his dog-brother then stripped a tall pine of all its branches, and stuck
the carcass on the top, taking the usual sign of his having killed an
animal--the tongue. He told the Toad-Woman where he had left it, saying,
"It is very far, even to the end of the earth." She answered, "It is not
so far but I can get it," so off she set. As soon as she was gone, the
young man and his dog killed the Toad-Woman's children, and staked them
on each side of the door, with a piece of fat in their mouths, and then
went to his real mother and hastened her departure with them. The
Toad-Woman spent a long time in finding the bear, and had much ado in
climbing the tree to get down the carcass. As she got near home, she saw
the children looking out, apparently, with the fat in their mouths, and
was angry at them, saying, "Why do you destroy the pomatum of your
brother." But her fury was great indeed, when she saw they were killed
and impaled. She ran after the fugitives as fast as she could, and was
near overtaking them, when the young man said, "We are pressed hard, but
let this stay her progress," throwing his fire steel behind him, which
caused the Toad-Woman to slip and fall repeatedly. But still she pursued
and gained on them, when he threw behind him his flint, which again
retarded her, for it made her slip and stumble, so that her knees were
bleeding; but she continued to follow on, and was gaining ground, when
the young man said, "Let the Oshau shaw go min un (snake berry) spring
up to detain her," and immediately these berries spread like scarlet all
over the path for a long distance, which she could not avoid stooping
down to pick and eat. Still she went on, and was again advancing on
them, when the young man at last, said to the dog, "Brother, chew her
into mummy, for she plagues us." So the dog, turning round, seized her
and tore her to pieces, and they escaped.
* * * * *
Death is frightful, or welcome, according to the theories men have of
it. To the Indian, it is a pleasing and welcome event. He believes a
future state to be one of rewards, and restitutions, and not of
punishments.
The Indian idea of paradise is the idea of the orientals. It consists of
sensualities, not spiritualities. He expects the scene to furnish him
ease and plenty. Ease and plenty make the Indian's happiness here, and
his heaven is but a bright transcript of his earth.
Paganism and idolatry, require more mysteries for their support than
Christianity. The Christian has but one God, existing in three
hypostases. It would be below the truth to say that the Indian has one
hundred thousand gods.
The Hindoos _worship_ their multiform gods of the earth, air and sea.
The North American Indian only _believes_ in them. He worships the Great
Spirit.
Wild thoughts are often bright thoughts, but like the wild leaps of a
mountain torrent, they are evanescent and unequal. We are dazzled by a
single figure in an Indian speech, but it is too often like a spark amid
a shower of ashes.
FOOTNOTES:
[6] _Sheegowiss_, a widow, and _mowigh_, something nasty.
THE FLIGHT OF THE SHAWNEES FROM THE SOUTH.
A MOHEGAN TRADITION.
Metoxon states, that the Shawnees were, in ancient times, while they
lived in the south, defeated by a confederacy of surrounding tribes, and
in danger of being totally cut off and annihilated, had it not been for
the interference of the Mohegans and Delawares. An alliance between them
and the Mohegans, happened in this way. Whilst the Mohegans lived at
Schodack, on the Hudson river, a young warrior of that tribe visited the
Shawnees, at their southern residence, and formed a close friendship
with a young warrior of his own age. They became as brothers, and vowed
for ever to treat each other as such.
The Mohegan warrior had returned, and been some years living with his
nation, on the banks of the Chatimac, or Hudson, when a general war
broke out against the Shawnees. The restless and warlike disposition of
this tribe, kept them constantly embroiled with their neighbours. They
were unfaithful to their treaties, and this was the cause of perpetual
troubles and wars. At length the nations of the south resolved, by a
general effort, to rid themselves of so troublesome a people, and began
a war, in which the Shawnees were defeated, battle after battle, with
great loss. In this emergency, the Mohegan thought of his Shawnee
brother, and resolved to rescue him. He raised a war-party and being
joined by the Lenapees, since called Delawares, they marched to their
relief, and brought off the remnant of the tribe to the country of the
Lenapees. Here they were put under the charge of the latter, as their
grandfather.
They were now, in the Indian phrase, put between their grandfather's
knees, and treated as little children. Their hands were clasped and tied
together--that is to say, they were taken under their protection, and
formed a close alliance. But still, sometimes the child would creep out
under the old man's legs, and get into trouble--implying that the
Shawnees could never forget their warlike propensities.
The events of the subsequent history of this tribe, after the settlement
of America are well known. With the Lenapees, or Delawares, they
migrated westward.
The above tradition was received from the respectable and venerable
chief, above named, in 1827, during the negotiation of the treaty of
_Buttes des Morts_, on Fox river. At this treaty his people, bearing the
modern name of Stockbridges, were present, having, within a few years,
migrated from their former position in Oneida county, New York, to the
waters of Fox river, in Wisconsin.
Metoxon was a man of veracity, and of reflective and temperate habits,
united to urbanity of manners, and estimable qualities of head and
heart, as I had occasion to know from several years' acquaintance with
him, before he, and his people went from Vernon to the west, as well as
after he migrated thither.
The tradition, perhaps with the natural partiality of a tribesman, lays
too much stress upon a noble and generous act of individual and tribal
friendship, but is not inconsistant with other relations, of the early
southern position, and irrascible temper of the Shawnee tribe. Their
name itself, which is a derivative from O-sha-wan-ong, the place of the
South, is strong presumptive evidence of a former residence in, or
origin from, the extreme south. Mr. John Johnston, who was for many
years the government agent of this tribe at Piqua, in Ohio, traces them,
in an article in the Archaelogia Americana (vol. 1, p. 273) to the
Suwanee river in Florida. Mr. Gallatin, in the second volume of the same
work (p. 65) points out their track, from historical sources of
undoubted authority, to the banks of the upper Savannah, in Georgia; but
remarks that they have only been well known to us since 1680. They are
first mentioned in our scattered Indian annals, by De Laet, in 1632.
It may further be said, in relation to Metoxon's tradition, that there
is authority for asserting, that in the flight of the Shawnees from the
south, a part of them descended the Kentucky river west, to the Ohio
valley, where, in after times, the Shawnees of Pennsylvania and New
Jersey, rather formed a re-union with this division of their kindred
than led the way for them.
* * * * *
To depart one step from barbarism, is to take one step towards
civilization. To abandon the lodge of bark--to throw aside the
blanket--to discontinue the use of paints--or to neglect the nocturnal
orgies of the wabeno, are as certain indications of incipient
civilization, as it unquestionably is, to substitute alphabetical
characters for rude hieroglyphics, or to prefer the regular cadences of
the gamut, to the wild chanting of the chichigwun.
BOSH-KWA-DOSH,
OR
THE QUADRUPED WITH THE HAIR BLOWN OFF ITS SKIN.
There was once a man who found himself alone in the world. He knew not
whence he came, nor who were his parents, and he wandered about from
place to place, in search of something. At last he became wearied and
fell asleep. He dreamed that he heard a voice saying, "Nosis," that is,
my grandchild. When he awoke he actually heard the word repeated, and
looking around, he saw a tiny little animal hardly big enough to be seen
on the plain. While doubting whether the voice could come from such a
diminutive source, the little animal said to him, "My grandson, you will
call me Bosh-kwa-dosh. Why are you so desolate. Listen to me, and you
shall find friends and be happy. You must take me up and bind me to your
body, and never put me aside, and success in life shall attend you." He
obeyed the voice, sewing up the little animal in the folds of a string,
or narrow belt, which he tied around his body, at his navel. He then set
out in search of some one like himself, or other object. He walked a
long time in woods without seeing man or animal. He seemed all alone in
the world. At length he came to a place where a stump was cut, and on
going over a hill he descried a large town in a plain. A wide road led
through the middle of it; but what seemed strange was, that on one side
there were no inhabitants in the lodges, while the other side was
thickly inhabited. He walked boldly into the town.
The inhabitants came out and said; "Why here is the being we have heard
so much of--here is Anish-in-a-ba. See his eyes, and his teeth in a half
circle--see the Wyaukenawbedaid! See his bowels, how they are
formed;"--for it seems they could look through him. The king's son, the
Mudjekewis, was particularly kind to him, and calling him
brother-in-law, commanded that he should be taken to his father's lodge
and received with attention. The king gave him one of his daughters.
These people, (who are supposed to be human, but whose rank in the scale
of being is left equivocal,) passed much of their time in play and
sports and trials of various kinds. When some time had passed, and he
had become refreshed and rested, he was invited to join in these
sports. The first test which they put him to, was the trial of frost. At
some distance was a large body of frozen water, and the trial consisted
in lying down naked on the ice, and seeing who could endure the longest.
He went out with two young men, who began, by pulling off their
garments, and lying down on their faces. He did likewise, only keeping
on the narrow magic belt with the tiny little animal sewed in it; for he
felt that in this alone was to be his reliance and preservation. His
competitors laughed and tittered during the early part of the night, and
amused themselves by thoughts of his fate. Once they called out to him,
but he made no reply. He felt a manifest warmth given out by his belt.
About midnight finding they were still, he called out to them, in
return,--"What!" said he, "are you benumbed already, I am but just
beginning to feel a little cold." All was silence. He, however, kept his
position till early day break, when he got up and went to them. They
were both quite dead, and frozen so hard, that the flesh had bursted out
under their finger nails, and their teeth stood out. As he looked more
closely, what was his surprise to find them both transformed into
buffalo cows. He tied them together, and carried them towards the
village. As he came in sight, those who had wished his death were
disappointed, but the Mudjekewis, who was really his friend, rejoiced.
"See!" said he "but one person approaches,--it is my brother-in-law." He
then threw down the carcasses in triumph, but it was found that by their
death he had restored two inhabitants to the before empty lodges, and he
afterwards perceived, that every one of these beings, whom he killed,
had the like effect, so that the depopulated part of the village soon
became filled with people.
The next test they put him to, was the trial of speed. He was challenged
to the race ground, and began his career with one whom he thought to be
a man; but every thing was enchanted here, for he soon discovered that
his competitor was a large black bear. The animal outran him, tore up
the ground, and sported before him, and put out its large claws as if to
frighten him. He thought of his little guardian spirit in the belt, and
wishing to have the swiftness of the Kakake, i.e. sparrow hawk, he found
himself rising from the ground, and with the speed of this bird he
outwent his rival, and won the race, while the bear came up exhausted
and lolling out his tongue. His friend the Mudjekewis stood ready, with
his war-club, at the goal, and the moment the bear came up, dispatched
him. He then turned to the assembly, who had wished his friend and
brother's death, and after reproaching them, he lifted up his club and
began to slay them on every side. They fell in heaps on all sides; but
it was plain to be seen, the moment they fell, that they were not men,
but animals,--foxes, wolves, tigers, lynxes, and other kinds, lay thick
around the Mudjekewis.
Still the villagers were not satisfied. They thought the trial of
frost, had not been fairly accomplished, and wished it repeated. He
agreed to repeat it, but being fatigued with the race, he undid his
guardian belt, and laying it under his head, fell asleep. When he awoke,
he felt refreshed, and feeling strong in his own strength, he went
forward to renew the trial on the ice, but quite forgot the belt, nor
did it at all occur to him when he awoke, or when he lay down to repeat
the trial. About midnight his limbs became stiff, the blood soon ceased
to circulate, and he was found in the morning, a stiff corpse. The
victors took him up and carried him to the village, where the loudest
tumult of victorious joy was made, and they cut the body into a thousand
pieces, that each one might eat a piece.
The Mudjekewis bemoaned his fate, but his wife was inconsolable. She lay
in a state of partial distraction, in the lodge. As she lay here, she
thought she heard some one groaning. It was repeated through the night,
and in the morning, she carefully scanned the place, and running her
fingers through the grass, she discovered the secret belt, on the spot
where her husband had last reposed. "Aubishin!" cried the belt--that is,
untie me, or unloose me. Looking carefully, she found the small seam
which enclosed the tiny little animal. It cried out the more earnestly
"Aubishin!" and when she had carefully ripped the seams, she beheld, to
her surprise, a minute, naked little beast, smaller than the smallest
new born mouse, without any vestige of hair, except at the tip of its
tail, it could crawl a few inches, but reposed from fatigue. It then
went forward again. At each movement it would _pupowee_, that is to say,
shake itself, like a dog, and at each shake it became larger. This it
continued until it acquired the strength and size of a middle sized dog,
when it ran off.
The mysterious dog ran to the lodges, about the village, looking for the
bones of his friend, which he carried to a secret place, and as fast as
he found them arranged all in their natural order. At length he had
formed all the skeleton complete, except the heel bone of one foot. It
so happened that two sisters were out of the camp, according to custom,
at the time the body was cut up, and this heel was sent out to them. The
dog hunted every lodge, and being satisfied that it was not to be found
in the camp, he sought it outside of it, and found the lodge of the two
sisters. The younger sister was pleased to see him, and admired and
patted the pretty dog, but the elder sat mumbling the very heel-bone he
was seeking, and was surly and sour, and repelled the dog, although he
looked most wistfully up in her face, while she sucked the bone from one
side of her mouth to the other. At last she held it in such a manner
that it made her cheek stick out, when the dog, by a quick spring,
seized the cheek, and tore cheek and bone away and fled.
He now completed the skeleton, and placing himself before it, uttered a
hollow, low, long-drawn-out-howl, when the bones came compactly
together. He then modulated his howl, when the bones knit together and
became tense. The third howl brought sinews upon them, and the fourth,
flesh. He then turned his head upwards, looking into the sky, and gave a
howl, which caused every one in the village to startle, and the ground
itself to tremble, at which the breath entered into his body, and he
first breathed and then arose. "Hy kow!" I have overslept myself, he
exclaimed, "I will be too late for the trial." "Trial!" said the dog, "I
told you never to let me be separate from your body, you have neglected
this. You were defeated, and your frozen body cut into a thousand
pieces, and scattered over the village, but my skill has restored you.
Now I will declare myself to you, and show who and what I am!"
He then began to PUPOWEE, or shake himself, and at every shake, he grew.
His body became heavy and massy, his legs thick and long, with big
clumsy ends, or feet. He still shook himself, and rose and swelled. A
long snout grew from his head, and two great shining teeth out of his
mouth. His skin remained as it was, naked, and only a tuft of hair grew
on his tail. He rose up above the trees. He was enormous. "I should fill
the earth," said he, "were I to exert my utmost power, and all there is
on the earth would not satisfy me to eat. Neither could it fatten me or
do me good. I should want more. It were useless, therefore, and the gift
I have, I will bestow on you. The animals shall henceforth be _your
food_. They were not designed to feed on man, neither shall they
hereafter do it, but shall _feed_ him, and he only shall prey on beasts.
But you will respect me, and not eat _my kind_."
[The preceding is a traditionary tale of Maidosegee, an
aged and respected hunter, of Sault Ste-Marie, who was
the ruling chief of the band of Chippewas at those falls,
and the progenitor of the present line of ruling chiefs.
It is preserved through the Johnston family, where he was
a frequent guest, prior to 1810, and was happy to while
away many of his winter's evenings, in return for the
ready hospitalities which were sure to await him at the
house of the Indian's friend.]
MAeSH-KWA-SHA-KWONG,
OR
THE TRADITIONARY STORY OF THE RED HEAD AND HIS
TWO SONS.
BY NABINOI, AN AGED ODJIBWA CHIEF.
Maesh-kwa-sha-kwong was a first rate hunter, and he loved the chase
exceedingly, and pursued it with unceasing vigilance. One day, on his
return home, arriving at his lodge, he was informed by his two sons, who
were but small then, that they were very lonesome, because their mother
was in the habit of daily leaving them alone, and this occurred so soon
as he started upon his daily chase. This circumstance was not unknown
to Maesh-kwa-sha-kwong, but he seemed fully aware of it; he took his boys
in his arms and kissed them, and told them that their mother behaved
improperly and was acting the part of a wicked and faithless woman. But
Maesh-kwa-sha-kwong behaved towards his wife as if ignorant of her vile
course. One morning rising very early, he told his sons to take courage,
and that they must not be lonesome, he also strictly enjoined them not
to absent themselves nor quit their lodge; after this injunction was
given to the boys, he made preparations, and starting much earlier than
usual, he travelled but a short distance from his lodge, when he halted
and secreted himself. After waiting a short time, he saw his wife coming
out of their lodge, and immediately after a man made his appearance and
meeting Maesh-kwa-sha-kwong's wife, they greeted one another. His
suspicions were now confirmed, and when he saw them in the act of
carrying on an illegal intercourse, his anger arose, he went up to them
and killed them with one blow; he then dragged them both to his lodge,
and tying them together, he dug a hole beneath the fire-place in his
lodge and buried them. He then told his sons that it was necessary that
he should go away, as he would surely be killed if he remained, and
their safety would depend upon their ability of keeping the matter a
secret. He gave his eldest son a small bird, (Kichig-e-chig-aw-na-she)
to roast for his small brother over the ashes and embers where their
mother was buried, he also provided a small leather bag, and then told
his sons the necessity of his immediate flight to heaven, or to the
skies. And that it would be expedient for them to fly and journey
southward, and thus prepared their minds for the separation about to
take place. "By and bye," said Maesh-kwa-sha-kwong to his sons, "persons
will come to you and enquire for me and for your mother, you will say to
them that I am gone hunting, and your little brother in the mean time
will continually point to the fire place, this will lead the persons to
whom I allude, to make inquiries of the cause of this pointing, and you
will tell them that you have a little bird roasting for your brother,
this will cause them to desist from further inquiry at the time. As soon
as they are gone escape! While you are journeying agreeably to my
instructions, I will look from on high upon you, I will lead and conduct
you, and you shall hear my voice from day to day." Maesh-kwa-sha-kwong at
this time gave his sons an awl, a beaver's tooth, and a bone, also a dry
coal, and directed them to place a small piece of the coal on the ground
every evening, so soon as they should encamp, from which fire would be
produced and given to them; he told his eldest son to place his brother
in the leather bag, and in that manner carry him upon his back; he then
bade them farewell.
The two boys being thus left alone in the lodge, and while in the act of
roasting the little bird provided for them, a man came in, and then
another, and another, until they numbered ten in all; the youngest boy
would from time to time point at the fire, and the men enquired to know
the reason, the eldest boy said that he was roasting a bird for his
brother, and digging the ashes produced it. They enquired, where their
father and mother were, the boy answered them saying, that their father
was absent hunting, and that their mother had gone to chop and collect
wood; upon this information the men rose and searched around the
outskirts of the lodge, endeavouring to find traces of the man and
his wife, but they were not successful, and returned to the lodge.
Before this, however, and during the absence of the ten men,
Maesh-kwa-sha-kwong's eldest son placed his little brother in the
leather bag, (Ouskemood,) and ran away southward.
One of the ten men observed, that the smallest boy had repeatedly
pointed to the fire place, and that they might find out something by
digging; they set to work, and found the woman and the man tied
together. On this discovery their wrath was kindled, they brandished
their weapons, denouncing imprecations upon Maesh-kwa-sha-kwong, who was
of course suspected of having committed the deed.
The ten men again renewed their search in order to avenge themselves
upon the perpetrator of this dark deed, but Maesh-kwa-sha-kwong, in order
to avoid instant death, had sought a large hollow tree, and entering at
the bottom or root part, passed through and reached the top of it, from
whence he took his flight upwards to the sky. His pursuers finally
traced him, and followed him as far as the tree, and into the sky, with
loud and unceasing imprecations of revenge and their determination to
kill him. The spirit of the mother alone followed her children. About
mid-day the boys heard, as they ran, a noise in the heavens like the
rolling of distant thunder.[7] The boys continued their journey south,
when the noise ceased; towards night they encamped; they put a small
piece of the coal on the ground, then a log of fire-wood was dropped
down from the skies to them, from whence a good blazing fire was
kindled. This was done daily, and when the fire was lit, a raccoon would
fall from on high upon the fire, and in this manner the boys were fed,
and this over-ruling care they experienced daily. In the evenings at
their camping place, and sometimes during the day, the Red Head's voice
was heard speaking to his children, and encouraging them to use their
utmost exertions to fly from the pursuit of their mother. To aid them in
escaping, they were told to throw away their awl, and immediately there
grew a strong and almost impassable hedge of thorn bushes behind them,
in their path, which the pursuing mother could scarcely penetrate, and
thus impeding her progress, tearing away her whole body and leaving
nothing but the head. So they escaped the first day.
The next day they resumed their march and could distinctly hear the
noise of combat in the sky, as if it were a roaring thunder; they also
heard the voice of their mother behind them, desiring her eldest son to
stop and wait for her, saying that she wished to give the breast to his
brother; then again Maesh-kwa-sha-kwong's voice, encouraging his sons to
fly for their lives, and saying that if their mother overtook them she
would surely kill them.
In the evening of the second day the boys prepared to encamp, and the
noise of combat on high ceased; on placing a small piece of the coal on
the ground, a log and some fire-wood was let down as on the preceding
night, and the fire was kindled, and then the raccoon placed on it for
their food. This was fulfilling the promise made by their father, that
they would be provided for during their flight. The beaver's tooth was
here thrown away, and this is the cause why the northern country now
abounds with beaver, and also the innumerable little lakes and marshes,
and consequently the rugged and tedious travelling now experienced.
On the third day the boys resumed their flight, and threw away their
hone, and it became a high rocky mountainous ridge, the same now seen on
the north shore of these straits, (St. Mary's) which was a great
obstacle in the way of the woman of the Head, for this was now her name,
because that part alone remained of her whole frame, and with it she was
incessantly uttering determinations to kill her eldest son; the boys
finally reached the fishing place known as the eddy of Wah-zah-zhawing,
at the rapids of Bawating, situated on the north shore of the river.
Here Maesh-kwa-sha-kwong, told his sons that he had himself been
overtaken in his flight by his pursuers and killed, and he appeared to
them in the shape of a red headed woodpecker, or a _mama_. This is a
bird that is seldom or never attacked by birds of prey, for no vestiges
of his remains are ever seen or found by the Indian hunter. "Now my
sons," said the red headed woodpecker, "I have brought you to this
river, you will now see your grand father and he will convey you across
to the opposite side." Then the boys looked to the southern shore of the
river, and they saw in the middle of the rapid, an OSHUGGAY standing on
a rock; to the Oshuggay the boys spoke, and accosted him as their grand
father, requesting him to carry them across the river Bawating. The
Oshuggay stretching his long neck over the river to the place where the
boys stood, told them to get upon his head and neck, and again
stretching to the southern shore, he landed the boys in safety, upon a
prairie: the crane was seen walking in state, up and down the prairie.
The persevering mother soon arrived at Wah-zah-hawing, and immediately
requested the Oshuggay to cross her over, that she was in pursuit of
her children and stating that she wished to overtake them; but the
Oshuggay seemed well aware of her character, and objected to conveying
her across, giving her to understand that she was a lewd and bad woman;
he continued giving her a long moral lecture upon the course she had
pursued and the bad results to mankind in consequence, such as quarrels,
murders, deaths, and hence widowhood.
The woman of the Head persisted in her request of being conveyed across.
Objections and entreaties followed. She talked as if she were still a
woman, whose favour was to be sought; and he, as if he were above such
favours. After this dialogue the Oshuggay said that he would convey her
across, on the condition that she would adhere strictly to his
injunctions; he told her not to touch the bare part of his head, but to
get upon the hollow or crooked part of his neck; to this she agreed, and
got on. The Oshuggay then withdrew his long neck to about half way
across, when feeling that she had forgotten her pledge he dashed her
head upon the rocks, and the small fish, that were so abundant instantly
fed upon the brain and fragments of the skull and became large white
fish. "A fish" said the Oshuggay, "that from this time forth shall be
abundant, and remain in these rapids to feed the Indians and their
issue, from generation to generation."[8]
After this transaction of the Oshuggay's, landing the boys safely
across, and dashing the woman's head upon the rocks, he spake to the
Crane and mutually consulting one another in relation to
Maesh-kwa-sha-kwong's sons they agreed to invite two women from the
eastward, of the tribe of the Wassissig, and the two lads took them for
wives. The Oshuggay plucked one of his largest wing feathers and gave it
to the eldest boy, and the Crane likewise did the same, giving his
feathers to the youngest; they were told to consider the feathers as
their sons after this, one feather appeared like an Oshuggay and the
other like a young Crane. By and by they appeared like human beings to
the lads. Thus the alliance was formed with the Wassissig, and the
circumstance of the Oshuggay and Crane interesting themselves in behalf
of the boys and the gift to them of their feathers and the result, is
the origin of the Indian _Totem_.
Here Maesh-kwa-sha-kwong's sons were told that they would be considered
as chieftains and that this office would be hereditary and continue in
their generations. After this, they multiplied exceedingly and became
strong and powerful. About this time the Obinangoes, (or the Bears'
Totem) came down from Shaugah-wah-mickong, near the extremity of Lake
Superior. On their way eastward they were surprised on reaching Bawating
to find such a numerous population of human beings: they were
not aware of its being in existence; fear came upon the Obinangoes, and
they devised the plan of securing friendship with the Oshuggays and
Cranes, by adopting and claiming a relationship with them, and calling
them their grandsons. This claim was yielded, and they were permitted to
remain at Bawating upon the score of relationship thus happily attained.
The Obinangoes eventually emigrated eastward and settled upon the
northern coast of Lakes Huron and Ontario.
Population increased so rapidly at Bawating, that it was necessary to
form new villages, some settling on the Garden River, some upon the
Pakaysaugauegan River, and others upon the island of St. Joseph's, and
upon the Menashkong Bay and Mashkotay Saugie River.
About this time, a person in the shape of a human being came down from
the sky; his clothing was exceedingly pure and white; he was seated as
it were in a nest, with a very fine cord attached to it, by which this
mysterious person was let down, and the cord or string reached heaven.
He addressed the Indians in a very humane, mild, and compassionate tone,
saying that they were very poor and needy, but telling them that they
were perpetually _asleep_, and this was caused by the Mache Monedo who
was in the midst of them, and leading them to death and ruin.
This mysterious personage informed them also that above, where he came
from, there was no night, that the inhabitants never slept, that it was
perpetually day and they required no sleep; that Kezha Monedo was their
light. He then invited four of the Indians to ascend up with him
promising that they would be brought back in safety; that an opportunity
would thereby present itself to view the beauty of the sky, or heavens.
But the Indians doubted and feared lest the cord should break, because
it appeared to them so small. They did not believe it possible it could
bear their weight. With this objection they excused themselves. They
were, however, again assured that the cord was sufficiently strong and
that Kezha Monedo had the power to make it so. Yet the Indians doubted
and feared, and did not accompany the messenger sent down to them. After
this refusal the mysterious person produced a small bow and arrows with
which he shot at the Indians in different parts of their bodies: the
result was, the killing of multitudes of small white worms, which he
showed to them; telling them that they were the Mache Monedo which
caused them to sleep, and prevented their awakening from their
death-like state.
This divine messenger then gave to the Indians laws and rules, whereby
they should be guided: first, to love and fear Kezha Monedo, and next
that they must love one another, and be charitable and hospitable; and
finally, that they must not covet their neighbours property, but acquire
it by labour and honest industry. He then instituted the grand medicine
or metay we win dance: this ceremony was to be observed annually, and
with due solemnity, and the Indians, said Nabinoi, experienced much good
from it; but unfortunately, the foolish young men were cheated by Mache
Monedo, who caused them to adopt the Wabano dance and its ceremonies.
This latter is decidedly an institution of the _sagemaus_, or evil
spirits, and this was finally introduced into the metay we wining, (i.e.
medicine dance) and thereby corrupted it.
The old chief continued his moral strain thus: While the Indians were
instructed by the heavenly messenger they were told that it would snow
continually for the space of five years, winter and summer, and the end
would then be nigh at hand; and again that it would rain incessantly as
many winters and summers more, which would cause the waters to rise and
overflow the earth, destroying trees and all manner of vegetation. After
this, ten winters and summers of drought would follow, drying up the
land, and mostly the lakes and rivers; not a cloud would be seen during
this period. The earth would become so dry, that it will then burn up
with fire of itself, and it will also burn the waters to a certain
depth, until it attains the first created earth and waters. Then the
good Indians will rise from death to enjoy a new earth, filled with an
abundance of all manner of living creatures. The only animal which will
not be seen is the beaver. The bad Indians will not enjoy any portion of
the new earth; they will be condemned and given to the evil spirits.
Four generations, he went on to say, have now passed away, since that
brotherly love and charity, formerly known, still existed among the
Indians. There was in those ancient times an annual meeting among the
Indians, resembling the French New Year's Day, which was generally
observed on the new moon's first appearance, Gitchy Monedo gesus. The
Indians of our village would visit these of another, and sometimes meet
one another dancing; and on those occasions they would exchange bows and
arrows, their rude axes, awls, and kettles, and their clothing. This was
an annual festival, which was duly observed by them. In those days the
Indians lived happy; but every thing is now changed to the Indian mind,
indicating the drawing near and approach of the end of time. The Indians
who still adhere to the laws of the heavenly messenger experience
happiness; and, on the contrary, concluded the old man, those who are
wicked and adhere to the Wabano institution, generally meet with their
reward; and it is singular to say that they generally come to their end
by accidents, such as drowning, or miserable deaths.
He then reverted to the former part of his story. The Oshuggays, and the
Cranes quarrelled, and this quarrel commenced on a trivial point. It
appears that the Cranes took a pole, without leave, from the Oshuggays,
and they broke the pole; this circumstance led to a separation. The
Oshuggays emigrated south, and are now known as the Shawnees.
FOOTNOTES:
[7] Note by Mr. George Johnston, from whom this tale was received.--Any
thing of the kind, or a similar noise heard, is attributed by the
Indian, to this day, as an indication of the contention between
Maesh-kwa-sha-kwong and his pursuers, and hence a prelude to wars and
contentions among the nations of the world.
[8] The small white shells that the white fish live upon, and the white
substance found in its gizzard are to this day considered by the
Indians, the brain and skull of the woman of the Head.
WA-WA-BE-ZO-WIN,
OR
THE SWING ON THE LAKE SHORE.
FROM THE TRADITIONS OF THE ODJIBWAS.
There was an old hag of a woman living with her daughter-in-law and son,
and a little orphan boy, whom she was bringing up. When her son-in-law
came home from hunting, it was his custom to bring his wife the moose's
lip, the kidney of the bear, or some other choice bits of different
animals. These she would cook crisp, so as to make a sound with her
teeth in eating them. This kind attention of the hunter to his wife, at
last, excited the envy of the old woman. She wished to have the same
luxuries, and in order to get them she finally resolved to make way with
her son's wife. One day, she asked her to leave her infant son to the
care of the orphan boy, and come out and swing with her. She took her to
the shore of a lake, where there was a high range of rocks overhanging
the water. Upon the top of this rock, she erected a swing. She then
undressed, and fastened a piece of leather around her body, and
commenced swinging, going over the precipice at every swing. She
continued it but a short time, when she told her daughter to do the
same. The daughter obeyed. She undressed, and tying the leather string
as she was directed, began swinging. When the swing had got in full
motion and well a going, so that it went clear beyond the precipice, at
every sweep, the old woman slyly cut the cords and let her daughter drop
into the lake. She then put on her daughter's clothing, and thus
disguised went home in the dusk of the evening and counterfeited her
appearance and duties. She found the child crying, and gave it the
breast, but it would not draw. The orphan boy asked her where its mother
was. She answered, "She is still swinging." He said, "I shall go and
look for her." "No!" said she, "you must not--what should you go for?"
When the husband came in, in the evening, he, gave the coveted morsel to
his supposed wife. He missed his mother-in-law, but said nothing. She
eagerly ate the dainty, and tried to keep the child still. The husband
looked rather astonished to see his wife studiously averting her face,
and asked her why the child cried so. She said, she did not know--that
it would not draw.
In the meantime the orphan boy went to the lake shores, and found no
one. He mentioned his suspicions, and while the old woman was out
getting wood, he told him all that he had heard or seen. The man then
painted his face black, and placed his spear upside down in the earth
and requested the Great Spirit to send lightning, thunder, and rain, in
the hope that the body of his wife might arise from the water. He then
began to fast, and told the boy to take the child and play on the lake
shore.
We must now go back to the swing. After the wife had plunged into the
lake, she found herself taken hold of by a water tiger, whose tail
twisted itself round her body, and drew her to the bottom. There she
found a fine lodge, and all things ready for her reception, and she
became the wife of the water tiger. Whilst the children were playing
along the shore, and the boy was casting pebbles into the lake, he saw a
gull coming from its centre, and flying towards the shore, and when on
shore, the bird immediately assumed the human shape. When he looked
again he recognized the lost mother. She had a leather belt around her
loins, and another belt of white metal, which was, in reality, the tail
of the water tiger, her husband. She suckled the babe, and said to the
boy--"Come here with him, whenever he cries, and I will nurse him."
The boy carried the child home, and told these things to the father.
When the child again cried, the father went also with the boy to the
lake shore, and hid himself in a clump of trees. Soon the appearance of
a gull was seen, with a long shining belt, or chain, and as soon as it
came to the shore, it assumed the mother's shape, and began to suckle
the child. The husband had brought along his spear, and seeing the
shining chain, he boldly struck it and broke the links apart. He then
took his wife and child home, with the orphan boy. When they entered the
lodge, the old woman looked up, but it was a look of despair, she
instantly dropped her head. A rustling was heard in the lodge, and the
next moment, she leaped up, and flew out of the lodge, and was never
heard of more.
* * * * *
The name of God, among the ancient Mexicans, was Teo, a word seldom
found, except in compound phrases. Among the Mohawks and Onondagas, it
is Neo. With the western Senecas, as given by Smith, Owayneo. With the
Odjibwas, Monedo; with the Ottowas, Maneto. Many modifications of the
word by prefixes, to its radix Edo, appear among the cognate dialects.
It is remarkable that there is so striking a similarity in the principal
syllable, and it is curious to observe that Edo, is, in sound, both the
Greek term Deo, and the Azteek Teo, transposed. Is there any thing
absolutely _fixed_ in the sounds of languages?
TAKOZID,
OR
THE SHORT-FOOT.
A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.
Most of the individuals who have figured amongst the Red Race in
America, have appeared under circumstances which have precluded any
thing like a full and consistent biography. There is, in truth, but
little in savage life, to furnish materials for such biographies. The
very scantiness of events determines this. A man suddenly appears among
these tribes as a warrior, a negociator, an orator, or a prophet, by a
name that nobody ever before heard of. He excites attention for a short
time, and then sinks back into the mass of Indian society, and is no
more heard of. His courage, his eloquence, or his diplomatic skill, are
regarded as evidences of talent, and energy of thought or action, which,
under better auspices, might have produced a shining and consistent
character. But he has been left by events, and is sunk in the mass. He
appeared rather like an erratic body, or flash, than a fixed light amid
his people. The circumstances that brought him into notice have passed
away. A victory has been won, a speech made, a noble example given. The
affair has been adjusted, the tribe resumed its hunting, or
corn-planting, or wandering, or internal discords, and the new name,
which promised for a while to raise a Tamerlane, or Tippoo Saib in the
west, settles down in the popular mind; and if it be not wholly lost, is
only heard of now and then, as one of the signatures to some land
treaty. There is not, in fact, sufficient, in the population, military
strength, or importance of the affairs of _most_ of our tribes, to work
out incidents for a sustained and full biography. Even the most
considerable personages of past times, who have been honoured with such
full notices, have too much resemblance to a stout boy in his father's
regimentals. They hang loosely about him. The most that can be done--all
indeed which the occasion requires in general--is a sketch of such
particular events, in aboriginal history, as the individual has
connected his name with. It is proposed in the progress of this work, to
furnish some of such sketches from the unwritten annals of the west and
the north.
Among that class of aboriginal chiefs and actors, who have not risen to
the highest distinction, or attained general notoriety out of the circle
of their own tribes, was Takozid, or the Short-Foot; a Mukundwa, or
pillager; a fierce, warlike, and predatory tribe of the Odjibwa
Algonquin stock, who, at an early time seated themselves on the sources
of the Mississippi, making their head quarters at Leech Lake. To this
place, their traditions assert, they came from Chagoimegon, or still
farther east, prior to the discovery of the country by Europeans. They
were consequently intruders in, or conquerors of the country, and drove
back some other people. It seems equally probable that this people were
the Dacotahs, the Naddowassies, or as it is abbreviated, Sioux, of early
French writers. The Sioux are a numerous and warlike stock, who occupy
portions of the banks of the Missouri and the Mississippi, at, and about
the latitude of St. Anthony's Falls. A hereditary war of which "the
memory of man runneth not to the contrary," was the consequence of this
ancient inroad. Of all this region of country we can speak from personal
knowledge, having traversed it at sundry times, and in various
directions. It is in local reminiscence, little more than a widely
extended scene of Indian battles, ambuscades and murders. There is
hardly a prominent stream, plain or forest, which is not referred to, as
the traveller proceeds, as the particular locality of some fight,
tragedy, or hair-breath escape among the Red Men. The Olympic games were
not a surer test of fame in successful rivalry, than is this wide area
of aboriginal warfare, for the opposing nations of the Sioux and
Chippewas. War is the prime avenue to distinction to the Indian mind. As
soon as a hunter has acquired any distinction, and begins to look upon
himself as a person of courage and address, he turns his efforts to the
war path. Whatever else he is famous for, this is the crowning test and
seal of his reputation. And none have pursued it with more incessant
devotion than the Chippewas.
Takozid determined from his earliest youth to take a part in the strife
for barbaric glory. He early joined the war parties going into the great
plains. He learned their arts, repeated their songs, and became expert
in all the warrior's arts. He established the reputation of a brave
young man. The next step was to lead a war party himself. He courted
popularity by generosity, self denial, and attention to their religious
rites and ceremonies. These things may be done on a smaller scale, as
effectually among a band of savages, as in the hall or forum. He
succeeded. He raised a war party, conducted it into the plains,
discovered his enemies, approached them slily, fell upon them, defeated
them, and returned in triumph with their scalps to his village. His deep
and hollow CHE KWAN DUM, or death-cry of victory as he came to the
eminence which overlooked his village, announced all this before he set
foot in his village: and the number of his scalps.
These exploits placed him on the pinnacle of fame. It is a curious fact,
in the lives of our Red men, to observe that war is a stimulus to
poligamy. One of the first things he thought of, as a proper reward for
his bravery, was to take another wife. In this, his friends and
partizans concurred, although he had no cause of dissatisfaction with
his first wife, to whom he had been married but a short time, and who
had borne him a son. Time added confirmation to this plan. It was talked
of, and even debated by the chiefs. It was conceded to be due to his
bravery. All, indeed, appeared to approve of it, but his wife. She heard
of the rumor with alarm, and received the account of its confirmation,
with pain. It could no longer be doubted, for the individual who was to
share, nay, control the lodge with her was named, and the consent of her
parents had been obtained.
Monon, or the Little-Iron-Wood-Tree, as she was called, was a female of
no ordinary firmness of character. She was ardently attached to her
husband, not the less so for his rising fame, jealous of her rights, and
prompted by strong feelings to maintain them. In all these points she
was above the generality of her country women. Like others, however, in
a community where poligamy was common, she might have submitted at
length, to her fate, had not her rival in the affections of Takozid,
appealed to a deeper seated principle, and waked up, in the breast of
the injured wife, the feeling of revenge: a principle reckless enough,
in communities where there are the safeguards of education and
Christianity to restrain and regulate it; but horrible in wild and
roving bands of barbarians. Monon's fidelity was slandered. She was a
pure and high minded woman, and the imputation goaded her to the quick.
When this slander first reached her ears, through the ordinary channel
of village gossip, a chord was struck, which vibrated through every
throe, and steeled her heart for some extraordinary act; although none
could anticipate the sanguinary deed which marked the nuptial night. An
Indian marriage is often a matter of little ceremony. It was not so, on
this occasion. To render the events imposing, many had been invited. The
bride was dressed in her best apparel. Her father was present. Many
young and old, males and females were either present or thronged around
the lodge. The broad clear blue waters of the lake, studded with green
islands, spread before the door. A wide grassy lawn, which was the
village ball and play ground, extended down to its margin. It was a
public event. A throng had gathered around. Takozid was to be married.
He was to take a second wife, in the daughter of Obegwud. Takozid
himself was there. Hilarity reigned within and without. All indeed, were
there, but the dejected and deserted Monon, who had been left with her
child, at the chieftain's own lodge.
But a spirit had been aroused in her breast, which would not permit her
to remain absent. She crossed the green silently, stealthily. She stood
gazing awhile at the lake. She approached the bridal lodge. She passed
easily among the group. She entered the lodge. Nor had any one, at that
moment, a thought of suspicion or alarm. The bride was seated on her
envied abbinos; her affianced husband was at her side.
All at once, there arose a shrill cry, in the Chippewa tongue. "_This_,"
vociferated the enraged Monon, "_This_ for the bastard!" and at each
repetition of the words, she raised an Indian poignard, in her hand.
The suddenness of her movement had paralyzed every attempt to arrest
her. Amazement sat in every face. She had plunged a pointed knife into
the breast of her rival.
There is little to be added to such a catastrophe. Its very suddenness
and atrocity appalled every one. Nobody arrested her, and nobody pursued
her. She returned as she came, and re-entered her lodge. Her victim
never spoke.
From this moment the fame of Takozid declined. The event appeared to
have unmanned him. He went no more to war. His martial spirits appeared
to have left him. He sank back into the mass of Indian society, and was
scarcely ever mentioned. Nor should we, indeed, have recalled his name
from its obscurity, were it not associated in the Indian reminiscences
of Leach lake, with this sanguinary deed.
I had this relation a few years ago, from a trader, who had lived at
Leech lake, who personally knew the parties, and whose veracity I had no
reason at all, to call into question. It is one of the elements that go
into the sum of my personal observations, on savage life, and as such I
cast it among these papers. To judge of the Red race aright, we must
view it, in all its phases, and if we would perform our duty towards
them, as christians and men, we should gather our data from small, as
well as great events, and from afar as well as near. When all has been
done, in the way of such collections and researches, it will be found,
we think, that their errors and crimes, whatever they are, assume no
deeper dye than philanthropy has had reason to apprehend them to take,
without a knowledge of the principles of the gospel. _Thou shall not
kill_, is a law, yet to be enforced, among more than two hundred
thousand souls, who bear the impress of a red skin, within the
acknowledged limits of the American Union.
MACHINITO, THE EVIL SPIRIT;
FROM THE LEGENDS OF IAGOU.
BY MRS. E. OAKES SMITH.
"The Pagan world not only believes in a myriad of gods, but
worships them also. It is the peculiarity of the North American
Indian, that while he _believes_ in as many, he _worships_ but
one, the Great Spirit."--(_Schoolcraft._)
Chemanitou, being the master of life, at one time became the origin of a
spirit, that has ever since caused himself and all others of his
creation a great deal of disquiet. His birth was owing to an accident.
It was in this wise.
METOWAC, or as the white people now call it, Long Island, was originally
a vast plain, so level and free from any kind of growth, that it looked
like a portion of the great sea that had suddenly been made to move back
and let the sand below appear, which was the case in fact.
Here it was that Chemanitou used to come and sit, when he wished to
bring any new creation to the life. The place being spacious and
solitary, the water upon every side, he had not only room enough, but
was free from interruption.
It is well known that some of these early creations were of very great
size, so that very few could live in the same place, and their strength
made it difficult for Chemanitou, even to controul them; for when he has
given them certain elements, they have the use of the laws that govern
these elements, till it is his will to take them back to himself.
Accordingly, it was the custom of Chemanitou, when he wished to try the
effect of these creatures, to set them in motion upon the island of
Metowac, and if they did not please him, he took the life out before
they were suffered to escape. He would set up a mammoth or other large
animal, in the centre of the island, and build him up with great care,
somewhat in the manner that a cabin or a canoe is made.
Even to this day may be found traces of what had been done here in
former years; and the manner in which the earth sometimes sinks down
[even wells fall out at the bottom here,] shows that this island is
nothing more than a great cake of earth, a sort of platter laid upon the
sea, for the convenience of Chemanitou, who used it as a table upon
which he might work, never having designed it for anything else; the
margin of the CHATIEMAC, (the stately swan,) or Hudson river, being
better adapted to the purposes of habitation.
When the master of life wished to build up an elephant or mammoth he
placed four cakes of clay upon the ground, at proper distances, which
were moulded into shape, and became the feet of the animal.
Now sometimes these were left unfinished; and to this day the green
tussocks, to be seen like little islands about the marshes, show where
these cakes of clay had been placed.
As Chemanitou went on with his work, the NEEBANAWBAIGS (or water
spirits,) the PUCK-WUD-JINNIES, (Fairies[9]) and indeed all the lesser
manittoes, used to come and look on, and wonder what it would be, and
how it would act.
When the animal was quite done, and had dried a long time in the sun,
Chemanitou opened a place in the side, and entering in, remained there
many days.
When he came forth, the creature began to shiver and sway from side to
side, in such a manner as shook the whole island for many leagues. If
his appearance pleased the master of life he was suffered to depart, and
it was generally found that these animals plunged into the sea upon the
north side of the island, and disappeared in the great forests beyond.
Now at one time Chemanitou was a very long while building an animal, of
such great bulk, that it looked like a mountain upon the centre of the
island; and all the manittoes, from all parts, came to see what it was.
The Puck-wud-jinnies especially made themselves very merry, capering
behind his great ears, sitting within his mouth, each perched upon a
tooth, and running in and out of the sockets of the eyes, thinking
Chemanitou, who was finishing off other parts of the animal, could not
see them.
But he can see right through every thing he has made. He was glad to see
them so lively, and bethought himself of many new creations while he
watched their motions.
When the Master of Life had completed this large animal, he was fearful
to give it life, and so it was left upon the island, or work-table of
Chemanitou, till its great weight caused it to break through, and
sinking partly down it stuck fast, the head and tail holding it in such
a manner as to prevent it from going down.
Chemanitou then lifted up a piece of the back, and found it made a very
good cavity, into which the old creations, which failed to please him,
might be thrown.
He sometimes amused himself by making creatures very small and active,
with which he disported awhile, and finding them of very little use in
the world, and not so attractive as the little Vanishers, he would take
out the life, holding it in himself, and then cast them into the cave
made by the body of the unfinished animal. In this way great quantities
of very odd shapes were heaped together in this _Roncomcomon_, or "Place
of Fragments."
He was always careful to first take out the life.
One day the Master of Life took two pieces of clay and moulded them into
two large feet, like those of a panther. He did not make four--there
were two only.
He stepped his own feet into them, and found the tread very light and
springy, so that he might go with great speed, and yet make no noise.
Next he built up a pair of very tall legs, in the shape of his own, and
made them walk about awhile--he was pleased with the motion. Then
followed a round body, covered with large scales, like the alligator.
He now found the figure doubling forward, and he fastened a long black
snake, that was gliding by, to the back part of the body, and let it
wind itself about a sapling near, which held the body upright, and made
a very good tail.
The shoulders were broad and strong, like those of the buffaloe, and
covered with hair--the neck thick and short, and full at the back.
Thus far Chemanitou had worked with little thought, but when he came to
the head he thought a long while.
He took a round ball of clay into his lap, and worked it over with great
care. While he thought, he patted the ball upon the top, which made it
very broad and low; for Chemanitou was thinking of the panther feet, and
the buffaloe neck. He remembered the Puck-wud-jinnies playing in the eye
sockets of the great unfinished animal, and he bethought him to set the
eyes out, like those of a lobster, so that the animal might see upon
every side.
He made the forehead broad and full, but low; for here was to be the
wisdom of the forked tongue, like that of the serpent, which should be
in his mouth. He should see all things, and know all things. Here
Chemanitou stopped, for he saw that he had never thought of such a
creation before, one with but two feet, a creature who should stand
upright, and see upon every side.
The jaws were very strong, with ivory teeth, and gills upon either side,
which arose and fell whenever breath passed through them. The nose was
like the beak of the vulture. A tuft of porcupine quills made the
scalp-lock.
Chemanitou held the head out the length of his arm, and turned it first
upon one side and then upon the other. He passed it rapidly through the
air, and saw the gills rise and fall, the lobster eyes whirl round, and
the vulture nose look keen.
Chemanitou became very sad; yet he put the head upon the shoulders. It
was the first time he had made an upright figure.
It seemed to be the first idea of a man.
It was now nearly night; the bats were flying through the air, and the
roar of wild beasts began to be heard. A gusty wind swept in from the
ocean, and passed over the island of Metowac, casting the light sand to
and fro. A heavy scud was skimming along the horizon, while higher up in
the sky was a dark thick cloud, upon the verge of which the moon hung
for a moment, and then was shut in.
A panther came by and stayed a moment, with one foot raised and bent
inward, while he looked up at the image, and smelt the feet, that were
like his own.
A vulture swooped down with a great noise of its wings, and made a dash
at the beak, but Chemanitou held him back.
Then came the porcupine, and the lizard, and the snake, each drawn by
its kind in the image.
Chemanitou veiled his face for many hours, and the gusty wind swept by,
but he did not stir.
He saw that every beast of the earth seeketh its kind; and that which,
is like draweth its likeness unto himself.
The Master of Life thought and thought. The idea grew into his mind that
at some he would create a creature who should be made not after the
things of the earth, but after himself.
He should link this world to the spirit world,--being made in the
likeness of the Great Spirit, he should be drawn unto his likeness.
Many days and nights, whole seasons, passed while Chemanitou thought
upon these things. He saw all things.
Then the Master of Life lifted up his head; the stars were looking down
upon the image, and a bat had alighted upon the forehead, spreading its
great wings upon each side. Chemanitou took the bat and held out its
whole, leathery wings, (and ever since the bat, when he rests, lets his
body hang down,) so that he could try them over the head of the image.
He then took the life of the bat away, and twisted off the body, by
which means the whole thin part fell down over the head, and upon each
side, making the ears, and a covering for the forehead like that of the
hooded serpent.
Chemanitou did not cut off the face of the image below, he went on and
made a chin, and lips that were firm and round, that they might shut in
the forked tongue, and the ivory teeth; and he knew that with the lips
and the chin it would smile, when life should be given to it.
The image was now all done but the arms, and Chemanitou saw that with a
chin it must have hands. He grew more grave.
He had never given hands to any creature.
He made the arms and the hands very beautiful, after the manner of his
own.
Chemanitou now took no pleasure in his work that was done--it was not
good in his sight.
He wished he had not given it hands; might it not, when trusted with
life, might it not begin to create? might it not thwart the plans of the
master of life himself!
He looked long at the image. He saw what it would do when life should be
given it. He knew all things.
He now put fire in the image: but fire is not life.
He put fire within, and a red glow passed through and through it. The
fire dried the clay of which it was made, and gave the image an
exceedingly fierce aspect. It shone through the scales upon the breast,
and the gills, and the bat-winged ears. The lobster eyes were like a
living coal.
Chemanitou opened the side of the image, _but he did not enter_. He had
given it hands and a chin.
It could smile like the manittoes themselves.
He made it walk all about the island of Metowac, that he might see how
it would act. This he did by means of his will.
He now put a little life into it, but he did not take out the fire.
Chemanitou saw the aspect of the creature would be very terrible, and
yet that he could smile in such a manner that he ceased to be ugly. He
thought much upon these things. He felt it would not be best to let such
a creature live; a creature made up mostly from the beasts of the field,
but with hands of power, a chin lifting the head upward, and lips
holding all things within themselves.
While he thought upon these things, he took the image in his hands and
cast it into the cave.
_But Chemanitou forgot to take out the life!_
The creature lay a long time in the cave and did not stir, for his fall
was very great. He lay amongst the old creations that had been thrown in
there without life.
Now when a long time had passed Chemanitou heard a great noise in the
cave. He looked in and saw the image sitting there, and he was trying to
put together the old broken things that had been cast in as of no value.
Chemanitou gathered together a vast heap of stones and sand, for large
rocks are not to be had upon the island, and stopped the mouth of the
cave. Many days passed and the noise grew louder within the cave. The
earth shook, and hot smoke came from the ground. The Manittoes crowded
to Metowac to see what was the matter.
Chemanitou came also, for he remembered the image he had cast in there,
and forgotten to take away the life.
Suddenly there was a great rising of the stones and sand--the sky grew
black with wind and dust. Fire played about the ground, and water gushed
high into the air.
All the Manittoes fled with fear; and the image came forth with a great
noise and most terrible to behold. His life had grown strong within him,
for the fire had made it very fierce.
Everything fled before him and cried--MACHINITO--MACHINITO--which means
a god, but an evil god!
* * * * *
The above legend is gathered from the traditions of Iagou, the great
Indian narrator, who seems to have dipped deeper into philosophy than
most of his compeers. The aboriginal language abounds with stories
related by this remarkable personage, which we hope to bring before the
public at some future time. Whether subsequent events justify the Indian
in making Long Island the arena of the production of Machinito or the
Evil Spirit, will seem more than apocryphal to a white resident. However
we have nothing to do except to relate the fact as it was related.
As to these primitive metaphysics, they are at least curious; and the
coolness with which the fact is assumed that the origin of evil was
accidental in the process of developing a perfect humanity, would, at an
earlier day, have been quite appalling to the schoolmen.
E. O. S.
FOOTNOTES:
[9] Literally, little men, who vanish.
REPOSE OF THE SOUL.
When an Indian corpse is put in a coffin, among the tribes of the
Lake-Algonquins, the lid is _tied_ down, and not nailed. On depositing
it in the grave, the rope or string is loosed, and the weight of the
earth alone relied on, to keep it in a fixed position. The reason they
give for this, is, that the soul may have free egress from the body.
Over the top of the grave a covering of cedar bark is put, to shed the
rain. This is roof-shaped and the whole structure looks, slightly, like
a house in miniature. It has gable ends. Through one of these, being the
head, an aperture is cut. On asking a Chippewa why this was done, he
replied,--"To allow the soul to pass out, and in."
"I thought," I replied, "that you believed that the soul went up from
the body at the time of death, to a land of happiness. How, then, can it
remain in the body?"
"There are two souls," replied the Indian philosopher.
"How can this be? my friend."
"It is easily explained," said he.
"You know that, in dreams, we pass over wide countries, and see hills
and lakes and mountains, and many scenes, which pass before our eyes,
and affect us. Yet, at the same time, our bodies do not stir, and there
is a soul left with the body,--else it would be dead. So, you perceive,
it must be another soul that accompanies us."
This conversation took place, in the Indian country. I knew the Indian
very well, and had noticed the practice, not general now, on the
frontiers, of _tying_ the coffin-lid, in burials. It is at the orifice
in the bark sheeting mentioned, that the portion of food, consecrated in
feasts for the dead, is set. It could not but happen, that the food
should be eaten by the hystrix, wolf, or some other animal, known to
prowl at night; nor that, Indian superstition, ever ready to turn slight
appearances of this kind to account, should attribute its abstraction to
the spirit of the deceased.
THE LITTLE SPIRIT, OR BOY-MAN,
AN ODJIBWA FAIRY TALE.
WRITTEN OUT FROM THE VERBAL NARRATIVE BY THE LATE MRS. H. R.
SCHOOLCRAFT.
There was once a little boy, remarkable for the smallness of his
stature. He was living alone with his sister older than himself. They
were orphans, they lived in a beautiful spot on the Lake shore; many
large rocks were scattered around their habitation. The boy never grew
larger as he advanced in years. One day, in winter, he asked his sister
to make him a ball to play with along shore on the clear ice. She made
one for him, but cautioned him not to go too far.--Off he went in high
glee, throwing his ball before him, and running after it at full speed;
and he went as fast as his ball. At last his ball flew to a great
distance: he followed it as fast as he could. After he had run for some
time, he saw four dark substances on the ice straight before him. When
he came up to the spot he was surprised to see four large, tall men
lying on the ice, spearing fish. When he went up to them, the nearest
looked up and in turn was surprised to see such a diminutive being, and
turning to his brothers, he said, "Tia! look! see what a little fellow
is here." After they had all looked a moment, they resumed their
position, covered their heads, intent in searching for fish. The boy
thought to himself, they imagine me too insignificant for common
courtesy, because they are tall and large; I shall teach them
notwithstanding, that I am not to be treated so lightly. After they were
covered up the boy saw they had each a large trout lying beside them. He
slyly took the one nearest him, and placing his fingers in the gills,
and tossing his ball before him, ran off at full speed. When the man to
whom the fish belonged looked up, he saw his trout sliding away as if of
itself, at a great rate--the boy being so small he was not distinguished
from the fish. He addressed his brothers and said, "See how that tiny
boy has stolen my fish; what a shame it is he should do so." The boy
reached home, and told his sister to go out and get the fish he had
brought home. She exclaimed, "where could you have got it? I hope you
have not stolen it." "O no," he replied, "I found it on the ice." "How"
persisted the sister, "could you have got it there?"--"No matter," said
the boy, "go and cook it." He disdained to answer her again, but thought
he would one day show her how to appreciate him. She went to the place
he left it, and there indeed she found a monstrous trout. She did as she
was bid, and cooked it for that day's consumption. Next morning he went
off again as at first. When he came near the large men, who fished every
day, he threw his ball with such force that it rolled into the ice-hole
of the man of whom he had stolen the day before. As he happened to raise
himself at the time, the boy said, "Neejee, pray hand me my ball." "No
indeed," answered the man, "I shall not," and thrust the ball under the
ice. The boy took hold of his arm and broke it in two in a moment, and
threw him to one side, and picked up his ball, which had bounded back
from under the ice, and tossed it as usual before him. Outstripping it
in speed, he got home and remained within till the next morning. The man
whose arm he had broken hallooed out to his brothers, and told them his
case, and deplored his fate. They hurried to their brother, and as loud
as they could roar threatened vengeance on the morrow, knowing the
boy's speed that they could not overtake him, and he was near out of
sight; yet he heard their threats and awaited their coming in perfect
indifference. The four brothers the next morning prepared to take their
revenge. Their old mother begged them not to go--"Better" said she "that
one only should suffer, than that all should perish, for he must be a
monedo, or he could not perform such feats." But her sons would not
listen; and taking their wounded brother along, started for the boy's
lodge, having learnt that he lived at the place of rocks. The boy's
sister thought she heard the noise of snow-shoes on the crusted snow at
a distance advancing. She saw the large, tall men coming straight to
their lodge, or rather cave, for they lived in a large rock. She ran in
with great fear, and told her brother the fact. He said, "Why do you
mind them? give me something to eat." "How can you think of eating at
such a time," she replied,--"Do as I request you, and be quick." She
then gave him his dish, which was a large _mis-qua-dace_ shell, and he
commenced eating. Just then the men came to the door, and were about
lifting the curtain placed there, when the boy-man turned his dish
upside-down, and immediately the door was closed with a stone; the men
tried hard with their clubs to crack it; at length they succeeded in
making a slight opening. When one of them peeped in with one eye, the
boy-man shot his arrow into his eye and brain, and he dropped down dead.
The others, not knowing what had happened their brother, did the same,
and all fell in like manner; their curiosity was so great to see what
the boy was about. So they all shared the same fate. After they were
killed the boy-man told his sister to go out and see them. She opened
the door, but feared they were not dead, and entered back again hastily,
and told her fears to her brother. He went out and hacked them in small
pieces, saying, "henceforth let no man be larger than you are now." So
men became of the present size. When spring came on, the boy-man said to
his sister, "Make me a new set of arrows and bow." She obeyed, as he
never did any thing himself of a nature that required manual labour,
though he provided for their sustenance. After she made them, she again
cautioned him not to shoot into the lake; but regardless of all
admonition, he, on purpose, shot his arrow into the lake, and waded some
distance till he got into deep water, and paddled about for his arrow,
so as to attract the attention of his sister. She came in haste to the
shore, calling him to return, but instead of minding her he called out,
"Ma-mis-quon-je-gun-a, be-nau-wa-con-zhe-shin," that is, "_you_, of the
_red fins_ come and swallow me." Immediately that monstrous fish came
and swallowed him; and seeing his sister standing on the shore in
despair, he hallooed out to her, "Me-zush-ke-zin-ance." She wondered
what he meant. But on reflection she thought it must be an old mockesin.
She accordingly tied the old mockesin to a string, and fastened it to a
tree. The fish said to the boy-man, under water, "What is that
floating?" the boy-man said to the fish, "Go, take hold of it, swallow
it as fast as you can." The fish darted towards the old shoe, and
swallowed it. The boy-man laughed in himself, but said nothing, till the
fish was fairly caught; he then took hold of the line and began to pull
himself and fish to shore. The sister, who was watching, was surprised
to see so large a fish; and hauling it ashore she took her knife and
commenced cutting it open. When she heard her brother's voice inside of
the fish, saying, "Make haste and release me from this nasty place," his
sister was in such haste that she almost hit his head with her knife;
but succeeded in making an opening large enough for her brother to get
out. When he was fairly out, he told his sister to cut up the fish and
dry it, as it would last a long time for their sustenance, and said to
her, never, never more to doubt his ability in any way. So ends the
story.
AINGODON AND NAYWADAHA.
STORY OF A FAMILY OF NADOWAS, OR PEOPLE OF THE SIX NATIONS OF TORONTO,
CONSISTING OF SIX BROTHERS, THEIR YOUNGEST SISTER, AND TWO AUNTS.
THEIR FATHER AND MOTHER HAVING DIED, THEY WERE LEFT ORPHANS, THEIR
ORIGIN, HOWEVER, WAS FROM THE FIRST CLASS OF CHIEFTAINS IN THEIR
NATION.
NARRATED FROM THE ORAL RELATION OF NABANOI, BY MR. GEORGE JOHNSTON.
In the days of this story, wars, murders, and cruelty existed in the
country now comprising the province of Upper Canada, or that portion
bordering upon Lakes Simcoe, Erie, and Ontario, which was claimed and
belonged to the powerful tribe of the eight nations of the Nawtoways.
The young men had, on a day, started for a hunting excursion: in the
evening five only of the brothers returned, one was missing. Upon search
being made the body was found, and it appeared evident that he had been
killed: this gave a great blow to the family, but particularly causing
great affliction to the sister, who was the youngest of the family. She
mourned and lamented her brother's death, and she wept incessantly.
The ensuing year another was killed, and so on till four were killed.
The remaining two brothers did all they could to afford consolation to
their pining sister, but she would not be consoled: they did all they
could to divert her mind from so much mourning, but all their endeavours
proved ineffectual: she scarcely took any food, and what she ate was
hardly sufficient to sustain nature. The two brothers said that they
would go hunting, which they did from day to day. They would bring
ducks and birds of every description to their sister, in order to tempt
her appetite, but she persisted in refusing nourishment, or taking very
little. At the expiration of the year when the fourth brother had been
killed, the two young men set out upon the chase; one of them returned
in the evening, the other was missing, and found killed in like manner
as the others had been. This again augmented the afflictions of the
young girl; she had been very delicate, but was now reduced to a mere
skeleton. At the expiration of the year the only and last of her
brothers, taking pity upon his pining sister, said to her that he would
go and kill her some fresh venison, to entice her to eat. He started
early in the morning, and his sister would go out from time to time, in
the course of the day, to see if her brother was returning. Night set
in, and no indications of his coming--she sat up all night, exhibiting
fear and apprehension bordering upon despair--day light appeared, and he
did not come--search was made, and he was finally found killed, like all
the other brothers. After this event the girl became perfectly
disconsolate, hardly tasting food, and would wander in the woods the
whole day, returning at nights. One of her aunts had the care of her at
this time. One day in one of her rambles she did not return; her aunt
became very anxious, and searched for her, and continued her search
daily. On the tenth day, the aunt in her search lost her way and was
bewildered, and finally was benighted. While lying down, worn with
fatigue, she thought she heard the voice of some one speaking: she got
up, and directing her course to the spot, she came upon a small lodge
made of bushes, and in it lay her niece, with her face to the ground.
She prevailed upon her to return home. Before reaching their lodge the
girl stopt, and her aunt built her a small lodge, and she resided in it.
Here her aunt would attend upon her daily.
One day as she lay alone in her little lodge, a person appeared to her
from on high: he had on white raiment that was extremely pure, clean and
white: he did not touch the earth, but remained at some distance from
it. He spoke to her in a mild tone and said, Daughter, why do you remain
here mourning? I have come to console you, and you must arise, and I
will give you all the land, and deliver into your hands the persons who
have killed your brothers. All things living and created are mine, I
give and take away. Now therefore arise, slay and eat of my dog that
lays there. You will go to your village and firstly tell your relatives
and nation of this vision, and you must act conformably to my word and
to the mind I'll give you, and your enemies will I put into your hands.
I will be with you again.
After this, he ascended on high. When the girl looked to the place where
the heavenly being pointed, she saw a bear. She arose and went home, and
mentioned to her relatives the vision she had seen, and made a request
that the people might be assembled to partake of her feast. She directed
her relations to the spot where the bear was to be found; it was killed
and brought to the village, and singed upon a fire, and the feast was
made, and the nature of the vision explained. Preparations were
immediately set on foot, messengers were sent to each tribe of the six
nations, and an invitation given to them, to come upon a given day to
the village of Toronto. Messengers were also sent all along the north
coast of lake Huron to Bawating, inviting the Indians to form an
alliance and fight against the enemies of the young girl who had lost so
many brothers.
In the midst of the Nadowas, there lived two chieftains, twin brothers.
They were Nadowas also of the Bear tribe, perfect devils in disposition,
cruel and tyrannical. They were at the head of two nations of the
Nadowas, reigning together, keeping the other nations in great fear and
awe, and enslaving them; particularly the Indians of the Deer totem, who
resided in one portion of their great village. Indians in connection
with the Chippewas were also kept in bondage by the two tyrants, whose
names were _Aingodon_ and _Naywadaha_. When the Chippewas received the
young girl's messengers, they were told that they must rescue their
relatives, and secretly apprize them of their intention, and the great
calamity that would befall Aingodon and Naywadaha's villages and towns.
Many therefore made their escape; but one remained with his family,
sending an excuse for not obeying the summons, as he had a great
quantity of corn laid up, and that he must attend to his crops. The
Indians all along the north shore of lake Huron and of Bawating,
embarked to join the general and common cause; they passed through the
lakes, and reached Toronto late in the fall. In the beginning of the
winter the assembled allies marched, headed by the young girl. She
passed through lake Simcoe, and the line covered the whole lake,
cracking the ice as they marched over it. They encamped at the head of
the lake. Here the young girl produced a garnished bag, and she hung it
up, and told the assembled multitude that she would make _chingodam_;
and after this she sent hunters out directing them to bring in eighteen
bears, and before the sun had risen high the bears were all brought in,
and they were singed, and the feast of sacrifice offered. At this place
the person from on high appeared to the girl in presence of the
assembled multitude, and he stretched forth his hand and shook hands
with her only. He here directed her to send secret messengers into the
land, to warn the Indians who had the deer totem to put out their totems
on poles before their lodge door, in order that they might be known and
saved from the approaching destruction; and they were enjoined not to go
out of their lodges, neither man, woman, or child; if they did so they
would be surely consumed and destroyed; and the person on high said--Do
not approach nigh the open plain until the rising sun, you will then see
destruction come upon your enemies, and they will be delivered into your
hands.
The messengers were sent to the Deer Totems, and they entered the town
at night, and communicated their message to them. After this all the
Indians bearing that mark were informed of the approaching calamity, and
they instantly made preparations, setting out poles before their lodge
doors, and attaching deer skins to the poles, as marks to escape the
vengeance that was to come upon Aingodon and Nawadaha, and their tribes.
The next morning at daylight the Aingodons and Nawadahas rose, and
seeing the poles and deer skins planted before the doors of the lodges,
said in derision, that their friends, the Deer Totems, had, or must have
had, bad dreams, thus to set their totems on poles. The Indians of the
deer totems remained quiet and silent, and they did not venture out of
their lodges. The young girl was nigh the skirts of the wood with her
host, bordering upon the plain; and just as the sun rose she marched,
and as she and her allied forces neared the village of the twin tyrants,
it became a flame of fire, destroying all its inhabitants. The Deer
Totems escaped. Aingodon and Nawadaha were not consumed. The allied
Indians drew their bows and shot their arrows at them, but they bounded
off, and the blows inflicted upon them were of no avail, until the young
girl came up and subdued them, and took them alive, and made them
prisoners.
The whole of Aingodon's and Nawadaha's towns and villages were destroyed
in the same way; and the land was in possession of the young girl and
the six remaining tribes of the Nadowas. After this signal vengeance was
taken the young girl returned with her host, and again encamped at the
head of lake Simcoe, at her former encamping place; and the two tyrants
were asked, what was their object for making chingodam, and what weight
could it have? They said, in answer, that their implements for war, were
war axes, and if permitted they would make chingodam, and on doing so
they killed each two men. They were bound immediately, and their flesh
was cut off from their bodies in slices. One of them was dissected, and
upon examination it was discovered that he had no liver, and his heart
was small, and composed of hard flint stone. There are marks upon a
perpendicular ledge of rocks at the narrows, or head of lake Simcoe,
visible to this day, representing two bound persons, who are recognized
by the Indians of this generation as the two tyrants, or twin brothers,
Aingodon and Nawadaha. One of the tyrants was kept bound, until the time
the French discovered and possessed the Canadas, and he was taken to
Quebec. After this the young girl was taken away by the god of light.
GEO. JOHNSTON.
_Sault Ste. Marie, May 12th, 1838._
* * * * *
The Indian warriors of the plains west of the sources of the
Mississippi, chew a bitter root, before going into battle, which they
suppose imparts courage, and renders them insensible to pain. It is
called zhigowak.
SKETCHES OF THE LIVES OF
NOTED RED MEN AND WOMEN
WHO HAVE APPEARED ON THE WESTERN CONTINENT.
WABOJEEG, OR THE WHITE FISHER.
This individual has indelibly interwoven his name with the history of
the Chippewa nation, during the latter half of the 18th century. His
ancestors had, from the earliest times, held the principal chieftainship
in lake Superior. His father, Ma-mongazida, was the ruling chief during
the war of the conquest of the Canadas by the British crown. In common
with his tribe and the northern nations generally, he was the fast
friend of the French government, and was present with his warriors,
under Gen. Montcalm, at the loss of Quebec, in 1759. He carried a short
speech from that celebrated officer to his people in the north, which is
said to have been verbally delivered a short time before he went to the
field.
The period of the fall of the French power in the Canadas, is one of the
most marked events in Indian reminiscence throughout all north-west
America. They refer to the days of French supremacy as a kind of golden
era, when all things in their affairs were better than they now are; and
I have heard them lament over the change as one which was in every
respect detrimental to their power and happiness. No European nation, it
is evident from these allusions, ever pleased them as well. The French
character and manners adapted themselves admirably to the existing
customs of forest life. The common people, who went up into the interior
to trade, fell in with their customs with a degree of plasticity and an
air of gaiety and full assent, which no other foreigners have, at least
to the same extent, shown. These _Couriers du Bois_ had not much to
boast of on the score of rigid morals themselves. They had nearly as
much superstition as the wildest Indians. They were in fact, at least
nine-tenths of them, quite as illiterate. Very many of them were far
inferior in their mental structure and capacity to the bold, eloquent,
and well formed and athletic northern chiefs and hunters. They respected
their religious and festive ceremonies. They never, as a chief once told
me, _laughed_ at them. They met their old friends on their annual
returns from Montreal, with a kiss. They took the daughters of the red
men for wives, and reared large families, who thus constituted a strong
bond of union between the two races, which remains unbroken at this
day.
This is the true secret of the strenuous efforts made by the northern
and western Indians to sustain the French power, when it was menaced in
the war of 1744, by the fleets and armies of Great Britain. They rallied
freely to their aid at Detroit, Vincennes, the present sites of
Pittsburgh and Erie, at Fort Niagara, Montreal, and Quebec, and they
hovered with infuriated zeal around the outskirts of the northern and
western settlements, during the many and sanguinary wars carried on
between the English and French. And when the French were beaten they
still adhered to their cause, and their chiefs stimulated the French
local commanders to continue and renew the contest, even after the fall
of Niagara and Quebec, with a heroic consistency of purpose, which
reflects credit upon their foresight, bravery, and constancy. We hope in
a future number to bring forward a sketch of the man who put himself at
the head of this latter effort, who declared he would drive the Saxon
race into the sea, who besieged _twelve_ and took _nine_ of the western
stockaded forts, and who for four years and upwards, maintained the war,
after the French had struck their colours and ceded the country. We
refer to the great Algic leader, Pontiac.
At present our attention is called to a cotemporary chief, of equal
personal bravery and conduct, certainly, but who lived and exercised his
authority at a more remote point, and had not the same masses and means
at his command. This point, so long hid in the great forests of the
north, and which, indeed, has been but lately revealed in our positive
geography, is the AREA OF LAKE SUPERIOR. It is here that we find the
Indian tradition to be rife with the name of Wabojeeg and his wars, and
his cotemporaries. It was one of the direct consequences of so remote a
position, that it withdrew his attention more from the actual conflicts
between the French and English, and fixed them upon his western and
southern frontiers, which were menaced and invaded by the numerous bands
of the Dacotahs, and by the perfidious kinsmen of his nation, the
Outagamies and Saucs. He came into active life, too, as a prominent war
leader, at the precise era when the Canadas had fallen into the British
power, and by engaging zealously in the defence of the borders of his
nation west, he allowed time to mitigate and adjust those feelings and
attachments which, so far as public policy was concerned, must be
considered to have moulded the Indian mind to a compliance with, and a
submission to, the British authority. Wabojeeg was, emphatically, the
defender of the Chippewa domain against the efforts of other branches of
the Red Race. He did not, therefore, lead his people to fight, as his
father, Ma-mongazida, and nearly all the great Indian war captains had,
to enable one type of the foreign race to triumph over another, but
raised his parties and led them forth to maintain his tribal supremacy.
He may be contemplated, therefore, as having had a more patriotic object
for his achievement.
Lake Superior, at the time of our earliest acquaintance with the region,
was occupied, as it is at this day, by the Chippewa race. The chief
seat of their power appeared to be near the south-western extremity of
the lake, at Chagoimegon, where fathers Marquette and Alloez found their
way, and established a mission, so early as 1668. Another of their
principal, and probably more _ancient_ seats, was at the great rapids on
the outlet of that lake, which they named the Sault de Ste. Marie. It
was in allusion to their residence here that they called this tribe
Saulteur, that is to say people of the leap or rapid.
Indian tradition makes the Chippewas one of the chief, certainly by far
the most _numerous and widely spread_, of the Algonquin stock proper. It
represents them to have migrated from the east to the west. On reaching
the vicinity of Michilimackinac, they separated at a comparatively
moderate era into three tribes, calling themselves, respectively,
Odjibwas, Odawas, and Podawadumees. What their name was before this era,
is not known. It is manifest that the term Odjibwa is not a very ancient
one for it does not occur in the earliest authors. They were probably of
the Nipercinean or true Algonquin stock, and had taken the route of the
Utawas river, from the St. Lawrence valley into lake Huron. The term
itself is clearly from Bwa, a voice; and its prefix in Odji, was
probably designed to mark a peculiar intonation which the muscles are,
as it were, _gathered up_, to denote.
Whatever be the facts of their origin, they had taken the route up the
straits of St. Mary into lake Superior, both sides of which, and far
beyond, they occupied at the era of the French discovery. It is evident
that their course in this direction must have been aggressive. They were
advancing towards the west and north-west. The tribe known as
Kenistenos, had passed through the Lake of the Woods, through the great
lake Nipesing, and as far as the heads of the Saskatchewine and the
portage of the Missinipi of Hudson's bay. The warlike band of Leech
Lake, called Mukundwas, had spread themselves over the entire sources of
the Mississippi and extended their hunting excursions west to Red River,
where they came into contact with the Assinaboines, or Stone Sioux. The
central power, at this era, still remained at Chagoimegon, on Superior,
where indeed, the force of early tradition asserts there was maintained
something like a frame of both civil and ecclesiastical polity and
government.
It is said in the traditions related to me by the Chippewas, that the
Outagamies, or Foxes, had preceded them into that particular section of
country which extends in a general course from the head of Fox River, of
Green Bay, towards the Falls of St. Anthony, reaching in some points
well nigh to the borders of lake Superior. They are remembered to have
occupied the interior wild rice lakes, which lie at the sources of the
Wisconsin, the Ontonagon, the Chippewa, and the St. Croix rivers. They
were associated with the Saucs, who had ascended the Mississippi some
distance above the Falls of St. Anthony, where they lived on friendly
terms with the Dacotahs or Sioux. This friendship extended also to the
Outagamies, and it was the means of preserving a good understanding
between the Dacotahs and Chippewas.
The Fox tribe is closely affiliated with the Chippewas. They call each
other brothers. They are of the same general origin and speak the same
general language, the chief difference in sound being that the Foxes use
the letter l, where the Odjibwas employ an n. The particular cause of
their disagreement is not known. They are said by the Chippewas to have
been unfaithful and treacherous. Individual quarrels and trespasses on
their hunting grounds led to murders, and in the end to a war, in which
the Menomonees and the French united, and they were thus driven from the
rice lakes and away from the Fox and upper Wisconsin. To maintain their
position they formed an alliance with the Sioux, and fought by their
side.
It was in this contest that Wabojeeg first distinguished himself, and
vindicated by his bravery and address the former reputation of his
family, and laid anew the foundations of his northern chieftaindom.
Having heard allusions made to this person on my first entrance into
that region, many years ago, I made particular enquiries, and found
living a sister, an old white-headed woman, and a son and daughter,
about the age of middle life. From these sources I gleaned the following
facts. He was born, as nearly as I could compute the time, about 1747.
By a singular and romantic incident his father, Ma-mongazida, was a
half-brother of the father of Wabashaw, a celebrated Sioux chief, who
but a few years ago died at his village on the upper Mississippi. The
connexion happened in this way.
While the Sioux and Chippewas were living in amity near each other, and
frequently met and feasted each other on their hunting grounds and at
their villages, a Sioux chief, of distinction, admired and married a
Chippewa girl, by whom he had two sons. When the war between these two
nations broke out, those persons of the hostile tribes who had married
Chippewa wives, and were living in the Chippewa country, withdrew, some
taking their wives along and others separating from them. Among the
latter was the Sioux chief. He remained a short time after hostilities
commenced, but finding his position demanded it, he was compelled, with
great reluctance, to leave his wife behind, as she could not, with
safety, have accompanied him into the Sioux territories. As the blood of
the Sioux flowed in the veins of her two sons, neither was it safe for
her to leave them among the Chippewas. They were, however, by mutual
agreement, allowed to return with the father. The eldest of these sons
became the father of Wabashaw.
The mother thus divorced by the mutual consent of all parties, remained
inconsolable for some time. She was still young and handsome, and after
a few years, became the wife of a young Chippewa chief of Chagoimegon,
of the honoured totem of the ADDICK or reindeer. Her first child by
this second marriage, was Ma Mongazida, the father of Wabojeeg. In this
manner, a connexion existed between two families, of separate hostile
nations, each of which distinguished itself, for bravery and skill in
war and council. It has already been stated that Ma Mongazida, was
present, on the side of the French, in the great action in which both
Montcalm and Wolf fell, and he continued to exercise the chieftainship
till his death, when his second son succeeded him.
It was one of the consequences of the hostility of the Indians to the
English rule, that many of the remote tribes were left, for a time,
without traders to supply their wants. This was the case, tradition
asserts, with Chagoimegon, which, for two years after the taking of old
Mackinac, was left without a trader. To remonstrate against this, Ma
Mongazida visited Sir William Johnson, the superintendant general of
Indian affairs, by whom he was well received, and presented with a broad
wampum belt and gorget. This act laid the foundation of a lasting peace
between the Chippewas and the English. The belt, it is added, was of
blue wampum, with figures of white. And when Wabojeeg came to the
chieftainship, he took from it the wampum employed by him to muster his
war-parties.
In making traditionary enquiries I have found that the Indian narrators
were careful to preserve and note any fact, in the early lives of their
distinguished men, which appeared to prefigure their future eminence, or
had any thing of the wonderful or premonitory, in its character. The
following incident of this sort, was noticed respecting this chief. Ma
Mongazida generally went to make his fall hunts on the middle grounds
towards the Sioux territory, taking with him all his near relatives,
amounting usually to twenty persons, exclusive of children. Early one
morning while the young men were preparing for the chase, they were
startled by the report of several shots, directed towards the lodge. As
they had thought themselves in security, the first emotion was surprise,
and they had scarcely time to fly to their arms, when another volley was
fired, which wounded one man in the thigh, and killed a dog. Ma
Mongazida immediately sallied out with his young men, and pronouncing
his name aloud in the Sioux language, demanded if Wabasha or his
brother, were among the assailants. The firing instantly ceased--a pause
ensued, when a tall figure, in a war dress, with a profusion of feathers
upon his head, stepped forward and presented his hand. It was the elder
Wabasha, his half brother. The Sioux peaceably followed their leader
into the lodge, upon which they had, the moment before, directed their
shots. At the instant the Sioux chief entered, it was necessary to stoop
a little, in passing the door. In the act of stooping, he received a
blow from a war-club wielded by a small boy, who had posted himself
there for the purpose. It was the young Wabojeeg. Wabasha, pleased with
this early indication of courage, took the little lad in his arms,
caressed him, and pronounced that he would become a brave man, and
prove an inveterate enemy of the Sioux.
The border warfare in which the father of the infant warrior was
constantly engaged, early initiated him in the arts and ceremonies
pertaining to war. With the eager interest and love of novelty of the
young, he listened to their war songs and war stories, and longed for
the time when he would be old enough to join these parties, and also
make himself a name among warriors. While quite a youth he volunteered
to go out with a party, and soon gave convincing proofs of his courage.
He also early learned the arts of hunting the deer, the bear, the moose,
and all the smaller animals common to the country; and in these
pursuits, he took the ordinary lessons of Indian young men, in
abstinence, suffering, danger and endurance of fatigue. In this manner
his nerves were knit and formed for activity, and his mind stored with
those lessons of caution which are the result of local experience in the
forest. He possessed a tall and commanding person, with a full black
piercing eye, and the usual features of his countrymen. He had a clear
and full toned voice, and spoke his native language with grace and
fluency. To these attractions, he united an early reputation for bravery
and skill in the chase, and at the age of twenty-two, he was already a
war leader.
Expeditions of one Indian tribe against another, require the utmost
caution, skill, and secrecy. There are a hundred things to give
information to such a party, or influence its action, which are unknown
to civilized nations. The breaking of a twig, the slightest impression
of a foot print, and other like circumstances, determine a halt, a
retreat, or an advance. The most scrupulous attention is also paid to
the signs of the heavens, the flight of birds, and above all, to the
dreams and predictions of the jossakeed, priest, or prophet, who
accompanies them, and who is entrusted with the sacred sack. The theory
upon which all these parties are conducted, is secrecy and stratagem: to
steal upon the enemy unawares; to lay in ambush, or decoy; to kill and
to avoid as much as possible the hazard of being killed. An intimate
geographical knowledge of the country, is also required by a successful
war leader, and such a man piques himself, not only on knowing every
prominent stream, hill, valley, wood, or rock, but the particular
productions, animal, and vegetable, of the scene of operations. When it
is considered that this species of knowledge, shrewdness and sagacity,
is possessed on _both_ sides, and that the nations at war watch each
other, as a lynx for its prey, it may be conceived, that many of these
border war parties are either light skirmishes, sudden on-rushes, or
utter failures. It is seldom that a close, well contested, long
continued hard battle is fought. To kill a few men, tear off their
scalps in haste, and retreat with these trophies, is a brave and
honourable trait with them, and may be boasted of, in their triumphal
dances and warlike festivities.
To glean the details of these movements, would be to acquire the modern
history of the tribe, which induced me to direct my enquiries to the
subject; but the lapse of even forty or fifty years, had shorn tradition
of most of these details, and often left the memory of results only. The
Chippewas told me, that this chief had led them seven times to
successful battle against the Sioux and the Outagamies, and that he had
been wounded thrice--once in the thigh, once in the right shoulder, and
a third time in the side and breast, being a glancing shot. His war
parties consisted either of volunteers who had joined his standard at
the war dance, or of auxiliaries, who had accepted his messages of
wampum and tobacco, and come forward in a body, to the appointed place
of rendezvous. These parties varied greatly in number; his first party
consisted of but forty men, his greatest and most renowned, of three
hundred, who were mustered from the villages on the shores of the lake,
as far east as St. Mary's falls.
It is to the incidents of this last expedition, which had an important
influence on the progress of the war, that we may devote a few moments.
The place of rendezvous was _La Pointe_ Chagoimegon, or as it is called
in modern days, La Pointe of Lake Superior. The scene of the conflict,
which was a long and bloody one, was the falls of the St. Croix. The two
places are distant about two hundred and fifty miles, by the most direct
route. This area embraces the summit land between Lake Superior and the
upper Mississippi. The streams flowing each way interlock, which enables
the natives to ascend them in their light canoes, and after carrying the
latter over the portages, to descend on the opposite side. On this
occasion Wabojeeg and his partizan army, ascended the Muskigo, or
Mauvais river, to its connecting portage with the Namakagon branch of
the St. Croix. On crossing the summit, they embarked in their small and
light war canoes on their descent westward. This portion of the route
was passed with the utmost caution. They were now rapidly approaching
the enemy's borders, and every sign was regarded with deep attention.
They were seven days from the time they first reached the waters of the
St. Croix, until they found the enemy. They went but a short distance
each day, and encamped. On the evening of the seventh day, the scouts
discovered a large body of Sioux and Outagamies encamped on the lower
side of the portage of the great falls of the St. Croix. The discovery
was a surprise on both sides. The advance of the Chippewas had landed at
the upper end of the portage, intending to encamp there. The Sioux and
their allies had just preceded them, from the lower part of the stream
with the same object. The Foxes or Outagamies immediately fired, and a
battle ensued. It is a spot indeed, from which a retreat either way is
impracticable, in the face of an enemy. It is a mere neck of rugged
rock. The river forces a passage through this dark and solid barrier. It
is equally rapid and dangerous for canoes above and below. It cannot be
crossed direct. After the firing began Wabojeeg landed and brought up
his men. He directed a part of them to extend themselves in the wood
around the small neck, or peninsula, of the portage, whence alone escape
was possible. Both parties fought with bravery; the Foxes with
desperation. But they were outnumbered, overpowered, and defeated. Some
attempted to descend the rapids, and were lost. A few only escaped. But
the Chippewas paid dearly for their victory. Wabojeeg was slightly
wounded in the breast: his brother was killed. Many brave warriors fell.
It was a most sanguinary scene. The tradition of this battle is one of
the most prominent and wide spread of the events of their modern
history. I have conversed with more than one chief, who dated his first
military honours in youth, to this scene. It put an end to their feud
with the Foxes, who retired from the intermediate rice lakes, and fled
down the Wisconsin. It raised the name of the Chippewa leader, to the
acme of his renown among his people: but Wabojeeg, as humane as he was
brave, grieved over the loss of his people who had fallen in the action.
This feeling was expressed touchingly and characteristically, in a war
song, which he uttered after this victory which has been preserved by
the late Mr. Johnston of St. Mary's, in the following stanzas.
On that day when our heroes lay low--lay low,
On that day when our heroes lay low,
I fought by their side, and thought ere I died,
Just vengeance to take on the foe,
Just vengeance to take on the foe.
On that day, when our chieftains lay dead--lay dead,
On that day when our chieftains lay dead,
I fought hand to hand, at the head of my band,
And here, on my breast, have I bled,
And here, on my breast, have I bled.
Our chiefs shall return no more--no more,
Our chiefs shall return no more,
Nor their brothers of war, who can show scar for scar,
Like women their fates shall deplore--deplore,
Like women their fate shall deplore.
Five winters in hunting we'll spend--we'll spend,
Five winters in hunting we'll spend,
Till our youth, grown to men, we'll to war lead again,
And our days, like our fathers, we'll end,
And our days, like our fathers, we'll end.
It is the custom of these tribes to go to war in the spring and summer,
which are, not only comparatively seasons of leisure with them, but it
is at these seasons that they are concealed and protected by the foliage
of the forest, and can approach the enemy unseen. At these annual
returns of warmth and vegetation, they also engage in festivities and
dances, during which the events and exploits of past years are sang and
recited; and while they derive fresh courage and stimulus to renewed
exertions, the young, who are listeners, learn to emulate their fathers,
and take their earliest lessons in the art of war. Nothing is done in
the summer months in the way of hunting. The small furred animals are
changing their pelt, which is out of season. The doe retires with her
fawns, from the plains and open grounds, into thick woods. It is the
general season of reproduction, and the red man for a time, intermits
his war on the animal creation, to resume it against man.
As the autumn approaches, he prepares for his fall hunts, by retiring
from the outskirts of the settlements, and from the open lakes, shores,
and streams, which have been the scenes of his summer festivities; and
proceeds, after a short preparatory hunt, to his wintering grounds. This
round of hunting, and of festivity and war, fills up the year; all the
tribes conform in these general customs. There are no war parties raised
in the winter. This season is exclusively devoted to securing the means
of their subsistence and clothing, by seeking the valuable skins, which
are to purchase their clothing and their ammunition, traps and arms.
The hunting grounds of the chief, whose life we are considering,
extended along the southern shores of Lake Superior from the Montreal
River, to the inlet of the Misacoda, or Burntwood River of Fond du Lac.
If he ascended the one, he usually made the wide circuit indicated, and
came out at the other. He often penetrated by a central route up the
Maskigo. This is a region still abounding, but less so than formerly, in
the bear, moose, beaver, otter, martin, and muskrat. Among the smaller
animals are also to be noticed the mink, lynx, hare, porcupine, and
partridge, and towards its southern and western limits, the Virginia
deer. In this ample area, the La Pointe, or Chagoimegon Indians hunted.
It is a rule of the chase, that each hunter has a portion of the country
assigned to him, on which he alone may hunt; and there are conventional
laws which decide all questions of right and priority in starting and
killing game. In these questions, the chief exercises a proper
authority, and it is thus in the power of one of these forest governors
and magistrates, where they happen to be men of sound sense, judgment
and manly independence, to make themselves felt and known, and to become
true benefactors to their tribes. And such chiefs create an impression
upon their followers, and leave a reputation behind them, which is of
more value than their achievements in war.
Wabojeeg excelled in both characters; he was equally popular as a civil
ruler and a war chief; and while he administered justice to his people,
he was an expert hunter, and made due and ample provision for his
family. He usually gleaned, in a season, by his traps and carbine, four
packs of mixed furs, the avails of which were ample to provide clothing
for all the members of his lodge circle, as well as to renew his supply
of ammunition and other essential articles.
On one occasion, he had a singular contest with a moose. He had gone
out, one morning early, to set martin traps. He had set about forty, and
was returning to his lodge, when he unexpectedly encountered a large
moose, in his path, which manifested a disposition to attack him. Being
unarmed, and having nothing but a knife and small hatchet, which he had
carried to make his traps, he tried to avoid it. But the animal came
towards him in a furious manner. He took shelter behind a tree, shifting
his position from tree to tree, retreating. At length, as he fled, he
picked up a pole, and quickly untying his moccasin strings, he bound his
knife to the end of the pole. He then placed himself in a favourable
position, behind a tree, and when the moose came up, stabbed him several
times in the throat and breast. At last, the animal, exhausted with the
loss of blood, fell. He then dispatched him, and cut out his tongue to
carry home to his lodge as a trophy of victory. When they went back to
the spot, for the carcass, they found the snow trampled down in a wide
circle, and copiously sprinkled with blood, which gave it the appearance
of a battle-field. It proved to be a male of uncommon size.
The domestic history of a native chief, can seldom be obtained. In the
present instance, the facts that follow, may be regarded with interest,
as having been obtained from residents of Chagoimegon, or from his
descendants. He did not take a wife till about the age of thirty, and he
then married a widow, by whom he had one son. He had obtained early
notoriety as a warrior, which perhaps absorbed his attention. What
causes there were to render this union unsatisfactory, or whether there
were any, is not known; but after the lapse of two years, he married a
girl of fourteen, of the totem of the bear, by whom he had a family of
six children. He is represented as of a temper and manners affectionate
and forbearing. He evinced thoughtfulness and diligence in the
management of his affairs, and the order and disposition of his lodge.
When the hunting season was over, he employed his leisure moments in
adding to the comforts of his lodge. His lodge was of an oblong shape,
ten fathoms long, and made by setting two rows of posts firmly in the
ground, and sheathing the sides and roof with the smooth bark of the
birch. From the centre rose a post crowned with the carved figure of an
owl, which he had probably selected as a bird of good omen, for it was
neither his own nor his wife's totem. This figure was so placed, that it
turned with the wind, and answered the purpose of a weathercock.
In person Wabojeeg was tall, being six feet six inches, erect in
carriage, and of slender make. He possessed a commanding countenance,
united to ease and dignity of manners. He was a ready and fluent
speaker, and conducted personally the negotiations with the Fox and
Sioux nations. It was perhaps twenty years after the battle on the St.
Croix, which established the Chippewa boundary in that quarter, and
while his children were still young, that there came to his village, in
the capacity of a trader, a young gentleman of a respectable family in
the north of Ireland, who formed an exalted notion of his character,
bearing, and warlike exploits. This visit, and his consequent residence
on the lake, during the winter, became an important era to the chief,
and has linked his name and memory with numerous persons in civilized
life. Mr. Johnston asked the northern chief for his youngest daughter.
Englishman, he replied, my daughter is yet young, and you cannot take
her as white men have too often taken our daughters. It will be time
enough to think of complying with your request, when you return again to
this lake in the summer. My daughter is my favourite child, and I cannot
part with her, unless you will promise to acknowledge her by such
ceremonies as white men use. You must ever keep her, and never forsake
her. On this basis a union was formed, a union it may be said, between
the Erse and Algonquin races--and it was faithfully adhered to, till his
death, a period of thirty-seven years.
Wabojeeg had impaired his health in the numerous war parties which he
conducted across the wide summit which separated his hunting grounds
from the Mississippi valley. A slender frame, under a life of incessant
exertion, brought on a premature decay. Consumption revealed itself at a
comparatively early age, and he fell before this insidious disease, in a
few years, at the early age of about forty-five. He died in 1793 at his
native village of Chagoimegon.
The incident which has been named, did not fail to make the forest
chieftain acquainted with the leading truth of Christianity, in the
revelation it makes of a saviour for all races. On the contrary, it is a
truth which was brought to his knowledge and explained. It is, of
course, not known with what particular effects. As he saw his end
approaching, he requested that his body might not be buried out of
sight, but placed, according to a custom prevalent in the remoter bands
of this tribe, on a form supported by posts, or a scaffold. This trait
is, perhaps, natural to the hunter state.
My friends when my spirit is fled--is fled
My friends when my spirit is fled,
Ah, put me not bound, in the dark and cold ground,
Where light shall no longer be shed--be shed,
Where daylight no more shall be shed.
But lay me up scaffolded high--all high,
Chiefs lay me up scaffolded high,
Where my tribe shall still say, as they point to my clay,
He ne'er from the foe sought to fly--to fly,
He ne'er from the foe sought to fly.
And children, who play on the shore--the shore,
And children who play on the shore,
As the war dance they beat, my name shall repeat,
And the fate of their chieftain deplore--deplore,
And the fate of their chieftain deplore.
MODE OF WRITING AN INDIAN LANGUAGE.
The rules of utterance of these tribes, after all that has been said and
written on the subject, are very simple, and determine the orthography,
so far, at least, as relates to distinctions for the long and short
vowels. If, in writing Indian, the syllables be separated by hyphens,
there need be no uncertainty respecting their sounds, and we shall be
saved a world of somewhat over nice disquisition. A vowel preceded by a
consonant, is always long, a vowel followed by a consonant is always
short. A vowel between two consonants, is short. A vowel standing by
itself is always full or long. A few examples of well known words will
denote this.
On ta' ri o. Wa bash.
Ni ag' ar a. Pe o ri a.
O we' go. Ti con de ro ga.
Ti o ga. Mis siss ip pi.
Os we go. O nei da.
I'-o-wa. Al ab a ma
Wis con' sin. O tis' co.
Chi ca go. Or' e gon.
Write the words by whatever system of orthography you will, French,
English, or German, and the vowel sounds will vindicate this
distinction. If diphthongs have been used, for simple vowels, through
early mistake or redundancy, the rule is the same. If they appear as
proper diphthongs, they follow the rule of diphthongs. This principal of
utterance appears to be a general and fixed law in the Indian languages
as respects the sounds of e, i, o, u, and the two chief sounds of a, 1
and 3 of Walker's Key. As the letter a has four distinct sounds, as in
English, the chief discrepancies, seen above, will appear in the use of
this letter.
SKETCHES OF THE LIVES OF
NOTED RED MEN AND WOMEN,
WHO HAVE APPEARED ON THE WESTERN CONTINENT.
BRANT, RED JACKET, UNCAS, MIONTONIMO.
A NOTICE OF THE BIOGRAPHIES OF THE LATE COL. WILLIAM L. STONE, PREPARED
FOR THE DEMOCRATIC REVIEW--1843.