In 1759 great exertions were made by the French Indian Department
under General Montcalm to bring a body of Indians into the valley of
the lower St. Lawrence, and invitations for this purpose reached the
utmost shores of Lake Superior. In one of the canoes from that
quarter, which was left on the way down at the mouth of the Utawas,
was a Chippewa girl named Paigwaineoshe, or the White Eagle. While the
party awaited there the result of events at Quebec she formed an
attachment for a young Algonquin belonging to a French mission. This
attachment was mutual, and gave rise to a song of which the following
is a prose translation:
I. Ah me! When I think of him--when I think of him--my
sweetheart, my Algonquin.
II. As I embarked to return, he put the white wampum around my
neck--a pledge of troth, my sweetheart, my Algonquin.
III. I shall go with you, he said, to your native country--I
shall go with you, my sweetheart--my Algonquin.
IV. Alas! I replied--my native country is far, far away--my
sweetheart, my Algonquin.
V. When I looked back again--where we parted, he was still
looking after me, my sweetheart, my Algonquin.
VI. He was still standing on a fallen tree--that had fallen
into the water, my sweetheart, my Algonquin.
VII. Alas! When I think of him--when I think of him--It is when
I think of him, my Algonquin.