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The document provides an overview of the book 'Deploying Raspberry Pi in the Classroom' by Guy Hart-Davis, which focuses on planning and implementing Raspberry Pi technology in educational settings. It includes chapters on hardware selection, operating systems, and practical tutorials for educators. The book aims to equip teachers with the necessary skills to effectively integrate Raspberry Pi into their classrooms for various learning activities.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
21 views66 pages

Deploying Raspberry Pi in The Classroom 1st Edition Guy Hart-Davis Instant Download

The document provides an overview of the book 'Deploying Raspberry Pi in the Classroom' by Guy Hart-Davis, which focuses on planning and implementing Raspberry Pi technology in educational settings. It includes chapters on hardware selection, operating systems, and practical tutorials for educators. The book aims to equip teachers with the necessary skills to effectively integrate Raspberry Pi into their classrooms for various learning activities.

Uploaded by

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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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TECHNOLOGY IN AC TION™

Deploying
Raspberry Pi in
the Classroom

Guy Hart-Davis
Deploying
Raspberry Pi in the
Classroom

Guy Hart-Davis
Deploying Raspberry Pi in the Classroom
Guy Hart-Davis
County Durham, United Kingdom
ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4842-2303-1 ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4842-2304-8
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4842-2304-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016962196
Copyright © 2017 by Guy Hart-Davis
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or
dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
Trademarked names, logos, and images may appear in this book. Rather than use a trademark symbol
with every occurrence of a trademarked name, logo, or image we use the names, logos, and images only
in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of
the trademark.
The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are
not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject
to proprietary rights.
While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of
publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for
any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with
respect to the material contained herein.

Managing Director: Welmoed Spahr


Lead Editor: Aaron Black
Technical Reviewer: Massimo Nardone
Editorial Board: Steve Anglin, Pramila Balan, Laura Berendson, Aaron Black, Louise Corrigan,
Jonathan Gennick, Robert Hutchinson, Celestin Suresh John, Nikhil Karkal,
James Markham, Susan McDermott, Matthew Moodie, Natalie Pao, Gwenan Spearing
Coordinating Editor: Jessica Vakili
Copy Editor: Deanna Hegle
Compositor: SPi Global
Indexer: SPi Global
Artist: SPi Global
Distributed to the book trade worldwide by Springer Science+Business Media New York,
233 Spring Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10013. Phone 1-800-SPRINGER, fax (201) 348-4505, e-mail
[email protected], or visit www.springeronline.com. Apress Media, LLC is a California LLC
and the sole member (owner) is Springer Science + Business Media Finance Inc (SSBM Finance Inc).
SSBM Finance Inc is a Delaware corporation.
For information on translations, please e-mail [email protected], or visit www.apress.com.
Apress and friends of ED books may be purchased in bulk for academic, corporate, or promotional use.
eBook versions and licenses are also available for most titles. For more information, reference our
Special Bulk Sales–eBook Licensing web page at www.apress.com/bulk-sales.
Any source code or other supplementary materials referenced by the author in this text are available
to readers at www.apress.com. For detailed information about how to locate your book’s source code,
go to www.apress.com/source-code/. Readers can also access source code at SpringerLink in the
Supplementary Material section for each chapter.
Printed on acid-free paper
Contents at a Glance

About the Author����������������������������������������������������������������������������� xv


About the Technical Reviewer������������������������������������������������������� xvii
Acknowledgments�������������������������������������������������������������������������� xix
Introduction������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ xxi


■Chapter 1: Planning Your Raspberry Pi Classroom Deployment���� 1

■Chapter 2: Choosing Raspberry Pi Hardware������������������������������� 17

■Chapter 3: Choosing Operating Systems for Raspberry Pi����������� 55

■Chapter 4: Brief Tutorial on Raspberry Pi Essentials�������������������� 71
■■Chapter 5: Building the Raspberry Pi Computers and
Installing Software��������������������������������������������������������������������� 137
■■Chapter 6: Connecting the Raspberry Pi Computers to
the Network�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 185
■■Chapter 7: Administering and Managing Your Raspberry
Pi Network���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 201

■Chapter 8: Troubleshooting Raspberry Pi Computers����������������� 257
■■Appendix A: Raspberry Pi Resources and Training
for Educators������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 281

Index���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 287

iii
Contents

About the Author����������������������������������������������������������������������������� xv


About the Technical Reviewer������������������������������������������������������� xvii
Acknowledgments�������������������������������������������������������������������������� xix
Introduction������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ xxi


■Chapter 1: Planning Your Raspberry Pi Classroom Deployment���� 1
Understanding What the Raspberry Pi Is������������������������������������������������� 1
Understanding the Capabilities of Raspberry Pi Computers������������������� 4
Learning Desktop Computing Skills�������������������������������������������������������������������������� 4
Learning Office Skills������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 5
Learning the Essentials of Programming with Scratch�������������������������������������������� 7
Programming in Python�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 8
Programming in Java����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 9
Programming in C and Other Programming Languages����������������������������������������� 11
Learning Programming with Other Apps���������������������������������������������������������������� 12
Playing Games�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 13
Running Media Centers������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 13
Planning and Executing Computing Projects���������������������������������������������������������� 13

Analyzing Your Needs and Making a Plan��������������������������������������������� 14


Getting a Raspberry Pi Computer���������������������������������������������������������� 15
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 16

v
 ■ Contents


■Chapter 2: Choosing Raspberry Pi Hardware������������������������������� 17
Choosing the Best Raspberry Pi Models for Your Needs����������������������� 17
Understanding the Raspberry Pi Models���������������������������������������������������������������� 18
Meeting the Raspberry Pi Boards��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 20
Where to Buy Raspberry Pi Computers������������������������������������������������������������������ 24
Australia Stores������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 26
Choosing Power Sources for Your Raspberry Pi Computers����������������� 26
Understanding the Power Requirements of Raspberry Pi Computers�������������������� 26
Using Dedicated Raspberry Pi Chargers����������������������������������������������������������������� 27
Phone Chargers������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 32
Running a Raspberry Pi Computer from a Battery������������������������������������������������� 32
Running a Raspberry Pi Computer from a USB Hub����������������������������������������������� 32

Choosing SD Cards�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 33
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using SD Cards as the Main Storage��������������� 33
Which Raspberry Pi Models Use Standard SD and Which Use Micro SD?�������������� 34
Which SD Card, and What Size, Should You Get?���������������������������������������������������� 34
Choosing an SD Card Reader���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 37

Choosing and Using Cases�������������������������������������������������������������������� 38


Criteria for Choosing Cases������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 39
VESA Mounts and Cases����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 45

Adding a Camera Module���������������������������������������������������������������������� 46


Choosing Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Adapters for Older
Raspberry Pi Models����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 48
Choosing Displays��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 48
HDMI Displays: The Clearest Choice����������������������������������������������������������������������� 48
Connecting to Displays via DVI������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 50
Connecting to Displays via DisplayPort������������������������������������������������������������������ 50
Connecting to Displays via VGA������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 51
Connecting to Displays via Composite������������������������������������������������������������������� 51

vi
 ■ Contents

Choosing Keyboards and Pointing Devices������������������������������������������� 51


USB: The First Choice for Keyboards and Pointing Devices������������������������������������ 52
Using PS/2 Keyboards and Pointing Devices���������������������������������������������������������� 52
Using Bluetooth Keyboards and Pointing Devices�������������������������������������������������� 53

Choosing a Network Connection Method���������������������������������������������� 53


Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 54

■Chapter 3: Choosing Operating Systems for Raspberry Pi����������� 55
Meeting NOOBS, Raspbian, LibreELEC, OSMC, and
Windows 10 IoT Core����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 55
Raspbian����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 56
Raspbian Lite���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 57
LibreELEC��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 58
OSMC���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 59
Windows 10 IoT Core���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 61

Exploring Other Linux Operating Systems��������������������������������������������� 63


Exploring Other Linux Desktop Operating Systems������������������������������������������������ 63
Exploring Linux Server Operating Systems������������������������������������������������������������ 67

Exploring Non-Linux Operating Systems����������������������������������������������� 67


RISC OS for Raspberry Pi���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 67

Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 69

■Chapter 4: Brief Tutorial on Raspberry Pi Essentials�������������������� 71
Startup, Shutdown, and Restart������������������������������������������������������������ 71
Starting Up the Raspberry Pi Computer������������������������������������������������������������������ 71
Shutting Down the Raspberry Pi Computer������������������������������������������������������������ 72
Restarting the Raspberry Pi Computer������������������������������������������������������������������� 73
Logging Out and Logging In Again�������������������������������������������������������������������������� 73

Taking Other Actions from the Login Screen����������������������������������������� 74


Meeting the Desktop����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 74

vii
 ■ Contents

Configuring the Pointing Device, Keyboard, and


Network Connection������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 77
Configuring the Pointing Device and the Keyboard������������������������������������������������ 77
Configuring the Network Connection���������������������������������������������������������������������� 80

Configuring a Raspberry Pi Computer��������������������������������������������������� 86


Choosing Settings on the System Tab�������������������������������������������������������������������� 86
Choosing Settings on the Interfaces Tab���������������������������������������������������������������� 88
Choosing Settings on the Performance Tab������������������������������������������������������������ 89
Choosing Settings on the Localisation Tab������������������������������������������������������������� 90

Configuring and Navigating the Desktop����������������������������������������������� 93


Configuring Desktop Preferences��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 93
Configuring the Panel��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 99
Configuring the Task Bar�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 105
Running Apps�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 106
Managing Windows���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 108
Understanding and Using Multiple Desktops�������������������������������������������������������� 112

Exploring the File System with File Manager�������������������������������������� 116


Launching File Manager and Navigating Its Interface������������������������������������������ 116
Meeting the File System��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 118
Exploiting File Manager’s Time-Saving Features�������������������������������������������������� 120
Configuring File Manager Preferences����������������������������������������������������������������� 124
Summary��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 136
■■Chapter 5: Building the Raspberry Pi Computers and
Installing Software��������������������������������������������������������������������� 137
Building the Raspberry Pi Computers������������������������������������������������� 137
Connecting Peripherals and Power����������������������������������������������������� 139
Downloading the NOOBS Installer������������������������������������������������������� 140

viii
 ■ Contents

Formatting an SD Card for Use with the NOOBS Installer������������������� 141


Installing the SD Formatter App on Windows������������������������������������������������������� 142
Formatting an SD Card with the SD Formatter App on Windows�������������������������� 142
Installing the SD Formatter Tool on the Mac��������������������������������������������������������� 145
Formatting an SD Card with the SD Formatter App on the Mac��������������������������� 145
Formatting an SD Card on Linux��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 147

Putting the NOOBS Installer on an SD Card����������������������������������������� 151


Putting the NOOBS Installer on an SD Card on Windows�������������������������������������� 151
Putting the NOOBS Installer on an SD Card on the Mac��������������������������������������� 153
Putting the NOOBS Installer on an SD Card on Linux�������������������������������������������� 154

Installing Operating Systems with the NOOBS Installer���������������������� 154


Launching the NOOBS Installer����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 154
Connecting the Raspberry Pi computer to a Wi-Fi Network��������������������������������� 157
Choosing Whether to Create a Data Partition������������������������������������������������������� 158
Selecting the Operating System and Performing the Installation������������������������� 158

Performing a Headless Install via VNC������������������������������������������������ 161


Getting a VNC Client if Necessary������������������������������������������������������������������������� 162
Adding the vncinstall Command to the recovery.cmdline File������������������������������ 162
Replacing the SD Card and Booting the Raspberry Pi Computer�������������������������� 163
Finding the IP Address for the Raspberry Pi Computer���������������������������������������� 164
Connecting and Working via VNC�������������������������������������������������������������������������� 168
Using Recovery Mode�������������������������������������������������������������������������� 169
Booting into Recovery Mode��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 169
Opening the Config Editor������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 171
Editing the config.txt File�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 172
Editing the cmdline.txt File����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 177

ix
 ■ Contents

Learning Advanced Moves with NOOBS���������������������������������������������� 179


Setting NOOBS to Install an Operating System Automatically������������������������������ 179
Booting Directly to a Particular Operating System����������������������������������������������� 179
Creating a Custom Version of Raspbian���������������������������������������������������������������� 180

Summary��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 184
■■Chapter 6: Connecting the Raspberry Pi Computers to
the Network�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 185
Setting Up the Raspberry Pi Computers with
Peripherals and Power������������������������������������������������������������������������ 186
Connecting Keyboards and Pointing Devices������������������������������������������������������� 186
Connecting Displays��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 187
Connecting Audio�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 187
Connecting Power������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 188
Connecting Ethernet��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 188

Booting and Configuring the Raspberry Pi Computers������������������������ 189


Powering on the Displays������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 189
Booting the Raspberry Pi Computers������������������������������������������������������������������� 189
Connecting a Bluetooth Keyboard or Pointing Device������������������������������������������ 190
Identifying Your Raspberry Pi Computers������������������������������������������������������������� 191
Configuring Network Connections������������������������������������������������������������������������ 194
Configuring the Network Connection for a Raspberry Pi Computer��������������������� 198
Testing the Computers and the Network��������������������������������������������� 199
Summary��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 200
■■Chapter 7: Administering and Managing Your Raspberry
Pi Network���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 201
Managing Your Raspberry Pi Computers Individually�������������������������� 201
Creating and Managing User Accounts����������������������������������������������������������������� 202
Setting Up Remote Access����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 204

x
 ■ Contents

Setting Up and Managing a Network with PiNet��������������������������������� 221


What Is PiNet?������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 221
Getting a Suitable PC for Running PiNet��������������������������������������������������������������� 222
Downloading and Installing PiNet������������������������������������������������������������������������� 225
Creating and Managing User Accounts����������������������������������������������������������������� 233
Setting Up a Raspberry Pi Computer with the PiBoot Files���������������������������������� 237
Booting a Raspberry Pi Computer with PiNet������������������������������������������������������� 238
Setting Up Shared Folders for Users�������������������������������������������������������������������� 238
Viewing the PiNet System Status������������������������������������������������������������������������� 245
Installing Programs on the Raspberry Pi Computers�������������������������������������������� 246
Updating PiNet and the Raspberry Pi Computers������������������������������������������������� 246
Collecting Work from Students����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 246
Updating the SD Card Image�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 248
Updating the PiNet System����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 248
Taking Remote Control with Epoptes�������������������������������������������������������������������� 249

Summary��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 256

■Chapter 8: Troubleshooting Raspberry Pi Computers����������������� 257
How to Approach Troubleshooting Your Raspberry Pi Computers������� 257
Restarting as a Troubleshooting Move������������������������������������������������������������������ 258
Replacing the SD Card������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 258
Replacing Peripherals������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 258
Replacing the Raspberry Pi Computer������������������������������������������������������������������ 259
Keeping Raspbian Up to Date�������������������������������������������������������������� 259
Getting to a Command Prompt����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 259
Updating the System’s Package List�������������������������������������������������������������������� 260
Checking How Much Space Is Available on the SD Card�������������������������������������� 260
Upgrading the System’s Installed Packages�������������������������������������������������������� 261

xi
 ■ Contents

Troubleshooting Startup���������������������������������������������������������������������� 261


Understanding What Happens During Startup������������������������������������������������������ 262
Solving Typical Boot Problems������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 265

Troubleshooting SD Card Issues���������������������������������������������������������� 269


Preparing to Deal with SD Card Issues����������������������������������������������������������������� 269
Identifying SD Card Problems������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 269
Avoiding SD Card Problems���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 270
Repairing an SD Card with the fsck Command����������������������������������������������������� 271

Troubleshooting Network Issues��������������������������������������������������������� 272


Choosing Ethernet over Wi-Fi Wherever Possible������������������������������������������������� 272
Checking the Connection Status��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 273
Troubleshooting Ethernet Connections����������������������������������������������������������������� 274
Troubleshooting Wi-Fi Connections���������������������������������������������������������������������� 276

Troubleshooting No Output on the Display������������������������������������������ 276


Checking for Obvious Problems���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 276
Troubleshooting Display Issues via SSH��������������������������������������������������������������� 277

Troubleshooting USB Keyboards and Pointing Devices����������������������� 278


Troubleshooting Audio Issues�������������������������������������������������������������� 278
Summary��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 279
■■Appendix A: Raspberry Pi Resources and Training for
Educators����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 281
Where to Get Raspberry Pi Hardware and Accessories����������������������� 281
Worldwide Retailers��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 281
US Stores�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 282
Canada Stores������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 282
UK Stores�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 282
Australia Stores���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 282

xii
 ■ Contents

Where to Get Raspberry Pi Software��������������������������������������������������� 282


NOOBS Installer���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 283
Raspbian and Raspbian Lite Operating Systems�������������������������������������������������� 283
Other Operating Systems�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 283

Where to Get Other Useful Software��������������������������������������������������� 284


Ubuntu������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 284
PuTTY�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 284
SD Formatter�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 284
Visual Studio��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 285

Information Resources������������������������������������������������������������������������ 285


Raspberry Pi Foundation Documentation������������������������������������������������������������� 285
Details on config.txt Settings�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 285
RPi Hub Page on the Embedded Linux Wiki���������������������������������������������������������� 285
Phone Chargers That Work with Raspberry Pi������������������������������������������������������ 285

Training and Education Resources������������������������������������������������������ 286


Picademy�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 286
Raspberry Pi Education Forum����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 286
Raspberry Jam����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 286
Teaching Resources on the Raspberry Pi Foundation Web Site��������������������������� 286

Index���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 287

xiii
About the Author

Guy Hart-Davis is the author of more than 100 computer


books, including Learn Office 2016 for Mac, Learn Excel
2016 for Mac, and Pro Office for iPad.

xv
About the Technical
Reviewer

Massimo Nardone has more than 22 years of


experiences in security, web/mobile development,
and cloud and IT architecture. His true IT passions are
security and Android.
He has been programming and teaching how
to program with Android, Perl, PHP (Hypertext
Preprocessor), Java, VB (Visual Basic), Python, C/C++,
and MySQL (Structured Query Language) for more than
20 years.
He holds a Master of Science degree in Computing
Science from the University of Salerno, Italy.
He has worked as a Project Manager, Software
Engineer, Research Engineer, Chief Security Architect,
Information Security Manager, PCI/SCADA (protocol
control information/supervisory control and data
acquisition) Auditor, and Senior Lead IT Security/Cloud/SCADA Architect for many
years.
Technical skills include security, Android, cloud, Java, MySQL, Drupal, Cobol,
Perl, Web and Mobile development, MongoDB, D3 (Data-Driven Documents), Joomla,
Couchbase, C/C++, WebGL (Web Graphics Library), Python, Pro Rails, Django CMS
(content management system), Jekyll, Scratch, and so forth.
He currently works as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for Cargotec Oyj.
He has worked as a visiting lecturer and supervisor for exercises at the Networking
Laboratory of the Helsinki University of Technology (Aalto University). He holds four
international patents (PKI [public key infrastructure], SIP [session initiation protocol],
SAML [security assertion markup language], and Proxy areas).
Massimo has reviewed more than 40 IT books for different publishing companies,
and he is the coauthor of Pro Android Games (Apress, 2015).

xvii
Acknowledgments

My thanks go to the many people who helped create this book:


• Aaron Black for signing me to write the book
• Jim Markham for developing the manuscript
• Massimo Nardone for reviewing the manuscript for technical
accuracy and contributing helpful suggestions
• Deanna Hegle for editing the manuscript with care
• Jessica Vakili for coordinating the book project and keeping things
running
• SPi Global for laying out the chapters of the book
• SPi Global for creating the index

xix
Introduction

The Raspberry Pi has become a computing phenomenon. This single-board miniature


computer, first released in February 2012 by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, has grown into
a series of nearly a dozen models that have sold a total of more than 10 million units in
five years.
Inexpensive to buy and to run, Raspberry Pi computers are great for enthusiasts,
good for games, and fun for children. Raspberry Pi computers are also terrific in the
classroom, enabling you to put on each desk an easily-manageable computer on which
students can do everything from learning Internet use and essential office software skills,
through grasping programming basics in an easy-to-learn format, to performing full-on
programming in Python, Java, C, and other languages. Better yet, you can install all the
software needed for those activities automatically alongside the operating system.

Who Is This Book For?


This book is for anybody who’s looking to deploy Raspberry Pi computers in a classroom
or lab situation.
Most likely you’re a teacher or educator in a school or college, and that’s the scenario
this book and its examples aim at. But even if your situation and aims for deploying
multiple Raspberry Pi computers are different, you’ll find useful information in this book.
For example, you might run a community computing club providing Internet access, or
you might offer private computing lessons to small groups.

What Does This Book Cover?


This book contains eight chapters that take you from planning a classroom deployment of
Raspberry Pi computers to managing the classroom and troubleshooting the computers.
Chapter 1, “Planning Your Raspberry Pi Classroom Deployment,” walks you
through planning your deployment or Raspberry Pi computers in your classroom or lab.
The chapter briefly discusses what the Raspberry Pi boards are, the capabilities of the
computers that you can build with them, and what Raspberry Pi computers are suitable
for in the classroom. The chapter also discusses the key questions you will likely need to
research and answer in order to plan your Raspberry Pi deployment: How you will use the
Raspberry Pi computers, which ones to get, which operating system or systems to install,
how to manage the computers, and so on.

xxi
 ■ Introduction

Chapter 2, “Choosing Raspberry Pi Hardware,” discusses the hardware you’ll


typically want for deploying a fleet of Raspberry Pi computers in a classroom. First, you’ll
need the Raspberry Pi boards, plus essential hardware—such as power sources, SD cards,
and cases—to turn the boards into working computers. Next, you’ll need peripherals,
such as displays, keyboards, and pointing devices; your educational establishment may
have some or all of these, so the chapter covers how to get existing (and possibly legacy)
peripherals working with your Raspberry Pi computers. Last, you’ll need wired (Ethernet)
or wireless (Wi-Fi) network connections for the Raspberry Pi computers.
Chapter 3, “Choosing Operating Systems for Raspberry Pi,” lays out your main
choices of operating systems. Raspberry Pi computers can run an impressive range
of operating systems, most of which are based on the widely used Linux operating
system. The Raspberry Pi Foundation provides a helpful installer called NOOBS (New
Out Of Box Software) that enables you to install not only Raspbian, the version of Linux
customized for the Raspberry Pi, and Raspbian Lite but also two media-center operating
systems—LibreELEC and OSMC—and Windows 10 IoT Core, a version of Windows for
building projects and apps for devices. Beyond these, you can install other Linux desktop
operating systems, Linux server operating systems, the blazing fast but rather limited
RISC OS, and versions of the UNIX-like BSD operating system.
Chapter 4, “Brief Tutorial on Raspberry Pi Essentials,” makes sure you know how
to use and configure a Raspberry Pi computer running the Raspbian operating system.
The chapter covers everything from startup, shutdown, and restart to configuring
your pointing device, keyboard, and network connection; using the Raspberry Pi
Configuration tool to configure the Raspberry Pi; navigating and customizing the desktop,
exploring the file system using the File Manager app, and configuring File Manager to
work the way you prefer.
Chapter 5, “Building the Raspberry Pi Computers and Installing Software,” discusses
how to build your Raspberry Pi computers—essentially, putting the Raspberry Pi boards
into the cases you’ve chosen—and how to install operating systems on them. The
chapter shows you how to get the NOOBS installer, use it to install Raspbian and the
other operating systems that NOOBS supports, and how to perform “headless” installs
on remote computers using Virtual Network Computing (VNC). You also learn how to
use Recovery Mode and how to perform advanced moves with NOOBS, such as installing
an operating system automatically and creating a custom version of Raspbian for your
school.
Chapter 6, “Connecting the Raspberry Pi Computers to the Network,” shows you
how to set up your Raspberry Pi computers in your classroom or lab, connect them to
your establishment’s network, and verify that the computers and the network are working
to your satisfaction. Coverage includes setting hostnames and static IP addresses and
connecting to Wi-Fi networks.
Chapter 7, “Administering and Managing Your Raspberry Pi Network,” shows you
how to run your Raspberry Pi network either individually or by using the free PiNet
server system. You’ll learn how to create user accounts, how to set up remote access to
computers you want to administer remotely, how to install and configure PiNet, and
how to control your computers—and maybe your students—using the free Epoptes
­classroom-management app.

xxii
 ■ Introduction

Chapter 8, “Troubleshooting Raspberry Pi Computers in the Classroom,” shows


you how to deal with the problems you’re most likely to encounter with Raspberry Pi
computers deployed in classroom situtations. The chapter starts by recommending a
restart-and-replace strategy designed to keep your classroom functioning smoothly and
avoid disruption from trying to troubleshoot problems that seem minor but turn thorny.
The chapter then covers how to keep the system software on Raspberry Pi computers up
to date; how to deal with issues involving startup, SD cards, and network connections;
and how to resolve problems with displays, keyboards and pointing devices, and audio
output.
The Appendix, “Raspberry Pi Resources and Training for Educators,” gives you brief
lists of resources for deploying, running, and managing Raspberry Pi computers, plus
information on training for educators.

Involving Your Students


One of the great things about Raspberry Pi computers is that they’re well suited to having
students build them and set them up as well as simply use them as classroom computers.
So this book suggests several points at which you may want to involve your students
in setting up and maintaining your classroom deployment of Raspberry Pi computers.
These include:
• Building the Raspberry Pi computers. Because each Raspberry
Pi board contains a full computer system—processor, graphics
processor, memory (RAM), networking, USB, and so on—which
greatly reduces the potential for damage and mistakes. Building
a Raspberry Pi computer involves only putting the Raspberry
Pi board in a suitable case, not installing multiple sensitive
components using a variety of technician tools.
• Setting up the Raspberry Pi computers in the classroom.
Having students help you with setting up the Raspberry Pi
computers at the workstations, distributing peripherals, and
connecting the devices and cables can not only save you time but
also develop students’ skills.
• Testing the Raspberry Pi computers and the network. After
setting up the computers and the network, you can have students
power on the computers and run through a list of tests that you
specify, to make sure that the computers are running correctly
and that they are able to access the Internet.
These are activities that many students should be capable of. But the Raspberry
Pi computers also offer many other opportunties for you to involve your older or more
able students. For example, you may want to have more advanced students learn to
troubleshoot problems that occur frequently with Raspberry Pi computers, or at least
have them replace failed (or problem) SD cards, peripherals, or computers when the
need arises.

xxiii
 ■ Introduction

Additions and Errata


If you have suggestions for additions or improvements you’d like to see in future editions
of this book, please send them in. Go to the Apress website (www.apress.com), enter this
book’s number (9781484223031) in the Search box, and click the Go button. Click the
book’s cover or the View Book button to get to the book’s page.
Click the Errata tab to display a list of the errata and additions available so far.
On this tab, you’ll also find the e-mail address to which you can submit corrections or
suggestions for additions or improvements.

xxiv
CHAPTER 1

Planning Your Raspberry Pi


Classroom Deployment

In this chapter, we’ll quickly look at how to plan your deployment of Raspberry Pi
computers in the classroom.
We’ll begin by making sure you know what the Raspberry Pi is. After that, we’ll
examine what the capabilities of Raspberry Pi computers are and what Raspberry Pi
computers are suitable for in the classroom. Last, we’ll look at the key questions you
will likely need to research and answer to plan your Raspberry Pi deployment in the
classroom.

Understanding What the Raspberry Pi Is


Raspberry Pi is a family of computers designed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a UK-
based charity. The Raspberry Pi Foundation has released multiple models of Raspberry
Pi, each with somewhat different specifications. Each Raspberry Pi model uses a System
on a Chip (SoC), a single microchip that contains all the essential components of a
computer system; for the Raspberry Pi, the SoC contains a processor and a graphics
processing unit (GPU).
Each of the Raspberry Pi models is the size of a credit card, except for the Raspberry
Pi Zero, which is half that size. This book refers to the standard-size Raspberry Pi models
as “full-size” to distinguish them from the half-size Raspberry Pi Zero. Figure 1-1 shows
the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, which is the latest full-size Raspberry Pi model as of this
writing.

© Guy Hart-Davis 2017 1


G. Hart-Davis, Deploying Raspberry Pi in the Classroom,
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4842-2304-8_1
Chapter 1 ■ Planning Your Raspberry Pi Classroom Deployment

Figure 1-1. Each Raspberry Pi model comes as a complete system on a board. This is the
Raspberry Pi 3 Model B.

Each Raspberry Pi model comes as a system on a board—a computer motherboard


that has the processor, random access memory (RAM), graphics processor, network
controller, USB (universal serial bus) controller, and so on built into it. The system is not
upgradeable without technician-level skills.
Each Raspberry Pi board also has a wide variety of input and output connectors
already connected to it, such as an HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface)
connector for a monitor; USB ports for connecting keyboards, mouses, and other
devices; and an Ethernet port for connecting a network cable. So all you need do to
turn a Raspberry Pi board into a complete central processing unit (CPU) is to put it in a
case. You can then connect a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and other components to the
Raspberry Pi. Figure 1-2 shows the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B in a clear acrylic case, looking
from an angle that shows the Ethernet port and the four USB ports.

2
Chapter 1 ■ Planning Your Raspberry Pi Classroom Deployment

Figure 1-2. You can get a wide variety of cases for the Raspberry Pi models including clear
cases and ones that give easy access to the internal ports.

■■Note It’s possible to run the Raspberry Pi boards without a case, but normally you’d
want to do so only in a lab setting. If you’re planning to deploy Raspberry Pi computers in
the classroom or in other locations in the wild, you’ll need to put cases on them.

3
Chapter 1 ■ Planning Your Raspberry Pi Classroom Deployment

Understanding the Capabilities of Raspberry Pi


Computers
Despite its diminutive size, the Raspberry Pi is a full-size computer capable of running
a “proper” operating system. The Raspberry Pi Foundation supplies a customized
operating system called Raspbian for the Raspberry Pi models, but you can install and
run other operating systems as well if you prefer. Raspbian is based on the widely used
Debian distribution of Linux.

■■Note Chapter 3 explains the main operating systems you can install and run on the
Raspberry Pi models.

The standard-size Raspberry Pi models make a highly cost-effective solution for


computing in schools, colleges, and clubs. The following subsections discuss some of the
uses for which Raspberry Pi computers are suited.
The Raspberry Pi Zero can run desktop apps, but its diminutive size, fewer ports,
and more limited connection options make it more suitable for projects. See the section
“Planning and Executing Computing Projects,” later in this chapter for examples of
projects for both full-size Raspberry Pi boards and Raspberry Pi Zero boards.

Learning Desktop Computing Skills


A Raspberry Pi computer running the Raspbian operating system is a great tool for
learning standard desktop computing skills. For example, using a Raspberry Pi computer,
students can learn to
• Perform standard operations such as starting up, logging in and
out, shutting down, and restarting.
• Navigate the desktop, run apps, and manage windows. Figure 1-3
shows the default Raspbian desktop, which you’ll explore in detail
in Chapter 4.
• Create documents using apps and manage files using the File
Manager app.
• Browse the Web and communicate via e-mail.
• Work with the command-line interface either at the computer
itself or by connecting via remote technologies such as Secure
Shell (SSH).
• Connect peripherals and establish a network connection.
• Control services such as remote access and file sharing.
• Work remotely using the graphical interface via technologies such
as Virtual Network Computing (VNC).

4
Chapter 1 ■ Planning Your Raspberry Pi Classroom Deployment

Figure 1-3. Raspbian’s default desktop has a taskbar-like panel at the top of the screen and
a Menu button that provides access to apps, settings, and commands.

■■Note The Raspbian interface varies somewhat between versions. Figure 1-3 shows the
Raspbian version as of this writing (December 2016) in which the app windows have slightly
rounded corners. Older versions of Raspbian, including those used by the PiNet server
system (discussed in Chapter 7), have windows with square corners like those shown in
some of the figures later in this chapter.

Learning Office Skills


Raspbian includes the LibreOffice software suite, which provides a full set of office apps
for learning office skills such as word processing, creating spreadsheets, developing
presentations, and building databases and entering data in them. LibreOffice contains
the following six modules:
• LibreOffice Base: LibreOffice Base is a database app that enables
you to build relational databases.

5
Chapter 1 ■ Planning Your Raspberry Pi Classroom Deployment

• LibreOffice Calc: LibreOffice Calc is a spreadsheet app that lets


you develop spreadsheet-based workbooks for calculations and
data processing. Figure 1-4 shows LibreOffice Calc.

Figure 1-4. The LibreOffice office software suite includes the LibreOffice Calc app for
creating spreadsheets.

• LibreOffice Draw: LibreOffice Draw is a drawing app that allows


you to create diagrams, sketches, and plans.
• LibreOffice Impress: LibreOffice Impress is a presentation app that
you can use to create slideshows and deliver presentations.
• LibreOffice Math: LibreOffice Math is a formula editor that
enables you to create formulas and math elements for inclusion
in your documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
• LibreOffice Writer: LibreOffice Writer is a word-processing app
that lets you create anything from short documents to long and
complex documents including graphics, tables of contents,
indexes, and other features.

6
Chapter 1 ■ Planning Your Raspberry Pi Classroom Deployment

The LibreOffice suite is a great tool for students to master because not only is it free, but
it also runs on Windows and on the Mac as well as on Linux. So any student with a computer
at home can use LibreOffice at home as well as at school. The LibreOffice modules don’t
have every single feature that their Microsoft Office equivalents have, but they have more
than enough features for most needs, whether at home, at school, or at work.

LIBREOFFICE PROVIDES COMPATIBILITY WITH


MICROSOFT OFFICE

Each LibreOffice app has a native file format; for example, the Writer app’s native file
format is called ODF (Open Document Format) Text Document, and the Calc app’s
native file format is called ODF Spreadsheet. But the LibreOffice apps also have
impressively high compatibility with the Microsoft Office file formats, not to mention
compatibility with other widely used formats (such as HTML).
For example, the Writer app can open documents in Microsoft Word’s .docx format
and .doc format and can save documents in these formats; similarly, the Calc app
can open and save files in Excel’s .xlsx and .xls file formats; and the Impress app
can open and save files in PowerPoint’s .pptx and .ppt file formats.

Learning the Essentials of Programming with Scratch


Raspbian includes the Scratch tool for teaching the fundamentals of programming
in an engaging and accessible environment. Scratch was developed by the Lifelong
Kindergarten Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab as
a tool for teaching youngsters, but it works effectively for all ages. You can use Scratch
inside or outside the classroom as a first step to grasping programming concepts without
having to worry about syntax. Figure 1-5 shows the Scratch interface.

7
Chapter 1 ■ Planning Your Raspberry Pi Classroom Deployment

Figure 1-5. Scratch is an easy-to-grasp and graphical tool for coming to grips with the
essentials of programming.

Programming in Python
Raspbian includes integrated development environment (IDE) apps for programming
in Python, a programming language widely used for purposes such as 2-D games, web
applications, and small databases. As of this writing, Raspbian includes versions of the
IDLE (Integrated Development and Learning Environment) IDE for Python 2 and for
Python 3. Figure 1-6 shows a Python script open in the IDLE IDE.

8
Chapter 1 ■ Planning Your Raspberry Pi Classroom Deployment

Figure 1-6. Raspbian includes the IDLE integrated development environment for coding
in Python 2 and Python 3.

Programming in Java
Raspbian includes two apps for programming in Java:
• BlueJ: BlueJ is an editor for creating code and working with
objects. Figure 1-7 shows BlueJ with one of its sample projects
open.

9
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
and a night of intense darkness, threatening a tempest, set in. As
we sat by our fire, its glare upon huge beetling points of
overhanging rocks, gave the scene a wild and picturesque cast; and
we anticipated returning daylight with an anxious wish to know and
see our exact locality. By the restless tramping of our horse, and the
tinkling of his bell, we knew that he had found but indifferent
picking.
Daylight fulfilled the predictions of the evening. We had rain. It also
revealed our position in this narrow, and romantic glen. A high wall
of rocks, encompassed us on either hand, but they were not such as
would have resulted in a volcanic country from a valley fissure.
Narrow and deep as the glen was, it was at once apparent, that it
was a valley of denudation, and had owed its existence to the
wasting effects of the trifling stream within it, carrying away, particle
by particle, the matter loosened by rains and frosts, and mechanical
attrition. The cliffs are exclusively calcareous, and piled up, mason
like, in horizontal layers. One of the most striking pictures which
they presented, was found in the great number, size and variety of
caves, which opened into this calcareous formation. These caves are
of all sizes, some of them very large, and not a few of them situated
at elevations above the floor of the glen, which forbade access.
One of our first objects, after examining the neighbourhood, was to
remove our baggage and location up the glen, into one of these
caves, which at the distance of about a mile, promised us an
effectual shelter from the inclemency of the storm. This done, we
determined here to wait for settled weather, and explore the
precincts. By far the most prominent object, among the caverns, was
the one into which we had thus unceremoniously thrust ourselves. It
had evidently been visited before, by persons in search of saltpetre
earth. Efflorescences of nitric earth, were abundant in its fissures,
and this salt was also present in masses of reddish diluvial earth,
which lay in several places. The mouth of this cave presented a rude
irregular arc, of which the extreme height was probably thirty feet,
and the base line ninety. The floor of this orifice occurs, at an
elevation of about forty feet above the stream. And this size is held
for about two hundred feet, when it expands into a lofty dome,
some eighty or ninety feet high, and perhaps, three hundred in
diameter. In its centre a fine spring of water issues from the rock.
From this dome several passages lead off in different directions.
One of these opens into the glen, at an inaccessible point, just
below. Another runs back nearly at right angles with the mouth,
putting out smaller passages, of not much importance, however, in
its progress. So splendid and noble an entrance gave us the highest
hopes of finding it but the vestibule of a natural labyrinth; but the
result disappointed us. These ample dimensions soon contract, and
after following the main or south passage about five hundred yards,
we found our further entrance barred, by masses of fallen rock, at
the foot of which a small stream trickled through the broken
fragments, and found its way to the mouth. Have we good reason to
attribute to this small stream, a power sufficient to be regarded as
the effective agent in carrying away the calcareous rock, so as to
have in a long period produced the orifice? Whence then, it may be
asked, the masses of compact reddish clay and pebble diluvium,
which exist? These seem rather, to denote that these caves were
open orifices, during the period of oceanic action, upon the surface
of the Ozarks, and that a mass of waters, surcharged with such
materials, flowed into pre-existing caverns. This diluvium is, in truth,
of the same era as the wide spread stream of like kind, which has
been deposited over the metalliferous region of Missouri. If these,
however, be questions for geological doubt, we had lit upon another
inquiry, very prominent on our minds in making this exploration,
namely, whether there were any wild beasts sheltered in its fissures.
Satisfied that we were safe on this score, we retraced our footsteps
to our fire, and sallied out to visit other caves. Most of these were at
such heights as prevented access to them. In one instance, a tree
had fallen against the face of the cliff, in such a manner, that by
climbing it to its forks, and taking one of the latter, the opening
might be reached. Putting a small mineral hammer in my pocket, I
ascended this tree, and found the cave accessible. It yielded some
wax-yellow and white-translucent stalactites, and also very delicate
white crystals of nitre. The dimensions of this cave were small, and
but little higher than to enable a man to stand upright.
In each of the caves of this glen which I entered, during a halt of
several days in this vicinity, I looked closely about for fossil bones,
but without success in any instance. The only article of this kind
observed was the recent leg and foot bones and vertebra of the bos
musarius, which appeared to be an inhabitant of the uppermost
fissures in these calcareous cliffs, but I never saw the living species,
although I ranged along their summits and bases, with my gun and
hammer, at various hours. Some of the compact lime stone in the
bed of the creek exhibited a striped and jaspery texture. The wood-
duck and the duck and mallard sometimes frequented this secluded
stream, and it was a common resort for the wild turkey, at a certain
hour in the evening. This bird seemed at such times to come in
thirsty, from its ranges in quest of acorns on the uplands, and its
sole object appeared to be to drink. Sitting in the mouth of our cave,
we often had a fine opportunity to see flocks of these noisy and fine
birds flying down from the cliffs, and perching on the trees below us.
If they came to roost, as well as to slack their thirst, a supposition
probable, this was an ill-timed movement, so long as we inhabited
the glen, for they only escaped the claw and talons of one enemy, to
fall before the fire-lock of the other. This bird, indeed, proved our
best resource on the journey, for we travelled with too much noise
and want of precaution generally, to kill the deer and elk, which,
however, were abundant on the highland plains.
We passed three days at the Glen Cave, during which there were
several rains; it stormed one entire day, and we employed the time
of this confinement, in preparing for the more intricate and unknown
parts of our journey. Hitherto we had pursued for the most of the
way, a trail, and were cheered on our way, by sometimes observing
traces of human labour. But, from this point we were to plunge into
a perfect wilderness, without a trace or track. We had before us,
that portion of the Ozark range, which separates to the right and
left, the waters of the Missouri from those of the Mississippi. It was
supposed, from the best reports, that by holding south-west, across
these eminences, we should strike the valley of the White River,
which interposed itself between our position there and the Arkansas.
To enter upon this tract, with our compass only as a guide, and with
the certainty of finding no nutritious grass for our horse, required
that we should lighten and curtail our baggage as much as possible,
and put all our effects into the most compact and portable form. And
having done this, and the weather proving settled, we followed a
short distance up the Glen of Caves; but finding it to lead too
directly west, we soon left it and mounted the hills which line its
southern border. A number of latter valleys, covered with thick
brush, made this a labour by no means slight. The surface was
rough; vegetation sere and dry, and every thicket which spread
before us, presented an obstacle which was to be overcome. We
could have penetrated many of these, which the horse could not be
forced through. Such parts of our clothing as did not consist of
buckskin, paid frequent tribute to these brambles. At length we got
clear of these spurs, and entered on a high waving table land where
travelling became comparatively easy. The first view of this vista of
high land plains was magnificent. It was covered with moderate
sized sere grass and dry seed pods, which rustled as we passed.
There was scarcely an object deserving the name of a tree, except,
now and then, a solitary trunk of a dead pine, or oak, which had
been scathed by lightning. The bleached skull of the buffalo, was
sometimes met, and proved that this animal had once existed here.
Rarely we passed a stunted oak; sometimes a cluster of saplings
crowned the summit of a sloping hill; the deer often bounded before
us; we sometimes disturbed the hare from its sheltering bush, or put
to flight the quail or the prairie hen. There was no prominent feature
for the eye to rest upon. The unvaried prospect produced satiety. We
felt in a peculiar manner the solitariness of the wilderness. We
travelled silently and diligently. It was a dry and thirsty barren. From
morning till sun set we did not encounter a drop of water. This
became the absorbing object. Hill after hill, and vale after vale were
patiently scanned, and diligently footed, without bringing the
expected boon. At length we came, without the expectation of it, to
a small running stream in the plain, where we gladly encamped.
There was also some grass which preserved a greenish hue, and
which enabled our horse also to recruit himself.
Early the next morning we repacked him, and continued our course,
travelling due west south-west. At the distance of five or six miles,
we reached the banks of a clear stream of twenty feet wide, running
over a bed of pebbles and small secondary boulders. This stream ran
towards the north west, and gave us the first intimation we had, that
we had crossed the summit and were on the off drain of the
Missouri. We supposed it to be the source of the Gasconade, or at
farthest some eastern tributary of the Little Osage.
A few hours travelling brought us to the banks of another stream of
much larger size and depth, but running in the same direction. This
stream we found it difficult to cross, and spent several hours in
heaping piles of stone, and connecting them with dry limbs of trees,
which had been carried down by floods. It had a rapid and deep
current, on each side of which was a wide space of shallow water
and rolled boulders of lime and sand stone. We succeeded in driving
the horse safely over. Enobitti led the way on our frail bridge-work,
but disturbed the last link of it as he jumped off on the south bank,
so that it turned under my tread and let me in. There was no kind of
danger in the fall as it was in the shallow part of the stream, but
putting out my hands to break the fall, it so happened that my whole
weight rested on my gun, which was supported on two stones,
merely on its butt and muzzle; the effect was to wrench the barrel. I
gave it a counter wrench as soon as we encamped, but I never
afterwards could place full confidence in it. We had not gone over
three or four miles beyond this river, when we came to the banks of
a third stream, running west, but also sweeping off below, towards
the north-west. This stream was smaller than the former and
opposed no difficulty in fording it. Having done this we followed it up
a short distance, and encamped on its south banks.
CHAPTER IV.
Hearsay information of the hunters turns out false—We alter our course—A
bear hunt—An accident—Another rencontre with bears—Strike the source of
the Great North Fork of White River—Journey down this valley—Its
character and productions—Agreat Spring—Incidents of the route—Pack
horse rolls down a precipice—Plunges in the river—A cavern—Osage lodges
—A hunter's hut.

It was now manifest, from our crossing the last two streams, that
we were going too far north—that we were in fact in the valley of
the Missouri proper; and that the information obtained of the
hunters on the source of the Merrimack, was not to be implicitly
relied on. It is not probable that one of the persons who gave this
information had ever been here. It was a region they were kept out
of by the fear of the Osages, as our own experience in the case of
Roberts denoted. Willing to test it farther, however, we followed
down the last named stream a few miles; in the hope of its turning
south or south-west, but it went off in another direction. We then
came to a halt, and after consulting together, steered our course due
south south-west, thus varying our general course from the caves.
This carried us up a long range of wooded highlands. The forest
here assumed a handsome growth. We passed through a track of
the over-cup oak, interspersed with hickory, and had reached the
summit of an elevated wooded ridge, when just as we gained the
highest point, we discovered four bears on a large oak, in the valley
before us. Three of the number were probably cubs, and with their
dam, they were regaling themselves on the ripe acorns without
observing us. We had sought no opportunities to hunt, and given up
no especial time to it, but here was too fair a challenge to be
neglected. We tied our horse securely to a sapling, and then
examining our pieces, and putting down an extra ball, set out to
descend the hill as cautiously as possible. An unlucky slip of Enobitti
threw him with force forward and sprained his ankle. He lay for a
short time in agony. This noise alarmed the bears, who one after the
other quickly ran in from the extremities of the limbs to the trunk,
which they descended head first, and scampered clumsily off up the
valley. I pursued them without minding my companion, not knowing,
indeed how badly he was hurt, but was compelled to give up the
chase, as the tall grass finally prevented my seeing what course they
had taken. I now returned to my companion. He could not stand at
first, nor walk when he arose, and the first agony had passed. I
proposed to mount him on the pack horse, and lead him slowly up
the valley, and this plan was carried into effect. But he endured too
much suffering to bear even this. The ankle began to inflame. There
was nothing but rest and continued repose that promised relief. I
selected a fine grassy spot to encamp, unpacked the horse, built a
fire, and got my patient comfortably stretched on his pallet. But little
provision had been made at Potosi in the medical department. My
whole store of pharmacy consisted of some pills and salves, and a
few simple articles. The only thing I could think of as likely to be
serviceable, was in our culinary pack,—it was a little sack of salt, and
of this I made a solution in warm water and bathed the ankle. I then
replenished the fire and cut some wood to renew it. It was still early
in the day, and leaving my companion to rest, and to the effect of
the remedy offered, I took my gun and strolled over the adjoining
hills, in hopes of bringing in some pigeons, or other small game. But
it was a time of day when both birds and quadrupeds have finished
their mornings repast, and retired to the groves or fastnesses. I saw
nothing but the little grey bunting, and the noisy jay. When I
returned to our camp in the vale I found my companion easier. The
bathing had sensibly alleviated the pain and swelling. It was
therefore diligently renewed, and the next morning he was so far
improved, that he consented to try the pack horse again. We had
not, however, travelled far, when two large bears were seen before
us playing in the grass, and so engaged in their sport, that they did
not perceive us. We were now on the same level with them, and
quickly prepared to give them battle. My companion dismounted as
easily as possible, and having secured the horse and examined our
arms, we reached a stand within firing distance. It was not till this
moment that our approach was discovered by them, and the first
thing they did after running a few yards, was to sit up in the grass
and gaze at us. Having each singled his animal, we fired at the same
instant. Both animals fled, but on reaching the spot where my mark
had sat, blood was copiously found on the grass, and a pursuit was
the consequence. I followed him up a long ridge, but he passed over
the summit so far before me, that I lost sight of him. I came to a
large hollow black oak, in the direction he had disappeared, which
showed the nail marks of some animal, which I believed to be his.
While examining these signs more closely my companion made his
appearance. How he had got there I know not. The excitement had
well nigh cured his ancle. He stood by the orifice, while I went for
the axe to our camp, and when I was tired chopping, he laid hold.
We chopped alternately, and big as it was, the tree at last came
down with a crash that made the forest ring. For a few moments we
looked at the huge and partly broken trunk as if a bear would start
from it; but all was silence. We thoroughly searched the hollow part
but found nothing. I went over another ridge of forest land, started
a noble elk, but saw nothing more of my bear. Here terminated this
adventure. We retraced our footsteps back to the valley, and
proceeded on our route. This incident had led us a little south of our
true course; and it so turned out that it was at a point, where a mile
or two one way or the other, was calculated to make a wide
difference in the place of our exit into the valley of White River; for
we were on a high broken summit ridge, from which several
important streams originated. The pursuit of the bear had carried us
near to the head of the valley, and by crossing the intervening
summit, we found ourselves at the head springs of an important
stream, which in due time we learned was the Great North Fork of
White River. This stream begins to develope itself in pools, or
standing springs, which soak through the gravel and boulders, and it
is many miles before it assumes the character of a continuous
stream. Even then it proceeds in plateaux or steps, on which the
water has a level, and the next succeeding level below it has its
connection with it, through a rapid. In fact, the whole stream, till
near its mouth, is one series of these lake-like levels, and short
rapids, each level sinking lower and lower, till, like the locks in a
canal, the last flows out on a level with its final recipient. But
however its waters are congregated, they are all pure and colourless
as rock crystal, and well vindicate the propriety of their original
name of la Rivière Blanc. They all originate in mountain springs, are
cool and sparkling, and give assurance in this feature, that they will
carry health to the future inhabitants of the valley through which
they flow. With the first springs begins to be seen a small growth of
the cane, which is found a constant species on its bottom lands. This
plant becomes high in more southern latitudes, and being
intertwined with the green briar, renders it very difficult, as we soon
found, to penetrate it, especially with a horse. Man can endure a
thousand adventures and hardships where a horse would die; and it
would require no further testimony than this journey gave, to
convince me, that providence designed the horse for a state of
civilization.
We followed the course of these waters about six miles, and
encamped. It was evidently the source of a stream of some note. It
ran in the required direction, and although we did not then know,
that it was the valley of the Great North Fork of White River, we
were satisfied it was a tributary of the latter stream, and determined
to pursue it. This we did for twelve days, before we met with a
human being, white or red. It rapidly developed itself, as we went,
and unfolded an important valley, of rich soil, bearing a vigorous
growth of forest trees, and enclosed on either hand, by elevated
limestone cliffs. Nothing could exceed the purity of its waters, which
bubbled up in copious springs, from the rock, or pebble stratum. For
a long distance the stream increased from such accessions alone,
without large and independent tributaries. On the second day's
travel, we came to a spring, of this crystal character, which we
judged to be about fifty feet across, at the point of its issue from the
rock and soil. Its outlet after running about a thousand yards, joined
the main stream, to which it brings a volume fully equal to it. This
spring I named the Elk Spring, from the circumstance of finding a
large pair of the horns of this animal, partly buried in the leaves, at a
spot where I stooped down to drink. I took the horns, and hung
them in the forks of a young oak tree.
We found abundance of game in this valley. There was not an entire
day, I think, until we got near the hunters' camps, that we did not
see either the bear, elk, or deer, or their recent signs. Flocks of the
wild turkey were of daily occurrence. The gray squirrel frequently
sported on the trees, and as the stream increased in size, we found
the duck, brant and swan.
There were two serious objections, however, in travelling down a
wooded valley. Its shrubbery was so thick and rank that it was next
to impossible to force the pack horse through it. Wherever the cane
abounds, and this comprehends all its true alluvions, it is found to be
matted together, as it were, with the green briar and grape vine. So
much noise attended the effort at any rate, that the game generally
fled before us, and had it not been for small game, we should have
often wanted a meal. With every effort, we could not make an
average of more than fourteen miles a day. The river was so
tortuous too, that we could not count, on making more than half this
distance, in a direct line. To remedy these evils we sometimes went
out of the valley, on the open naked plains. It was a relief, but had,
in the end, these difficulties, that while the plains exposed us to
greater heats in travelling, they afforded no water, and we often lost
much time in the necessity, we were under, towards night-fall, of
going back to the valley for water. Neither was it found to be safe to
travel far separated, for there were many causes of accident, which
rendered mutual assistance desirable. One day, while Enobitti led the
horse, and was conducting him from a lofty ridge, to get into the
valley, the animal stumbled, and rolled to the bottom. We thought
every bone in his body had been broke, but he had been protected
by his pack, and we found that he was but little injured, and when
repacked, still capable of going forward. On another occasion, I had
been leading him for several hours, along a high terrace of cliffs on
the left banks where this terrace was, as it were, suddenly cut off by
the intersection of a lateral valley. The view was a sublime one,
standing at the pinnacle of junction; but there was no possible way
of descent, and it was necessary to retrace my steps, a long—long
way. As an instance of the very tortuous character of this stream, I
will mention that a rocky peninsula, causing a bend which it took my
companion some two hours to pass, with the horse, I had crossed in
less than twenty minutes, with my hammer and gun. When we had,
as we supposed, become familiar with every species of impediment
and delay, in descending the valley, a new, and very serious and
unexpected one, arose one day, in crossing the stream, from the left
to the right bank. It was my turn to be muleteer that day, and I had
selected a ford where the river was not wide, and the water,
apparently, some two or three feet deep. I judged from the
clearness of the pebbles at the bottom, and their apparent nearness
to the surface. But such was the transparency of the water, that a
wide mistake was made. We had nearly lost the horse, he plunged in
over head, could not touch bottom, and when with great ado, we
had got him up the steep bank on the other side, he was completely
exhausted. But this was not the extent of the evil. Our sugar and
salt were dissolved. Our meal, of which a little still remained, was
spoiled. Our tea was damaged,—our blankets and clothing wetted,—
our whole pack soaked. The horse had been so long in the water, in
our often fruitless efforts to get him to some part of the bank
depressed enough, to pull him up, that nothing had escaped its
effects. We encamped on the spot, and spent the rest of the day in
drying our effects, and expelling from our spare garments the
superfluous moisture.
The next day we struck out into the high plains, on the right bank,
and made a good day's journey. The country was nearly level,
denuded of trees, with sere autumnal grass. Often the prairie hen
started up, but we saw nothing in the animal creation beside, save a
few hares, as evening came on. To find water for the horse, and
ourselves, we were again compelled to approach the valley. We at
length entered a dry and desolate gorge, without grass or water.
Night came on, but no sound or sight of water occurred. We were
sinking deeper and deeper into the rocky structure of the country at
every step, and soon found there were high cliffs on either side of
us. What we most feared now occurred. It became dark, the clouds
had threatened foul weather and it now began to rain. Had it not
been for a cavern, which disclosed itself, in one of these calcareous
cliffs, we must have passed a miserable night. On entering it, we
found a spring of water. It was too high in the cliff to get the horse
in, but we carried him water in a vessel. He was afterwards hobbled,
and left to shift for himself. On striking a fire, in the cave, its rays
disclosed masses of stalactites, and a dark avenue into the rocks
back. Having made a cup of tea and finished our repast, we
determined to explore the cave before lying down to rest, lest we
might be intruded on by some wild animal before morning. A torch
of pine wood was soon made, which guided our footsteps into the
dismal recess, but we found nothing of the kind. On returning to our
fire, near the mouth of the cave, we found the rain had increased to
a heavy shower, and the vivid flashes of lightning, illumined with
momentary brilliancy, the dark and frowning precipices of this
romantic gorge. The excitement and novelty of our position, served
to drive away sleep, notwithstanding a long day's march, and it was
late before we sought repose.
Morning brought a clear sky, but the horse was gone. He had
followed on the back track, up the glen, in search of something to
feed upon, and was not found till we reached the skirts of the plains.
The whole morning was indeed, lost in reclaiming him, and we then
set forward again, and returned to the North Fork valley. We found it
had assumed a greater expanse, at the point of our re-entry, which
it maintained, and increased, as we pursued it down. Wide open oak
plains extended on the left bank, which appeared very eligible for
the purposes of settlement. On an oak tree, at this spot, we
observed some marks, which had probably been made by some
enterprising land explorer. With these improved evidences of its
character for future occupation, we found the travelling easier.
Within a few miles travel, we noticed a tributary coming in on the
left bank, and at a lower point another on the left. The first stream
had this peculiarity, that its waters came in at a right angle, with the
parent stream, and with such velocity as to pass directly across its
channel to the opposite bank. In this vicinity, we saw many of the
deserted pole camps of the Osages, none of which appeared,
however, to have been recently occupied. So far, indeed, we had met
no hindrance, or annoyance from this people; we had not even
encountered a single member of the tribe, and felt assured that the
accounts we had received of their cruelty and rapacity, had been
grossly exaggerated, or if not wholly overcoloured, they must have
related to a period in their history, which was now well nigh past. We
could not learn that they had hunted on these lands, during late
years, and were afterwards given to understand that they had ceded
them to the United States by a treaty concluded at St. Louis. From
whatever causes, however, the district had been left free from their
roving parties, it was certain that the game had recovered under
such a cessation of the chase. The black bear, deer and elk, were
abundant. We also frequently saw signs of the labours of the beaver
along the valley. I had the good luck, one day, while in advance with
my gun, of beholding two of these animals, at play in the stream,
and observing their graceful motions. My position was, within point
blank shot of them, but I was screened from their gaze. I sat, with
gun cocked, meaning to secure one of them after they came to the
shore. Both animals came out together, and sat on the bank at the
edge of the river, a ledge of rocks being in the rear of them. The
novelty of the sight led me to pause, and admire them, when, all of
a sudden, they darted into a crevice in the rock.
On the second day after re-entering the valley, we descried, on
descending a long slope of rising ground, a hunter's cabin, covered
with narrow oak boards, split with a frow; and were exhilarated with
the idea of finding it occupied. But this turned out a delusive hope.
It had been deserted, from appearance, the year before. We found,
among the surrounding weeds, a few stems of the cotton plant,
which had grown up from seeds, accidentally dropped. The bolls had
opened. I picked out the cotton to serve as a material in lighting my
camp fires, at night, this being a labour which I had taken the
exclusive management of. The site of this camp, had been well
chosen. There was a small stream in front, and a heavy rich cane
bottom behind it, extending to the banks of the river. A handsome
point of woodlands extended north of it, from the immediate door of
the camp. And although somewhat early in the day, we determined
to encamp, and soon made ourselves masters of the fabric, and sat
down before a cheerful fire, with a title to occupancy, which there
was no one to dispute.

THE BIRD.
VERSIFIED FROM THE GERMAN OF GESSNER: 1812.
A swain, as he strayed through the grove,
Had caught a young bird on a spray—
What a gift, he exclaimed, for my love,
How beautiful, charming, and gay.

With rapture he viewed the fair prize,


And listened with joy to its chat,
As with haste to the meadow he hies
To secure it beneath his straw hat.

I will make of yon willows so gay,


A cage for my prisoner to mourn,
Then to Delia, the gift I'll convey,
And beg for a kiss in return.

She will grant me that one, I am sure;


For a present so rare and so gay,
And I easily can steal a few more
And bear them enraptured away.

He returned: but imagine his grief,


The wind had his hat overthrown,
And the bird, in the joy of relief,
Away with his kisses had flown.
H.R.S.

PERSONAL INCIDENTS AND IMPRESSIONS OF THE INDIAN RACE,


DRAWN FROM NOTES OF TRAVEL AND RESIDENCE IN THEIR
TERRITORIES.
CHARACTER OF THE RED MAN OF
AMERICA.
Inquiry I.—What kind of a being is the North American Indian?—Have we
judged rightly of him?—What are his peculiar traits, his affections, and his
intellectual qualities?—Is he much influenced by his religion, his mode of
government, and his complicated language.

My earliest impressions of the Indian race, were drawn from the


fireside rehearsals of incidents which had happened during the
perilous times of the American revolution; in which my father was a
zealous actor, and were all inseparably connected with the fearful
ideas of the Indian yell, the tomahawk, the scalping knife, and the
fire brand. In these recitals, the Indian was depicted as the very
impersonation of evil—a sort of wild demon, who delighted in
nothing so much as blood and murder, Whether he had mind, was
governed by any reasons, or even had any soul, nobody inquired,
and nobody cared. It was always represented as a meritorious act in
old revolutionary reminiscences, to have killed one of them in the
border wars, and thus aided in ridding the land of a cruel and
unnatural race, in whom all feelings of pity, justice, and mercy, were
supposed to be obliterated. These early ideas were sustained by
printed narratives of captivity and hair-breadth escapes of men and
women from their clutches, which, from time to time, fell into my
hands, so that long before I was ten years old, I had a most definite
and terrific idea impressed on my imagination of what was
sometimes called in my native precincts, “the bow and arrow race.”
To give a definite conception of the Indian man, there lived in my
native valley, a family of Indians of the Iroquois stock, who often
went off to their people in the west, and as often returned again, as
if they were a troop of genii, or the ghosts of the departed, who
came to haunt the nut wood forests, and sub-vallies of the sylvan
Tawasenthaw, which their ancestors had formerly possessed, and to
which they still claimed some right. In this family, which was of the
Oneida tribe, and consisted of the husband and wife, with two
grown up sons, I first saw those characteristic features of the race,—
namely, a red skin, with bright black eyes, and black straight hair.
They were mild and docile in their deportment, and were on friendly
terms with the whole settlement, whom they furnished with neatly
made baskets of the linden wood, split very thin, and coloured, to
impart variety, and with nice ash brooms. These fabrics made them
welcome guests with every good housewife, who had forgotten the
horrific stories of the revolution, and who was ever ready to give a
chair and a plate, and a lodging place by the kitchen fire, to poor old
Isaac and Anna, for so they had been named. What their original
names were, nobody knew; they had lived so long in the valley that
they spoke the Dutch language, and never made use of their own,
except when talking together; and I recollect, we thought it a matter
of wonder, when they discoursed in Indian, whether such a guttural
jargon, could possibly be the medium of conveying any very definite
ideas. It seemed to be one undistinguished tissue of hard sounds,
blending all parts of speech together.
Had the boys of my own age, and I may say, the grown people,
stopped to reflect, and been led to consider this family and their
race in America, independently of their gross acts, under the strong
excitements of war and revenge, goaded by wrongs, and led on by
the class of revolutionary tories, more implacable than even
themselves, we must have seen, in the peaceable lives, quiet
manners, and benevolent dispositions of these four people, a
contradiction to, at least, some part, of the sweeping conclusions
above noticed. But no such thoughts occurred. The word “Indian,”
was synonymous then, as perhaps now, with half the opprobrious
epithets in the dictionary. I recollect to have myself made a few
lines, in early life, on the subject, which ran thus:—
Indians they were, ere Colon crossed the sea, And ages hence, they
shall but Indians be.
Fortunately I was still young when my sphere of observation was
enlarged, by seeing masses of them, in their native forests; and I,
after a few years, assumed a position as government agent to one
of the leading tribes, at an age when opinions are not too firmly
rooted to permit change. My opinions were still, very much however,
what they had been in boyhood. I looked upon them as very
cannibals and blood-thirsty fellows, who were only waiting a good
opportunity to knock one in the head. But I regarded them as a
curious subject of observation. The remembrance of poor old Isaac,
had shown me that there was some feeling and humanity in their
breasts, I had seen many of them in my travels in the west, and I
felt inclined to inquire into the traits of a people, among whom my
duties had placed me. I had, from early youth, felt pleased with the
study of natural history, and I thought the Indian, at least in his
languages, might be studied with something of the same mode of
exactitude. I had a strong propensity, at this time of life, for analysis,
and I believed that something like an analytical process might be
applied to enquiries, at least in the department of philology.
Whenever a fact occurred, in the progress of my official duties,
which I deemed characteristic, I made note of it, and in this way
preserved a sort of skeleton of dates and events, which, it was
believed, would be a source of useful future reference. It is, in truth,
under advantages of the kind, that these remarks are commenced.
The author has thrown out these remarks, as a starting point. He
has made observations which do not, in all respects, coincide with
the commonly received opinions, and drawn some conclusions which
are directly adverse to them. He has been placed in scenes and
circumstances of varied interest, and met with many characters, in
the course of four and twenty years' residence and travel in the wilds
of America, who would have struck any observer as original and
interesting. With numbers of them, he has formed an intimate
acquaintance, and with not a few, contracted lasting friendships.
Connected with them by a long residence, by the exercise of official
duties, and by still more delicate and sacred ties, he has been
regarded by them as one identified with their history, and received
many marks of their confidence.
The Indians, viewed as a distinct branch of the human race, have
some peculiar traits and institutions, from which their history and
character may be advantageously studied. They hold some opinions,
which are not easily discovered by a stranger, or a foreigner, but
which yet exert a powerful influence on their conduct and life. There
is a subtlety in some of their modes of thought and belief, on life
and the existence of spiritual and creative power, which would seem
to have been eliminated from some intellectual crucible, without the
limits of their present sphere. Yet, there is much relative to all the
common concerns of life, which is peculiar to it. The author has
witnessed many practices and observances, such as travellers have
often noticed, but like others, attributed them to accident, or to
some cause widely different from the true one. By degrees, he has
been admitted into their opinions, and if we may so call it, the
philosophy of their minds; and the life of an Indian no longer
appears to him a mystery. He sees him acting, as other men would
act, if placed exactly in his condition, prepared with the education
the forest has given him, and surrounded with the same wants,
temptations and dangers.
The gentler affections are in much more extensive and powerful
exercise among the Indian race, than is generally believed, although
necessarily developed with less refinement than in civilized society.
Their paternal and fraternal affections, have long been known to be
very strong, as well as their veneration for the dead. It has been his
province in these departments, to add some striking examples of
their intensity of feeling and affection, and truthfulness to nature.
The most powerful source of influence, with the Red man, is his
religion. Here is the true groundwork of his hopes and his fears, and,
it is believed, the fruitful source of his opinions and actions. It
supplies the system of thought by which he lives and dies, and it
constitutes, indeed, the basis of Indian character. By it he preserves
his identity, as a barbarian, and when this is taken away, and the
true system substituted, he is still a Red Man, but no longer, in the
popular sense, an Indian—a barbarian, a pagan.
The Indian religion is a peculiar compound of rites, and doctrines,
and observances, which are early taught the children by precept and
example. In this respect, every bark-built village is a temple, and
every forest a school. It would surprise any person to become
acquainted with the variety and extent to which an Indian is
influenced by his religious views and superstitions. He takes no
important step without reference to it. It is his guiding motive in
peace and in war. He follows the chace under its influence, and his
very amusements take their tincture from it. To the author, the facts
have been developing themselves for many years, and while he is
able to account for the peculiar differences between the conduct of
Indians and that of white men, in given cases, he can easily
perceive, why the latter have so often been unable to calculate the
actions of the former, and even to account for them, when they have
taken place. It may be here remarked, that the civilized man, is no
less a mysterious and unaccountable being to an Indian, because his
springs of action are alike unintelligible to him.
If the following pages shall afford the public any means of judging of
the Red Race, with greater accuracy, he hopes they may lead to our
treating them with greater kindness and a more enlarged spirit of
justice. The change which has been wrought in his own mind, by the
facts he has witnessed, has been accompanied by a still more
important one, as to their intellectual capacities and moral
susceptibilities, and their consequent claims on the philanthropy of
the age. As a class of men, it is thought their native speakers,
without letters or education, possess a higher scope of thought and
illustration, than the corresponding class in civilized life. This may be
accounted for, perhaps, from obvious external causes, without
impugning the actual native capacity of the lower, although educated
classes of civilized life. Still, it is a very striking fact, and one which
has very often forced itself on the attention of the author. The old
idea that the Indian mind is not susceptible of a high, or an
advantageous developement, rests upon questionable data. The two
principal causes, which have prolonged their continuance in a state
of barbarism, on this continent, for so long a period, are a false
religion, and false views of government. The first has kept back
social prosperity and impeded the rise of virtue. With respect to
government, during all the time we have had them for neighbours,
they may be said to have had no government at all. Personal
independence, has kept the petty chiefs from forming confederacies
for the common good. Individuals have surrendered no part of their
original private rights, to secure the observance of the rest. There
has been no public social organization, expressed or implied. The
consequence has been that the law of private redress and revenge
prevailed. In the only two cases where this system was departed
from, in North America, namely that of the Azteek empire, and of
the Iroquois confederacy, there was no lack of vigour to improve.
The results were a constantly increasing power, and extending
degree of knowledge up to the respective eras of their conquest. It
was not want of mental capacity, so much as the non-existence of
moral power, and of the doctrines of truth and virtue, that kept them
back; and left our own wandering tribes, particularly, with the bow
and the spear in their hands. He believes, that their errors, in these
particulars, may be pointed out, without drawing conclusions
adverse to their political or social prosperity, under better auspicies,
and without attributing such failures to mental imbecility.
The mode of recording thought, among these tribes, by means of
pictorial signs, and mnemonic symbols, has attracted particular
attention, and gives the author hopes, that he has been enabled to
collect, and bring forward, a body of facts, in this department, which
will recommend themselves by their interest and novelty.
Confidence, inspired by long residence in their territories, revealed to
him another trait of character, in the existence among them of a
traditionary imaginative lore, which is repeated from father to son,
and has no small influence upon their social condition. It is in these
two departments, that, he believes, he has opened new and
important means of judging of the Indian character, and discovered
the sources of views and opinions, on many subjects, which had
escaped previous inquirers.
There is one more point, to which he will here invite a momentary
attention, and which, although not usually enumerated as among
the practical causes that influenced Indian society and character, is
yet believed to exercise a strong, though silent sway, both upon the
question of the mental character, and its true development. The
author alludes to the topic of their languages. Some of the most
venerated writers present a theory of the origin of national
government languages and institutions, difficult or impossible to be
conformed with the nature of man in society, and unsupported by
such evidence as their doctrines require. Such, he regards, the
theory of the “social compact,” except it be viewed in the most
undefined and general sense possible. Such, also, is the theory of
the origin and improvement of languages. The system of
government generally prevailing among the Indian tribes, is indeed
so simple and natural, under their circumstances, that it is thought
no person would long seek for the traces of any great legislator,
giving them laws in any past period. When, however, we consider
the curious structure of their languages, we find an ingenuity and
complexity, far surpassing any theory to be discovered in that of the
modern languages of Europe, with, perhaps, some exceptions in the
Basque and Majyer, and even beyond any thing existing in the
Greek. As the latter has long been held up as a model, and the
excellencies of its plan attributed to some unknown, but great and
sagacious, learned and refined mind, we might feel justified in
assigning the richness of forms, the exceeding flexibility, and the
characteristic beauties and excellencies of the Indian tongues, to a
mind of far superior wisdom, ingenuity, and experience. Yet how
perfectly gratuitous would this be! All history bears testimony
against the human invention and designed alteration of language;
and none but a mere theorist can ever embrace the idea that it is, or
ever was, in the power of any man, to fabricate and introduce a new
language, or to effect a fundamental change in the groundwork of
an existing one. This, at least, is the decided opinion of the author;
and he firmly believes, that whoever will contemplate the subject,
amidst such scenes as he has been accustomed to, will inevitably
come to the same conclusion. He has seen changes in dialects
commenced and progressive, and indications of others going on, but
these owed their origin and impulse to accidental circumstances, and
were not the result of any plan or design. They were the result of
necessity, convenience, or caprice. These three causes, that is to
say, necessity convenience and caprice, if properly examined and
appreciated in their influence, and traced with care to their effects,
will develop the origin of many things, whose existence has been
sought at too great a distance, or amidst too much refinement.
Books, and the readers of books, have done much to bewilder and
perplex the study of the Indian character. Fewer theories and more
observation, less fancy and more fact, might have brought us to
much more correct opinions than those which are now current. The
Indian is, after all, believed to be a man, much more fully under the
influence of common sense notions, and obvious every-day motives
of thought and action, hope and fear, than he passes for. If he does
not come to the same conclusions, on passing questions, as we do,
it is precisely because he sees the premises, under widely different
circumstances. The admitted errors of barbarism and the admitted
truths of civilization, are two very different codes. He is in want of
almost every source of true knowledge and opinion, which we
possess. He has very imperfect notions on many of those branches
of knowledge in what we suppose him best informed. He is totally in
the dark as to others. His vague and vast and dreamy notions of the
Great Author of Existence, and the mode of his manifestations to the
human race, and the wide and complicated system of superstition
and transcendental idolatry which he has reared upon this basis,
place him, at once, with all his sympathies and theories, out of the
great pale of truth and civilization. This is one of the leading
circumstances which prevents him from drawing his conclusions as
we draw them. Placed under precisely similar circumstances, we
should perhaps coincide in his opinion and judgments. But aside
from these erroneous views, and after making just allowances for his
ignorance and moral depression, the Indian is a man of plain
common sense judgment, acting from what he knows, and sees, and
feels, of objects immediately before him, or palpable to his view. If
he sometimes employs a highly figurative style to communicate his
thoughts, and even stoops, as we now know he does, to amuse his
fire-side circle with tales of extravagant and often wild demonic
fancy, he is very far from being a man who, in his affairs of lands,
and merchandize, and business, exchanges the sober thoughts of
self preservation and subsistence, for the airy conceptions of fancy.
The ties of consanguinity bind him strongly. The relation of the
family is deep and well traced amongst the wildest tribes, and this
fact alone forms a basis for bringing him back to all his original
duties, and re-organizing Indian society. The author has, at least,
been thrown into scenes and positions, in which this truth has
strongly presented itself to his mind, and he believes the facts are of
a character which will interest the reader, and may be of some use
to the people themselves, so far as affects the benevolent plans of
the age, if they do not constitute an increment in the body of
observational testimony, of a practical nature, from which the
character of the race is to be judged.

PERSONAL INCIDENTS AND IMPRESSIONS OF THE RED RACE,


DRAWN FROM NOTES OF RESIDENCE AND TRAVEL IN THE INDIAN
TERRITORIES.
DOMESTIC CONDITION OF THE
TRIBES AND CONSTITUTION OF
THE INDIAN FAMILY.
Inquiry II.—What is the domestic condition and organization of the Indian
family? Is the tie of consanguinity strong, and what characteristic facts can
be stated of it? How are the domestic duties arranged? What are the rights
of each inmate of the lodge? How is order maintained in so confined a
space, and the general relations of the family preserved? Are the relative
duties and labours of the hunter and his wife, equally or unequally divided?
Who builds the lodge, and how is it constructed?

There is a very striking agreement, in the condition, relative duties


and obligations, of the Indian family, among all the tribes of whom I
have any personal knowledge, in North America. Climate and
position, the abundance or want of the means of subsistence and
other accidental causes, have created gradations of condition in the
various tribes, some of whom excel others in expertness, in hunting
and war, and other arts, but these circumstances have done little to
alter the general characteristics, or to abridge or enlarge the original
rights and claims of each inmate of the lodge. The tribes who
cultivated maize in the rich sub-vallies and plains of the Ohio and
Mississippi, had fuller means of both physical and mental
development, than those who were, and still are, obliged to pick a
scanty subsistence, among the frigid, and half marine regions in the
latitudes north of the great lakes. There are some peculiar traits of
manners, in the prairie-tribes, west of the Mississippi, who pursue
the bison on horse back, and rely for their subsistence greatly, on its
flesh, and the sale of its skin. The well fed Muscogee, Cherokee, or
Choctaw, who lived in the sunny vallies of upper Georgia, Alabama,
and Tennessee, the robust Osage, revelling in the abundance of corn
and wild meat, south of the Missouri, and the lean and rigid
Montaignes, Muskeego, and Kenisteno, who push their canoes
through waters choked with aquatic weeds, and wild rice, present
very different pictures of home and comfort, within their lodge
doors. But they really present the same idea, the same sentiments,
and the same round of duties and obligations, of father and mother,
sister and brother, wife and husband. The original type of the human
family among them, is well preserved, better, indeed, than was to
have been expected in a state of barbarism, and among branches of
the race who have been so long separated, and subjected to such
severe vicissitudes. It would be useless, in this view, to draw a
parallel between the relative condition of the members of a family,
within, and without the pale of civilization. Nothing of the kind could
be done, without showing up pictures of want in the hunter-life
which are wholly unknown in the agricultural state. It cannot
perhaps, in fair justice, be said that the tie of consanguinity, in the
man of the woods, is stronger, than in civilized life. But it is in
accordance with all observation to say, that it is very strong, that its
impulses beat with marked force, and are more free from the
intertwined ligaments of interest, which often weakens the tie of
relationship in refined and affluent society.
The true idea of matrimony, in Indian life, is also well set forth and
acknowledged, although it has come down through ages of plunder
and wandering, degraded in its condition, shorn of its just
ceremonies, and weakened in its sacred character. I have observed
that polygamy, among the northern tribes, is chiefly to be found,
among bands who are favourably located, and have the best means
of subsistence. But even here it is not reputable; it may often
increase a man's influence in the tribe or nation, but there are
always persons in the wildest forests, who do not think the practice
right or reputable. In the worst state of Indian society, there are
always some glimmerings of truth. If the conscience of the Red man
may be compared to a lamp, it may be said to have rather sunk low
into its socket, than actually to have expired. The relation between
husband and wife, in the forest, are formed under circumstances,
which are generally uniform. Various incidents, or motives determine
a union. Sometimes it is brought about by the intervention of
friends; sometimes from a sudden impulse of admiration; sometimes
with, and sometimes against the wishes of the graver and more
prudent relatives of the parties. Where the husband is acceptable,
and has not before been married, which covers the majority of
cases, he comes to live for a while after marriage, in the lodge of his
mother-in-law; and this relation generally lasts until the increase of
children, or other circumstances determine his setting up a lodge for
himself. Presents are still a ready way for a young hunter to render
himself acceptable in a lodge. There are some instances, where
considerable ceremony, and the invitation of friends, have attended
the first reception of the bridegroom, at the lodge; but these are in
most cases, what we should denominate matches of state, or
expediency, in which the bravery, or other public services of a chief
or leader, has inclined his village to think, that his merits deserve the
reward of a wife. Generally, the acceptance of the visitor by the
party most interested, and her mother and father, and their
expressed, or tacit consent, is the only preliminary, and this is done
in a private way. The only ceremonial observance, of which I have
ever heard, is the assigning of what is called an abbinos, or
permanent lodge seat, to the bridegroom. When this has been done,
by the mother or mistress of the lodge, who governs these things,
he is received, and henceforth installed as a constituent member of
the lodge and family. The simple rule is, that he who has a right to
sit by the bride, is her husband.
The lodge itself, with all its arrangements, is the precinct of the rule
and government of the wife. She assigns to each member, his or her
ordinary place to sleep and put their effects. These places are
permanent, and only changed at her will, as when there is a guest
by day or night. In a space so small as a lodge this system preserves
order, and being at all times under her own eye, is enforced by
personal supervision. The husband has no voice in this matter, and I
have never heard of an instance in which he would so far deviate
from his position, as to interfere in these minor particulars. The
lodge is her precinct, the forest his.
There is no law, nor force, to prevent an Indian from decreeing his
own divorce, that is to say, leaving one wife and taking another
whenever he sees cause. Yet it often occurs that there is some
plausible pretext for such a step, such as if true, would form some
justification of the measure. The best protection to married females
arises from the ties of children, which by bringing into play the
strong natural affections of the heart, and appeals at once to that
principle in man's original organization, which is the strongest. The
average number of children borne by the women, and which reach
the adult period is small, and will scarcely exceed two. On the pay
rolls it did not exceed this. Much of this extraordinary result is owing
to their erratic mode of life, and their cramped means of
subsistence. Another cause is to be found in the accidents and
exposure to which young children are liable, but still more to their
shocking ignorance of medicine. I once knew a child at three years
of age to be killed by an attempt to restore a deranged state of the
bowels, by a strong overdose of an astringent tincture of hemlock
bark administered by her father. This man, who was called Attuck,
had strong natural affections, but he was very ignorant even in the
eyes of the Indian race, being one of that people living N. E. of lake
Superior, who are called variously Gens de Terres, Mountaineers, and
Muskeegoes, Wherever the laws of reproduction are relieved from
these depressing circumstances, the number of children is seen to
be increased.
The chief Iaba-Waddick, who lived on a small bay at the foot of lake
Superior, and had abundance of means of subsistence, had fourteen
children by one wife. He was an excellent hunter, and of habits for
the most part of his life, strictly temperate; he had married young,
and had always had the means of providing his family with adequate
clothing and food. Not one of these children died in infancy. He lived
himself to be old, and died rather from a complaint induced by
constitutional structure, than from a natural decay of vital power.
The duties and labours of Indian life, are believed to be equally, and
not, as has been generally thought, unequally divided between the
male and female. This division is also the most natural possible, and
such as must ever result from the condition of man, as a mere
hunter. It is the duty of the male to provide food, and of the female
to prepare it. This arrangement carries with it to the share of the
male, all that relates to external concerns, and all that pertains to
the internal to the care of the female as completely as is done in
civilized life. To the man belongs not only the business of hunting,
for this is an employment and not a pastime, but the care of the
territory, and keeping off intruders and enemies, and the preparation
of canoes for travel, and of arms and implements of war. The duties
of cooking and dressing meats and fowl, and whatever else the
chase affords, carries on the other hand, to the share of the hunter's
wife, the entire care and controul of the lodge, with its structure and
removal, and the keeping it in order, with all its utensils and
apparatus. A good and frugal hunter's wife, makes all this a point of
ambitious interest, and takes a pride in keeping it neat and proper
for the reception of her husband's guests. She sweeps the earth
clean around the fire, with a broom of branches of the cedar
constructed for this purpose. This lodge it is to be remembered, is
made not of beams and posts, and heavy carpentry, but out of thin
poles, such as a child can lift, set in the ground in a circle, bent over
and tied at the top, and sheathed with long sheets of the white birch
bark. A rim of cedar wood at the bottom, assimilates these birch
bark sheets to the roller of a map, to which in stormy weather a
stone is attached to hold it firm. This stick has also the precise use
of a map-roller, for when the lodge is to be removed, the bark is
rolled on it, and in this shape carried to the canoe, to be set up
elsewhere. The circle of sticks or frame, is always left standing, as it
would be useless to encumber the canoe with what can easily be
had at any position in a forest country.
Such at least is the hunting lodge, and indeed, the lodge generally
used by the tribes north of lattitude 42°. It is, in its figure, a half
globe, and by its lightness and wicker-like structure, may be said to
resemble an inverted bird's nest. The whole amount of the
transportable materials of it, is often comprehended in some half a
dozen good rolls of bark, and as many of rush mats which the
merest girl can easily lift. The mats which are the substitute for floor
cloths, and also the under stratum of the sleeping couch, are made
out of the common lacustris or bullrush, or the flag, cut at the
proper season, and woven in a warp of fine hemp net thread, such
as is furnished by traders in the present state of the Indian trade. A
portion of this soft vegetable woof, is dyed, and woven in various
colours. Lodges thus constructed are to be still abundantly seen, by
the summer visitor, in the upper lakes, at all the principal points, to
which the Indians resort, during the height of summer. Such are the
posts of Michilimackinac, Sault Ste. Marie, and Green Bay. At
Michilimackinac, where it is now difficult to get fresh lodge poles,
without going some distance, or trespassing on private rights, the
natives who resort thither, of late years, have adopted an ingenious
change, by which two objects are accomplished at the same time,
and the labour of the females dispensed with in getting new poles. It
is known, that the bark canoe, being itself but an enlarged species
of wicker work, has not sufficient strength to be freighted, without
previously having a number of poles laid longitudinally, in the
bottom, as a kind of vertebral support. These poles on landing upon
the gravelly shores of that island, are set up, or stacked, to use a
military phrase, that is tying the tops together and then drawing out
the other ends so as to describe a circle, and thus making a perfect
cone. The bark tapestry is hung around these poles very much as it
would be around the globular close lodges; and by this arrangement,
an Indian lodge is raised, and ready for occupation, in as many
minutes, after landing, as the most expert soldiers could pitch a tent
in.
Before we can affirm that the labour of preparing these barks and
mats and setting up, and taking down, the lodge, is
disproportionately great, or heavy on the females, it will be
necessary to inquire into other particulars, both on the side of the
male and female. Much of the time of an Indian female, is passed in
idleness. This is true not only of a part of every day, but is
emphatically so, of certain seasons of the year. She has not like the
farmer's wife, her cows to milk, her butter and cheese to make, and
her flax to spin. She has not to wash and comb and prepare her
children every morning, to go to school. She has no extensive or fine
wardrobe to take care of. She has no books to read. She sets little
value on time, which is characteristic of all the race. What she does,
is either very plain sewing, or some very pains taking ornamental
thing. When the sheathing and flooring of the lodges are once
made, they are permanent pieces of property, and do not require
frequent renewal. When a skin has been dressed, and a garment
made of it, it is worn, till it is worn out. Frequent ablution and
change of dress, are eminently the traits of high civilization, and not
of the hunter's lodge. The articles which enter into the mysteries of
the laundry, add but little to the cares of a forest housekeeper. With
every industrial effort, and such is, sometimes the case, there is
much unoccupied time, while her husband is compelled by their
necessities, to traverse large tracts, and endure great fatigues, in all
weathers in quest of food. He must defend his hunting grounds, in
peace and war, and has his life daily in his hands. Long absences are
often necessary, on these accounts. It is at such times, during the
open season, that the Indian female exerts her industry. In the fall
season, she takes her children in a canoe, or if she have none,
invites a female companion to go with her, along the streams, to cut
the rush, to be manufactured into mats, at her leisure, in the winter.
It is also a part of her duty, at all seasons, to provide fuel for the
lodge fire, which she is careful to do, that she may suitably receive
her husband, on his return from the chase, and have the means of
drying his wet moccasins, and a cheerful spot, where he may light
his pipe, and regain his mental equilibrium, while she prepares his
meals. The very idea of a female's chopping wood, is to some
horriffic. But it is quite true that the Indian female does chop wood,
or at least, exert an undue labour, in procuring this necessary article
of the household. In speaking of the female, we, at once, rush to
the poetic idea of the refinement of lady like gentleness, and
delicacy. Not only does the nature of savage life and the hardiness of
muscle created by centuries of forest vicissitude, give the hunter's
wife, but a slender claim on this particular shade of character, but
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