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I have fed fifty Indians almost day by day for months together. I always give them something, but I never forget to treat them like Indians; and they are always mannerly and kind, and look upon me as their superior. Never let them come into your houses, as the whites did in Utah [County]. There they would let them lounge upon their beds, until finally they would quarrel and become angry, if the women would not let them lounge upon their beds. Great, big, athletic fellows would want to go into the wickeups of the "Mormons," and lounge upon their beds, and sit on their tables and on their chairs, and make as free as though they belonged to the family. When their familiarities became oppressive to the whites, and they desired them to leave their houses, it made them angry, and I knew it would. This is the true cause of the Indian difficulties in Utah.
I say to the brethren who live in the country, Treat the Indians kindly; and now is the time to finish your forts, and make them doubly strong; and then go to with all your might and prepare places to keep your cattle, that neither white nor red man can, possibly steal them from you. If you want to know how strong to build your forts and your cattle yards, I will answer you as I did the brethren when we left Nauvoo. They wanted to know what kind of lariets they must provide, and how securely they must tie their animals. I said, "Tie them so that the Devil cannot get them." Secure yourselves, then, so that you can lie down and sleep in peace and be comfortable. Now is the time for us to make efforts to build places of safety.
Our meeting has continued about as long as we wished it. The brethren will sing, and we will adjourn till to-morrow morning at ten o'clock. *Journal of Discourses Volume 6 Proper Treatment of the Indians Etc.
Commentary by Phillip B Gottfredson
The above discourse by Brigham Young is bitterly racist. The words he uses to describe the Indian people such as "low" "degraded" "red man" and "treat them like Indians" and "not as your equals" Brigham Young clearly teaches his followers to discriminate, and that both he and they are superior to their "red neighbors," and are "their saviors." Brigham states that "It is our duty to teach them good morals and the principles of the Gospel of Christ" and that "the Lord will take care of the rest of it."
While Brigham acknowledges that his Indian policies in the past have failed and that a new course of action must be taken, and he acknowledges that he and his followers have run them off their land and have caused them to suffer starvation and hardship, still he justifies his beliefs that he and his followers are superior to the Indian people in the eyes of God and are therefore pardoned of any wrong doing.
Brigham admonishes his followers not to treat the Indian people like the rest of the United States has, "the inhabitants of the United States have treated the Indians in like manner. If but one person or only a few were guilty of committing a depredation upon a white settlement, they have chastised the whole tribe for the crime, and would perhaps kill those who would fight and die for them," he says. Brigham's alternative course would be to single out individual perpetrators and bring them to trial in a all white court, with an all white jury, and under white man's law be tried and punished accordingly."
Utah's Brigham Young's Discourses On Indian Relations
I have fed fifty Indians almost day by day for months together. I always give them something, but I never forget to treat them like Indians; and they are always mannerly and kind, and look upon me as their superior. Never let them come into your houses, as the whites did in Utah [County]. There they would let them lounge upon their beds, until finally they would quarrel and become angry, if the women would not let them lounge upon their beds. Great, big, athletic fellows would want to go into the wickeups of the "Mormons," and lounge upon their beds, and sit on their tables and on their chairs, and make as free as though they belonged to the family. When their familiarities became oppressive to the whites, and they desired them to leave their houses, it made them angry, and I knew it would. This is the true cause of the Indian difficulties in Utah.
I say to the brethren who live in the country, Treat the Indians kindly; and now is the time to finish your forts, and make them doubly strong; and then go to with all your might and prepare places to keep your cattle, that neither white nor red man can, possibly steal them from you. If you want to know how strong to build your forts and your cattle yards, I will answer you as I did the brethren when we left Nauvoo. They wanted to know what kind of lariets they must provide, and how securely they must tie their animals. I said, "Tie them so that the Devil cannot get them." Secure yourselves, then, so that you can lie down and sleep in peace and be comfortable. Now is the time for us to make efforts to build places of safety.
Our meeting has continued about as long as we wished it. The brethren will sing, and we will adjourn till to-morrow morning at ten o'clock. *Journal of Discourses Volume 6 Proper Treatment of the Indians Etc.
Commentary by Phillip B Gottfredson
The above discourse by Brigham Young is bitterly racist. The words he uses to describe the Indian people such as "low" "degraded" "red man" and "treat them like Indians" and "not as your equals" Brigham Young clearly teaches his followers to discriminate, and that both he and they are superior to their "red neighbors," and are "their saviors." Brigham states that "It is our duty to teach them good morals and the principles of the Gospel of Christ" and that "the Lord will take care of the rest of it."
While Brigham acknowledges that his Indian policies in the past have failed and that a new course of action must be taken, and he acknowledges that he and his followers have run them off their land and have caused them to suffer starvation and hardship, still he justifies his beliefs that he and his followers are superior to the Indian people in the eyes of God and are therefore pardoned of any wrong doing.
Brigham admonishes his followers not to treat the Indian people like the rest of the United States has, "the inhabitants of the United States have treated the Indians in like manner. If but one person or only a few were guilty of committing a depredation upon a white settlement, they have chastised the whole tribe for the crime, and would perhaps kill those who would fight and die for them," he says. Brigham's alternative course would be to single out individual perpetrators and bring them to trial in a all white court, with an all white jury, and under white man's law be tried and punished accordingly."
Utah's Brigham Young's Discourses On Indian Relations
