The New York Herald

The Massachusetts Indians.—A document has been laid on our table entitled "Report of the Commissioners Relating to the Condition of the Indians in Massachusetts." This report has been made in pursuance of a resolve of the Legislature, of May last, by which three commissioners were appointed to visit the several tribes in the commonwealth, and make inquiries into their condition. The commissioners were Messrs. F. W. Bird, Whiting Griswold and Cyrus Weekes. These gentlemen appear to have performed their duty with commendable zeal and diligence, and their report affords a very circumstantial account of the present condition and wants of the scanty remnant of the aboriginal population which now lingers among us.

There are about 900 Indians now living in Massachusetts. The statistics of all the tribes are given, with the exception of the Naticks, who are scattered over the commonwealth. Those numbered amount to 597. Our readers will perhaps be surprised to learn that only six or eight of these are of pure blood; all the rest are what in South America are called Mestizoes and Zamboes, a mixture of white and Indian, or of black and Indians. All live in tribes or separate communities, except the Naticks.

The Chappequiddic tribe dwell on a small island of that name near Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard. They are eighty-five in number, all healthy, and living mostly by agriculture. They are industrious and thriving, some of them making improvements on their land from year to year. A few go to sea, and some turn a good penny by selling blackberries at Nantucket. The commissioners say, "they are far in advance of any other tribe in the State in improvements in agriculture, and, indeed, in the arts and even elegancies of social and domestic life." "Nearly all live in good framed houses, most of them comfortably furnished, and many of them with their 'spare room' handsomely carpeted and adorned with pictures and curiosities collected in the eastern and southern seas." They have a school, attend church, and seldom or never go to law. There is, however, to tell the whole truth—a speck of law on the horizon; a great "cranberry case" at this moment threatens to puzzle the Indian big-wigs, but it is confidently hoped that this portentous thunder-cloud of litigation will be dissipated by an amicable adjustment before it has time to discharge a bolt of discord into the bosom of the peaceful community of Chappequiddic.

The Christiantown tribe dwell on the northwestern shore of Martha's Vineyard. They are 49 in number, not so healthy as the Chappequiddics, nor quite equal to them in thrift, intelligence, and social comfort. These, too, live by agriculture and the sea; they are peaceable and contented in their ignorance.

The Gay Head tribe live on the promontory of that name, which forms the western extremity of Martha's Vineyard. They amount to 174, and do not differ much in condition from their neighbors of Christiantown. They hold their lands by prescription, and not by any title connected with statute law. They drive a great trade in the cranberry line, sometimes selling 800 bushels in a year. They go to the picking in regiments, each one getting all he can. Their territory furnishes a peculiar sort of clay, valuable for making alum, and other purposes; the digging of this is another source of profit to them. Their houses are generally of wood, but some are of stone. They have a school, but no regular preaching. They are quiet and contented.

The Marshpee tribe occupy a spot on the southern shore of Cape Cod, adjoining Sandwich and Barnstable. They are 305 in number. Most of them are farmers; some go to sea. They are behind all the preceding tribes in social condition, some living in wretched huts, and some going about begging. They are said, however, to have rather improved within the last twenty years. They have two schools, maintained by the State. The religious concerns of this tribe, are stated by the Commissioners to be in a bad way, owing to the creeping in of philosophy and vain conceit, or what they call "sectarianism," and "denominationalism." This we are sorry for; a Marshpee Indian ought to be above the quibbling scruples of "denominationalism;" he should regard the vain jangling of sectaries and schismatics as the crackling of thorns under a pot, and leave the polemical grinding of such "fizenless bran" to the foolish palefaces. But the Commissioners assure us that a considerable number of the Marshpee precisians refuse to listen to the spiritual outpourings of the Rev. Mr. Fish, not esteeming him to be up to the mark of "denominational" orthodoxy. We hope better things of Marshpee in future.

The Herring Pond tribe live on the borders of Plymouth and Sandwich. Their numbers are 55. All live in comfortable houses, and their whole condition is superior to that of the Marshpee Indians. They practice agriculture and go a-fishing; are quiet, industrious, temperate, and withal profoundly ignorant.

The Fall River tribe reside within the limits of the town of that name. This is a small tribe, numbering but 37 souls. They are very indolent and improvident, living from hand to mouth.

The Dudley tribe live in the town of Webster; they number 48. These are the most degraded of all the Indians in the State. Not more than half live by work; the rest beg, and the women do worse. They have no schools, and no preaching; but receive money yearly from the State.

The Hassanamisco or Grafton tribe are found in Grafton, and amount to only 26. They are fast melting away, and will soon become extinct. The Punkapog tribe, in Canton and Stoughton, are only 10 in number; they have no land nor property of any kind, yet are industrious and temperate, and support themselves. The Yarmouth Indians, 58 in number, live in the town of that name, and have become so blended with the whites by intermarriage as to have lost in a great degree their Indian character, and they may be now considered practically as a part of the general population. They are, of course, in good condition. The Naticks are extinct as a tribe, and can only be found here and there.

The State pays for the support of the Indians about twelve hundred dollars a year. As the Indians are not taxed, they are not allowed to vote at State elections; but none of them, we believe, make any complaint of this. They dislike all connection with the town governments in their neighborhood, and the towns people equally dislike political connection with the Indians. The commissioners propose a scheme for absorbing them into the community, which, we think, will find a formidable obstacle in the mutual jealousy existing between the Indians and those with whom they are expected to associate. Something, however, may be done to improve the condition of these people, and we hope the statements and views of the commissioners will receive proper notice from the Legislature.—Boston Courier, March 15.