CHAPTER IX [VII of Vol. II]—Sandstone Formation at

the Base of the Rocky Mountains. The Platte within the

Mountains. Granitic Mountains between the Platte

and Arkansa. Castle Rock. Birds. Plants 286

APPENDIX A [Vol. I] 317

APPENDIX B [Vol. I] 329

APPENDIX C [Vol. I] 347

ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME XV

"Distant View of the Rocky Mountains" 269

"View of the Chasm through which the Platte issues from the

Rocky Mountains" 283

PART II OF JAMES'S ACCOUNT OF S. H. LONG'S

EXPEDITION, 1819—1820

Reprinted from Volumes I and II of London edition, 1823

EXPEDITION FROM PITTSBURGH TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS

[PART II]

{209} CHAPTER I {XI}[1]

Further Account of the Omawhaws—Of their Marriages—Of Infancy,

and the Relationship of Parents and Children—Their Old Age.

[1] Chapter xi of volume i of the original London edition.—ED.

IN the Omawhaw nation, numbers of the females are betrothed in marriage

from their infancy; and as polygamy is extremely common, the individual

who weds the eldest daughter, espouses all the sisters successively,

and receives them into his house when they arrive at a proper age.

During her early youth, the daughter continues under the controul of

her parents, with whom she resides, and donations are occasionally

made to her by the lover, which are received by the parents, and

appropriated to their own use, if the addresses of the individual

are favourably received; but should an alliance with him, or with

his family not to be desirable, his presents are rejected, and the

application is not renewed.

Between the age of nine and twelve years, the young wife is

occasionally an invited visitant at the lodge of her husband, in order

that she may become familiarized with his company and his bed. But her

permanent residence is still at the house of her parents, where she

continues until the age of thirteen or fourteen, when the parents give

notice to their son-in-law, that their daughter is of sufficient age

to partake of his bed. The husband then receives his bride without any

formality, and leaving his other wives at home, departs with her upon a

journey of a few days, during which time the marriage is consummated.

On their return, the young wife again dwells in the lodge of her

parents, occasionally {210} visited by her husband, until a general

hunt calls the nation from the village.

During this hunt the husband again takes possession of his bride, whose

parents constantly pitch their lodge near that of the son-in-law.

The husband, previously to introducing his new wife to his lodge,

endeavours to obtain the consent of his other wives; for this purpose

he speaks kindly to them, states the necessity of providing them with a

helpmate to alleviate their burthens, and thus succeeds in his wishes.

The new matrimonial alliance is at first productive of no discord in

the family; but at length the decided partiality, displayed by the

husband in favour of his recent acquisition, engenders much jealousy

in the minds of his elder wives. Quarrels often succeed, which are

sometimes terminated by the natural weapons of the wives, who, after

the liberal use of their voluble tongues, apply for more strenuous

aid to the agency of their teeth and nails, or to the somewhat more

formidable array of tomahawks, clubs, and missiles.

During combats of this nature, the husband remains perfectly neutral,

sitting with his robe drawn over his head. Should the wives succeed in

expelling the recent intruder, who takes refuge in the house of her

parents, the husband endeavours to soothe their anger, and to point out

to them the impropriety of their conduct.

A lecture of this description, to women elated with victory, is not

always received in the same conciliatory disposition with that which

dictated the advice; but sometimes results in another quarrel, which

is terminated by the administration of a few blows on the persons of

his refractory squaws. These will then depart from his lodge, declaring

their determination to live with him no longer; a resolution which,

however, fails with their anger, and they seek a reconciliation. Their

friends apply to the husband in {211} their favour, and are informed

that he was angry when he flogged them, and that he is now sorry for

it. Thus matters are with but little difficulty adjusted; the wives

return home, and are harangued by the husband, after which they proceed

harmoniously together in their domestic employments, until some new

feud arises to disturb the repose of the family.

On the general hunting expeditions, in which the nation separates into

distinct bands, the husband takes with him his favourite wife, whilst

the others accompany the bands in which are their parents. Sometimes,

during a temporary encampment, the husband leaves his favourite for

a few days, on pretence of business, in order to visit one of his

wives in another band. On his return, he perceives the brow of his

favourite to lower with evident displeasure; if his dog approaches

her, she knocks him over with a club, and her child is repulsed with

violence from her side; she kicks the fire about, pulls about the bed,

and exhibits other signs of anger. The husband affects not to notice

her inquietude, but suffers her to proceed in her own way, until the

violence of her anger appears to be in some measure dissipated; he will

then, perhaps, venture to request her to repair his mockasins for the

morrow's hunt. "Take them to your dear wife in the other band," will

most probably be the reply to his solicitation.

Such is sometimes the violence of the displeasure of his squaw,

that he is obliged, through prudential motives, to take refuge in a

neighbouring lodge, where he solaces himself with the pipe, until he

supposes there is no longer danger of being provoked beyond endurance,

so as to be tempted to chastise her; a discipline which she seems

rather to solicit than avoid, that she may have a sufficient excuse

for wreaking her vengeance on her rival, and for giving free vent to

her sentiments and opinions upon her husband, in language of the most

superlatively indecent and opprobrious nature.

{212} When he retires to repose, he invites her to his bed, but

receives a positive refusal: she rolls herself in her covering alone;

but generally, during the night, she becomes pacific, and a negociation

ensues, which restores harmony between them.

The far greater portion of their matrimonial quarrels arise from

jealousy, though many affect to treat this passion with ridicule, or

with indifference.

"Were you ever jealous?" said Sans Oreille,[2] an Oto chief, to Mr.

Dougherty; "I was once fool enough to be jealous, but the passion did

not long torment me; I recollected that women are often alone, their

husband being necessarily often absent a hunting, and even when the

husband is at home, the squaw is under the necessity of going to a

distance for the purpose of bringing water, or collecting wood, when

frequent opportunities occur of being unobserved in the company of

other men; and I am not so silly as to believe that a woman would

reject a timely offer. Even this squaw of mine, who sits by my side,

would, I have no doubt, kindly accede to the opportune solicitations of

a young, handsome, and brave suitor." His squaw laughed heartily, but

did not affect to repel the imputation.

[2] French for "earless." An Osage chief of this name who had been to

Washington, returned to his tribe in Pike's company in 1806. See Coues,

_Expeditions of Zebulon M. Pike_, index.—ED.

Many husbands will take no cognizance whatever of the breach of

conjugal fidelity on the part of the wife; and the offer of one of

their wives for company during the night, though it might call upon

our politeness for a return of thanks, was no cause of surprise to us

during our stay at their villages.[3]

[3] This national trait of extreme hospitality, with respect to the

disposal of the wife, is common to many nations in the various parts

of the world; as amongst the African negroes, and the Laplanders; and,

agreeably to the records of history, amongst the Romans, Spartans, and

others.—JAMES.

A husband of a different temperament of mind, on detecting his wife

in an adulterous act, will rarely endeavour to maim her paramour, or

otherwise seriously injure him by killing his horses or dogs; but {213}

his attention will be chiefly or exclusively directed to his wife, whom

he punishes by cutting off her hair, rarely her ears or nose; sometimes

he resorts to a different punishment, and scarifies her face and head

with his knife, after which she is repudiated, and becomes a common

prostitute.

An inexorable man, thus circumstanced, has been known to abandon his

frail partner, after subjecting her to a punishment very similar to

that inflicted on the incontinent Roman matron, under the authority of

the Emperors.[4]

[4] The allusion is indefinite. In the reign of Augustus a law was

enacted under which conviction for this offense was liable to be

followed by confiscation and banishment; as habitual prostitution was

not so punished, Roman matrons often chose public shame to avoid the

penalties of the law. A law of Justinian made the adultery of a wife

punishable by whipping and confinement in a convent during life, unless

the husband remitted the confinement within two years. See Dorsey,

"Omaha Sociology," in Bureau of Ethnology _Report_, 1881-82, p. 364.—ED.

Mr. Dougherty, being in Ong-pa-ton-ga's lodge, heard the loud voice

of supplication from an unhappy father, whose daughter had been

recently taken in adultery by her husband. "O, great Ong-pa-ton-ga!"

said he, "whose nose is like that of a mule, and who art greater than

the Wahconda himself, condescend to intercede for my daughter with

her cruel husband; do not permit her face to be disfigured, her nose

to be cut off, or the disgrace of the punishment of the prairie to be

inflicted upon her."

A _brave_, who detected his wife in the commission of adultery, offered

her no indignity, but immediately transferred her to the object of her

preference, and accompanied the gift with a horse, and sundry articles

of merchandize.

Even a very remote degree of consanguinity is an insuperable barrier to

the marriage union. This state on the part of the man, seems to be the

result of love for the woman; on that of the squaw, of convenience, or

acquiescence in the will of her parents. On some occasions, however, an

Indian marries through ambitious motives; he is, for instance, aspiring

to the acquisition of a particular dignity; he will then endeavour to

quiet the opposition of some powerful individual, by intermarrying in

his family.

Their connubial attachments are often very strong. {214} An Omawhaw

and his squaw, on a solitary hunting expedition, were discovered at

a distance from their temporary lodge, by a Sioux war-party. They

endeavoured to escape from the enemy, but the squaw was soon overtaken,

struck to the ground, and subjected to the terrible operation of

scalping. The husband, although at this time beyond the reach of

the balls and arrows of the Sioux, seeing his squaw in their hands,

immediately turned upon them, and drawing his knife, the only weapon

he had, furiously rushed amongst them, in order to revenge the death

of his squaw, even with the inevitable sacrifice of his own life; but

he was almost immediately despatched, without having accomplished his

heroic purpose.

In the young squaw, the catamenia, and consequent capability for

child-bearing, we were informed, takes place about the twelfth or

thirteenth year, and the capacity to bear children seems to cease about

the fortieth year; but as superstitious notions prevent these Indians

from taking any note of their ages, these periods are stated with some

hesitation.

When the married squaw perceives that the catamenia does not recur

at the expected period, she attaches a small leathern string to

her girdle, and ties a knot in it, to note the incipient state of

pregnancy, and another knot is added at termination of each successive

moon, as a register of its progress.

When the squaw perceives the approach of this depurating process, she

retires from her family, and erects a little shelter of bark or grass,

supported by sticks, properly arranged, where she makes a fire, and

cooks her victuals alone. She is thus compelled by custom to absent

herself until the expiration of four days, when she returns to her

lodge. During this time she must not approach or touch a horse, as the

{215} Indians believe that such contamination would impoverish that

animal. They sometimes retire, and build their little shelter under a

false pretext, when the real object is to favour the approach of some

esteemed lover, to whom the vigilance of the husband has denied any

other means of obtaining a stolen interview.

The squaw has no need of propitiating the goddess Manageneta,[5] but

during pregnancy continues her usual avocations, and even in its most

advanced stage, she neither bears a lighter burden on her back, nor

walks a shorter distance in a day, than she otherwise would; neither

does she expose herself the less on that account to the inclemencies of

the weather.

[5] Mana Genita, or Genita Mana, in ancient Italian mythology the

goddess who presided at the birth and death of human beings.—ED.

If, on a march, a pregnant woman feels the pains of parturition, she

retires to the bushes, throws the burden from her back, and, without

any aid, brings her infant into the world. After washing in water,

if at hand, or in melted snow, both herself and the infant, she

immediately replaces the burden upon her back, weighing, perhaps,

between sixty and an hundred pounds, secures her child upon the top

of it, protected from the cold by an envelop of bison robe, and then

hurries on to overtake her companions.

It is only at the delivery of the first child that any difficulty is

ever anticipated; and, on this occasion, as there are no professed

midwives, the young wife calls in some friendly matron to assist in

case of need. The aid which these temporary midwives afford, seems to

be limited to the practice of tying a belt firmly about the waist of

the patient, and shaking her, generally in a vertical direction, with

considerable violence. In order to facilitate the birth, a vegetable

decoction is sometimes administered; and the rattle of the rattle-snake

is also given with, it is said, considerable effect. The singular

appendages of this animal are bruised by pounding, or comminuted by

{216} friction between the hands, mixed with warm water; and about the

quantity of two segments constitutes a dose.

The art of _turning_ does not appear to be known, neither is

blood-letting practised in their obstetrics. We heard of no case of

retention of the placenta after parturition, nor of the affection of

longing, or of nausea of the stomach during pregnancy.

On the delivery of her first child, the young mother, who appears to

be but little enfeebled by the process, arises almost immediately,

and attends to the ordinary housework; but she does not, in general,

undergo any laborious occupation, such as cutting and carrying wood,

until the lapse of two or three days. The second child is brought forth

without difficulty, and the parent, after bathing, ties it to a board,

after their usual manner, then proceeds with her daily work, as if

nothing extraordinary had occurred.

Mammary abscess is very rare; a squaw of the Sioux nation died with

this complaint.

Sterility, although it does occur, is not frequent, and seems to

be mostly attributable to the husband, as is evinced by subsequent

marriages of the squaws.

The usual number of children may be stated at from four to six in a

family, but in some families are ten or twelve. Of these the mother has

often two at the breast simultaneously, of which one may be three years

of age. At this age, however, and sometimes rather earlier, the child

is weaned by the aid of ridicule, in which the parents are assisted by

visitors.

The catalogue of the diseases, of both children and adults, probably

bears a similar proportion to that of the white people, and is far

less extensive and appalling. The summer complaint, so destructive

to children in our region, appears to be uncommon with the Omawhaw

infants; but, during their first year, they suffer more from

constipation of the bowels {217} than from any other complaint, but

which is occasionally remedied by passing a small piece of soap (which

is obtained from the traders,) cut into the proper shape, into the

rectum.

Dentition seems to be productive of no great distress; the gums are

never cut, but the teeth are permitted to force their way through. The

shedding of the teeth is also accomplished without much difficulty; the

milk-teeth, being forced out by the permanent ones, either fall from

the mouth, or are gently extracted by the fingers of the parent.

Monstrous births sometimes occur, though rarely; and it is not known

that infants are ever destroyed by their parents in consequence of

deformity, unless the degree of malformation is excessive. The Indians

mention two monsters which were born in their village; one of these

they represent as resembling a white bear, and the other a cray-fish;

they were both destroyed. The husband of the squaw, who gave birth to

the former, said that she must have had connection with a white bear;

but she asserted that the production of the monster was occasioned by

a fright, which she received at seeing her husband suddenly, whilst he

was personating that animal both in dress and gesture.

The magi affect to converse with the fœtus in utero, when the mother

perceives it to be uneasy; they also sometimes venture to predict its

sex.

Abortion is effected, agreeably to the assertions of the squaws, by

blows with the clenched hand, applied upon the abdomen, or by repeated

and violent pressure upon that part, or by rolling on the stump of a

tree, or other hard body. The pregnant squaw is induced thus to procure

abortion, in consequence of the jealousy of her husband, or in order to

conceal her illicit amours, to which all the married squaws, with but

few exceptions, are addicted.

The infant, when recently born, is of a reddish-brown colour; but in

a short time it becomes whitish, {218} though never so pure a white

as that of the children of white people. The change to the national

complexion is then gradual, and independent of exposure; inasmuch as

those parts of their bodies, which are perpetually concealed from the

light, change simultaneously with the face.

The abdomen of the children protrudes very considerably; and the sole

article of dress, which the younger boys wear during the warm season,

is a small belt of cloth around the middle of the abdomen, leaving

every other part of the body perfectly naked. In wintry weather they

have the addition of leggings, mockasins, and a small robe.

The female children are furnished with a short piece of cloth, in

imitation of a petticoat, but destitute of a seam, belted round the

loins, and depending as low as the knees. Their hair, when dressed, is

parted longitudinally on the top of the head, and collected on each

side behind the ear, into a vertical cylindric form, of the length of

five or six inches, decorated with silver and brass rings and ribands;

the line of separation of the hair is coloured with vermilion.

This disposition of the hair into two rolls is generally observed

in the girls, and is often continued one or two years after their

residence with a husband.

The girl is kept in a state of considerable subjection; she habitually

conforms to all the commands of the mother, and is obliged to assist

her in her ordinary occupations; if she is refractory, she receives a

blow upon the head or back from the hand of the mother, but hardly ever

from the father. At the age of four or five years, she is taught the

use of the _hoppas_, and is gradually familiarised to carry burdens.

They are trained up to industry, and are taught to cut wood, to

cultivate maize, to perform the scalp dance, and are early informed

of the sexual relations of men and women, and warned against the arts

which will be aimed at the subjugation of their virtue.

{219} The experienced parent, however, in addition to these salutary

counsels, keeps a vigilant eye to the deportment of her unmarried

daughter, and so sedulously guards her steps, that the arts of

seduction, notwithstanding the free use of the licentiousness of

language, appear to be more rarely triumphant over the Omawhaw maid,

than over the civilized fair.

Hence a prostitute, who has never been married, is of exceedingly rare

occurrence. Yet, notwithstanding the vigilance of the parent, the

daughter sometimes elopes with a favoured lover, but not until she has

ascertained that his intentions are perfectly honourable.

The girl displays the most affectionate regard for her parents, and

grand parents.

Whilst the deportment of the sister is thus trenched and guarded, the

brother roams at large, almost uncontrolled. Should his conduct be at

any time flagrantly outrageous, he will, perhaps, in the anger of his

parents, receive a harsh reproof; but an ill-judged affection soon

prompts them to assuage his grief, and dry his tears, by presents and

soothing expressions. At a very early age he is furnished with a bow

and arrows, with the use of which he delights to employ himself, that

he may be qualified for a hunter and warrior.

From the age of about five years to that of ten or twelve, custom

obliges the boy to ascend to a hill-top, or other elevated position,

fasting, that he may cry aloud to the Wahconda. At the proper season,

his mother reminds him that "the ice is breaking up in the river, the

ducks and geese are migrating, and it is time for you to prepare to go

in clay." He then rubs his person over with a whitish clay, and is sent

off to the hill-top at sunrise, previously instructed by his mother

what to say, and how to demean himself in the presence of the Master of

life. From this elevation he cries out to the great Wahconda, humming a

melancholy tune, and calling on him to have pity on him, and make him a

great hunter, {220} horse-stealer, and warrior. This is repeated once

or twice a week, during the months of March and April.

It is only when his pride is concerned, that the boy is obedient to the

injunctions of his parents; on other occasions he disregards them, or

replies only with ridicule. A boy in anger discharged an arrow at his

mother, which penetrated her thigh; when, instead of chastising him

for the act, she applauded his spirit, declaring him to be a gallant

fellow, the early promise of a great warrior. But though he does not

scruple thus to insult his parents, he would unhesitatingly revenge an

indignity offered them by another.

He soon becomes ambitious of martial distinction, in consequence of

frequently hearing the old warriors narrate their feats of arms, and

eagerly anticipates the age which will justify his enrolling himself in

the ranks of a war-party.

At the age of twelve or thirteen, having received every instruction

respecting their mode of warfare, his wishes are gratified, and he is

accepted as a volunteer in the path of honour.

As an instance of high chivalric ideas sometimes instilled into the

mind of the Indian, which in some cases almost supersede the feelings

of nature, and which are eminently calculated to excite a degree of

enthusiasm in the youthful warrior, the following anecdote may be

narrated.

The Osage nation a few years since marched to attack the Konza village.

They encamped unobserved at a moderate distance from the village, and

despatched two of their warriors with pipes to the Konzas to invite all

their chiefs to a pretended peace conference, and to inform them that

presents of horses and merchandize would be made to them, to compensate

for two individuals of their nation whom the Osages had killed.

The Konzas, suspecting the treachery intended, {221} at first proposed

to put the messengers to death, but on further consideration, supposing

them sincere, the chiefs determined to accompany them. On the following

morning, however, when they were about to set out for the Osage camp,

a chief arose and harangued them, stating that he had had a dream in

the night, from the interpretation of which, he was confident that the

Wahconda was averse to their proposed visit.

This information deterred all from going, with the exception of two,

who mounted their horses and followed the messenger, saying, that

whatever might be the event, the Osages should not be led to believe

that every individual of the nation was afraid to rely upon their faith.

They were, however, soon undeceived. The enemy, who had placed

themselves in ambuscade on each side of the path at a suitable

position, fired on the Konzas, one of whom was killed, and the other

escaped to his people.

The Osages, who had hoped by this ruse de guerre to slaughter all the

chiefs without any loss to themselves, finding their scheme abortive,

rushed on to attack the village.

They were met by about one half their number of Konzas, who, after an

obstinate encounter, repulsed them with considerable loss.

After the action, some one informed Son-ja-nin-ga that his son was

among the slain. "Did he die with his face to the enemy?" said the

father. "He did so," replied the other. "Then he perished nobly,"

rejoined Son-ja-nin-ga, exultingly, and "I will not lament his fall."

This resolution, however, was so much at variance with his sensibility,

that it could not long be maintained. He mounted on the top of his

lodge, and harangued his people on the subject of the martial deeds of

his son, who had already become a distinguished warrior; but when he

spoke of his {222} final scene, he was so absolutely overpowered by

grief, that he precipitated himself from his elevated situation to the

earth; receiving, however, but little injury, he immediately assumed

the state of mourning with its utmost rigours.

At the age of fourteen or fifteen, it is not uncommon for the young

Omawhaw to elope with a married woman, and fly for protection to the

Puncaws.

The home of the young man, until he marries, is his father's house;

but after he thus changes his condition, he repairs to the house of

his father-in-law, until the birth of the first child, when he returns

with his little family to his father's dwelling, where he continues to

reside. On national hunts he provides a separate skin lodge for his

family.

When more advanced in age, and of some little consequence or influence

amongst the people, he unites with two or three families in the

building of a permanent dirt lodge in the village, similar to those

already described of the Konzas.

The labour of erecting this edifice devolves almost exclusively upon

the squaws. The interior is readily furnished; the indispensable

requisites being only a kettle, a wooden bowl, and a couple of horn

spoons, a few skins for a bed and covering, a pillow made of leather

stuffed with hair, and a bison's stomach, instead of a bucket, for

carrying water.

On the death of the husband, the squaws exhibit the sincerity of their

grief by giving away to their neighbours every thing they possess,

excepting only a bare sufficiency of clothing to cover their persons

with decency. They go out from the village, and build for themselves

a small shelter of grass or bark; they mortify themselves by cutting

off their hair, scarifying their skin, and, in their insulated hut,

they lament incessantly. If the deceased has left a brother, he takes

the widow to his lodge after a proper interval, and considers her as

his wife, without any {223} preparatory formality.[6] If the deceased

has not left a brother, the relations of his squaw take her to their

lodges. This lamentation and mortification, which the squaws impose

upon themselves, continue for a period of six or eight months, or even

a year.

[6] This custom is the same with that of the ancient Jews under the law

of Moses, for which we have the authority of St. Luke. "Moses wrote

unto us, if any man's brother die, having a wife, and he die without

children, that his brother shall take his wife, and raise up seed unto

his brother." And Elphinstone, in his account of Caubul, informs us,

that among the Afghauns, as among the Jews, it is thought incumbent on

the brother of the deceased to marry his widow.—JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ The number of Indian customs bearing a similarity to

those of the Hebrews led to the now discarded theory that the former

are descendants of the "lost ten tribes" of Israel.

Many circumstances tend to show that the squaw is susceptible of the

most tender and permanent attachment to an individual of the opposite

sex, and that on the cessation of all hope of a union with the beloved

object, the consequences have sometimes been fatal. Several instances

came to our knowledge, of a young female committing the act of suicide

after marriage with a person, in obedience to the will of her parents,

whilst her affections were devoted to another.

The maternal fondness appears also to be not less exquisite than we

perceive it to be with civilized mothers. The following anecdote may be

cited in support of this observation.

In the year 1814, a trader married a beautiful squaw of one of the

most distinguished families in the Omawhaw nation. This match, on the

part of the husband, was induced by the following circumstances. Being

an active, intelligent, and enterprising man, he had introduced the

American trade to the Missouri Indians, and had gained great influence

amongst them by his bravery and ingenuous deportment. But he at length

perceived that his influence was gradually declining in consequence of

the presence and wiles of many rival traders, to whom his enterprise

had opened the way, and that his customers were gradually forsaking him.

{224} Thus circumstanced, in order to regain the ground he had lost, he

determined to seek a matrimonial alliance with one of the most powerful

families of the Omawhaws. In pursuance of this resolution, he selected

a squaw whose family and friends were such as he desired. He addressed

himself to her parents agreeably to the Indian custom, and informed

them that he loved their daughter, that he was sorry to see her in the

state of poverty common to her nation, and although he possessed a wife

among the white people, yet he wished to have one also of the Omawhaw

nation. If they would transfer their daughter to him in marriage, he

would obligate himself to treat her kindly; and as he had commenced

a permanent trading establishment in their country, he would dwell

during a portion of the year with her, and the remainder with the white

people, as the nature of his occupation required. His establishment

should be her home, and that of her people during his life, as he

never intended to abandon the trade. In return, he expressed his

expectation, that, for this act, the nation would give him the refusal

of their peltries, in order that he might be enabled to comply with

his engagement to them. He further promised, that if the match proved

fruitful, the children should be made known to the white people, and

would probably be qualified to continue the trade after his death.

The parents replied with thanks for his liberal offers, and for

his disposition to have pity on them; they would not object to the

connection, and hoped that their daughter would accept of him as her

husband.

The parents then retired, and opened the subject to the daughter. They

assured her that her proposed husband was a great man, greater than

any of the Omawhaws; that he would do much for her and for them, and

concluded by requesting her to acquiesce in the wishes of the white

man. She replied, that all {225} they said was, without doubt, true,

and that agreeably to his request, she was willing to become his wife.

The agreement being thus concluded, the trader made presents, agreeably

to the custom of the nation, and conducted his interesting prize to his

house.

The succeeding spring the trader departed for the settlements, leaving

her of course at his trading house.

The ensuing autumn she had the pleasure to see him return, having

now conceived for him the most tender attachment. Upon his visit the

following season, she presented him with a fine daughter, born during

his absence, and whom she had nursed with the fondest attention. With

the infant in her arms, she had daily seated herself on the bank of

the river, and followed the downward course of the stream, with her

eye, to gain the earliest notice of his approach. Thus time passed on.

The second year the father greeted a son, and obtained his squaw's

reluctant consent to take their daughter with him on his return voyage

to the country of the white people. But no sooner had he commenced

his voyage, and although she had another charge upon which to lavish

her caresses, than her maternal fondness overpowered her, and she ran

crying and screaming along the river side in pursuit of the boat,

tearing out her long flowing hair, and appearing to be almost bereft of

reason. On her return home she gave away every thing she possessed, cut

off her hair, went into deep mourning, and remained inconsolable. She

would often say that she well knew that her daughter would be better

treated than she could be at home, but she could not avoid regarding

her own situation to be the same as if the Wahconda had taken away her

offspring for ever.

One day, in company with six other squaws, she was engaged in her

agricultural labours, her infant boy being secured to his cradle-like

board, which she {226} had carefully reclined against a tree at a

short distance. They were discovered by a war-party of Sioux, who

rushed towards them, with the expectation of gratifying their vengeance

by securing all their scalps. An exclamation from her companions

directed her attention to the common enemy, and in her fright she

fled precipitately, but suddenly recollecting her child, she swiftly

returned full in the face of the Sioux, snatched her child from the

tree, and turned to save its life, more precious than her own. She

was closely pursued by one of the enemy, when she arrived at a fence

which separated her from the field of the trading house. A moment's

hesitation here would have been fatal; and, exerting all her strength,

she threw the child, with its board, as far as she could on the

opposite side.

Four of the squaws were tomahawked, and the others escaped, of which

number the mother was one, having succeeded in bearing off her child

uninjured.

The trader, on his arrival at the settlements, learned that his white

or civilized wife had died during his absence, and after a short

interval devoted to the usual formalities of mourning, he united his

destinies with another, and highly amiable lady. The second season

his wife accompanied him on his annual voyage up the Missouri, to his

trading house, the abode of his squaw.

Previously to his arrival, however, he dispatched a messenger to his

dependents, at the trading-house, directing them to prevent his squaw

from appearing in the presence of his wife. She was accordingly sent

off to the village of her nation, a distance of sixty or seventy miles.

But she could not long remain there, and soon returned with her little

boy on her back, and accompanied by some of her friends, she encamped

near her husband's residence. She sent her son to the trader, who

treated him affectionately. On the succeeding day the trader sent for

his squaw, and {227} after making her some presents, he directed her

to accompany her friends who were then on their way to their hunting

grounds.

She departed without a murmur, as it is not unusual with the Omawhaws

to send off one of their wives, on some occasions, while they remain

with the favourite one.

About two months afterwards the trader recalled her. Overjoyed

with what she supposed to be her good fortune, she lost no time in

presenting herself before the husband whom she tenderly loved. But

great was her disappointment, when her husband demanded the surrender

of the child, and renounced for the future any association with

herself, directing her to return to her people, and to provide for her

future wellbeing in any way she might choose.

Overpowered by her feelings, on this demand and repudiation, she ran

from the house, and finding a periogue on the river shore, she paddled

over to the opposite side and made her escape into the forest with

her child. The night was cold, and attended with a fall of snow and

hail. Reflecting upon her disconsolate condition, she resolved to

return again in the morning, and with the feelings of a wife and mother

to plead her cause before the arbiter of her fate, and endeavour to

mitigate the cruel sentence.

Agreeably to this determination, she once more approached him, upon

whom she believed she had claims paramount to those of any other

individual. "Here is our child," said she: "I do not question your

fondness for him, but he is still more dear to me. You say that you

will keep him for yourself, and drive me far from you. But no, I will

remain with him; I can find some hole or corner into which I may creep,

in order to be near him and sometimes to see him. If you will not give

me food, I will, nevertheless, remain until I starve before your eyes."

The trader then offered her a considerable present, desiring her at

the same time to go, and leave the {228} child. But she said, "Is my

child a dog, that I should sell him for merchandize? You cannot drive

me away; you may beat me, it is true, and otherwise abuse me, but I

will still remain. When you married me, you promised to use me kindly

as long as I should be faithful to you; that I have been so, no one

can deny. Ours was not a marriage contracted for a season, it was to

terminate only with our lives. I was then a young girl, and might have

been united to an Omawhaw chief; but I am now an old woman, having

had two children, and what Omawhaw will regard me? Is not my right

paramount to that of your other wife; she had heard of me before you

possessed her. It is true her skin is whiter than mine, but her heart

cannot be more pure towards you, nor her fidelity more rigid. Do not

take the child from my breast, I cannot bear to _hear_ it cry, and not

be present to relieve it;[7] permit me to retain it until the spring,

when it will be able to eat, and then, if it must be so, take it from

my sight, that I may part with it but once."

[7] A mode of expression common to the Indians, who are in the habit of

communicating their ideas by allusions to the senses.—JAMES.

Seeing her thus inflexible, the trader informed her that she might

remain there if she pleased, but that the child should be immediately

sent down to the settlements.

The affectionate mother had thus far sustained herself during the

interview with the firmness of conscious virtue, and successfully

resisted the impulse of her feelings; but nature now yielded, the tears

coursed rapidly over her cheeks, and clasping her hands, and bowing

her head, she burst into an agony of grief, exclaiming, "Why did the

Wahconda hate me so much, as to induce me to put my child again into

your power?"

The feelings of the unhappy mother were, however, soon relieved. Mr.

Dougherty communicated {229} the circumstances of the case to Major

O'Fallon, who immediately and peremptorily ordered the restoration

of the child to its mother, and informed the trader that any future

attempt to wrest it from her should be at his peril.

As in civilized communities, so amongst the Indians, quarrels sometimes

occur. There being no legal tribunal to appeal to, amongst the Missouri

Indians, individuals often terminate their animosity by resorting to

arms, and relying upon their own valour or address. This extremity is,

however, sometimes obviated, by the soothing interference of relatives

and friends, or by the violent interposition of a warrior.

Pugilism they despise, regarding it entirely beneath the dignity, even

of an ordinary man, saying that it is only fit for the decision of the

quarrels of children and squaws, and that when a man is called upon to

decide a question by force, he ought to resort to the aid of mortal

weapons.

Hard heart, chief of the Ioways, quarrelled with a trader, near the

mouth of the Platte, and challenged him immediately to single combat,

with any weapons he might choose, either agreeably to the manner of

the whites, or to the usual Indian mode, of either combatant availing

himself of opportunity or stratagem. The trader refusing to fight, Hard

heart departed, declaring he would come again in the morning, in order

to put him to death as a coward; "and," said he, "the Wahconda himself

will not be able to save you." The trader, for security, assembled

around his hut several Oto warriors as a guard, so that when the chief

returned agreeably to his promise, to execute his threat, he could not

gain admittance. After waiting a long time in vain, he at length sent

word to the trader that he forgave him and would not injure him. The

trader on receiving this information, having sufficient confidence in

his good faith, dismissed his guards; and some time {230} afterward,

we observed them riding together, on their return from the Pawnee

villages, to which they had accompanied the Oto nation.

About a twelvemonth before our arrival at Engineer Cantonment, Hashea

(the Cut-nose) and the Brave, two highly distinguished warriors of the

Oto nation, had a very serious quarrel, which their friends could not

perfectly adjust, but only succeeded in preventing a personal combat.

Since our departure for the Rocky Mountains, Major O'Fallon informs us,

that this hostility, still further aggravated by another incident, has

terminated fatally. The nephew of the Brave grossly insulted, by his

pertinacious addresses, the wife of Hashea, whilst the latter warrior

was absent on a war excursion. On his return, being informed of the

indignity offered to his wife, he sought the offender, knocked him

down with his war club, and beat him with great severity. The Brave

was summoned by his friends, who seeing the bruised condition of his

relative, vowed revenge. He provided a large sharp-pointed knife, and

throwing his bison robe over his arm, by way of shield, he sallied

out and passed twice through the village, uttering occasionally, with

a loud voice, a challenge to Hashea to come forth, and decide their

old quarrel by means of the knife. Hashea feared no man, and would

have presented himself before his old enemy at the first call, but

was prevented by some friends who were with him in his lodge; these,

however, after the lapse of a short time, he contrived to elude, and

swiftly sought the Brave. He threw down his blanket, and exclaimed,

"You and I cannot live in the same nation; the time has arrived when

one of us must die." They then closed in fight. The Brave had much

the advantage; he was a large man, and his person was effectually

protected by his robe, which received the thrusts of his adversary's

knife, whilst at every blow the weapon of the Brave was sheathed in

the naked body of the interesting Hashea. {231} The latter was soon

despatched, but as he staggered backwards under the grasp of death, he

aimed a final blow at his antagonist, and had the gratification to see

his blade enter his neck and pass far downward; at which he uttered

a shout of exultation and died. The Brave's wound was mortal, but he

lived long enough to see the features of Ietan, the friend of Hashea,

bent in sternness upon him, and to hear him lament that the conqueror

of his friend, should die without the agency of his arm. The deceased

warriors belonged to the two most powerful bands of the nation. Hashea

was a near kinsman of the Crenier, leader of one band, and the Brave

was a brother of Shongotonga, leader of the other, and principal chief

of the Otos. The consequence of the quarrel involved the whole nation,

and to avoid farther hostilities the bands separated from each other,

into distinct villages, in which situation they now remain.

The designations by which the Omawhaws distinguish their various

degrees of consanguinity are somewhat different in meaning from ours.

Children universally address their father's brother by the title of

_father_, and their mother's brother by that of _uncle_; their mother's

sister is called _mother_, and their father's sister _aunt_. The same

relative designations extend to the step-parents, relatives, and to

those of the grand-parents. The children of brothers and sisters

address each other by the titles of brother and sister. Step-parents

treat their step-children with as much kindness and attention as their

own; and a stranger in the family would not perceive any partiality

shown to the latter; indeed the natural parent exacts such a course of

conduct from the other, and a separation would probably ensue, from an

opposite course being obstinately persevered in, as a parent will on no

account suffer his or her offspring to be abused.

Natural children are generally retained by the {232} mother; but if she

is willing to part with them, or at her death, they are received into

the family of the father, where they experience the same kindness and

attention as his other children; but an Indian will consider himself

insulted, if he is told that he had no proper father or mother.

Some mothers of natural children will not permit them to visit the

father, while she can controul them; they generally remain with the

mother, and support her.

A man applies the title of We-hun-guh, or sister-in-law, to his wife's

sister, until he takes her as his wife; he also calls his wife's

brother's daughter Wehunguh, and may in like manner take her to wife:

thus the aunt and the niece marry the same man.

A man distinguishes his wife's brother by the title of Tahong, or

brother-in-law, and his son also by the same designation. He calls the

wife of his brother-in-law Cong-ha, or mother-in-law.

A woman calls her husband's brother Wish-e-a, or brother-in-law,

and speaks of his children as her own. Her husband's sister she

distinguishes by the title of relationship, Wish-e-cong, or

sister-in-law. Men who marry sisters address each other by the title

of brother. All women who marry the same individual, even though not

previously related, apply to each other the title of sister.

Remote degrees of consanguineous alliance are distinguished by their

various appellatives, and are universally acknowledged.

It is a great singularity in the manners of the Omawhaws that

neither the father-in-law nor mother-in-law will hold any direct

conversation with their son-in-law; nor will he, on any occasion, or

under any consideration, converse immediately with them, although no

ill-will exists between them; they will not, on any account, mention

each other's name in company, nor look in each other's faces; any

conversation {233} that passes between them is conducted through the

medium of some other person.

The Big Elk, Ongpatonga otherwise named Ar-re-cat-ta-wa-ho, which means

Big Elk in the Pawnee language, married the daughter of Me-chah-pa, or

the Horse-head. One day, on a visit to his wife, he entered the lodge

of her father unobserved by him, who was busily engaged in playing

with his dog, rubbing him with his hand, and frequently repeating his

name, which unfortunately happened to be the same with that of the Big

Elk in Pawnee. Mechahpa's wife, hearing her husband repeat this name

in the presence of the son-in-law, after making many winks and signs

without effect, arose from her seat and struck him violently with her

fist upon the back, exclaiming, "You old fool! have you no eyes to see

who is present? you had better jump upon his neck, (meaning that of the

Big Elk) and ride him about like a dog." "Wah!" ejaculated Mechahpa, in

surprise, at the sudden and emphatical salutation, and understanding

the meaning of the address, he ran out of the lodge in confusion.

This extraordinary formality is carried to a great length, and is very

rigidly observed. If a person enters a dwelling in which his son-in-law

is seated, the latter turns his back, covers his head with his robe,

and avails himself of the first opportunity to leave the presence. If

a person visit his wife, during her residence at the lodge of her

father, the latter averts himself, and conceals his head with his robe,

and his hospitality is extended circuitously by means of his daughter,

by whom the pipe is transferred to her husband to smoke. Communications

or queries intended for the son-in-law are addressed aloud to the

daughter, who receives the replies of her husband. The same formality

is observed by the mother-in-law; if she wishes to present him with

food, it is invariably handed to the daughter for him, or if she

happens to be absent for the moment, it is placed on {234} the ground,

and she retires from the lodge, that he may take it up and eat it. A

ten year's separation will not change this custom. The Pawnees have no

such formality, and on that account are said to be great fools.

A Frenchman, married and resident with the Omawhaws, one day

inadvertently mentioned the name of his father-in-law, in presence of

several people, who immediately declared him to be as great a fool as

a Pawnee, thus to have so little respect for his father-in-law, as to

treat him with as little ceremony as he would a dog.

The more distinguished and respectable the parties are, the more

rigidly is this rule observed; and if either of the parties should be

treated otherwise, the departure from the observance would be regarded

as a mark of disrespect for a trifling fellow.

Fraternal affection is very strong and permanent. The chief and almost

exclusive sources of infraction of this natural bias, are adultery with

each other's wives, and conflicting intrigues for the attainment of the

honour of a chieftain.

Two Omawhaw brothers had stolen a squaw from an individual of their

nation, and were on their journey to seek a refuge in the Puncaw

village. But they had the misfortune, in a large prairie, to meet

with a war-party of Sioux, their implacable enemies. They immediately

concealed themselves in a deep ravine, which at bottom was covered

with dry reed grass. The Sioux surrounded this spot, and set fire to

the windward side of the reeds, in order to drive them out. When the

conflagration had nearly reached the fugitives, one of the brothers

remarked, that the Wahconda had certainly not created him to be smoked

out like a racoon; (the Indians smoke this animal out of hollow trees

by kindling a fire at the root;) he urged his brother to attempt his

escape in one direction, whilst he would attract the attention of the

enemy, by sallying out upon them alone, and {235} endeavouring to

destroy as many of them as possible, in anticipated revenge for that

death which he considered as inevitable; "One or both of us," said he,

"must certainly be sacrificed; save yourself if you can; I will be the

victim, and may fortunately receive a death-blow in the conflict, and

thus escape the disgrace of captivity." He then rushed forth amongst

the Sioux, shot one, and with his knife wounded several before he was

dispatched. His brother availing himself of the abstracted attention

of the enemy, effected his escape, but the squaw was burned to death.

In this magnanimous self-devotion, the gallant brother exhibits an

instance of chivalric heroism which would have immortalized a Roman

warrior.

The young men are generally coupled out as friends; this tie is very

strongly knit in youth, but is usually enfeebled by matrimony or the

concerns of more advanced age; yet it is sometimes as lasting as the

life of the individuals.

The Omawhaws, as we before observed, preserve no account of their

ages; they think that some evil will attend the numbering of their

years. Me-chah-pa the Horse-head, who is an intelligent medicine man,

asked one of our party, whom he was informed was an eminent medicine

man of the white people, amongst many other questions, how old he was;

he was answered, about forty-five, at which he expressed his regret

that he had lived so long in the world, and to so little purpose.

Old age amongst the Omawhaws is generally loquacious, but it does not

seem to be distinguished, as in civilized life, by an accumulation of

maladies. Aged Indians, whether male or female, generally continue in

apparent good health to the last, and the visitation of death is most

frequently sudden and unexpected; an instance of this has already been

related, which occurred to old Loutre, an individual of the Missouri

nation.

{236} They become bowed and very much wrinkled with age, and their

joints become less flexible. But their hair does not so generally

change to gray as that of men in a state of civilization. The hair

of the sides of the head, which is so frequently shorn or extracted,

often assumes the gray appearance at a comparatively early age, and is

almost universally of that tint in aged persons; whilst that of the top

and back of the head, which is always permitted to attain a moderate

length, is simply interspersed with a few grey hairs. Many aged squaws

preserve the hair of the usual youthful colour; in others we observe an

intermixture of gray, and it may be remarked that the aged of this sex

are more frequently gray-haired than the men.

We saw a middle aged woman whose hair had pretty generally changed to

gray; but this appearance at her age was so unusual, that the Indians

attributed it to her having infracted the injunctions of her medicine

by eating forbidden food.[8]

[8] Humboldt observes of the natives of New Spain, that "their head

never becomes gray. It is infinitely more rare to find an Indian than

a negro with gray hairs; and the want of a beard gives the former a

continual air of youth. The skin of Indians is also less subject to

wrinkles." In this latter character, at least, it will be perceived,

that our observations on the Missouri Indians do not coincide with

those of the Baron, respecting the natives he describes. Ulloa informs

us, that the symptoms of old age are a beard and gray hairs. But the

natives of the region of the Missouri have certainly no greater density

of beard, when advanced in age, than during their earlier years, though

it is equally certain, that owing to a neglect of personal neatness,

their beard is suffered to grow; yet, agreeably to our opportunities

of judging, its ordinary character of sparse distribution is never

changed.—JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ Catlin notes the common occurrence of gray hair among

the Mandan as a peculiarity of that people; see Smithsonian _Report_,

1885, part ii, p. 82. However, it was not unknown in other tribes.

In proportion as persons of either sex approach to the state of

superannuation, the respect of their family and acquaintances is

withdrawn from them, and they are finally regarded as useless burdens

upon the community. They are subjected to the pranks and ridicule

of the young people, which, however, they seem rather to invite by

drollery, jokes, and stories, than to discourage by a repulsive

demeanour.

The aged men contrive to render themselves useful by assisting the

squaws in their culinary operations, and by haranguing; a service for

which their loquacity eminently qualifies them.

The aged squaws can generally assist in light employments, such as

making and mending mockasins, leggings, stringing beads, &c.; but

during the rigours of winter they are generally seated near the door

of the travelling lodge, partially defended from the cold by an old

ragged robe, and occupied with {237} the menial service of pushing up

the half-burned pieces of wood to the fire, and driving out the dogs;

in this situation they are more exposed to the weather than any other

inmate of the tenement.

Though thus neglected, the aged are not permitted to suffer from

hunger, when in the village, if food can be obtained. But when they

become helpless on a march, and the transporting of them is attended

with much difficulty, it is considered unavoidable to abandon them to

their fate; with this view a small grass shelter is erected for them,

in which some food is deposited, together with wood and water. When

thus abandoned by all that is dear to them, their fortitude does not

forsake them, and the inflexible passive courage of the Indian sustains

them against despondency. They regard themselves as entirely useless,

and as the custom of the nation has long led them to anticipate this

mode of death, they attempt not to remonstrate against the measure,

which is, in fact, frequently the consequence of their earnest

solicitation.

In this situation the devoted man sings his war-songs to the Wahconda,

narrating the martial exploits of his youth, and finally chaunts his

death-song.

If on the return of the nation from the hunt, he is still living, his

family or friends take him with them to the village, and guard him from

want until the succeeding general expedition.

{238} CHAPTER II {XII}

Diseases—Medical and Surgical Knowledge—Drunkenness, and other

Vices—Ideas of God, and of a Future State—Superstition, and

Practice of the Magi—Expiatory Tortures.

THE Omawhaws endure sickness and pain with great fortitude; most of

them, when thus afflicted, rarely uttering a murmur. Their catalogue

of diseases, and morbid affections, is infinitely less extensive than

that of civilized men.

Rheumatism is rare, and gout appears to be unknown. No case of phthisis

or jaundice fell under our observation. King's-evil is not uncommon,

and although they have no reliance on the sanative touch of a king

or chief, yet, as their practice seems confined to an inefficacious

ablution with common water, many fall victims to the disease. Many are

also afflicted with ulcers, which sometimes terminate fatally. Decayed

teeth are rare. Plica polonica is unknown. Baldness seems to be also

unknown, the hair being always retained, however advanced the age of

the individual.

Nymphomania occurred in the person of a widow, who was thus afflicted

about two months; her symptoms were attended with an effusion of blood

from the nose. On her recovery, she attributed the disorder to the

operation of some potent mystic medicine.

Hypochondriasis seems to be unknown. Canine madness also appears to

be without an example, their dogs not having yet been visited by

the disease. [239] They are rarely afflicted with dysentery, though

children are sometimes subject to it in consequence of eating unripe

fruits, such as plums, grapes, and maize. They are never known to be

subject to the _coup de soleil_,[9] although they travel for days and

even weeks over the unsheltered prairies, without any covering whatever

for the head, which is consequently exposed to the full radiance of the

sun, both in a state of activity and quiescence. White men residing

with them, and who have partaken in their hunts, and consequent

insolation, have been visited with this distressing affection,

although their heads were protected invariably by hats or handkerchiefs.

[9] Sunstroke.—ED.

The cuticle of these Indians is not known to have been acted upon by

contact with poisonous plants, though white men travelling with them

have experienced the effects of the usual deleterious properties of

the poison vine (rhus radicans,) which is, to a certainty, abundant in

proper situations in the Missouri country. What effects would result

from the application of this plant to the only part of the body of

the Indian which is never exposed to the direct influence of external

causes, is a subject deserving of experimental inquiry.

The hare-lip sometimes occurs, but it may be properly considered as

still more rare than amongst white people.

Frosted limbs are treated by immersion in cold water, so as gradually

to restore the lost temperature of the part. The magi also perform over

them their mystic rites, amongst which the only topical application is

made by chewing some roots and blowing the fragments, and accompanying

saliva violently upon the part, with many antic capers.

Goiture and wens are not known. Fevers, and fever and ague, are

exceedingly rare. Ophthalmic diseases, and casualties affecting the

eye, are frequent. The eyes of children are sometimes injured or

destroyed by missiles, in incautious play or juvenile {240} rencontres.

But blindness is more frequently the effect of the gradual operation

of disease. The eyes become sore and the lids inflamed; white opake

maculæ, after some time, appear in the eye, which enlarge until they

cover it entirely, and prevent the ingress of light. It is probable

that they possessed no rational remedy for this evil previously to

their acquaintance with the traders, excepting the extracting of blood

from the temple by their process of cupping; the traders, however, have

taught them to remove the opacity, by blowing burnt alum into the eye

through a quill, a remedy so familiar in the veterinary art. To this

disease children as well as adults are obnoxious.

Another ophthalmia, which also results in the destruction of the

faculty of vision, commences with a superabundant secretion of the

fluid of the lachrymal duct, succeeded by inflammation of the lids; the

sight becomes gradually debilitated, until at length the pupil assumes

an opake white appearance; probably fistula lachrymalis.

Temporary blindness, which sometimes eventuates in permanent loss of

sight, occurs during the winter to incautious travellers who pass

over the prairies covered with snow, from which the solar light is so

brilliantly reflected. A party that accompanied Mr. Dougherty on a

journey, being thus exposed, became unable to distinguish objects, and

had not his sight been preserved, they might never have regained their

stockade.

The blind are not neglected by their family and friends; on the

contrary, we had several opportunities of observing them to be well

clothed and fed, and much at their ease. When superannuated, however,

they are not exempted from the fate attendant on that state.

An affection, or pain in the breast, distinguished by the name of

Mong-ga-ne-a, seems to be the consequence of excessive indulgence in

tobacco, and the {241} habitual inhaling of the smoke of it into the

lungs. In their attempts to alleviate this complaint, the magi affect

to extract from the part, by suction, balls and pellets of hair, and

other extraneous substances, which they had previously concealed in

their mouths for the purpose of deceiving the patient.

An individual applied to one of our party to cure him of this pain,

but being advised to desist from the indulgence of tobacco smoking, he

appeared rather willing to bear with his disease.

They sometimes say that their liver pains them, a disorder which they

call Ta-pe-ne-a.

They are not exempt from catarrhs, the consequence of great exposure to

sudden vicissitudes of temperature; a disease similar to the influenza

is sometimes prevalent, and known by the name of Hoh-pa.

A deaf and dumb boy occurred in the Oto nation; an adult with a curved

spine; and another with an inflexible knee, the leg forming a right

angle with the thigh. But we have not observed any one of them with

either eye deviating from the true line of vision.

The medical and surgical knowledge of the Omawhaws is very

inconsiderable, and what there is, is so much blended with ceremonies,

which to us appear superstitious, inert, and absurd, that it would

seem, that, with the exception of a few instances, they have no

reasonable mode of practice.

Sweating-baths are much in estimation, and are used for the cure of

many ailments. These are temporary constructions, generally placed near

the edge of a water-course; they are formed of osiers, or small pliant

branches of trees, stuck into the soil in a circular arrangement, bent

over at top so as to form a hemispherical figure, and covered in every

part with bison robes. They are of different sizes, some are calculated

to contain but a single individual, whilst others afford space for

five or six at once. The invalid enters with a kettle of water and

some heated {242} stones, on which the water is sprinkled until the

steam produced is sufficient for his purpose. When they conceive that

his perspiration has been as profuse as necessary, he is taken out

and plunged into the water, and even if the stream be covered with

ice, this is broken to admit the patient. He is not subjected a second

time to the action of the steam, but covers himself with his robe and

returns home.

We did not learn that they possessed any knowledge of cathartic or

emetic medicines. But as a substitute for the latter, a feather is

thrust down the throat, until its irritating effect produces vomiting.

For the cure of cholic, warm topical applications are made, and the

abdomen is kneaded with the fist.

They have no substitute whatever for opium, and we do not know that

they have any for mercury.

For the alleviation of an internal local pain, a severe remedy is

sometimes resorted to. A portion of the medullary substance of a plant,

is attached to the skin over the part affected, by means of a little

spittle; it is then touched with fire, and burns slowly down to the

skin, upon which a vesication is soon produced, and accomplishes the

object intended, of removing, at least for a time, the internal pain to

the surface. This seems to be the only species of actual cautery made

use of.

The Indians, who reside in the upper regions of the Missouri, practise

bleeding for various ailments. This operation is sometimes performed

with a knife or arrow point. At other times, and not unusually, a sharp

stone is placed upon the part from which blood is to be drawn, and it

is then struck with a stick, much in the same manner that veterinarians

operate with the phlegm. They thus bleed in the arm, thigh, leg, &c.

They never dissect the human body, expressly for the purpose of

acquiring a knowledge of its structure; but they have a general idea

of the position of the vitals and viscera, acquired upon the field of

battle, {243} by their custom of hacking the carcasses of the slain; a

knowledge which teaches them on what part of the body of an enemy to

strike, in order that the wound may be mortal.

Gun-shot wounds are administered to by the magi, who powwow over them,

rattle their gourds and sing, whilst they chew roots and blow out the

fragments and saliva on the part. But the efficient practice in cases

of wounds of this nature, is their system of depuration by means of

suction; they apply their lips to the wound, and draw out the pus as it

is secreted; by this mode of treatment they seem to be very successful

in the cure of gun-shot wounds.

Amputation of limbs is not practised in their surgery.

The wound produced by the arrow, is treated much in the same manner

with that of the gun-shot, after the weapon is thrust through the

part, in the direction in which it entered; or, if this cannot be

accomplished, the arrow is withdrawn, and the head or point being very

slightly attached to the shaft, remains in the body, unless the wound

is superficial, in which case it is cut out with a knife.

A broken limb is extended to its place, and enveloped with a leathern

strap; the union generally takes place promptly, but the member usually

remains more or less bent or crooked.

They have no rational mode of treating the scalp wound. A squaw who

had been scalped, covered the part, after its edges had healed, with

a peruke made of bison hair, until the hair on the other parts of her

head became of sufficient length to conceal the deformity.

Dislocated members are reduced by extension, but with so little art,

that they are frequently unsuccessful, and the limb remains permanently

disjointed.

The Omawhaws are entirely destitute of all condiments, with the

exception of salt, which, however, in their eating, they rarely use.

{244} Confirmed insanity appears to be unknown.

Every person, in any degree conversant with Indian manners and customs,

is struck with their proneness to that most abominable and degrading

of all vices, intoxication from the use of spirituous liquors. The

Missouri Indians, collectively, form no exception to this general

trait. A member of the Pawnee war party, which we so unfortunately

encountered near the Konza village, was more solicitous to obtain a

draft of this pernicious beverage, than to possess any other article

within his view. We, however, persisted in refusing it to him, although

he fell upon his knees, and laid his hands convulsively upon his

breast and stomach, crying out, with a voice and manner of earnest

supplication, "Whiskey, whiskey." The vice of drunkenness is yet,

however, extremely rare in the Pawnee, as well as the Konza nation.

But the Omawhaws are much addicted to it, and, with the exception of

the chiefs, the indulgence does not, in any very considerable measure,

degrade them in the estimation of their countrymen, who regard it as a

delightful frolick; unless, indeed, the indulgence is permitted to grow

into a habit.

To this cause, more especially than to any other, is perhaps

attributable the depreciation of the influence of Ongpatonga,

notwithstanding the efforts of his comparatively superior intellectual

abilities.

The greatest offences and insults are overlooked if committed in this

state, and even murder is palliated by it. The actions of drunken

Indians, are as ridiculous and puerile as those of civilized drunkards;

chiefs, warriors, and common men, roll indiscriminately on the earth

together, or dance, caper, laugh, cry, shout, fight, or hug and kiss,

and rub each other with their hands, in the most affectionate or stupid

manner. If in the vicinity of white people, they appoint some of their

number to remain sober, in order to prevent injury or insult being

offered to them.

{245} The squaws sometimes tie them with cords, in order to preserve

the peace, and are thanked for their precaution, when the subjects

return to the dignity of reason.

Squaws, however, will themselves get drunk on certain occasions, and

children are frequently intoxicated with liquor given them by the

parents.

Whiskey, which is the only spirituous liquor they are acquainted with,

is furnished to them freely by the traders; and the existing law of the

United States, prohibiting the sale of it to the natives, is readily

evaded, by presenting it to them with a view of securing their custom,

not in direct, although implied exchange for their peltries. Nor is

this greatest of evils in the power of the agent to remedy; and until

traders are effectually interdicted, by law, from taking any whiskey

into the country, even for their own consumption, it must, in defiance

of his authority, continue to exist.

Whiskey is distinguished by the appellation of Pa-je-ne, or

_fire-water_, the letter _j_ having the French sound in pronunciation.

The state of intoxication is called Ta-ne, a word which has a singular

affinity with that by which they distinguish meat broth, or _meat

water_; so great indeed is the similarity in sound between them, that

to our ear they appear identical.

Intoxicating drinks do not appear to be ever made use of by the

Omawhaws, for superstitious purposes.

This people believe firmly in an existence after death; but they do

not appear to have any definite notions as to the state in which they

shall then be. And although they say that many reappear after death

to their relatives, yet such visitants communicate no information

respecting futurity. They consist of those only who have been killed

either in battle with the enemy, or in quarrels with individuals of

their own nation, and their errand is to solicit vengeance on the

perpetrators of the deed.

{246} Futurity has no terrors to the dying Omawhaw. as he has no

idea of actual punishment beyond his present state of existence. He,

however, regrets the parting from his family and friends, and sometimes

expresses his fears that the former will be impoverished, when his

exertions for their support shall be withdrawn.

The Wahconda is believed to be the greatest and best of beings, the

creator and preserver of all things, and the fountain of mystic

medicine. Omniscience, omnipresence, and vast power are attributed to

him, and he is supposed to afflict them with sickness, poverty, or

misfortune, for their evil deeds. In conversation he is frequently

appealed to as an evidence of the truth of their asseverations, in the

words Wahconda-wa-nah-kong, the Wahconda hears what I say; and they

sometimes add Mun-ekuh-wa-nah-kong, the earth hears what I say.

Whatever may be the notions of other Indian nations, we did not learn

that the Omawhaws have any distinct ideas of the existence of the

devil; or at least we always experienced much difficulty and delay,

when obtaining vocabularies of this and some other languages in

ascertaining corresponding words for _Devil_ and _Hell_: the Indians

would consult together, and in one instance the interpreter told us

they were coining a word.

They say that after death, those who have conducted themselves

properly in this life, are received into the Wa-noch-a-te, or town

of brave and generous spirits; but those who have not been useful to

the nation or their own families, by killing their enemies, stealing

horses, or by generosity, will have a residence prepared for them in

the town of poor and useless spirits; where, as well as in the good

town, their usual avocations are continued.

Their Wahconda seems to be a Protean god; he is supposed to appear

to different persons under different forms. All those who are

favoured with his {247} presence become medicine men or magicians, in

consequence of thus having seen and conversed with the Wahconda, and of

having received from him some particular medicine of wondrous efficacy.

He appeared to one in the shape of a grizzly bear, to another in

that of a bison, to a third in that of a beaver, or owl, &c., and

an individual attributed to an animal, from which he received his

medicine, the form and features of the elephant.

All the magi, in the administration of their medicine to the sick

or afflicted, mimic the action and voice, variously exaggerated and

modified, of the animal, which, they say, is their respective medicine,

or in other words, that in which the Wahconda appeared to them.

When a magician is called to attend a sick person, he makes

preparations for the visit by washing and painting with red clay; some

of them dress fantastically, but others retain their ordinary apparel,

which does not distinguish them from their neighbours; they take with

them a dried gourd or skin, in which are some pebbles or plumstones,

to make a rattling noise; the medicine bag is also an indispensable

requisite, not for the active properties of its contents, but for the

mystic virtues ascribed to them.

When in presence of his patient, he assumes the proper gravity of

deportment, and commences his operations by smoking his pipe, and

talking to his Wahconda; after this preparatory ceremony, the medicine

bag is opened, and the contents displayed, consisting of white and red

earth, herbs entire or pulverized, &c. Portions of these are mixed with

warm water, in small wooden cups, with which he is provided. Then, with

a due degree of solemnity, he advances to his patient, and inquires

into the nature of his ailment; he feels the part affected with his

hand, and in case of local pain, he scarifies the part with a flint,

and proceeds to suck out the blood, {248} having previously taken a

small quantity of water in his mouth. He applies his lips to the wound,

and sucks with great force, drawing a considerable quantity of blood,

which he occasionally ejects into a bowl, in which some dirt or ashes

had been previously sprinkled.

He makes much noise in the operation, by inhaling and expelling the

air forcibly through his nostrils, and at the same time jerks his head

from side to side, tugging at the part to facilitate the process. The

depletion produced by this method, is sometimes so considerable that

the patient becomes relaxed and pallid.

It has been remarked, that those practitioners have very tumid lips,

and this remark is verified in those of Mon-cha-wahconda, or medicine

grizzly bear, whom we have frequently seen.

If the patient has no local pain, the magician administers some of his

simples, sometimes internally, but generally by friction between his

warmed hands, and the breast or abdomen of the patient. At intervals

during this operation, and after the termination of it, he rattles his

gourd with violence, singing to it with great vehemence, and throwing

himself into grotesque attitudes. All this is sometimes daily repeated,

until the convalescence or death of the patient.

A wealthy man, when sick, will sometimes send to a great distance for a

celebrated practitioner, who, if not already engaged, removes with his

family and lodge to the vicinity of the afflicted.

The compensation for all this attendance and powwowing, is proportioned

to the violence and duration of the complaint, and to the wealth of

the individual; it is frequently exorbitant, and consists of horses,

kettles, blankets, &c., which, although they are never demanded, yet

the magician does not fail to allude to some of them as objects of his

wishes, and {249} the gratitude of the patient seldom fails on this

occasion. If the patient dies, notwithstanding all this necromancy, he

is said to be summoned by the Wahconda, and the fee or present to the

magician is made by the relatives or friends of the deceased.

These men sometimes pretend to the spirit of prophecy. One of them

ventured to predict, that two squaws who had recently married white

men, would die in the course of a very short time, which he specified.

The squaws being much alarmed at the prospect of approaching death,

took with them some tobacco and other presents, and went in search of

the prophet in order to prevail upon him to intercede for them with

the Wahconda, and avert their doom. The husband of one of the squaws,

a citizen of the United States, hearing of the occurrence, went to

the lodge of the magician. He was surprised to see there the squaws

perfectly naked before the magician, who had provided himself with a

large kettle of warm water, and was himself engaged in squirting the

water from his mouth over their persons. The husband, incensed at what

appeared to him to be nonsense and imposition, kicked over the kettle

of holy water, and drove the squaws home to their lodges; but the

magician, having received the presents, which were the objects of his

swindling cunning, pretended that his incantation had had the desired

effect with the Wahconda, inducing him to spare their lives.

Many are the impostures which these priests practise on the credulity

of the people. And although they are frequently defeated in their

attempts to deceive, and justly punished for their hypocritical

villainy, yet the advantage of experience seems to profit them little,

and deception, practised under a new garb, often attains its ends. How

can we wonder at this facility, with which a simple people are blinded,

through the medium of their superstitious faith, when we know that

infinitely more {250} monstrous absurdities obtain the inconsiderate

assent, or excite the fears of thousands of civilized men, in the

most populous and enlightened cities of Europe and America, and that

the horse-shoe, even at this day, is frequently seen attached to the

threshold of a door, as a security against the entrance of a witch?

One of these magi acquired a high repute in several of the Missouri

nations, by impressing them with the belief, that his body was

indestructible to human power, and that if cut into a thousand

fragments, and scattered to the winds, these portions would all

promptly assemble together again, and become revivified, so that he

would receive no injury from the operation. Trusting to his fame, on

some slight provocation, he killed a squaw in the midst of her own

people, and with the most unbounded confidence, surrendered himself

to her exasperated relatives, declaring with exultation that they

possessed not the power to harm him.

Unexpectedly, however, they put his vaunted supernatural constitution

to the test, by dividing his body into pieces, and scattering them

about the vicinity of the village.

They are so entirely habituated to practising the arts of deception,

that it would seem they sometimes persuade themselves that what was

at first only feigned, is in truth reality, and that their magic

absolutely possesses its attributed healing virtue. One of these

men, being on a visit to the Pawnee villages, was present at a kind

of grand incantation, during which many extraordinary feats were

exhibited. He there saw, for the first time, the mountebank trick, of

appearing to cut off the tongue, and afterwards replacing the severed

portion without a wound. "There," said Katterfelto, "your medicine

is not strong enough to enable you to perform this operation." The

stranger, jealous of his national honour, and unwilling to be exceeded,

unhesitatingly {251} drew forth his knife, and actually cut off nearly

the whole of his tongue, and bled to death before their eyes.

In the country of the Crow Indians, (Up-sa-ro-ka,)[10] Mr. Dougherty

saw a singular arrangement of the magi. The upper portion of a

cotton-wood tree was implanted with its base in the earth, and around

it was a sweat house, the upper part of the top of the tree arising

through the roof. A gray bison skin, extended with oziers on the inside

so as to exhibit a natural appearance, was suspended above the house,

and on the branches were attached several pairs of children's mockasins

and leggings, and from one of the limbs of the tree, a very large fan

made of war eagle's feathers was dependent.

[10] The Crows, whom the French called _Gens des Corbeaux_, were an

important tribe of the Siouan family. Lewis and Clark estimated their

numbers at three thousand five hundred; they lived on the Yellowstone

River. Nearly two thousand still reside on the Crow reservation in

Montana.—ED.

The Missouri Indians believe earthquakes to be the effect of

supernatural agency, connected, like the thunder, with the immediate

operations of the Master of Life. The earthquakes which, in the year

1811, almost destroyed the town of New Madrid of the Mississippi,

were very sensibly felt on the upper portion of the Missouri country,

and occasioned much superstitious dread amongst the Indians. During

that period, a citizen of the United States resided in the village

of the Otos, trading for the produce of their hunts. One day he was

surprised by a visit of a number of Otos in anger. They said that a

Frenchman, who was also trading in the village, had informed them,

that the Big-knives had killed a son of the Master of Life; that they

had seen him riding on a white horse in a forest country, and being of

a sanguinary disposition, they had waylaid and shot him. And it was

certainly owing to this act that the earth was now trembling before the

anger of the great Wahconda. They believed the story implicitly, and it

was with no little difficulty that the trader divested his own nation

of the singular crimination.[11]

[11] Many individuals attach small bags, of the size of the end of

the thumb, to various parts of their dress, as talismanic preventives

of personal injury. The custom of sacrificing their clothes to the

medicine is unknown to the Omawhaws, but it is practised with the

Upsaroka and some other nations.—JAMES.

{252} As connected with the superstitions of the Missouri Indians,

we may mention some anecdotes that came to our knowledge. First,

of the Me-ma-ho-pa or medicine stone of the _Gros ventres_, or

Minnetarees.[12] This is a large, naked, and insulated rock, situate

in the midst of a small prairie, at the distance of about two days'

journey, southwest of the village of that nation. In shape it resembles

the steep roof of a house. The Minnetarees resort to it, for the

purpose of propitiating their Man-ho-pa or Great Spirit, by presents,

by fasting, and lamentation, during the space of from three to five

days.

[12] The tribe here mentioned belonged to the Siouan family, and

its numbers were estimated by Lewis and Clark at two thousand five

hundred. Their chief village was situated on Knife River, North Dakota.

Minitaree means "to cross water;" Grosventres is French for "Big

Bellies." The proper name of this tribe is Hidatsa, which distinguishes

it from an unrelated tribe farther west, to which both of the former

appellations are sometimes applied—generally with the addition "of the

Prairie;" the Hidatsa being known as Grosventres (or Minitaree) "of the

Missouri." Their numbers were thinned by an epidemic in 1837, and in

1845 they removed some sixty miles farther up the Missouri, where they

were joined by the Mandan, and later (1862) by the Arikara. About four

hundred and fifty Hidatsa now live on the Fort Berthold Reservation, in

North Dakota.—ED.

An individual, who intends to perform this ceremony, takes some

presents with him, such as a gun, horse, or strouding, and also

provides a smooth skin, upon which hieroglyphics may be drawn, and

repairs to the rock accompanied by his friends and magi. On his

arrival, he deposits the presents there, and after smoking to the

rock, he washes a portion of the face of it clean, and retires with

his fellow devotees to a specified distance. During the principal

part of his stay, he cries aloud to his god to have pity on him; to

grant him success in war and in hunting; to favour his endeavours to

take prisoners, horses, and scalps from the enemy. When the appointed

time for lamentation and prayer has elapsed, he returns to the rock;

his presents are no longer there, and he believes them to have been

accepted and carried off by the Manhopa himself. Upon the part of

the rock, which he had washed, he finds certain hieroglyphics traced

with white clay, of which he can generally interpret the meaning,

particularly when assisted by some of the magi, who were no doubt privy

to the whole transaction. These representations are supposed to relate

to his future fortune, or to that of his family or nation; he copies

them off with pious care {253} and scrupulous exactness upon the skin

which he brought for the purpose, and returns to his home, to read from

them to the people, the destiny of himself or of them. If a bear be

represented, with its head directed towards the village, the approach

of a war party, or the visitation of some evil, is apprehended. If, on

the contrary, the tail of the bear be towards the village, nothing but

good is anticipated, and they rejoice. They say that an Indian, on his

return from the rock, exhibited to his friends, on his hieroglyphical

chart, the representation of a strange building, as erected near the

village; they were all much surprised and did not perfectly comprehend

its meaning; but four months afterwards, the prediction was, as it

happened, verified, and a stockade trading house was erected there, by

the French trader Jessaume.[13]

[13] See sketch of Jessaume given in Bradbury's _Travels_, in our

volume v, note 94.—ED.

Lewis and Clark inform us that the Mandans have a similar oracle.

At the distance of the journey of one day and a half from

Knife-creek,[14] which divides the larger and smaller towns of the

Minnetarees from each other, are situate two conical hills, separated

by about the distance of a mile. One of these hills was supposed to

impart a prolific virtue to such squaws as resorted to it for the

purpose of crying and lamenting, for the circumstance of their having

no male issue.

[14] There are two streams in the Minitaree country now bearing the

names respectively of Knife River and Little Knife River. The former

flows from the west and debouches in Mercer County, North Dakota, just

above Lewis and Clark's camp (Fort Mandan) in the winter of 1804-05.

Little Knife River flows from the northeast; its mouth is at the

northern line of the Fort Berthold Indian reservation.—ED.

A person one day walking near the other mount, fancied he observed

upon the top of it, two very small children. Thinking they had strayed

from the village, he ran towards them to induce them to return home;

but they immediately fled from him, nor could his utmost speed overtake

them, and in a short time they eluded his sight. Returning to the

village, the relation of his story excited much interest, and an

Indian set out next day, mounted on a fleet horse, to take the little

strangers. On the approach of this individual to the mount, he also

saw the children, who ran away as before, and although he endeavoured

to overtake them by lashing the horse into {254} his utmost swiftness,

the children left him far behind. But these children are no longer to

be seen, and the hill once of singular efficacy in rendering the human

species prolific, has lost this remarkable property—A change, which

the magi attribute to the moral degeneracy of the present generation

of the _Gros ventres_. Thus, like many of the asserted supernatural

occurrences in the civilized world, these are referred back, in their

obscure tradition, "out of harm's way."

Lewis and Clark, however, inform us, that the Sioux have a belief

somewhat similar, respecting a hill near Whitestone River,[15] which

they fable to be at present occupied by a small and dangerous race of

people, about eighteen inches high, and with remarkably large heads,

who, having killed three Omawhaws a few years since, have inspired all

the neighbouring Indians with a superstitious dread. Although these

intrepid travellers visited the haunted hill, they were happy enough to

escape the vengeance of its Lilliputian inhabitants.

[15] The present Vermillion River, of Clay County, South Dakota.—ED.

With this absurd, but somewhat poetical fable, may be classed the

asserted discovery of Lilliputian skeletons of men on the banks of the

Merameg river, and the osteological acumen of the discoverers of those

relics, may derive all the support which their theory is susceptible of

receiving, from the story of these visionary beings.

Annually, in the month of July, the Minnetarees celebrate their great

medicine dance, or dance of penitence, which may well be compared with

the Currack-pooja of the expiatory tortures of the Hindoos, so often

celebrated at Calcutta. On this occasion a considerable quantity of

food is prepared, which is well cooked, and served up in their best

manner. The devotees then dance and sing to their music at intervals,

for three or four days together in full view of the victuals, without

attempting to taste of them. But they do not, even at this time, forego

{255} their accustomed hospitality. And if a stranger enters, he is

invited to eat, though no one partakes with him. On the third or fourth

day, the severer expiatory tortures commence, to which the preceding

ceremonies were but preludes. An individual presents himself before one

of the officiating magi, crying and lamenting, and requests him to cut

a fillet of skin from his arm, which he extends for that purpose. The

devout operator thrusts a sharp instrument through the skin near the

wrist, then introduces the knife, and cuts out a piece of the required

length, sometimes extending the excision entirely to the shoulder.

Another will request bands of skin to be cut from his arm. A third will

have his breast flayed, so as to represent a full moon or crescent.

A fourth submits to the removal of concentric arcs of skin from his

breast. A fifth prays the operator to remove small pieces of skin from

various indicated parts of his body; for this purpose an iron bodkin is

thrust through the skin, and the piece is cut off, by passing the knife

under the instrument.

Various are the forms of suffering which they inflict upon themselves.

An individual requests the operator to pierce a hole through the skin

of each of his shoulders, and after passing a long cord through each

of these holes, he repairs to a Golgotha at some distance from the

village, and selects one of the bison skulls collected there. To the

chosen cranium he affixes the ends of his cords, and drags it in this

painful manner to the lodge, round which he must go with his burden,

before he can be released from it. No one is permitted to assist him,

neither dares he to put his own hands to the cords, to alleviate his

sufferings. If it should so happen that the horns of the cranium get

hooked under a root or other obstacle, he must extricate it in the

best manner he can, by pulling different ways, but he must not touch

the rope or the head with his hands, or in any respect attempt to

relieve the painful strain upon his wounds, until his complete task is

performed.

{256} Some of the penitents have arrows thrust through various muscular

parts of their bodies, as through the skin and superficial muscles of

the arm, leg, breast, and back.

A devotee caused two stout arrows to be passed through the muscles of

his breast, one on each side, near the mammæ. To these arrows cords

were attached, the opposite ends of which were affixed to the upper

part of a post, which had been firmly implanted in the earth for the

purpose. He then threw himself backward, into an oblique position,

his back within about two feet of the soil, so as to depend with

the greater portion of his weight by the cords. In this situation

of excruciating agony, he continued to chaunt and to keep time to

the music of the gong, until, from long abstinence and suffering, he

fainted. The bystanders then cried out, "Courage, courage," with much

shouting and noise; after a short interval of insensibility he revived,

and proceeded with his self-inflicted tortures as before, until nature

being completely exhausted, he again relapsed into insensibility,

upon which he was loosed from the cords, and carried off amidst the

acclamations of the whole assembly.

Another Minnetaree, in compliance with a vow he had made, caused a hole

to be perforated through the muscles of each shoulder; through these

holes cords were passed, which were, at the opposite ends, attached by

way of a bridle to a horse, that had been penned up three or four days

without food or water. In this manner, he led the horse to the margin

of the river. The horse, of course, endeavoured to drink, but it was

the province of the Indian to prevent him, and that only by straining

at the cords with the muscles of the shoulder, without resorting to the

assistance of his hands. And notwithstanding all the exertions of the

horse to drink, his master succeeded in preventing him, and returned

with him to his lodge, having accomplished his painful task.

{257} The Wolf chief,[16] one of the most eminent of the warriors of

the upper village of the Minnetarees, on one occasion, sat five days,

singing and lamenting, without food, on a small insulated and naked

rock in the Missouri river. And it is firmly believed that he did not

even palliate his urgent wants by tasting the water during this long

probation.

[16] See Bradbury's _Travels_, in our volume v, note 99.—ED.

Many of the Minnetarees believe that the bones of those bisons,

which they have slain and divested of flesh, rise again clothed with

renewed flesh, and quickened with life, and become fat, and fit for

slaughtering the succeeding June. They assert that some of their

nation, who were formerly on a hunting excursion, lost one of their

party, a boy, and returned to the village lamenting his loss, and

believing him to have been killed by the Sioux nation, with whom they

were then at war. Some time afterward, a war party was assembled,

that departed to revenge the supposed murder of the boy. During their

journey, they espied a bison, which they pursued and killed. When lo!

on opening the abdomen of the animal, what was their astonishment to

observe the long-lost boy, alive and well, after having been imprisoned

there one entire year. Relieved from his animated prison-house, he

informed them, that, when he left his hunting companions, he proceeded

onward a considerable distance, until he was so fortunate as to kill

this bison. He removed the flesh from one side of the animal, and as

a rainy inclement night was approaching, he concluded to take shelter

within the body of the animal, in place of the viscera, which he had

taken out. But during the night, whilst he slept, the flesh of the

bison that he had cut off, grew over the side again, and effectually

prevented his getting out, and the animal being restored to life, he

had thus been pent up ever since.

Such anecdotes, however puerile and absurd they may be, if

characteristic, lead us to a more accurate {258} and complete knowledge

of the manners and habits of the people, than still more copious

general remarks and reflections.

The Minnetarees, in common with several other nations of our Indians,

have the strange tradition of their origin, that they formerly lived

underground. "Two boys," say they, "strayed away from them, and

absented themselves several days. At length they returned and informed

the nation that they had discovered another world, situate above their

present residence, where all was beautiful and light. They saw the sun,

the earth, the Missouri, and the bison. This account so delighted the

people, that they immediately abandoned their subterranean dwelling,

and, led by the boys, arrived on the surface of the earth, at the spot

which their villages now occupy, and where they have dwelt ever since.

"Soon after they had established themselves in this new world, a

party of strange men appeared mounted on horses. They attacked these

wonderful Centaurs with their bows and arrows, and succeeded in killing

one of them, on which the others fled. Not at first perceiving that the

man and horse were two distinct animals, they were surprised to see

the former fall to the earth, as if one part of the compound animal

was dead and the other part still active, having received no injury.

They at length succeeded in securing the horse, and after admiring the

beauty of his form, and becoming familiar with him, they proceeded to

tie one of their young men upon his back with cords, that he might

not fall off; the horse was then led cautiously by the bridle, until

finally he became sufficiently fearless to ride alone."

They seem to have full faith in the notion that, at their death, they

will be restored to the mansions of their ancestors under ground, from

which they are intercepted by a large and rapid watercourse. Over this

river, which may be compared to the Styx of the ancients, they are

obliged to pass on a very narrow {259} footway. Those Indians who have

been useful to the nation, such as brave warriors or good hunters, pass

over with ease, and arrive safely at the A-pah-he, or ancient village.

But the worthless Indians slip off from the bridge or footway, into

the stream that foams beneath in the swiftness of its course, which

hurries them into oblivion, or Lethe. The Mandans, according to Lewis

and Clarke, have a tradition somewhat similar, and it strongly reminds

us of the Alsirat of Mahomet, over which, it was supposed, that great

leader was to conduct his Moslems to the bliss of futurity, whilst the

unworthy were precipitated into the gulf which yawned beneath it.[17]

[17] On the history and traditions of the Hidatsa, see Matthews,

"Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa Indians," in U. S.

Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, _Miscellaneous

Publications_, No. 7 (Washington, 1877).—ED.

CHAPTER III {I}[18]

Death—Mourning for the Deceased—Physical

Character—Senses—Manufactures and Arts—Domestic and Warlike

Implements—War.

[18] Chapter i of volume ii of the original London edition.—ED.

WHEN an Omawhaw dies, his kinsmen and friends assemble around his body,

and bewail their loss with loud lamentation, weeping, and clapping of

hands. Ong-pa-ton-ga, being once on a visit to St. Louis, observed a

number of cattle gathering about a spot, where one of their kind had

been recently slaughtered, smelling the blood, and pawing the earth; he

said they behaved very like his own people, on the death of a relative.

They suffer the deceased to remain but a short time previously to

interment, and often bear the body to the grave, before the warmth

of vitality is entirely dissipated. The body is enveloped in a bison

robe, or blanket, which is secured by a cord. It is then carried to

the grave on the shoulders of two or three men, and followed by the

greater portion of the mourners, without any order. The grave is an

oblong square, of sufficient length, and four or five feet deep.

The body is placed in the grave, and {2} with it a pair or two of

mockasins, some meat for food, and many little articles and comforts,

the gifts of affection, to be used on the long journey which the

deceased is supposed to be about to perform, in order to arrive at the

Wa-noch-a-te, or town of brave and generous spirits. The grave is then

filled with earth, and a small tumulus is raised over it, proportioned

in magnitude to the dignity of the deceased. The relatives bedaub their

persons with white clay, scarify themselves with a flint, cut out

pieces of their skin and flesh, pass arrows through their skin; and,

if on a march, they walk barefoot at a distance from their people, in

testimony of the sincerity of their mourning.

For a considerable time, they nightly visit the grave of the deceased,

to lament over it. A sorrowing relative may be seen, of a bleak wintry

night, bending over the grave, clad in a scanty robe, which scarcely

conceals the middle of the back, as an additional self-punishment and

unequivocal manifestation of grief.

For the death of a brave warrior, or of a chief, the lamentation

is more general, and many of those who visit the body previous to

its removal, present to it blankets, bison robes, breech-cloths,

and mockasins, which are sometimes thus accumulated in considerable

numbers; of these presents, part is retained by the orphans, if any,

but the greater number is entombed with the body. Over the grave of a

person of this description, a kind of roof or shelter is constructed,

of pieces of wood reared against each other, and secured at top, then

sodded over with grass sod.

The season prescribed by custom for mourning, is a period of from seven

to twelve months; during this time the violent expressions of their

grief gradually diminish, and towards the expiration of the allotted

season, the state of mourning is only manifested by the coating of

white clay, and even this, like the black apparel of civilized

mourners, is at length {3} dispensed with, and with the same decorous

gradation.

A cruel proof of heartfelt grief, is exhibited by some of the natives,

on the upper parts of the Missouri; they cut off joints of their

fingers; the individual cuts the skin and ligaments of the joint with

his common eating knife, then places the joint between his teeth, and

twists it off with violence, the teeth performing at the same time the

offices of a wedge and a vice.

In form, the Missouri Indian is symmetrical and active, and in stature,

equal, if not somewhat superior, to the ordinary European standard;

tall men are numerous. The active occupations of war and hunting,

together perhaps with the occasional privations, to which they are

subjected, prevents that unsightly obesity, so often a concomitant of

civilization, indolence, and serenity of mental temperament.

From this representation of the physical man, it is obvious that our

observations do not correspond with those of Humboldt, regarding the

natives of Canada, Florida, and New Spain, in as far as he represents

them with the "squat body."

The forehead retires remarkably backward, and the posterior part of the

head (occiput) has a flatness of appearance, attributable, perhaps, to

the circumstance of its having rested so constantly during infancy, on

the surface of a board, or on the scarcely less yielding interposed pad

or pillow. Yet that organ, to which, in the phrenological system, the

seat of amativeness is referred, although not usually very prominent,

is still marked and distinct.

The facial angle of the cranium has been represented by Blumenbach

at 73 degrees, an obliquity which induced him to place the American

Indian in his series of the varieties of the human race, as the fourth

in number.

But his observations were made upon the cranium of a Carib, than which

people, as Humboldt justly {4} remarks, "there is no race on the globe

in which the frontal bone is more depressed backwards, or which has a

less projecting forehead." This observation will not rigidly apply to

the western Indian, who certainly possesses a greater verticality of

profile. Agreeably to the mensurations of Doctor Harlan,[19] a cranium,

which we obtained on the plains of the Platte, exhibits an angle of 78

degrees—A Wabash male 78°, female 80°, and a Cherokee only 75°.

[19] Richard Harlan (1796-1843) was a prominent physician of

Philadelphia, and member of many learned societies. At the time of

publication of the account of Long's expedition, he was professor of

comparative anatomy in the Philadelphia museum. At the time of his

death at New Orleans (1843), he was vice-president of the Louisiana

Medical Society.—ED.

The hair is coarse, black, glossy, and dense upon the head, sparse and

slender upon the chin, independently of the custom of extirpating it,

but although the hair is certainly oval in its transverse section, yet

we could not perceive, that, in this respect, its proportions exceeded

our own.

The line of the direction of their eyes is nearly rectilinearly

transverse, being in this respect intermediate between the arcuated

line of the eyes of the white man, and that of the Indians of New

Spain, who, according to Humboldt, have the corner of the eye directed

upward towards the temples.