There lived a noted chief at Michilimackinac, in days past, called

Gitshe Naygow, or the Great-Sand-Dune, a name, or rather nick-name,

which he had, probably, derived from his birth and early residence at a

spot of very imposing appearance, so called, on the southern shore of

Lake Superior, which is east of the range of the Pictured Rocks. He was

a Chippewa, a warrior and a counsellor, of that tribe, and had mingled

freely in the stirring scenes of war and border foray, which marked the

closing years of French domination in the Canadas. He lived to be very

old, and became so feeble at last, that he could not travel by land,

when Spring came on and his people prepared to move their lodges, from

their sugar-camp in the forest, to the open lake shore. They were then

inland, on the waters of the Manistee river, a stream which enters the

northern shores of Lake Michigan. It was his last winter on earth; his

heart was gladdened by once more feeling the genial rays of Spring, and

he desired to go with them, to behold, for the last time, the expanded

lake and inhale its pure breezes. He must needs be conveyed by hand.

This act of piety was performed by his daughter, then a young woman. She

carried him on her back from their camp to the lake shore, where they

erected their lodge and passed their spring, and where he eventually

died and was buried.

This relation I had from her own lips, at the agency of Michilimackinac,

in 1833. I asked her how she had carried him. She replied, with the

Indian apekun, or head-strap. When tired she rested, and again pursued

her way, on-wa-be-win by on-wa-be-win, or rest by rest, in the manner

practised in carrying heavy packages over the portages. Her name was

Nadowakwa, or the female Iroquois. She was then, perhaps, about

fifty-five years of age, and the wife of a chief called Saganosh, whose

home and jurisdiction were in the group of the St. Martin's Islands,

north of Michilimackinac.

The incident was not voluntarily told, but came out, incidentally, in

some inquiries I was making respecting historical events, in the

vicinity. One such incident goes far to vindicate the affections of this

people, and should teach us, that they are of the same general lineage

with ourselves, and only require letters and Christianity, to exalt them

in the scale of being.

* * * * *

The first words of men, says Harris in his Hermes, like their first

ideas, had an immediate reference to sensible objects; in after days,

when they began to discern with their intellect, they took those words

which they found already made, and transferred them by metaphor, to

intellectual conceptions.

ANDAIG WEOS, OR CROWS-FLESH.

Many persons among the Indian race, have attracted notice from their

exploits on the war-path. Andaig Weos was not among the number of these,

or if he had mingled in such events, his deeds of daring are now lost

amid the remembrance of better qualities. He was a chief of the once

prominent and reigning band of Odjibwa Algonquins, who are called

Chippewas, located at Chegoimegon, on Lake Superior, where his name is

cherished in local tradition, for the noble and disinterested deeds

which he performed in former days. He lived in the latter part of the

18th century.

It was perhaps forty years ago--said my informant, it was while the late

Mr. Nolin, of Sault Ste. Marie was a trader in the Chippewa country,

between lake Superior and the Mississippi, that he wintered one year low

down on the Chippewa river. On his way down this stream, and while he

was still on one of its sources, cold weather set in suddenly, the ice

formed, and he was unable to get on with his goods. He consequently put

them _en cache_, according to the custom of the country, and proceeded

on foot, with his men to the lower part of the river, to the spot at

which he had determined to winter. Here he felled trees, and built his

house, and having made all things ready, he set out with his men on his

return, to his _cache_, in order to bring down his goods.

On the way he fell in with an Indian hunter and his wife, who followed

him to the place where he had secreted his goods. On reaching this, he

filled a bottle with spirits and gave a glass to each of his men, took

one himself, and then filling the glass presented it to the Indian. This

was done after the camp had been made for the night. It so happened that

the Indian was taken suddenly ill that night, and before day light died.

Nolin and his men buried him, and then proceeded back to his wintering

house below, each man carrying a pack of goods; and the widow rejoined

her friends.

After the Indians had taken their credits, and dispersed to their

several wintering grounds, it was rumoured amongst them, that the trader

had administered poison to the Indian who died so suddenly after taking

the glass of spirits. And this opinion gained ground, although the widow

woman repeatedly told the Indians, that the liquor given to her deceased

husband was from the same bottle and glass, that all the French people

had drank from. But it was of no avail; the rumour grew, and Mr. Nolin

began to be apprehensive, as he had already learnt that the Indians

meant to kill him. To confirm this suspicion a party of forty men, soon

after, entered his house, all armed, painted black, and with war dresses

on. They were all presented with a piece of tobacco, as was customary,

when each of them threw it into the fire. No alternative now appeared to

remain to avert the blow, which he was convinced must soon follow.

Almost at the same instant, his men intimated that another party, of six

men more, were arriving.

It proved to be the chief Andaig Weos, from near Lac du Flambeau, in

search of a trader, for a supply of tobacco and ammunition. On entering,

the chief eyed the warriors, and asked Mr. N. whether he had given them

tobacco. He replied that he _had_, and that they had all, to a man,

thrown it in the fire, and, he added, that they intended to kill him.

The chief asked for some tobacco, which he threw down before the

warriors, telling them to smoke it, adding in an authoritative voice,

that when Indians visited traders, it was with an intention of getting

tobacco from them to _smoke_ and and not to _throw into the fire_; and

that, for his part, he had been a long time without smoking, and was

very happy to find a trader to supply him with that article. This

present from him, with the rebuke, was received with silent

acquiescence,--no one venturing a reply.

The chief next demanded liquor of the trader, saying, "that he intended

to make them drink." The politic Frenchman remonstrated, saying, "that

if this was done, he should surely be killed." "Fear not, Frenchman,"

replied the chief, boldly. "These are not _men_ who want to kill you:

they are _children_. I, and my warriors will guard you." On these

assurances, a keg of liquor was given, but with the greatest reluctance.

The chief immediately presented it to the war-party, but cautioned them

to drink it at a distance, and not to come nigh the trader during the

night. They obeyed him. They took it a short distance and drank it, and

kept up a dreadful yelling all night, but did not molest the house.

The next morning Andaig Weos demanded tobacco of the still uneasy

_marchand voyageur_, and ordered one of his young men to distribute it

to the Indians in the war-dress. He then rose and addressed them in an

energetic and authoritative speech, telling them to march off, without

tasting food; that they were _warriors_, and needed not any thing of the

kind; and if they did, they were _hunters_,--they had guns, and might

hunt, and kill and eat. "You get nothing more here," he added. "This

trader has come here to supply your wants, and you seek to kill him--a

poor reward for the trouble and the anxiety he has undergone! This is no

way of requiting white people." They all, to a man started, and went

off, and gave the trader no farther molestation while he remained in the

country.

On another occasion Andaig Weos was placed in a situation which afforded

a very different species of testimony to his principles and integrity. A

French trader had entered lake Superior so late in the season, that with

every effort, he could get no farther than _Pointe La Petite Fille_,

before the ice arrested his progress. Here he was obliged to build his

wintering house, but he soon ran short of provisions, and was obliged to

visit La Pointe, with his men, in order to obtain fish--leaving his

house and storeroom locked, with his goods, ammunition, and liquors, and

resolving to return immediately. But the weather came on so bad, that

there was no possibility of his immediate return, and the winter proved

so unfavourable that he was obliged to spend two months at that post.

During this time, the chief Andaig Weos, with fifteen of his men, came

out from the interior, to the shores of the lake, for the purpose of

trading, each carrying a pack of beaver, or other furs. On arriving at

the point La Petite Fille, they found the trader's house locked and no

one there. The chief said to his followers.--It is customary for traders

to invite Indians into their house, and to receive them politely; but as

there is no one to receive us, we must act according to circumstances.

He then ordered the door to be opened, with as little injury as

possible, walked in, with his party, and caused a good fire to be built

in the chimney. On opening the store-door he found they could be

supplied with all they wanted. He told his party, on no account to

touch, or take away any thing, but shut up the door, and said, "that he

would, on the morrow, act the trader's part."

They spent the night in the house. Early the next morning, he arose and

addressed them, telling them, that he would now commence trading with

them. This he accordingly did, and when all was finished, he carefully

packed the furs, and piled the packs, and covered them with an oilcloth.

He then again addressed them, saying that it was customary for a trader

to give tobacco and a keg of spirits, when Indians had traded

handsomely. He, therefore, thought himself authorized to observe this

rule, and accordingly gave a keg of spirits and some tobacco. "The

spirits," he said, "must not be drank here. We must take it to our

hunting camp," and gave orders for returning immediately. He then caused

the doors to be shut, in the best manner possible, and the outer door to

be barricaded with logs, and departed.

When the trader returned, and found his house had been broken open, he

began to bewail his fate, being sure he had been robbed; but on entering

his store room and beholding the furs, his fears were turned to joy. On

examining his inventory, and comparing it with the amount of his furs,

he declared, that had he been present, he could not have traded to

better advantage, nor have made such a profit on his goods.

These traits are not solitary and accidental. It happened at another

time, that a Mr. Lamotte, who had wintered in the Folle-avoine country,

unfortunately had a quarrel with the Indians, at the close of the

season, just when he was about to embark on his return with his furs. In

the heat of their passion the Indians broke all his canoes in pieces,

and confined him a prisoner, by ordering him to encamp on an island in

the St. Croix river.

In this situation he remained, closely watched by the Indians, till all

the _other_ traders had departed and gone out of the country to renew

their supplies, when the chief Andaig Weos arrived. He comprehended the

case in an instant, and having found that the matter of offence was one

of no importance, he immediately went to the Indian village, and in a

loud and authoritative tone of voice, so as to be heard by all,

commanded suitable canoes to be taken to the imprisoned trader--a

summons which was promptly obeyed. He then went to Mr. Lamotte and told

him to embark fearlessly, and that he himself would see that he was not

further hindered, at the same time lamenting the lateness of his return.

The general conduct of this chief was marked by kindness and urbanity.

When traders arrived at Chagoimegon, where he lived, it was his custom

to order his young men to cover and protect their baggage lest any thing

should be injured or stolen. He was of the lineage of the noted

war-chief, Abojeeg, or Wab Ojeeg. He lived to be very old, so that he

walked nearly bent double--using a cane. The present ruling chief of

that place, called Pezhickee, is his grandson. These anecdotes were

related by Mr. Cadotte, of Lapointe, in the year 1829, and are believed

to be entitled to full confidence.

* * * * *

The Tartars cannot pronounce the letter b. Those of Bulgaria pronounce

the word _blacks_ as if written _ilacs_. It is noticeable, that the

Odjibwas and their cognate tribes at the north, not only make great use

of the letter b, in native words, but when they come to pronounce

English words, in which the letter v occurs, they invariably substitute

the b for it, as in village, and vinegar.

There are three letters in the English alphabet which the above tribes

do not pronounce. They are f, r, and l. For f, they substitute, in their

attempts to pronounce foreign words, p. The sound of r, they change to

broad a, or drop. L is changed to n.

* * * * *

Singing and dancing are applied to political and to religious purposes

by the Indians. When they wish to raise a war-party, they meet to sing

and dance: when they wish to supplicate the divine mercy on a sick

person, they assemble in a lodge, to sing and dance. No grave act is

performed without singing and dancing.

ORIGIN

AND

HISTORY OF THE RACE.

WYANDOT TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION, AND OTHER EPOCHS.

The following traditions of the creation of man, and of the Red Race; of

the order of precedence and relationship among the tribes, and the

notice of the first arrival of Europeans on the continent, together with

the allegories of Good and Evil, and of Civilization and Barbarism, are

extracted from a private journal, kept during the period of my official

intercourse with the various tribes.

Superintendency Indian Affairs,

Detroit, January 30th, 1837.

A delegation of three Wyandot chiefs visited me, this day, from their

location near Amherstburg in Canada, with their interpreter, George C.

Martin. Their names were O-ri-wa-hen-to, or Charlo, On-ha-to-tun-youh,

or Round Head, son of Round Head, the brother of Splitlog, and

Ty-er-on-youh, or Thomas Clark. They informed me, in reply to a

question, that the present population of their band, at that location,

was eighty-six souls. After transacting their business, I proposed

several questions to them respecting their origin and history.

1. What is the origin of the Indians? We believe that all men sprang

from one man and woman, who were made by God, in parts beyond the sea.

But in speaking of the Indians we say, how did they cross the sea

without ships? and when did they come? and from what country? What is

your opinion on the subject?

Oriwahento answered: "The old chief, Splitlog, who could answer you, is

not able to come to see you from his age and feebleness; but he has sent

us three to speak with you. We will do the best we can. We are not able

to read and write, like white men, and what you ask is not therefore to

be found in black and white." (This remark was probably made as they

observed I took notes of the interview.)

"There was, in ancient times, something the matter with the earth. It

has changed. We think so. We believe God created it, and made men out of

it. We think he made the Indians in this country, and that they did not

come over the sea. They were created at a place called MOUNTAINS. It

was eastward. When he had made the earth and those mountains, he covered

something over the earth, as it were, with his hand. Below this, he put

man. All the different tribes were there. One of the young men found his

way out to the surface. He saw a great light, and was delighted with the

beauty of the surface. While gazing around, he saw a deer running past,

with an arrow in his side. He followed it, to the place where it fell

and died. He thought it was a harmless looking animal. He looked back to

see its tracks, and he soon saw other tracks. They were the foot prints

of the person who had shot the deer. He soon came up. It was the creator

himself. He had taken this method to show the Indians what they must do,

when they came out from the earth. The creator showed him how to skin

and dress the animal, bidding him do so and so, as he directed him. When

the flesh was ready, he told him to make a fire. But he was perfectly

ignorant. God made the fire. He then directed him to put a portion of

the meat on a stick, and roast it before the fire. But he was so

ignorant that he let it stand till it burned on one side, while the

other was raw.

Having taught this man the hunter's art, so that he could teach it to

others, God called the Indians forth out of the earth. They came in

order, by tribes, and to each tribe he appointed a chief. He appointed

one Head Chief to lead them all, who had something about his neck, and

he instructed him, and put it into his head what to say to the tribes.

That he might have an opportunity to do so, a certain animal was killed,

and a feast made, in which they were told to eat it all. The leader God

had so chosen, told the tribes what they must do, to please their maker,

and what they must not do.

Oriwahento further said: God also made Good and Evil. They were

brothers. The one went forth to do good, and caused pleasant things to

grow. The other busied himself in thwarting his brother's work. He made

stony and flinty places, and caused bad fruits, and made continual

mischief among men. Good repaired the mischief as fast as it was done,

but he found his labour never done. He determined to fly upon his

brother and destroy him, but not by violence. He proposed to run a race

with him. Evil consented, and they fixed upon the place. But first tell

me, said Good, what is it you most dread. Bucks horns! replied he, and

tell me what is most hurtful to you. Indian grass braid! said Good. Evil

immediately went to his grandmother, who made braid, and got large

quantities of it, which he put in the path and hung on the limbs that

grew by the path where Good was to run. Good also filled the path of his

brother with the dreaded horns. A question arose who should run first.

I, said Good, will begin, since the proposition to try our skill first

came from me. He accordingly set out, his brother following him. But as

he began to feel exhausted at noon, he took up the grass braid and ate

it. This sustained him, and he tired down his brother before night, who

entreated him to stop. He did not, however, cease, till he had

successfully reached the goal.

The next day Evil started on his path. He was encountered every where by

the horns, which before noon had greatly weakened him. He entreated to

be relieved from going on. Good insisted on his running the course. He

sustained himself 'till sunset, when he fell in the path, and was

finally dispatched by one of the horns wielded by his brother.

Good now returned in triumph to his grandmother's lodge. But she was in

an ill humour, as she always was, and hated him and loved his brother

whom he had killed. He wanted to rest, but at night was awoke by a

conversation between her and the ghost of Evil. The latter pleaded to

come in, but although he felt for him, he did not allow his fraternal

feelings to get the better, and resolutely denied admission. Then said

Evil "I go to the north-west, and you will never see me more, and all

who follow me will be in the same state. They will never come back.

Death will for ever keep them."

Having thus rid himself of his adversary, he thought he would walk out

and see how things were going on, since there was no one to oppose his

doing good. After travelling some time he saw a living object ahead. As

he drew nearer, he saw more plainly. It was a naked man. They began to

talk to each other. "I am walking to see the creation, which I have

made," said Good, "but who are you?" "Clothed man," said he, "I am as

powerful as you, and have made all that land you see." "Naked man," he

replied, "I have made all things, but do not recollect making you." "You

shall see my power," said the naked man, "we will try strength. Call to

yonder mountain to come here, and afterwards I will do the same, and we

will see who has the greatest power." The clothed man fell down on his

knees, and began to pray, but the effort did not succeed, or but

partially. Then the naked man drew a rattle from his belt, and began to

shake it and mutter, having first blindfolded the other. After a time,

now said he, "look!" He did so, and the mountain stood close before him,

and rose up to the clouds. He then blindfolded him again, and resumed

his rattle and muttering. The mountain had resumed its former distant

position.

The clothed man held in his left hand a sword, and in his right hand the

law of God. The naked man had a rattle in one hand, and a war club in

the other. They exchanged the knowledge of the respective uses of these

things. To show the power of the sword, the clothed man cut off a rod,

and placed it before him. The naked man immediately put the parts

together and they were healed. He then took his club, which was flat,

and cut off the rod, and again healed the mutilated parts. He relied on

the rattle to answer the same purpose as the other's book. The clothed

man tried the use of the club, but could not use it with skill, while

the naked man took the sword and used it as well as the other.

Oriwahento continued:--It is said that Evil killed his mother at his

birth. He did not enter the world the right way, but bursted from the

womb. They took the body of the mother and laid it upon a scaffold. From

the droppings of her decay, where they fell on the ground, sprang up

corn, tobacco, and such other vegetable productions as the Indians have.

Hence we call corn, our mother. And our tobacco propagates itself by

spontaneous growth, without planting; but the clothed man is required to

labour in raising it.

Good found his grandmother in no better humor when he came back from the

interview with the naked man. He therefore took and cast her up, and she

flew against the moon, upon whose face the traces of her are still to be

seen.

This comprised the first interview; after a recess during which they

were permitted to refresh themselves and smoke their pipes, I returned

to the office and resumed the inquiries.

2. Where did your tribe first see white men on this continent? The

French say you lived on the St. Lawrence, and afterwards went to the

north, from whence you afterwards came down to the vicinity of Detroit.

That you possess the privilege of lighting up the general council fire

for the Lake tribes; and that you were converted to the catholic faith.

Oriwahento again answered.

When the tribes were all settled, the Wyandots were placed at the head.

They lived in the interior, at the mountains east, about the St.

Lawrence. They were the first tribe of old, and had the first

chieftainship. The chief said to their nephew, the Lenapees, Go down to

the sea coast and look, and if you see any thing bring me word. They had

a village near the sea side, and often looked, but saw nothing except

birds. At length they espied an object, which seemed to grow and come

nearer, and nearer. When it came near the land it stopped, but all the

people were afraid, and fled to the woods. The next day, two of their

number ventured out to look. It was lying quietly on the water. A

smaller object of the same sort came out of it, and walked with long

legs (oars) over the water. When it came to land two men came out of it.

They were different from us and made signs for the others to come out of

the woods. A conference ensued. Presents were exchanged. They gave

presents to the Lenapees, and the latter gave them their skin clothes as

curiosities. Three distinct visits, at separate times, and long

intervals, were made. The mode in which the white men got a footing, and

power in the country was this. First, room was asked, and leave given to

place a chair on the shore. But they soon began to pull the lacing out

of its bottom, and go inland with it; and they have not yet come to the

end of the string. He exemplified this original demand for a cession of

territory and its renewal at other epochs, by other figures of speech,

namely, of a bull's hide, and of a man walking. The first request for a

seat on the shore, was made he said of the Lenapees; alluding to the

cognate branches of this stock, who were anciently settled at the

harbour of New York, and that vicinity.

To the question of their flight from the St. Lawrence, their settlement

in the north, and their subsequent migration to, and settlement on, the

straits of Detroit, Oriwahento said:

The Wyandots were proud. God had said that such should be beaten and

brought low. This is the cause why we were followed from the east, and

went up north away to Michilimackinac, but as we had the right before,

so when we came back, the tribes looked up to us, as holding the council

fire.[18]

3. What relationship do you acknowledge, to the other western tribes?

Answer by Oriwahento: We call the Lenapees, _nephews_; we call the

Odjibwas (Chippewas) Ottawas, Miami's &c. _Younger Brother_. We call the

Shawnees, _the Youngest Brother_. The Wyandots were the first tribe in

ancient times. The first chieftainship was in their tribe.

SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTIONS TO THE INTERPRETER.

1. Are the Wyandot and Mohawk languages, alike in sounds. You say, you

speak both.

Ans. Not at all alike. It is true there are a few words so, but the two

languages do not seem to me more akin than English and French. You know

some English and French words are alike. The Mohawk language is on the

_tongue_, the Wyandot is in _the throat_.

2. Give me some examples: Read some of this translation of the Mohawk,

(handing him John's Gospel printed by the American Bible Society in

1818.) He complied, reading it fluently, and appearing to have been

acquainted with the translation.

Further conversation, in which his attention was drawn to particular

facts in its structure and principles, made him see stronger analogies

between the two tongues. It was quite evident, that he had never

reflected on the subject, and that there were, both grammatically, and

philologically, coincidences beyond his depth.

FOOTNOTES:

[18] This is certainly a dignified and wise answer; designed as it was,

to cover their disastrous defeat and flight from the St. Lawrence valley

to the north. The precedence to which he alludes, on reaching the

straits of Detroit, as having been theirs before, is to be understood,

doubtless, of the era of their residence on the lower St. Lawrence,

where they were at the head of the French and Indian confederacy against

the Iroquois. Among the latter, they certainly had no precedency, so far

as history teaches. Their council fire was kept by the Onondagas.

H. R. S.

TRADITIONS OF THE ARCTIDES.

There are some curious traditions related by the race of people living

on that part of the continent lying north and west of Athabasca lake,

and the river Unjigah. Mackenzie has described that branch of them, who

are called by the trivial name of Che-pe-wyans. This is an Algonquin

term, meaning puckered blankets, and has reference only to the most

easterly and southerly division of the race. They are but the van of an

extensive race. All that gives identity to their general traditions, and

distinctive character and language, relates as well to the Dogribs, the

Coppermines, the Strongbows, the Ambawtawoots, the Hares, the

Brushwoods, the Sursees, the Tacullies, the Nateotetains, and other

tribes located north of them, extending to the Arctic Ocean, and west

through the Peace river pass of the Rocky Mountains. Philology brings

into one group all these dialects of a wide spread race, who extend from

the borders of the Atnah nation on the Columbia, across the Rocky

Mountains eastwardly to the Lake of the Hills and the Missinipi or

Churchill river, covering many degrees of latitude and longitude. In the

absence of any generic name for them, founded on language or character,

I shall allude to them under the geographical phrase of ARCTIDES.

This stock of people have proceeded from the direction of the North

Pacific towards the Atlantic waters, in a general eastern direction, in

which respect, their history forms a striking exception to the other

great stocks of the eastern part of the United States, the Canadas, and

Hudson's bay, who have been in a continual progress towards the WEST and

NORTH-WEST. The Arctides, on the contrary, have proceeded EAST and

SOUTHEAST. They may be supposed, therefore, to bring their traditions

more directly from opposite portions of the continent, and from Asia,

and it may be inferred, from more unmixed and primitive sources. Some of

these traditions are, at least, of a curious and striking character.

They believe, like the more southerly tribes, in the general tradition

of a deluge, and of a paradise, or land of future bliss. They have

apparently, veiled the Great Spirit, or creator of the globe, under the

allegory of a gigantic bird. They believe, that there was originally

nothing visible but one vast ocean. Upon this the bird descended from

the sky, with a noise of his wings which produced sounds resembling

thunder. The earth, as he alighted, immediately rose above the waters.

This bird of creative power, then made all the classes of animals, who

were made out of earth. They all had precedency to man. Man alone, the

last in the series, was created from the integument of a dog. This, they

believe, was their own origin, and hence, as Mackenzie tells us, they

will not eat the flesh of this animal, as is done by the other tribes of

the continent. To guard and protect them, he then made a magic arrow,

which they were to preserve with great care, and hold sacred. But they

were so thoughtless, they add, as to carry it away and lose it, upon

which the great bird took his flight, and has never since appeared. This

magic arrow is doubtless to be regarded as a symbol of something else,

which was very essential to their safety and happiness. Indian history

is often disguised under such symbolic forms.

They have also a tradition that they originally came from a foreign

country, which was inhabited by a wicked people. They had to cross a

great lake, or water, which was shallow, narrow, and full of islands.

Their track lay also through snow and ice, and they suffered miserably

from cold. They first landed at the mouth of the Coppermine river. The

earth thereabouts was then strewed with metallic copper, which has since

disappeared.

They believe that, in ancient times, men lived till their feet were worn

out with walking, and their throats with eating. They represent their

ancestors as living to very great ages. They describe a deluge, in which

the waters spread over the whole earth, except the highest mountains, on

which their progenitors were saved.

Their notions of a future state coincide generally with the other

stocks. But their paradise is clothed with more imaginative traits. They

believe, that at death they pass immediately to another world, where

there is a large river of water to cross. They must embark in a stone

canoe, and are borne along into a wide lake, which has an island in its

centre. This is the island of the blest, and the object of the

disembodied soul is to reach it. If their lives have been good, they

will be fortunate, and make it. If bad, they will sink; but they will

only sink to the depth of their chins, so that they may be permitted to

behold the happy land, and strive in vain to reach it. Eternity is

passed in this vain endeavour.

They have also some notion of the doctrine of transmigration. Such are

the traditionary notions of this numerous family of the Red Race, which

are sufficiently distinctive and peculiar,--and while they resemble in

many traits, yet in others they contradistinguish them from the great

Algic race of the eastern part of the continent. The most advanced

branch of these tribes in their geographical position, call themselves,

as reported by Capt. Franklin, People of the Rising Sun, or

_Saw-eesaw-dinneh_.

It seems singular, that the farther north we go, the greater evidences

do we behold of imagination, in the aboriginal race, together with some

fore-shadowings of future punishment.

HISTORICAL TRADITIONS OF THE CHIPPEWAS, ODJIBWAS, OR ODJIBWA-ALGONQUINS.

Of all the existing branches of the Algonquin stock in America, this

extensive and populous tribe appears to have the strongest claims to

intellectual distinction, on the score of their traditions, so far, at

least, as the present state of our inquiries extends. They possess, in

their curious fictitious legends and lodge-tales, a varied and

exhaustless fund of tradition, which is repeated from generation to

generation. These legends hold, among the wild men of the north, the

relative rank of story-books; and are intended both to amuse and

instruct. This people possess also, the art of picture writing, in a

degree which denotes that they have been, either more careful, or more

fortunate, in the preservation of this very ancient art of the human

race. Warriors, and the bravest of warriors, they are yet an

intellectual people.

Their traditions and belief, on the origin of the globe, and the

existence of a Supreme Being, are quite accordant with some things in

our own history and theory. They believe that the Great Spirit created

material matter, and that he made the earth and heavens, by the power of

his will. He afterwards made animals and men, out of the earth, and he

filled space with subordinate spirits, having something of his own

nature, to whom he gave a part of his own power. He made one great and

master spirit of evil, to whom he also gave assimilated and subordinate

evil spirits, to execute his will. Two antagonist powers, they believe,

were thus placed in the world, who are continually striving for the

mastery, and who have power to affect the fortunes and lives of men.

This constitutes the groundwork of their religion, sacrifices and

worship.

They believe that animals were created before men, and that they

originally had rule on the earth. By the power of necromancy, some of

these animals were transformed to men, who, as soon as they assumed this

new form, began to hunt the animals, and make war against them. It is

expected that these animals will resume their human shapes, in a future

state, and hence their hunters, feign some clumsy excuses, for their

present policy of killing them. They believe that all animals, and birds

and reptiles, and even insects, possess reasoning faculties, and have

souls. It is in these opinions, that we detect the ancient doctrine of

transmigration.

Their most intelligent priests tell us, that their forefathers

worshipped the sun; this luminary was regarded by them, as one of their

Medas told me, as the symbol of divine intelligence, and the figure of

it is drawn in their system of picture writing, to denote the Great

Spirit. This symbol very often occurs in their pictures of the medicine

dance, and the wabeno dance, and other sacred forms of their rude

inscriptions.

They believe, at least to some extent, in a duality of souls, one of

which is fleshly, or corporeal, the other is incorporeal or mental. The

fleshly soul goes immediately, at death, to the land of spirits, or

future bliss. The mental soul abides with the body, and hovers round the

place of sepulture. A future state is regarded by them, as a state of

rewards, and not of punishments. They expect to inhabit a paradise,

filled with pleasures for the eye, and the ear, and the taste. A strong

and universal belief in divine mercies absorbs every other attribute of

the Great Spirit, except his power and ubiquity; and they believe, so

far as we can gather it, that this mercy will be shown to all. There is

not, in general, a very discriminating sense of moral distinctions and

responsibilities, and the faint out-shadowings, which we sometimes hear

among them, of a deep and sombre stream to be crossed by the adventurous

soul, in its way to the land of bliss, does not exercise such a

practical influence over their lives, as to interfere with the belief of

universal acceptance after death. So firm is this belief, that their

proper and most reverend term for the Great Spirit, is Gezha Monedo,

that is to say, Merciful Spirit. Gitchy Monedo, which is also employed,

is often an equivocal phrase. The term Waez-heaud, or Maker, is used to

designate the Creator, when speaking of his animated works. The compound

phrase Waeosemigoyan, or universal Father, is also heard.

The great spirit of evil, called Mudje Monedo, and Matche Monito, is

regarded as a _created_, and not a pre-existing being. Subordinate

spirits of evil, are denoted by using the derogative form of the word,

in _sh_ by which Moneto is rendered Monetosh. The exceeding flexibility

of the language is well calculated to enable them to express distinction

of this nature.

This tribe has a general tradition of a deluge, in which the earth was

covered with water, reaching above the highest hills, or mountains, but

not above a tree which grew on the latter, by climbing which a man was

saved. This man was the demi-god of their fictions, who is called

Manabozho, by whose means the waters were stayed and the earth

re-created. He employed for this purpose various animals who were sent

to dive down for some of the primordial earth, of which a little was,

at length, brought up by the beaver, and this formed the germ or nucleus

of the new, or rather rescued planet. What particular allegories are hid

under this story, is not certain; but it is known that this, and other

tribes, are much in the habit of employing allegories, and symbols,

under which we may suspect, they have concealed parts of their

historical traditions and beliefs. This deluge of the Algonquin tribes,

was produced, as their legends tell, by the agency of the chief of the

evil spirits, symbolized by a great serpent, who is placed, throughout

the tale, in an antagonistical position to the demi-god Manabosho. This

Manabozho, is the same, it is thought, with the Abou, and the Michabou,

or the Great Hare of elder writers.

Of their actual origin and history, the Chippewas have no other certain

tradition, than that they came from Wabenong, that is to say, the land

of the EAST. They have no authentic history, therefore, but such

remembered events, as must be placed subsequent to the era of the

discovery of the continent. Whether this tradition is to be interpreted

as an ancient one, having reference to their arrival on the continent,

or merely to the track of their migration, after reaching it, is a

question to be considered. It is only certain, that they came to their

present position on the banks of Lake Superior, from the direction of

the Atlantic seaboard, and were, when discovered, in the attitude of an

invading nation, pressing westward and northward. Their distinctive name

sheds no light on this question. They call themselves _Od-jib-waeg_,

which is the plural of Odjibwa,--a term which appears to denote a

peculiarity in their voice, or manner of utterance. This word has been

pronounced Chippewa by the Saxon race in America, and is thus recorded

in our treaties and history. They are, in language, manners and customs,

and other characteristics, a well marked type of the leading Algonquin

race, and indeed, the most populous, important, and wide spread existing

branch of that family now on the continent. The term Chippewa, may be

considered as inveterately fixed by popular usage, but in all

disquisitions which have their philology or distinctive character in

view, the true vernacular term of Od-jib-wa, will be found to possess

advantages to writers. The word Algonquin is still applied to a small

local band, at the Lake of Two Mountains, on the Utawas river, near

Montreal, but this term, first bestowed by the French, has long been a

generic phrase for the entire race, who are identified by the ties of a

common original language in the United States and British America.

One of the most curious opinions of this people is their belief in the

mysterious and sacred character of fire. They obtain sacred fire, for

all national and ecclesiastical purposes, from the flint. Their national

pipes are lighted with this fire. It is symbolical of purity. Their

notions of the boundary between life and death, which is also

symbolically the limit of the material verge between this and a future

state, are revealed in connection with the exhibition of flames of

fire. They also make sacrifices by fire of some part of the first fruits

of the chase. These traits are to be viewed, perhaps, in relation to

their ancient worship of the sun, above noticed, of which the traditions

and belief, are still generally preserved. The existence among them of

the numerous classes of jossakeeds, or mutterers--(the word is from the

utterance of sounds low on the earth,) is a trait that will remind the

reader of a similar class of men, in early ages, in the eastern

hemisphere. These persons constitute, indeed, the Magii of our western

forests. In the exhibition of their art, and of the peculiar notions

they promulgate on the subject of a sacred fire, and the doctrine of

transmigration, they would seem to have their affiliation of descent

rather with the disciples of Zoroaster and the fruitful Persian stock,

than with the less mentally refined Mongolian hordes.

MYTHOLOGY, SUPERSTITIONS, AND RELIGION OF THE ALGONQUINS.

THEIR SYSTEM OF MANITO WORSHIP, AS RECENTLY DISCLOSED BY THE

CONFESSIONS OF ONE OF THEIR PROPHETS; THEIR LANGUAGES, AND

CHARACTER OF THE TRANSLATIONS OF THE GOSPEL MADE INTO THESE

DIALECTS; AND THE LEADING MOTIVES OF CHRISTIANS AND

PHILANTHROPISTS TO PERSEVERE IN THEIR CIVILISATION AND

CONVERSION.[19]

It is known that the Indian tribes of this continent live in a state of

mental bondage to a class of men, who officiate as their priests and

soothsayers. These men found their claims to supernatural power on early

fastings, dreams, ascetic manners and habits, and often on some real or

feigned fit of insanity. Most of them affect a knowledge of charms and

incantations. They are provided with a sack of mystic implements, the

contents of which are exhibited in the course of their ceremonies, such

as the hollow bones of some of the larger anseres, small carved

representations of animals, cowrie and other sea-shells, &c. Some of

these men acquire a character for much sanctity, and turn their

influence to political purposes, either personally or through some

popular warrior, as was instanced in the success of the sachems

Buchanjahela, Little Turtle and Tecumthe.

We have recently had an opportunity of conversing with one of this class

of sacred person, who has within late years embraced Christianity; and

have made some notes of the interview, which we will advert to for the

purpose of exhibiting his testimony, as to the true character of this

class of impostors. Chusco, the person referred to, is an Ottawa Indian

who has long exercised the priestly office, so to say, to his brethren

on the northern frontiers. He is now a man turned of seventy. He is of

small stature, somewhat bent forward, and supports the infirmities of

age by walking with a staff. His sight is impaired, but his memory

accurate, enabling him to narrate with particularity events which

transpired more than half a century ago. He was present at the great

convocation of northern Indians at Greenville, which followed Gen.

Wayne's victories in the west--an event to which most of these tribes

look back, as an era in their history. He afterwards returned to his

native country in the upper lakes, and fixed his residence at

Michilimackinac, where in late years, his wife became a convert to the

Christian faith, and united herself to the mission church on that

island. A few years after, the old prophet, who despised this mode of

faith, and thought but little of his wife's sagacity in uniting herself

to a congregation of believers, felt his own mind arrested by the same

truths, and finally also embraced them, and was propounded for

admission, and afterwards kept on trial before the session. It was about

this time, or soon after he had been received as an applicant for

membership, that the writer visited his lodge, and entered into a full

examination of his sentiments and opinions, contrasting them freely with

what they had formerly been. We requested him to narrate to us the facts

of his conversion to the principles of Christianity, indicating the

progress of truth on his mind, which he did in substance, through an

interpreter, as follows:

"In the early part of my life I lived very wickedly,

following the META, the JEESUKAN, and the WABENO, the

three great superstitious observances of my people. I did

not know that these societies were made up of errors

until my wife, whose heart had been turned by the

missionaries, informed me of it. I had no pleasure in

listening to her on this subject, and often turned away,

declaring that I was well satisfied with the religion of

my forefathers. She took every occasion of talking to me

on the subject. She told me that the Indian societies

were bad, and that all who adhered to them were no better

than open servants of the Evil Spirit. She had, in

particular, _four_ long talks with me on the subject, and

explained to me who God was, and what sin was, as it is

written in God's book. I believed before, that there was

One Great Spirit who was the Master of life, who had made

men and beasts. But she explained to me the true

character of this Great Spirit, the sinfulness of the

heart, and the necessity of having it changed from evil

to good by praying through Jesus Christ. By degrees I

came to understand it. She told me that the Ghost of God

or Holy Spirit only could make the heart better, and that

the souls of all who died, without having felt this

power, would be burned in the fires. The missionaries had

directed her to speak to me and put words in her mouth;

and she said so much that, at length, I did not feel

satisfied with my old way of life. Amongst other things

she spoke against drinking, which I was very fond of.

"I did not relish these conversations, but I could not

forget them. When I reflected upon them, my heart was not

as fixed as it used to be. I began to see that the Indian

Societies were bad, for I knew from my own experience,

that it was not a good Spirit that I had relied upon. I

determined that I would not undertake _jeesuka_ or to

look into futurity any longer for the Indians, nor

practice the _Meta's_ art. After a while I began to see

more fully that the Indian ceremonies were all bad, and I

determined to quit them altogether, and give heed to what

was declared in God's book.

"The first time that I felt I was to be condemned as a

sinner, and that I was in danger of being punished for

sin by God, is clearly in my mind. I was then on the

Island of Bois Blanc, making sugar with my wife. I was in

a conflict of mind, and hardly knew what I was about. I

walked around the kettles, and did not know what I walked

for. I felt sometimes like a person wishing to cry, but I

thought it would be unmanly to cry. For the space of two

weeks, I felt in this alarmed and unhappy mood. It seemed

to me sometimes as if I must die. My heart and my bones

felt as if they would burst and fall asunder. My wife

asked me if I was sick, and said I looked pale. I was in

an agony of body and mind, especially during _one_ week.

It seemed, during this time, as if an evil spirit haunted

me. When I went out to gather sap, I felt conscious that

this spirit went with me and dogged me. It appeared to

animate my own shadow.

"My strength was failing under this conflict. One night,

after I had been busy all day, my mind was in great

distress. This shadowy influence seemed to me to persuade

me to go to sleep. I was tired, and I wished rest, but I

could not sleep. I began to pray. I knelt down and prayed

to God. I continued to pray at intervals through the

night; I asked to know the truth. I then laid down and

went to sleep. This sleep brought me rest and peace. In

the morning my wife awoke me, telling me it was late.

When I awoke I felt placid and easy in mind. My distress

had left me. I asked my wife what day it was. She told me

it was the Sabbath (in the Indian, prayer-day). I

replied,'how I wish I could go to the church at the

mission! Formerly I used to avoid it, and shunned those

who wished to speak to me of praying to God, but now my

heart longs to go there.' This feeling did not leave me.

"After three days I went to the mission. The gladness of

my heart continued the same as I had felt it the first

morning at the camp. My first feeling when I landed, was

pity for my drunken brethren, and I prayed that they

might also be brought to find the true God. I spoke to

the missionary, who at subsequent interviews explained to

me the truth, the rite of baptism, and other principles.

He wished, however, to try me by my life, and I wished

it also. It was the following autumn, that I was received

into the church."

We now turned his mind to the subject of intemperance in drinking,

understanding that it had been his former habit. He replied that he had

been one of the greatest drunkards. He had not been satisfied with a ten

days' drink. He would go and drink as long as he could get it. He said,

that during the night in which he first prayed, it was one of the first

subjects of his prayers, that God would remove this desire with his

other evil desires. He added, "God did so." When he arose that morning

the desire had left him. The evil spirit then tempted him by suggesting

to his mind--"Should some one now enter and offer you liquor, would you

not taste it?" He averred he could, at that moment, firmly answer No! It

was now seven years since he had tasted a drop of strong drink. He

remarked that when he used first to visit the houses of Christians, who

gladly opened their doors to him, they were in the habit of asking him

to drink a glass of cider or wine, which he did. But this practice had

nearly ruined him. On one occasion he felt the effects of what he had

thus been prevailed on to drink. The danger he felt himself to be in was

such, that he was alarmed and gave up this practice also.

He detailed some providential trials which he had been recently exposed

to. He had observed, he said, that those of his people who had professed

piety and had subsequently fallen off, had nevertheless prospered in

worldly things, while he had found it very hard to live. He was often in

a state of want, and his lodge was so poor and bad, that it would not

keep out the rain. Both he and his wife were feeble, and their clothes

were worn out. They had now but a single blanket between them. But when

these trials came up in his mind, he immediately resorted to God, who

satisfied him.

Another trait in the character of his piety, may here be mentioned. The

autumn succeeding his conversion, he went over to the spot on the island

where he had planted potatoes. The Indian method is, not to visit their

small plantations from the time that their corn or potatoes are

_hilled_. He was pleased to find that the crop in this instance promised

to yield abundantly, and his wife immediately commenced the process of

raising them. "Stop!" exclaimed the grateful old man, "dare you dig

these potatoes until we have thanked the Lord for them?" They then both

knelt in prayer, and afterwards gathered the crop.

This individual appeared to form a tangible point in the intellectual

chain between Paganism and Christianity, which it is felt important to

examine. We felt desirous of drawing from him such particulars

respecting his former practice in necromancy and the prophetic art, as

might lead to correct philosophical conclusions. He had been the great

juggler of his tribe. He was now accepted as a Christian. What were his

own conceptions of the power and arts he had practised? How did these

things appear to his mind, after a lapse of several years, during which

his opinions and feelings had undergone changes, in many respects so

striking? We found not the slightest avoiding of this topic on his part.

He attributed all his ability in deceptive arts to the agency of the

Evil Spirit; and he spoke of it with the same settled tone that he had

manifested in reciting other points in his personal experience. He

believed that he had followed a spirit whose object it was to deceive

the Indians and make them miserable. He believed that this spirit had

left him and that he was now following, in the affections of his heart,

the spirit of Truth.

Numerous symbols of the classes of the animate creation are relied on by

the Indian _metays_ and _wabenos_, to exhibit their affected power of

working miracles and to scrutinize the scenes of futurity. The objects

which this man had appealed to as personal spirits in the arcanum of his

lodge, were the tortoise, the swan, the woodpecker and the crow. He had

dreamed of these at his initial fast in his youth, during the period set

apart for this purpose, and he believed that a satanic influence was

exerted, by presenting to his mind one or more of these solemnly

appropriated objects at the moment of his invoking them. This is the

theory drawn from his replies. We solicited him to detail the _modus

operandi_, after entering the juggler's lodge. This lodge resembles an

acute pyramid with the apex open. It is formed of poles, covered with

tight-drawn skins. His replies were perfectly ingenuous, evincing

nothing of the natural taciturnity and shyness of the Indian mind. The

great object with the operator is to agitate this lodge, and cause it to

move and shake without uprooting it from its basis, in such a manner as

to induce the spectators to believe that the _power of action is

superhuman_. After this manifestation of spiritual _presence_, the

priest within is prepared to give oracular responses. The only articles

within were a drum and rattle. In reply to our inquiry as to the mode of

procedure, he stated that his first essay, after entering the lodge, was

to strike the drum and commence his incantations. At this time his

personal manitos assumed their agency, and received, it is to be

inferred, _a satanic energy_. Not that he affects that there was any

visible form assumed. But he felt their spirit-like presence. He

represents the agitation of the lodge to be due to currents of air,

having the irregular and gyratory power of a whirlwind. He does not

pretend that his responses were guided by truth, but on the contrary

affirms that they were given under the influence of the evil spirit.

We interrogated him as to the use of physical and mechanical means in

effecting cures, in the capacity of a meta, or a medicine man. He

referred to various medicines, some of which he thinks were antibilious

or otherwise sanatory. He used two bones in the exhibition of his

physical skill, one of which was _white_ and the other _green_. His

arcanum also embraced two small stone images. He affected to look _into_

and _through_ the flesh, and to draw from the body fluids, as bile and

blood. He applied his mouth in suction. He characterized both the _meta_

or medicine dances and the _wabeno_ dances by a term which may be

translated _deviltry_. Yet he discriminated between these two popular

institutions by adding that the _meta_ included the use of medicines,

good and bad. The _wabeno_, on the contrary, consisted wholly in a wild

exhibition of mere braggadocio and trick. It is not, according to him,

an ancient institution. It originated, he said, with a Pottawattomie,

who was sick and lunatic a month. When this man recovered he pretended

that he had ascended to heaven, and had brought thence divine arts, to

aid his countrymen.

With respect to the opinion steadfastly maintained by this venerable

subject of Indian reformation, that his deceptive arts were rendered

effectual in the way he designed, by _satanic agency_, we leave the

reader to form his own conclusions. In his mode of stating the facts, we

concede much to him, on the score of long established mental habits, and

the peculiarities arising from a mythology, exceeding even that of

ancient Greece, for the number, variety and ubiquity of its objects. But

we perceive nothing, on Christian theories, heterodox in the general

position. When the truth of the gospel comes to be grafted into the

benighted heart of a pagan, such as Chusco was, it throws a fearful

light on the objects which have been cherished there. The whole system

of the mythological agency of the gods and spirits of the heathen world

and its clumsy machinery is shown to be a sheer system of demonology,

referable, in its operative effects on the minds of individuals, to the

"Prince of the power of the air." As such the Bible depicts it. We have

not been in the habit of conceding the existence of demoniacal

possessions, _in the present era of Christianity_, and have turned over

some scores of chapters and verses to satisfy our minds of the

_abrogation of these things_. But we have found no proofs of such a

withdrawal of evil agency short of the very point where our subject

places it--that is, the dawning of the light of Christianity in the

heart. We have, on the contrary, found in the passages referred to, the

declaration of the full and free existence of such an agency in the

general import, and apprehend that it cannot be plucked out of the

sacred writings.

The language of such an agency appears to be fully developed among the

northern tribes. _Spirit-ridden_ they certainly are; and the mental

slavery in which they live, under the fear of an invisible agency of

evil spirits, is, we apprehend, greater even than the bondage of the

body. The whole mind is bowed down under these intellectual fetters

which circumscribe its volitions, and bind it as effectually as with the

hooks of steel which pierce a whirling Hindoo's flesh. Whatever is

wonderful, or past comprehension to their minds, is referred to the

agency of a spirit. This is the ready solution of every mystery in

nature, and of every refinement of mechanical power in art. A watch is,

in the intricacy of its machinery, a spirit. A piece of blue cloth--cast

and blistered steel--a compass, a jewel, an insect, &c., are,

respectively, a spirit. Thunder consists, in their transcendental

astronomy, of so many distinct spirits. The aurora borealis is a body of

dancing spirits, or rather ghosts of the departed.

Such were the ideas and experiences of Chusco, after his union with the

church; and with these views he lived and died, having given evidence,

as was thought, of the reception of the Saviour, _through faith_.

To give some idea of the Indian mythology as above denoted, it is

necessary to conceive every department of the universe to be filled with

invisible spirits. These spirits hold in their belief nearly the same

relation to matter that the soul does to the body: they pervade it. They

believe not only that every man, but also _that every animal, has a

soul_; and as might be expected under this belief, they make no

distinction between _instinct_ and _reason_. Every animal is supposed to

be endowed with a reasoning faculty. The movements of birds and other

animals are deemed to be the result, not of mere instinctive animal

powers implanted and limited by the creation, without inherent power to

_exceed_ or _enlarge_ them, but of a process of ratiocination. They go a

step farther, and believe that animals, particularly birds, can look

into, and are familiar with the vast operations of the world above.

Hence the great respect they pay to birds as agents of omen, and also to

some animals, whose souls they expect to encounter in another life. Nay,

it is the settled belief among the northern Algonquins, that animals

will fare better in another world, in the precise ratio that their lives

and enjoyments have been curtailed in this life.

Dreams are considered by them as a means of direct communication with

the spiritual world; and hence the great influence which dreams exert

over the Indian mind and conduct. They are generally regarded as

friendly warnings of their personal manitos. No labor or enterprise is

undertaken against their indications. A whole army is turned back if the

dreams of the officiating priest are unfavorable. A family lodge has

been known to be deserted by all its inmates at midnight, leaving the

fixtures behind, because one of the family had dreamt of an attack, and

been frightened with the impression of blood and tomahawks. To give more

solemnity to his office the priest or leading _meta_ exhibits a sack

containing the carved or stuffed images of animals, with medicines and

bones constituting the sacred charms. These are never exhibited to the

common gaze, but, on a march, the sack is hung up in plain view. To

profane the medicine sack would be equivalent to violating the altar.

Dreams are carefully sought by every Indian, whatever be their rank, at

certain periods of youth, with fasting. These fasts are sometimes

continued a great number of days, until the devotee becomes pale and

emaciated. The animals that appear propitiously to the mind during these

dreams, are fixed on and selected as personal manitos, and are ever

after viewed as guardians. This period of fasting and dreaming is deemed

as essential by them as any religious rite whatever employed by

Christians. The initial fast of a young man or girl holds the relative

importance of baptism, with this peculiarity, that it is a free-will, or

self-dedicatory rite.

The naming of children has an intimate connection with the system of

mythological agency. Names are usually bestowed by some aged person,

most commonly under the supposed guidance of a particular spirit. They

are often derived from the mystic scenes presented in a dream, and refer

to aerial phenomena. Yellow Thunder, Bright Sky, Big Cloud, Spirit Sky,

Spot in the Sky, are common names for males. Females are more commonly

named from the vernal or autumnal landscape, as Woman of the Valley,

Woman of the Rock, &c. Females are not excluded from participation in

the prophetical office or jugglership. Instances of their having assumed

this function are known to have occurred, although it is commonly

confined to males. In every other department of life they are apparently

regarded as inferior or _inclusive_ beings. Names bestowed with ceremony

in childhood are deemed sacred, and are seldom pronounced, out of

respect, it would seem, to the spirit under whose favor they are

supposed to have been selected. Children are usually called in the

family by some name which can be familiarly used. A male child is

frequently called by the mother, a bird, or young one, or old man, as

terms of endearment, or bad boy, evil-doer, &c., in the way of light

reproach; and these names often adhere to the individual through life.

Parents avoid the true name often by saying my son, my younger, or my

elder son, or my younger or my elder daughter, for which the language

has separate words. This subject of a reluctance to tell their names is

very curious and deserving of investigation.

The Indian "art and mystery" of hunting is a tissue of necromantic or

mythological reliances. The personal spirits of the hunter are invoked

to give success in the chace. Images of the animals sought for are

sometimes carved in wood, or drawn by the metas on tabular pieces of

wood. By applying their mystic medicines to these, the animals are

supposed to be drawn into the hunter's path; and when animals have been

killed, the Indian feels, that although they are an authorized and

lawful prey, yet there is something like accountability to the animal's

_suppositional soul_. An Indian has been known to ask the pardon of an

animal, which he had just killed. Drumming, shaking the rattle, and

dancing and singing, are the common accompaniments of all these

superstitious observances, and are not peculiar to one class alone. In

the wabeno dance, which is esteemed by the Indians as the most

latitudinarian co-fraternity, love songs are introduced. They are never

heard in the medicine dances. They would subject one to utter contempt

in the war dance.

The system of _manito worship_ has another peculiarity, which is

illustrative of Indian character. During the fasts and ceremonial dances

by which a warrior prepares himself to come up to the duties of war,

everything that savors of effeminacy is put aside. The spirits which

preside over bravery and war are alone relied on, and these are supposed

to be offended by the votary's paying attention to objects less stern

and manly than themselves. Venus and Mars cannot be worshipped at the

same time. It would be considered a complete desecration for a warrior,

while engaged in war, to entangle himself by another, or more tender

sentiment. We think this opinion should be duly estimated in the general

award which history gives to the chastity of warriors. We would record

the fact to their praise, as fully as it has been done; but we would

subtract something from the _motive_, in view of his paramount

obligations of a sacred character, and also the fear of the ridicule of

his co-warriors.

In these leading doctrines of an oral and mystic school of wild

philosophy may be perceived the groundwork of their mythology, and the

general motive for selecting familiar spirits. Manito, or as the

Chippewas pronounce it, monedo, signifies simply a spirit, and there is

neither a good nor bad meaning attached to it, when not under the

government of some adjective or qualifying particle. We think, however,

that so far as there is a meaning distinct from an invisible existence,

the tendency is to a bad meaning. A bad meaning is, however, distinctly

conveyed by the inflection, _osh_ or _ish_. The particle _wee_, added in

the same relation, indicates a witch. Like numerous other nouns, it has

its diminutive in _os_, its plural in _wug_, and its local form in

_ing_. To add "great," as the Jesuit writers did, is far from deciding

the moral character of the spirit, and hence modern translators prefix

_gezha_, signifying merciful. Yet we doubt whether the word God should

not be carried boldly into translations of the scriptures. In the

conference and prayer-room, the native teachers use the inclusive

pronominal form of Father, altogether. Truth breaks slowly on the mind,

sunk in so profound a darkness as the Indians are, and there is danger

in retaining the use of words like those which they have so long

employed in a problematical, if not a derogative sense.

The love for mystery and magic which pervades the native ceremonies, has

affected the forms of their language. They have given it a power to

impart life to dead masses. Vitality in their forms of utterance is

deeply implanted in all these dialects, which have been examined; they

provide, by the process of inflection, for keeping a perpetual

distinction between the animate and inanimate kingdoms. But where

vitality and spirituality are so blended as we see them in their

doctrine of animal souls, the inevitable result must be, either to exalt

the principle of life, in all the classes of nature, into immortality,

or to sink the latter to the level of mere organic life. Indian

word-makers have taken the former dilemma, and peopled their paradise

not only with the souls of men, but with the souls of every imaginable

kind of beasts. Spirituality is thus clogged with sensual accidents. The

human soul _hungers_, and it must have food deposited upon the grave.

_It suffers from cold_, and the body must be wrapped about with cloths.

It is in _darkness_, and a light must be kindled at the head of the

grave. It wanders through plains and across streams, subject to the

providences of this life, in quest of its place of enjoyment, and when

it reaches it, it finds every species of sensual trial, which renders

the place not indeed a _heaven of rest_, but _another experimental

world_--very much like this. Of punishments, we hear nothing; rewards

are looked for abundantly, and the idea that the Master of life, or the

merciful Spirit, will be alike merciful to all, _irrespective of the

acts of this life_, or the degree of _moral turpitude_, appears to leave

for their theology a belief in restorations or universalism. There is

nothing to refer them to a Saviour; that IDEA was beyond their

conception, and of course there was no occasion for the offices of the

Holy Ghost. Darker and more chilling views to a theologian, it would be

impossible to present. Yet it may be asked, what more benign result

could have been, or can now be, anticipated in the hearts of an

ignorant, uninstructed and wandering people, exposed to sore

vicissitudes in their lives and fortunes, and without the guidance of

the light of Revelation?

Of their mythology proper, we have space only to make a few remarks.

Some of the mythologic existences of the Indians admit of poetic uses.

Manabozho may be considered as a sort of terrene Jove, who could perform

all things whatever, but lived some time on earth, and excelled

particularly in feats of strength and manual dexterity. All the animals

were subject to him. He also survived a deluge, which the traditions

mention, having climbed a tree on an extreme elevation during the

prevalence of the waters, and sent down various animals for some earth,

out of which he re-created the globe. The four cardinal points are so

many demi-gods, of whom the West, called KABEUN, has priority of age.

The East, North and South are deemed to be his sons, by a maid who

incautiously exposed herself to the west wind. IAGOO (Iagoo) is the god

of the marvellous, and many most extravagant tales of forest and

domestic adventure are heaped upon him. KWASIND is a sort of Samson, who

threw a huge mass of rock such as the Cyclops cast at Mentor. WEENG is

the god of sleep, who is represented to have numerous small emissaries

at his service, reminding us of Pope's creation of gnomes. These minute

emissaries climb up the forehead, and wielding a tiny club, knock

individuals to sleep. PAUCUK is death, in his symbolic attitude. He is

armed with a bow and arrows. It would be easy to extend this

enumeration.

The mental powers of the Indian constitutes a topic which we do not

design to discuss. But it must be manifest that some of their

peculiarities are brought out by their system of mythology and

spirit-craft. War, public policy, hunting, abstinence, endurance and

courageous adventure, form the leading topics of their mental efforts.

These are deemed the appropriate themes of men, sages and warriors. But

their intellectual essays have also a domestic theatre of exhibition. It

is here that the Indian mind unbends itself and reveals some of its less

obvious traits. Their public speakers cultivate a particular branch of

oratory. They are careful in the use of words, and are regarded as

standards of purity in the language. They appear to have an accurate ear

for sounds, and delight in rounding off a period, for which the

languages afford great facilities, by their long and stately words, and

multiform inflexions. A drift of thought--an elevation of style, is

observable in their public speaking which is dropt in private

conversation. Voice, attitude and motion, are deemed of the highest

consequence. Much of the meaning of their expressions is varied by the

vehement, subdued, or prolonged tone in which they are uttered. In

private conversation, on the contrary, all is altered. There is an

equanimity of tone, and easy vein of narration or dialogue, in which the

power of mimicry is most strikingly brought out. The very voice and

words of the supposed speakers, in their fictitious legends, are

assumed. Fear, supplication, timidity or boasting, are exactly depicted,

and the deepest interest excited. All is ease and freedom from

restraint. There is nothing of the coldness or severe formality of the

council. The pipe is put to its ordinary use, and all its symbolic

sanctity is laid aside with the wampum belt and the often reiterated

state epithets, "Nosa" and "Kosinan," i.e. _my father_ and _our father_.

Another striking trait of the race is found in their legends and tales.

Those of the aboriginal race who excel in private conversation, become

to their tribes oral chroniclers, and are relied on for historical

traditions as well as tales. It is necessary, in listening to them, to

distinguish between the gossip and the historian, the narrator of real

events, and of nursery tales. For they gather together everything from

the fabulous feats of Manebozho and Misshozha, to the hair-breadth

escapes of a Pontiac, or a Black Hawk. These narrators are generally men

of a good memory and a certain degree of humor, who have experienced

vicissitudes, and are cast into the vale of years. In the rehearsal of

their tales, transformations and transmigrations are a part of the

machinery relied on; and some of them are as accurately adapted to the

purposes of amusement or instruction, as if Zoroaster or Ovid himself

had been consulted in their production. Many objects in the inanimate

creation, according to these tales, were originally men and women. And

numerous animals had other forms in their first stages of existence,

which they, as well as human beings, forfeited, by the power of

necromancy and transmigration. The evening star, it is fabled, was

formerly a woman. An ambitious boy became one of the planets. Three

brothers, travelling in a canoe, were translated into a group of stars.

The fox, lynx, hare, robin, eagle and numerous other species, retain

places in the Indian system of astronomy. The mouse obtained celestial

elevation by creeping up the rainbow, which Indian story makes a flossy

mass of bright threads, and by the power of gnawing them, he relieved a

captive in the sky. It is a coincidence, which we note, that _ursa

major_ is called by them the bear.

These legends are not confined to the sky alone. The earth also is a

fruitful theatre of transformations. The wolf was formerly a boy, who,

being neglected by his parents, was transformed into this animal. A

shell, lying on the shore, was transformed to the raccoon. The brains of

an adulteress were converted into the _addikumaig_, or white fish.

The power of transformation was variously exercised. It most commonly

existed in magicians, of whom Abo, Manabosh or Manabozha, and Mishosha,

retain much celebrity. The latter possessed a magic canoe which would

rush forward through the water on the utterance of a charm, with a speed

that would outstrip the wind. Hundreds of miles were performed in as

many minutes. The charm which he uttered, consisted of a monosyllable,

containing one consonant, which does not belong to the language; and

this word has no definable meaning. So that the language of magic and

demonology has one feature in common in all ages and with every nation.

Man, in his common shape, is not alone the subject of their legends. The

intellectual creations of the Indians admit of the agency of giants and

fairies. Anak and his progeny could not have created more alarm in the

minds of the ten faithless spies, than do the race of fabulous Weendigos

to the Indian tribes. These giants are represented as cannibals, who ate

up men, women and children. Indian fairies are of two classes,

distinguished as the place of their revels is either the land or water.

Land-fairies are imagined to choose their residences about promontories,

water-falls and solemn groves. The water, besides its appropriate class

of aquatic fairies, is supposed to be the residence of a race of beings

called Nibanaba which have their analogy, except as to sex, in the

mermaid. The Indian word indicates a male. Ghosts are the ordinary

machinery in their tales of terror and mystery. There is, perhaps, a

glimmering of the idea of retributive justice in the belief that ghosts

and spirits are capable of existing in fire.

FOOTNOTES:

[19] New York Lit. & Theo. Review.

INDIAN ARROW HEADS, &c.

By far the most numerous relics of the Red Race, now found in those

parts of our country from which it has disappeared, are the small stones

with which they headed their arrows. Being made of the most durable

substances, they have generally remained in the soil, unaffected by time

and the changes of season. They most abound in those rich meadows which

border some of our rivers, and in other spots of peculiar fertility,

though of less extent, where the pasture, or other attractions,

collected game for the Red men. The stones most commonly used were

quartz and flint, which were preferred on account of the facility of

shaping them, the keenness of the points and edges, which they readily

present under the blows of a skilful manufacturer, as well as their

superior hardness and imperishable nature. Multitudes of specimens still

exist, which show the various forms and sizes to which the Red men

reduced stones of these kinds: and they excite our admiration, by their

perfect state of preservation, as well by the skilfulness of their

manufacture.

Other stones, however, were not unfrequently used: and a collection

which we have been making for many years, presents a considerable

variety of materials, as well as of sizes, shapes and colors. Hard

sand-stone, trap or graacke, jasper and chalcedony, appear occasionally;

some almost transparent. One of the larger size is made of steatite, and

smooth, as if cut or scraped with a knife, contrary to the common

method, of gradually chipping off small fragments of more brittle stone,

by light blows often repeated. These arrow heads were fastened to the

shaft, by inserting the butt into the split end, and tying round it a

string of deer's sinews. A groove or depression is commonly observable

in the stone, designed to receive the string. But it is sometimes

difficult to imagine how the fastening was effected, as some perfect

arrow-heads show no such depressions, and their forms are not well

adapted to such a purpose. This peculiarity, however, is most frequently

to be observed in specimens of small size, the larger, and especially

such as are commonly supposed to have been the heads of spears, being

usually well shaped for tying.

It is remarkable that some spots have been found, where such relics were

surprizingly numerous. In Hartford, Connecticut, about thirty years ago,

many were picked up in a garden, at the corner of Front and Mill

streets. The spot was indeed on the bank of the Little River, probably

at the head of Indian Canoe navigation: but yet no rational conjecture

could be formed, to account for the discovery, except one. It was

concluded that the place was an ancient burying ground. Many bits of

coarse earthen-ware were found, such as are common in many parts of the

country. About two miles below Middletown, Connecticut, on the slope of

a hill on the southern side of the Narrows, we discovered, some years

since, a great number of small fragments of white quartz, scattered

thickly over the surface of the ground, perhaps for half an acre. Among

them were several arrow heads of various forms, most of them imperfect,

and many pieces of stone, which at first sight resembled them, but, on

closer inspection, seemed to have been designed for arrow heads, but

spoiled in the making. Some had one good edge, or a point or barb, while

the other parts of the same stones showed only the natural form and

fracture. In many instances, it was easy to see that the workman might

well have been discouraged from proceeding any farther, by a flaw, a

break or the nature of the stone. Our conclusion was, that the spot had

long been a place where Indian arrow heads were made, and that we saw

around us the refuse fragments rejected by the workmen. Other spots have

been heard of resembling this.

If such relics were found nowhere else but in our own country, they

would be curious, and worthy of preservation and attention: but it is an

interesting fact, not however generally known, that they exist in many

other parts of the world. Stone arrow and spear heads have been found in

England for hundreds of years, and are believed to have been made and

used by the Britons, who, in respect to civilization, were nearly on a

level with our Indians. These relics are called by the common people

Celts, from the race whose memory they recall; and particular accounts

of them are given, with drawings, in several antiquarian works. They

bear a striking resemblance to our Indian arrow heads; and many of them

could be hardly, if at all, distinguished from those of America.

African arrows have been brought to this country, in which the points

were of the same forms and materials, and fastened in the same manner.

About twelve years ago a vessel from Stonington was attacked by a party

of Patagonians, who threw arrows on board. One of these which we

procured, was pointed with a head of milky quartz, exactly corresponding

with specimens picked up in New England.

Among the relics found in excavating the low mounds on the plain of

Marathon, as we were informed by one of our countrymen, who was at

Athens some years ago, there were spear heads made of flint, which, he

declared, were like those he had often seen ploughed up in his native

fields. These, it was conjectured, might have been among the weapons of

some of the rude Scythians in the Persian army, which met its defeat on

that celebrated battle ground.

A negro, from an obscure group of islands, just north of New Guinea, in

describing the weapons in use among his countrymen, drew the forms of

spear heads, which he said were often made of stones; and, when shown

specimens from our collection, declared that they were very much like

them.

It has been thought, that certain instruments would naturally be

invented by men in particular states of society and under certain

circumstances, as the result of their wants and the means at hand to

supply them. It is not, however, always easy to reconcile this doctrine

with facts. For example, the black race of the islands north of New

Holland, (of which so little is yet known,) appear to require the use of

the bow as much as any other savage people, yet they are entirely

ignorant of it, though it has been thought one of the simple, most

natural and most indispensable instruments in such a condition of

society.

We are therefore left in doubt, in the present state of our knowledge,

whether the manufacture and use of stone arrow heads have been so

extensively diffused over the globe by repeated inventions, or by an

intercourse between portions of the human race long since ceased, or by

both causes. To whichever of these opinions we may incline, the subject

must still appear to us worthy of investigation, as the history of these

relics must necessarily be closely connected with that of different

families and races of men in every continent and in every zone.

We would invite particular attention to the position and circumstances

of Indian remains which may hereafter be found; and would express a wish

that they might be recorded and made known. Our newspapers offer a most

favorable vehicle for the communication of such discoveries and

observations, and our editors generally must have taste and judgment

enough to give room for them.

It was remarked in some of our publications a few years ago, that no

unequivocal remains of the Red men had yet been discovered in the earth,

below the most recent strata of soil, excepting cases in which they had

been buried in graves, &c. Perhaps later observations may furnish

evidence of the longer presence of that race on our continent than such

a statement countenances.

One of the most interesting objects of enquiry, with some antiquaries,

is whether there are any ancient indications of Alphabetical writing in

our continent. A small stone found in the Grave-Creek Mound, and others

of a more doubtful character, are quite sufficient to awaken interest

and stimulate enquiry.

A few specimens of rude sculpture and drawing have been found in

different parts of the U. States; and shells, ornaments, &c., evidently

brought from great distances. There may be others, known to individuals,

of which antiquaries are not aware. After perusing the foregoing pages,

it will be easy to realize that all such remains may be worthy of

attention. Not only copies should be made and dimensions taken, but

descriptions should be written, local information and traditions

collected, measures taken to preserve the originals, and some notice

given which may reach persons interested in such subjects.--_E._

INDIAN MUSIC, SONGS, AND POETRY.

No. I.

The North American tribes have the elements of music and poetry. Their

war songs frequently contain flights of the finest heroic sentiment,

clothed in poetic imagery. And numbers of the addresses of the speakers,

both occasional and public, abound in eloquent and poetic thought. "We

would anticipate eloquence," observes a modern American writer, "from an

Indian. He has animating remembrances--a poetry of language, which

exacts rich and apposite metaphorical allusions, even for ordinary

conversation--a mind which, like his body, has never been trammelled and

mechanized by the formalities of society, and passions which, from the

very outward restraint imposed upon them, burn more fiercely within."

Yet, it will be found that the records of our literature, scattered as

they are, in periodicals and ephemeral publications, rather than in

works of professed research, are meagre and barren, on these topics. One

of the first things we hear of the Indians, after their discovery, is

their proneness to singing and dancing. But however characteristic these

traits may be, and we think they are eminently so, it has fallen to the

lot of but few to put on record specimens, which may be appealed to, as

evidences of the current opinion, on these heads. With favourable

opportunities of observation among the tribes, we have but to add our

testimony to the difficulties of making collections in these

departments, which shall not compromit the intellectual character of the

tribes, whose efforts are always oral, and very commonly extemporaneous.

These difficulties arise from the want of suitable interpreters, the

remoteness of the points at which observations must be made, the heavy

demands made upon hours of leisure or business by such inquiries, and

the inconvenience of making notes and detailed memoranda on the spot.

The little that it is in our power to offer, will therefore be submitted

as contributions to an inquiry which is quite in its infancy, and rather

with the hope of exciting others to future labours, than of gratifying,

to any extent, an enlightened curiosity on the subject.

Dancing is both an amusement and a religious observance, among the

American Indians, and is known to constitute one of the most wide spread

traits in their manners and customs. It is accompanied, in all cases,

with singing, and, omitting a few cases, with the beating of time on

instruments. Tribes the most diverse in language, and situated at the

greatest distances apart, concur in this. It is believed to be the

ordinary mode of expressing intense passion, or feeling on any subject,

and it is a custom which has been persevered in, with the least

variation, through all the phases of their history, and probably exists

among the remote tribes, precisely at this time, as it did in the era of

Columbus. It is observed to be the last thing abandoned by bands and

individuals, in their progress to civilization and christianity. So true

is this, that it may be regarded as one of the best practical proofs of

their advance, to find the native instruments and music thrown by, and

the custom abandoned.

Every one has heard of the war dance, the medicine dance, the wabeno

dance, the dance of honour (generally called the begging dance,) and

various others, each of which has its appropriate movements, its air,

and its words. There is no feast, and no religious ceremony, among them,

which is not attended with dancing and songs. Thanks are thus expressed

for success in hunting, for triumphs in war, and for ordinary

providential cares. Public opinion is called to pressing objects by a

dance, at which addresses are made, and in fact, moral instructions and

advice are given to the young, in the course of their being assembled at

social feasts and dances. Dancing is indeed the common resource,

whenever the mass of Indian mind is to be acted on. And it thus stands

viewed in its necessary connection with the songs and addresses, in the

room of the press, the newspaper, and the periodical. The priests and

prophets have, more than any other class, cultivated their national

songs and dances, and may be regarded as the skalds and poets of the

tribes. They are generally the composers of the songs, and the leaders

in the dance and ceremonies, and it is found, that their memories are

the best stored, not only with the sacred songs and chants, but also

with the traditions, and general lore of the tribes.

Dancing is thus interwoven throughout the whole texture of Indian

society, so that there is scarcely an event important or trivial,

private or public, which is not connected, more or less intimately, with

this rite. The instances where singing is adopted, without dancing, are

nearly confined to occurrences of a domestic character. Among these, are

wails for the dead, and love songs of a simple and plaintive character.

Maternal affection evinces itself, by singing words, to a cheerful air,

over the slumbers of the child, which, being suspended in a kind of

cradle receives, at the same time avibratory motion. Children have

likewise certain chants, which they utter in the evenings, while playing

around the lodge door, or at other seasons of youthful hilarity. Some of

the Indian fables are in the shape of duets, and the songs introduced in

narrating their fictitious tales, are always sung in the recital.

Their instruments of music are few and simple. The only wind instrument

existing among them is the Pibbegwon, a kind of flute, resembling in

simplicity the Arcadian pipe. It is commonly made of two

semi-cylindrical pieces of cedar, united with fish glue, and having a

snake skin, in a wet state, drawn tightly over it, to prevent its

cracking. The holes are eight in number, and are perforated by means of

a bit of heated iron. It is blown like the flagolet, and has a similar

orifice or mouth piece.

The TAYWAEGUN, (struck-sound-instrument,) is a tamborine, or one-headed

drum, and is made by adjusting a skin to one end of the section of a

moderate sized hollow tree. When a heavier sound is required, a tree of

larger circumference is chosen, and both ends closed with skins. The

latter is called MITTIGWUKEEK, i.e. Wood-Kettle-Drum, and is

appropriately used in religious ceremonies, but is not, perhaps,

confined to this occasion.

To these may be added a fourth instrument, called the SHESHEGWON, or

Rattle, which is constructed in various ways, according to the purpose

or means of the maker. Sometimes it is made of animal bladder, from

which the name is derived, sometimes of a wild gourd; in others, by

attaching the dried hoofs of the deer to a stick. This instrument is

employed both to mark time, and to produce variety in sound.

ORAL COMPOSITION.

Common as the Indian songs are, it is found to be no ordinary

acquisition to obtain accurate specimens of them. Even after the

difficulties of the notation have been accomplished, it is not easy to

satisfy the requisitions of a correct taste and judgment, in their

exhibition. There is always a lingering fear of misapprehension, or

misconception, on the part of the interpreter--or of some things being

withheld by the never sleeping suspicion, or the superstitious fear of

disclosure, on the part of the Indian. To these must be added, the

idiomatic and imaginative peculiarities of this species of wild

composition--so very different from every notion of English

versification. In the first place there is no unity of theme, or plot,

unless it be that the subject, war for instance, is kept in the singer's

mind. In the next place both the narration and the description, when

introduced, is very imperfect, broken, or disjointed. Prominent ideas

flash out, and are dropped. These are often most striking and beautiful,

but we wait in vain for any sequence. A brief allusion--a shining

symbol, a burst of feeling or passion, a fine sentiment, or a bold

assertion, come in as so many independent parts, and there is but little

in the composition to indicate the leading theme which is, as it were,

kept in mental reserve, by the singer. Popular, or favourite expressions

are often repeated, often transposed, and often exhibited with some new

shade of meaning. The structure and flexibility of the language is

highly favourable to this kind of wild improvisation. But it is

difficult to translate, and next to impossible to preserve its spirit.

Two languages more unlike in all their leading characteristics, than the

English and the Indian were never brought into contact. The one

monosyllabic, and nearly without inflections--the other polysyllabic,

polysynthetic and so full of inflections of every imaginative kind, as

to be completely transpositive--the one from the north of Europe, the

other, probably, from Central Asia, it would seem that these families of

the human race, had not wandered wider apart, in their location, than

they have in the sounds of their language, the accidence of their

grammar and the definition of their words. So that to find equivalent

single words in translation, appears often as hopeless as the quadrature

of the circle.

The great store-house of Indian imagery is the heavens. The clouds, the

planets, the sun, and moon, the phenomena of lightning, thunder,

electricity, aerial sounds, electric or atmospheric, and the endless

variety produced in the heavens by light and shade, and by elemental

action,--these constitute the fruitful themes of allusion in their songs

and poetic chants. But they are mere allusions, or broken description,

like touches on the canvass, without being united to produce a perfect

object. The strokes may be those of a master, and the colouring

exquisite; but without the art to draw, or the skill to connect, it will

still remain but a shapeless mass.

In war excursions great attention is paid to the flight of birds,

particularly those of the carnivorous species, which are deemed typical

of war and bravery, and their wing and tail feathers are appropriated as

marks of honor, by the successful warrior. When the minds of a war party

have been roused up to the subject, and they are prepared to give

utterance to their feelings by singing and dancing, they are naturally

led to appeal to the agency of this class of birds. Hence the frequent

allusions to them, in their songs. The following stanza is made up of

expressions brought into connection, from different fragments, but

expresses no more than the native sentiments:

The eagles scream on high,

They whet their forked beaks,

Raise--raise the battle cry,

'Tis fame our leader seeks.

Generally the expressions are of an exalted and poetic character, but

the remark before made of their efforts in song, being discontinuous and

abrupt, apply with peculiar force to the war songs. To speak of a brave

man--of a battle--or the scene of a battle, or of the hovering of birds

of prey above it, appears sufficient to bring up to the warrior's mind,

all the details consequent on personal bravery or heroic achievement. It

would naturally be expected, that they should delight to dwell on scenes

of carnage and blood: but however this may be, all such details are

omitted or suppressed in their war songs, which only excite ideas of

noble daring.

The birds of the brave take a flight round the sky,

They cross the enemy's line,

Full happy am I--that my body should fall,

Where brave men love to die.

Very little effort in the collocation and expansion of some of their

sentiments, would impart to these bold and unfettered rhapsodies, an

attractive form, among polished war songs.

The strain in which these measures are sung, is generally slow and grave

in its commencement and progress, and terminates in the highest note.

While the words admit of change, and are marked by all the fluctuation

of extempore composition, the air and the chorus appear to be permanent,

consisting not only of a graduated succession of fixed sounds, but,

always exact in their enunciation, their quantity, and their wild and

startling musical expression. It has always appeared to me that the

Indian music is marked by a nationality, above many other traits, and it

is a subject inviting future attention. It is certain that the Indian

ear is exact in noting musical sounds, and in marking and beating time.

But little observation at their dances, will be sufficient to establish

this fact. Nor is it less certain, by attention to the philology of

their language, that they are exact in their laws of euphony, and

syllabical quantity. How this remark may consist with the use of

unmeasured and fluctuating poetry in their songs, it may require studied

attention to answer. It is to be observed, however, that these songs are

rather _recited_, or _chanted_, than sung. Increments of the chorus are

not unfrequently interspersed, in the body of the line, which would

otherwise appear deficient in quantity; and perhaps rules of metre may

be found, by subsequent research, which are not obvious, or have been

concealed by the scantiness of the materials, on this head, which have

been examined. To determine the airs and choruses and the character of

the music, will prove one of the greatest facilities to this inquiry.

Most of the graver pieces, which have been written out, are arranged in

metres of sixes, sevens, and eights. The lighter chants are in threes or

fours, and consist of iambics and trochees irregularly. Those who have

translated hymns into the various languages, have followed the English

metres, not always without the necessity of elision, or employing

constrained or crampt modes of expression. A worse system could not have

been adopted to show Indian sentiment. The music in all these cases has

been like fetters to the free, wild thoughts of the native singer. As a

general criticism upon these translations, it may be remarked that they

are often far from being literal, and often omit parts of the original.

On the other hand, by throwing away adjectives, in a great degree, and

dropping all incidental or side thoughts, and confining the Indian to

the leading thought or sentiment, they are, sometimes, rendered more

simple, appropriate, and effective. Finally, whatever cultivated minds

among the Indians, or their descendants may have done, it is quite

evident to me, from the attention I have been able to give the subject,

that the native compositions were without metre. The natives appear to

have sung a sufficient number of syllables to comply with the air, and

effected the necessary pauses, for sense or sound, by either slurring

over, and thus shortening, or by throwing in floating particles of the

language, to eke out the quantity, taken either from the chorus, or from

the general auxiliary forms of the vocabulary.

Rhyme is permitted by the similarity of the sounds from which the

vocabulary is formed, but the structure of the language does not appear

to admit of its being successfully developed in this manner. Its forms

are too cumbrous for regularly recurring expressions, subjected at once

to the laws of metre and rhyme. The instances of rhyme that have been

observed in the native songs are few, and appear to be the result of the

fortuitous positions of words, rather than of art. The following

juvenile see-saw is one of the most perfect specimens noticed, being

exact in both particulars:

Ne osh im aun

Ne way be naun.

These are expressions uttered on sliding a carved stick down snow banks,

or over a glazed surface of ice, in the appropriate season; and they may

be rendered with nearly literal exactness, thus:

My sliding stick

I send quick--quick.

Not less accurate in the rhyme, but at lines of six and eight feet,

which might perhaps be exhibited unbroken, is the following couplet of a

war song:

Au pit she Mon e toeg

Ne mud wa wa wau we ne goeg.

The Spirit on high,

Repeats my warlike name.

In the translation of hymns, made during the modern period of missionary

effort, there has been no general attempt to secure rhyme; and as these

translations are generally due to educated natives, under the inspection

and with the critical aid of the missionary, they have evinced a true

conception of the genius of the language, by the omission of this

accident. Eliot, who translated the psalms of David into the

Massachusetts language, which were first printed in 1661, appears to

have deemed it important enough to aim at its attainment: but an

examination of the work, now before us, gives but little encouragement

to others to follow his example, at least while the languages remain in

their present rude and uncultivated state. The following is the XXIII

Psalm from this version:

1. Mar teag nukquenaabikoo

shepse nanaauk God.

Nussepsinwahik ashkoshqut

nuttinuk ohtopagod

2. Nagum nukketeahog kounoh

wutomohkinuh wonk

Nutuss [oo]unuk ut sampoi may

newutch [oo]wesnonk.

3. Wutonkauhtamut pomushaon

mupp[oo]onk [oo]nauhkoe

Woskehettuonk mo nukqueh tam[oo]

newutch k[oo]wetomah:

4. Kuppogkomunk kutanwohon

nish n[oo]nenehikquog

K[oo]noch[oo] hkah anquabhettit

wame nummatwomog

5. Kussussequnum nuppuhkuk

weetepummee nashpea

Wonk woi God n[oo]tallamwaitch

pomponetupohs hau

6. [OO]niyeuonk monaneteonk

nutasukkonkqunash

Tohsohke pomantam wekit God

michem nuttain pish[20].

This appears to have been rendered from the version of the psalms

appended to an old edition of King James' Bible of 1611, and not from

the versification of Watts. By comparing it with this, as exhibited

below, there will be found the same metre, eights and sixes, the same

syllabical quantity, (if the notation be rightly conceived,) and the

same coincidence of rhyme at the second and fourth lines of each verse;

although it required an additional verse to express the entire psalm. It

could therefore be sung to the ordinary tunes in use in Eliot's time,

and, taken in connection with his entire version, including the Old and

New Testament, evinces a degree of patient assiduity on the part of that

eminent missionary, which is truly astonishing:

The Lord is my shepherd, I'll not want;

2. He makes me down to lie

In pastures green: he leadeth me

the quiet waters by.

3. My soul he doth restore again

and me to walk doth make

Within the paths of righteousness

E'en for his own name's sake.

4. Yea, though I walk in death's dark vale,

yet will I fear none ill;

For thou art with me and thy rod

and staff me comfort still.

5. My table thou hast furnished

in presence of my foes;

My head thou dost with oil annoint,

and my cup overflows.

6. Goodness and mercy all my life

shall surely follow me;

And in God's house forevermore

my dwelling place shall be.

The harmony of numbers has always detracted from the plain sense, and

the piety of thought, of the scriptures, which is the probable cause of

so many failures on the subject. In the instance of this Psalm, it will

be observed, by a comparison, that Watts, who has so generally

succeeded, does not come up, in any respect, to the full literal meaning

of the original, which is well preserved, with the requisite harmony, in

the old version.

There is one species of oral composition existing among all the tribes,

which, from its peculiarities, deserves to be separately mentioned. I

allude to the hieratic chants, choruses and incantations of their

professed prophets, medicine men and jugglers--constituting, as these

men do, a distinct order in Indian society, who are entitled by their

supposed skill, wisdom or sanctity, to exercise the offices of a

priesthood. Affecting mystery in the discharge of their functions, their

songs and choruses are couched in language which is studiously obscure,

oftentimes cabalistic, and generally not well understood by any but

professed initiates.

Nothing, however, in this department of my inquiries, has opened a more

pleasing view of society, exposed to the bitter vicissitudes of Indian

life, than the little domestic chants of mothers, and the poetic

see-saws of children, of which specimens are furnished. These show the

universality of the sentiments of natural affection, and supply another

proof, were any wanting, to demonstrate that it is only ignorance,

indolence and poverty, that sink the human character, and create the

leading distinctions among the races of men. Were these affections

cultivated, and children early taught the principles of virtue and

rectitude, and the maxims of industry, order and cleanliness, there is

no doubt that the mass of Indian society would be meliorated in a

comparatively short period; and by a continuance of efforts soon exalted

from that state of degradation, of which the want of letters and

religion have been the principal causes.

In presenting these specimens of songs, gathered among the recesses of

the forest, it is hoped it will not be overlooked, by the reader, that

they are submitted _as facts_ or _materials_, in the mental condition

of the tribes, and not as evidences of attainment in the arts of metre

and melody, which will bear to be admitted or even criticised by the

side of the refined poetry of civilized nations. And above all, not as

efforts to turn Indian sentiments to account, in original composition.

No such idea is entertained. If materials be supplied from which some

judgment may be formed of the actual state of these songs and rude oral

compositions, or improvisations, the extent of the object will have been

attained. But even here, there is less, with the exception of a single

department, i.e. versification and composition by cultivated natives,

than it was hoped to furnish. And this little, has been the result of a

species of labour, in the collection, quite disproportionate to the

result. It is hoped at least, that it may indicate the mode in which

such collections may be made, among the tribes, and become the means of

eliciting materials more worthy of attention.

This much seemed necessary to be said in introducing the following

specimens, that there might not appear, to the reader, to be an undue

estimate placed on the literary value of these contributions, and

translations, while the main object is, to exhibit them in the series,

as illustrations of the mental peculiarities of the tribes. To dismiss

them, however, with a bare, frigid word for word translation, such as is

required for the purposes of philological comparison, would by no means

do justice to them, nor convey, in any tolerable degree, the actual

sentiments in the minds of the Indians. That the opposite error might

not, at the same time, be run into, and the reader be deprived

altogether of this means of comparison, a number of the pieces are left

with literal prose translations, word for word as near as the two

languages will permit. Others exhibit both a literal, and a versified

translation.

* * * * *

All the North American Indians know that there is a God; but their

priests teach them that the devil is a God, and as he is believed to be

very malignant, it is the great object of their ceremonies and

sacrifices, to appease him.

* * * * *

The Indians formerly worshipped the Sun, as the symbol of divine

intelligence.

* * * * *

Fire is an unexplained mystery to the Indian; he regards it as a

connecting link between the natural and spiritual world. His

traditionary lore denotes this.

* * * * *

Zoroaster says: "When you behold secret fire, without form, shining

flashingly through the depths of the whole world--hear the voice of

fire." One might suppose this to have been uttered by a North American

Indian.

FOOTNOTES:

[20] Eliot employed the figure 8, set horizontally, to express a

peculiar sound, otherwise he used the English alphabet in its ordinary

powers.

CHANT TO THE FIRE-FLY.

In the hot summer evenings, the children of the Chippewa Algonquins,

along the shores of the upper lakes, and in the northern latitudes,

frequently assemble before their parents' lodges, and amuse themselves

by little chants of various kinds, with shouts and wild dancing.

Attracted by such shouts of merriment and gambols, I walked out one

evening, to a green lawn skirting the edge of the St. Mary's river, with

the fall in full view, to get hold of the meaning of some of these

chants. The air and the plain were literally sparkling with the

phosphorescent light of the fire-fly. By dint of attention, repeated on

one or two occasions, the following succession of words was caught. They

were addressed to this insect:

Wau wau tay see!

Wau wau tay see!

E mow e shin

Tshe bwau ne baun-e wee!

Be eghaun--be eghaun--ewee!

Wa Wau tay see!

Wa wau tay see!

Was sa koon ain je gun

Was sa koon ain je gun.

LITERAL TRANSLATION.

Flitting-white-fire-insect! waving-white-fire-bug! give me light

before I go to bed! give me light before I go to sleep. Come, little

dancing[21] white-fire-bug! Come little flitting-white-fire-beast! Light

me with your bright white-flame-instrument--your little candle[22].

Metre there was none, at least, of a regular character: they were the

wild improvisations of children in a merry mood.

FOOTNOTES:

[21] In giving the particle wa, the various meanings of "flitting,"

"waving," and "dancing," the Indian idiom is fully preserved. The final

particle see, in the term wa wa tai see, is from the generic root

_asee_, meaning a living creature, or created form, not man. By

prefixing Ahw to the root, we have the whole class of quadrupeds, and by

pen, the whole class of birds, &c. The Odjibwa Algonquin term for a

candle, was sa koon ain je gun, is literally rendered from its

elements--"bright--white--flamed--instrument." It is by the very

concrete character of these compounds that so much meaning results from

a few words, and so considerable a latitude in translation is given to

Indian words generally.

[22]

[Fire-fly, fire-fly! bright little thing,

Light me to bed, and my song I will sing.

Give me your light, as you fly o'er my head,

That I may merrily go to my bed.

Give me your light o'er the grass as you creep,

That I may joyfully go to my sleep.

Come little fire-fly--come little beast--

Come! and I'll make you to-morrow a feast.

Come little candle that flies as I sing,

Bright little fairy-bug--night's little king;

Come, and I'll dance as you guide me along,

Come, and I'll pay you, my bug, with a song.]

ETHNOLOGY.

SCHOOLCRAFT'S AMERICAN CYCLOPAEDIA, OR ETHNOLOGICAL GAZETTEER OF THE

INDIAN TRIBES OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT, NORTH AND SOUTH, COMPRISING

THEIR HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, AND NOMENCLATURE, FROM THE DISCOVERY IN 1492,

TO THE PRESENT PERIOD.

ADVERTISEMENT.

A prospectus for this work was issued in 1842. While the title is

slightly modified, the design and plan of its execution have not been

essentially changed. The principal object aimed at, under the general

idea of the history and geography of the Aboriginal Race, is to furnish

a general and standard reference-book, or short encyclopaedia of topics

relative to the entire race, alphabetically arranged. By the insertion

of the name of each family of tribes, nation, sub-tribe, or important

clan, the occasion will be presented of noticing the leading or

characteristic events, in their history, numbers, government, religion,

languages, arts or distinctive character.

Where the scene or era of their expansion, growth and decay has been so

extensive, embracing as it does, the widest bounds and remotest periods,

their antiquities have also called for a passing notice. Nor could any

thing like a satisfactory accomplishment of the plan be effected,

without succinct notices of the lives and achievements of their

principal chiefs, rulers, and leading personages.

Language is an important means of denoting the intricate thread of

history in savage nations. Mr. Pritchard considers it more important

than physiological structure and peculiarities. It is, at least, found

often to reveal ethnological affinities, where both the physical type,

and the light of tradition, afford but little aid. The words and names

of a people, are so many clues to their thoughts and intellectual

structure; this branch of the subject, indeed, formed the original germ

of the present plan, which was at first simply geographical, and has

been rather expanded and built upon, than, if we may so say, supplied

the garniture of the edifice. In a class of transpositive languages,

which are very rich in their combinations, and modes of concentrated

description, it must needs happen, that the names of places would often

recall both associations and descriptions of deep interest in

contemplating the fate and fortunes of this unfortunate race. Without

intruding upon the reader disquisitions which would be out of place, no

opportunity has been omitted, from the consideration of their names, to

throw around the sites of their former or present residence, this

species of interest.

But half the work would have been done, it is conceived, to have

confined the work to North America; and it must necessarily have lost,

by such a limitation, more than half its interest. We are just beginning

in truth to comprehend the true character and bearing of that unique

type of civilization which existed in Mexico, Peru, and Yucatan. The

rude hand with which these embryo kingdoms of the native race were

overturned, in consequence of their horrid idolatries, necessarily led

to the destruction of much of their monumental, and so far as their

picture writing reached, some of their historical materials, of both of

which, we now feel the want. It is some relief, to know, as the

researches of Mr. Gallatin, which are now in progress, demonstrate, that

by far the greatest amount of the ancient Mexican picture writings, as

they are embraced in the elaborate work of Lord Kingsborough, relate to

their mythology and superstitions, and are of no historical value

whatever. And if the portions destroyed in the Mexican and Peruvian

conquests, were as liberally interspersed with similar evidences of

their wild polytheism, shocking manners, and degraded worship, neither

chronology nor history have so much to lament.

The early, strong and continued exertions which were made by the

conquerors to replace this system of gross superstition and idolatry, by

the Romish ritual, filled Mexico and South America with missions of the

Catholic Church, which were generally under the charge of zealous and

sometimes of learned and liberal-spirited superintendants, who have

accumulated facts respecting the character and former condition of the

race. These missions, which were generally spread parallel to the sea

coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific, reaching inland along the banks of

the great rivers and plains, have confessedly done much to ameliorate

the manners and condition of the native race, to foster a spirit of

industry, and to enlighten their minds. Still, it is scarcely known,

that numerous and powerful tribes, stretching through wide districts of

the Andes and the Cordilleras, never submitted to the conqueror, and yet

exist in their original state of barbarism.

In this department of inquiry, the geographical and historical work of

De Alcedo, which, so far as the Spanish and Portuguese missions are

concerned, is both elaborate and complete in its details, has been taken

as a basis. No one can write of South America and its native tribes,

without reference to Humboldt. Other standard writers have been

consulted, to give this part of the work as much value as possible, not

excepting the latest voyages and travels. The design has been, without

aiming at too much, to compress a body of leading and characteristic

facts, in the shortest practicable compass, which should, at the same

time, present an ethnological view of the various families and groups of

the race.

In each department of inquiry, which admitted of it, the author has

availed himself of such sources and opportunities of personal

observation and experience, as his long residence in the Indian

territories, and his study of the Indian history have afforded. And he

is not without the hope, that his inquiries and researches on this head

may be found to be such as to merit approval.

A.

AB, often pronounced with the sound of we, before it,--a particle which,

in geographical names, in the family of the Algonquin dialects, denotes

light, or the east. It is also the radix of the verb wab, to see, as

well as of the derivatives, a-ab, an eye-ball, and wabishka, a white

substance, &c.,--ideas which either in their origin or application, are

closely allied.

ABACARIS, a settlement of Indians in the Portuguese possessions of the

province of Amazon. These people derive their name from a lake, upon

which they reside. It is a peculiarity of this lake, that it has its

outlet into the river Madiera which, after flowing out of the province

turns about and again enters it, forming, in this involution, the large

and fertile island of Topanambes. This tribe is under the instruction of

the Carmelites. They retain many of their early peculiarities of manners

and modes of life. They subsist by the cultivation of maize, and by

taking fish in the waters of the Abacaris; or Abacactes in addition to

these means, they rely upon tropical fruits. The latest notices of them

come down to 1789. But little is known of their numbers, or present

condition.

ABACHES, or Apaches, an erratic tribe of Indians, who infest the

prairies of western Texas and New Mexico. They are supposed by some, to

consist of not less than 15,000 souls. They are divided into petty

bands, known under various names. They are the most vagrant of all the

wild hunter tribes of the general area denoted. They do not live in

fixed abodes, but shift about in search of game or plunder, and are

deemed a pest by the Santa Fe traders. They raise nothing and

manufacture nothing. Those of them who are east of the Rio del Norte,

subsist on the baked root of the mauguey, and a similar plant called

Mezcal, and hence they are called Mezcaleros.

Another division of them, and by far the greatest, rove west of that

stream, where they are called Coyoteros, from their habit of eating the

coyote, or prairie wolf. They extend west into California and Sonora.

They bear a bad character wherever they are known. If on the outskirts

of the ranchos and haciendas, they steal cattle and sheep. If on the

wide and destitute plains which they traverse, they thieve and murder.

Sometimes they are pursued and punished; more frequently, they escape.

The Mexican authorities keep some sort of terms with them by treaties,

which the vagrants, however, break and disregard, whenever they are

excited by hunger, or the lust of plunder. For Indians bearing the name,

formerly from the U. States, see Apaches.