A duck would be as likely to lose
itself as a Pottawattamie. I do not speak for the Ottawas: I speak
for the Pottawattamies. We are not Jews. We do not wish to be Jews;
and what we do not wish to be, we will not be. Our father who has
come so far to tell us that we are not Injins, but Jews, is
mistaken. I never heard of these Jews before. I do not wish to hear
of them again. When a man has heard enough, he does not keep his
ears open willingly. It is then best for the speaker to sit down.
The Pottawattamies have shut their ears to the great medicine-priest
of the pale-faces. What he says may be true of other tribes, but it
is not true of the Pottawatttamies. We are not lost; we are not
Jews. I have done."
This speech was received with general favor. The notion that the
Indians were not Indians, but Jews, was far from being agreeable to
those who had heard what had been said on the subject; and the
opinions of Crowsfeather possessed the great advantage of reflecting
the common sentiment on this interesting subject. When this is the
case, a very little eloquence or logic goes a great way; and, on the
whole, the address of the last speaker was somewhat better received
than that of the first.
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