MURDER OF THE TAIT FAMILY.
During the same fall, another family, named Tait, living
about half a mile below the block-house, was attacked by a
party of Indians, and four of them killed. A son, fifteen
years of age, in attempting to bar the savages out, was
severely wounded by a ball in the mouth. His father at
length was shot down, and the youth secreted himself behind
a barrel. The door was then forced open, and the savages
entered. The father and two small children were immediately
tomahawked and scalped. Mrs. Tait had concealed herself
on the "log pole," but was soon discovered and dispatched.
The cannibals then commenced the revolting work of cutting
pieces from the old man's breasts and thighs, which were
roasted and eaten! During the time they were thus engaged,
the boy managed to drag his mother off the fire without being
noticed.
As many writers have denied the existence of American
cannibalism, it may not be inopportune to cite here some
authority in proof of it. At a recent meeting of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences, Professor Shepherd, who has
lately spent some time in exploring the mining regions on the
shores of Lake Superior, related an instance of the most
horrible cannibalism among the Ojibbeway tribe of Indians,
on the north shore of the Lake. "He frequently passed on
foot, alone and unarmed, by the hut of an Indian, who had
killed and eaten his wife and two children. The personal
appearance of this savage monster, as might naturally be
supposed, was horrible beyond description."
Another important witness is Hon. Lewis Cass, of Michigan.
In his oration, delivered at Fort Wayne, Indiana, July 4,
1843, on the occasion of celebrating the opening of the Wabash
and Erie canal, the distinguished orator said:
"The line of your canal was a bloody war-path, which has
seen many a deed of horror. And this peaceful town has
had its Moloch, and the records of human depravity furnish
no more horrible examples of cruelty than were offered at his
shrine.
The Miami Indians, our predecessors in the occupation of
this district, had a fearful institution, whose origin and objects
have been lost in the darkness of aboriginal history, but
which continued to a late period, and whose orgies were held
upon the very spot where we now are. It was called the Man-eating
Society, and its was the duty of its associates to eat
such prisoners as were preserved and delivered to them for
that purpose. The members of this society belonged to a
particular family, and the dreadful inheritance descended to
all the children, male and female. The duties it imposed
could not be avoided, and the sanctions of religion were added
to the obligations of immemorable usage. The feast was a
solemn ceremony, at which the whole tribe was collected, as
actors or spectators. The miserable victim was bound to a
stake, and burned at a slow fire, with all the refinements of
cruelty which savage ingenuity could invent. There was a
traditionary ritual, which regulated, with revolting precision,
the whole course of procedure at these ceremonies. Latterly
the authority and obligations of the institution had declined,
and I presume it has now wholly disappeared. But I have
seen and conversed with the head of the family, the chief of
the society, whose name was White Skin. With what feelings
of disgust, I need not attempt to describe. I well knew an
intelligent Canadian, who was present at one of the last sacrifices
made to this horrible institution. The victim was a
young American, captured in Kentucky, during the revolutionary
war. Here, we are now assembled in peace and
security, celebrating the triumph of art and industry. Within
the memory of the present generation, our countrymen have
been thus tortured, and murdered, and devoured. But, thank
God, that council fire is extinguished. The impious feast is
over."
