172 THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 



must have been as happy a people as any in the world. In returning to our quarters we 

 passed by the Iudian council, where Red Jacket was displaying his oratory to his 

 brother chiefs, on the subject of Colonel Pickering's proposals. 



On another page Mr. Savary says of the orator : 



Red Jacket visited us with his wife and five children, whom he had brought to see 

 us. They were exceedingly well clad, in their manner, and the best behaved and 

 prettiest Indian children I have ever met with. 



Rev. Dr. Breckenridge had an interview with Red Jacket and his brother chiefs at 

 the residence of General Porter at North Buffalo in 1821. He says : " Red Jacket was 

 dressed with much taste in the Indian costume throughout. He wore a blue dress, 

 the upper garment cut after the fashion of a hunting-shirt, with blue leggins, very 

 neat moccasins, a red jacket, and a girdle of red about his waist. I have seldom seen 

 a more dignified or noble-looking body of men than the entire group." — Stone's Life 

 of Red Jacket, page 400. 



RED JACKET'S DISAPPOINTED AMBITION, AND AS TO ARISTOCRACY 



IN INDIAN TRIBES. 



[From Transactions Buffalo Historical Society, vol. 3, 1885.1 



The following exceedingly interesting letter from General Parker was 

 in response to a letter of inquiry addressed to him, and which grew out 

 of a remark of his, when in Buffalo in October, 1883, in attendance at 

 the obsequies, to the effect that Ked Jacket's greatest disappointment 

 was in not attaining to a place among the fifty Great League sachems: 



New York, November 26, 1884. 

 William C. Bryant, Esq., 



Buffalo, N. Y. : 



Dear Sir : * * * 1 will now, however, respond as briefly as I can to your queries 

 respecting Red Jacket. You say you " have always been led to believe that Red 

 Jacket did not belong to any of the noble or aristocratic families in which the title 

 or distinction was hereditary." Also, "was his mother of noble birth," &c. Let me 

 disabuse your mind of one matter in the outset. Such a thing as aristocracy, nobility, 

 class caste, or social grades was unknown among the Iroquois. A political superiority 

 was, perhaps, given by the founders of the league to the Mohawks, Onondagas, and 

 Senecas, who were styled "brothers," and were addressed as " fathers " by the Oneidas 

 and Cayugas, who also were "brothers" and yet "children." Nor were the Turtle, 

 Bear, and Wolf clans invested with the first attribute of nobility or aristocracy be- 

 cause they were also the elder brothers and cousins to the other clans. I am of the 

 opinion that no purer and truer democracy, or a more perfect equality of social and 

 political rights, ever existed among any people than prevailed among the Iroquois at 

 the time of their discovery by the whites. Often at that time and siuce persons at- 

 tained positions of prominence and power by their superior intellectual abilities or 

 their extraordinary prowess and success on the war-path. (Conspicuous examples of 

 this fact are Joseph Brandt and Red Jacket.) Successes of this kind, however, 

 brought only temporary and ephemeral distinction to him, his fami'y, his relations, 

 his clan, and, perhaps, reflected some honor on his tribe. But this accidental or fatui- 

 tous distinction was not transmissible as a rightful or hereditary one, and was retained 

 only so long as the intellectual superiority, military prowess, or personal bravery could 

 be maintained by the person or family. 



When declining years broke one's intellectual and physical powers some younger 

 person immediately dropped in to fill the gap, and the old warrior or councilor fell 

 away into obscurity. Thus it is easily seen how the hand of power and distinction 



