"Quite a number of Indians have each a patch of ground of two or three acres, on which they are raising wheat, potatoes, turnips,pumpkins, melons and other vegetables. Most of the crops are looking well, and it is rather suprising with what pride they show us that they are able to cultivate crops like white men. They are still occupying lodges, and refuse to build houses, assigning as a reason that when any one dies in a lodge it is always abandoned, and very often burned with all the efects of the deceased; and when houses have been built for them the houses have been treated in the same way. With their unclean habits, a fixed residence would doubtless be no pleasant place." - John Wesley Powell
Powell had began his exploration hoping to survey the land. Powell was also able to survey the Indian people who had first occupied the land before the American settlers came in and took it. In this quote I see two different sides of Powell. When I read the first line I felt that he was trying to show that Indians were just as capable as the white man yet I do sense a condescending tone. I believe that he may have been suprised at the Indian's abilities to farm. So to remind the reader that the Indians are indigenous, he has to include how they have different beliefs. It is interesting to learn that the Indian's beliefs about their dead and what Powell claims as their reason for being nomadic. Powell seems to be reminding the reader that , yeah sure, these Indians are able to learn the land and farm, yet look at how unwise they are when it comes to creating a home.
