Mrs. Johnston relates, that previous to her marriage, she _fasted_,
according to the universal Indian custom, _for a guardian spirit_: to
perform this ceremony, she went away to the summit of an eminence, and
built herself a little lodge of cedar boughs, painted herself black, and
began her fast in solitude. She dreamed continually of a white man, who
approached her with a cup in his hand, saying, "Poor thing! why are you
punishing yourself? why do you fast? here is food for you!" He was
always accompanied by a dog, which looked up in her face as though he
knew her. Also she dreamed of being on a high hill, which was surrounded
by water, and from which she beheld many canoes full of Indians, coming
to her and paying her homage; after this, she felt as if she were
carried up into the heavens, and as she looked down upon the earth, she
perceived it was on fire, and said to herself, "All my relations will be
burned!" but a voice answered and said, "No, they will not be destroyed,
they will be saved;" and she _knew it was a spirit_, because the voice
was not human. She fasted for ten days, during which time her
grandmother brought her at intervals some water. When satisfied that she
had obtained a guardian spirit in the white stranger who haunted her
dreams, she returned to her father's lodge, carrying green cedar boughs,
which she threw on the ground, stepping on them as she went. When she
entered the lodge, she threw some more down upon her usual place (next
her mother), and took her seat. During the ten succeeding days she was
not permitted to eat any meat, nor anything but a little corn boiled
with a bitter herb. For ten days more she eat meat smoked in a
particular manner, and she then partook of the usual food of her family.
Notwithstanding that her future husband and future greatness were so
clearly prefigured in this dream, the pretty O,shah,gush,ko,da,na,qua
having always regarded a white man with awe, and as a being of quite
another species (perhaps the more so in consequence of her dream), seems
to have felt nothing throughout the whole negotiation for her hand but
reluctance, terror, and aversion. On being carried with the usual
ceremonies to her husband's lodge, she fled into a dark corner, rolled
herself up in her blanket, and would not be comforted nor even looked
upon. It is to the honour of Johnston, that he took no cruel advantage
of their mutual position, and that she remained in his lodge ten days,
during which he treated her with the utmost tenderness and respect, and
sought by every gentle means to overcome her fear and gain her
affection;--and it was touching to see how tenderly and gratefully this
was remembered by his wife after a lapse of thirty-six years. On the
tenth day, however, she ran away from him in a paroxysm of terror, and
after fasting in the woods for four days, reached her grandfather's
wigwam. Meantime, her father, Waub-Ojeeg, who was far off in his hunting
camp, _dreamed_ that his daughter had not conducted herself according to
his advice, with proper wife-like docility, and he returned in haste two
days' journey to see after her; and finding all things _according to his
dream_, he gave her a good beating with a stick, and threatened to cut
off both her ears. He then took her back to her husband, with a
propitiatory present of furs and Indian corn, and many apologies and
exculpations of his own honour. Johnston succeeded at length in taming
this shy wild fawn, and took her to his house at the Sault-Sainte-Marie.
When she had been there some time, she was seized with a longing once
more to behold her mother's face, and revisit her people. Her husband
had lately purchased a small schooner to trade upon the lake; this he
fitted out, and sent her, with a retinue of his clerks and retainers,
and in such state as became the wife of the "great Englishman," to her
home at La Pointe, loaded with magnificent presents for all her family.
He did not go with her himself, apparently from motives of delicacy, and
that he might be no constraint upon her feelings or movements. A few
months' residence amid comparative splendour and luxury, with a man who
treated her with respect and tenderness, enabled the fair
O,shah,gush,ko,da,na,qua, to contrast her former with her present home.
She soon returned to her husband, and we do not hear of any more
languishing after her father's wigwam. She lived most happily with
Johnston for thirty-six years, till his death, which occurred in 1828,
and is the mother of eight children, four boys and four girls.
She showed me her husband's picture, which he brought to her from
Montreal; the features are very gentleman-like. He has been described to
me by some of my Canadian friends, who knew him well, as a very clever,
lively, and eccentric man, and a little of the _bon vivant_. Owing to
his independent fortune, his talents, his long acquaintance with the
country, and his connexion by marriage with the native blood, he had
much influence in the country.
During the last American war, he of course adhered to the English, on an
understanding that he should be protected; in return for which the
Americans _of course_ burnt his house, and destroyed his property. He
never could obtain either redress or compensation from our government.
The very spot on which his house stood was at the peace made over to the
United States;--himself and all his family became, per force, Americans.
His sons are in the service of the States. In a late treaty, when the
Chippewas ceded an immense tract in this neighbourhood to the American
government, a reserve was made in favour of O,shah,gush,ko,da,na,qua, of
a considerable section of land, which will render her posterity rich
territorial proprietors--although at present it is all unreclaimed
forest. A large tract of Sugar Island is her property; and this year
she manufactured herself three thousand five hundred weight of sugar of
excellent quality. In the fall, she goes up with her people in canoes to
the entrance of Lake Superior, to fish in the bays and creeks for a
fortnight, and comes back with a load of fish cured for the winter's
consumption. In her youth she hunted, and was accounted the surest eye
and fleetest foot among the women of her tribe. Her talents, energy,
activity, and strength of mind, and her skill in all the domestic
avocations of the Indian women, have maintained comfort and plenty
within her dwelling in spite of the losses sustained by her husband,
while her descent from the blood of their ancient chiefs renders her an
object of great veneration among the Indians around, who, in all their
miseries, maladies, and difficulties, apply to her for aid or for
counsel.
She has inherited the poetical talent of her father Waub-Ojeeg; and here
is a little fable or allegory which was written down from her
recitation, and translated by her daughter.
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