In my Canoe, July, 1846.
Red Cedar Lake is the sheet of water Mr. Schoolcraft has attempted to
name after a distinguished friend; I say _attempted_, because the
Indians and traders of the northwest do not recognize his change. I
agree with them in the opinion that it _is not right_ for travellers to
glorify themselves or friends by attempting to supplant with their own,
the original and appropriate names that belong to the rivers and lakes
of our land. If the ambitious can discover _nameless_ wonders, they will
then be privileged to use _them_ in extending their reputations.
Red Cedar Lake takes its Indian name from the tree that mostly abounds
upon its shores. It appears to contain but little more water than
Winnipeg, but it has near its centre a large island, which causes it to
appear much larger on the map. It has a great many bays and several
islands; has a sandy bottom and fine beach; is shallow, clear, and
yields a small white fish, a few trout, and the plebeian varieties
hereafter mentioned as native to the Mississippi. The shores of this
lake are gently undulating, and must have been originally quite
beautiful; but when I was there it was almost without inhabitants, and
the places where once stood large clusters of wigwams, were covered with
bare poles and ashes, and presented a most desolate appearance. The only
family that I saw, was composed of a widow and her children, whose
father had died two winters ago, while crossing the lake on his return
from a hunting expedition. He perished from cold and hunger, while in
full view of the cabin which sheltered his wife and children. And here,
more than a thousand miles from a really comfortable dwelling, lived
this unfortunate widow—ignorant, destitute, and without friends. The
story which she told me, and the wretched picture that her condition
presented, kept me from inquiring into the legendary lore of this lake,
so that I spent my only evening there, listening to the desultory
conversation of my friend Morrison. The _facts_ which I then gathered
are now subjoined.
The entire region watered by the unnumbered lakes of the Upper
Mississippi, including Superior and Michigan, is now inhabited by the
Chippeway nation. The most of it they have acquired by right of
conquest, and principally from the Sioux nation, which is the principal
cause that has so often deluged this territory with blood. Their idea of
the creation is as follows. Originally, when the globe (as they suppose)
was an entire mass of water, the only living creature that existed was
an immense bird, from whose eyes glanced the lightning, and whose voice
was thunder. It so happened that this creature was oppressed with
solitude, and having touched the water with its wings, the continents
immediately appeared; and from the beams of the stars were born the
first race of men, and from the winds all the animals of the earth. The
Chippeways universally acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being,
whom they call Kitchi-Manitou, which signifies Great Spirit, and they
reverence this Being as one from whom nothing but good can proceed. They
also believe in an Evil Spirit, called Matcho-Manitou, who is a hater of
all men, and the source of every misery. They also believe in a great
number of spirits of more limited power than the above; and they have
one of these for the sun and moon, for every lake, river, and mountain,
of any note; and for every season of the year, as well as for every
beast, bird, fish, reptile, and insect, that may have acquired a
reputation among them. To all of these are they in the habit of making
offerings, which are as various as the spirits themselves. Death, with
them, is always looked upon as a matter of course, and a blessing. When
a good man dies they suppose that he is taken across a certain river
into a land of perpetual sunshine, of beautiful woods, streams, and
prairies, where every variety of game is always at hand, and fruit upon
every tree; where they will have nothing to do but love each other, and
live in the enjoyment of perfect peace. When a bad man dies, he is
compelled to attempt to cross another river on a bridge of reeds,
through which he inevitably falls into the angry waters, which are sure
to transport him to a distant country, which is barren, always covered
with snow, and very cold. He is to live there in a state of perpetual
hunger, eternally shivering under the influence of biting winds.
Their manner of winning the title of a Brave, when there is no chance of
distinguishing themselves in war, as at the present time, is to retire
into a lonely nook in the woods, where they remain for six days without
a particle of food. While there, they commemorate each day by making a
notch on a stick, and when they finally make their appearance in the
village, with a stick of six notches, they are welcomed as accomplished
warriors. They are trained, almost from the hour of their birth, to
endure every possible hardship, which ever makes them superior to a
sense of suffering or fear of death. And the two great objects which
prompt them to all this, are, that they may be able always to protect
their relatives and friends from harm, and to shield their country from
every aggression. It is a part of their religion to revenge every wrong,
and when their terrible passions are roused, nothing but blood can stop
them in their march of cruelty. This trait is inherent in their nature,
even as the taste of blood will whet the appetite of the leopard and
lion,—and I know not that the Divine Will, in its wisdom, would have
this state of things altered. If otherwise, it were reasonable to expect
that the hand of God would fall heavily upon the white man, for placing
the yoke of a most bitter oppression upon the unhappy Indian tribes.
Many of the vices which were once almost hidden in their simple natures,
have been ripened into full maturity by the example and allurements of
their civilized brethren. They deeded to us their beautiful domains, and
we have recompensed them with a cup of poison, and the deadly principles
of infidelity. And yet we (as a people) think it just and charitable to
speak of the poor Indian with a curse upon our lips.
The following is an outline of the Indian’s manner of life. In November
he enters his hunting grounds. After remaining in one place until he can
find no more game, he removes to another a few miles off, and so
continues until the whole region is explored and the winter months are
gone. Early in March he settles his family in the maple forests, and
while his wife and children are left to make sugar, he enters alone upon
his spring hunt. Returning in May, he takes his family and pitches his
tent in the vicinity of the various military establishments and trading
houses of the wilderness, where he spends the summer months, feasting,
gaming, and idling away his time. In September he plucks his corn and
gathers his wild rice, and in October prepares himself for the
approaching winter hunt. In the winter they rove about in companies of
about five families, but in summer they congregate in villages.
A few words as to their ideas of marriage. Each man is allowed to have
as many wives as he can support, and it is a singular fact that they
invariably live together in the greatest harmony. Those that are young
and have no children are compelled to act (and they do it willingly) as
servants to those who are mothers. It is also true that some of them are
allowed to retain their virginity until death. Though the Chippeways are
permitted by their customs to have a number of wives, they are generally
so poor that the majority of them have only one. When a young man
fancies himself in love, he invites two or three of his companions to go
with him, and they pay a visit to the loved one’s lodge. During this
visit not one word is uttered by the guests, and when they depart the
Indian lady is left in doubt as to the particular one who thus commences
his loving attack. On the succeeding evening, the lover performs his
visit alone. When he enters, if the lady speaks to him, he is accepted;
if not, he is rejected. If the father offers him a lighted pipe, it is a
sign that his consent is granted; if he does not, and keeps silent, it
is understood that the young man must not persevere. When accepted, the
lover makes some rich presents to the father and mother, and the lovers
are considered husband and wife. Until the bride becomes a mother, she
resides in her father’s lodge, and all the game that the young hunter
kills, is given to his wife’s parents, but the furs to his wife. After
this, the young woman packs up her apparel, which is usually her whole
fortune, and takes up her residence with her husband in a new lodge.
Divorces among the Chippeways are hardly ever known, and adultery is
considered a heinous crime, and always punished with the greatest
severity.
Travelling among the Chippeways may be considered a good deal safer than
it is among the _half savage_ inhabitants of the frontier. The most
dangerous to deal with, are the young men, who, in civilized society,
would be called “snobs.” They are idle, haughty, and revengeful, and the
only right way to treat them is with the utmost coldness. Allow them to
be familiar, and they will soon be impudent and overbearing. Unlike
civilized barbarians, those of the wilderness know not what it is to use
profane language. When they have reason to despise a man, they call him
a bad dog; and when they have chastised such an one, they wear a skunk
skin at one of their heels as a memento of the mean man’s disgrace.
The hospitality of the Chippeways is proverbial. When a stranger enters
their cabin, he is invited to a seat on their best mat, and always
treated with the very best that they possess in the way of food. Visit a
chief at an untimely hour, at midnight for example, and he will arise,
stir up his fire, and give you a pipe with all the air and politeness of
a polished gentleman. Call upon him, when you know that he has reason to
consider you his enemy, and he will not tell you to leave his wigwam,
but it may be that in an unguarded moment, when in your own lodge, he
will cleave your skull with a tomahawk. They are also exceedingly
affectionate, and do every thing in their power to make their children
happy. When a party of them are in a state of starvation, and one
individual happens to have a bear or deer, he will distribute it equally
at a _feast_. They treat their infirm people with tender care; and never
refuse to present to a brother Indian any pipe, weapon, or ornament that
may have been solicited. They extend the same civility to all white men
whom they esteem. As the Chippeway country is mostly covered with a
dense forest, this people are unacquainted with the use of the horse.
Their mode of hunting the buffalo has always been to drive them over
bluffs, or to shoot them while disguised in the skin of a wolf or
buffalo. Their only vehicle is the birchen canoe, so famous for its
beautiful model, its frailty and feathery lightness. The bark of the
birch, out of which it is made, is found in great abundance throughout
their entire territory, and they use it, not only for canoes, but for
their lodges, their grave-houses, their baskets, their mocucks, their
dishes, and exquisitely worked boxes, which they dispose of as
curiosities.