive with reverence, stating 'every growing tree an object of reverence' and contrasting this with the artificial worship of civilization.

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◆Apophatic Theologytheology

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

The divine is referred to as the 'Great Mystery' and accessed through silence rather than articulate speech.

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◆Childlike Innocenceanthropology

The infant or child as symbol of the unfallen, undivided spiritual state; return to primordial simplicity.

The author recalls learning the essence of morality as a child and laments forgetting that grace after becoming 'civilized,' idealizing the child's state of giving and reverence.

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◆Divine Hiddennesstheology

The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.

God is associated with the 'Great Mystery' and His voice is identified as 'holy silence,' indicating a concealed divine presence.

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◆Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

The narrator states they knew God and perceived goodness before hearing of Christ or seeing a white man, emphasizing direct experience.

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◆Good Thought Word Deedethics

The Zoroastrian triad of right thought, right speech, and right action as the foundation of ethical life; truth-in-living.

The passage emphasizes guarding the tongue (speech), cultivating self-control and thought, and maintaining a moral code of action as the foundation of character.

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◆Inner Silencepraxis

The practice of stilling the mind and speech to open receptivity to divine knowledge or presence.

Silence is identified as the 'cornerstone of character' and the 'Great Mystery,' representing a state of perfect equilibrium and self-control central to the text's moral code.

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◆Love Of Neighbourethics

Active compassionate care for others as a central spiritual obligation or expression of divine love.

The text cites the rule 'Give All or Nothing!' and describes public distribution of presents to the old and needy.

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◆Magical Equilibriumcosmology

The balance of two contrary forces as the structural law of cosmos and operation — Lévi's equilibrium, expressed in Kabbalah by the senary: the will of God in its first cause, liberty in man, mathematical equilibrium in matter; the twofold vibration required to direct the Astral Light safely.

The concept of silence as 'absolute poise or balance of body, mind, and spirit' reflects a state of equilibrium central to the moral ideal described.

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◆Nature Preservationpraxis

The ethical imperative to live in accordance with one's innate nature and avoid artificial social constraints that harm it.

The passage contrasts the 'natural life' of the Indian with the 'artificial' life of civilization, advocating for a return to living in accordance with innate nature and reverence for the natural world.

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◆Rejection Of Hypocrisyethics

Critique of outward religious observance that lacks inner transformation; form without substance.

The text critiques the 'artificial' nature of civilized worship (valuing painted landscapes in dollars) versus the authentic reverence for natural objects found in the 'untutored' life.

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◆Renunciation Of Wealthethics

The spiritual danger of attachment to material possessions; wealth as a spiritual obstacle.

The passage critiques the worship of painted landscapes valued in dollars versus the value of a pretty pebble in the natural state.

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◆Separation From Sourcesoteriology

The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.

The author expresses a sense of loss and exile from the natural/divine state upon becoming 'civilized' and forgetting the grace of giving.

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◆Tripartite Soulanthropology

Division of the human being into three principles: spirit (pneuma), soul (psyche), and body/matter (hyle or soma).

Silence is defined as the balance of 'body, mind, and spirit,' explicitly naming these three components of the human being.

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