In the winter of 1832, Pigeon's Egg Head and several others
from the Assinneboin tribe were selected for a delegation that
would meet in Washington. Upon return from this eight-thousand
mile trip, the great warrior Pigeon's Egg Head was seen as a
wizard amoung tribesmen for his accurate depiction of what
happened on this trip to the east. Subsiquently, Pigeon's Egg
Head was shot and killed for spreading his 'lying medicine'.
The story of Pigeon's Egg Head should be remembered, as it
forshadows the dangers of corruption and americanization that
the beautiful native american culture will face.
As a brave warrior and decorated war veterian, son of the
chief, Pigeon's Egg Head was the quintessence of native
american culture. Catlin describes his dress as "classic and
exceedingly beautiful", but this is not the reason for his
dress. He dresses in this manner also for practicality. The
outfit is loose so it doesn't constrict movement, the shoes
offer protection for the soles of his feet and don't allow
enemies to hear when he is sneaking up on them. It's amazing
Native Americans can be ready for battle even when they are
showing off in fancy clothes.
The corruption of the white man was well remembered by the
village chiefs, and they saw this in Pidgeon's Egg Head after
his return from the east. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was
fresh in the chief's minds--1/4th of the 125,000 native
americans relocated in this way perished on the journey to
Oklohama[1]. The chiefs were right in a way, after his journey
east, Pigeon's Egg Head had lost the values of his culture. He
was no longer a great warrior, but a drunk who sought only to
entertain.
This tale does not to say that Pigeon's Egg Head was a bad
person, his intentions of spreading knowledge were pure, but he
went about it the wrong way. If instead of dressing in flashy
impractical clothes and telling drunken stories to impress he
had kept his values, then he would have his credibility intact
and people would take him seriously. Clearly there are many bad
things that the native Americans could and did learn from
Americans, but there are also a lot of good things. Imagine a
society that combined the advanced technology of Americans with
the Native Americans resourcefulness and ability to make good
use of everything in the environment.
Citation:
Goldfield, David. The American Journey. Fourth. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006.
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