The Spartans of the West 31 



Their wise men were not blind 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 applied 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 



