When then the colonists landed, instead of being greeted with
a flight of arrows they were received with solemn ceremony, the
braves coming down to the water's edge to greet them. First came the
Medicine Man carrying in either hand a fan made of white feathers
as signs of peace and friendship. Behind him followed the chieftain
and his squaw, with twenty or thirty braves, who filled the air
with wild yells of welcome.
When the Medicine Man reached Oglethorpe he paused, and dancing
round him he swept him on every side with the white feather fans,
chanting the while a tale of brave deeds. This done the chieftain
next drew near, and in flowery words bade the White Chief and his
followers welcome. Thus peacefully the settlement was begun.
But Oglethorpe wanted to be friends with the other tribes round,
so he asked Tomo-chi-chi, the old chieftain, to invite them
to a conference. And a few months later they all came. Oglethorpe
received them in one of the new houses built by the settlers, and
when they were all solemnly seated an old and very tall man stood
up and made a long speech. He claimed for the Creeks all the land
south of the Savannah.
"We are poor and ignorant," he said, "but the Great Spirit who gave
the Pale-faces breath gave the Redmen breath also. But the Great
Spirit who made us both has given more wisdom to the Pale-faces.
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