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mDIAN LIFE 
 
 AND 
 
 INDIAN HISTORY 
 
 BY AN INDIAN AUTHOR. 
 
 EMBRACING THE 
 
 TRADITIONS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS REGARDING 
 
 THEMSELVES, PARTICULARLY OF THAT MOST 
 
 IMPORTANT OF ALL THE TRIBES, 
 
 THE OJIBWAYS- 
 
 BY THE CELEBRATED KAH-GE-GA-GAH-BOWH, 
 
 Chief of the Ojibway Nation; 
 
 KNOWN ALSO BY THE ENGLISH NAME OF 
 
 J 
 
 GEORGE COPWAY. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 ALBERT COLBY AND COMPANY, 
 
 20 Washington Street. 
 1860. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 185t(, by 
 
 ALBERT COLBY, 
 
 In the Clerk's OfBce of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 rfcC 
 
 <6^ 
 
 EI. F.rTROTYI'En AT THK 
 BOSTON » T E K t O T V r K F O I' N li k T. 
 

 1 
 
 TO AMOS LAWRENCE, ESQ., 
 
 ®f 33o0ton, iWaBB. 
 
 THIS VOLUME, 
 WITH FEELINGS OF DEEP GRATITUDB, 
 
 AND SENTBIENTS OF THE HIGHEST RESPECT, 
 
 IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED 
 BY 
 
 KAlf-UE-OA-OAir-UOAVH. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 IXDIAN COrXTRY, LAKES, RIVERS, MOUNTAINS, &c., . 13 
 
 ORIGIN, ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN TRADITIONS, . . 28 
 
 WILD GAME &c., 33 
 
 AMUSEMENTS 49 
 
 THEIR WARS, 61 
 
 LEGENDARY STORIES AND TRADITIONAL TALES, ... 97 
 THEIR CURIOUS WRITINGS, ORIGINAL ALPHABET, LAN- 
 GUAGE, 8:c., 122 
 
 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, 13? 
 
 THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEF, MANNER OF LIVING, IM- 
 PROVEMENTS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS, . . 14? to 2GG 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In compliance with the oft-repeated request of a 
 number of literary friends I present this volume to 
 the public. In doing so there is another motive that 
 has influenced me, and I may be pardoned, if here, at 
 the commencement of my task, I briefly record it. 
 
 In thus giving a sketch of my nation's history, de- 
 scribing its home, its country and its peculiarities and 
 in narrating its traditionary legends I may awaken in 
 the iVmerican heart a deeper feeling for the race of red- 
 men and induce the pale- face to use greater effort to 
 effect an improvement in their social and political re- 
 lations. 
 
 You must know that my advantages have not been 
 very great for the attairwnent of knowledge ; that, in 
 common with my forest brethren I have, as the saying 
 is, " been brought up in the woods." I feel incompe- 
 
7111 PREFACE. 
 
 tent for my work, but, am impelled forward by the 
 though: that the nation w^ioso history 1 here feebly 
 sketch seems passing away and that unless a work 
 like this is sent forth, much, very much that is inter- 
 esting and instructive in that nations actions will 
 with it pass away. 
 
 Though I cannot wield the pen of a Macaulay or 
 the graceful wand of an Irving with which to delin- 
 eate an Indian's life, yet I move a pen guided by an 
 intimate knowledge of the subject it traces out, the 
 joys and the sorrows it records. 
 
 It is not many years since I laid aside my bow and 
 arrows, and the love for the wild forest, born with me, 
 I yet retain. Twenty months passed in a school in 
 Illinois has been the sum-total of my schooling, save 
 that I have received in the wide world. During my 
 residence of six years among the pale-faces I have 
 acquired a knowledge of men and things, much, very 
 much more I have yet to learn, and it is my desire 
 that my brethren in the far west may share with me 
 my crust of information ; for this end I have labored 
 and do labor, and will continue to labor, till success 
 crowns my efforts or my voice and hand are silent in 
 the home of the departed. 
 
 To the Christian and the Philanthropist, I present 
 
T'RKl ACE. ^ IX 
 
 in these pages an account of the rise and progress of 
 events which have greatly advanced the moral eleva- 
 tion of my nation. Should they see in it anything to 
 stimulate them to greater action, now is the time, the 
 hour to act. It can be proved that the introduction 
 of Christianity into the Indian tribes has been produc- 
 tive of immense good. It has changed customs as old 
 as any on the earth. It has dethroned error, and has 
 enthroned truth. This fact is enough to convince any 
 one of the unjustness and falsity of the common say- 
 ing, that, " the Indian will be Indian still." 
 
 Education and Christianity are to the Indian what 
 wings are to the eagle that soar above his home. 
 They elevate him ; and these given to him by men of 
 right views of existence enable him to rise above the 
 soil of degradation and hover about the high mounts 
 of wisdom and truth. 
 
 To the man of letters I would say, that in compli- 
 ance with your request I am aware how far short I 
 have fallen from satisfying you with a recital of the 
 Ojib ways' history. 
 
 Much has been lost to the world, through a neglect 
 
 of educating the red-men who have lived and died in 
 
 the midst of eduoationary privileges but have not been 
 
 allowed to enjoy them. They hold a key which will 
 1* 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 unlock a library of information, the like of which is 
 not. It is for the present generation to say, whether 
 the last remnants of a powerful people shall perish 
 through neglect and as they depart bear with them 
 that key. 
 
 Give the Indian the means of education and he will 
 avail himself of them. Keep them from him and let 
 me tell you he is not the only loser. 
 
 The Indians at present mingle with the whites. 
 The intercourse they have had together has not in all 
 instances elevated the character of the former. The 
 many hundreds of rude careless, fearless whites who 
 have taken up their abode in frontier regions have in- 
 duced the red-men to associate and unite with them 
 in practices of dissipation. To the Americans at home 
 I look for an antidote for this evil, which they as well 
 as myself must most sincerely regret. 
 
 Friends. Christians, your love for mankind extends 
 beyond the border. Your love for mankind has pene- 
 trated the forests, and is to-day shedding its holy influ- 
 ence on many a happy group assembled around a 
 birchen fire. May you not tire or grow faint. 
 
 The history of the Ojibways like that of other In- 
 lian tribes is treasured up in traditionary lore. It has 
 Dcen passed dcnvn from age to ago on the tido of soiig, 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 for there is much poetry in the narrative of the old 
 sage as he dispenses his facts and fancies to the listen- 
 ing group that throng around him. 
 
 x\s the first volume of Indian history written by an 
 Indian, with a hope that it may in some degree bene- 
 fit his nation, and be the means of awakening an inter- 
 est for the red-men of America in those whose homes 
 are where they once lived and loved, this work is sent 
 forth tremblingly, yet with hope by its Author. 
 
 KAH-GE-GA-GAH.BOWH, 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THEIR COUNTRY. 
 
 The extent of territory occupied by the Ojibway 
 nation, is the largest of any Indian possessions of which 
 there is any definite knowledge. 
 
 Wlien the Champlain traders met them in 1610, its 
 eastern boundary was marked by the waters of Lakes 
 Huron and Michigan. The mountain ridge, lying 
 between Lake Superior and the frozen Bay, was its 
 northern barrier. On the west, a forest, beyond which 
 an almost boundless prairie. On the south, a valley, 
 by Lake Superior, thence to the southern part of 
 Michigan. The land within these boundaries has 
 always been known as the country of the Ojibways. 
 It comprises some of the most romantic and beautiful 
 scenery. There are crystal waters flowing over rocky 
 beds, reflecting the mighty trees that for centuries 
 have reared their stout branches above them. There 
 are dense forests which no man has entered, which 
 have never waked an echo to the woodman's axe, or 
 
14 TRADITIUNAL HISTORY OF 
 
 .sounded with the sharp report of a sportsiTiairs rifle. 
 Here are miles of wild flowers whose sweet fragrance, 
 is borne on every southern breeze, and which form a 
 carpet of colors as bright and beautiful as the rainbow 
 that arches Niagara. 
 
 The woodland is composed of a great variety of trees, 
 mostly pine, hemlock, oak, cedar, and maple. As the 
 traveller approaches the north, he will meet birch 
 tamarach, spruce, and evergreen. 
 
 In going from east to west, along the borders of the 
 lakes, the scenery is so changing and of such kaleide- 
 scope variety and beauty that description is impossible. 
 There is room and opportunity for adventure among 
 the bold, broken, rugged rocks, piled up one upon 
 another in " charming confusion," on the shores, along 
 the borders of the silent waters, or beneath the solid 
 cliffs against which the waters of Superior break with 
 a force which has polished their rocky surface. 
 
 The mountains, rivers, lakes, cliffs, and caverns of 
 the Ojibway country, impress one with the thought 
 that Nature has there built a home for Nature's 
 children. 
 
 THEIR LAKES. 
 
 It is unnecessary for me to describe minutely every 
 lake that exists in the Ojibway territory. I- will men- 
 tion those of greatest note, and which the traveller as 
 
THE OJTRWAY NATIO>f. J 5 
 
 he stood upon the shore has viewed with an admiration 
 bordering on idolatry ; for, surely, were there anything 
 besides the Creator worthy of worship it would be His 
 works. 
 
 At one time the easternmost lake of the Ojibways 
 was Huron. But they have, by their prowess, gained 
 the waters of Ontario and Erie. 
 
 Lake Huron is of great depth. Its waters are known 
 by their beautiful clearness, and by the fact of their 
 rise and fall once in every seven years. Its shores 
 were lined with their canoes at a period shortly subse- 
 quent to the introduction of fire arms into their midst. 
 Rock abounds in great quantities, and the wood con- 
 sists mainly of cedar, hemlock, pine, and tamarach. 
 The hills rising in the south and in the north-east, 
 present to the observer a very imposing appearance. 
 
 From the main there juts forth a point of land, on 
 one side of which is Greorgian Bay or Owen's Sound 
 and the lake. The ledge of rocks near this has the 
 appearance, at a distance, of a fortification. When the 
 waters are calm and clear these rocks can be seen in 
 huge fragments beneath their surface as if thrown 
 there by some giant in other days. 
 
 The great depth of the water of this lake has in- 
 duced the belief amonof the Indians that it has a con- 
 nection with other lakes, and possibly with the sea, 
 and it has been supposed that* such is the cause of its 
 rise and fall once in a certain number of years. 
 
16 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 Many stories are iold of monsters who are said to 
 inhabit these waters and of the cause of the flowing 
 of the water in the channel of the Manettoo Islands on 
 the coast. 
 
 As before stated the water of this lake is very clear^ 
 In the year 1834 while journeying upon its northern 
 borders I dropped a small silver coin. It rapidly de- 
 scended till it was lodged upon a rock. I could see it 
 very distinctly. I attached a cord to an axe and low- 
 ered it till it touched the rock on which the money lay. 
 On drawing it up and measuring the length of the 
 cord I found, to my surprise, that the coin which I 
 could see so distinctly was at a distance of seventy 
 three feet from the surface of the water and about 
 seventy five or eighty feet from where I stood. 
 
 The bays near this lake are the Pantonogoshene, 
 (Falling-Sand Bay,) and the Thunder Bay, The 
 islands are numerous, and a three days' journey among 
 them would convince any one that they are numbered 
 by thousands. They are very similar to those in the 
 St. Lawrence, known as " the thousand islands," 
 masses of rock, as if thrown up by some mighty 
 convulsion of nature. Many, however, are covered 
 with low cedars, imparting to them a somewhat lovely 
 and attractive appearance. 
 
 The north-west and easterly winds cause an ebb and 
 flow of water in the lake. 'J'he wind passes to ono 
 side of the chain of islands, which runs in a line 
 
THE OJTBAVAY NATION. 17 
 
 parallel with the north shore. It then rushes to and 
 from the other extremity of« these islands, and thus 
 causing a continual current. But other causes than 
 this, effect the rise and fall, on return of seven years. 
 These have been differently defined by different indi- 
 viduals. The cause assigned by H. R. Schoolcraft, 
 Esq., has been most generally received as the true 
 one. I am not prepared to state here in full my own 
 reasons for this singular fact, but I am in hopes to 
 give them before long. 
 
 On the shores of Huron have been fought some of 
 the most severe battles between the Chippewas and 
 the Iroquois. French River, Saganaw Bay, and 
 Sagueeng, have been the scenes of these bloody and 
 disastrous conflicts. 
 
 Lake Superior, or, as it is named in the Ojibway 
 language, Ke-che-gumme, is situated in the centre of 
 the nation, and is not only the largest of its lakes, but 
 the largest lake of water in the world. It has been 
 called the " Great Lake of the Ojibways." 
 
 This is the most remarkable of all lakes, not merely 
 on account of its size, but on account of the pic- 
 turesque scenery around it, and the almost innumera- 
 ble traditions related of it and its borders. Every 
 point of land, every bay of water has its legendary 
 story to tell, and it is this that renders Lake Superior 
 superior to all others in point of interest. This lake 
 extends abrtut five hundred miles from east to west : 
 
IS TRADITIoXAl- HISTdRV OF 
 
 the distance around is about fourteen hundred miles. 
 The immense body of water within these limits are 
 at times cahn and placid ; at others, furious and 
 foaming, and as the waves lash the shores, the thunder 
 of their voice echoes and re-echoes amid the rocky 
 caverns which their constant action has made. 
 
 From the highlands of " (ir^nd Cape*' or "Frog 
 Hills" can be obtained one of the grandest views to be 
 had on the lakes. Twenty-three miles from these are 
 the celebrated " Falls of St. Mary's." Many, whose 
 love of adventure has surmounted their fear of danger, 
 have gone up in canoes above these falls, and from the 
 summit of these hills have been doubly paid for their 
 journey by the wide-extended view of the broad lake 
 spread out before them. 
 
 The sandy beach extends from " White Fish Point" 
 southerly towards the Pictured Rocks, a distance of 
 upwards of one hundred and fifty miles. At the upper 
 end of this beach are the Sand Hills rising abruptly 
 from the waters edge to a height of over three hundred 
 feet. Next to these in point of interest are seen " the 
 Pictured Rocks " which extend fourteen miles beyond 
 the sandy l)each. 
 
 All of the southern shore pres'^nts ahold and rugged 
 appf;arance; and the northern is for the most part of 
 the sam(i character. 
 
 The tow(;ring dills t.liat border the lake, appear like 
 giant sentinels; particularly at night, when the bright 
 
THK O JIB WAY NATION. 19 
 
 light of the rising moon causes them to cast their sha- 
 dows, do they thus appear, standing in bold relief with 
 trees upon their sides, whose waving branches seem 
 to give life to the tall-guards. 
 
 These heights are connected with many traditionary 
 stories ; and, according to the superstition of our fore- 
 fathers, the heroes of many romances loiter upon their 
 sides. 
 
 Red Lake, Leach Lake, Mill Lake and Lake AYin- 
 nipeg are in the North. 
 
 Leach Lake is noted as being the resort of wild 
 fowl. They are there found in great numbers, being 
 attracted to the spot by the wild rice which is there 
 met with in vast quantities. 
 
 The waters of Mill Lake flow into the Mississippi 
 River. It is about sixty miles in circumference. Its 
 shores abound with valuable cornelian stones, and its 
 adjacent woods with a great variety of game. 
 
 THEIR RIVERS. 
 
 Their Rivers are the largest in the world. First in 
 importance and magnitude is the Mississippi, on whose 
 banks for two thousand miles can be seen the most 
 enchanting scenery. The St. Lawrence flowing from 
 the source of the St. Louis River, at the head of Lake 
 Superior, from lake to lake, till the vast body precipi- 
 tates itself over the Falls of Niagara, and sweeping by 
 
20 TRADITION AT. HISTORY OF 
 
 "the Thoiisand lylanJs " and over the Lachiene Ra- 
 pids, mingles with that of the Gulf of St Lawrence, 
 Another stream flows from near the head of the Missis- 
 sippi. Red River flows from the edge of the Prairie, 
 first westward, but soon clianges its course, and passes 
 in a northerly direction till the frozen regions stay its 
 farther progress. 
 
 These mentioned, are the principal rivers from 
 which they drank in that happy time when they knew 
 not of that insidious foe, — " the fire water." 
 
 In addition to these there are a number of rivers, 
 which, in any other country would be considered 
 " great." Those flowing into the Mississippi are the 
 Crow-wing, St. Croix, Chippeway, and Wisconsin. 
 Those flowing into the St. Lawrence are the Montreal 
 and Burnt-VvT)od. I speak of those in the Ojibway 
 country. Near Haron are the Mohawk, Sagianaw, 
 Tranti, and others running their waters into the Lakes. 
 When 1 look upon the land of the Ojibways 1 can- 
 not but be convinced of the fact that in no other por- 
 tion of the world can there be a territory more favored 
 by Heaven. The waters are abundant and good; the 
 air bracing and healthy; and the soil admiringly adapt- 
 ed for agricultural purposes. It is not much to be 
 wondered at that in such a climate, such a strong, ath- 
 letic and hardy race of men should exist, as the Ojib- 
 ways are generally acknowledged to be. In fact, they 
 could scared v be otherwise. There is as much diifer- 
 
THE OJlliWAY iNATlUiN. 21 
 
 ence between them and many tribes of tbc South as 
 there is between the strong wind and gentle zephyr. 
 
 THEIR MOUx\TlANS. 
 
 The mountains are few. There are, however, quite 
 a number of eminences, not exactly to be rated under 
 the name of mountains and I am sure cannot be called 
 level earth. There are many heights along the south- 
 ern shore of Lake Superior and some in the north to 
 Vv-hicH the title of mountains is applied. There are 
 numerous lofty peaks of granite, a short distance back 
 from the shore of Lake Huron and the northern shore 
 of Lake Ontario. I have walked over that part of the 
 country for many days in succession and have seen 
 nothing but these granite hills, most of which are des- 
 titute of wood. There was a time when they were 
 well covered with trees that took root in the clefts, 
 but they were all destroyed by fire and the peaks to- 
 day present a very barren and inattractive appear- 
 ance. 
 
 The Porcupine Mountains near La Point, can be 
 seen, in a clear day, at a distance of eighty miles from 
 their base. One of the grandest sights I have ever 
 witnessed, was a view of this range of mountains, at a 
 distance, when the morning sun was rising above their 
 
22 TRADITIONAL III^^^OKY OF 
 
 summits, and a fog from the lake enveloped their tops. 
 It was indeed worth the night's journey to behold. 
 
 The Missawbay Heights are formed of ledges of rock, 
 piled one upon another, and lie in a line parallel with 
 the north-west shore. There are numerous mountains 
 and hills on the northern shore of Lake Superior. The 
 elevation known as "the Thunder Mountains." have 
 the singular appearance of a lion crouching for its prey. 
 A curious legend is told of this range, which will be 
 related in a subsequent chapter. 
 
 The Caraboo Heights, below the Thunder Mountains, 
 are deserving of mention. They are viewed with admi- 
 ration by all tourists who approach them. Upon these 
 heights are to be seen figures, claiming the attention 
 of those curious in ancient lore, which, if rightly inter- 
 preted, might possibly furnish a clue to the origin of 
 the Chi ppe ways. 
 
 There is another mountain, the only one in fact, 
 that is visible from the lake at a great distance. Adja- 
 cent to the mountains are numerous hills, thickly 
 wooded and carpeted with rich moss, soft as velvet and 
 of beautiful variegated colors. 
 
 The mountainous edge, near the source of Lake Supe- 
 rior on one side, and the Mississippi River on the other, 
 is quite high. It commences on the south shore of 
 Lake Superior, and runs in a westerly direction, to tho 
 head of the river St. Croix. 
 
 I have now given an imperfect outline of the lakes, 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 23 
 
 rivers, and mountains of the country occupied by the 
 Ojibways. It is in the midst of such that they now 
 and have for years lived. There they roamed to the 
 chase and hastened to the field of combat. Their 
 canoes floated by the shores of those mighty lakes, or 
 glided smoothly down the stream. On those waters 
 they departed at early dawn, and returned at dusk 
 with loads of venison. 
 
 The war-cry resounded among those cliffs and rocky 
 passes, and the merry shout and song of children glad- 
 dened the old chieftain's heart. 
 
 In 1610, from each of those thousand islands the 
 smoke arose from the wigwams of a numerous tribe. 
 
 That was the day of their glory and prosperity. 
 Then their shouts of triumph were answered from peak 
 to peak, for a distance of two thousand miles west, 
 and four hundred north. 
 
 Review what has been said. Look at their country 
 and say has any nation possessed a better. The 
 mountains of the north covered with evergreens, shad- 
 ing the wide lakes. The high hills on the south, rising 
 cliff upon cliff, till the uppermost is concealed by the 
 clouds. The Missaw Bay Heights on the west, stand- 
 ing like towers in naked grandeur, looking down with 
 contempt, as it were, on the hundred streams whose 
 roar rises with the mist which envelops their summits. 
 Deep ravines, through which the streams as they 
 pass sing the songs of nature in soft strains, till gath- 
 
24 TRADITIONAL HISTORV OF 
 
 eriiig strength, the waters dash over rocks in deep 
 caverns, and thunder forth in heavier tones. 
 
 I have stood on one of the mountain peaks and seen 
 a column of snow descending upon the icy waters of 
 Lake Superior, a distance of fifty miles, and it has 
 taken one day and a-half to reach the edge of the lake 
 which lay at the base of the mountain. 
 
 The sun rises and sets with beautiful effect. Its 
 rays resting upon the clouds and reflected from them, 
 clothe the whole extent in robes of fire ; every hill 
 seems blazing with the glory of the sun. In every ray 
 is seen the spirit of poetry. 
 
 Suppose yourself standing at a distance, and behold 
 ing one of the nation going up the mountain's side 
 near him the waters of Superior — 
 
 " Lay weary and still after storm." 
 
 Over his head the forest trees w^aved their heavy 
 branches. Behold him ! he stands there ruler of the 
 forest world. One of Nature's sons standing in her 
 own battlements. His erect and manly form, his easy, 
 graceful motion, are true indications of the exalted soul 
 that lives its active life vrithin. Living as he does, 
 amid the happiest creations of the Great Creator, he 
 cannot but adore and worship Him. His devotion is 
 pure. He 
 
 •' Sees God in storms and hoars Wim in the wind." 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 25 
 
 Nature points him up to Nature's God. I love my 
 country ; and will any of my readers condemn a child 
 of the forest for loving his country and his nation? 
 
 " Land of the forest and the rock — 
 
 Of dark-blue lake and mighty river — 
 Of mountains reared aloft to mock 
 The storm's career, the lightning's shock — 
 My own green land forever!" 
 
 I cannot better close this chapter than by subjoining 
 the following graphic description of " The Pictured 
 Rocks," given by G-eneral Lewis Cass : 
 
 "Upon the southern coast of Lake Superior, about 
 fifty miles from the Falls of St. Mary, are immense, 
 precipitous cliffs, called by the voyageur Le Fottrail, 
 the Pictured Rocks. This name has been given them 
 in consequence of the different appearances which they 
 present to the traveler, as he passes their base in his 
 canoe. It requires little aid from the imagination to 
 discern in them the castellated tower and lofty dome, 
 and every sublime, grotesque, or fantastic shape, which 
 the genins of architecture ever invented. These cliffs 
 are an unbroken mass of rocks, rising to the elevation 
 ot three hundred feet above the level of the lake, and 
 stretching along the coast for fifteen miles. 
 
 " The voyagers never pass this coast except in the 
 most profound calm; and the Indians, before they 
 make the attempt, offer their accustomed oblation, to 
 
26 TRADITIONAT- HI>;T0RY OF 
 
 propitiate the favor of their Monitas. The eye instantly 
 searches along the eternal rampart, for a single place 
 of security ; but the search is vain. With an impas- 
 sable barrier of rocks on one side, and an interminable 
 expanse of water on the other, a sudden storm upon 
 the lake would as inevitably assure destruction of the 
 passenger in his frail canoe, as if he were on the brink 
 of the cataract of Niagara. 
 
 *' The rock itself is a sand-stone, which is disinte- 
 grated by the continual action of the water with com- 
 parative facility. There are no broken masses upon 
 which the eye can rest and find relief. The lake is so 
 deep, that these masses, as they are torn from the 
 precipice, are concealed beneath its waters until it is 
 reduced to sand. The action of the waves has removed 
 every projecting point. 
 
 *' When we passed this immense fabric of nature, 
 the wind was still and the lake was calm. But even 
 the slightest motion of the waves, which in the most 
 profound calm agitates these eternal seas, swept 
 through the deep caverns with the noise of the distant 
 thunder, and died away upon the ear, as it rolled 
 forward in the dark recesses inaccessible to human 
 observation. 
 
 "No sound more melancholy or more awful ever 
 vibrated upon human nerves. It has left an impres- 
 sion which neither time nor distance can ever efface. 
 
 " Ptesting in a frail bark canoe, upon the limpid 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 27 
 
 waters of the lake, we seemed almost suspended in the 
 air, so pellucid is the element upon which we floated. 
 In gazins: upon the towering battlements which im« 
 pended over us, and from which the smallest fragments 
 would have destroyed us, we felt, and felt intensely 
 our own insignificance. No situation can be imagined 
 more appalling to the courage, or more humbling to 
 the pride of man. We appeared like a small speck 
 upon the broad face of creation, 
 
 *' Our whole party, Indians, voyagers, soldiers, offi- 
 cers, and servants, contemplated in mute astonishment 
 the awful display of creative power, at whose base wo 
 hung ; and no sound broke upon the ear to interrupt 
 the careless roaring of the waters. No cathedral, no 
 temple built with human hands, no pomp of worship 
 could ever impress the spectator with such humility, 
 and so stiong a conviction of the immense distance 
 between him and the Almighty Architect." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THEIR ORIGIN, OR COURSE OF MIGRATION ACCORDING TO 
 THEIR TRADITIONS. 
 
 In listening to the traditions of the Indians in their 
 wigwams, the traveller will learn that the chiefs are 
 the repositories of the history of their ancestors. AVith 
 these traditions there are rules to follow by which to 
 determine whether they are true or false. By these 
 rules I have been governed in my researches. 
 
 The first is to inquire particularly into the leading 
 points of every tradition narrated. 
 
 The second is to notice whether the traditions are 
 approved by the oldest chiefs and wise men. Such are 
 most lilvcly to be true, and if places or persons are 
 mentioned, additional clue is given to their origin and 
 proof obtained of their truth or falsity. 
 
 The chiefs have generally been those who have at 
 all times retained a general history of their nation. 
 
 From the year ISGl, to the present time, I liavo 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 
 
 29 
 
 been in communication with our nation, with every 
 portion of it. All appear to adopt the belief that most 
 of the Indians came from the west. The present Ojib- 
 ways, or those now called Messamgans, settled in 
 Canada "West after the years 1634 and '35. They 
 came over from St. Marie's River to Lake Huron, and 
 relate in their traditions an account of those who came 
 to the FaUs of St. Mario from Pe-quab-qua-ivav-ming, 
 near the Avee Bay, on the south shore of Lake Supe- 
 rior. Others, no doubt, in the year 1642, came to this 
 northern shore of the lake. I have heard that these 
 came from La Point, or Shah-gah-ivab-nick. In this 
 place the Indians lived a long time. Still they trace 
 their own trail to the waters of Red and Sandy Lakes, 
 which places they all, or nearly all, look back to as 
 the home of their forefathers. War came, and in their 
 exercise gi it against other nations, they moved east- 
 ward from La Point and towards the south against 
 the Sioux. 
 
 When they moved from Red and Sandy Lakes, it 
 was the fisheries of Lake Superior that attracted them 
 from their old haunts and induced them to leave the 
 scenes to which, for so many years, they had been 
 accustomed. 
 
 The same attraction is supposed to have drawn the 
 Sioux to the south-west end of Lake Superior and to 
 the land bordering all along below Sha-gah-wab-nick, 
 In a short time contentions arose between the Ojibways 
 
30 TRADITIONAL IHSTORY OF 
 
 and the Sioux about the right of occupancy. The 
 game of the land and the Fish of the waters was 
 probably the first cause of hostility between the two- 
 powerful nations, — a hostility which has been marked 
 by many acts of cruelty on both sides. "War com- 
 menced for the retention of the hunting-lands, and a 
 neutral ground having been between them ever since, 
 the first cause of other wars has been forgotten, and 
 the repeated ravages of death made upon each party 
 have obliterated the remembrance of the cause of the 
 early contention. 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF LAND. 
 
 I HAVE heard a tradition related to the effect that a 
 general council was once held at some point above the 
 Falls of St. Anthony, and that when the Ojibways 
 came to this general council they wore a peculiar shoe 
 or moccasin, which was gathered on the top from the 
 tip of the toe, and at the ancle. No other Indians 
 wore this style of foot-gear, and it was on account of 
 this peculiarity that they were called Ojibivay^ the 
 signification of which, is gathering. 
 
 At this council the land was distributed. That 
 part which fell to the lot of the Ojibways is said to 
 have been the surrounding country of Red Lake, and 
 afterwards Sandy and Leach Lakes, which statement 
 coincides with that of the chiefs of the village of La 
 Point, or the Shah-gah-wah-nick. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. ol 
 
 The Sauks were once a part of the Chippeway 
 family, as also were the Menomenies and the Ottawas. 
 About the year 1613 the latter began to leave the 
 main body near Lake Superior. When the traders of 
 Champlain began their operations with the Chippeways, 
 the French called them " the trading Indians," (Otta- 
 w^as.) The Sauks fought with the Sioux on the upper 
 waters of those lakes which run down from the 
 southern shores of Lake Superior. They also engaged 
 in combat with the Shawnees of southern Illinois. 
 
 Though the Ojibways occupied but a small piece of 
 territory at first, they soon extended their dominions 
 to the very borders of the snow-clad hills of the north, 
 and in the streams of that cold region watched for the 
 beaver, whose furs were wrought by them into warm 
 clothing. 
 
 It was at a date just prior to Pontiac's time, that 
 the Ojibways met the Shawnees on the waters of Erie 
 and united with them in a successful war against the 
 Iroquois in Canada West, after which the two, Ojibways 
 and Shawnees, settled down in the country of the 
 Hurons. 
 
 The battle-grounds are yet to be seen, and many 
 marks of the savage warfare are now visible. 
 
 1634 and 1635 were years of glorious triumph. 
 The nation had sought intercourse with the French in 
 Montreal, and their communication was carried on by 
 journeys through the lands of an intermediate nation. 
 
33 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 The intercession resulted in a long and disastrous 
 war, in which the Ojibways were victorious. After 
 this they enjoyed a free communication with the 
 French, with whom they have had friendly intercourse 
 from that time to the present. 
 
 They fought their way through the lands of hostile 
 nations from the west end of Lake Superior along 
 the entire lake country. The shores of Lake Supe- 
 rior, Lake Huron, and the River St. Lawrence, 
 abound with their battle fields. The dust of many a 
 brave now lies there, friend and foe in one common 
 resting-place. 
 
 Exciting stories of the doings of those days have 
 been passed down from mouth to mouth. So the old 
 man related them the blood of the young Ojibways 
 ran swiftly through his veins, and his eye shone with 
 the fire of enthusiasm. 
 
 The war-whoop's shrill notes have now died away. 
 Now the wigwam stands undisturbed, and the hymn 
 of peace is chanted within their thatched walls. 
 
 Behold the change ! Commerce urged on by the 
 pale-face, strides rapidly and withlessly into their 
 midst, and orders them back, back, back, to make way 
 for its houses and its merchandize. Scarce is he 
 camped, ere once again he is told to go farther west. 
 "When will the last order be given ? When will the 
 red-man have a home ? 
 
!'.!^^ '^ ,„>; i;!i!ii^ii!iii;ii;i;ii!fl!iy.' ' 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THEIR WILD GAME. 
 
 ^ There is, doubtless, a greater variety of game to be 
 found in the Ojibway Country than in any other equal 
 extent of Western territory. The northern part is not 
 so well supplied with large game as that district near 
 the head waters of the Wisconsin, Chippeway, St. Croix, 
 Mississippi and Red Rivers. 
 
 Small game is to be found on the Northern shores of 
 the Lakes with the hardy Reindeer, such as the Rabbit, ■ 
 Lynx, Martin, and Fisher. The three latter have been 
 a source of much profit on accoimt of their furs. The 
 rabbit has been the principal game for the Northern 
 Indians, who snare them for their food and skins. These 
 latter are made into strings and woven into blankets. — 
 They also make their garments of these skins, and are 
 dressed in them from head to foot. The eyes of a pale 
 face would considerably extend on beholding a fellow 
 
34 'lU A DITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 in such accoutrement. These Indians reside in the in- 
 terior of the shores of Lake Superior, in the North. We 
 call tliem (Nopeming Tah-she-e-ne-neh) Backwoodmen. 
 The deer are found in almost all parts of the country, 
 though not as much in the North as in the South. In 
 the spring they migrate to the North, and return to the 
 South in the fall, few ever wintering in the North on 
 account of the great depth of snow in that quarter. 
 
 This animal was killed in four different ways before 
 the introduction of fire-arms. The first was by a snaje 
 formed of a rope of wild hemp, and so placed that when 
 the deer's neck was caught, the more stir he made the 
 more he could'nt stir. At every movement the cord 
 would wind about the neck tighter and tighter, until he 
 was choked, for at one end of the rope would be fixed a 
 small rail, which the large end slips off, and in falling 
 it prys upon the deer, who in a short time dies. When 
 they wished to get through soon, they placed these 
 snares all around for half k day, then drive the deer all 
 over the snares imtil some are caught. 
 
 The second was by driving sharp spikes of wood into 
 the ground on the deer path, just the other side of a log 
 over which they would be expected to jump. In jump- 
 ing the logs, they must fall upon these sharp spikes, 
 v^^hich would pierce them through, and thus kill them. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 35 
 
 The third way was to drive the deer with dogs into 
 the water, when, being out of their element, they could 
 be captured. In winter, instead of driving them into 
 water, a short chase in the deep snow would soon tire 
 them, and they were soon at the disposal of the hunter. 
 ^ The fourth and last manner of killing them was by 
 means of bow and arrow. Bows were made of a power 
 to enable them to shoot through the side of a deer with- 
 out any difficulty. The Indian watched at the " Salt 
 Licks," or at the borders of lakes or rivers, to which the 
 deer often go to feed on the grass. An Indian can shoot 
 a deer in the woods at a distance of fifty paces. 
 
 The bow was generally made of iron-wood or red 
 cedar; sometimes of hickory, well seasoned. The 
 arrows were made like spikes at the end. Before they 
 had iron, they used bone and shell for the ends : the 
 shells were carved in such a manner as to admit of be- 
 ing pointed at the end of the arrow. I have no recol- 
 lection of killing but one deer with an arrow, as fire 
 arms came into the field of action as soon as I did. I 
 remember being at the foot of Rice Lake, Canada West, 
 with others on a hunting tour in the night. Soon after 
 nine o'clock, we heard the animal feeding in the grass 
 by the shore. Having a lighted candle, we placed it in 
 
 a three-sided lantern ; opening one side, the liglit was 
 C 
 
30 TRADITIONAL HISTdKY OF 
 
 throwni upoii the deer only. By this contrivance we 
 were enabled to approach so near it in our canoe, that it 
 appeared to be bnt trn or fifteen paces from iis. I drew 
 my bow-string — the arrow winged its way — the deer 
 made a few short leaps, and died. 
 
 During my travels in the East, I have met with indi- 
 viduals whom I found it difficult to convince that the 
 Indian's arrow could execute so much, and doubted me 
 when I told them that with it they killed deer, bears, 
 and such like. 
 
 Several years ago, in the State of New- York, an elderly 
 gentleman, a farmer and myself were entertained by a 
 kind family to tea. The gentleman monopolized all the 
 time for conversation with questions about the Indian 
 mode of life. I answered them all as well as I could, 
 though some of them were so vejy odd, that it was with 
 the exercise of the greatest muscular strength that I 
 could refrain from laughing in the inquisitive person's 
 face. He seemed satisfied with all my answers except 
 those in relation to killing deer with bow and arrow. — 
 He doubted. He could'nt bring his mind to believe such 
 a thing possible. After laboring half an hour to con- 
 vince him of the fact that we could, he turned aside, 
 firmly resolved not to believe me. I held my tongue, 
 half mad ; and made the proposition that the next day 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 37 
 
 I would make a bow and a couple of arrows, and as I 
 understood he was a farmer, 1 should get him to furnish 
 a yearling calf, and if in shooting I did not hit it, I 
 would pay him the price of the calf if he desired it ; 
 but if, on the contrary, I should hit it, and kill it, then 
 it should be mine ! While our friends at the table could 
 not wait till the morrow to know the result, my friend, 
 the doubting gentleman, coolly declined, saying he be- 
 lieved we could kill deer at sixty paces if we hit it at 
 all. I and my friends endeavored to provoke him to 
 accept my proposition, but failed to accomplish our pur- 
 pose, his avarice overcoming his unbounded curiosity ! 
 Bears are also taken by means of bow and arrow. — 
 They are very easily captured in winter, for then they 
 are foimd in hollow logs and in the ground enjoying 
 their winter quarters. The black bear is to be found all 
 over the Ojibway country. They are more numerous 
 in years when fruit and acorns are abundant. Some of 
 the Ojibway people believe the bear to be a transformed 
 being ; in other words, that it was once a more intelli- 
 gent creation, and for this reason they profess a great 
 veneration for its head and paws, but not so much for 
 its meat, for they relish that very highly, and seem to 
 forget its former intelligence when indulging their appe- 
 tites with a savory steak. The head and paws aro 
 
33 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 festooned with colored cloth and ribbons, and suspended 
 at the upper end of the Indian's lodge. At the nose 
 they bestow a very liberal quantity of tobacco, as a sort 
 of peace-offering to the dead animal. 
 
 In early life I received a lecture from my father upon 
 hunting. He related many cmming stories of the bear, 
 and I remember I got so courageous that the next day 
 I was all the time in a perfect fright, thinking every 
 brush heap I met the hiding place of some old Bruin. 
 
 In the year 1832, I made my first appearance as a 
 bear hunter. It was in the fall of the year that I with 
 others left our homes with the intention of being absent 
 for three or fom* weeks. We went down Crook's Rapids 
 below Rice Lake, to hunt. I remember how skittish I 
 felt at first, as I shouldered my gun and followed the 
 six hunters before me into the woods, for just then all 
 the cunning stories I had heard were fresh in my mind. 
 We came to a halt about three miles distant from our 
 starting place, and the head hunter, my father, gave his 
 companions a brief description of the face of the country 
 and of the places to which the bear would be most likely 
 to resort, for then they were eating acorns. Around us 
 we could see newly- made tracks of the deer and bear ; 
 my lips parclied, and my whole body fevered with 
 anxiety. When my father had finished his account, he 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 39 
 
 turned to me, and said : — " My son, don't go vSry far ; 
 keep behind the rest as you hear the firing of guns, and 
 when you think it is time to return, you can come round 
 this way and go towards home :" then, waving his 
 hand, off the party started in every direction. I, too, 
 went one way. 
 
 When I lost sight of the others of my party, all the 
 " cunning stories" about the bear — of its hiding under 
 rotten logs, of its pretending to die, and its sudden at- 
 tacks, rushed upon my mind. I was soon roused from 
 my reverie, for in less than twenty minutes I heard the 
 reports of guns from all directions ; but for all this I 
 walked along as well as I could, looking out for a bear 
 which I was afraid of seeing^ and yet hunting for, 
 
 I would walk along in the open space, so that I might 
 see my bear at a distance, and not come suddenly upon 
 him or he upon me. The guns were fired every few 
 minutes. I could see, occasionally, deer at a distance 
 running at full speed. While I was passing along at 
 the foot of the hills on which the thick foliage concealed 
 the logs, which lay piled one upon another, I heard a 
 tremendous crash near the top. I stood, as if transfixed 
 to the spot, and sure enough, I could see the branches 
 of the young trees waving, and thought I could see ob- 
 jects approaching me. I scarce dare to wink, and trem- 
 
40 TUADiriONAL IIlsTORV OF 
 
 blod iff my scarlet leggins, when to my dread astonish- 
 ment I saw a large bear coming down towards me, like 
 a hogshead rolling down a hill ! I jumped behind a 
 pine tree, and prepared for the combat. He came at me 
 at a full gallop, and I feared the worst. When he had 
 approached to within five paces from me, I thought it 
 time to define my position, and make some demonstra- 
 tion of war. I sprang from my hiding place, and alighted 
 upon the ground. I hallooed at the top of my voice, 
 " Yah !" and at the same time pointed the muzzle of my 
 gun to the white spot on the breast of the animal. I 
 fired, and the smoke enveloped myself and the bear. — 
 As I did so, I fell to the ground, and a bundle of leaves 
 which the bear had scratched up in his " exercises" fell 
 upon my face. This I thought to be the bear, and fall- 
 ing backward, I expected the fellow would get to be 
 quite loving of his new-fomid companion, and in the 
 transports of his joy, hug me to death. But when I 
 raised my head, I learned my mistake, and beheld a 
 tremendous animal apparently in the agonies of depart- 
 ing life. I arose, picked up my gun, which had fallen 
 from my hand, and immediatety reloaded it, in order to 
 be prepared if his actions proved to be a farce instead of 
 a tragedy. I took a long pole and poked him consider- 
 ably. He did not show any signs of life. Yet so doubt 
 
THE OJIBWAV NAilUN. 41 
 
 fill was I of his death, that I left him. Thus ended my 
 first adventure on a bear-hunting excursion. 
 
 In the immediate vicinity of Lake Superior, Indians trap 
 bears in large " dead falls." Near Red and Lead Lakes, 
 they take them when crossing the water. Some years ago, 
 they were thus captured at the head of Lake Superior. 
 
 The Moose aiid Deer are also taken, chiefly however 
 in the Northern parts of Lake Superior and in the 
 vicinity of Red Lake. The Moose is one of the largest 
 animals found, and the hunters have quite a meny time 
 when three or four are taken at one time. It is consid- 
 ered best to take them before they leave their yard in 
 the winter. If they are not thus taken, it is very difii- 
 cult to secure them, as they are very fleet. 
 
 The Reindeer is taken in all partis of the North West. 
 It is the hardiest animal in the country. They are 
 often chased for days in succession by the Indians, and 
 a coat of ice is seen to cover them, caused by their per- 
 spiration ; at the same time a thick steam arises from 
 them. They go in droves, and when they are on the 
 run, the light snow rises in clouds in every direction. — 
 The skin of the deer, as well as the skins of all the ani- 
 mals I have mentioned, are manufactured into clothing, 
 and are oftentimes dressed in a beautiful manner and 
 highly ornamented. 
 
42 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 The Elk is to be found in the West, on the neutral 
 ground, lying between the Sioux and Ojibway nations ; 
 at the head waters of the Wisconsin ; in the Northern 
 parts of Michigan, and near the Chippeway, St. Croix, 
 Rum and Red Rivers. This is one of the noblest look- 
 ing animals in our country. When on the run its head 
 is held high, its back curved, on which its large horns 
 appear to rest. At one tim-e, in 1837, I saw a drove of 
 five hundred ; and a more animating sight I never be- 
 held. I shot one, and being at that time a prisoner at 
 the foot of Lake Pepin, and wishing to be generous to 
 my enemies, I took it to the chief of the tribe that held 
 me. Soon after I was liberated, and with my cousin 
 Johnson was permitted to depart. 
 
 The Buffalo is taken only at the head of Red River, 
 where the Chippeways and the half-breeds kill between 
 eight and ten thousand every year. The Indians form 
 into companies and take their wagons with them when 
 they go on a Buffalo hunt. The drove of Buffalo is 
 very large, and grazing they blacken the prairie as far 
 as the eye can rcacli. 
 
 The tread of the Bufialo makes the earth to tremble. 
 The hunters are mounted on ponys, who are so taught 
 that when a wounded animal falls they immediately 
 start fur an encounter with another. The Indian gath- 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 43 
 
 ers his arrows from the grass while he is riding at 
 full speed — a feat which is considered very dexter- 
 ous, but which is quite common on tlie western prai- 
 ries. 
 
 Before leaving this noble animal, I must indulge my 
 readers with what a recent writer says respecting it : 
 prefacing it with the remark that the Bison and the 
 Buffalo are one and the same. 
 
 " From the species of the ox kind the Bison is well 
 distinguished by the following peculiarities. A long 
 shaggy hair, clothes the fore parts of the body, forming 
 a well marked beard, beneath the lower jaw, and de- 
 scending behind the knee in a taft ; this hair rises on 
 the top of the head in a dense mass nearly as high as 
 the extremities of the horns. Over the forehead it is 
 closely curled and matted so thickly as to deaden the 
 power of a rifle ball, which either rebounds or lodges in 
 the hair, merely causing the animal to shake his head 
 as he heavily bounds along. The head of the Bison is 
 large and ponderous, compared to the size of the body : 
 so that the muscles for its support, necessarily of great 
 size, give great thickness to the neck, and by their origin 
 from the prolonged dorsal vertebrsB processes, form 
 the peculiar projection called the hump. This hump is 
 of an oblong form, diminishing in height as it recedes, 
 
44 * TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 SO as to give considerable obliquity to the line of the 
 neck. 
 
 The eye of the Bison is small, black and brilliant ; 
 the horns are black, and very thick near the head, 
 where they curve upwards and outwards, rapidly taper- 
 ing towards their points. 
 
 The outward line of the face is convexly curved, and 
 llie upper lip, on each side being papillons within, di- 
 lates and extends downwards, giving a very oblique 
 appearance to the lateral gap of the mouth, in this par- 
 ticular resembling the ancient architectural bas-relief, 
 representing the heads of oxen. The physiognomy of 
 the Bison is menacing and ferocious, and no one can 
 see this animal in his native wilds without feeling in- 
 clined to attend to his personal safety. 
 
 The summer coat of the Bison differs from his winter 
 dress rather by difference of length than by any other 
 particulars. 
 
 In summer from the shoulders backward, the 
 hinder parts of the animal are all covered with a very 
 fine short hair that is as smooth and soft to the touch 
 as velvet. 
 
 The tail is quite short and tufted at the end, and its 
 utihty as a fly brush is very limited. The color of tlie 
 hair is uniformly dun ; but the long hair on the anterior 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION'. 45 
 
 parts of the body is, to a certain extent, tinged with yel- 
 lowish or rust color. These animals, however, present 
 so little variety in regard to color, that the natives con- 
 sider any remarkable diiference from the common ap- 
 pearance as resulting from the immediate interference 
 of the Great Spirit. 
 
 Some varieties of color have been observed, though 
 the instances are rare. 
 
 A Missouri trader informed the members of Long's 
 exploring party, that he had seen a greyish white Bison, 
 and a yearling calf, that was distinguished by several 
 white spots on the side, a star or blaze in the forehead, 
 and white fore-feet. Mr. I. Doughty, an interpreter to 
 the expeaition, saw in an Indian hut a very well pre- 
 pared Bison's head with a star on the front. This was 
 highly prized by the proprietor, who called it his great 
 medicine ; for, said he, the herds come every season to 
 the vicinity to seek their white companion. 
 
 In appearance, the Bison cow bears the same relation 
 to the bull as is borne by the domestic cow to her mate. 
 Her size is much smaller, and she has much less hair 
 on the fore-part of her body. The horns of the cow are 
 much less than those of the bull, nor are they so much 
 connected by the hair. 
 
 The cow is by no means destitute of boaxd ; but 
 
40 TllADlTIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 though she possesses the conspicuous appendage, it 
 is quite short wlien compared with that of her com- 
 panion. 
 
 From July to the latter part of December the Bison 
 cow continues fat. 
 
 Tlieir breeding season commences towards the lat- 
 ter part of July, and continues until the beginning of 
 September, and often the cows separate from the 
 
 bulls in distinct herds, and bring forth their calves in 
 April, 
 
 The calves rarely separate from the mother before 
 they are a year old, and cows are often seen accompa- 
 nied by calves of three seasons. 
 
 The flesh of the Bison is somewhat coarser in its 
 fibres than that of the domestic ox, yet travellers are 
 unanimous in considering it equally savory as an arti- 
 cle of food ; we must however receive the opinions of 
 travellers on this subject with allowance for their pecu- 
 liar situation, being frequently at a distance from all 
 other food, and having their relish improved by the best 
 of recommendations in favor of the present viands, — 
 hunger. 
 
 It is with reason, however, that the flesh is said to be 
 more agreeable, or the grass on which these animals 
 feed is short, firm and nutritious, being very diflerent 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 47 
 
 from the luxurious and less saline grass produced on a 
 more fertile soil. 
 
 The fat of the Bison is said to be far sweeter and 
 richer, and generally preferable to that of the common 
 ox. • 
 
 The observations made in relation to the Bison's flesh 
 when compared to the flesh of the domestic ox, may be 
 extended to almost all wild meat, which has a peculiar 
 flavor and raciness, which renders it decidedly more 
 agreeable than that of tame animals, although much 
 coarser, and the fibre by no means so delicate. 
 
 Of all the parts of the Bison that are eaten, the hump 
 is most famed for its peculiar richness and delicacy, be- 
 cause when cooked 'tis said very much to resemble 
 marrow. 
 
 The tongue and marrow bones are also highly 
 esteemed by the hunters." 
 
 Before dismissing the subject of game, I must men- 
 tion those animals that are taken principally lor their 
 fur. I cannot enter into a detailed account of these. 
 The furs brought into the market by the Ojibways, have 
 ever been considered the best. They consist for the 
 most part of Beaver, Otter, Martin, Fisher and Lynx. 
 
 The interior of the Canadian country, between the 
 shores of Ontario, Huron and Lake Superior, was once 
 
4S TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 well hunted for the beaver, but its pelt being here val- 
 ueless, they are increasing in numbers. 
 
 These are some of the animals caught by the Ojib- 
 ways on land. There is an abundance of fish in all 
 their waters. The best of these is the sweet fish of the 
 lakes, iSis-ka-7vaj/, which is esteemed a very great deli- 
 cacy ; and many others which I will not mention, lest 
 I should Aveary my readers, but will allow them to 
 swim from my sight. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PLAYS AND EXERCISES. 
 
 "Fantastic, frolicksome and wild, 
 
 With all the trinkets of a child " 
 
 Cotton. 
 
 I believe all the Indian nations of this Continent have 
 amusements among them. Those of the Prairie nations 
 are different from those of the Ojibways, suitable to their 
 wide, open fields. The plays I am about to describe are 
 the principal games practised by the people of my nation. 
 There are others ; and chance games are considerably 
 in vogue among them. 
 
 One of the most popular games is that of ball-play- 
 ing, which oftentimes engages an entire village. Par- 
 ties are formed of from ten to several hundred. Before 
 they commence, those who are to take a part in the 
 play must provide each his share of staking, or things 
 which are set apart ; and one leader for each party. 
 
50 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 Each leader then appoints one of each company to be 
 stake-holder. 
 
 Each man and each woman (women sometimes en- 
 gage in the sport) is armed with a stick, one end of 
 which bends somewhat like a small hoop, about four 
 inches in circumference, to which is attached a net 
 work of raw-hide, two inches deep, just large enough to 
 admit the ball which is to be used on the occasion. — 
 Two poles are driven in the ground at a distance of 
 four hundred paces from each other, which serves as 
 goals for the two parties. It is the endeavor of each to 
 take the ball to his hole. The party which carries the 
 ball and strikes its pole wins the game. 
 
 The warriors, very scantily attired, yoimg and brave 
 fantastically painted — and women, decorated with 
 feathers, assemble arotmd their commanders, who are 
 generally men swift on the race. They are to take the 
 ball either by running with it or throwing it in the air. 
 As the ball falls in the crowd the excitement begins. — 
 The clubs swing and roll from side to side, the players 
 run and shout, fall upon and tread upon each other, and in 
 the struggle some get rather rough treatment. 
 
 When the ball is thrown some distance on each side, 
 the party standing near instantly pick it up, and run at 
 full speed with three or four after him at full speed. — 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 51 
 
 The others send their shouts of encouragement to tlicir 
 own party. " Ha ! ha ! yah !" " A-ne-gook !" and 
 these shouts are heard even from the distant lodges, for 
 children and all are deeply interested in the exciting 
 scene. The spoils are not all on which their interest is 
 fixed, but is directed to the falling and rolling of the 
 crowds over and under each other. The loud and 
 merry shouts of the spectators, who crowd the doors of 
 the wigwams, go forth in one continued peal, and tes- 
 tify to tlicir happy state of feeling. 
 
 The players are clothed in fur. They receive blows 
 whose marks are plainly visible after the scuffle. The 
 hands and feet are unincumbered, and they exercise 
 them to the extent of their power ; and with such dex- 
 terity do they strike the ball that it is sent out of sight. 
 Another strikes it on its descent, and for ten minutes at 
 a time the play is so adroitly managed that the ball 
 does not touch the ground. 
 
 No one is lieard to complain, though he be bruised 
 severely, or his nose come in close communion with a 
 club. If the last mentioned catastrophe befell him, he 
 is up in a trice, and sends his laugh forth as loud as the 
 rest, though it be floated at first on a tide of blood. 
 
 It is very seldom, if ever, that one is seen to be angry 
 
 because he has been hurt. If he should get so, they 
 D 
 
62 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 would call him a " coward," which proves a sufficient 
 check to many evils which might result from many 
 seemingly intended injuries. 
 
 While I was in La Point, Lake Superior, in the sum- 
 mer of 1830, when the interior band of Chippeways, 
 with those of Sandy Lake, Lac Counterville, Lac De 
 Frambou, encamped in the Island, the interior bands 
 proposed to play against the Lake Indians. As it would 
 be thought a cowardly act to refuse, the Lake Indians 
 were ready at an early hour the next day, when about 
 two hundred and fifty of the best and swiftest feet as- 
 sembled on a level green, opposite the mansion house 
 of the Rev. Mr. Hall. 
 
 On our side was a thicket of thorns ; on the other 
 the lake shore, with a sandy beach of half a mile. Eve- 
 ry kind of business was suspended, not only by the In- 
 dians, but by the whites of all classes. 
 
 There were but two rivals in this group of players. 
 One of these was a small man from Cedar Lake, on the 
 Chippeway river, whose name was " Nai-nah-aun-gaihJ'' 
 (adjusted feathers,) who admitted no rival in bravery, 
 '"daring, or adventure, making the contest more inter- 
 esting. 
 
 Tht name of the other competitor was " Mah-kooJiceP 
 (yt)uif bear,) of the shore bands. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION". 53 
 
 The first, as I said before, was a small man. His 
 body was a model for sculpture ; well proportioned. His 
 hands and feet tapered with all the grace and delicacy 
 of a lady's. His long black hair flowed carelessly upon 
 his shoulders. On the top of his raven locks waved in 
 profusion seventeen signals (with their pointed fingers) 
 of the feathers of that rare bud, the western Eagle, be- 
 ing the number of the enemy he had taken with his 
 own hand. A Roman nose with a classic lip, which 
 wore at all times a pleasing smile. Such was Nai-nah- 
 aun-gaib. That day he had not the appearance of 
 having used paint of any kind. Before and after the 
 play I counted five bullet marks around his breast. — 
 Three had passed through ; two were yet in his body. 
 Besides these, there were innumerable marks of small- 
 shot upon his shoulders, and the graze of a bullet on 
 his temple. 
 
 His rival on this occasion was a tall muscular man. 
 His person was formed with perfect symmetry. He walk- 
 ed with ease and grace. On his arms were bracelets 
 composed of the claws of grizzly bears. He had been 
 in the field of battle but five times ; yet on his head 
 were three signals of trophies. 
 
 The parties passed to the field ; a beautiful green, as 
 even as a floor. Here they exhibited all the agility 
 
64 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 and graceful motions. The one was as stately as the 
 proud Elk of the plains ; while the other possessed all 
 the gracefulness of the Antelope of the western moun- 
 tains. 
 
 Shout after shout arose from each party, and from 
 the crowds of spectators. "Yah-hah — yah-hah," were 
 all the words that could be distinguished. After a short 
 contest the Antelope struck the post, and at that mo- 
 ment the applause was absolutely deafening. Thus 
 ended the first day of the play, which was continued 
 for some length of time. 
 
 After this day's game was over, the two champions 
 met and indulged in a sort of personal encoimter with 
 the ball. This they continued a short time, then 
 parted company, in good humor, and mingled with the 
 crowd. 
 
 The Moccasm play is simple, and can be played by 
 two or three. Three moccasins are used for the purpose 
 of hiding the bullets which are employed in the game. 
 So deeply interesting does this play sometimes become, 
 that an Indian will stake first his gun ; next his steel- 
 traps ; then his implements of war ; then his clothing ; 
 and lastly, his tobacco and pipe, leaving him, as we 
 say, " Nah-hafi-wan-i/aJi-ze-i/aid ;" a piece of cloth with 
 a string aroung his waist. 
 
THE 0JII3WAY XATION. fyf^ 
 
 The "Tossing Play" is a game seldom seen among 
 the whites. It is played in the wigwam. There is 
 used in it an oblong knot, made of cedar boughs, of 
 length, say about seven inches. On the top is fastened 
 a string, about fifteen inches long, by which the knot 
 is swung. On the other end of this string is another 
 stick, two and a half inches long, and sharply pointed. 
 This is held in the hand, and if the player can hit the 
 large stick every time it falls on the sharp one he wins. 
 
 '• Bone Play," is another in-door amusement, so call- 
 ed, because the articles used are made of the hoof-joint 
 Dones of the deer. The ends are hollowed out, and 
 from three to ten are strung together. In playing it 
 they use the same kind of sharp stick, the end of which 
 is thrown into the bones. 
 
 Doubtless the most interesting of all games is the 
 " Maiden's Ball Play," in the Ojibway language, Pah- 
 j)ah-se Kali-way. 
 
 The majority of those who take part in this play are 
 young damsels, though married women are not excluded. 
 The ball is made of two deer skin bags, each about five 
 inches long and one in diameter. These are so fastened 
 together as to oe at a distance of seven inches each from 
 the other. It is thrown with a stick five feet lon2:. 
 
 This play is practiced in suiPxiner beneath the shade 
 
Bij TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 of wide-spreading trees, beneath which each strives to 
 find their homes, tahwin, and to run home with it. These 
 having been appointed in the morning, the yomig Avomen 
 of the village decorate themselves for the day by paint- 
 ing their cheeks with vermillion, (how civilized, eh ?) 
 and disrobe themselves of as much unnecessary clothing 
 as possible, braiding their hair with colored feathers, 
 which hang profusely down to the feet. 
 
 At the set time the whole village assemble, and the 
 young men, whose loved ones are seen in the crowd, 
 twist and turn to send sly glances to them, and receive 
 their bright smiles in return. 
 
 The same confusion exists as in the game of ball 
 played by the men. Crowds rush to a given point as 
 the ball is sent flying through the air. None stop to 
 narrate the accidents that befal them, though they tum- 
 ble about to their no little discomfiture ; they rise mak- 
 ing a loud noise, something between a laugh and a cry, 
 some limping behind the others, as the women shout. 
 " Am goo'^ is heard sounding like the notes of a dove, of 
 which it is no bad imitation. Worked garters, mocca- 
 sins, leggins and vermillion are generally the articles at 
 stake. Sometimes the Chief of the village sends a par- 
 cel before they commence, the contents of which are to 
 be distributed among tho maidens when the play is over 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 57 
 
 I remember that some winters before the teachers from 
 .he pale faces came to the lodge of my father, my mo- 
 ther was very sick. Many thought she would not re- 
 •jover her health. At this critical juncture, she told my 
 father that it was her wish to see the "Maiden's Ball 
 Play," and gave as a reason for her request that were 
 she to see the girls at play, it would so enliven her 
 spirits with the reminiscences of early days as to tend 
 to her recovery. 
 
 Our family then resided at the upper end of Belmoimt 
 Lake, above Crow River. The next day, at early dawn, 
 the crier of my father was sent around to inform the vil- 
 lage damsels that the Ball Game was to be played at 
 the request of the Chiefs wife. 
 
 Two large spruce trees were transplanted from the 
 woods, to holes in the ice ; and in the afternoon the peo- 
 ple from the villages were on the shore of the Lake. — 
 Among them was my mother, wrapt up in furs and 
 blankets to protect her from the cold. There was just 
 enough snow upon the ground to make the footing very 
 imcertain. I scarcely recollect any thing equal to the 
 sport of that day. The crowds would fall and roll 
 about, some laughing most heartily at themselves and 
 at the distorted countenances of their companions,whose 
 pain could not be concealed. When it was over, thoy 
 
58 TKAJ)1TI0NAL HISTORY OF 
 
 all Stood ill a circle, and received the rewards allotted 
 to each, consisting of beads, ribbons, scarlet cloths, &c. 
 In a few moments more I heard them in their wigwams 
 jesting and laughing at their day's sport. 
 
 Jumping is an exercise in which my countrymen have 
 always engaged with considerable interest. Trials are 
 made of jumping over a raised stick, or in the sand. — 
 This sport, as well as the use of the bow and arrow, 
 young women are prohibited from engaging in. 
 
 Foot Racing is much practiced, mostly however by 
 the young people. Thus in early life they acquire an 
 elasticity of limb as well as health of body, which are 
 of priceless value to them in subsequent years. 
 
 The first mortification my pride ever received was on 
 a certain occasion when I engaged in one of these races 
 in the presence of a crowd of warriors. The prize was 
 a piece of scarlet cloth. As I reached forth my hand 
 to grasp the prize, a rope that lay hid in the grass upset 
 me so completely, that I turned half a dozen sommersets 
 and finally tumbled into a pool of water. When I got 
 out I had the extreme pleasure of seeing my rival take 
 the cloth, and of hearing him brag that he had actually 
 beaten the Chiefs son. I wiped my drenched head as 
 best I could, and my eyes of the dirt which adhered to 
 them with all the tenacity of a leach, amid the shouts 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 59 
 
 of laughter which was all the consolation I received in 
 my misfortime. Since then I have walked seventy-five 
 miles a day in the spring of the year, so that I can boast 
 of this, if not of my first pedestrian feat. 
 
 I need not say in concluding this chapter, what every 
 one probably knows, that the plays and exercises of the 
 Indians have contributed much towards the formation 
 and presei-vation of that noble, erect, and manly figure 
 for which they are so remarkable. 
 
 Growing up in the daily practice of these has been 
 and is now a sure preventive of disease. Not until re- 
 cently has the rude and brutish system of wrestling been 
 in vogue among them. 
 
 The law of the Nation, like that of ancient Greece, 
 has been enacted with a view to the health of its sub- 
 jects. It obliged the people to engage in these exercises 
 that they might inherit strong constitutions, and be pre- 
 pared for the cold storms, and the piercing blasts that 
 sweep around the lake shores. 
 
 The mildness added to the coldness of the climate 
 conduce to the expansion of the ingenuity of my people. 
 The old saying, " Necessity is the mother of invention," 
 finds a verification in them. Did they possess the ad- 
 vantages of education possessed by the whites, many a 
 bright star would shine forth in their ranks to bless and 
 
OQ TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 improve mankind. What tliey want is education. — 
 They have mind, but it requires culture. 
 
 A sliort time since, while on a steamboat on the wa- 
 ters of the upper Mississippi, a gentleman speaking of 
 the Chippeway's, said that they were a manly, noble 
 race, that their motto seemed to be, " Suffering before 
 treachery — death before dishonor." It was gratifying 
 to my national pride to hear such an assertion made by 
 an enUghtened American. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THEIR WARS WITH THE SIOUXS. 
 
 " 'Twas blow for blow, disputing inch by inch, 
 For one would not retreat, nor t'other flinch." 
 
 For centuries have the Ojibways and Siouxs been at 
 enmity with each other. Cessation of hostihties for a 
 few years has only served to strengthen for renewed 
 conflict. These wars first originated, as I have before 
 stated, in the question of the right of occupancy of the 
 fisheries at the upper end of Lake Superior, and the 
 right to the game of the adjacent woods. Subsequently 
 they were carried on for conquest, imtil at length re- 
 venge has been the cry of both parties. 
 
 The waters of Menesotah have been crimsoned with 
 the blood of both nations, and the upper Mississippi has 
 witnessed their unrewarded contest ; and their shouts 
 and groans have alike resounded among the mountain 
 passes, and echoed from cliff to cliff on the rock-walled 
 shore. 
 
62 JKADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 The rivers which flow into the Mississippi have float- 
 ed hundreds of the canoes of the Ojibways, fi-eighted 
 with resolute warriors against the Siouxs. While the 
 Siouxs have passed up the same streams, and finding 
 the smoke of the " Ah-ah-to-icon^^ rising from the wig- 
 wam, have suddenly startled them witli their war-cry. 
 The heights of Lake Superior have beeji used as towers 
 by the Siouxs, from which to watch the sky across the 
 Lake, while the barrier ridges of the North were used 
 by the Ojibways for the same purpose. Thus Nature 
 furnished her children with watch-towers and fortresses. 
 
 The quarrels have been kept alive, and the war-fires 
 fanned by the songs of each nation. As soon as child- 
 ren were old enough to handle a bow and arrow, repre- 
 sentations of the enemy were made, and the youngsters 
 taught to shoot at them, for exercise and practice. The 
 old men narrated to them deeds of bravery, and tluis 
 were they inspired with a desire to grow up, and when 
 men, act like their fathers, and scout the wide forests 
 for each other. Even the mothers have taught their 
 offspring, before they leave their breast, to hate their 
 enemies. The Siouxs have, in some instances, acknow- 
 ledged that our forefathers drove them from the North 
 West of St. Paul, a lake they call ^^E-sahyah-mah-da^^ 
 and tlie upper part of Leach Lake. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION". 63 
 
 Several years ago, while strolling hy the Chippeway 
 River, with one of the most intelligent Indian Chiefs, 
 whose name was " Moose Tail," he pointed out to me 
 numerous battle-grounds of days past, and all day 
 sketched to me in his own graphic language the con- 
 flicts that had occurred upon them. ( 
 
 I counted twenty-nine battle-grounds on the shores of 
 the Menomenee river, along which is a small branch of 
 the Chippeway, on the western side, where trees were 
 notched according to the number of warriors who fell. 
 The border of the St. Croix contains more, and the upper 
 Mississippi can furnish traditional records of battles at 
 every mile of its course. 
 
 Above the Falls of St. Anthony, just above the "great 
 bend," one of the deadliest battles was fought ; and an- 
 other near the mouth of the Chippeway. 
 
 The Chippeways have gone to war in bands of from 
 two to five, while the Siouxs, in nearly every instance, 
 have had as many hundreds. 
 
 Of the recent war, an account of which has been pub- 
 lished, on Lake St. Croix and Rum River, it is only 
 necessary to repeat what others have said, that it was 
 brought on by the treachery and cruelty of those in 
 whose power it was to have prevented the sad occur- 
 rence. I was on the battle-field of Lake St. Croix soon 
 
64 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 after the conflict, and saw the remains of the slaugh- 
 tered Chippeways scattered in all directions. The 
 marks of bullets were upon all the trees, and the shrub- 
 very was all trodden down. Some of the dead were 
 suspended upon the branches of the trees. The Siouxs 
 may have killed a large number of Chippeways, but the 
 warfare was not an honorable one. The day previous, 
 a pipe of peace was received from the Sioux Nation by 
 the Ojibways, who had a desire for peace. 
 
 The pipe was expected that day, and was smoked in 
 good faith, but the next day the Siouxs followed the 
 Ojibways up the river, then followed those of St. Croix. 
 The day following they availed themselves of every 
 advantage, and killed over one hundred Chippeways 
 and upwards of ninety Siouxs. Since this conflict, 
 many Americans have settled among them, whose pre- 
 sence has in a great degree prevented a repetition of the 
 same disastrous scenes. 
 
 It is by the good influence of the whites- that they 
 will eventually abandon their war life, and betake them- 
 selves to the employments of peace. I was glad, during 
 my short stay at Minisota, to see the beneficial results 
 of Gov. Ramsay's efforts among the Indians. They 
 must be induced to give up war and petty strifes before 
 they can be benefitted, morally or physically. 
 
THE O.TIBWAY NATION. 65 
 
 I cannot close this chapter without giving my readers 
 an account of the wars I have refen-ed to. It is Avritten 
 by WiUiam Warren, a writer in the " Minisota Pioneer." 
 He has made himself well acquainted with the histoiy 
 of the OjibwaySj and is himsek* by birth, partly, one of 
 the Nation. Writing from Crow Wing River he says : 
 
 " A party of one hundred and fifty once laid an am- 
 buscade at the extreme point of ^haguhioaumik. The 
 Ojibway lads, crossing over early in the morning to kill 
 ducks, were set upon, but the point being well adapted 
 to defence by numerous sand hills, they fought till the 
 village opposite being alarmed, the warriors began to 
 swarm forth ; and crossing over, landed a mile below 
 the extreme point, cutting the Siouxs entirely off from 
 escape ; all were killed but two, who jumped into the 
 lake, and were never heard of or seen after. The bones 
 of the slain warriors are still visible in particles,through- 
 out the entire point. 
 
 The Chippeways tell of a large war party that was 
 raised to march against the then Sioux village of Sandy 
 Lake The party was so numerous, that the string of 
 warriors reached a great distance as they marched in 
 single file, against the devoted village ; which was 
 taken after a bloody slaughter. This event happened 
 or took place, about one hundred and twenty years ago 
 
66 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 Tlie leader's name was Bauswush, grand-father of the 
 present Chief of Sandy Lake, now aged about sixty 
 years. The party started from Fond dti Lac. 
 
 Some years after Sandy Lake had been taken by this 
 chiefj sixty Ojib way warriors started down the Mississippi 
 on a war party. At the confluence of the Crow Wing and 
 Mississippi rivers, they found on their way back, traces 
 of a large Sioux war party that had gone up, and pro- 
 bably killed their defenceless wives and children. Toe 
 late to arrive to their rescue by the signs left, they dug 
 holes on the bank of the river, and laid an ambuscade 
 for their enemies. The Sioux soon came floating down, 
 singing songs of triumph and beating the drum. Their 
 canoes were laden with prisoners, and the scalps of the 
 slain dangled on poles erected in them. The Siouxs 
 numbered fliree hundred; the party in ambush, but 
 sixty. But when they recognized wives and children 
 as prisoners, and beheld the bleeding scalps of their re- 
 latives, the blood boiled in their veins, and, in perfect 
 desperation, they sounded the war-whoop and discharged 
 a flight of arrows on their triumphant and confident 
 enemies. 
 
 Many canoes were upset, and a few prisoners swam 
 ashore at the first surprise ; but the Siouxs rallying, soon 
 efl^jcted a landing, and tying their remaining prisonei-s 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 67 
 
 to trees, a regular Indian fight commenced. When 
 arrows and anunmiition had failed, they dug them' hid- 
 ing holes close to one another, and pelted each other 
 with stones. The bravest fonght hand to hand with 
 knives and clubs. This fight lasted three days, till at 
 last, the Siouxs retreated, leaving many dead, and most 
 of them prisoners. The Ojibways, satisfied with their 
 revenge, returned to their desolated village. 
 
 The marks of this battle and the hiding holes on the 
 bank are still visible, within a few rods from where I 
 am writing. 
 
 The Siouxs and Ojibways have met three different 
 times at the confluence of these rivers. The village of 
 Sandy Lake, since the Ojibways have resided there, has 
 twice been nearly depopulated ; once as I have just re- 
 lated, and another time, this band was attacked at Cross 
 Lake, forty miles north of Crow Wing, while in their 
 spring encampment, and all killed and taken prisoners 
 but seven men, fom women and three children ; this 
 event occurred about fifty years ago ; and some men 
 are living, who were at that time taken prisoners by the 
 Siouxs, and afterwards returned. 
 
 Many battles occurred about Leech Lake and Red 
 Lake of the North. The whole of that region between 
 the Crow Wing and British line, has been conquered 
 
68 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 fiom the Sionxs. Many engageiiients and massacres 
 took place on the St. Croix and Chippeway rivers. Two 
 considerable fights occurred at Elk river, emptying in 
 the Mississippi at a place called to this day by the In- 
 dians, ' the battle-ground.' 
 
 The marks of these battles are still visible ; at the 
 last, was killed a renowned war chief of the OjibwayS^ 
 who was, in his time, the terror of the Siouxs ; and died 
 much regretted by his tribe. The name of this chiet 
 was Ke-die-wauh-e-shash ; Big Martin. The Ojibways 
 of this district, often speak of him as the one, whose 
 valor and prowess conduced to drive their enemies from 
 the country. Many exploits are told of him, and he 
 died covered with scars received in a hundred fights. 
 
 About forty years ago, a party of two hundred warriors 
 under Flat Mouth, Chief of Leech Lake, fell on a camp 
 of Siouxs at Long Prairie, numbering forty lodges ; all 
 weie killed but six men of the Siouxs. The Ojibways 
 captured many horses, but being unable to manage 
 them, killed them ; and the bones of man and horse are 
 still bleaching on the plain. 
 
 About the same time, the Black Duck, of Red Lake, 
 was surrounded after destroying a large camp of Siouxs, 
 and he, with forty braves, killed to a man, on the far 
 western plains. He was a renowned warrior and a 
 
'JMIK UJIBWAV NATION. 69 
 
 brave man. It is unnecessary to mention their diiier- 
 ent hostile meetings of late years ; for the past ten 
 years, not less than four hundred Ojibways have been 
 killed in this war, and we can judge by this, what a 
 sacrifice of life there has been for the past two centuries. 
 
 As many fights, surprises, massacres and single ex- 
 ploits can be told of this endless feud as would fill a 
 book ; all through the country, from Selkirk's Settlement 
 to Wisconsin River south, and from Lake Superior to 
 the Mississippi, spots are shown where the blood of 
 these two tribes has been freely spilt. Even at this day, 
 in spite of the white man's interference, it is no strange 
 thing to hear of surprises and murders on either side, 
 and to see a warrior with his head stuck full of eagles' 
 plumes, denoting the number of enemies he has killed 
 in his time. 
 
 One hundred years ago, the Ojibways were hemmed 
 in along the shores of Lake Superior ; the war path of 
 their enemies terminated at many of their lake shore 
 villages. But now they are masters of all the country 
 to the Mississippi ; and had it not been for the partition 
 of lands among the Indian tribes, by the United States, 
 Hole in the day, their late noted war chief, used often 
 to confidently affirm that he would have made his vil- 
 lage at St. Peters, and the hunting grounds of his young 
 
70 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 men would have extended far into the western plains of 
 the Sioiixs. All this proves much for their prowess in 
 war ; hut they lay the main cause of their success to 
 their first intercourse with whites ; they became pos- 
 sessed of fire arms long before their enemies, and made 
 good use of them." 
 
 The continuation of these wars, up the first of April, 
 1850j as given by the Minesota Chronicle, is here 
 related : — 
 
 " Our community has just been startled with the in- 
 telligence of another of those sanguine scenes so common 
 in the annals of the two powerful tribes of the North- 
 west — the Siouxs and the Chippewas. On Wednesday 
 morning last, about sunrise, a war party of Siouxs from 
 the village of Little Crow and Red Wing, surprised a 
 small encampment of Chippewas, on Apple River, Wis- 
 consin, and killed and scalped fourteen of them, with- 
 out loss or injury to the attacking party. They also 
 took one boy prisoner. Few men were with the party 
 of Chippewas — it being mostly composed of women and 
 children, engaged in making sugar. The fourteen kill- 
 ed comprised three men, three nearly grown boys, six 
 females, women and children, and two male children. 
 The attack was upon ground heretofore ceded by the 
 Siouxs to the Government, but upon which, by treaty 
 
TUi: OJIBWAY NATION. 71 
 
 Stipulation, they still have the privilege of hunting. The 
 place is 20 or 25 miles north-east of Stillwater. 
 
 On Thursday, the Sioux warriors appeared in the 
 streets of Stillwater, and went through the scalp dance, 
 in celebration of their victory — forming a circle round 
 the Chippewa boy — their prisoner — and occasionally 
 striking him on the face with their reeking trophies. — 
 The boy, we understand, has already been adopted into 
 one of the families at Little Crow Village. 
 
 It is with pain we record the occurrence of a scene so 
 truly revolting to the better feelings of humanity. This 
 aggression of the Siouxs will doubtless lead to retalia- 
 tion on the part of the Chippewas ; and we may expect 
 to hear of more bloodshed, unless the civil and military 
 authorities succeed in putting a stop to it. This can 
 hardly be expected with the present meagre force on our 
 frontiers. The murder of the Chippewa on Crow River 
 by the Siouxs a few weeks ago, (who was the son of the 
 Chief White Fisher) had caused much revengeful feel- 
 ing to break out anew among that tribe, previous to the 
 occurrence we now relate. 
 
 It is proper to remark, that the better disposed men 
 among the Siouxs entirely disapprove of this renewal 
 of their old feud against the Chippewas. The leader of 
 the party in this tragedy is a graceless scamp, who last 
 
tZ TliK UJinWAV NAT [ON. 
 
 fall scalped liis own wife. Ho was arrested for the act; 
 and confined in tlic prison at Fort Snelling for several 
 weeks. Having sigiied the temperance pledge, and 
 promised a reform for the future, he was finally i^leased. 
 It were hotter had he heen kept tliere till this time. It 
 is said the main reason that induced liim to lead his 
 comrades to slay the defenceless Chippewas, was to 
 wipe oif the disgrace of his former cruelty to his own 
 family, and the pimishment which followed it. Such 
 are the Indian's ideas of honor ! 
 
 Measures will be taken by Gov. Ramsey to bring the 
 offenders connected with this outrage to justice. The 
 Chippewa boy will be sent back to his people as soon 
 as he can be reclaimed from the Siouxs." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE WAR BETV/EEN THE IROaUlS AND WESTERN 
 
 HURONS, TERMINATING IN THE WARS BETWEEN 
 
 THE OJIBWAYS & IROaUlS IN CANADA WEST. 
 
 " The death shot hissing from afar, 
 The shock, the shout, the groan of war." 
 
 More than two hundred winters have clothed the 
 mountains of the North with snow, which as many 
 summer suns have meked, since the battle shout of the 
 Hurons, in their once happy and peaceful homes, died 
 away, and the Iroquois shouted their note of triumph. 
 
 Long and bloody had been the struggle between the 
 Hurons and Iroquois when they were heard of by Cham- 
 plain in the year 1608. The one nation occupied the 
 whole tract of land about the three lakes Ontario, Erie, 
 and that which still bears the name of the Nation. 
 
 They formed a confederation of live Nations, as did 
 their brethren the Iroquois, who occupied at ihat time 
 
74 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 the principal part of what is now the State of New- York 
 Few Indian wars have been more sanguiimrj'- than those 
 between the Hurons and the Iroquois. The forces on 
 each side were equal, and from childhood they had 
 gradually acquired great expertness in the use of arms, 
 the bow and the arrow : both were innured to climate 
 and fatigue. The whole Huron countiy was kept in 
 constant commotion, for the Hurons had made depreda- 
 tions upon the Algonquin tribes in the South, North, 
 and West. 
 
 When they fell out with their own brethren, the war 
 became a series of sanguinary single combats. The 
 hands of friends become those of enemies, sending forth 
 a declaration of war from the Hurons upon their allies, 
 who had assisted against the Algonquin tribes, and 
 upon whose children they had committed most barba- 
 rous acts — acts which could not be forgotten. 
 
 The Ottaways, Ojibways and Nenomenees, turned a 
 deaf ear to their cries, and listened not when they came 
 and related their misfortunes. It was heart-rending to 
 see the Huron warrior suppressing his sobs and tears — • 
 and many a warrior shouted vengeance on the Hurons 
 with whom they had till then been on peaceable terms. 
 They had not forgotten their former treaties, or that 
 their faith in the sacredness of them, confirmed by the 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 75 
 
 pipe of peace, had been violated. The aUies of the 
 Ojibways had been trifled with ; they must now re- 
 ceive the reward of their perfidy, for the frown of that 
 Monedoo before whom they had consented to smoke the 
 pipe of peace, rested on them. 
 
 The struggle went on — each alternately rent the skies 
 with shouts of victory, which were but momentary. — 
 The wails of the wounded and suffering were heard on 
 the shores of the broad Niagara, and on the banks of 
 the St. Lawrence. The Hurons had penetrated to the 
 North, along the shores of Mah ah-moo-see-be (Ottaway 
 river.) Their canoes floated by the banks of the On- 
 tario, Erie and Huron. The inland seas in the northern 
 part of the peninsula were thronged by them. The 
 rivers, mountains, and vallies were all theirs. In such a 
 delightful country were their game and wigwams, and it 
 was for these they fought with a desperation seldom 
 equalled, never excelled — till conquered by their own 
 brethren, they yielded what they had so bravely strug- 
 gled to retain. Since then, tradition informs us, they 
 were called " the Elder Brothers," on account of theij 
 conquest of the Hurons. The dispersion which toot 
 place in the year 1648, gave the victors possession of 
 all (now) Canada West. 
 
 The Iroquois overcame their brethren soon after the 
 
76 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 introduction of European fire arms, and it was the dread 
 of these weapons which in part induced them to seek 
 sheher amid the tribes on the south-west shores of Lake 
 Huron. Tlie first Nation fled to the South of Lake 
 Huron, about Saganaw — subsequently it moved further 
 South on the St. Clair. The second Nation went to 
 the North-west, at the foot of the great lake called 
 Kechegiim, now called Lake Superior. Of the third, 
 a great nmnber were adopted by their conquerors 
 in perfect amity. The remaining two Nations joined 
 with western tribes, and in the course of time have 
 nearly lost their nationality. 
 
 The exultation of the Iroquois was almost beyond 
 bounds. They pursued their retreating brethren over 
 the St. Clair, and along the Northern shores of Lake 
 Huron. They were the possessors of the whole terri- 
 tory; the valley of the Ottawa yielded them their 
 game, which a few years before was the right and sup- 
 port of their exiled brethren. 
 
 Dejected, disheartened, the Hurons presented them- 
 selves at the doors of the Great Council Wigwams of 
 different Nations, whom they had made enemies by their 
 former repeated depredations, but rather than submit to 
 be led by their own -brethren, as a conquered race 
 throughout their former possessions, those who went to 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 77 
 
 the north-west called a council among themselves, in 
 which it was determined upon what should be done. 
 
 This council, according to ancient tradition, must 
 have been held at the outlet of French River, and on 
 the Northern shore of Lake Huron. 
 
 The Hurons assembled themselves in council, and in 
 the course of their deliberations, they desired several of 
 their Chiefs to visit the great Ojibway family on Lake 
 Superior, and see whether that people would forgive 
 them the wrongs they had done them, and admit them 
 as their allies. 
 
 The war canoes of the Hurons were manned and 
 paddled on the bosom of the great lake in search of a 
 place of refuge. They arrived quite late in the autumn 
 at the eastermost village of the Ojibways, a situation 
 they named Pe-qiiak-qna-wah-ming, (Round Point,) 
 near the fork of a bay called by the French Aunce Bay, 
 now known as Ke-wa-o-non. 
 
 It was the policy of the Hurons to present themselves 
 in a pitiable condition before their superiors, the Ojibway 
 family of the great lake, that they might the more easily 
 obtain their favor and sympathy. Tradition informs 
 us that they came and presented themselves before the 
 Council-door of that Nation, and begged them to spare 
 their own children's lives. They had painted their 
 
78 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 faces black, rent their clothes, and with emaciated and 
 haggard frames, came to implore their aid. They nar- 
 rated their misfortunes, to incite the pity of the nation. 
 The Ojibways saw them, and yielded to pity and com- 
 passion. The Huron s were received as friends ; they 
 overcame the war spirit of the Ojibways, who kindly 
 seated them at their side. 
 
 The Huron Chief detailed the barbarous acts of their 
 brethren, and narrated in glowing language their cruelty. 
 That their allies had driven them from their lands ; that 
 their children had been thrown on the blaze of their own 
 fires in their own wigwams, and the wigwams beneath 
 which they had resided for years, reduced to ashes ! — 
 Some were compelled to drink the blood of their own 
 children, while those who were carried away into their 
 own brethren's country, were denied food, and were 
 ofiered their own children's flesh in its stead. 
 
 That country was covered with blood, and with the 
 mangled remains of their fathers who had fought for 
 their lands. The exulting cry of the Oneida, mingled 
 with the shouts of the Mohawk, was heard in the land 
 where once they lived. They said that the graves of 
 their people were desecrated, and that the bodies of 
 many of their women and children lay unburied on 
 their battle-fields, from the waters of Erie to the valley 
 
THE OJIHWxW NATION. 79 
 
 of Ottawa in the North. Tha Hurons related the 
 account of their children's massacre with tears and sobs, 
 and by such means moved those who had been their 
 enemies to pity them, and kindled in the hearts of some 
 a feeling of revenge upon the Iroquois, who had so reck- 
 lessly overstepped the barrier which Nature hath raised 
 in the hearts of all men. If thus the fugitive Hurons 
 had gone to solicit aid in the midst of the Ojibway 
 comitry, they could have aroused the bravery of the 
 Nation to have gone in arms in their favor, and carried 
 on war still longer. 
 
 At this time there lived the greatest of renowned war- 
 riors, Wah -boo-geeg, who dwelt at Pequakqua-wah-ming. 
 His name has been handed down from generation to 
 generation, and his bravery and fame been envied by 
 all young warriors. 
 
 It is said that this Wah-hoo-geeg arose in the council 
 with a club in his hand, and remembering the Hurons 
 and their many barbarous acts, shook the war club over 
 their heads, and said that it was not fear which had led 
 them to give them such a reception, but it was pity for 
 their innocent children, that induced them to open their 
 arms and receive them. He told them that hencefor- 
 ward none should molest — that their children and the 
 children of his own people should sport together — that 
 
80 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 the war club of the Qfibways should protect them — and 
 that they were as niunerous as the leaves of the forest 
 trees, towards the setting sun. 
 
 A situation was assigned them near by where they 
 and their children could reside, and be near the villages 
 of the Ojibways. It was adjacent to a bay about fifteen 
 miles eastward of .Alluce Bay, and a river whose 
 name has been Huron from that day to this. 
 
 I have been thus particular in naming the events 
 which led to the subjugation of the Huron Iroquois by 
 their own brethren, the Iroquois of the East, that the 
 reader may be informed of the chief cause of their sub- 
 sequent success, which was the fact of their having 
 enlisted in their favor the Ojibway Nation. The West- 
 ern Iroquois, finding a refuge in the midst of Western 
 tribes, endeavored to stop the commerce which had been 
 commenced by the great Ottawa river, and profitably 
 carried on between the French and the Ojibways of 
 Lake Superior. This rash attempt on the part of the 
 Iroquois brought on the disastrous war between that 
 Nation and the Ojibways, an account of which :s ro* 
 served for the next chapter. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE WAR BETWEEN THE OJIBWAYS AND THE 
 EASTERN IROaUOIS. 
 
 " In peace there's nothing so becomes a man 
 As modest stillness and humanity ; 
 But when the blast of war blows in his ears, 
 Then imitates the action of the tiger." 
 
 Before the dispersion of the Hurons no difRcuUy exist- 
 ed between the Ojibways and the Eastern Iroquois, 
 but the Western Hurons often waylaid the hunters ot 
 the Ojibway Nation, and continuing so to do eventually 
 aroused the war-whoop of revenge far and near. 
 
 After the year 1608, Champlain traders began to caiTy 
 
 on their commercial transactions on the waters of the 
 
 Mahahmoo Sebee, (Trading River,) which introduced 
 
 among the Indians fire-arms woollen-goods, and steel 
 
 for weapons of war. 
 
 The next year (1609,) Champlain made a treaty with 
 6 
 
0» TJiADiriuNAL HISTUKY OF 
 
 the Northern tribes, an examination of which will 
 show in what manner they were to aid them in 
 their wars with the Iroquois. History exhibits the 
 disastrous results following this connection with 
 them. 
 
 During a period of thirty-five years the Ojibways on 
 Lake Superior, had been obtaining fire-arms from the 
 French of Quebec. They carried on a peaceful traffic 
 with the French of Lake Superior until the year 1652, 
 when the troubles between the Iroquoig and the Ojib- 
 ways commenced. The commerce which for thirty-five 
 years had received no interruption, either from quarrels 
 without or dissentions within their midst, was attacked 
 by the Iroquois, who barbarously plundered and mas- 
 sacred the Ojibway warriors, who had been out for Mon- 
 treal to barter furs for domestic goods, as also for wea- 
 pons of war and fire-water. At the entrance of French 
 River, two of this company escaped from the Iroquois, 
 and conveyed an accomit of the fate of their comrades 
 to the Ojibways at Aunce Bay. This so incensed the 
 Algonquin tribe that they sent the invaders a message 
 to this eifect, that if they ever perpetrated the like again, 
 they would send a few of their warriors in pursuit, to 
 exterminate them. The proud Iroquois laughed in 
 scorn at the threat of the Ojibways, and sent to learn 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 83 
 
 whether the Ojibways mckided their women in their 
 proposed extermination. 
 
 A Comicil of Peace was caUed by the Ojibways, which 
 was held, according to tradition, below Sault St. Marie, 
 at a place called in the Algonquin tongne, Massessanga. 
 This council received the deputies of the Iroquois, who 
 concluded a treaty, which they secretly intended not to 
 preserve. 
 
 Dming the summer all lived in peace. They met as 
 friends on the shores of the Huron, and as friends hunted 
 in the valley of the Ottawa. 
 
 A second offence was committed on the Ojibways, 
 above the Falls, near where Bytown now stands, on the 
 Ottawa River. The Iroquois fell upon a party of the 
 Ojibways, who were hauling their canoes over the car- 
 rying place. These they took from them, as also their 
 " fire-water," which they had obtained from the French. 
 About twenty were slain ; the remaining swam across 
 the river before their enemies could reach them. Of 
 these, two died on their way home, from hunger and 
 exposure. The rest, three in number, only survived to 
 reach the South shore of Lake Superior, and give infor- 
 mation of the attack. The Ojibways were highly ex- 
 asperated. They were excited to fury, and a desire for 
 revenge reigned in every heart. 
 F 
 
84 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 The Huroiis availed themselves of this favorable op- 
 portunity to remind them that they had suffered like 
 cruelties from their brethren. Another Council was to 
 be called. The Chiefs of the Ojibways were to go to 
 Nahtooway, Sahgeeny^ the principal village of the Iro- 
 quois, on the eastermost shore of Lake Huron. 
 
 They arrived during an Iroquois scalp dance of tri- 
 umph. It was over the scalps of people of their own 
 nation. For several days they knew not whether they 
 would be massacred or allowed to return ; they could 
 get no satisfaction. The sages of the Iroquois knowing 
 however that their people had aggrieved the feelings of 
 the Ojibways, wisely concluded to reflect seriously upon 
 the importance of pressing peace with so powerful a 
 Nation as the Ojibways were imiversally acknowledged 
 to be. They met the Ojibway Chief in council, who 
 demanded of them as many packs of furs as warriors 
 they had slain, which the Iroquois Chiefs granted amid 
 the manifest dissatisfaction of the people. 
 
 The council agreed that the treaty should never be 
 infringed upon, and that it should be held inviolate and 
 permanent. It was a fan-, impartial, and open treaty, 
 and it was distinctly understood that the first breach of 
 it should be a signal for war between the offenders and 
 the offended. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 85 
 
 They scrutinized the features of one and another — 
 shook hands, and bade each other farewell, — (a final 
 farewell.) 
 
 The Chiefs of the Ojibways returned to their own 
 country. Trade was again prosecuted with renewed 
 energy and enterprise, and several valuable loads of 
 furs were sent to the whites of Montreal. No shock of 
 discord was heard, — the shrill war-whoop was hushed. 
 Peace dwelt among the mountains of the North. 
 
 Without fear the Ojibway and Iroquois hunters met, 
 and spent their evenings together, relating each his ad- 
 ventures and exploits. The Ottawa river was thickly 
 dotted with canoes heavfly freighted with furs from the 
 North and West. Blankets were bought with these, 
 and fire-water, which was carried to the extreme end of 
 Lake Superior, and to its Northern shores. 
 
 The Hurons became so forgetful of their late wars, 
 that they even ventured to accompany the trading In- 
 dians (now called Ottawas) down to Montreal, and for 
 one year and a summer they suffered no molestation — 
 all was quiet. The Iroquois saw that the French were 
 more friendly to the Indians of Lake Superior than they 
 were to them ; and that the Ojibways were a protection 
 to those by whom they were formerly molested. 
 
 The treaty had remained unbroken nearly three years 
 
S6 ruADi rioxAL history of 
 
 when bands of the Iroquois waylaid the Ojibways 
 siniu] taneously at various poin is on the Mah-ah-moo-sebee. 
 The news of these unprovoked attacks reached the 
 shores of Lake Superior, but as it was late in the fall, 
 they'deemed it imprudent to proceed against the Iroquois, 
 and delayed their expedition until the ensuing spring. • 
 
 Runners were sent during the winter to the different 
 allies of the Ojibways, the Sacs and Foxes, Menomones, 
 Kinnestenoes, . Pottawatamies, and the Hurons of San- 
 dusky, each of whom were informed of the movements 
 of the great Ojibway family in the West. 
 
 Strings of wampum were sent from village to village 
 by fleet runners from the extreme end of Lake Superior 
 to the South, far over the prairies of Illinois. Tlie bays 
 of Michigan resounded with the war cry of the Sacs, 
 while the Menomones trained their young warriors for 
 the approaching conflict. 
 
 The war dance became a constant exercise, and in 
 fact, the chief amusement of the Indians. The Hurons 
 excited the revengeful feelings of the Ojibways by tell- 
 ing them of the outrages the Iroquois had committed on 
 their children. They shook their war clubs towards 
 the rising sun, and a signal was given that betokened a 
 terrific onslaught. Their hunting grounds were aban- 
 doned, and their women who had attended the corn- 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 87 
 
 fields were obliged to fish during the summer, in ordei 
 to obtain a subsistence. 
 
 By previous arrangement, the warriors of the Nations 
 were to meet below Sault St. Marie, at the first chang* 
 ing of the flower moon (May). 
 
 The time arrived. Wah-boo-jeeg's son mustered the 
 war canoes before the point of Peguahquawom, near the 
 outlet of a deep bay on the South shore of Lake Superior. 
 When the voices of the war chiefs announced the time 
 of preparation to an eager multitude, a deafening shout 
 arose to heaven, and awoke the echoing spirit of the 
 forest. The rattling of the mysterious Waskeinzke 
 (Deer's Whoof), and the beating of the drum were 
 heard. The tramp of the furious Ojibways and Hurons 
 shook the earth as they danced around the blaze of 
 their council fires. 
 
 In the morning, at dawn, the war canoes from Shah- 
 gahwahmik (the point) were in sight ; near Kewaowon 
 two hundred of them approached ! 
 
 The Sahsahquon (war cry) and song were heard in 
 the distance from over the waters. Never had the wa- 
 ters been agitated by so great a fleet of canoes. The 
 muscular arm of the warriors propelled the canoes with 
 rapid speed on their way. 
 
 In former times the old Chief, Wah-boo-jeeg, led the 
 
bo TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 warrior bands in person, but being qnite aged, he com- 
 mitted the charge to his son, Naiquod. The old Chief 
 expressed his approbation of the expedition against tlie 
 Iroquois, by standing near the edge of a rock which 
 was partiaUy suspended over the waters — from which 
 commanding position he addressed the warriors who 
 were in their canoes ready to go eastward. 
 
 I propose in the following chapter to give you the 
 speech of Wah-boo-jeeg to the assembled warriors, and 
 an accomit of those battles which terminated in the 
 subjugation of the Eastern Iroquois, and of the places 
 at which they were fought. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 In the. last chapter we left Wah-boo-jeeg standing 
 upon an overhanging cliff. For a moment he gazed 
 aroimd upon the war-clad throng in canoes before him, 
 then spoke to them as follows : — 
 
 " When I was young, the Nahtoowassee of the West 
 was heard from hill to hill. They were as many as the 
 forest trees, but because they had smoked the pipe of 
 ueace when theh hearts were not right, the Monedoo they 
 disobeyed, sent our fathers to drive them from our 
 lands, near a lake in the West they called Esahyah- 
 mahday (Knife Lake), and they fled West of the father 
 of rivers to dwell in the habitations of strangers. I was 
 the assistant of my father during these bloody wars. — 
 Go, now, at the rising of the sun. The Iroquois have 
 filled the land with blood, and the same Mofiedoo who 
 was with me on the Western plains will be with you to 
 prosper and preserve you." A shout arose. " Go," he 
 
90 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 added, " with your war clubs — make a straight path to 
 the wigwam of the pale face, and demand the land of 
 the weeping Huron. I will sit upon the edge of this 
 rock, and await your return." 
 
 The old man sat down, and the canoes moved East- 
 ward, in search of the foe. The Western shore of 
 Michigan was also thronged by the canoes of the Men- 
 omonies, Pottawatamies, Sacks and Foxes, — the South- 
 ern Hm'ons came with other tribes across the St. Clair, 
 and overran the South. 
 
 Tradition informs us that seven hmidred canoes met 
 at Kewetawahonning, one party of whom was to take 
 the route to Mahamooseebee, the second towards Wah- 
 weyagahmah, (now Lake Simcoe). the third was to 
 take the route towards the river St. Clair, and meet the 
 Southern Hurons. I will here remark that they had 
 several reasons for waging war against the Iroquois. — 
 First, for having broke the last treaty of peace by the 
 murder of some of their warriors ; second, to clear the 
 way of trade between the Ojibways and the French, 
 (the Iroquois then lived along the Ottawa river), and 
 third, to regain the land of the Western Hurons, and, il 
 possible, drive the Iroquois wholly from the peninsula. 
 
 The warriors who took the Mahamooseebee, had 
 several engagements with them, but outnumbering 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 91 
 
 them, they easily routed the Iroquois. Those who had 
 gone to tlie St. Clair had likewise a fierce battle at the 
 mouth of a river called by the Algonquins, Sahgeeng, 
 and afterwards being joined by the Southern Hurons, 
 overran the whole of the South of the peninsula. 
 
 The most bloody battles were fought on Lake Simcoe, 
 at a place called Ramma, at Mud Lake, Pigeon Lake, 
 and Rice Lake : the last that was fought took place at 
 the mouth of the river Trent. 
 
 Forty years had nearly elapsed since the Hurons had 
 been routed, but they had not forgotten the land of their 
 birth — the places that were once so dear to them. The 
 thought of regaining their former possessions inspired 
 them with a courage that faced every danger. They 
 fought like tigers. 
 
 The first battle between the Ojibways and the East- 
 eiTi Iroquois or Mohawks, was fought at a place near 
 where Orillea is now situated, about one-quarter of a 
 mile Northward. The Mohawks collected in great 
 numbers here, and awaited the attack of the Western 
 Hiu'ons and Ojibways. They resisted stoutly for three 
 days — at the close of which, tradition informs us, they 
 sued for mercy, which was granted, and the few survi- 
 vors were allowed to go to Lake Huron, where they re- 
 mained during the rest of the war. 
 
92 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 The second battle of any account was fought at 
 Pigeon Lake, where the Iroquois had made a strong 
 fort, remains of which are to be seen at this day. At 
 this place great numbers of the Ojibways were killed. 
 For a time the result was doubtful, but finally the Ojib- 
 ways took the fort by storm, and but few of the Iroquois 
 were spared. 
 
 The third battle was fought near Mud Lake, about 
 twelve miles North of Peterboro. Not a male person 
 was spared, and the next day another village that stood 
 on the present site of Peterboro and Smithtown, was 
 attacked, and an immense number slaughtered. 
 
 I will not attempt to narrate the many barbarous acts 
 which took place on both sides, for humanity shudders 
 at the bare thought of them. They spared none. It is 
 said that they fought the last few who resisted, on a 
 shoal in the river with an'ows, strings and other mis- 
 siles ; that their blood dyed the water, and their bodies 
 filled the stream. 
 
 From both banks of the river the wail of woe and 
 grief arose from the orphan children, whose loud cries 
 and sobs were heard far distant. Here side by side the 
 hostile warriors rolled in blood and agony, while the 
 eagles, buzzards, and crows, flying round and round, 
 added their screech to the noise of the combatants, and 
 
THE UJIBWAY NATION. 93 
 
 by their actions testified their joy that a day of general 
 feasting had arrived. Their 
 
 "Slaughter heaped on high its weltering ranks." 
 
 Death made a throne of the bodies of the slain, and 
 •arm in arm with his hand in hand, friend Despair as- 
 cended and ruled the day. 
 
 The fourth village which they attacked was at the 
 mouth of the Otonabee, on Rice Lake, where several 
 hmidreds were slain. The bodies were in two heaps : 
 one of which was the slain of the Iroquois ; the other of 
 the Ojibways. 
 
 Panic-struck the Iroquois collected their remaining 
 forces in Percy, now Lewis's Farm, where for two days 
 and nights they fought like wild beasts. Their shrieks 
 and shout^s were heard on each side of the river Trent, 
 so madly did they rush upon destruction. 
 
 Of this band of warriors, one alone was saved. The 
 women and children were spared to wander in solitary 
 anguish, and mourn jover husbands and fathers whose 
 bones were before them, — sad memorials of desolating 
 war. At this day arms of various descriptions are to 
 be found, such as war-clubs, axes, spears, knives, arrow- 
 heads and tomahawks scattered with human bones. 
 
 The fifth and last battle was fought on an island 
 
94 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 near the mouth of the river Trent, where most of the 
 canoes had collected. At early dawn the warriors 
 landed, and with one wild, fierce rush, commenced their 
 work of havoc and extermination. 
 
 Yells and groans were heard on every side, — hand to 
 hand they fought, and those who attempted to fly 
 were pursued into the water and there slain and 
 scalped. 
 
 When the news of these victories reached the Mo- 
 hawks, they were incredulous, but soon learned that 
 the Iroquois were entirely broken up and the country 
 subdued. 
 
 The war-whoop of the trading Indians and tlfeir host 
 abounded. Reveling and feasting celebrated the down- 
 fall of the Iroquois. In vain the Iroquois, who remained, 
 sent to the French, suing for peace. The petitions were 
 not heeded, and they vainly attempted to regain by 
 scattered skirmishes a foot-hold on the land they were 
 destined soon after to abandon forever. 
 
 They returned from Canada, amd their conquerors 
 allotted them places of habitation. The Shawnees oc- 
 cupied the Southern, and the Ottaways and Ojibways 
 the Northern parts. 
 
 Peace was then restored, and the confines of Niagara 
 and St. Lawrence reaped its benefits. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 95 
 
 This took place about 1666, and continued for six 
 years, when the French luidertook to lay the founda- 
 tion of a fort near the foot of Lake Ontario, called in 
 the Algonquin language, Kah-tah-nah-queng, (Catara- 
 que). 
 
 Several attempts have since been made by the elder 
 brethren to renew their vengeance against the French, 
 Ottaways and Ojibways, also to regain their former 
 possessions, but they weie unable to succeed, for the 
 whole of the western tribes had combined against them, 
 and they were utterly subdued by overpowering num- 
 bers. 
 
 Recently the Mohawks, a part of the Six Nations, 
 have settled in Grand River, and others in Bay Quinty, 
 back of Adolphustown, from the American side, they 
 having been engaged with the British in the wars of 
 that nation. 
 
 It is somewhat remarkable that those who now 
 live near Adolphustown, Canada West, still adhere to 
 old customs and usages, though the Rev. Mr. Givins 
 has done a great deal towards introducing among them 
 the arts of civilized life. 
 
 These nations used to send tlieir warriors on the wa- 
 ters of the Sa-ga-naw of the north, Ottawa river, Lake 
 Huron and Sandusky, away west to the prairies of Illi- 
 
96 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 nois and the waters of Green Bay, as also to the shores 
 of Lake Superior. On the east to the White Mountains 
 of Vermont. — down the Delaware river and the upper 
 branches of the Ohio. 
 
 1 Their war path was drenched with the blood of their 
 enemies all around them. They were, in fact, the 
 Turks of the American Forest. By degrees they have 
 fallen before the rapidly increasing numbers of their 
 enemies. What war has not done, strong drink has, 
 mitil now they are a weak and puny race. 
 
 The pale face says that there is a fate hanging ovei 
 the Indian bent on his destruction. Preposterous ! — 
 They give him liquors to destroy himself with, and then 
 charge the great Good Spirit as the author of their mis- 
 ery and mortality. 
 
 The arm of the Iroquois warrior wields the war-club 
 no more. A few of his children are now peacefully 
 following the plough in Canada and in Western New- 
 Yorjc, while others of them mingle with those tribes 
 against whom the war-cry of their Nation was once 
 raised. They now live in amity and peace, and hail 
 the dawning of a better day. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THEIR LEGENDARY STORIES AND HISTORICAL 
 TALES. 
 
 Handed from ages down ; a nurse's tale, 
 Whicli cilhdren open-eyed and mouthed devour, 
 Aif3 thus as garrulous ignorance relates, 
 We learn it and believe ," 
 
 The Ojibways have a great number of legends, sto- 
 nes, and historical tales, the relating and hearing of 
 which, form a vast fmid of winter evening instruction 
 and amusement. _ 
 
 There is not a lake or mountain that has not connect- 
 ed with it some story of delight or wonder, and nearly 
 every beast and bird is the subject of the story-teller, 
 being said to have transformed itself at some prior time 
 into some mysterious formation — of men going to live 
 in the stars, and of imaginary beings in the air, whoso 
 rushing passage roars in the distant whirlwinds. 
 
98 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 I have known some Indians who would commence 
 to narrate legends and stories in the month of October 
 and not end until quite late in the spring, sometimes 
 not till quite late in the month of May, and on every 
 evening of this long term tell a new story. 
 
 Some of these stories are most exciting, and so intense- 
 ly interesting, that I have seen children during their 
 relation, whose tears would flow quite plentifully, and 
 their breasts heave with thoughts too big for utterance. 
 
 Night after night for weeks have I sat and eagerly 
 listened to these stories. The days following, the char- 
 acters would haunt me at every step, and every moving 
 leaf would seem to be a voice of a spirit. To those 
 days I look back with pleasurable emotions. Many of 
 these fanciful stories have been collected by H. R. 
 Schoolcraft Esq. 
 
 It is not my purpose to unnecessarily extend this 
 work with a large number of these. I will, however, 
 in this connection narrate a few, in order to give you 
 some idea of the manner in which my people amuse 
 themselves in their wigwams, and promise to send yon, 
 at some future day, a good handful] from the forest. 
 
 These legends have an important bearing on the 
 character of the children of our Nation. The fire-blaze 
 is endeared to them in after years by a thousand happy 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 99 
 
 recollections. By mingling thus, social habits are form- 
 ed and strengthened. When the horn- for tliis recrea- 
 tion arrives, they lay down the bow and the arrow and 
 joyously repair to the wigwam of the aged man of the 
 village, who is always ready to accommodate the 
 young. 
 
 Legends are of three distinct classes, namely, the 
 Amusing, the Historical, and the Moral. In the Fall 
 we have one class, in the Winter another, and in the 
 Spring a third. I can at present have only time and 
 space to give specimens of the second of these. 
 
 LEGEND FIRST. 
 
 THE STAR AND THE LILY. 
 
 An old chieftain sat in his wigwam quietly smoking 
 his favorite pipe, when a crowd of Indian boys and girls 
 suddenly entered, and with numerous offerings of to- 
 bacco, begged him to tell them a story. Then the old 
 man began : — 
 
 '' There was once a time when this world was filled 
 
 with happy people, when all nations were as one, and 
 
 the crimson tide of war had not begun to roll. Plenty 
 
 of game was in the forest and on the plains. None 
 G 
 
100 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 were in want, for a full supply was at hand. Sickness 
 was unknown. The beasts of the field were tame, they 
 came and went at the bidding of man. One unending 
 spring gave no place for winter — for its cold blasts or 
 its unhealthy chills. Every tree and bush yielded 
 fruit. 
 
 Flowers carpeted the earth ; the air was laden with 
 their fragrance, and redolent with the songs of married 
 warblers, that flew from branch to branch, fearing none, 
 for there were none to harm them. There were birds 
 then of more beautiful song and plumage than now. 
 
 It was at such a time, when earth was a paradise and 
 man worthily its possessor, that the Indians were the 
 lone inhabitants of the American wilderness. 
 
 They nmnbered millions, and living as Nature de- 
 signed them to live, enjoyed its many blessings. In- 
 stead of amusements in close rooms, the sports of the 
 fields were theirs. At night they met on the wide green 
 fields. They watched the stars ; they loved to gaze at 
 them, for they believed them to be the residences of the 
 good who had been taken home by the Great Spirit. 
 
 One night they saw one star that shone brighter than 
 all others. Its location was far away in the South near 
 a mountain peak. For many nights it was seen, till at 
 length it was doubted by many that the star was as far 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 101 
 
 distant in the Southern skies as it seemed to be. This 
 doubt led to an examination, which proved the star to 
 be only a short distance, and near the tops of some 
 trees. 
 
 A number of warriors were deputed to go and see 
 what it was. They went, and on their return said it 
 appeared strange and somewhat like a bird. A com- 
 mittee of the wise men were called to inquire into, and 
 if possible ascertain the meaning of the strange phe- 
 nomena. 
 
 They feared that it might be the omen of some disas- 
 ter. Some thought it precursor of good, others of evil, 
 and some supposed it to be the star spoken of by their 
 forefathers, as the forerunner of a dreadful war. 
 
 One moon had nearly gone by, and yet the mystery 
 remained unsolved. 
 
 One night a young warrior had a dream, in which a 
 beautiful maiden came and st )od at his side, and thus 
 addressed him : 
 
 ' Young brave ! channed v/ith the land of thy fore- 
 fathers, its flowers, its birds, its rivers, its beautiful lakes, 
 and its mountains clothed with green, I have left my 
 sisters in yonder world to dwell among you. Young 
 brave ! ask your wise and your great men where 
 I can live and see the happy race continually ; 
 
102 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 ask them what form I shall assume in order to bo 
 
 loved.' 
 
 Thus discoursed the bright stranger. The young 
 
 man awoke. On stepping out of his lodge he saw the 
 
 star yet blazing in its accustomed place. 
 
 At early dawn the Chief's crier was sent round the 
 camp to call every warrior to the Council Lodge. When 
 they had met, the young warrior related his dream. — 
 They concluded that the star that had been seen in the 
 South had fallen in love with mankind, and that it was 
 desirous to dwell with them. 
 
 The next night five tall, noble-looking, adventurous 
 braves were sent to welcome the stranger to earth. — 
 They went and presented to it a pipe of peace, filled 
 with sweet scented herbs, and were rejoiced to find that 
 it took it from them. As they returned to the village, 
 the star with expanded wing followed, and hovered over 
 their homes till the dawn of day. 
 
 Again it came to the young man in a dream, and de- 
 sired to know where it should live, and what form it 
 should take. 
 
 Places were named. On the top of giant trees, or in 
 flowers. At length it was told to choose a place itself, 
 and it did so. 
 
 At first, it dwelt in the white rose of the mountains ; 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 103 
 
 but there it was so buried tliat it could not be seen. It 
 went to the prairie, but it feared the hoof of the buffalo. 
 It next sought the rocky cliff, but there it was so high, 
 that the children whom it loved most could not see it. 
 
 ' I know where I shall live,' said the bright fugitive, 
 " where I can see the gliding canoe of the race I most 
 admire. Children ! yes, they shall be my playmates, 
 and 1 will kiss their brows when they slumber by the 
 side of cool lakes. The nations shall love me wherever 
 I am.' 
 
 These words having been said, she alighted on the 
 waters where she saw herself reflected. The next 
 morning, thousands of white flowers were seen on the 
 surface of the lakes, and the Indians gave them this 
 name — ' Wah-be-gwon-nee,^ (White Lily.) Now," 
 continued the old man, " this star lived in the Southern 
 skies. Its brethren can be seen far ofl" in the cold North, 
 hunting the great bear, v^^hilst its sisters watch her in 
 the East and West. 
 
 " Children ! when you see the lily on the waters, take 
 it in your hands, and hold it to the skies, that it may be 
 happy on earth as its two sisters, the morning and even- 
 ing stars, are happy in heaven." 
 
 While tears fell fast from the eyes of all, the old man 
 laid down and was soon silent in sleep. 
 
104 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 Since that, I have often plucked the white hly, and 
 garlanded it around my head — have dipped it in its 
 watery bed — but never have I seen it without remem 
 bering the legend of the descending star. 
 
 LEGEND SECOND, 
 
 HISTORICAL THE LONG CHASE. 
 
 The Indian warrior of days long past, thought that 
 distance should never be considered when he went forth 
 to war, provided he was certain of winning the applause 
 of his fellows. Fatigue and hunger were alike looked 
 upon as minor matters, and were endured without a 
 murmur. 
 
 The long continued wars which once existed between 
 the Ojibways and the Iroquois, gave rise to the follow- 
 ing legend, which was originally related to me by an 
 Ojibway Chief, whose name was Na-nah-boo-sho. 
 
 A party of six Iroquois runners had been sent by their 
 leading Chiefs from Ke-wa-we-won, on the Southern 
 shore of Lake Superior, to examine the position of the 
 Ojibways, who were supposed to be on the island called 
 Moo-ne-qnah-na-kaung-ning. The spies having arrived 
 opposite the island on which thoir enemies had encamp- 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION-. 105 
 
 ed, (which was about three miles from the main shore) 
 built a war canoe with the bark of an elm tree, launched 
 it at the hour of midnight, and having implored the god 
 of war to smile upon them and keep the lake in peace, 
 landed on the island, and were soon prowling through 
 the village of the imconscious Ojibway. They were so 
 cautious in all their movements, that their footsteps did 
 not even awaken the sleeping dogs. 
 
 It happened, however, that they were discovered, and 
 that too by a young woman, who according to an an- 
 cient custom was leading a solitary life previous to be- 
 coming a mother. In her wakefulness, she saw them 
 pass near her lodge, and heard them speak, yet could 
 not understand their words, though she thought them 
 to be of the Na-do-way tribe. 
 
 When they had passed, she stole out of her own wig- 
 wam to that of her aged grand-mother, to whom she re- 
 lated what she had seen and heard. The aged woman 
 only reprimanded her daughter for her imprudence and 
 did not heed her words. 
 
 " But, mother," replied the girl, " I speak the truth ; 
 the dreaded Na-do-ways are in our village, and if tho 
 warriors of the Buffalo race do not heed the story of a 
 foolish girl, their women and their children must perish." 
 
 The words of the girl were finally believed, and the 
 
lOG I'HADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 warriors of the Crane and Buffalo tribes prepared them- 
 selves for a conflict. 
 
 The war-whoop echoed to the sky — and the rattling 
 of bows and arrows was heard in every part of the island. 
 In about one hour the main shore was lined with about 
 eight hundred canoes, the occupants of which were 
 anxiously awaiting the appearance of the spies. These 
 desperate men, however, had made up their Kand to ply 
 their oars to the utmost, and as the day was breaking, 
 they launched their canoes from a woody cove, shot 
 round the island, and started in th*i direction of the 
 Porcupine Moimtains, which w^ere about sixty miles 
 distant. As soon as they came in sight of the Ojib- 
 ways, the latter became quite frantic, and giving their 
 accustomed yell, the whole multitude started after them 
 as swift as the flight of birds. 
 
 The waters of the mighty lake were without a ripple, 
 other than that made by the swiftly gliding canoe, and 
 the beautiful fish moved among their rocky haunts in 
 perfect peace, unconscious of the chase above. 
 
 The Iroquois were some two miles ahead, and while 
 they strained every nerve for life, one voice rose high 
 in the air, bearing an invocation to the spirits of their 
 race for protection. In answer to their prayer, a thick 
 fog fell upon the water and caused great confusion.— 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 107 
 
 One of the Ojibway warriors laid down his paddle, 
 seized his mysterious rattle (made of deer's hoof) and in 
 a strange, wild song, implored the spirits of his race tc 
 clear away the fog, that they might pursue their ene- 
 mies. The burden of their song was — 
 
 " Mon-e-doo ne bah bah me tah wah 
 Ke shig ne bah bah me tah goon, 
 Ne bee ne wah wah goom me goon, 
 Ne ke che dah — awas, awas." 
 
 Which may he translated as follows : — 
 
 " Spirits ! whom we have always obeyed, 
 
 Here cause the sky now to obey ; 
 Place now the waters all in our power, 
 We are warriors— away, away." 
 
 As the last strain of music departed, the fog rolled 
 away, and the Iroquois spies were seen hastening to the 
 shore, near Montreal River. Then came the fog again 
 and then departed, in answer to the conflicting prayers 
 of the two nations. Long and exciting was the race. 
 But the Great Spirit was the friend of the Ojibways — 
 and just as the Iroquois were landing on the beach, four 
 of them were pierced with arrows, and the remaining 
 two taken prisoners. A council was then called for the 
 pm-pose of determining what should be done with them, 
 
108 
 
 TRADITION AT, HISTORY OF 
 
 and it was determined that they should be tortured at 
 the stake. They were, accordingly, fastened to a tree, 
 and surrounded with wood, when just as the flaming 
 torch was to be applied, an aged warrior stepped forth 
 from the crowd of spectators, and thus addressed the 
 assembly : — 
 
 '•Why are you to destroy these men? They are 
 brave warriors, but not more distinguished than we are. 
 We can gain no benefit from their death. Why not let 
 them live, that they may go and tell their people of our 
 power, and that our warriors are as numerous as the 
 stars of the Northern sky ?" 
 
 The Council pondered upon the old man's advice, 
 and in the breasts of each there was a struggle between 
 their love of revenge and their love. of glory. Both 
 were victorious. 
 
 One of the spies was released, and as he ascended a 
 narrow valley, leading to the Porcupine Mountains, the 
 fire was applied to the dry wood piled aromid the form 
 of the other, and in the darkness of midnight and amid 
 the shouting of his cruel enemies, the body of the Iro- 
 quois prisoner was reduced to ashes. 
 
 The spot where the sacrifice took place has been 
 riven by many a thunderbolt since that eventful hour, 
 for the god of war was displeased with the faint-heart- 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 109 
 
 edness of the Ojibways for valuing a man more highly 
 than the privilege of revenge ; and the summer of the 
 next year that saw the remains of the humane Ojibway 
 buried on the shore of Lake Superior, saw also the re- 
 mains of the pardoned spy consigned to the earth on 
 the shore of Michigan. 
 
 Thus ends the legion of Shah-gah-wah-mik, one of 
 the Ajjostle Islands, which the French named La Pomte, 
 and which was originally known as Mo-ne-quon-a-kon- 
 ing. The village stood where the old trading. estab- 
 lishment was located, and among the greenesif of the 
 graves now seen in the hamlet of La Pointe is that of 
 the Indian girl who exposed herself to reproach for the 
 purpose of saving her people. 
 
 TALES. 
 
 LEGEND THIRD. 
 
 The folio wmg legend will impart some instruction 
 relative to the Indian idea of thunder. 
 
 Once upon a time when no wars existed among men, 
 the only thing they feared was a great bird seen flying 
 through the air during moonlight nights. When it was 
 seen in the day time its presence was usually followed 
 
110 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 by the visitation of some great misfortune upon any one 
 who should chance to see it. 
 
 These monstrous birds were supposed to have their 
 nests somewhere, and great curiosity existed to know its 
 location, as well as to know somewhat of the nature of 
 the bird ; but no one seemed fortmiate enough to dis- 
 cover the resort of these great birds which were called 
 Ah-ne-me-keeg^ (Thunders.) 
 
 There lived on the northern shore of Lake Superior 
 an Indian warrior who from his childhood had been 
 noted "for being a wise and sedat^ man ; it was suppo- 
 sed by many that he would some day go on a great ex- 
 ploit, as none was like him for courage, wisdom and pru- 
 dence. As he was returning from one of his hunting 
 expeditions, the night came on sooner than he expected 
 it would, and darkness gathered around him while he 
 was a great distance from his home. On his way he 
 was obliged to traverse the ice on lake and river. The 
 moon shone as clear and perfect as it had ever shone to 
 light a traveller's path. On the warrior's back was a 
 beaver, and in his hand the tried and trusted spear, with 
 which he had captured it. As he was crossing the last 
 lalvc the shadow of some great object passed before him, 
 and he soon saw approaching a great bird, which in a 
 moment cauglit him and all he had, and arose. The 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. Ill 
 
 bird carried him westward, far above the earth, yet not 
 so far as to prevent him from seeing it, and the doings 
 upon it. After travelHng a great distance, they came 
 in view of a high hill, which was barren of trees, but 
 bore one bold barren rock. As they neared it, the bird 
 endeavored to dash him upon its side, but the old Indian 
 so placed his spear that he was not injured in the least 
 degree. At length he was thrown upon the place where 
 the young birds were. He heard fierce muttering thun- 
 der overhead, and found himself left to the mercy of the 
 wild birds. 
 
 Soon after, they began to peck his head, when he, 
 thinking them helpless, ventured to make battle with 
 them. The Indian arose, and soon found they were too 
 much for him. Whenever they winked, a flash of 
 lightning would pass from their eyes and scorch him so 
 severely as to burn his hands and face. 
 
 The birds were quite small, and not able to execute 
 much, and therefore by perseverance he gained the 
 mastery over them with his spear. He dragged one of 
 them to the edge, rolled it over the precipice, and took 
 the skin from the other. 
 
 On looking round, he discovered that he was near the 
 North-west end of Lake Superior ; he then threw the 
 other carcase from him, and after filling his pipe with 
 
112 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 Ke-ne-ke-nik (tobacco), taking one or two whiffs he held 
 it in his hand, and pointing with its stem to the four 
 corners of the heaven, he offered up a prayer, which he 
 beUeved was heard. He then got inside of the young 
 thunder skin, sewed himself in it, and rolled down the 
 rocks. As he tumbled from rock to rock, the feathers of 
 the skin would flash with fire. After descending about 
 half way to the bottom of the precipice, the skin in 
 which he was bound bore him on its wings, and after a 
 long flight, alighted with him near the spot from whence 
 he was taken ten days before. His wife and ctiildren 
 were in mourning for his loss, for they had seen him 
 taken from the ice, and were convinced that he had 
 been taken by some mysterious spirit. As might be 
 supposed, when he returned he surprised them by bring- 
 ing to his children the hearts of the young thunders. — 
 He broiled them, and as he did so, the fire made a 
 crackling noise.* 
 
 The next summer, the mountains West of the Me-she- 
 be-goo-toong, on the borders of Lake Superior, were con- 
 tinually enveloped in flames and heavy clouds, for it is 
 there that the remainder of the thunder birds rested. 
 
 Since mankind have gone in great crowds, these birds 
 
 * Indian children are now told that when the fire makes a noise, 
 the hearts of young ihunders are broiling in it. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 1 IJ 
 
 are seldom seen, but are often heard in the skies, where 
 they fly higher than they once did. Once they Hved 
 on human flesh, but now they subsist on the wild game 
 of the forest. They wink, and the fire flashes from 
 their eyes. Their nests are now built on the Ah-sen- 
 wah-ge-wing (Rocky Mountains), in the far West, and 
 at times they are heard passing through the air towards 
 the East, on their way to the sea, for they live upon fish 
 and serpents, since they have been subdued by man. 
 
 LEGEND FOURTH. 
 
 THE TWO COUSINS. 
 
 There lived amongst the hills of the North, two 
 most intimate friends, who had appeared to have loved 
 each other from the years of their earliest childhood. — 
 In summer they lived by a beautiful lake. In autumn 
 on the banks of a noble river. In personal appearance 
 they were very near alike ; they were of the same age 
 and statue. In their early days a good old Indian wo- 
 man attended to their wants, and cared for tl eir wig- 
 wams ; together they strolled among the greenwoods, and 
 shared the results of their ramblings. Years flitted by. 
 Manhood came, when they used large bows and arrows. 
 
114 TllADlTiONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 One day the old lady* took them by her side, and told 
 them that the Nation to which they belonged held a 
 fast, and that she wanted them to fast that they might 
 become great hunters. And they did fast. 
 
 As spring advanced, they killed a great many wild 
 ducks, and kept the old woman of the wigwam busy 
 in taking care of their game. 
 
 In the latter part of the year they killed a great num- 
 ber of beaver, with the furs of which they clothed their 
 grand-mother and themselves. 
 
 In their journey one day, they made an agreement to 
 this effect, that if the gods should make known any 
 manifest favor to the one he should inform the other. 
 
 In the fall, they were far from the rivers, but yet 
 moved towards the North, where they knew the bears 
 most resorted. During that winter they killed a great 
 many, as also during the ensuing March. 
 
 At the close of one of their hunting expeditions, they 
 turned their feet towards home, at which they arrived 
 at a late hour. As they approached, they heard the 
 sound of several voices beside that of their grand-mo- 
 ther. They listened, and discovered that strangers 
 were in their wigwam. They entered, and beheld two 
 young and beautiful damsels seated in that part of the 
 room in which they generally rested during the night. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 115 
 
 The hunters and the young women appeared very 
 strange and modest. At length the old lady said to 
 the young men : — 
 
 " Noo-se-ge-took ! My children, I have called these 
 two young women from the South, that they may aid 
 me in taking care of all the meat and venison you may 
 bring home, for I am getting old and weak and cannot 
 do as much as I used to. I have put them by your 
 sides that they may be your companions." 
 
 When the last words were spoken, they looked upon 
 each other, and soon left, to wander by themselves in 
 the forest. 
 
 They there consulted together as to whether they 
 should comply with her request. One said he should 
 leave the wigwam. The other said that if they left, 
 there would be no one to supply their aged grand-mo- 
 ther ; and they finally agreed to remain in the wigwam 
 and pay no regard to the new comers. 
 
 They slept side by side every night, and agreed that 
 
 if either sho^ild wish to love one of the young strangers 
 
 he would inform the other, and that they would then 
 
 separate forever. In February they obtained a vast 
 
 amount of game ; the bears having returned to their 
 
 winter quarters were easily found and captured 
 
 It was observed that one of the young men gazed 
 H 
 
1 U) TRADITIOXAT. HISTORY OF 
 
 very intently at one of the strangers, and the next morn- 
 ing as they went out, he asked the other whether he did 
 not begin to love the young damsel who sat on his side 
 of the birchen fire. He replied negatively. It was true 
 that one of the cousins appeared to be deeply absorbed 
 in thought every evening, and that his manner was 
 quite reserved. 
 
 After a forttmate hunting day, as they were wending 
 their way home with their heavy burden of bear and 
 deer, one accused the other of loving the young woman. 
 ^' Tell me," said he, " and if you do, I will leave you to 
 yourselves. If you have a wife, I cannot enjoy your 
 company, or take the same delight with you as I do 
 when we follow the chase." 
 
 His cousin sighed, and said — " I will tell you to-night 
 as we lie side by side." 
 
 At night they conversed together, and agreed to hunt, 
 and if they did not meet with success, they would sep- 
 arate. The next morning they went to the woods, — 
 they were not a great distance from each other during 
 the hunt. The one who Avas in love shot only five, 
 while the other returned with the tongues of twenty 
 bears. The former was all the time thinking of the 
 damsel at home, while the latter thought only of his 
 game, having nothing else to divert his mind. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 117 
 
 * 
 
 On their return, the lucky man informed the grand- 
 mother that he should leave the next morning, and that 
 what he should kill on the morrow must be searched 
 after, as he should not return to tell them where he had 
 killed the game. His cousin was grieved to find that 
 his mind was made up to leave, and began to expostu- 
 late with him to change his determination ; but he 
 would not be persuaded to do so. 
 
 The next day came. The young man who was to 
 leave, bound a rabbit skin about his neck to keep it 
 warm, and having used on himself red and yellow 
 paints, left. His cousin followed close in his rear, en- 
 treating him not to leave him. 
 
 " I will go," said he, " and live in the North, where I 
 shall see but few persons, and when you come that way, 
 you will see me." 
 
 They walked side by side, until the departing cousin 
 began to ascend — and as he did so, the other wept the 
 more bitterly, and entreated him most perseveringly 
 not to go. 
 
 The cousin ascended to the skies, and is seen in the 
 North, Ke-iva-deii-ah-mung (North Star), still hunting 
 the bear ; while the other wept himself to nought before 
 he could arrive home, and now he answers and mocks 
 every body. He lives in the craggy rocks and deep 
 
lis TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 woods, and his name is Bah-swa-way (Echo). The 
 young maidens hved for a long time in the South, 
 under ambrosial bowers, awaiting the return of their 
 lovers, until one fell in love with another, and the other 
 is waiting for the return of her lover, where 
 
 " She looks as clear as morning roses, 
 Newly washed in dew." 
 
 AN HISTORICAL TALE. 
 
 THE EFFECTS OF LiaUOR. 
 
 A FEW years after the extermination of the Iroquois 
 from the peninsula which is formed by the three lakes, 
 Huron, Erie and Ontario, a free and uninterrupted inter- 
 course existed between the French of Montreal and the 
 Ojibways of Lake Superior, which brought into the In- 
 dians' possession implements of steel, and that bane of 
 the civilized world, " fire-water." 
 
 The people had already commenced to inhabit the 
 islands along the river St. Marie, when a quantity of 
 liquor was landed at a point near Grand De Tour, be- 
 tween St. Marie and Mackanaw. The Indians from the 
 upper lakes, as they camped, began to use this liquor 
 quite freely, in order to see its curious effects upon them. 
 
TITF. OJIRWAY NATION. 119 
 
 Among these were two families who had Hved and 
 nmited the moose together, and had from childhood 
 roamed the wide forest without one word of difference 
 between them. 
 
 They also wished to experiment with new drink, 
 which when some drank would cause them to enter 
 inio curious antics, others sang war songs, others were 
 lovial, while a few challenged the spectators to combat 
 with their weapons of war. 
 
 During this experimenting, the two intimate friends 
 had a quarrel, which resulted in the death of one of 
 them. The murderer seeing what he had done, fled to 
 the woods, to a spot near which they had lived, and 
 there concealed himself. The deed was soon known 
 all over the village. As the murderer had fled, it was 
 agreed by mutual consent and in accordance with their 
 law of retaliation, that the brother of the murderer 
 should be executed in the guilty one's stead. That 
 evening was to be the time of execution, and orders 
 were given that two fires should be built about twenty- 
 five feet apart. A post was placed between the two 
 fires, on which he was to rest himself. 
 
 The victim prepared himself by deliberately painting 
 nimself with various colors. When the evening came, 
 there were twelve warriors, with bows well strung, 
 
120 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 and good arrows, who were to fire at the prisoner. — 
 The people with eager curiosity looked on. It was 
 announced that all was ready. The victim walked 
 calmly from his lodge to the place where he was soon 
 to represent his brother. The warriors were arranged 
 at a distance of thirty steps, and the iimocent man 
 stood at the post, where his brother should have stood. 
 
 " Don't shoot me till I give you the signal," said he, 
 as he waved his hand toward heaven. His breast was 
 painted black, with the exception of a white spot about 
 the size of a dollar in its centre, which was to be the 
 point to which the arrows should be aimed. 
 
 The warriors and the victim were ready. The fire 
 blazed, and amid the stillness of the evening, the pris- 
 oner was heard singing the death wail : 
 
 " Ne-bah bah-moo-say Ke-zhe-goon-ai, 
 Ne ge chog a ye shaw-wod." 
 
 Before the last stanza was sung, and as his voice be- 
 came weak, he turned to the crowd, where he thought 
 his brother might be lurking, and said — " Ha hay !" — 
 then continued — " Brother, I am now ready to be killed 
 in your stead. I will not dishonor the clan I belong to 
 by endeavoring to shun this fate. If you can endure 
 the idea that hereafter the Nation will look upon us as 
 a race of cowards, live ! but I would choose to die in 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 121 
 
 your stead." As he finished the last Ifnes of the death 
 song, his brother ran from the woods to his side, and 
 said — " I am not a coward. I ran to the woods to get 
 sober, that I might not be killed like a dog. I can soon 
 be ready, and you shall see how a brave can die." He 
 then stepped aside, and blackened his breast ; breaking 
 the ashes, he formed a white spot in the centre of his 
 breast. Then leaning his back against the post, he be- 
 gan his death song. As its last doleful note died, far 
 away in the forest glen, he lifted both hands, and bared 
 his breast to the warriors. Twelve arrows pierced U, 
 and he fell, the second Indian victim of intemperance. 
 Note. — This traditional story was related to mo by 
 Ne-gah-be-an, in the year 1834, while we camped near 
 Drum wood's Island on our way up the Sault St. Marie. 
 It was my purpose some time since to have published a 
 volume of Indian stories, and trust that I shall be able 
 to do so in a short time. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THEIR LANGUAGE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 " Here are a few of the most unpleasant words 
 
 That ever blotted paper." 
 
 Shakspeare. 
 
 The Ojibway language or the language of the Algon- 
 quin stock is, perhaps, the most widely spoken of any 
 in North America. The Atlantic tribes partook of this 
 idiom when they were first discovered. 
 
 The snows of the North bounded the people who 
 spoke this language on that side, while in the South as 
 far as the Potomac and the mountains of Virginia, down 
 the Ohio, over the plains of Illinois to the East of the 
 upper waters of the Father of Rivers, Nations resided 
 three or four hundred years ago who could speak so as 
 to be understood by each other. A person might have 
 travelled nearly one thousand miles from the head of 
 Lake Superior, and yet not journey from the sound of 
 this dialect. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 123 
 
 In consequence of this universality of their language, 
 the Nation has had a wide-spreading influence. Many 
 of the Nation have travelled from the main body to 
 other lands : thus passing in contact with other Nations 
 they have adopted their customs, and have so intermix- 
 ed the two languages, that the original Ojibway is not 
 now so generally spoken, within a thousand miles of the 
 Ojibway or Great Lake, as formerly. 
 
 Mr. H. R. Schoolcraft, who has studied the language 
 more than any other person, and to some purpose, has 
 often said through the press as well in private conversa- 
 tion, that there is in it that which few other languages 
 possess ; a force of expression, with music in its words 
 and poetry in their meaning. I cannot express fully the 
 beauty of the language, I can onl}^ refer to those who 
 have studied it as well as other languages, and quote 
 their own writing in saying, " every word has its ap- 
 propriate meaning, and with additional syllables give 
 additional force to the meaning of most words." After 
 reading the English language, I have found words in 
 the Indian combining more expressiveness. There are 
 many Indian words which when translated into English 
 lose their force, and do not convey so much meaning in 
 one sentence as the original does in one word. 
 
 It would require an almost infinitude of English words 
 
124 
 
 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 to describe a thunder-storm, and after all you would have 
 but a feeble idea of it. In the Ojibway language, we 
 say ^^Be-wah-sam-moog." In this we convey the idea 
 of a continual glare of lightning, noise, confusion — an 
 awful whirl of clouds, and much more. Observe the 
 smoothness of its words : — 
 
 Ah-nung-o-kah, 
 
 Bah-bah-me-tum, . 
 
 Che-baum, 
 
 De goo wah skah, . 
 
 E nah-kay-yah, 
 
 Gah-gah-geeh, 
 
 How-\vah-do-seh, 
 
 Ish peming, 
 
 Jeen quon, 
 
 Kah-ke-nah, 
 
 Mah-nah-ta-nis, 
 
 Nah-nah-gum-moo, 
 
 0-nah-ne quod, 
 
 Pah -pah-say, 
 
 Quah-nauge, 
 
 Sah-se-je-\von, 
 
 Tah-que-shin, . 
 
 Wah-be-goo-ne, 
 
 Yuh-no-tum, 
 
 Ze-bee-won, 
 
 The stari-y heavens. 
 
 Obedience. 
 
 Soul. 
 
 The rippling wave. 
 
 The way. 
 
 Raven. 
 
 Stone carrier (fish.) 
 
 Heaven. 
 
 Earthquake. 
 
 All. 
 
 Sheep. 
 
 Singing. 
 
 Pleasant weather. 
 
 Woodpecker. 
 
 Pretty. 
 
 Rapids. 
 
 He or she comefi. 
 
 Lily. 
 
 Unbelief. 
 
 Streams. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 125 
 
 Upon examination it will be found that there are sev- 
 eral letters not sounded, to wit : F, L, R, V, X, though 
 Carver mentions in his vocabulary the use of the letter 
 L in several instances. This no doubt he did because 
 he lacked a perfect understanding of the language. The 
 same may be said of the letter R. We have none of 
 the mouthing as of the thick sound of the letter L, nor 
 any of the gutteral accompaniments of the letter R. To 
 the contrary^ all the softness of the vowels are sounded 
 without many of the harsh notes of the consonants, and 
 this produces that musical flow of words for which the 
 language is distinguished. 
 
 It is a natural language. The pronunciation of the 
 names of animals, birds and trees are the very sounds 
 these produce ; for instanccj Hoot Owl, O-o-me-seh ; 
 Owl, Koo-koo-ko-ooh ; River, See-be ; Rapids, JSah se-je- 
 won. ">S'ee" is the sound of the waters on the rocks. — 
 ^^Sah-se^^ the commotion of waters, and from its sound 
 occurs its name. 
 
 The softness of the language is caused, as I have be- 
 fore said, by the peculiar sounding of all the vowels ; 
 though there is but little poetic precision in the forma- 
 tion of verse, owing to the want of a fine discriminating 
 taste by those who speak it. 
 
 A language, derived, as this is, from the peculiarities 
 
126 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 of the country in which it is spoken, must, necessarily, 
 partake of its nature. Our orators have filled the forest 
 with the music of their voices, loud as the roar of a 
 waterfall, yet soft and wooing as the gentle murmur of 
 a mountain stream. We have had warriors who have 
 stood on the banks of lakes and rivers, and addressed 
 with words of irresistible and persuasive eloquence their 
 companions in arms. 
 
 The Ojibway language has not yet been reduced to 
 a perfect written form. An attempt to do this was made 
 by the lamented Summerfield, who in his degree of 
 usefulness would not have dishonored his name had he 
 lived. Close study was followed by a consumptive dis- 
 ease, which terminated his life before his contemplated 
 work was finished. In his attempt he followed too 
 much the English idiom in forming a grammar of the 
 Ojibway language. 
 
 The records of the Ojibways have a two-fold mean- 
 ing ; the hieroglyphic symbols of material objects repre- 
 sent the transmission of a tradition from one generation 
 to another. This refers more particularly to their reli- 
 gion, which is itself founded on tradition. Picture wri- 
 tmg is most prevalent, and is used altogether in their 
 medicine and hunting songs. Here are figures which 
 suggest sentences to be sung : 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 127 
 
 This is one of their war sons, which might read in 
 English thus : 
 
 I. 
 
 1 will haste to the land of the foe, 
 With warriors clad with the bow. 
 II. 
 I will drink the blood of their very heart ; 
 I will change their joy into sorrow's smart 
 Their braves, their sires will I defy. 
 And a Nation's vengeance satisfy. 
 III. 
 They are in their homes, now happy and free ; 
 No frowning cloud o'er their camp they see ; 
 Yet the youngest of mine shall see the tall 
 Braves, scattered, wandering, and fall. 
 
 The warrior is represented by the figure of a man 
 with a bow about hirn, and arrows in his hand ; with 
 the plume of the eagle waving over his head, indicative 
 of his acquaintance with war life. The next figure 
 represents a watching warrior, equally brave, but the 
 heart is represented as dead. The curve of his mouth 
 shows that he is shouting. The next figure represents 
 a person with long hair, an indication that the best of the 
 
128 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 enemy's warriors were to fall, and their wail must be 
 heard like the wail of a woman. The wigwam with 
 its smoke curling upwards, indicates a council fire and 
 the defiance of an attack. The other wigwams are 
 seen without fire ; and the black one signifies silence and 
 death. 
 
 When I was young I was taught this, and while sing- 
 ing I could, in imagination, see the enemy, though none 
 were within a hundred miles. 
 
 In their war songs animals are likewise represented 
 in various attitudes. A rattle is made of deer's hoofs 
 which is shook during the singing. 
 
 This rattle was sometimes used for the purpose of 
 transmitting news from one nation to another ; but in 
 most cases shells were used for this purpose. I have 
 been present in Canada when a string of beads has been 
 received from the head waters of Lake Superior. A pro- 
 found silence ensued, then followed a revelation of the 
 message, and at its close a prolonged grunting sound 
 from the vast assembly signified the people's assent. 
 
 There is a place where the sacred records are depo- 
 sited in the Indian country. These records are made 
 on one side of bark and board plates, and are examined 
 once in fifteen years, at which time the decaying ones 
 are replaced by new plates. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 129 
 
 This secrecy is not generally known by those people 
 who have searched Avith interest the Indian, and traced 
 him in all his wanderings to get an idea of his religion 
 and bis worship, which however absurd they may have 
 seemed, have nevertheless been held in so rigid respect 
 that he has formed for it a cloak of almost impenetrable 
 mystery. He concluded that all Nature, around him 
 was clothed in mystery — that innumerable spirits were 
 ever near to forward a good object and retard a bad one, 
 and that they existed as a chain connecting heaven 
 with earth. His medicine bag contained all those native 
 things of the forest around which, in his opinion, the 
 greatest mystery gathered ; as the more of mystery, the 
 more of the Great Spirit seemed to be attached to them. 
 A whale was an object of much importance, because it 
 was dedicated to the Supreme Being, and to approach 
 it, or look upon it irreverently, would offend him and 
 his children. They therefore never drew near it but 
 with the most profound silence and veneration. "With 
 this great awe of spiritual things in his mind, he feels 
 reluctant to reveal all that he knows of his worship and 
 the objects and rites which perpetuate it. 
 
 Most Indian Nations of the West have places in which 
 they deposit the records which are said to have origina- 
 ted their worship. The Ojibways have three such de- 
 
130 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 positories near the waters of Lake Superior. Ten of the 
 wisest and most venerable of the Nation dwell near 
 these, and are appointed guardians over them. 
 
 Fifteen years intervene between each opening. At 
 the end of this time, if any vacancies have been caused 
 by death, others are chosen in the spring of the year, 
 who, about the month of August, are called to witness 
 the opening of the depositories. As they are being 
 opened, all the information known respecting them is 
 given to the new members ; then the articles are placed 
 before them. After this, the plates are closely examin- 
 ed, and if any have begun to decay they are taken out ; 
 an exact fac simile is made and placed in its stead. — 
 The old one is divided equally among the wise men. It 
 is very highly valued for having been deposited ; as a 
 sacJred article, every fibre of it is considered sacred^ and 
 whoever uses it may be made wise. It is considered 
 efficacious for any good purpose it may be put. 
 
 These records are written on slate rock, copper, lead, 
 and on the bark of birch trees. The record is said to 
 be a transcript of what the Great Spirit gave to the In- 
 dian after the flood, and by the hands of wise men has 
 been transmitted to other parts of the country ever since. 
 Here is a code of moral laws which the Indian calls 
 " a path made by the Great Spirit." They believe that 
 
 • 
 
THE OJIRWAY NATION. 131 
 
 a long and prosperous life will be the result of obeying 
 that law. The records contain certain emblems which 
 transmit the ancient form of worship, and the rules for 
 the dedication of four priests who alone are to expound 
 them. In them is represented how man lived happy in 
 his wigwam, before death was in the world, and the 
 path he then followed marked out an example for those 
 of the present time. 
 
 During my travels over the whole extent of the Na- 
 tion, I have been informed of a great many facts respect- 
 ing these sacred depositories of which most of my breth- 
 ren are ignorant. 
 
 The Chief of Lac Coart, Oreille, (" Moose Tail,") in 
 the spring of 1836, related to my uncle John Taunchey, 
 of Rice Lake, C. W., an account of one of these deposi- 
 tories near the mouth of " Round Lake." 
 
 He said he had been chosen as one of the guardians 
 about five years previous, and that the guardians had 
 for a long time selected as the places of deposit the most 
 unsuspected spot, where they dug fifteen feet, and simk 
 large cedar trees around the excavatior^. In the centre 
 was placed a large hollow cedar log, besmeared at one 
 end v/ith gum. The open end is uppermost, and in it 
 are placed the records, after being enveloped in the down 
 of geese or swan, which are changed at each examina- 
 
132 
 
 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 tion. These feathers are afterwards used in war, being 
 supposed to have a protective power. When camping, 
 a few of these feathers are left near each place where 
 the w^arriors dance. 
 
 These are some of the figures used by us in writing. 
 With these, and from others of a similar class, the Ojib- 
 ways can write their war and hunting songs. 
 
 An Indian well versed in these can send a communi- 
 cation to another Indian, and by them make himself as 
 well understood as a pale face can by letter. 
 
 There are over two hundred figures in general use 
 for all the purposes of cori'espondence. Material things 
 are represented by pictures of them. 
 
 THE CHARACTERS USED IN PICTURE WRITING. 
 
 Groat S[)irit, 
 every where. 
 
 Noon. 
 
 Bud Spirit, water god. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATIOIf. 
 
 133 
 
 iWiT 
 
 Rain, cloudy. 
 
 o 
 
 Old tree. Tree. Spirit. ^^^^^ 
 
 Islands. 
 
 Moose. 
 
 Duck, water birds. 
 
 Storm, windy. 
 
 jj^^ Bad spring under earth. 
 
 Medicine Lodge. 
 
 1 
 
 Trees, 
 War. woods. 
 
 Bad. Wounded water god. 
 
 T f 
 
 I 
 
 Bad Spirit, Worship, Scalps, 
 
 Medicine. Medicine, pure. number. Young warrior. 
 
 Night. 
 
 © 
 
 Spirits above. 
 
 1(111 I L I T t I n L 
 
 K 
 
 Fight-Man, Bad Spirit. Mountains. 
 
 Great. 
 
 Sea Monster eat man. 
 
 -LULLL 
 
 Animals under ground. Spirits under water. Cold, 
 
 <r 1 Walked, Hand, 
 Ran. passed. did so. Bear Killed 
 
 ^^ 
 
 Fire. 
 
 Dream. 
 
 ^ 
 
 Speak. 
 
 Stand. 
 
134 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 Invitations to Indians to come and worship in the 
 spring are made in the following form : — 
 
 Medicine House Gt. Lodge. Wigwam, Woods. 
 
 :<0- .===- ^m^ % <t> 
 
 Lake. River. Canoe. Come- Great Spirit. 
 
 The whole story would thus read : — 
 
 "Hark to the words of the Sa-ge-mah." 
 
 " The Great Medicine Lodge will be ready in eight days." 
 
 *• Ye who live in the woods and near the Lakes and by streams 
 
 of water, come with your canoes or by land to the worship of the 
 
 Great Spirit." 
 
 In the above, the wigwam and the medicine pale or 
 worship, represent the depositories of medicine, record 
 and work. The Lodge is represented with men in it ; 
 the dots above indicate the number of days. 
 
 These picture representations were used by the Ojib- 
 ways until the introduction of European manners among 
 them. When this occurred, they neglected in a great 
 degree their correspondence with other nations, except 
 by special messengers, and became very cautious in 
 giving information respecting their religious worship to 
 the whites, because they, the whites, ridiculed it. It is 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 135 
 
 worthy of remark in this place, that however ridiculous 
 the simple rites and ceremonies by which the untutored 
 Indian showed his faith in the Great Spirit may have 
 appeared, they were dear and sacred to him, and ridi- 
 cule should never have been used to disabuse his mind 
 of his long formed opinions. It was a fruitless way to 
 reclaim him. by the attempt to do so by ridicule ; and 
 man could never by such means imbue his mind with 
 the principles of true worship. 
 
 In times of danger or in the progress of a war, beads 
 and shells were used for the purpose of conveying a 
 message, and this custom is yet in vogue. 
 
 These beads and shells were colored, and each had a 
 meaning, according to its place on the string. Black 
 indicated war or death — White, peace and prosperity — 
 Red, the heart of the enemy would represent — Partial 
 white or red, or both intermixed, the beginning of peace 
 or the commencement of war. 
 
 Numerals are marked on the shell. The knot gives 
 information of its starting point, or the name of the per- 
 son sending it. In stringing the shells or beads, the 
 end of the sentence is strung first, so that the first word 
 of the message is in the person's hand. This manner 
 of correspondence is the most common. 
 
 Three hundred years ago the Delawares sent com- 
 
loG TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 munications in this way to the Shawnees in Sandusky 
 Lake Erie ; and they to the Ojibways in Superior and 
 Huron. 
 
 This mode was practised by Pontiac in his appeals 
 to the Indians of Michigan, Huron, and the prairies of 
 the West, during the wars. The Indians say that these 
 beads cannot give false stories, for it is not possible for 
 the man who takes it to alter or add to them, during 
 his journey. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THEIR GOVERNMENT, 
 
 " Each stale must have its pallaces ; 
 Kingdoms have edicts ; cities have their charters ; 
 Even the wild outlaw in his forest walk 
 Keeps yet some touch of civil discipline." 
 
 Pope. 
 
 The rulers of the Ojibways were inheritors of the 
 power they held. However, when a new country was 
 conquered or new dominions annexed, the first rulers 
 were elected to their offices. Afterwards the descend- 
 ants of these elected chiefs ruled the Nation, or tribe, 
 and thus the power became hereditary. On the death 
 of the chief ruler, should the son be under age, the bro- 
 ther of the deceased rules in his stead, until the youth 
 becomes a man, when after the display of much cere- 
 mony, he takes his seat at the head of the Council of 
 the Nation. * 
 
 These young rulers are apt to be more cautious in the 
 
138 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 exercise of their governing power than those who pos* 
 sess more mature age with its more mature vanities. — 
 Ha^^ing been trained, and trained well by the aged wise 
 men, they enter upon their duties conscious of their re- 
 sponsibilities, and remembering the advise they have 
 received from their elders. 
 
 Councils were only convened by the Chiefs who pre- 
 sided on important occasions. Those who sat at these 
 councils, did so according to their age and wisdom. — 
 Among these a free discussion was allowed, the youngest 
 generally remaining silent listeners to the wisdom of 
 the aged. 
 
 A Chief had always two braves at his side — one was 
 always near him day and night. Their duties were 
 various. At times watching the lodge of the Chief — at 
 others, sent on important errands for the Nations. They 
 were frequently ordered not to stand still on their, way, 
 or sit down to rest until they had delivered their mes- 
 sage and received an answer. 
 
 Being commanded to go on one of these errands, the 
 young brave utters " hah," signifying his assent to do 
 all that is required of him. He then takes the brace of 
 beads, turns suddenly about and proceeds on his way 
 
 Day after day, night after night, he journeys on till he 
 reaches his destination and does the command of his Chief. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 139 
 
 I knew a young man by the name of John Loper. 
 He was the best runner my father had, and was a man 
 of great energy and activity. He travelled with us 
 when we removed to the north towards the Ottawa 
 River. 
 
 In the dead of winter the track of his snow shoes might 
 have been seen far and near. 
 
 In the spring of the year we often sat together in the 
 open woods, he relating his adventures and I listenmg 
 to his account of having crossed swollen sti;eams on cakes 
 of ice or logs of wood, holding fast to his only hope of life 
 with his clothes all in rags, and his body so torn and 
 bruised by the brush-wood and briars, that his mocca- 
 sins were filled with blood. 
 
 John died in 1839, much lamented. Since then the 
 Ojibways have not seen a man possessing so much energy 
 or one so determined upon surmounting all obstacles 
 that lie in his path as he was. 
 
 This person acted the part of a commissary when 
 any thing was to be divided in the village. Formerly 
 they received nothing for such services, but now they 
 receive a stated salary and a provision for their expenses. 
 They traverse the Ojibway coimtry in all directions, and 
 during the winter inform the people that they must meet 
 together at the first change of the " flower moon" (May) 
 
140 THE OJIBWAY NATION. 
 
 at the place named by the Chief. All matters of impor- 
 tance are decided by the Chief. He pronounces all 
 marriages, and his word settles all difficulties of every 
 name and nature. No appeal can be made from his 
 decisions, as he is the highest. 
 
 Any one found guilty of a misdemeanor is brought 
 before the Chief, who reprimands him before the crowd. 
 
 When a murder is committed, the Chief can act as he 
 pleases in regard to the offender, but should he not in- 
 terfere, the relations of the deceased take the law in 
 their own hands, and execute death upon the murderer. 
 
 Those who murder never attempt to run away or con- 
 ceal their guilt, but repair to their wigwam. If the 
 Chief leams that the crime was provoked, he shields and 
 protects the criminal : if not, he is put to death. His 
 life is at every moment in danger should he live. 
 
 Theft is punished by making the thief publicly known 
 and being clothed as such. In this way adultery is pim- 
 ished in the case of a man : in that of a woman, she has 
 her hair cut from ear to ear, which is a mark of disgrace. 
 It does not devolve upon any Chief in particular to make 
 or form a war party, but any of the braves can muster 
 together a band of volunteers. Those who have a 
 desire to do so, can join these parties, the number of 
 each party being regulated entirely according to the 
 
T III: I ) J 1 P, WAV NATION. ] i 1 
 
 bravery of the individual who forms it. Among the 
 Indians there have been no written laws. Customs 
 handed down from generation to generation have 
 been the only laws to guide them. Every one might 
 act different from what was considered right did he 
 choose to do so, but s»ch acts would bring upon him 
 the censure of the Nation, which he dreaded more than 
 any corporal punishment that could be inflicted upon him. 
 This fear of the Nation's censure- acted as a mighty 
 band, binding all in one social, honorable compact. They 
 would not as brutes be whipped into duty. They would 
 as men be persuaded to the right. 
 
 Of late years, law has borne with it very many evils. 
 We can judge somewhat of the character of a community 
 by its buildings. Prisons, penitentiaries, and poor^ 
 houses are bad signs. 
 
 Before law was introduced, the Indians had none of 
 these. Whatever we had was shared alike. In times 
 of gladness all partook of the joy ; and when suffering 
 came all alike suffered. 
 
 I believe commmiities can be governed by the pure 
 
 rules of Christianity, with less coercion than the laws of 
 
 civilized nations, at present, impose upon their subjects. 
 
 This however cannot be done unless each is resolved 
 
 upon a manly forbearance of those minor evils which in 
 
142 THE OJIBAVAY NATION. 
 
 all cases precede great ones. A vast amount of evidence 
 can be adduced to prove that force has tended to bru- 
 talize rather than ennoble the Indian race. The more 
 a man is treated as a brother, the less demand for law. 
 The less law there is, the more will man be honored 
 thus. ' 
 
 One of the most favorable indications in the Algon- 
 quin tribes of their ultimate adoption of a pure Christi- 
 anity is the simplicity of their government, and of their 
 life and manners. To this the eye of the missionary 
 should be directed, and all his actions be conformed to 
 this happy state of afiairs. 
 
 Of late, the General Councils of the Christian Ojibways 
 have been convened and carried on in the same manner 
 as the public meetings of the whites are conducted. 
 
 The last General Council, which consisted of Ojibways 
 and Ottawas, was held at Sangeeng. The Chiefs came 
 from St. Clair, Huron, Ontario, Simcoe, Rice, and Mud 
 Lakes. 
 
 The object of this convention was to devise plans by 
 which the tract of land then held by the Sangeeng In- 
 dians, could be held for the sole use of the Ojibway 
 Nation ; to petition the government for aid in establish- 
 ing a Manual Labor School ; to ascertain the views and 
 feelings of the Chiefs in relation to forming one large sot- 
 
THE OJIRWAY NATION. 1 13 
 
 tlemeiit among themselves at Owen's Somid, where they 
 might Uve in future, and to attend to other things of 
 minor importance. 
 
 There were forty-eight Chiefs present from Canada 
 West alone. Chief Sawyer took the chair, and the writer 
 had the honor of being Vice President. Chief John 
 Jones of Owen Sound, was appointed to deliver the open- 
 ing address, in which he was to give an outline of the 
 subjects to be discussed. 
 
 The meeting was called to order ; and after singing 
 and prayer, the former by the members of the council, 
 the latter by Chief Sunday, in which all united. Chief 
 Jones arose. After casting a piercing glance over the 
 assembly, he spoke as follows : — 
 
 " Brothers ! You have been called from all parts of 
 Canada, and even from the North of Georgia Bay. 
 
 You are from your homes, your wives and your chil- 
 dren. 
 
 We might regret this separation were it not for the 
 circumstances that call you here. 
 
 Fellow Chiefs and Brothers ! I have pondered with 
 deep solicitude our present condition ; and the future 
 welfare of our children as well as of ourselves. I have 
 studied deeply and anxiously in order to arrive at a true 
 knowledge of the proper course to be pursued in order to 
 
144 "^J'RADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 secure to us and our descendants, and even to otliers 
 around us, the greatest amount of peace, health, happi- 
 ness and usefuhiess. The interests of the Ojibways are 
 near and dear to my heart ; for them I .have passed 
 many a sleepless night, and have oftentimes been wearied 
 with an agitated mind. 
 
 The people of these Nations, I am proud to say, are 
 my brethren ; many of them are bone of my bone ; 
 and for them, if needs be, I could willingly, yea cheer- 
 fully sacrifice my life. 
 
 Brothers, you see my heart.* Fellow Chiefs and War- 
 riors ! I have looked over your wigwams through Can- 
 ada, and have arrived at the conclusion, that you are in 
 a warm place : your neighbors, the whites, are kindling 
 fires all around you.t One purpose for which we have 
 been called together, is to devise some plan by which 
 we can live together ; and become a happy people, so 
 that our fires may not go out (Nation become extinct) but 
 may be kindled in one place, which will prove a blessing 
 to our children. 
 
 Brothers ! Some of you are living on small parcels of 
 
 * Here the speaker held out a piece of white paper, emblematic of 
 a pure heart. , 
 
 t Reference was here made to the clearing of the lands— The trees 
 being burnt for that purpose. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 145 
 
 land, and others on Islands. We now offer you any 
 portion of the land which we own in this region ; that 
 we may during the remainder of our days, smoke the 
 pipe of friendship ; live and die together, and see our 
 children reared on one spot and join there in their youth- 
 ful sports. We ask no more from you. We feel for you. 
 We feel for your children's sake, and therefore we make 
 this proposition. 
 
 Brothers ! There are many subjects worthy of your 
 consideration, but the most important are 
 
 1st. Whether it would be better for the whol^ Ojib- 
 way Nation to reside on this, our own territory ? 
 
 2nd. Would it not be well to devise ways and means 
 for the establishment and support of Manual Labor 
 Schools, for the benefit of the nation ? 
 
 3d. Ought a petition to be drawn up and be present- 
 ed to our Great Father, (Governor General) for the pur- 
 pose of fixing upon- a definite time for the distribution of 
 the annual " presents" and the small annuities of each 
 tribe 1 
 
 4th. Is it desirable to petition our Great Father to 
 appoint a resident Indian Interpreter, to assist the agent 
 at Toronto? 
 
 5th. As we (the Christian part of the Nation) have 
 abandoned our former customs and ceremonies, ought 
 
146 THE ojinwAY nation. 
 
 we not to make our own laws, in order to give charac- 
 ter and stability to our Chiefs, as well as to empower 
 them to treat with the Government under which we live, 
 that they may, from time to time, present all our griev- 
 ances, and other matters to it ? 
 
 My Chiefs, Brothers, Warriors ! This morning, (point- 
 ing upwards) look up and see the blue sky ; there are 
 no clouds ; the Great Spirit is smiling upon us. May 
 he preside over us, that we may make a long, srqpoth and 
 straight path for our children. 
 
 It is true, I seldom see you all ; but this morning I 
 shake hands with you all in my heart. 
 
 Brothers ! This is all I have to say." 
 
 On taking his seat eighty-four Chiefs responded ^'-HaWl 
 an exclamation of great applause. 
 
 Several Chiefs addressed the Council, highly appro- 
 ving of the plans proposed, and expressmg their grati- 
 tude for the liberal offer of lands 
 
^Hs^'^^^^^^J^/^'^^W' 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 
 
 " The generous Author of the Universe, 
 Who reins the winds, gives the vast ocean bounds, 
 And circumscribes the floating world their rounds." 
 
 " Sees God in clouds or hears Him in the wind." 
 
 The Ojibway Nation believed in a Great Good Spirit, 
 and in a Bad Spirit. They had also " gods innumera- 
 blCj" among which was " the god of war," " the god 
 of hunting," and " the god of the fowls of the air." 
 
 The skies were filled with the deities they worshipped, 
 and the whole forest awakened with their whispers. 
 The lakes and streams were the places of their resort, 
 and momitains and vallies alike their abode. All the 
 remarkable spots in the country were considered their 
 favorite resorts. These were the peaks of rocky cliffs ; 
 the clefts of craggy mounts. Water-falls were thought 
 to be their sporting scenes. 
 
148 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 The sky was the home of the god who held a watch- 
 ful care over every star. They heard him whisper in 
 the gentle breeze, or howl in the tempest. He had do- 
 minion over all the three heavens, and sometimes amused 
 himself by hurling stars from their stations and causing 
 them on their passage to the earth to change into de- 
 mons to wrong and perplex the people who inhabited 
 the place of their destination. 
 
 The constellations of stars were council gatherings of 
 the god. The brightest were ruling spirits, appointed 
 by the Great Spirit as guardians of the lesser ones* 
 Clusters of stars were the populous cities of the celestials. 
 
 In the stories of the wigwam, mention is made of some 
 of these high born personages coming to earth to dwell 
 among the people ; also of men going up and becom- 
 ing inhabitants of the skies. They say animals have 
 received wings ; and some of them from heaven. 
 
 Were all the stories that are related of the skies 
 written, it would be fomid that each star has connected 
 with it some strange event. The history of the tradition 
 of the stars, according to Indian tradition, would be a 
 history indeed, and would rank among the " curiosities 
 of literature." 
 
 The earth teemed with all sorts of spirits, good and 
 bad t\ )se of the forest clothed themselves with moss. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 149 
 
 During a shower of rain, thousands of them are shelter- 
 ed in a flower. 
 
 The Ojibway, as he rechnes beneath the shade of his 
 forest trees, imagines these gods to be about him. He 
 detects their tiny voices in the insect's hum. With half 
 closed eyes he beholds them sporting by thousands on 
 a sunray. In the evening they are seen and heard 
 
 *' Above, below, on every side, 
 
 Their little minium forms displayed 
 In all the tricksy pomp of fairy pride." 
 
 They have a special god presiding over the most 
 noted herbs of the earth. These are subject to this be- 
 ing who is called the god of Medicine Men or women 
 are deemed capable of learning the virtues of roots from 
 him, and often fast in order to gain his favor. In time 
 of war they carry certain roots with them, which accord- 
 ing to their idea, prevent the balls of an enemy from 
 striking them. 
 
 The Ojibways place much dependence upon dreams. 
 They are to them the omens of good or bad fortune. — 
 Fastings of considerable length are endured in order to 
 win the good will of the god. These fasts are at vari- 
 ous times. The summer season is the time of the chil- 
 dren's fasting. I well remember the tedious fast of four 
 or five days I imderwent when quite young, and what 
 
150 THE OJIBWAY NATION. 
 
 a tremendous appetite I had when it was over ; as fai 
 exceeding that of the renowned Gogerins, as theirs did 
 that of the Eastmans. 
 
 I cannot better portray the i/ifluence of dreams upon 
 the Indian's mind than by relating a story of an Indian 
 damsel, who according to the custom of fasting, deter- 
 mined to do so in a remarkable romantic spot, near Grand 
 Island. A cave in each side of this cove is to be seen 
 at the present day, with a rivulet coming down to the 
 edge of the lake. A rock arches the stream similar to 
 the natural bridge of Yirginia ; on the tops of which is 
 a pine tree standing alone. In one of the caves lies a 
 ledge of rock, and it was to this the maiden resorted to 
 ask the favor of the gods. 
 
 In a summer season she with her friends were coasting 
 along the southern shore, camping every evening. Sud- 
 denly, as it were, she became pensive. She said but 
 httle, and her parents wondered, not knowing the cause 
 of her change. Her mother thought she had become 
 angered, and inquired of her whether such was the fact. 
 She merely smiled and said Kah ween. 
 
 Evening after evening passed, and on each she took 
 her accustomed stroll along the beach, picking up Cor- 
 nelian stones, which are found there in great numbers, 
 one evening she was seen standing on the peak of the 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 151 
 
 pictured rocks ; and as the sun was passing the horizon, 
 and the waves dashed furiously, she was heard to sing 
 for the first time. Her long black hair floated upon the 
 wind, and her voice was heard abov^e the rustling of the 
 leaves and the noise of the waters. When night came, 
 she could not be seen. She had fled to the rocky cave, 
 from whence were to go up her petitions to the gods. 
 
 The people lighted their birch torches, and wandered 
 over the forest, but they could not observe the slightest 
 sign of the maiden's presence. They were obliged to 
 wait until the morning. At length day dawned, — the 
 sun gradually arose. Her parents and the people went 
 in search of her ; they looked in every place— in wood- 
 land, in glades, upon the shore and in the caves of the 
 rocks, yet could not find her. Day passed. Night 
 came. They called her by name, ^'- Shah-won-o-equaP 
 (Lady of the South) but she answered not, and they 
 were left in great distress, conjecturing about her situa- 
 tion. The next day was spent in like manner, but with 
 no better success. As evening approached, they thought 
 they heard her voice. They all listened. " Yes," said 
 the father, " it is Shah-won-o-equa." The voice seemed 
 to be at so great a distance among the rocks that they 
 could not reach the spot from which it proceeded before 
 night came, and the voice departed. 
 
152 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 Anxiously they awaited the approach of day, and 
 when it came, with all possible speed they hasted in the 
 direction in which they had heard the voice. Not see- 
 ing any path made by her footsteps, they concluded that 
 it was not her voice, but that of a spirit they had heard, 
 and that she had been taken away by the Great Spirit 
 whose track* was seen on the rocks. 
 
 The next night when the sun was sinking, they again 
 heard the voice, sounding as if on the cliifs of the rocks. 
 They looked, when they beheld standing on a lofty 
 peak the Ibst maiden, gazing at the departing sun, and 
 chanting her evening prayer to the gods of her fathers. 
 The parents were convinced that the form they beheld 
 could not be a spirit, but in reality their daughter. The 
 next morning another search was made, which resulted 
 in finding her sitting in the cave, having robes of fur 
 covering her head, and boughs of cedar all around her. 
 Since the day she left her home, she had taken no food, 
 and though a rivulet of pure water coursed along at her 
 feet, she touched it not. 
 
 She was asked why she had not informed her friends 
 of her situation. She replied, that she wanted to fast, 
 and that to do so, it was best for her to remain there in 
 
 • The marks on ihe pictured rocks are thought to be the footsteps 
 of the Grfat Spirit. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 153 
 
 seclusion. Her mother wished her to go with her to 
 their wigwam, but the girl refused to do so, until the 
 gods were propitious to her. 
 
 The following day her mother again visited her, and 
 inquired whether the gods had visited her since their 
 last interview. She replied that they had not, hut that' 
 she was resolved upon remaining there until they did. 
 She then covered her head with furs and laid down. 
 
 In the cave, on the ledge of rocks, she waited to re- 
 ceive the god of war, the god of the vegetable kingdom, 
 and the god of the waters, whom she expected v/ould 
 visit her in her dreams, or in a visible form, and con- 
 verse with her. 
 
 That evening the waves roared furiously, and the 
 winds moaned. She fell asleep. She saw a young 
 warrior approach, who standing over her, gazed at her 
 as her raven hair was tossed about by the wind. Bend- 
 ing over her, he said : — 
 
 " Equa ! (woman) I have watched thee these three 
 days — and now I come to speak to you. What will 
 you have ? The furs from the woods — the plumes of 
 rare birds — the animals of the forest — or a knowledge 
 of the properties of the wild flowers ?" 
 
 " Young man !" said she, " I know thy fathers are 
 the unseen spirits of the earth. I want not the furs, 
 
i64 THE OJIBWAY NATION. 
 
 nor the plumes, nor the animals. I want a knowledge 
 of the roots that I may relieve the Nation's sufferings, 
 and prolong the lives of the aged who live among us." 
 
 "And is this for what you have fasted so long and so 
 faithfully ?" 
 
 " Yes — the woods had their charms for me when I 
 was small, but now the long wail of my people over 
 their accumulating woes sounds in my ears. The forest 
 yields pleasant fruits, and the lake shores are decorated 
 with pebbles of various hues. I loved to gather the 
 lilies and the flowers, till I learned there was life in 
 them and a power to impart it. Then I hasted to this 
 secluded spot, and, that I might learn the secret of the 
 herbs and flowers, I have fasted here in seclusion, wait- 
 ing the approach of thy fathers to teach them to me." . 
 
 " Then wait for them," said the young man, "for they 
 will soon come." 
 
 He left. Night came on — dark night, and she dream- 
 ed that she was placed on the edge of a high rock which 
 was suspended over the great prairies of the West, and 
 that before her many Nations assembled to join in a 
 great ball play. 
 
 She stood watching the progress of the game, and 
 observed that the women were the fleetest, and that one 
 of them actually won the prize. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 155 
 
 The stranger again stood at the damsel's side. — 
 " There," said he, " do you see that maiden among the 
 crowd ?" She answered that she did. " So will your 
 Nation look to you, when an ^assembled multitude 
 gather to join in the Nation's ball play. If this will 
 satisfy you, go now, return to your mother." 
 
 He left her again, and in much agitation she awoke 
 from her eventful sleep. 
 
 The morning dawned, when again her mother in- 
 quired whether she had been visited by the gods. She 
 made no reply. Her mother left, but soon again re- 
 turned and without success importuned her to leave 
 the cave. 
 
 That night the winds were fierce, and the waters 
 dashed with great power against the pictured rocks. — 
 The earth trembled as the thunder growled above it, 
 and the frequent, almost continuous lightning caused the 
 streams of water to appear like floods of molten gold. 
 
 Notwithstanding the tumult of nature, the maiden 
 tell asleep. Numerous individuals surrounded her. — 
 One was clad in scarlet — another in blue — another in 
 black, and another in white cloth. They sang a song, 
 then left, with the exception of one. who it appeared re- 
 mained to reveal to her the purport of what she saw. 
 He was old and quite bald-headed. 
 
15(3 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 '• No-sis !" (child) said he, " do you know those who 
 came and sung to you ?" She replied that she did not. 
 " Why," continued he, " they are all my children — they 
 are the birds you see in the forests — they will always 
 sing for you." 
 
 " And I am their parent," said a great Bald Eagle, 
 adjusting his wings, and suddenly starting off. 
 
 The next morning, these same birds came and sang 
 near her head, while she was musing over her pleasant 
 dream. 
 
 The Red-breast Robin, the Scarlet birds, the Blue 
 Jays, and the tiny Humming-birds, were about her. — 
 She thought the gods had been propitious to her, and 
 her heart filled with emotions of gratitude. 
 
 When the next morning came, she began to find her 
 strength fast failing. Her mother again came with her 
 usual entreaties, but to them all she remained silent, and 
 apparently did not notice her or them. 
 
 She had a number of remarkable dreams. In one ot 
 these she saw two beings who came to conduct her to a 
 hill, from whence she could see the plains below. In 
 climbing the hill, they ascended many steeps, and as 
 she stood on the summit of one of these, her attendants 
 bade her look back and see what had been passed. 
 
 She turned. What a sight ! The clouds rolled be- 
 
THE OJIRWAY NATION. 157 
 
 neath her ; above all was clear. She saw the path she 
 had foUovved, and around it she beheld the lightning's 
 flash. 
 
 *"• That which is before you, bordering on the great 
 hill, is Infancy. It is pleasant, but dangerous. The 
 rocks represent the perilous times of life. But keep 
 moving : look not behind you again, until you have 
 reached the highest peak." 
 
 Up — up they went. The way was diversified — some- 
 times safe, at other times dangerous. When they had 
 fully ascended, they beheld on one side the deep, broad 
 ocean : at the other, the lofty, numerous mountains of 
 the West — Ocean glittering in the sunlight — Nature 
 rearing its battlements to the skies. 
 
 One of the maiden's companions touched her head, 
 when one-half of her hair was changed to snowy white- 
 ness. Then she awoke, much exhausted. 
 
 The next morning, when her mother came, and, as 
 before, wished her to accompany her, she determined 
 that if on her next visit she should refuse, she would 
 take her from the cave by main force. 
 
 In her last dream she saw a canoe sailing upon Lake 
 Superior. It came to where she stood, and she was 
 asked to enter it. She did so, when one of her visiters 
 began to chant a song : — 
 
158 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 " Ba bah mah she yon nee beeng gay, 
 Ba bah moo say ah keeng gay." 
 
 " I walk on the waves of the sea, 
 I travel o'er hill and dale." 
 
 They proceeded in the canoe till they were far from 
 the sight of land, and the waters around them were 
 unmoved. 
 
 " When becalmed," said they, " sing this, and you 
 will hear us whisper to you. They then returned her 
 to the shore. 
 
 When she awoke, the storm was yet raging, and the 
 voices of the gods were heard in the winds among the 
 trees. Believing she had gained the good will of the 
 spirits she had retired to meet, she permitted herself, 
 when her mother came, to be taken to the wigwam. — 
 It was the tenth day of her fasting, and her strength 
 was nearly gone. 
 
 " By my fasting I have received the favor of the gods," 
 said she to the friends who crowded around her. " I 
 have travelled the journey of life, and have learned that 
 I shall not die until half of my hair has turned white." 
 
 Since that time, I have seen that girl but once. In 
 the year 1842, while sailing along Lake Superior, on its 
 southern shore, I came rather unexpectedly to a cluster 
 of wigwams, where I saw Shah- won a-qua, and listened 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 159 
 
 with deep interest to her relation of the dreams of hei 
 childhood. I gave her a few wild ducks from my boa< 
 load of game, and a yard of scarlet clotli — a fabric 
 wliich is esteemed very highly by the Indian women. 
 This I did in payment for those early impressions she 
 had made upon my mind, leading me to believe that 
 the noble deeds of man are those, and those only, which 
 are performed for the good of others ; and that virtue 
 will be alike rewarded in the future, whether it be 
 found and cherished in pagan lands or in Christian 
 temples. 
 
 There is one Ruler whom we call Ke-sha-moii-e-doOj 
 "Benevolent Spirit," ox Ke-che-mo?i-e-doo, "Great Spirit." 
 This being is over the universe at the same time, ruling 
 all under different names, such as "the god of war," 
 " the god of the fish," <fec. 
 
 The Sun is the wigwam of the Great Spirit, and it is 
 as the abode of this being that the Indians view that 
 luminary. Very few of the Northern Indians ever held 
 the idea that the Sun was an object of worship. 
 
 When great Councils are held, or the Medicine Avor- 
 ship is in progress, if the day is clear the Indians think 
 that the Great Spirit smiles upon them. If it be cloudy, 
 it is thought the Great Spirit is displeased. 
 
 None of the Indian youth are allowed to speak the 
 
160 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 name of the Great Spirit without proper marks of ven- 
 eration. There was a time when they did not take the 
 name of God in vain, but this habit some have acquired 
 since being civihzed (!) The rigid, though not too rigid 
 rules they have adopted, might have been sustained had 
 not evil entered with the good during their intercourse 
 with the whites. As it is, there are children who, as 
 soon as their tongues get in shape, use them to blas- 
 pheme their Creator. I never heard a man swear with- 
 out its causing my blood to run cold. Why, pale face, 
 let me tell you, the Bad Spirit is a saint to such a man. 
 
 That worship of the Indians called " Me-day Wor- 
 ship," is conducted as follows : 
 
 When a lodge is made, its length is in proportion to 
 the number of persons who are to occupy it. Its width 
 is generally from twenty paces. Long poles are placed 
 in the ground which meet at their tops to within about 
 two feet of each other. Over these awning, or roof is 
 formed. In the centre of the lodge is a pole, which we 
 call a meeting pole, or Me-day Wahtich. It has paint- 
 ed on it a representation of the Great Spirit. The sides 
 jf the lodge are covered with boughs or mats. The 
 great medicine drum is boat for three days and nights 
 previous to the time of worship. Those who have 
 received their lectures for a year or more are 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 161 
 
 brought and placed in the centre. The priest or chief 
 medicine man, with powder in his hand, sings at one 
 end of the lodge, a song. This concluded, he goes to 
 the other side and repeats it. They then aim a blow 
 at their student, who falls to the ground as though 
 fainting, as well he might after such a lesson. The 
 professor sings again : after which a spot is made in the 
 centre of the subject's breast, where it is supposed the 
 medicine shell entered. This shell, which the teacher 
 is said to blow from himself to his student, and which 
 he is told will remain with him during life, we call, Me- 
 day-me-gis (shell). * 
 
 In a short time the initiated are made to kneel before 
 the Medicine Bag, which is held as sacred. Then a 
 person comes near the kneeling man and opens a belt 
 of wampum, or shells, from which he takes the line, 
 an emblem of life ; one is crooked, the other straight. 
 The various articles to be used are then opened and 
 all explained. 
 
 During the two days preceding this worship, great 
 preparations are made. Children dress ; old and young 
 are fantastically decorated with feathers, paints, and 
 the skin of wild beasts. 
 
 The privilege of joining in this worship is granted by 
 the flder members. Some children are allowed to do 
 
162 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 ♦o, though very young. When any are very sick, the 
 ilders hold a consultation and propose that the sick 
 person be initiated, as it is thought in this way they will 
 receive the favor of the Great Spirit, and get better. — 
 Generally, however, lectures are given for one or two 
 years to the candidates for initiation, in which they are 
 taught the responsibilities they are to assume. 
 
 I believe this " Me-day Worship " is common among 
 most of the Indian tribes in the West and North. It 
 resembles in some particulars the secret societies, so 
 called in the United States. Members of different tribes 
 wlien they meet are admitted to the lodge, on their 
 knowledge of it, even though their ignorance of the lan- 
 guage of each other, renders it necessary to use signs in 
 making it known. 
 
 "V^Tiile the Medicine Worship is progressing, a little 
 lodge is made near the other, where the chief man has 
 in keeping all their medicine bags, songs, and emblem. 
 In this lodge the preparatory lectures are given, as also 
 when the initiation is over, the initiated is accepted with 
 the songs they have learned. None of the uninitiated 
 are allowed in it. 
 
 Some years ago, a gentleman travelling in the Sioux 
 Village, below St. Paul, was told by a waggish Indian 
 to go in there and smoke with the old man. Sure 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 163 
 
 enough, in he went, and as soon as he was seated, the 
 tug of war came. One pulled his hat o/F; another 
 pushed him out of the lodge, and when he asked for 
 his hat, he found they had pushed that out in advance 
 of him. Somewhat resolved upon having his own way, 
 he again went in, or attempted to do so, when he was 
 met at the entrance, thrown down, and in the scramble 
 for his life and hat, surrendered the tail of his coat to 
 an Indian lad, who very adroitly cut it oH'. He could 
 not comprehend the meaning of such treatment imtil I 
 explained it to him. He thought them rude. I thought 
 so too — but he laughed over it, and finally turned it off 
 by saying — " 'twas a good joke " — of which he was of- 
 ten reminded when he examined the fit of his coat or 
 the fur of his hat. 
 
 The origin of the Indian's belief in this Medicine 
 Worship is to be found in the following traditional sto- 
 ry, which is usually related to any one when about to 
 join the clan. I received it myself upon passing the 
 mysterious ordeal. 
 
 When Keshamonedoo made the red men, he made 
 them happy. The men were larger, were fleeter on 
 foot, were more dexterous in games, and lived to an 
 older age than now. 
 
 The foiest abounded with game, the trees were load- 
 
164 TRADITIONAL IlISTOUY OF 
 
 cd with fruit, and birds who have now a black plum- 
 age were dressed with pui'e white. The birds and the 
 fowls ate no flesh, for the wide prairies were covered 
 with fruits and vegetables. The fish in the waters were 
 large. The Monedoo from heaven watched the blaze 
 of the wigwams' fires^ and these were as countless as 
 the stars in the sky. 
 
 Strange visitants from heaven descended every few 
 days, and inquired of the Indians whether any thing 
 was wrong. Finding them happy and coiitented, they 
 returned to their high homes. 
 
 These were tutelar gods, and they consulted with 
 the sages of the different villages, and advised all not 
 to climb a vine which grew on the earth, and whose top 
 reached the sky, as it was the ladder on which the spirits 
 descended from heaven to *3arth, to bless the red men. 
 
 One of these errand-spirits became intimate with one 
 of the young braves, who dwelt in a cabin with his 
 grandmother, and favored him with invitations to stroll 
 with it among the various villages around. 
 
 The favor shown by this god to the young man pro- 
 duced a jealousy among his brethren, and during the 
 absence of his distinguished friend, the favored one was 
 much troubled by his neighbors, who envied him his 
 situation. 
 
Tin: OJIBWAV NATION. 165 
 
 On one occasion, when this persecution became intol- 
 erable, he determined to leave his country, and, if pos- 
 sible, accompany the spirit to the skies. 
 
 The chief men had enjoined on all tlie duty to refrain 
 from any desire or any attempt to ascend the vine 
 whose branches reached the heavens, telling them that 
 to do so would bring upon them severe penalties. 
 
 The spirit finding the young man quite sad, inquired, 
 learned the true cause of his sorrow, and taking him, 
 reascended. 
 
 The old woman cried for his return, " Noo-sis, be-ge- 
 vvain, be-ge-wain." " My child, come back, come back !" 
 He would not come home, and the woman having ad- 
 justed all her matters in the lodge, after the nightfall 
 repaired to the vine and began to ascend it. . 
 
 In the morning the Indians found the lodge she had 
 inhabited empty, and soon espied her climbing the vine. 
 They shouted to her, '• Shay ! ah-wos be-ge-wain, 
 mah-je-me-di — moo-ga-yiesh ! " " Hallo, come back, 
 you old witch you." 
 
 But she continued ascending, up — up — up. 
 
 A council was held to determine what inducement 
 could be made to her to return. They could hear her 
 sobbing for her grandson. " Ne-gah-wah-bah-mah nos- 
 sis." '• I will yet see my child." 
 
106 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 Consternation and fear filled the hearts of the Nation, 
 for one of their number was disobeying the Great Spirit. 
 Indignation and fury were seen in the acts of the war- 
 riors, and the hght of the transgressor's burning wig- 
 wam shed its lurid rays around. 
 
 The woman was just rearing the top of the vine 
 which was entwined around one of the stars of heaven, 
 and about entering that place, when the vine broke, 
 and down she came, with the broken vine, which had 
 before been the ladder of communication between hea- 
 ven and earth. 
 
 The Nations, as they passed by her, as she sat in the 
 midst of the ruin she had wrought, pushed her declin- 
 ing head, saying, " Whah, ke nah mah dah bee mage 
 men di moo ya yiesh." '• There you sit, you wicked 
 old witch." 
 
 Some kicked her, others dragged her by her hair,* 
 and thus expressed their disapprobation. All who shall 
 live after thee, shall call thee Equa (woman). 
 
 The news of this disaster spread rapidly from village 
 to village. Some numbers of men, women, and children 
 
 * A lady of my acquaintance, quaintly remarked, when I related 
 this story to her. " Yes, the gentleman have been doing that ever 
 
TUP. OJIHAVAY NATION. 1(>7 
 
 were singularly affected. Some complained of pains in 
 their heads, and others of pains in various parts of their 
 bodies, Some were unable to walk, and others equally- 
 unable to speak. 
 
 They thought some of these fell asleep, for they 
 knew not what death was. They had never seen its 
 presence. 
 
 A deep solemnity began its reign in all the villages. 
 There was no more hunting, no more games, and no 
 song was sung to soothe the sun to its evening rest. 
 
 Ah, it was then a penalty followed transgression. 
 
 Disease was the consequence of the breaking of the 
 vine. Death followed. 
 
 One day in the midst of their distress, they consulted 
 each other to determine what could be done. None knew. 
 
 They watched carefully for the descent of those be- 
 ings who used to visit them — and at length they came. 
 Each strove with eagerness to tell his story. They 
 soon found that the strangers were silent and sad. — 
 They asked the Nations what they wished to tell the 
 Great Spirit in their distress. 
 
 The first sent a petition that the vine might be re- 
 placed between heaven and earth. 
 
 The second sent that the Great Spirit might cause 
 the disease to leave tliem. 
 
168 'lllADITIONAL HKSTOllV OH' 
 
 The third sent a petition to have the old woman kill- 
 ed, since she was the cause of so much distress. 
 
 The fourth desired that the Great Spirit woulii give 
 tliem a great deal of game. 
 
 The fifth, and last, that the Great Spirit would send 
 them that which would calm and relieve them in distress. 
 
 After they had heard these, the strangers left, telling 
 the Indians to wait, and they should know what the 
 Great Spirit should say to each of the petitioners. 
 
 Each day of their absence seemed a month. At 
 length they came, and gathered near the eager people 
 They told them that they must die, as the vine that 
 had connected earth to heaven w^as broken ; but the 
 Great Spirit has sent us to release you, and to tell you 
 what you must do hereafter. 
 
 The strangers then gathered up all the flowers from 
 the plains, river and lake sides; and after drying them 
 on their hands, blew the leaves with their breath, and 
 they were scattered all over the earth, — wherever they 
 fell, they sprang up and became herbs to cure all disease. 
 The Indians instituted a dance, and with it a mode 
 of worship. These few, there met, were the first who 
 composed a Medicine Lodge : they received their char- 
 ter from the Great Spirit, and thus originated the 
 " Medicine Worship." 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 10? 
 
 The strangers gave them these words, and then left 
 
 " There is not a flower that buds, however small, 
 that is not for some wise purpose. 
 
 There is not a blade of grass, however insignificant, 
 that the Indian does not require. 
 
 Learning this, and acting in accordance with these 
 truths, will work out your own good, and will please 
 the Great Spirit." 
 
 The above is universally believed by the North West 
 Indians as the origin of Disease and Death, and the 
 foundation of the Medicine Worship. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE OJIBWAY OR CHIPPEWA RESIDENTS OP 
 CANADA WEST. 
 
 The Ojibway Nation now occupies land within the 
 bounds of two Governments, — the American and the 
 British. The entire, according to Drake, in 1842, was 
 thirty thousand, which is not far from the truth. The 
 best work upon the Indians of North America, is that 
 deservedly popular book written by Col. McKinney, of 
 New- York, a gentleman of extensive information, and 
 an undoubted friend of the red man. 
 
 That part of the Nation occupying territory within 
 the United States, inhabit all the Northern part of Michi- 
 gan, or the South shore of Lake Huron ; the whole 
 Northern portion of Wisconsin Territory ; all the South 
 shore of Lake Superior, for eight hundred miles ; the 
 upper part of the Mississippi, and Sandy, Leach, and 
 Red Lakes. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 171 
 
 Those of the Nation Hving within the British posses 
 sions, occupy from Gononaque, below Kingston ; all 
 Western Canada ; the North of Lake Huron ; the North 
 of Lake Superior ; the North of Lake Winepeg ; and 
 the North of Red River Lake, about one hundred miles. 
 The whole extent comprises over one thousand nine 
 hundred miles East and West ; and from two to three 
 hundred miles North and South. 
 
 There are about five thousand in the British domin- 
 ions. In the United States there are about twenty-five 
 thousand ; of whom about five thousand receive reli- 
 gious instruction, from missionaries sent by Societies in 
 the States and the Canadas. 
 
 The first Mission among them was commenced by 
 the Methodists at Credit River, in Canada West, in 
 1824, which was followed by a second Mission at Grape 
 Island in 1827. 
 
 The conversion of some Ojibways speedily followed 
 the introduction of Christianity. Many of these were 
 sent as native teachers to their brethren in the West. 
 
 In 1847, there were twenty-three Methodist Mission- 
 ary Stations, six of which were in the States, the re- 
 mainder in Canada. There were four Presbyterian 
 Missions, all of which were within the States ; viz, \ 
 La Pointe, Bad River, Leach Lake, and Ptcd Lake. — 
 
172 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 There were seven Episcopalian Mission Stations, six of 
 which were in Canada and one in the United States. 
 Two Baptist Mission Stations ; one at Sault St. Marie, 
 the other at Green Bay. The Roman Cathohcs had 
 Missionaries in nearly all of the principal places. 
 
 Numbers are not under religious instruction, though 
 easily accessible, and are wandering about without tJie 
 restraints and privileges of the gospel. All around the 
 shores of Lake Superior are bands of Indians who have, 
 time after time, called for Missionaries. The Hudson 
 Bay Company adopted a plan which, in my opinion, 
 did them much credit, by the operation of which instruc- 
 tions were given to the Indians and their children, in 
 the principles of Christianity. 
 
 Many persons once belonging to other Nations now 
 live with the Ojibways, and conform to their habits and 
 customs. 
 
 The present state of the Ojibways renders them fully 
 ripe and ready for great advancement in religion, litera- 
 ture, and the arts and sciences of civilized life. Multi- 
 tudes have left their wigwams, their woods, and the 
 attractive chase, and are now endeavoring to tread in 
 the footsteps of worthy white men. 
 
 One reason for this change is this — the Chiefs see the 
 n?«c^33ity of making a " smootli. straight path for their 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 173 
 
 children." and are appropriating as much of their means 
 as they can spare towards doing so. 
 
 Another is that the rising generation have imbibed a 
 thirst for learning, and are cultivating a decided taste 
 for improvement in all its branches. 
 
 Native teachers being among the people, preaching in 
 their own language, ' Christ and Him crucified,' is a 
 means exceeding all others in their elevation. 
 
 The prospects of the Nation have been made brighter 
 through the instrumentality of Missionary effort. Many 
 of the Indians residing in Wisconsin, Lake du Flam- 
 beau, the South shore of Lake Superior, and about Wine- 
 peg and Red Lakes, have repeatedly requested Mission- 
 aries to be sent among them. And these need good 
 teachers, for about the Western part of Red Lake are 
 indeed " the habitations of cruelty." The Chippewas 
 and Siouxs are always at war with each other ; the 
 hatred engendered five hundred years ago seems to 
 have lost none of its bitterness. 
 
 I will in this place give an account of the Mission 
 Stations in 1842, for which I am mostly indebted to an 
 able report made by Commissioners appointed by Pro. 
 vincial Parliament about that time. 
 
174 TRADITIONAL HJSTOllY OF 
 
 CHIPPEWAS OF THE RIVER THAMES. 
 
 JOHN RILEY, CHIEF. 
 
 These, together with the Mimsees, occupied a tract 
 of land containing about nine thousand acres, in the 
 township of Caradoc, within the London District, at a 
 distance of about twenty-five miles from the Moravian 
 Village. It had been only about ten years since their 
 being reclaimed from a wandering life, and settled at 
 this place. Since 1800, the Munsees had been settled 
 on land belonging to the Chippewas, having received 
 the consent of the Chippewas to locate there. The 
 Chippewas numbered three hundred and seventy-eight ; 
 the Mmisees two hundred and forty-two. They were 
 not collected in a village, but lived on small farms, scat- 
 tered over their tract. Some of the Chippewas culti- 
 vated lots of twenty acres each. Thi^ tribe occupied 
 seventy-six log houses, six wigwams and twenty-five 
 barns ; and had four hundred and fifty acres of land under 
 good cultiration. Their stock consisted of about six 
 hundred head. They had a fanning mill, a blacksmith's 
 shop, and a moderate supply of agricultural tools. 
 
 THE CHIPPEWAS AT AMHERSTBURQ. 
 
 These all professed Christianity, and many of them 
 were examples of true piety. The majority were Wes- 
 
THE OJIKWAY NATION. 175 
 
 Icyan Methodists ; the minority Romanists. They had 
 no place of worship of their own, though they had the 
 means to erect one had they desired to do so. The In- 
 dian settlement is about three miles from the town of 
 Amherstburg. The Methodist minister stationed at Am- 
 herstburg, visited those of his persuasion among the In- 
 dians, every Sabbath day, and by the aid of an Interpre- 
 ter preached, read and expounded the scriptures to them. 
 They held a general prayer meeting once a fortnight, 
 and frequent and private meetings for social worship. 
 Many of them maintained family worship. The Ro- 
 man Catholics worshipped in a chapel at Amherstburg. 
 There were no schools among them ; but they had 
 expressed a desire to have one established. Persons 
 capable of judging, thought the children no way inferior 
 to those of the whites in their ability to acquire know- 
 ledge. 
 
 CHIPPEWAS OP THE ST. CLAIR. 
 
 WA-WA-NOSH, AND SALT, CHIEFS. 
 
 These Indians were among the first whom Sir John 
 Colborne endeavored to settle and civilize. Previous to 
 1830, they were wandering heathen, like their brethren 
 elsewhere, scattered over the Western part of the Upper 
 Province ; they were drunken and dissipated in their 
 
176 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 habits and without rehgious or moral restraint. In 
 1830-31 J a number of them were collected on a Reserve 
 in the township of Sarnia, near the head of the River 
 St. Clair, containing over ten thousand acres. A num- 
 ber of houses were built for them, and an officer was 
 appointed to superintend the settlement. 
 
 Their conversion to Christianity and their progress 
 in religious knowledge, and in the acquisition of sober, 
 orderly and industrious habits, had been, under the care 
 of the Wesleyan Methodist Society, both rapid and uni- 
 form. From the formation of the Mission to that time, 
 (1842) two hundred and twenty-one adults, and two 
 hundred and thirty-nine children had been baptized and 
 admitted into the community. 
 
 In 1840, the total number at this Mission did not ex- 
 ceed three hundred and fifty ; but an increase soon fol- 
 lowed, owing to the emigration from Saginaw Bay, 
 Michigan, and the settlement of wandering Indians — 
 and at the time of the Commissioners' report, the num- 
 ber was seven hundred and forty-one. 
 
 Tlie Indians of River Aux Sables had about sixty 
 acres unrler improvement, and one log house. Tliose 
 at Kettle Point, twenty acres and two log houses. The 
 land on the Upper Reserve had been regularly surveyed 
 and In id out in fnrm lots. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 177 
 
 The Chief, with the approval of the Superintendent, 
 placed most of the occupants on these lands ; but it 
 was not indispensable that he should be consulted, as 
 the members of the tribe had the liberty to choose any- 
 unoccupied spot, and improve it as their own. When 
 once in possession, they were secured against intrusion, ' 
 but drunkenness or other ill conduct made them subject 
 to the Chief, who had power to expel them from the 
 Reserve. 
 
 CHIPPEWAS AT WALPOLE ISLAND. 
 
 These Indians are also known by the name of " the 
 Chippewas of Chenaille Ecarte." Those who have for 
 an indefinite length of time hunted over the waste lands 
 about Chenaille Ecarte and Bear Creek, are a branch 
 of the Nation settled in Sarnia, and are sharers of the 
 same annuity. 
 
 The Pottawatamies emigrated from the States. The 
 settlement at Walpole Island was commenced at the 
 close of the American war, when Col. McKie, called by 
 the Indians " White Elk," collected and placed upon 
 the Island which lies at the junction of the River and 
 the Lake St. Clair, the scattered Indians of certain 
 tribes of Chippewas who had fought on the British side. 
 Being left for a number of years without any interfer- 
 
178 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 ence or assistance on the part of the govemmentj they 
 became a prey to the profligate whites settled on the 
 frontier, who, by various frauds, and in moments of in- 
 toxication, obtained leases and valuable portions of the 
 Island. 
 
 CHIPPEWAS OF THE RIVER CREDIT 
 J. SA\\rrER fc F. JONES, CHIEFS. 
 
 These were a remnant of a tribe which formerly pos- 
 sessed a considerable portion of the Home and the Gore 
 Districts, of which m 1818, they surrendered the greater 
 part, for an annuity of £532.10, reserving only certain 
 small tracts at the River Credit, and at Sixteen and 
 Twelve Mill Creeks. They composed the first tribe 
 converted to Christianity in Upper Canada. 
 
 Previous to 1823, they were wandering pagans. In 
 that year, Messrs. Peter and John Jones, the sons of a 
 white Surveyor, and a Mississaga woman, having been 
 converted to Christianity, and admitted members of the 
 Wesleyan Methodist Church, became anxious to redeem 
 tlieir countrymen from their degraded state of heathen- 
 ism and destitution. They accordingly collected a con- 
 siderable number together, and by rote and frequent 
 repetitions, taught the first principles of Christianity to 
 the adults, who were too far advanced in years to learn 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 179 
 
 to read and write. In this manner they committed to 
 memory the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Com- 
 mandments. As soon as the tribes were converted, they 
 perceived the evils attendant on their former state of 
 ignorance and vagrancy. They began to work, which 
 they had not previously done, and recognized the ad- 
 vantage of cultivating the soil ; they totally gave up 
 drinking, to which they had been greatly addicted, and 
 became sober, industrious, and consistent Christians. 
 
 THE CHIPPEWAS OF ALNWICK. 
 SUNDAY & SIMPSON, CHIEFS. 
 
 These Indians became converts to Christianity in the 
 years 1826 — 1827. Previous to those years they were 
 pagans, wandering in the neighborhood of Belville, 
 Kingston, and Gananoque, and were known by the 
 name of " the Mississagas of the Bay of Q,uinte." In 
 the years referred to, two or three hundred were received 
 into the Wesleyan Methodist Church, and settled on 
 Grape Island, in the Bay of Q^uinte, six miles from Bel- 
 ville. On this island they resided eleven years, sub- 
 sisting by agriculture and hunting. Their houses were 
 erected partly by their own labor and partly at the ex- 
 pense of the Methodist Mission Society. Theynumbered 
 twenty-three : besides which they had a commodious 
 
ISO TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 building for religious service and school, a room for an 
 infant school, a hospital, and several mechanical estab- 
 lishments. 
 
 CHIPPEWAS AT RICE LAKE. 
 
 POUDASH, COP WAY & CROW, CHIEFS. 
 
 These settlers belong to the same tribe, the Mississa- 
 gas, or Chippewas of Rice Lake, who, in 1818, surren- 
 dered the greater part of the tract now forming the New- 
 castle District, for an annuity of £740. They have 
 been reclauned from their primitive wandering life, and 
 settled in their present locations within the last ten or 
 twelve years. 
 
 The Rice Lake Settlement is on the Northern side of 
 the Lake, about twelve miles from Peterborough. The 
 number of Indians was one hundred and fourteen. — 
 They possessed about fifteen hundred acres of land, 
 which were divided into lots of fifty acres each ; of 
 these eleven hundred and twenty acres were granted in 
 April, 1834, to trustees, who were "to hold the same for 
 the benefit of the Indian tribes in the Province, with a 
 view to their conversion and .civilization." The re- 
 maining four hundred and thirty were afterwards pur- 
 chased by them with their own funds. They had 
 rather more land cleared than had the Indians of Aln- 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 181 
 
 wick. — about four hundred acres ; but the cuhivation 
 was not so good. The village contained thirty houses, 
 a number of barns, a school house, and a chapel, to 
 which was a bell. At this village the head Chief re- 
 sided. For some time these Indians were under the 
 charge of an officer appointed by the Indian Depart- 
 ment, who assisted in their settlement, but at the time 
 of the report they had no special Superintendent. 
 
 CHIPPEWAS AT MUD LAKE. 
 
 NOGEE, IRON ic MCRUE, CHIEFS. 
 
 The Mud Lake Indians were settled on a point of 
 land on the Mud or Chemung Lake, sixteen miles 
 Northwest of Peterborough. They were ninety-four 
 in number, — possessed twenty dwelling houses, with 
 three stables — and occupied a grant of sixteen hundred 
 acres in the township of Smith, made to the New Eng- 
 land Company for their benefit, in April, 1837, of which 
 two hundred acres were well improved. 
 
 These Indians were for some time under the manage- 
 ment of the late Mr. Scott, an agent for the New Eng 
 land Company, and were members of the Wesleyan 
 Methodist Church. A chapel was in progress of erec- 
 tion at the village, where there was at the time a Mis 
 sion-house and a school. 
 
182 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 CHIPPEWAS AT BALSAM LAKE. 
 
 CRANE, CHIEF. 
 
 The In('.ians of Balsam Lake, numbering ninety, 
 were settled within the Township of Bexley, on a point 
 of land jutting out into Lake Balsam, which is the most 
 Northerly of the chain of Lakes, running Northwest 
 across the back townships of the district of New Castle. 
 The reserve which was granted to them by the Eug- 
 lish government, comprised twelve hundred and six 
 acres. Of these, two hundred were cultivated. The 
 village was small ; composed of about a dozen houses, 
 with out-buildings and a commodious school-house, in 
 which divine service was performed by a resident Meth- 
 odist Missionary. 
 
 In 1843 these Indians became dissatisfied with the 
 climate, and with the quality of the land at Balsam 
 Lake, and purchased six hundred acres on the banks of 
 Lake ScugDg, and were making preparations to remove 
 from their old settlement to their new locality. This vol- 
 unteer movement of theirs evinced how rapid an improve- 
 ment was going on in their minds ; and showed that 
 the spirit of enterprise existed among them, inasmuch 
 as it was made on account of the superiority of the land 
 near Lake Scugog for agricultural purposes. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 183 
 
 CHIPPEWAS OF RAMA. 
 
 TELLOWHEAD, NA-NAH-GE-SKUNG & BIG SHILLING, CHIEFS. 
 
 These Indians formerly occupied the lands about 
 Lake Simcoe, Holland River, and the unsettled country 
 in the rear of the Home District. 
 
 General Darling reported of them in 1828, that they 
 had a strong desire to be admitted into the ranks of 
 Christian people, and to adopt the habits of civilized 
 life ; and that in these respects they might be classed 
 with the Mississagas of the Bay of duinte and Rice 
 Lake, but were at that time in a more savage state. 
 
 In 1830, Lieutenant Governor Sir J. Colborne collect- 
 ed them on a tract of land on the Northwest shore of 
 Lake Simcoe, where they cleared a road from that lake 
 to Lake Huron. This tract numbered nearly ten thou- 
 sand acres. They consisted of three tribes of Chippe- 
 was, under Chiefs Yellowhead, Aisance, and Snake ; 
 and a band of Pottawatomies, from Drummond Island ; 
 their number was about five hundred, imder the care of 
 Mr. Anderson, who was appointed to take charge of 
 their settlement. They made a rapid advancement. 
 
184 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 CHIPPEWAS OF BEAUSOLIEL ISLAND, MATCHADASH 
 BAY, LAKE HURON. 
 
 AISANCE & JAMES KA-DAH-GE-GWON, CfflEFS. 
 
 This band was the same which was settled by Sii 
 John Colborne, at Cold Water. Their village, which 
 was not far from their former settlement, was commenc- 
 ed in 1841. It contained nearly twenty houses. The 
 settlers numbered two hmidred and thirty-two ; and 
 had under their own cultivation one hundred acres of 
 land. 
 
 The majority of these Indians were Roman Catholics. 
 They had no place for worship or school. The Ro- 
 man Catholic priest of Penetanguishene made them 
 occasional visits. 
 
 CHIPPEWAS OF SNAKE ISLAND, LAKE SIMCOE. 
 J. SNAKE, CHIEF. 
 
 This body of Indians was one of the three bands 
 established at Cold "Water and the Narrows, and separ 
 ated from them on the abandonment of those settlements. 
 
 In 1842 they occupied one of the three Islands on 
 Lake Simcoe, which had been set apart for the tribe 
 many years previous. They were over one hundred in 
 
THE OJIBWAV NATION. 183 
 
 number, and occupied twelve dwelling houses. They 
 had other buildings, and a school-house. The children 
 were instructed by a respectable teacher, and Divine 
 ".ervice was conducted by a resident Missionary of the 
 Methodist persuation. 
 
 They had about one hundred and fifty acres under 
 cultivation, and were rapidly improving in habits of in- 
 dustry and agricultural skill. 
 
 Their Missionary, who had been acquainted with 
 them for about three years, stated that the majority of 
 them were strictly moral in their character, — that most 
 of the adults were decidedly pious — and that many of 
 them for consistency of character, would not sufter by 
 a comparison with white Christians of any denomina- 
 tion. 
 
 CHIPPEWAS OF SANGEEN (laKE HUROn). 
 i. METEGOUB, ALEXANDER & AH-Y A H-B A N C E, CHIEFS. 
 
 It was from these Indians, and their brethren, since 
 settled at Owen's Sound, that Sir Francis Head, in 
 1836, obtained a surrender of a vast tract of land lying 
 North of the London and Gore Districts, and between 
 the Home District and Lake Huron, containing one 
 million six hundred thousand acres. He reserved at 
 
186 'JRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 the same time, for the Indians, the extensive peninsula, 
 lying between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, North 
 of Owen's Sound, and supposed to contain four hundred 
 and fifty thousand acres. 
 
 CHIPPEWAS OF BIG BAY, IN OWEN's SOUND, LAKE 
 HURON. 
 
 JOHN JONES & WAH-BAH-DEICK, CHIEFS. 
 
 These Indians were formerly either wanderers in 
 the Sangeeng tract, surrendered by Sir Francis Head, or 
 lived in scattered wigwams on the shores of Big Bay. 
 An agreement was then made with them, by which it 
 was proposed that they should either repair to IManiton- 
 lin, or to that part of their former territory which lies 
 North of Owen's Sound ; upon complying with which, 
 it was promised, " that houses should be built for them, 
 and proper assistance given to enable them to become 
 civilized and cultivate the land." 
 
 CHIPPEWAS AND OTHERS, IN THE TOWNSHIP OF 
 BEDFORD. 
 
 Within a lew years previous to 1842, some strag- 
 glers from the Rice Lake tribe had settled in the town- 
 ship of Bedford, about twenty-five miles North of the 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 187 
 
 town of Kingston. About that year they were joined by 
 a band of eighty-one Indians from Lower Canada, be- 
 longing to the part of the '- Lake of Two Moimtains." 
 
 By instructions issued in 1843, these Indians were 
 transferred from the Roll of Lower Canada to that of 
 the Upper Province, and in the course of that year they 
 received their annual Government presents for the first 
 time in that Province. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 MISSIONS AND IMPROVEMEMS. 
 
 The Mission of the Episcopal Church at the Sault 
 St. Marie, was given up soon after the Rev. Mr. Murray- 
 left the country, on account of the removal of the In- 
 dians from their town to an Island m Lake Huron, by- 
 order of Sir Francis Broadhead. 
 
 This dignitary gained notoriety among the Indians 
 and the whites of Canada, on account of his attempt to 
 remove the Indians to " a lone barren isle," where those 
 who did go suffered greatly by the bleak winds of the 
 lake. 
 
 The soil, what there was of it, was not good enough 
 to raise potatoes, or any vegetables for their support, — 
 its chief productions being large rocks and small 
 stones. 
 
 Mr. Murray, it appears, was a man of untiring ener- 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 189 
 
 gy and perseverance. He labored for a number of 
 years as a devoted Missionary, and was finally obliged 
 to leave by the impolitic acts of government. 
 
 In the month of September, 1834, 1 had the pleasure 
 of seeing this gentleman. He was reading an account 
 of his labors to a crowded auditory of Indians, who lis- 
 tened with deep, unfeigned interest, to the relation of 
 the improvements they had made under the care of 
 " the good white man." 
 
 One of the most distinguished individuals of the Ojib- 
 was, is Shin-^icah-koonce. He is a Chief of much 
 celebrity, — noted for his bravery, activity, and persever- 
 ance. His person is a little above the medium size, and 
 well proportioned. His head well formed ; and, to a 
 phrenological eye, pleasing. His general appearance is 
 highly commanding. 
 
 He fought with the British during the last war. and 
 was engaged at the storming of Mackanaw, and at the 
 battle of Chippeway. It is said that he retains numer- 
 ous scars, and such like mementoes of the war of 1822. 
 
 The Indians who then lived on the English side of 
 Sault St. Marie, have removed to Manetowahning, on the 
 North shore of Lake Huron, where a Mission has been 
 established by the Episcopal Church. There are also 
 Pvoman CathoUcs on the Island. They are by far 
 
190 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 the most nimierous of the Missionaries among the 
 Ojibways. 
 
 The Methodists have estabhshed their Missions at the 
 Nortliwest end of Lake Superior. 
 
 Fort William is one of the fortresses of the Hudson 
 Bay Company. One of the young men who was edu- 
 cated in Cazenovia, is now the principal minister there. 
 His name is Henry Steinhaux, and he is doing a good 
 work in teaching school and acting in the capacity of 
 Missionary to the Indians of that place. 
 
 Norway House is another place in the interior of the 
 country J towards the water of the Red River, where 
 there is a Mission. Peter Jacobs is the most eflicient 
 laborer in that country. He has been for a long time 
 very zealously engaged in teaching his less fortunate 
 brethren the first rudiments of education. 
 
 A very amusing story is told of Peter Jacobs, the in- 
 cidents of which occurred at a camp meeting near Bel- 
 ville, about the year 1828. 
 
 I must mention that, during the previous summer, 
 several hundred had embraced Christianity. Peter atten- 
 ded the meeting following this conversion. The white 
 people also attended the meeting, and so universal was 
 the diffusion of the Good Spirit, that the pale face and 
 the red man knelt together in prayer to that Great Being 
 
TfH: OJIBWAY NATION. 191 
 
 who makes no distinction, but between good and evil. 
 The ground was covered with people in a devotional 
 attitude. Peter knelt ^vith them. His companions 
 were in ecstacies with the presence of Divine favor. — 
 Peter soon learned the fact that the Great Spirit despis- 
 ed not even the trembling prayer of the forest child. 
 
 Springing upon his feet in an instant, he mounted 
 one of the -benches, and waved his hand to the vast 
 concourse of people. He then spoke rapidly, eloquently, 
 and feelingly, as follows : 
 
 '• The Great Spirit has blest Peter the orphan boy. — 
 He no tell lies. He says He love me. That good man 
 say, (pointing to the preacher,) Jesus died for every one. 
 How happy, happy now ! My father, mother, gone ; 
 they drank fire-water, (turning to some of the traders, 
 who were at this moment as attentive as the rest). You 
 did not give the Indian blessed Bible ; you cheated poor 
 Indian for his furs. You kill my people. What will 
 the Great Spirit say when he come ? He will tell you 
 — ' You give poor Indian fire-water : you kept the Bible 
 from poor Indian, long, long time. Yoii big rascal go 
 to Hell.'' That is what he will say to you." 
 
 Peter sat down, while the biggest tradesman trembled 
 in his shoes. 
 
 The meeting was held near the Bay of Quinte, in 
 
11):^ TRADITIONAL HiSTUilV t>F 
 
 Adolphustown. The above incident in Peter's early 
 experience, was related to nie by a gentleman, now liv- 
 ing near the place. 
 
 Lately Peter went to England, and created consider- 
 able interest in behalf of the Northwest Indians, among 
 whom he is now laboring. 
 
 ' The Wesleyan Methodist Missions in the interior, are 
 now altogether supported by the Hudson Bay Company. 
 It has become a well known fact, that, when the Indians 
 are under the influence of Christian Missionaries, the 
 Company have less trouble with individuals in the 
 course of trade. Indians thus instructed, are becoming 
 good farmers and support themselves by labor. 
 
 The Hudson Bay Company discountenance the use 
 of fire-water in all the country they occupy. But re- 
 cently, during the mining operations on the North shore 
 of Lake Superior, liquor has been introduced. 
 
 The Indian population of Canada have ever mani- 
 fested a strong friendly feeling towards the British gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 In former years, the American governors were more 
 kindly disposed to us than they have been of late, yet 
 the name of " Children" is applied to us. The govern- 
 ment and its agents style us, "My Children." The 
 Indians are of age — and believe they can think and act 
 
THK OJinWAY NATIOX. 193 
 
 for themselves. The term. " My Children," comes with 
 an ill grace from those who seem bent on driving them 
 from their fathers' house. 
 
 As y^'t, the Ojibway Nation in Canada West, 
 hav) not to my knowledge received any encouragement 
 pecuniarily from the government for education. What 
 they have attained has been received by their own ef- 
 forts. I remember several years ago of being sent to 
 the then Governor of the Province, in Montreal, for aid 
 in oar school. All that we received was a nod — which 
 our gracious father deigned to give. 
 
 It is more provoking now with its, since we have 
 suffered in name from the acts of the last war, with the 
 British and the Americans. Our fathers fought for the 
 British during these struggles. Now, since these are 
 passed we have been left to ourselves, — and until the 
 government require our services, shall remain uncared 
 for. Your British subjects may say, ' Do we not give 
 you blankets, and clothe you and your children V But 
 what amount of land has not our people given to the 
 government since they became so poor ? 
 
 And if the benevolent of the United States had not 
 given us education, many of us would have been still 
 wandering in the woods of Canada without the means 
 of religious education. We don't want merely blankets 
 
I'Ji TllADITlONAL IlIrfTORV OF 
 
 to cover tlie body, — we want Light ! We want Edu- 
 cation ! 
 
 For several years I have been denied receiving any 
 presents from the British government, — consisting of a 
 blanket, a shirt, and leggins — because I had been too 
 much ivith the Americans^ the enemies of the British 
 government. I would rather never see a blanket again. 
 Think how small for a man to be bought with a 
 blanket ! 
 
 The whole of the Indian population of Canada West 
 is improving rapidly. The bands are miiting, and will 
 not in future be so isolated as formerly. 
 
 The writer in 1844 and 1845, endeavored to convince 
 his brethren of many advantages they would derive 
 by being in large commmiities. Through his influence 
 the Chiefs of Owen's Sound, and Sahageeng, made their 
 oifer to the scattered bands of Indians throughout the 
 Western country. 
 
 At the General Council, to which allusion was made 
 in a previous chapter, it was suggested that a meethig 
 of the smaU villages be made at the following places — 
 Rijce Lake, in New Castle District; in Muncytown, 
 liOndon District ; and in Owen's Sound Bay^ in the 
 Elastern part of Lake Huron. 
 
 This meeting the Indians have already commenced. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 195 
 
 S«yeial villages have been abandoned, and their tenants 
 departed to the places above specified. 
 
 In the winter seasons sleigh rides are popular, and 
 visits to neighboring tribes, in large bodies, are quite 
 frequent. 
 
 Christmas and New Year's dinners are, with the Ojib- 
 ways, occasions of much merriment. 
 
 The village of Alnvvich is one side of the Lake, and 
 that of Rice Lake opposite. The distance between 
 them is about seven miles. Chief John Sandy orders 
 his warriors to give a dinner to the other tribe on Christ- 
 mas — and they in return give a dinner to Sandy's tribe 
 on New Year's day. 
 
 In 1848, I was present, at my father's village, Rice 
 Lake, when one of these dinners took place. In point 
 of order, social mirth, and real enjoyment, it was equal 
 to any aldermanic festivity among the whites. 
 
 M 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE EARLY DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST — THE 
 FIRST TRADERS AND ADVENTURERS. 
 
 The early discovery of the Northwest has been a 
 subject of considerable interest — and as there is nnich 
 valuable information in the following, which we take 
 from one of the Minesota Territory papers, prepared by 
 the ^ev. Edward D. Neill, the research which is here 
 found will be apparent. If the missionary field was 
 blessed with more such men, it would augment its in- 
 terests in the mind of the literary world. It is to be 
 hoped that he will continue to give such information 
 from time to time for the general good. 
 
 " The journals of the first missionaries to the Hurons 
 were perused with like enthusiasm by the kings, queens, 
 statesmen, merchants, artizans, and peasants of Papal 
 Europe. The lovers of romance wept freely over the 
 suircrinirs of ihc prir.sls, and the reix)rted conversion of 
 
THE OJIBWAV NATIUN. 197 
 
 SO many to the faith. The enterprizing merchant 
 encouraged the missions that were opening so many 
 new avenues of trade. 
 
 Before proceeding to a sketch of the explorers and 
 explorations in Minesota during the seventeenth century, 
 let us rapidly glance at the progress of discovery in the 
 countries adjacent. As early as 1634. the Indians had 
 learned to bring their furs to Quebec, and received 
 European manufactures in exchange. In September of 
 that year, two priests, Breboeuf and Daniel, determined 
 to accompany a party of Hurons to their forest home, 
 and teach them the doctrines of the Christian religion. 
 They were the first Europeans that erected a house in 
 the neighborhood of Lake Huron. 
 
 Seven years after, a bark canoe, containing pries*:* of 
 the same order, passed through the river Ottawa, and 
 coasted along the shores of Lake Huron, to visit, by in 
 vitation, the Ojibways, at the outlet of Lake Superior. 
 After a voyage of seventeen days, they arrived at the 
 Falls of St. Mary, where they found assembled two 
 thousand of that tribe, who now dwell in the North- 
 eastern portion of our Teri'itory. 
 
 While here, they obtained much information, calcula- 
 ted to inflame the zeal of the Society of Jesus, and their 
 patrons in pjurope. Here, tor the first time, civilized 
 
198 TRADITIONAL HISTORY Ol? 
 
 man learned tliat the Nation of Dakotas, amid whose 
 lodges we reside, was in existence. The Ojibways in- 
 formed the missionaries that the Dakotas lived eighteen 
 days' journey farther to the West. 
 
 Thus, says Brancroft, in his eloquent chapter on 
 Jesuit Missions, ^ did the religious zeal of the French, 
 bear the cross to the banks of the St. Mary, and the 
 confines of Lake Superior, and look wistfully toward 
 the home of the Sioux in the Valley of the Mississippi, 
 five years before the apostle Eliot had addressed the 
 tribe of Indians that dwelt within six miles of Boston 
 Harbor.' 
 
 Either accompanying the missionary, devoted to a 
 hfe of poverty, or in his immediate rear, followed the 
 trader, devoted to a life of gain ; so that a chapel was 
 hardly surmounted with a cross, before a trading house 
 stood by its side. In the year 1654, two adventurous 
 young men, connected with the fur trade, followed a 
 party of Indians in their hunting excursions for two 
 years, and were probably the first white men that ever 
 penetrated the Dakota country. 
 
 Upon their return to Quebec, they gave such glowing 
 accounts of the lands they had seen, tlie lakes they had 
 crossed, the Nations they had become acquainted with, 
 among whuin were the Sioux or Dakotas, that both 
 
THK OJinWAV NATION. 1^19 
 
 trader and ecclesiastic burned with desire to go np and 
 possess the land. Even tiie Bishop of Quebec was 
 ready to be the pioneer in planting the symbol of his 
 faith among the newly discovered tribes. But it was 
 at length decided that the aged Mesnard, who had ob- 
 tained dearly purchased experience among the Indians 
 of Western New- York, should carry the religion of 
 Rome to the shoifes of Lake Superior. AYith an ardor 
 that every one must admire, he loitered not after his 
 appointment, but leaving the pleasant society of his 
 associates, he pushed onward to his field of labor, to use 
 his own language, trusting ' in the Providence which 
 feeds the little birds of the desert, and clothes the wild 
 flowers of the forest,' and expecting tliat his friends 
 would shortly add him ' to the memento of deaths.' 
 
 Hoping against hope, he reached the shores of Supe- 
 rior in safety. After residing on the Southern shore of 
 the Lake about eight months, he started on a journey 
 for the Bay of Che-goi-me-gon. But one person accom- 
 panied him, and while his companion was making, as 
 it is supposed, what is called the Keweena Portage, 
 Mesnard was lost in the forest. Whether he died from 
 starvation, exposure, or the tomahaAvk, has never been 
 discovered. There is a tradition that his cassock and 
 pra^^er book were kept as amulets for many years by 
 
200 TRADITIONAL HI.-3T0RY OP 
 
 the Dakotas. The melancholy disappearance of this 
 aged soldier of the church, did not deter Claude AUouez, 
 also a Jesuit, from visiting the shores of Lake Superior, 
 in the year 1665. 
 
 At that early date, there were rumors that there was 
 a large mass of copper on the Southern shore, but his 
 search for it was unavailing. Pushing beyond Ontan- 
 agon, the adventurous man did not stop until he reach- 
 ed the Island of La Pointe, the ancient residence of the 
 Ojibways, who were then as often times now, planning 
 a war party against their enemies, the Dakotas. He 
 then must be regarded as the first white man of whom 
 we have authentic account, who first trod the soil on 
 the confines of Minesota. According to the Ojibway 
 tradition, the first white men at La Pointe were traders, 
 who had been confined by the ice, and were found in a 
 starving condition, eating their cloth and blankets. Yet, 
 that priests were here at a very early period, is very 
 certain from the fact that a small silver crucifix of 
 antique workmanship, has been lately ploughed up in 
 that vicinity. At that period the territory of the Dakotas 
 extended quite to the shores of Superior ; and AUouez 
 in his intercourse with them, was the first to learn ot 
 the existence of a great river which he calls the 'Messipi.' 
 
 I)uiii)ir his two years residence in the Northwest, he 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 201 
 
 founded the Mission of the Holy Spirit, and passed his 
 time in teaching the Ojibways the ' Pater Noster' and 
 'Ave Maria ;' in endeavoring to awaken their shunber- 
 ing consciences by pictures of hell and the judgment 
 day, and in obtaining information from the Sioux or 
 Dakota Nation. 
 
 His labors were so successful, that he returned to 
 Ctuebec to solicit assistants, but his heart remained with 
 the Ojibways, and in two days he was on his return 
 route, accompanied by a fellow-laborer, named Nicolas. 
 
 In 1668 he was cheered by the arrival of two others, 
 named Dablon and Marquette, the latter of whom was 
 destined to become known by posterity. 
 
 Marquette, during his missionary tours in the vicinity 
 of Lake Superior, had heard so much of the ' great river 
 Messipi,' that he determined to take the first favorable 
 opportunity to discover it. 
 
 On the 10th of July, 1673, in company with a French 
 Envoy, and five others, they left the Mission at Green 
 Bay, ascended the Fox River, made a portage, and de- 
 scended the Wisconsin. After paddling the birch canoes 
 for seven days, without meeting man or beast, they 
 reached its mouth and floated on the bosom of the 
 * Father of Waters.' Fearing nothing, excited by the 
 very danger of the adventure. 
 
202 TKADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 ' Day after day (hey glicU-d adown the turbulent river; 
 
 Night after night, by their blazing fires, encamped on iis borders. 
 
 Now through rushing chutes, among green islands where plume-like 
 
 Cotton-trees nodded their shadowy crests, they swept with the currentj 
 
 Then emerged into broad lagoons, where silvery sand-bars 
 
 Lay in the stream, and along the rippling waves of their margin, 
 
 Shining with snow white plumes, large flocks ot pelicans waded. 
 
 They were approaching the region where reigns perpetual summer.* 
 
 Nor did they cease descending, until they left the 
 Wisconsin eleven hundred miles above them. -Return- 
 ing by the way of the Illinois river to Chicago, they 
 proceeded by Lake Michigan to Green Bay, where they 
 arrived about the last of September. This voyage ex- 
 cited much conversation and speculation, in old as well 
 as new France. 
 
 At this time there dwelt in Canada, a native of Rouen, 
 named La Salle, who not only possessed an adventu- 
 rous disposition, but was also a man of foresight, deter- 
 mination, and finished education. While a student at 
 a Jesuit College in France, he was distinguished for his 
 proficiency in mathematics. 
 
 At the time of Marquette's return from the Mississ- 
 ippi, he was living at his trading post at the junction of 
 the St. Lawrence with Lake Ontario, where the town 
 Df Kingston stands. Around Fort Frontenac, foi that 
 was the name of the post, there were gathered a few 
 French families and priests. 
 
THE OJIRW.IY NATION. 2U3 
 
 The more La Salle dwelt upon the discovery of Mar- 
 quette and Joliet, the greater his eagerness to complete 
 what had been commenced, and to discover what he 
 believed to exist, a short route to China and Japan from 
 the head waters of the Mississippi. To obtain the 
 patronage of Louis XIV., he sailed for France, and in 
 the year 1678 received permission to make discoveries 
 in the Western part of New France, to build forts 
 wherever they were necessary, and the exclusive right 
 to the trade in Buffalo skins, which were just beginning 
 to be known and valued in Europe. 
 
 Among the priests at Frontenac, was a native of 
 Flanders, a Franciscan of the meditative order, styled 
 Recollect. From early life, he evinced a roving dispo- 
 sition, and the stories of the sailors who used to enter 
 the harbors of Calais and Dunkirk, where he had re- 
 sided, are said to have created a strong desire in him 
 to see the new world. 
 
 His name was Louis Hennepin ; vain, boasting, and 
 ambitious, he suffers by comparison with the meek, un- 
 ■)stentatious, and comparatively truthful Marquette. — 
 While La Salle was absent, the Franciscan passed his 
 time in missionary tours among the Iroquois, and is 
 said to have visited the present capital of the State of 
 New-York. W^hen La Salle returned from France, he 
 
201 1 RVniTIOXAL HIo'TORV OK 
 
 despatched a small vessel to Niagara river, laden with 
 materials for building a ship suitable for navigating the 
 Lakes. Among the passengers was Hennepin, who 
 with eight others landed and travelled some thirty 
 leagues through the woods, to hold a council wilh the 
 Senecas, whose good will they obtained. 
 
 On the 20th of January, 1679, La Salle joined the 
 party, encamped on the shores of the Niagara river, and 
 strained every nerve in making preparations for a great 
 Western voyage. In a week, a dock yard was not only 
 selected, but the keel of a ship laid. The builders plied 
 the adze and the hammers vigorously, though in fear 
 that the Lidians would apply the torch to their work 
 and the tomahawk to their scalps. When they began 
 to min-mur. Father Hennepin began to exhort, and as 
 he says, 'allay their fears.' 
 
 In six months, the vessel was ready for lattnching. 
 It was named the Griffin, in compliment to Count Fron- 
 tenac, the Governor of Canada, whose armorial bearings 
 were adorned by two griffins. It was defended by a 
 few guns, and ornamented by an eagle and a griffin on 
 its prow. 
 
 By means of ropes, the vessel was towed from tlie 
 Niagara River to Lake Erie, much to the astonishment 
 of the natives. On the 7th of August, 1679, La Salle, 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATIOX. 2ijJ 
 
 Hennepin, and some thirty others, entered the ship and 
 spread their sails to the breeze. The waters of Lake 
 Erie bore the vessel most gallantly, and in three days 
 they were within the vicinity of the spot, where now 
 stands the city of Detroit. Passing through the Lake, 
 which they named St. Clair, in honor of one of the 
 saints of the Church of Rome, they entered Lake Huron. 
 Here they encountered one of those terrible storms, which 
 even the experienced sailor of modern days dreads. All 
 but the pilot, who according to Hennepin, was destitute 
 of religious feeling, began to pray to the Patron Saint, 
 Anthony of Padua. But not a hair of their heads was 
 injured ; the waves at last fell to sleep, and upon the 
 27th of the month they safely moored in one of the har- 
 bors of Mackinaw Island. 
 
 Here Hennepin, and the other ecclesiastics, celebrated 
 mass, and La Salle, wrapped in a scarlet cloak edged 
 with gold, visited the assembled Indians. This being 
 a desirable point for trade with the tribes, a fort was 
 built. Leaving Mackinaw, they entered Lake Michigan, 
 and anchored at an island at the mouth of Green Bay. 
 In two weeks time the Griffin was freighted with furs 
 to the amount of twelve thousand dollars, and sent back 
 to Niagara, which point she never reached, and as it 
 was supposed, was wrecked in another storm. 
 
200 TRADITIONAL IIISTOJIY OF 
 
 Leaving Green Bay in four birch canoes. La Salle 
 and his followers coasted along the Eastern boundary 
 of Wisconsin, and at last pitched their tents in the neigh- 
 borhood of Milwaukie river. Fatigued and without a 
 supply of food, they were much disheartened ; but the 
 Indians in the vicinity proved friendly, and administered 
 to their wants. 
 
 After being exposed to many perils by land and by 
 water, they landed on the first of November at the 
 mouth of the river St. Joseph in Michigan. Late in 
 the season they started from thence for the Illinois river ; 
 but before they reached that stream, provisions again 
 grew scarce. In their extremity. Providence assisted ; 
 for, says Hennepin, a stray Buffalo was found sticking 
 fast in a marsh, which served for food. After a journey 
 of three hundred miles, they at last reached the Illinois, 
 and descended to an Indian village situated near the 
 present town of Ottawa, Winter being at hand, the 
 inhabitants were on their annual hunt; but the travel- 
 lers, pressed with hunger, could not refrain from help- 
 ing themselves to some of the corn. 
 
 They continued to proceed down the river. Until the 
 first of January, 1080, when they halted, and had a 
 new year's celebration, consisting of religious services 
 by Hennepin nnd other priests. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 2t7 
 
 The ceremonies being over, they entered Lake Peoria, 
 at the lower end of which they discovered an encamp- 
 ment of Indians. After the red men had recoveied 
 from their astonishment, they invited the strangers to 
 their cabins, and passed the day in feasting. 
 
 La Salle told them that he had come to impart a 
 knowledge of the true God, and to supply them with 
 fire arms, in the place of the awkward weapons they 
 had been accustomed to use. The night after he made 
 this speech, a Chief of a tribe residing on Fox River, 
 stole into the camp, and calling the Chiefs together, told 
 them that he had been informed that the Frenchmen 
 were allied with their old enemies, the Iroquois. This 
 false intelligence communicated to the Indians by La 
 Salle's enemies, produced much consternation. The 
 next morning, in the place of cordiality, the travellers 
 found only coldness and suspicion. The commander 
 inquired the cause of the sudden change, and he was 
 then told the whole tale. A man of uncommon tact 
 and address, he soon regained their confidence. He 
 now began to inquire about the Mississippi, and spoke 
 of his plan of building a boat, after the white man's 
 fashion, to sail upon that stream. The principal men 
 of tlie camp did not fully approve of his plan, and they 
 attempted to dissuade him. by saying, ' that the banks 
 
2Clb TJ-lADl riO.\Al> HiyTURV OF 
 
 of the Mississippi were inhabited by a gigantic race of 
 men, who killed all travellers ; that it was filled with 
 crocodiles, serpents and monsters, as well as falls and 
 rapids, and that there was a dreadful whirlpool at its 
 mouth.' 
 
 The discernment ol I^a Salle convinced him that this 
 was what we vulgarly term a ' hoax,' and he arose and 
 told the spokesman, that his sayings were stamped with 
 improbability. These stories, however, caused six of 
 the company to desert and others to complain. 
 
 As it was now too cold to travel with comfort, the 
 erection of a fort was commenced not far distant from 
 the town of Peoria 
 
 Here, in the interior of the North American Continent, 
 two years before the Quaker Penn purchased of the In- 
 dians the spot where the city of Philadelphia now 
 stands, might be heard the sound of the saw, the blow- 
 ing of the forge, the stroke of the sledge, and the ring 
 of the anvil. In less than six weeks, and in the midst 
 of winter, this exploring band had erected a log fort, 
 which they named Crevecoeur, and the hull of a vessel 
 42 feet long and 12 broad, which was to have been em- 
 ployed in navigating the Mississippi. The necessary 
 cordage and rigging being absent, the ship could not be 
 completed. i^ 
 
THE O; in WAY NATION. 209 
 
 But La Salle was still intent upon discovering a short 
 route to the ' wealth of Onnus and of Ind,' and therefore 
 ordered Father HenHepin to proceed on a voyage to the 
 sources of the Mississippi. 
 
 This was not unwelcome intelligence to the forward 
 Franciscan ; and on the last day of February, 1680, 
 with one canoe laden with goods, and two companies, 
 Picard du Gay and Michel Ako, he began his long and 
 dangerous journey. 
 
 In seven days he had reached the mouth of the Illi- 
 nois ; but on account of the floating ice, he had to wait 
 some time before he could ascend the ' Meschasipi,' as 
 he termed the river upon the banks of which we dwell. 
 By the 11th of April, he had paddled as far as the Wis- 
 consin river; in the vicinity of which he met a flotilla 
 of canoes, filled with Issati or Dakota Indians, called 
 Issati or Issanti, as it is supposed, after their ancient 
 residence at Mille Lac. With them he passed through 
 the Lac des Pleurs, shortly after called Pepin, which 
 name it stfll retains, which he thus describes. 'About 
 thirty leagues above Black River, we found the Lake of 
 Tears, which we named so, because the savages who 
 took us, as it will be hereafter related, consulted in this 
 place what they should do with their prisoners, and 
 those Avho were for murdering cried all night upon n^, 
 
210 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 10 oblige by their tears, their companions to consent to 
 ^our death. This lake is formed by the " Meschasipi," 
 and may be seven leagues long and five broad.' 
 
 As the Dakotas were generally very kind in the treat- 
 ment of their white captives, very little credence can be 
 given to the tale of the Father's captivity. 
 
 After nineteen days' travel with the Indians, he dis- 
 covered a cataract, which he says ' indeed of itself is 
 teiTible, and hath something very astonishing.' He re- 
 ported the falls to be sixty feet in height, which is quite 
 moderate for the man who published those at Niagara 
 to be six hundred feet. Near the cataract was a bear- 
 skin upon a pole, a sort of oblation to the spirit in the 
 waters. 
 
 After carving the cross and the arms of France on a 
 tree, and calling them after the Patron Saint of the ex- 
 pedition, the eloquent divine, Anthony of Padua, he 
 abandoned his canoe and journeyed by land to the resi- 
 dence of the Indians, on a stream, which, in honor of 
 the founder of his order, he called Si. Francis.* Their 
 manner of welcoming a stranger at that time, seems to 
 have been very peculiar. Says Hennepin, ' at the entry 
 of the Chief's cabin, who had adopted me, one of the 
 barbarians, who seemed to be very old, presented me 
 
 * No\i called Elk River. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 211 
 
 with a pipe to smoke, and weeping over me all the 
 while with abundance of tears, rubbed both my hands 
 and my head. This was to show how concerned he 
 was to see me so harrassed and fatigued. And indeed 
 I had often need enough of two men to support me, 
 when I was up, or raise m.3 when I was down. There 
 was a bear's skin before the fire, upon wliich the young- 
 est boy of the cabin caused me to lie down, and then 
 with the grease of wild-cats, anointed my thighs, legs, 
 and soles of my feet.' 
 
 The first of white men then, who looked upon the 
 Falls of St. Anthony, was not a Jesuit, as Steinmetz, 
 misled by Kip's eloquent preface to the ' early Jesuit 
 Missions in North America,' asserts ; but a Franciscan 
 of the Recollect branch. 
 
 While Hennepin was dwelling upon the banks of the 
 St. Francis, he was agreeably surprised by the arrival 
 of a party of French traders from Lake Superior, under 
 the direction of a Sieur de Luth, and probably among 
 the first who had ever penetrated so far into the interior 
 of the Dakota country. About the last of September, 
 1680, the whites left the Indian village, and descending 
 the Mississippi as far as the Wisconsin, they proceeded 
 by way of that stream, and Green Bay, to Quebec. — 
 Hennepin did not tarry long in that city, but went to 
 
212 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 France, and in 1683, published a book of travels under 
 the title of ' A Description of Louisiana,' as all of the 
 Valley of the Mississippi was then called. 
 
 Had the restless Franciscan remained contented with 
 the reputation acquired by the discovery of the Falls of 
 St. Anthony, posterity would have viewed his exagger- 
 ations and misstatements with a kindly eye, and re- 
 membered his name with pleasure. 
 
 But in an evil hour, he was tempted to claim the 
 honor of not only discovering the source, but the mouth 
 of the Mississippi ; and to sustain the claim, he contra- 
 dicted what he had previously asserted, and committed 
 one of the meanest plagiarisms on record. After the 
 renowned La Salle had met an untimely end, by the 
 liand of a conspirator, La Clercq published the letters 
 of Fathers Zenobe and Anastase, giving a description 
 of the scenery and productions of the lower Mississippi. 
 Hennepin, with the aid of these missionary letters, and 
 a fertile imagination, prepared a book entitled ' New 
 Discovery of a vast Country situated in America, be- 
 tween New Mexico and the Frozen Ocean.' In this he 
 is daring enough to state, that he paddled a canoe witk 
 the aid of two men, from the Illinois to the Gulf o. 
 Mexico, and back, more than two thousand five him- 
 dred miles, in forty-nin« days. 
 
TllK OJICWAV NATION. 213 
 
 Anticipating the query from some inquisitive French- 
 man, ' why did you not say something about the dis- 
 covery of the mouth of the Mississippi, in your first 
 work, pubhshed more than ten years since V he frames 
 a most awkward and insufficient apology. After stating 
 that La Salle was envious and jealous of him, he re- 
 marks that he was also unfriendly, because during his 
 first voyage to France, when a gay company of young 
 women commenced dancing upon the deck of the ship, 
 he had reprimanded them for their gaiety ; La Salle, 
 who was a fellow passenger, interposed and said there 
 was no harm in dancing, and that the Franciscan had 
 overstepped the bounds of his authority. Warm words 
 ensued, and we are called upon to believe that by this 
 frivolous incident, a root of bitterness was planted in 
 his bosom which was never eradicated. 
 
 None of his excuses sustained Hennepin's reputation ; 
 and shortly after we find him, in his old age, leaving 
 France. Crossing the Channel, he published in Lon- 
 don another edition of his real and fictitious discoveries 
 in the Valley of the Mississippi, and staunch Romanist 
 as he professed to be, entered into the pay of England's 
 Protestant King, William IIL, who was anxious to be 
 the rival of France in colonizing the banks of the Mis- 
 sissippi, and willing ' to leap over twenty stumbling 
 blocks rather than not effect it.' 
 
211 TRADITIONAL BI^^TORY OK 
 
 As a town in the State of Illinois, has already taken 
 the name of Hennepin, wliich would have been so ap- 
 propriate for our neighboring and beautiful village of 
 St. Anthony, we take leave of the discoverer of those 
 picturesque Falls, which will always render that town 
 equally attractive to the eye of the poet and capitalist, 
 by suggesting, that the island which divides the 'laugh- 
 ing waters,'* be called Hennepin, who though, as Ban- 
 croft says, ' a boastful liar,' was nevertheless a ' daring 
 discover.' 
 
 Eight years after Hennepin announced the discovery 
 of the Falls of St. Anthony to his friends in Canada, 
 another exploration of the Yalley of the Upper Missis- 
 sippi was undertaken by Baron Lahontan. About the 
 last of September, 1688, with a large party of French 
 and Indians, he departed with his heavily laden canoes 
 from the fort at Mackinaw, and proceeded by the usual 
 and natural route by Green Bay, Fox and Wisconsin 
 Rivers, to the Mississippi, upon whose waters he floated 
 on the 23d of October. Ascending this stream, he says 
 tjhat on the 3d of November, he entered into a river that 
 was almost without a current, and at its mouth filled 
 with rushes. He remarks moreover, that he ascended 
 
 • The Dakota Indians call the Falls of St. Anthony, " Rara," from 
 Lrara. to lau?h. 
 
'inr. O.TIHWAY XATKtX. 2] 't 
 
 it for more than live hundred miles. Upon its banks 
 dvveU three Nations : the Eokoros, Essannapes, and the 
 Gnacsitares. On account of its great length, having 
 been employed sixty days in its ascent, he named it 
 Riviere Longue. As there is no stream in existence 
 that answers to the description, many have been inclined 
 to look upon the account of Baron Lahontan, in the 
 same light as they view the stories of Baron Munchau- 
 sen. Others, more credulous, have credited him with 
 the discovery of the Minesota or Saint Pierre River. — 
 Nicollet supposes that the Riviere Longue of Lahontan 
 was Cannon River, which enters the Mississippi near 
 the head of Lake Pepin, and that this stream was then 
 an outlet of the Minesota. A reference to the map, 
 shows that there is but a short distance between the 
 sources of Cannon River, and the Le Sueur and other 
 tributaries of the Mankato or Blue Earth Rivers. 
 
 Bradford in his ' Notes on the North West,' agrees 
 with Nicollet. He remarks — ' there is very clear evi- 
 dence, from geological indications, that the whole Upper 
 Mississippi was atone time submerged ; and it is highly 
 probable, that in the gradual subsidence of the waters 
 which may not have taken place in 1690 or 1700, to 
 the extent it has now attained, a great lake may have 
 covered all that area. 
 
816 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 The supposition that he passed through Cannon Rivei 
 IS not improbable. The sources of Cannon River are 
 within four or five miles of an Eastern branch of Blue 
 Earth River, and the intervening ground is a perfect 
 level. The communication may at the time of the voy- 
 age have been complete, or been made so by a freshet, 
 and he would thus have passed through the Blue Earth 
 into St. Peter's River.* 
 
 Keating supposed that the Hoka or Root River, was 
 the one referred to by Lahontan, and remarks, ' it is 
 impossible to read the Baron Lahontan's account of 
 this river, without being convinced that the greater part^ 
 if not the whole of it, is a deception.' When doctors 
 disagree, it would be vain for us to attempt to decide. 
 
 * 'Having procured a copy of Lahontan's book, in which there is a 
 roughly made map of his Long River, I was struck with the resem- 
 blance of its course as laid down, with that of Cannon River, which 
 I had previously sketched in my own field book. I soon convinced 
 myself that the principal statements of the Baron in reference to the 
 country, and the few details he gives of the physical character of the 
 river, coincide remarkably with what I had laid down, as belonging 
 to Cannon River.' 
 
 Thus the lakes and swamps corresponded : traces of Indian villages 
 mentioned by him might be found in the growth of a wild grass that 
 propagates itself around all old Indian settlements. His account of 
 the mouth of the river is particularly accurate. ' We entered the 
 mouth of this Long River, which is a sort of large lake filled with 
 cane brakes, in the midbt of which we discovered a narrow channel, 
 which we followed up.'— (Nicolett's Report. 
 
TIIF, OJIBWAY NATION. 217 
 
 Lahontan having navigated the streams in this region, 
 (perhaps the St. Peter's River.) descended the Mississippi 
 as far as the junction of the Ohio. 
 
 Upon his return, he stopped at Fort Crevecoeur, on the 
 lUinois, the post from which Hennepin had departed in 
 1680, on his exploring tour to the sources of the Missis- 
 sippi. 
 
 Though La Salle had been cruelly murdered by a 
 member of his exploring party, his friend, Count Fronte- 
 nac, the Governor of Canada, continued to prosecute with 
 vigor, discoveries, and the estabhshment of commercip.! 
 relations with the Indian tribes in the Mississippi valley. 
 
 In 1695. he deputed a Monsieur Le Sueur, to build a 
 fort on an island in the Mississippi, in order that peace- 
 ful relations might be maintained with the Ojibways and 
 Dakotas. Returning to Montreal, a Chief from each of 
 these then, as now warlike tribes, accompanied him. 
 While in that city, the Dakota Chief, the first that had 
 ever been there, with much ceremony, presented to the 
 Governor as many arrows as his Nation had villages, and 
 entreated that his tribe might enjoy the same privileges 
 of trade as other Indian Nations. 
 
 Le Sueur brought back the news, that there were 
 mines of lead and copper in the Sioux country, and has- 
 tened to France to lay the information before Louis XIV. 
 
218 'I'RADirioxAr, history of 
 
 Entirely successful in his application for a grant to 
 work the mines, he left Europe in 1697 ; but just as he* 
 came in sight of Newfoimdlandj the ship in which he 
 was sailing, was captured by the British, and the pas- 
 sengers carried as captives to Portsmouth. The next 
 year he was released, and returned to Paris. Receiving 
 a fresh patent, he started anew to explore the mines, 
 believed to be not many miles distant from the spot on 
 which we dwell. After he arrived in Canada, it was 
 impossible for him to execute his plans, and he returned 
 a third time to the mother country. 
 
 The commencement of the year 1699, found a distin- 
 guished Canadian in the naval service of the French 
 Government. His name was Iberville, and with several 
 ships and a company of colonists, he went forth to estab- 
 lish a settlement on the Mississippi. They built a fort 
 eighty miles Northeast of New Orleans, and here in 
 1700 we find Le Sueur, who appears to have possessed 
 indomitable perseverance. 
 
 By the order of Iberville, Le Sueur, with a company 
 of ninety men, proceeded to explore the mines in the 
 Dakota country, of which he had given an account five 
 years before. On the first of September, 1700, he had 
 reached the mouth of the Wisconsin. Fourteen days 
 Efter this, he was at the entrance of the Chippewa, on a 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 219 
 
 branch of which he had said he had discovered a himp 
 of copper weighing sixty pounds. Passing through Lac 
 des Pleurs, which at that early date had begun to be 
 called Lake Pepin, he reached, on the 16th of Septem- 
 ber, the mouth of a river, where a Monsieur St. Croix 
 was drowned, and in memory of whom, it received the 
 name it now bears. Three days after this, he entered 
 the Minesota or St. Peter's River, which was not men- 
 tioned by Hennepin, the sight of it as he ascended the 
 stream, being obscured perhaps by the island which is 
 at its mouth. 
 
 Carver informs us that when he visited this country 
 in 1766, there were on the Eastern side of Lake Pepin, 
 the ruins of a trading post, that had been in early days 
 under the superintendence of a captain St. Pierre, and 
 after him, probably, did Le Sueur call the Minesota 
 River.* 
 
 On the first of October, Le Sueur had ascended the 
 Minesota to the mouth of the Mankato or Blue Earth 
 River, about one hundred and fifty miles above Fort 
 Snelling. He there erected a trading post or fort, which 
 did not give satisfaction to the Kapoja and other bands 
 
 * Since the above was written, we find the following statement in 
 Nicolett's Report :— ' As for my part, I have no hesitation in assign- 
 ing its origin to a Canadian, by the name of St. Pierre.' 
 
220 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 of Dakotas in our vicinity. They claimed that the fort 
 should have been on their lands, at the confluence of 
 the Minesota and Mississippi, where Mendota. the post 
 of the Fur Company, is now situated ; because they 
 were the first with whom the French had traded and 
 furnished with fire arms. The fort was called L'Huillier, 
 after a scientific Parisian, and is said to be marked upon 
 a map published at Amsterdam in 1720. 
 
 Having completed the necessary buildings, on the 
 26th of October, with three canoes, he proceeded to the 
 locality where the Blue Earth was found. After pass- 
 ing the winter in digging, he returned with several 
 thousand pounds of this bluish green earth, to the mouth 
 of the Mississippi, from whence four thousand pounds 
 were transported to France, where it appears to have 
 been of the same value as the sand of the Yirginia colo- 
 nists in England, a century previous. 
 
 In the vicinity of the Blue Earth, were said to be 
 mines of copper ; but geologists and others, who have 
 lately explored the country, while they describe the 
 blue pigment used by the Indians, say not a word about 
 any metalic deposits on the Blue Earth River or its 
 tributaries. 
 
 With Le Sueur, the French explorations in Minesota 
 appear to have ceased. It is stated that the white resi- 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 221 
 
 dents were obliged to leave the country in 1720, on ac- 
 count of the hostiUty of the Dakotas. Though this may 
 have contributed to their departure, yet no doubt many 
 traders were impoverished by the bursting of the cele- 
 brated Mississippi Company, projected by the infamous 
 swindler, John Law. The professed object of this asso- 
 ciation was the aggrandizement and cultivation of the 
 colonies of France in North America ; and the French 
 Government enhanced its delusive credit, by assigning 
 to it the whole Territory of Louisiana, of which this 
 country was a district." 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 FURTHER NOTICES OF THE NOTHWEST. 
 
 "The first British traveller to the Falls of St. Anthony, 
 iji the introduction to his book of travels, expresses the 
 opinion, • that at some future period,' the then unculti- 
 vated wilderness would become the abode of a civilized 
 people, and ' that stately palaces, and solemn temples 
 with gilded spires reaching to the skies,' would -supplant 
 the Indian huts, whose only decorations are the barba- 
 rous trophies of their vanquished enemies,' and hopes 
 that he may be gratefully remembered by the future 
 inhabitants, as one of those who first visited and des- 
 cribed the country now called Minesota. In the place 
 of the skin-lodge of the Dakota, and the oblations to the 
 Spirit supposed to dwell in the roaring waters, we wit- 
 ness this evening, (assembled in a hall dedicated to the 
 purposes of education and unsectajian religion,) an audi- 
 ence, descendants of the old, blue-eyed, energetic Saxon, 
 
THE OJIBWAY NA'J'ION. 223 
 
 clad in robes which their Atlantic forefathers would 
 have esteemed princely, and dwellers in comfortable 
 houses, situated upon beautiful eminences which the 
 Architect of the Universe has been ' smoothing down' 
 for centuries, and preparing for the abode of a Christian 
 people. 
 
 As it is the chief design of your association to impart 
 useful information, it is proposed as an introductory 
 lecture, to give a review of the principal French, British 
 and American travels to the Falls of St. Anthony. 
 
 After noticing the tour of Father Hennepin, Mr. N. 
 remarked that the next visiter to the Falls, of whom we 
 have any account, is Jonathan Carver, a captain of a 
 company of Provincial troops during the war between 
 Great Britain an^ France. After the conquest of Can- 
 ada, and the peace of 1783, he passed some time in an 
 exploring tour through the Northwest ; filled with the 
 same idea that pervaded the minds of Hennepin and 
 La Salle, the discovery of a short passage to the Pacific 
 Ocean. He was convinced, and the late settlement of 
 the Pacific coast has shown that he was correct, that 
 the establishment of a colony on the Western coast of 
 America, ' would not only disclose new sources of trade 
 and promote many useful discoveries, but would open a 
 passage for conveying intelligence to China and the 
 
224 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 English settlements in the East Indies with greater 
 expedition than a tedious voyage by the Cape of Good 
 Hope or straits of Magellan will allow of.' 
 
 Leaving the city of Boston in Juiie 1766, he proceed- 
 ed by way of Albany and the Lakes to Mackinaw, 
 which was the Northernmost British post. On the 3d 
 of September, he departed from this fort, and on the 18th 
 arrived at Green Bay, the site of the old French Mission 
 and Fort, where in the latter part of the previous cen- 
 tury, men educated in the schools of France and accus- 
 tomed to the polished society of the Courts of Europe, 
 used to assemble and talk over their discoveries and 
 travels. While in this vicinity, he visited an island in- 
 habited by Ottawas, and though deploring the effect of 
 spirituous liquors upon the savage, njade a present of 
 some to the Chief, with which the tribe made them- 
 selves drunk. 
 
 Leaving Green Bay, he proceeded up the Fox River 
 till he came to a town of the Yv^innebagoes, situated on 
 an island at the eastern end of Lake Winnebago. lie 
 asserts that a female presided over this tribe, and des 
 cribes her as 'a very ancient woman, small in stature 
 and not much distinguished by her dress from several 
 young women that attended her. Her attendants seem- 
 ed greatly pleased whenever I showed any tokens of 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 225 
 
 respect to their Queen, particularly when I sahited lier, 
 which I frequently did to acquire her favor. On these 
 occasions, the good old lady endeavored to assume a 
 juvenile gaiety, and by her smiles showed she was 
 equally pleased with the attention I paid her.' 
 
 Carver, like most travellers of olden times, has many 
 curious conceits, and supposes that the Winnebagoes 
 were originally from Mexico, being driven North by the 
 conquests of the Spaniards. He bases his opinion upon 
 the following data : ' their unalienable attachment to 
 the Sioux, the peculiarity of their dialect, and their in- 
 veterate hatred of the Spaniards.' After making a port- 
 age, he descended the Wisconsin. On the 9th October, 
 he entered a town of the Sauk Indians, where he saw 
 great quantities of lead brought from the mines which 
 are now so extensively worked in Wisconsin. On the 
 15th of October, he reached the Mississippi. Near the 
 mouth of the Wisconsin he found the town of ' Prairie 
 des Chiens, or Dog Plains.' 
 
 This village he thus describes : ' it contains about 
 three hundred families. The houses are well built after 
 the Indian manner. It is the great mart where all the 
 adjacent tribes and even those who inhabit the most re- 
 mote branches of the Mississippi, trade.' 
 
 Having bought a canoe, he proceeded on the lOtli of 
 
:i26 rilAltlTIONAL HISTOIIY OF 
 
 October, iii coinpLuiy with a French Canadian and a 
 Mohawk up the Mississippi. After some difficidty with 
 a band of PiUagers, he arrived, on the first of Novem- 
 ber, at Lake Pepin. On the East bank of this Lake, he 
 observed tlie ruins of a French factory, where it is said 
 (yaptain St. Pierre resided, and carried on a very great 
 trade with the Naudowessies, (Sioux or Dakotas.) — 
 While taking a walk a few miles below Lake Pepin, he 
 found some elevations that had apparently been thrown 
 up for military defence. He says, ' notwithstanding it 
 was now covered with grass, I could plainly discern 
 that it had once been a breast-work of about four feet 
 in height, extending the best part of a mile. I have 
 given as exact an account as possible of this singular 
 appearance, and leave to future explorers of these dis- 
 tant regions to discover whether it is a production of 
 nature or art.' 
 
 Featherstonaugh, a United States geologist, about 
 fifteen years ago, visited the spot, and came to the con- 
 clusion that it was a work of art, thrown up by some 
 unknown Nation. 
 
 Not far distant from the River St. Croix, Carver met 
 a band of Sioux, and while encamped with them, a party 
 of Chi])pewa warriors came to wage war. The Sioux 
 being alarmed, begged the Captain's assistance. He 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 227 
 
 then visited the Chippewas, from whom he received a 
 friendly reception, and succeeded in persuading them 
 to retire. 
 
 About two miles below St. Paul, he saw a remarkable 
 cave, called by the Indians the dwelling of the Great 
 Spirit. The entrance was about ten feet wide and five 
 feet high. About twenty feet from the entrance was a 
 lake, the water of which was transparent. He found in 
 this cave many Indian hieroglyphics, which appeared 
 very ancient, for time had nearly covered them with 
 moss. For many years the mouth of this cave has been 
 filled up with gravel and sand ; but in July, 1837, after 
 much digging, Nicollet succeeded in making an entrance, 
 and saw Indian marks on the wall. 
 
 Not far distant from the cave was an Indian burying 
 place, and this fact will help us to account for some of 
 the mounds on the farm of Mr. Weld. Just below the 
 cave resided the Kaposia, or Little Crow band of Indians, 
 who now live four miles below St. Paul, on tlie West 
 side of the river. 
 
 He also gives an interesting, if not a reliable account, 
 
 of the burial ceremonies that were performed at this 
 
 cave in the vicinity of St. Paul, and the purport of the 
 
 harangues made to the deceased. 
 
 Having abandoned his canoe opposite the mouth of 
 O 
 
'^'4b TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 the St. Peter's River, on account of the ice, he travelled 
 by land to the Falls of St. Anthony,, at which place he 
 arrived on the 17th of November, 1766. In company 
 witli him was his Mohawk servant, and a young Win- 
 nebago Chief. He says he heard the roaring of the 
 waters at a distance of fifteen miles. As soon as the 
 Winnebago reached the point below the village of St. 
 Anthony, which overlooks the Falls, he began to ad- 
 dress the Great Spirit, supposed to reside in yon waters. 
 He told him that he had come a long way to pay his 
 adorations and offerings to him ; after which, he threw 
 his pipe, tobacco-pouch, bracelets, beads, ear-rings, and 
 all that lie esteemed valuable, into the boiling waters. 
 
 Carver states the Falls to be two hundred and fifty 
 yards wide, and the perpendicular fall to be thirty feet. 
 In the middle of the Falls, was an island as at present, 
 and half way between the side on which we stand and 
 the island, there was a rock, lying at the very edge of 
 the Falls, in an oblique position, that appeared to him 
 to be about five or six feet broad, and thirty or forty 
 feet long. 
 
 With the surrounding scenery he was as delighted as 
 the most enthusiastic citizen of St. Anthony could de- 
 sire. His description is as follows: 'The country 
 around them is extremely beautiful. It is not an unin- 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 229 
 
 teiTi.pred plain where the eye finds no rehef, but com- 
 posed of many gentle ascents, which in the summer are 
 covered with the finest verdure, and interspersed with 
 Httle groves that give a pleasing variety to the prospect. 
 On the whole, when the Falls are included, which may 
 be seen at the distance of four miles, a more pleasing and 
 picturesque view cannot, I believe, be found throughout 
 the universe.' 
 
 Accompanying this description, with which none of 
 you will find fault, there is in the London edition of his 
 work a beautiful copperplate engraving of the Falls, — 
 which in beauty, to say the least, is equal to many 
 engravings of the same tkat have been offered to the 
 public within the last ten years. At the time of his 
 visit, the island below the Falls was full of eagles' 
 nests, the rapids rendering them secure from the attacks 
 of man or beast. 
 
 After a careful inspection of the Falls, he continued 
 his journey to the point where his predecessor, Hennepin, 
 stopped, to the River St. Francis. Carver believed that 
 this country^ was destined to be settled ; he even parti- 
 tioned the lands of Wisconsin and Eastern Minesota 
 into subordinate colonies. These he divided by dotted 
 lines and numbered, that future adventurers might 
 readil}^, by referring to the map, choose a commodious 
 
830 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 and advantageous situation. Tract No. I, or Eastern 
 Minesota, is thus described : 
 
 * The country within these hmits, from its situation, 
 is colder than any of the others, yet I am convinced 
 that the air is much more temperate than in those pro- 
 vinces that lie in the same degree of latitude to the east 
 of it. The soil is excellent, and there is a great deal of 
 land that is free from woods in the parts adjoining to 
 the Mississippi, whilst on the contrary, the Northeastern 
 borders are well wooded. Towards the heads of the 
 River St. Croix, rice grows in great plenty, and there is 
 abundance of copper. Though the Falls of St. Anthony 
 are situated at the Southeast corner of this division, yet 
 that impediment will not totally obstruct the navigation. 
 As the River St. Croix, which runs through a great part 
 of the Southern side of it, enters the Mississippi just be- 
 low the Falls, and flows with so gentle a current, that 
 it affords a convenient navigation for boats. This tract 
 is about one hundred miles from N. W. to S. E., and 
 twenty from N. E. to S. W.' 
 
 Living more than a quarter of a century before Evans 
 and Fitch and Fulton made their incipient attempts to 
 apply steam to the propulsion of boats on the Delaware 
 and Hudson rivers, he could not conceive how vessels 
 could ascend with ease above the Forks of the Ohio ; 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 231 
 
 yet he looked for the time which we are destined to see^ 
 when by canals, or ' shorter cuts, a communication 
 may be opened by water with New- York by way of the 
 Lakes.' 
 
 On Carver's return from the Falls, he ascended the 
 St. Peter's River, and wintered. Concerning his resi- 
 dence there, we can say but little, as many of his state- 
 ments are incredible ; especially that which says that 
 he learned the Sioux, one of the most difficult of the 
 Indian languages, in a few months, so that he could 
 deliver speeches in that tongue. 
 
 Descending the St. Peter's in the spring, after attend- 
 ing a great council of the Sioux just below St. Paul, he 
 proceeded with a deputation of their number by the way 
 of the Chippewa River and Lake Superior to Mackinaw. 
 
 Returning to Great Britain, he communicated the in- 
 formation he obtained to several gentlemen of wealth 
 and intelligence. In the year 1774, Richard Whitworth, 
 a member of Parliament, a Colonel Rogers and Carver 
 had determined to proceed to America and built a Fort 
 at Lake Pepin, and then ascend the St. Peter's and 
 Missouri Rivers, until they discovered the River Oregon, 
 whose sources they supposed were on the other side of 
 the ridge dividing the waters of the Gulf of Mexico from 
 those of the Pacific Ocean. On that coast another 
 
232 ' TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 post was to have been established, and from thence they 
 expected to be able to reach the countries of Asia by- 
 some short passage. These plans, however, were all 
 frustrated by the war between the American Colonies 
 and the mother country. That Captain Carver made 
 many statements not consistent with truth, cannot be 
 denied ; yet no one can read his book without acknow- 
 ledging that he was a man of vigorous intellect and keen 
 observation. "When we remember, that the European 
 nations expected every traveller to tell some wondrous 
 tale upon his return, and believed it more readily on 
 account of its improbability ; that the age had not quite 
 passed when ' feathers could be produced which had 
 dropped from the tail of a phoenix ; that ostriches were 
 to be seen which unlike the birds of the present day, 
 had not pecked their way into the world through an 
 egg shell, but had been born alive ; that bones were 
 plentiful, of giants, with whom Goliath was a dwarf; 
 that petrified babies were not rare ;' we ought not to be 
 surprised that he describes a thunder storm in the 
 vicinity of Mendota, ' so violent that the earth shook and 
 the lightning flashed along the ground in streams of 
 sulphiir ;' nor that he should print a speech which he 
 says he delivered in the Dakota language, after a resi- 
 dence of a few months among the Nation. 
 
THF OJIBWAY NATION. 233 
 
 After the explorations of General, then Lieut. Pike, 
 tiie United States Government in 1823 determined that 
 'an expedition be immediately fitted out for exploring 
 the River St. Peter's, and the country situated on the 
 Northern boundary of the United States between the 
 Red River of Hudson's Bay and Lake Superior.' The 
 commander of the expedition was Major Stephen Long. 
 The party left Philadelphia and proceeded via Fort 
 Dearborn (the site of the city of Chicago) to Prairie du 
 Chien, where they arrived on the 19th of June. On 
 the 2d of July, the party passed the narrowest pla-ce of 
 the Mississippi, and landed for a few moments six 
 miles below St. Paul, to examine a stone which was 
 then held in high veneration among the Indians on 
 account of the red pigment with which it was covered, 
 hence now called Red Rock. ' It is a fragment of sien- 
 ite, which is about four and a half feet in diameter. It 
 is not surprising that the Indians should have viewed 
 this rock with some curiosity, and deemed it wonderful, 
 considering that its character differs so materially from 
 the rocks which are found in that neighborhood. A 
 man who lives in a country where the highest hills are 
 wholl) formed of sand-stone and secondary limestone, 
 will necessarily be struck with the peculiar characters 
 of the first specimen of the granite that comes under his 
 
234 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 notice, and it is not to be wondered at that one who 
 " sees God in all things" should have made part of a 
 stone an object of worship.' — (Long's Expedition.) 
 
 Above Red Rock, they visited the cemetery which had 
 been mentioned by Carver more than a half century 
 previous, and saw scaffolds supporting rude coflins. — 
 At a little distance below St. Paul they passed the vil- 
 lage of Kaposia, as before stated on the East side of the 
 river, and called ' Petit Corbeau,' after the Chief who 
 resided there. This 'tribe now live on the other side, 
 and is the mission station of Dr. Williamson. The In- 
 dians that are so constantly in the streets of St. Paul, 
 reside there. The cave discovered by Carver below St. 
 Paul, the party of 1823 did not visit, but the little cave 
 above that town, which we have inappropriately marked 
 on our maps ' Carver's Cave,' a place which Carver 
 never saw, and was never discovered until 1811. 
 
 On the night of the 2d July, Long and his party 
 reached Fort Snelling, which work had been conmien- 
 ced about four years before. 
 
 On the 6tli of July, members of this party walked to 
 the Falls of St. Anthony, which they began to ford. — ■ 
 Some of the company, however, found great difficulty 
 in steniiiiing the current, and reached this side of the 
 rapids much exhausted. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 235 
 
 By Mcijor Long's measurement, the perpendicular fall 
 of water was found to be about sixteen feet. A quarter 
 of a century ago, the United States had two mills in 
 operation here, which were watched by a sergeant's 
 guard. 
 
 In the narrative of Major Long's expedition, we not 
 only find for the first time, the legend of Winona, who, 
 thwarted in marrying the object of her love, dashed her- 
 self to pieces from the lofty bluff on Lake Pepin, which 
 will always be called Maiden's Rock, but he also gives 
 the following legend of the Falls, which he learned 
 from an Indian : 
 
 ^An Indian of the Dakota or Sioux Nation, had 
 united himself early in life to a youthful female, whose 
 name was Ampato Sapa. With her he lived happily 
 for several years. Two interesting children gathered 
 around their lodge fire, from day to day, and they loved 
 to think that they were " their little ones." The man 
 was skilled as a hunter, and drew around him many 
 families. Desirous of being more intimately connected 
 with him, some of them suggested that a man of his 
 skill ought to possess more than one wife, to wait upon 
 hhn and his friends. They assured him that if he 
 would increase the number of his wives, that he would 
 increase his influence, and soon be recognized as a Chief, 
 
400 TRADITIONAL HISTOFIY OF 
 
 Ambition overcame his afTection, and he secretly took a 
 second wife. Being desirous to introduce his new bride 
 to his lodge in a way that would not displease his first 
 love, he said to the mother of his children, " You know 
 that I can love no woman so fondly as I doat upon you ; 
 with regret have I seen you of late subjected to toils 
 which must be oppressive to you, and from which I 
 would gladly relieve you. I have therefore resolved 
 upon taking another wife, but she shall always be sub- 
 ject to your control, as she will always rank in my 
 affections second to you." 
 
 ' With deep grief did his first wife listen to these 
 words. She pleaded all the endearments of their past 
 life ; she spoke of his former fondness for her, and bade 
 Iiim beware of introducing another woman into the 
 lodge. Finding that he could not persuade her to be 
 contented, he informed her that he had already procured 
 another woman to share the lodge with her. 
 
 ' Distressed at this information, she watched her op- 
 portunity, stole away from the cabin with her children, 
 and fled to a distance, where her father was. With 
 him slie remained until a party of Indians went up the 
 river to hunt. In the spring, as tliey returned with 
 their furs, they encamped near these Falls. In tlie 
 morning the band left, but she Uiigered near the spot, 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 237 
 
 Having launched her hght canoe, she entered with her 
 children. Paddhng down the rapids, she hegan to sing 
 her death song. 
 
 ' Her friends saw the movement, but they were too 
 late to prevent. Her voice grew less and less distinct 
 as she approached the edge of the Falls. For a mo- 
 ment, the canoe paused at the brink, enveloped Avith 
 spray, then with a sudden plunge it darted down, carry- 
 ing all of its contents to instant death. 
 
 ' The Indians believe that in the morning a voice is 
 heard, singing a doleful ditty along the edge of the Fall, 
 and that it ever dwells upon the inconstancy of her hus- 
 band. Some even assert that her spirit has been seen 
 wandering near the spot, with her children wrapped to 
 her bosom.' 
 
 We have thus given you a brief review of the princi- 
 pal French, English, and American travels to this widely 
 celebrated spot. 
 
 A few months has worked great changes in the vici- 
 nity of these ' roaring waters.' 
 
 Less than two years ago, a divine of European as 
 well as American reputation, visited this place, and felt 
 that he was in a far distant land. Were he to repeat 
 his visit, on every seventh day, though he might not 
 bear the doleful ditty of Ampato Sapa, he would listen 
 
23S TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 to the songs 'of a Saviour's dying love,' mingling with 
 the majestic chorus of ' many waters ;' he would wit- 
 ness to-night, an audience not less intelligent than those 
 gathered on similar occasions, ' in the smiling villages 
 of the East ;' and a library, as yet small, in which how- 
 ever the last new novel is not conspicuous, but the works 
 of Burke, Carlyle's and Headley's Cromwell, Arnold's 
 History of Rome, and the Essays of Talfom'd, Stephens 
 and Channing. 
 
 Though the citizens of the most Northern village in 
 the Valley of the Mississippi, you show to the world 
 that extremes are often in close proximity; that- the 
 dwellers on the borders of an Indian country can com- 
 mune with the noblest and best of minds, through their 
 works, and appreciate, as well as any in the world, the 
 voice of a living ministry, and the truths of the Sacred 
 Writings." 
 
CHAPTER XYII. 
 
 THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS IN GENERAL. 
 
 Being desirous of doing all that I can towards bet- 
 tering the condition of my brethren, I here subjoin four 
 letters, originally addressed to the " Saturday Evening 
 Post" of Philadelphia, on the subject of Indian Civiliza- 
 tion, — the plan which I have presented before different 
 Legislatures, and recently in a Memorial presented in 
 both Houses of Congress for their action. 
 
 I am happy to say that there is a universal approval 
 of this plan throughout the Union ; and it is my design 
 to request the General Government of this country that 
 they may sooner or later take these Indians under their 
 care, and have the credit of dealing justly with her long 
 abused red races. If Congress does not do any thing 
 iti the present first session of the thirty-first Congress, 
 I shall go again — and just as often as they meet I shall 
 press this subject before them, until something is done. 
 The remarks here penned may be also applied in the 
 
2'10 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 case of our Nation, who are now becoming demoralized 
 yearly by alcoholic drinks. 
 
 I desire the reasons here given to be weighed by all 
 impartial readers," and if any lack of soundness in our 
 arguments be found, let it not be laid to the weakness 
 of the cause we advocate, but to the writers deficiency 
 for such a work. 
 
 INDIAN CIVILIZATION. 
 
 Mr. Editor. — Your readers will have noticed by 
 the papers throughout the ITmon, the plan I have pre- 
 sented before the American public of my endeavors to 
 save a remnant of the scattered Indian tribes of the 
 Northwest. 
 
 I will endeavor to give a sliort outline, in three or 
 four letters, of the matter as follows : 
 
 1. Why the Indians have not improved, and why 
 they have decreased in numbers when coming in con- 
 tact with the Europeans, since the first commencement 
 of their intercourse until the present. 
 
 2. The fears I entertain that they never will liold a 
 peaceable possession of any great portion of the West. 
 
 3. The plan I advocate, and its practicability. 
 
 4. The benefit it must be to the American Govern- 
 ment, and to the Indians. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 241 
 
 I. In this letter : Why they have not improved^ and 
 why they have decreased in numbers. 
 
 To give a statement of all the disadvantages they 
 have had to encounter would not be in accordance with 
 my present object, nor with the necessity imposed on me 
 with reference to your columns ; yet I will mention a 
 few. In their intercourse with the frontier settlers they 
 meet the worst classes of pale faces. They soon adopt 
 their foolish ways and their vices, and their minds be- 
 ing thus poisoned and preoccupied, the morality and 
 education which the better classes would teach them 
 sere forestalled. This is not to be wondered at when it 
 is generally known that the frontier settlers are made up 
 of wild, adventurous spirits, willing to raise themselves 
 by the downfall of the Indian race. These are traders, 
 spirit-sellers, horse thieves, counterfeiters and scape- 
 gallowses, who neither fear God nor regard the laws of 
 man. When the Indians come in contact with such 
 men, as representatives of the American people, what 
 else could be expected of them ? It is not strange, that, 
 seeing as he does the gross immorality of the whites 
 whom he meets, and the struggle between the pale face 
 for wrong and the red man for right, which begins when 
 they first meet, and ends not until one dies, that he re- 
 fuses to follow the footsteps of the white man in the 
 
242 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 attainment of science. The majority having never been 
 in the society of the good, religious and refined, they 
 know but Httle of the advantages of civihzation. 
 
 There has been another class of men who have kept 
 pace with the frontier, whose fathers and friends were 
 killed in the wars in the more Easterly States some 
 years ago by the Indians ; these having such implaca- 
 ble hatred against the poor Indians, do all they can to 
 enrage one race agahist the other, and if possible involve 
 the two in war, that they may engage in their favorite 
 work of depredation. 
 
 II. Their love of Adventurous Life. 
 
 Their fathers having been Nimrods, in a literal sense, 
 they have followed in their footsteps. 
 
 Not that I would have you suppose that there is no 
 such thing as teaching the American Indian the peace- 
 ful arts of agriculture, for he has already proved himself 
 teachable. The suddenness with which the American 
 people have come upon them, has prevented them from 
 gradually acquiring the arts of civilized life ; and leav- 
 ing local employment, they have hunted for a living, 
 and thus perpetuated that independent, roaming dispo- 
 sition which was their early education. 
 
 III. The afritalioii of 7nind they experience in the be- 
 lief that Government will want their lands and they be 
 removed to the West. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 243 
 
 None but an Indian can, perhaps, rightly judge of the 
 deleterious influence which the repeated removals of the 
 Indians has wrought, since they began in the days of 
 Jefferson, and have been continued by succeeding admin- 
 istrations, until now. Fear has prevented the Indian 
 from making any very great advancement in agricul- 
 tural science. 
 
 Having seen the removal of other Indian tribes, they 
 have been conscious of the fact that the Government 
 may and doubtless will want more land, and they be 
 obhged to sell at whatever price Govennnent may see 
 fit to give, and thus all improvements they might have 
 made would become useless to them. 
 
 In some instances, the Missionaries have done well in 
 subduing the wild and warring dispositions of the In- 
 dians, but these lessons have been lost by the removal 
 of the Indians Westward, and should he say aught, he 
 is represented by the agents in an antagonistical atti- 
 tude towards his own Government, and the Indian has 
 been the sufferer. 
 
 lY. The loant of Schools of the character that are re- 
 qviredfor the Education of the Indians. 
 
 I mean schools where the whip may 1x5 dispensed 
 
 with as the motive power of acquiring education, and 
 
 where rational beings are to be taught in a rational 
 P 
 
244 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 manner. This whipping to learn is hrutish and degra- 
 ding — I might add, savage. 
 
 Gentle persuasion is that cord which has done the 
 most for me and others. Many a school-teacher who 
 has gone into the Indian country, had just as much 
 right to become a teacln^r to the Indians^ as I have to sit 
 in the place of" Old l{ough and Ready." 
 
 You will tell me, no doubt, that the Indians have 
 been taught the advantages of education — that some 
 even liave gone and attended, not only the common 
 school, but schools of a high order, colleges, and have 
 returned to the forest again — have })ut on the blanket 
 and roamed the woods. This has not alwa^^s been the 
 case. I might name a great many, who, to my know- 
 ledge, have done and aie now doing well for themselves 
 and for theii- people. 
 
 The reasons for their returnmg back again, were the 
 absence of a good moral training, and their not having 
 learned any trade with which to be employed on their 
 leaving the schools. Having no employment, and no 
 income, they found themselves in possession of all the 
 qualities of a gentleman, without the requisite funds to 
 support tliemselves. 
 
 ^ome of their tearhors where they went, knowing 
 only (.'hrisiianity in lh(3ury; and not by a practical know- 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 245 
 
 ledge of the persuasive influences of its truths in the 
 mind and soul, how could they teach them what they 
 are destitute themselves ? Open the pages of inspira- 
 tion — and as fast as the clouds of ignorance shall roll 
 away, let the warm rays from Him who smiles from the 
 sky, into the soul. The mind of the Indian, well pol- 
 ished, shall then shine like the pure pearl from the deep. 
 The cause of Education and Christianity must be to 
 him what the wings are to eagles, both must he exercised 
 before he can arise aloft. 
 
 Teaching the Indians in their own language what 
 little some have learned, is one of those errors in which 
 the majority of Missionaries have fallen, unintentionally, 
 all over the coimtry. I have endeavored to persuade 
 them to teach our people English, and their course after- 
 wards tells me — We knoiv better than you do — and, 
 therefore, a great amount of time, and a tremendous 
 amount of money has been expended in translating and 
 publishing a few books. We have been able to read 
 these, but not one sentence of English. Our language 
 perpetuates our own ideas of civilization, as well as the 
 old usages in our Nation ; and, consequently, how 
 limited our field of acquiring knowledge ! On the other 
 hand, by giving them an English education, you intro- 
 duce them into the endless field of English literature, 
 
24G TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 and from the accumulated experience of the past, they 
 might learn the elements which would produce the 
 greatest amount of good to our Nation. The English 
 language, it is true, is very hard to learn, hut since it is 
 to be the universal language in all lands, the sooner you 
 give them this the better. I conclude this part of my 
 letter by stating that the most requisite things for the 
 Indian are these three — a mechanical or an agricultural 
 education, a high-toned literature, and a rational moral 
 training. Give him these — you make him exalted. — 
 Deprive him of these — you make him degraded. 
 
 V. 77ie great quantity of Land which they have re- 
 served to themselves for the ^purpose of himting. 
 
 This wild field, filled with a variety of game, perpet- 
 uates their natural propensity of living by the use of 
 the bow and arrow ; instead of following the plough 
 and having the hoe in hand. When they can* have a 
 piece of land they can call their own, and so limited 
 that the scarcity of game will oblige them to till the soil 
 for a subsistence, then they will improve, and the soonei 
 .his state of things is brought about will be the better. 
 
 VI. The mode generally adopted by the Missio?iaries 
 in introducing Christianity among the Indian Tribes. 
 
 I know I shall be censured here — T can only appeal 
 to the experience of the past, and leave every one to de- 
 
THE OJIRWAY NATION. 2 17 
 
 cide for himself. The Indian, not knowing abstract 
 truths, cannot possibly understand the foundation of the 
 many doctrinal views which he is desired to learn and 
 adopt. Forms of worship, varied as they are, have been 
 urged on him, and in being perplexed, his mind thus is 
 prejudiced to Christianity. 
 
 Veneration and devotion make up the Indian's heart. 
 Take him as he is, and lead him, and he will soon see 
 the right from the wrong. We Avant also educated men. 
 It has been the idea of some that any thing will do for 
 the Indians. 
 
 Other reasons might be given, did space allow ; now, 
 I proceed to give, in conclusion, a few of the reasons 
 why their numbers have been lessened. 
 
 1. The Diseases introduced hy Europeans. 
 
 The Indian Nations had no small pox or measles. — • 
 The small pox has destroyed thousands since it has 
 been introduced into this country. Entire families have 
 perished. Many an ill-fated tribe have followed their 
 ancestors down to the grave, haggard, diseased, wretched 
 and loathsome, by the disease which keeps pace with 
 the debauchery towards the West. 
 
 These diseases, not many of them being known be 
 fore, they knew not how to check their disastrous pro 
 gross. 
 
•J48 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 2. Wars which they have made on each other since 
 the i7it rod action of fire-arms. 
 
 Before tins, the weapons they nsed against one an- 
 other were not so disastrous as the rifle has been since. 
 With the gun they have been as expert as they were 
 with the bow and arrow. Champlain, in the year 1609, 
 supplied the Algonquins of the North with the weapons 
 of war, that they might successfully wage w\ar with the 
 Six Nations. The Dutch supplied the Six Nations 
 with the same materials. The Spaniards of the 
 South and others, might be cited, which history relates. 
 They receiving those weapons of war from a civil- 
 ized and Christianized nation, guaranteed a free use of 
 them. 
 
 3. Wars ichich have raged in this country between the 
 whites. 
 
 During these wars the Indian has been called from 
 the woods to show his fearless nature, and for obeying, 
 and showing himself fearless, it is said of him that he is 
 '• a man without a tear." He has been stigmatized 
 with the name — " a savage," — by the very people who 
 called for his aid, and he gave it. In the midst of these 
 mighty contests, the Indian has been put in the front 
 ranks, in the most dangerous positions, and has conse- 
 qn(Mill\' l;prn the grcat(v;{ losor. 
 
TITR OJIHWAY NATION. 249 
 
 4. And la:^(ii/ — The inlrodiiciion of spirituous liquors. 
 
 This has been greater than all other evils combined. 
 Iiitoniperance and disease. The fire-water has done its 
 work of disaster. By it tlie glad shouts of the youth of 
 our land has died away in wails of grief ! Fathers have 
 followed their children to their graves. Children have ' 
 sent their wail of woe, echoing from vale to vale. And 
 around the cheering fires of tlie Indian, the Avhite man 
 has received the gain of avarice. Peace and happiness 
 entwined around the fire-side of the Indian once. Union, 
 harmony, and a common brotherhood cemented them all. 
 But as soon as these vile drinks were introduced, dissi- 
 pation commenced, and the ruin and downfall of a noble 
 race lias gone on — every year lessening their nimibers. 
 Wave after wave of destruction has gone on — the raven- 
 wings of the angel of death have covered their fires, and 
 still unsatisfied, it screaujs for more victims — all, all. — 
 yes, all for '• model New England rmn^'' The ministry 
 of this country, and the sluggards in the cause of hu- 
 manity, say now : There is a fate or certain doom on 
 the Indians^ therefore we need do nothing for tiiem. 
 IIovv^ blasphemous ! First you give us rum by the thou- 
 sand barrels, and, before the presence of God and this 
 enhglitencd world, point to God, and charge him as the 
 murderer of the unfjitiinale IiidiaDS. 
 
250 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 " Oh, Mercy, oh, Mercy ! look down from above, 
 Great Creator, on us Thy sad children with love." 
 
 Yes, save us from such orthodoxy ! The laws of na 
 ture deranged in the Indian, both morally and physically, 
 has been the consequence of his sinking condition. 
 
 I have already taken too much of your space. I must 
 conclude. My next will be the fears I entertain they 
 will not hold their lands to any great extent this side of 
 the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 Excuse all errors, for I have ^y a railroad accident 
 
 been thrown on my bed. 
 
 Am, sir, yours, in the cause of humanity. 
 
 K. 
 
 INDIAN CIVILIZATION. — NO. II. 
 
 Mr. Editor, — In this letter I will give you the 
 grounds of my fears why the Indians will never have a 
 permanent hold upon any part of the Western country, 
 unless by special act of Congress. 
 
 1. Tlteir position vpon the press of emigration. — 
 In this way for years the fires of the Indian lodge have 
 been removed West. Their rights have been trampled 
 upon l)y the settlers, and this, with other annoyances, 
 have ever unsettled tljc minds of the Indians — the con 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 251 
 
 sequence has been, and will be, that they will remove, 
 step by step, to escape this annoyance. 
 
 The present belief of the Western and South-western 
 Indians, that they never will be again moved, and that 
 the land that they now occupy is to be their own for- 
 ever— ^what sort of a guarantee do they have of their 
 continuing on their lands unmolested ? Will not the 
 same plea which was given to remove the New- York, 
 Massachusetts. Ohio and Georgia Indians — will not the 
 same plea of necessity (and, as some say, an act of 
 kindness to them) be urged on those on the other side 
 of the Father of Waters as has been urged this side 7 
 If not this, enterprise — yes, Yankee enterprise, will re- 
 quire railroads to be laid out, canals to be opened, mili- 
 tary roads cut through the land of the Indians in the 
 West, and their land must either be bought from them 
 or taken. And when this is done, or commenced to be 
 done, they will cease to work their lands, since such 
 labor would not be for their benefit, but for those who 
 must occupy it when they leave it. The delightful 
 fields of the Indians in Georgia were the great objects 
 which the white men desired. 
 
 2. The quantity of land they have reserved to them 
 selves, has retarded their progress in the acquirement of 
 agricultural science. They have lived on the game 
 
25;i TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 which roamed in their woods, which has called off their 
 attention from the soil. They will still neglect the 
 cultivation of the soil, since it is easier to hunt for game 
 for a living than to toil in the field. This quantity is a 
 detriment to us — we do not want so much land. But, 
 what Vie have, give it to us forever. ■ 
 
 3. The quality is another. There is a rich spot of 
 land this side of the desert below the Rocky Mountains, 
 the only ricli land, and the Indian has been placed on 
 tliis like a barrier. The land so occupied, if not culti- 
 vated, the pale face will reason himself into the idea 
 that the Great Spirit intended to make the whole of 
 North America a farm yard, and thereby justify himself 
 for taking to till what the Indian could not improve. 
 
 4. Necessity icill ohlige him to sell. They have, 
 within my knowledge, reasoned this way. Our fathers 
 sold tlieir lands to the Government, and lived on the 
 proceeds of the sale, and soon the Government will want 
 to buy tJds la7id, and our children will live on the annui- 
 ties as we now do on onrs. So, they will fare no v/orse 
 than we have. In tliis way they l>ecome impoverished, 
 and they to sustain soul and body a few 3^ears of linger- 
 ing misery, must soil {h«^ii- laud piece by piece, until all 
 is ^one find tliov must suilcr. 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 253 
 
 Much greater and certain evils are yet to be appre- 
 hended, arising from another source, which is this : 
 
 5. The scarcity of game for food ^ must cause suffer- 
 ing among the Indians, and a world of trouble to the 
 frontier settlers. Where will the Indian go to get any 
 thing to feed his children, but to the frontier for the cat- 
 tle of the settlers for food? and this will cause war and 
 bloodshed. 
 
 The game is being killed more and more every year. 
 It is computed by recent travellers in the buffalo coun- 
 try, that this game alone is killed at the rate of one 
 hundred thousand every year, by trappers and the In 
 dians, for their hide and tongues, whick are sold t( 
 traders on the Upper Missouri. Game of all kinds is 
 disappearing this side of the Rocky Mountains. Twelve 
 years ago we could go seventy-five miles West of Dubu- 
 que, Iowa, on the Mississippi, for game of every kind up 
 to buffalo ; now, I travelled last summer four hundred 
 miles West of the above moimtains towards the Missouri 
 River, and found no game of any kind ! When, by 
 force of circumstances, the Indian is obliged to live on 
 the cattle of the frontiers — as soon as the first bullock is 
 killed, the cry will be heard, " The Indians are coming 
 on us.'' The answer will be, " To arms, to arms," and 
 the soldiery of the United States must be sent to go and 
 
2o\ TRADITIbXAL HISTORY OP 
 
 destroy a few dying and gasping Indians. The boom 
 of the cannon and the rattle and peal of the drum will 
 sing the dirge of the once free and powerful sons of 
 America. Desperation will drive the Indian to die at 
 the cannon's mouth — for it is then he will think of the 
 land of his forefathers, which will nerve him to the field 
 of war ! — mustering his armies on the peaks of the cliffs 
 of the West, they will shout to each other. On one 
 hand, far off below, the dying fires of his race lie scat- 
 tered, and the graves of his ancestors desecratad — his 
 children scattered where he has been driven. On the 
 other hand he will see the races of the Pacific driven to 
 the Eastward from the Valley of the Columbia. It is 
 there I expect to see what our forefathers have not yet 
 witnessed. My blood runs cold when I think of it. — 
 (jlreat God, save us from realizing the horrors of an ex- 
 terminating war ! 
 
 (3. TJie'ir isolated cmidit'wn in detached numhers^ will 
 be the means of preventing the acquirement of know- 
 ledge. When there is no stimulus to improve, there v%nll ' 
 be no idea of learning much. In small bodies, they re- 
 tain all the feelings of their forefathers, and will continue 
 this way. The American Government has addressed 
 us like different Nations, instead of addressing us as an 
 LiJian Nation, and as one family ; iliey have in tliis 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 255 
 
 way perpetuated our differences towards each other. — 
 The same law which governs the masses of people 
 of all nations (civilized) among the pale faces, in some 
 degree would then keep them at peace with each other. 
 The law of necessity — the law" of a common interest — 
 the law of love, are so many influences which ought to 
 have operated on them before ; since, then, these are 
 wanting, the feuds which have been kept up must 
 necessarily exist for some time. The tribes, being 
 weakened by their hostilities, can never prosper. But 
 collect them in a large body by themselves, and com- 
 mence rationally to adopt a system of pupilage which 
 will be well adapted for the young ; and one good man 
 would be like a light-house in a storm, who would warn 
 and guide the rest. 
 
 In my next I will give the plan of concentrating the 
 Northwest Indian tribes and its practicability. 
 I am, sir, yours, in the cause of humanity, 
 
256 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 INDIAN CIVILIZATION. — NO. III. 
 
 Mr. Editor : — In my last, I gave you some reasons 
 why I think the possessions of the Indians are still pre- 
 carious. In this, I propose to give an outline of the pro- 
 ject of civiliziiig the Northwestern Tribes and its prac- 
 ticability. 
 
 My plan is to get a grant of land from the Congress 
 of the United States, tibout one hundred and fifty miles 
 square, as a perpetual reserve for all the Northwest 
 Tribes this side of the Rocky Mountains — where the 
 half-civilized on the. frontiers might live permanently to 
 enjoy the fruits of their labor, aad immediately form a 
 government of their own, from the crude state in which 
 they are, and gradually introduce the most simple laws 
 to govern them, as they may need. 
 
 1. A Governor to be appointed by the President of the 
 United States, to be a white man, and the Lieutenant- 
 Governor to be an Indian. 
 
 2. A Secretary, to be a white man, or an Indian, if 
 any is found capable to fill the office, who shall trans- 
 mit all the laws of the Indian territory to the Congress 
 of the United States every year. 
 
 3. That the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor shall 
 convene all the Indian tribes within the said territory, 
 
THE OJIBWAY NATION. 257 
 
 that txxey may organize such form of Government as 
 may be for their interest. The Chiefs of each tribe to 
 become the delegates from their number, and this to be 
 every three years. 
 
 4. That all white people who travel through this re- 
 served land, must travel with a special license from the 
 Agent of the American Government who may reside 
 here. And, that all the white people who may reside 
 as Government officers, missionaries and school teachers, 
 must reside by such license, to be issued once a year ; 
 and all who have no license, must be looked upon as 
 intruders. 
 
 5. That a com't of law be instituted, composed half 
 of white people and half of Indians, who shall decide 
 all grievances between the two races, the Indian and 
 the pale face, instead of harassing the Government 
 with them. 
 
 6. That the gathering of the Indians be voluntary on 
 their part, and by giving them inducements, they need not 
 be compelled by arbitrary means to leave their own lands. 
 
 7. That a military post be placed near the centre of 
 the Indian Territory, and manned, to give security to 
 individuals who may travel or reside there ; but more 
 to keep off the iDhite savages, who deal in fire water. 
 
 8. That the Indian Government be represented in 
 
258 TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF 
 
 Washington by a Commissioner, to be appointed by the 
 General Council of the Indian Confederacy in the mean- 
 time, mitil the state of intelligence among them should 
 require a more intimate connection with the Federal 
 States — then, if deemed proper, to form one of the States 
 of the Union. 
 
 9. Schools to be supported by a general fund, which 
 will accumulate as they cede theii' present lands to the 
 Government, and those schools to be connected with the 
 education of the plough, and the tillage of the soil. 
 
 Next of importance is the location. The place I have 
 named is the unsettled land known as the West of Mine- 
 sota, next to the banks of the Missouri. The great Sioux 
 River, from its junction to its source, to become the Eas- 
 tern boundary — from the source of the Sioux River, draw 
 a line Westward to the Missouri River, to become the 
 Northern boundary. Next, the channel of the Missouri 
 River to the place of beginning, would constitute a terri- 
 tory, large enough for all such purposes. 
 
 The reasons why I have named this as being the 
 most suitable for them are the following : 
 
 1. The great national highways, which will soon be 
 opened by the demands of enterprize of the West, must 
 be South of this, and thereby would not come in contact 
 with the Indian population. 
 
THE OJIBAVAY NATION. 259 
 
 2. The climate is most suitable for their natures. 
 
 3. It would also be favorable to them in a commercial 
 point of view, between the two greatest valleys and 
 river, the Missouri and the Mississippi. 
 
 4. The distance West would be far enough to cause 
 the removal of all the various Indian tribes to be gradual. 
 
 5. The central location of this country would be favor- 
 able for the removal of the different tribes from the sur- 
 rounding country of 500 or 600 miles. 
 
 The question naturally rises in the minds of all who 
 may have studied the mterest of the Indians, whether 
 such a scheme is practicable. I think it is. 
 
 1. The interest of the Indians being in the hands of 
 the American Government, that interest could be used 
 for the promotion of the good of the Lidians, and by an 
 annual distribution of the annuities of the Indians in 
 the central portion of the territory, would attach them 
 to their homes and country. 
 
 2. The treaties which are to be made, would so far 
 become easy for them to be m.oving on this territory, 
 and as the Indians are to be removed any how, why 
 should it be more unpalatable to the Government to re 
 move them to this tract, as they have always made out 
 to move the Indians West whenever they have needed 
 their lands ? 
 
<i(iU TRADITlONAi: HISTOIIY OF 
 
 3. The social character of the Indians. They would 
 rather hve in towns, or near each other, particularly 
 ■when ihey are civilized. The oftener they could see 
 one another, the more rapidly their jealousies would 
 cease to exist. Their children, growing tip together, 
 would soon acquire a mutual attachment and regard for 
 each other's welfare. 
 
 4. The languages of the Northwest tribes are so far 
 similar, that they soon would learn to understand one 
 another. The Ojibway language, or the Algonquin 
 dialect, is spreading all over the country of the North- 
 west. The traditional stories which are related by our 
 forefathers, indicate that our common stock was one. — 
 And to reunite the scattered families, and preserve the 
 few, would soon become an object in their minds. 
 
 5. By giving encouragement to those who would go 
 there to settle, there would be no difficulty in getting 
 them there, for the educated portion of them would be 
 the first who would settle in that country ; and they 
 are the ones 1 would encourage, for they would be the 
 ones who would form such a Government as would 
 best suit the Indian's wants and condition. 
 
 6. By a proclamation of the President of the United 
 States, calling upon all the Northwest Indian tribes, and 
 telling them that a home, a permanent home is provided, 
 
THE OJinWAV NATION. 201 
 
 tliev soon would obey it, and go, if not in collective 
 bodies, at least individually. 
 
 7. War must then cease to exist. There will be no 
 game, nor any territory to fight for. They soon must 
 learn, that in destroying one it is to strike a blow at all, 
 and the public opinion will triumph, and frown down 
 any such acts of misdemeanor of the inhabitants. 
 
 8. Gradually the Chiefship, which is hereditary, 
 would cease to exist, for this is one of the greatest bar- 
 riers to their civilization. By giving the rule and 
 authority to the well educated, their improvement would 
 be rapid ; but, heretofore, the elder Indians have ruled, 
 and their prejudicial views of education, have ever mi- 
 fitted them to become a fit medium of instruction to 
 their people. And in this way many will then study 
 hard to fit themselves to become the rulers of the Nation. 
 
 9. The comparativelypeaceahle condition of the North- 
 west Indian tribes at present is favorable. The wars 
 which raged in years past, are not now in existence. — 
 The spirit of war is dying away at the approach of 
 civilization Westward, and the more peaceable acts of 
 civilized life are being practiced by them. 
 
 10. The great number of young men that are among 
 the various Indian tribes, who are ready to carry for- 
 ward any benevolent measure which may be supported 
 
2lj2 TRADITIOXAI, HISTORY OF 
 
 by the Govenimeiit of the United States. The New- 
 York Indians are now so far civihzed as to have a Re- 
 pubhcan Government of their own. There are young 
 men m that Nation who would do honor to any position 
 in the arrangement of a Government for the Indians. — 
 The Chippeway Nation has a great number of well 
 educated young men. The Stockbridges, Oneidas and 
 Shawnees, all these have been blessed with a partial 
 civilization. 
 
 Many other reasons might be given besides the above. 
 I will close now, and in my next I will speak of the 
 benefits which must accrue to the American Govern- 
 ment and to the Indians. 
 
 I am, sir, yours, in the cause of humanity, 
 
 K. 
 
 INDIAN CIVILIZATION . N O. I V. 
 
 Mr. Editor: — Having stated the reasons why I 
 deem my scheme practicable, I will, in conclusion, 
 allude to the advantages that would accrue, not only to 
 the United States, but to the Indians. 
 
 To the American Government. 
 
 1. This system u'oidd simplify tho Indian department. 
 
TUK OJIE^VAY NATION. 262 
 
 2. Tiiey would not have so much perplexity in ad 
 justing difficulties. 
 
 3. The outlay in Indian agencies would be lessened. 
 
 4. Establish a court of justice in the Indian territory, 
 and no trouble would be had witli them, as the difficul- 
 ties would be legally settled. For sometimes it has 
 been the hasty means used to suppress the encroach- 
 ments of the Indian on the white man which have 
 caused the disgraceful wars which this country has 
 seen. Such would be obviated. 
 
 5. The expense of fortifying the Western country 
 from the encroachments of the Indians would be dis- 
 pensed with, and even now they are not actually re- 
 quired. But if the government must build forts, and 
 establish military posts, let there be one, in the center of 
 the new Indian territory, to give efficiency to the laws 
 of the Indian government, to protect the peace and per- 
 sons in that country. 
 
 Go in the spirit of the illustrious ^Villiam Penn, that 
 noble personification of Christianity, and you will have no 
 trouble with the Indians this side of the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 6. The outlay for transporting the Indians Avould 
 cease to be a burden. I believe the Indians would now 
 go of their own accord, did they know that the land 
 could be thus occupied by them. 
 
2GI TRADITIONAL HISTORY OP 
 
 7. The buying of the land from the Indians over and 
 over would not llien have to be done. 
 
 8. The peaceful and fiiendly relations that must then 
 exist would be one of the strongest bonds of union in 
 lime of peace, and cause them to be neutral in tim.e 
 of war. 
 
 9. Besides tlie above considerations, there are higher 
 motives which ought to prompt the members of Con- 
 gress — motives arising in the consideration that they 
 are only forwarding tlie great design of Heaven, to im- 
 prove the races of this country. By intelligence enlarge 
 tlie arena of human freedom, and your leading the In- 
 dian may be like the noble eagle's first flight with its 
 young to the sun. 
 
 The advantages to tlie Indians. 
 
 1. By having 'permanent homes, they would soon 
 enjoy the fruit of their labor. Poverty would be un- 
 known, ])lenty would reign, and clieerfulness aid them 
 in their work. 
 
 2. Seminaries of learning would be permanently loca- 
 ted ; every stone you laid for the foundation of a school 
 would tell. The repeated removals of the Indians have 
 retarded the progress of moral and pliysical training 
 among them, and caused many good men to become 
 discouraged in tlieir ahns-giving for their improvement 
 
thp: ojibway nation. 265 
 
 It has not been so much Ihe fault of the Indian as it 
 has been the error of judgment in the distribution oi 
 these means. 
 
 3. The appropriation by the United States, for the 
 education of the Indians, of $10,000, would then be a 
 benefit to those for whom it is intended. Let the Gov- 
 ernment endow a college in the central part of the In- 
 dian country, and it would have an influence for good 
 to the end of time. 
 
 4. And besides this, what an amount would accumu- 
 late, were all the scliool funds which the Indians have 
 even now, given by the Government in its generosity 
 for their annuities, and which now many Indian tribes 
 know ]\ot what to do with, thus appropriated. Concen- 
 tration of means and of effort on the part of the benevo- 
 lently-disposed, must necessarily, in the process of time, 
 do a great deal of good. 
 
 5. In treaties which are to be made, if a policy could 
 be pursued in such a way as to get the annuities of the 
 Indians to be paid in part toward the national education 
 of the whole colony, much of what is needed in reference 
 to means would be so augmented as to give whole dis- 
 tricts of country the benefit of an enlightened education. 
 
 But, say you, How will you reconcile the different 
 denominations of Christians who may go there to teach? 
 
266 THE OJIBWAY NATION. 
 
 Having no predilection to division and discord. I would 
 not have one dollar of the money which the generosity 
 of the Government should give, go toward perpetuating 
 discordant elements. No ! I want to make the great 
 family of the Indians One, should I live long enough — 
 one in interest, one in feeling, one while they live, and 
 one in a better world after death. 
 
 6. Emulation among themselves would spring up ; 
 and each would labor for the others' good — a spirit of 
 rivalry would soon be seen were a premium to be given 
 to those who should raise the largest amount of agricul- 
 tural produce. 
 
 7. The result of all this would be a rapid increase of 
 intelligence among the Indians, and steps would soon 
 be taken to have a representation in Congress. 
 
 It is hoped that, without making any special plea for 
 the red men, that sense of justice which dwells in the 
 heart of every true America?i will lead the members of 
 Congress to give the above reasons a passing consid- 
 eration. 
 
 KAH-GE-GA-GAH-BOWH. 
 
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