It happened just before the declaration of war, that a young Chippewa
girl was married to a Sioux chief of great distinction, and bore him two
sons. When hostilities commenced the Sioux chief retired to his own
tribe, and his wife remained with her relations, according to Indian
custom. The two children, belonging to both tribes, were hardly safe
with either; but as the father was best able to protect them, it was at
last decided that they should accompany him. The Sioux chief and his
boys departed to join his warriors, accompanied by his Chippewa wife and
her relations, till they were in safety: then the young wife returned
home weeping and inconsolable for the loss of her husband and children.
Some years afterwards she consented to become the wife of the great
chief at Chegoimegon. Her son by this marriage was Mamongazida, or
Mongazida (the Loon's-foot), a chief of great celebrity, who led a
strong party of his nation in the Canadian wars between the French and
English, fighting on the side of the French. He was present at the
battle of Quebec, when Wolfe was killed, and according to the Indian
tradition, the Marquis Montcalm died in Mongazida's arms. After the war
was over, he "shook hands" with the English. He was at the grand
assemblage of chiefs, convened by Sir William Johnstone, at Niagara, and
from him received a rich gorget, and broad belt of wampum, as pledges of
peace and alliance with the English. These relics were preserved in the
family with great veneration, and inherited by Waub-Ojeeg, and
afterwards by his younger brother, Camudwa; but it happened that when
Camudwa was out on a winter-hunt near the river Broule, he and all his
family were overtaken by famine and starved to death, and these insignia
were then lost and never recovered. This last incident is a specimen of
the common vicissitudes of Indian life; and when listening to their
domestic histories, I observe that the events of paramount interest are
the want or the abundance of food--hunger or plenty. "We killed a moose,
or a bear, and had meat for so many days:" or, "we followed on the track
of a bear, and he escaped us; we had _no_ meat for so many days." These
are the ever-recurring topics which in their conversation stand instead
of the last brilliant essay in the Edinburgh or Quarterly, or the last
news from Russia or Spain. Starvation from famine is not uncommon; and I
am afraid, from all I hear, that cannibalism under such circumstances is
not unknown. Remembering some recent instances nearer home, when extreme
hunger produced the same horrid result, I could not be much astonished.
To return. Waub-Ojeeg was the second son of this famous Mongazida. Once
when the latter went out on his "fall hunts," on the grounds near the
Sioux territory, taking all his relatives with him (upwards of twenty in
number), they were attacked by the Sioux at early dawn, in the usual
manner. The first volley had gone through the lodges; before the second
could be fired, Mongazida rushed out, and proclaiming his own name with
a loud voice, demanded if Wabash, his mother's son, were among the
assailants. There was a pause, and then a tall figure in his war-dress,
and a profusion of feathers in his head, stepped forward and gave his
hand to his half-brother. They all repaired to the lodge in peace
together; but at the moment the Sioux chief stooped to enter,
Waub-Ojeeg, then a boy of eight years old, who had planted himself at
the entrance to defend it, struck him a blow on the forehead with his
little war-club. Wabash, enchanted, took him up in his arms and
prophesied that he would become a great war chief, and an implacable
enemy of the Sioux. Subsequently the prophecy was accomplished, and
Waub-Ojeeg commanded his nation in all the war-parties against the Sioux
and Ottagamies. He was generally victorious, and so entirely defeated
the Ottagamies, that they never afterwards ventured to oppose him, but
retired down the Wisconsin river, where they are now settled.
But Waub-Ojeeg was something more and better than merely a successful
warrior: he was remarkable for his eloquence, and composed a number of
war-songs, which were sung through the Chippewa villages, and some of
which his daughter can repeat. He was no less skilful in hunting than in
war. His hunting-grounds extended to the river Broule, at Fon du Lac;
and he killed any one who dared to intrude on his district. The skins he
took annually were worth three hundred and fifty dollars, a sum amply
sufficient to make him rich in clothing, arms, powder, vermilion, and
trinkets. Like Tecumseh, he would not marry early lest it should turn
his attention from war, but at the age of thirty he married a widow, by
whom he had two sons. Becoming tired of this elderly helpmate, he took a
young wife, a beautiful girl of fourteen, by whom he had six children;
of these my Neengai is the eldest. She described her father as
affectionate and domestic. "There was always plenty of bear's meat and
deer's flesh in the lodge." He had a splendid lodge, sixty feet in
length, which he was fond of ornamenting. In the centre there was a
strong post, which rose several feet above the roof, and on the top
there was the carved figure of an owl, which veered with the wind. This
owl seems to have answered the same purpose as the flag on the tower of
Windsor Castle: it was the insignia of his power and of his presence.
When absent on his long winter hunts the lodge was shut up, and the owl
taken down.
The skill of Waub-Ojeeg as a hunter and trapper, brought him into
friendly communication with a fur-trader named Johnston, who had
succeeded the enterprising Henry in exploring Lake Superior. This young
man, of good Irish family, came out to Canada with such strong letters
of recommendation to Lord Dorchester, that he was invited to reside in
the government house till a vacancy occurred in his favour in one of the
official departments; meantime, being of an active and adventurous turn,
he joined a party of traders going up the lakes, merely as an excursion,
but became so enamoured of that wild life, as to adopt it in earnest. On
one of his expeditions, when encamped at Che,goi,me,gon, and trafficking
with Waub-Ojeeg, he saw the eldest daughter of the chief, and "no sooner
looked than he sighed, no sooner sighed than he asked himself the
reason," and ended by asking his friend to give him his beautiful
daughter. "White man!" said the chief with dignity, "your customs are
not our customs! you white men desire our women, you marry them, and
when they cease to please your eye, you say they are _not_ your wives,
and you forsake them. Return, young friend, with your load of skins, to
Montreal; and if there, the women of the pale faces do not put my child
out of your mind, return hither in the spring and we will talk farther;
she is young, and can wait." The young Irishman, ardently in love, and
impatient and impetuous, after the manner of his countrymen, tried
arguments, entreaties, presents, in vain--he was obliged to submit. He
went down to Montreal, and the following spring returned and claimed his
bride. The chief, after making him swear that he would take her as his
_wife_ according to the law of the white man, _till death_, gave him his
daughter, with a long speech of advice to both.