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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 blK JbuN THE AMERICAN SCHOOL LlBRARt. tOtUMiti 0NI>KA tHB DlRietMNT Of THE AMERfCAN SOCIETY FOR THE DIFFUSION OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. <* Kfuwledge It like the light of hetvea : (kt, ptit, plcuant, nhauiHeMk tt iariter al **>"••*••"'■ '• •' «ov)Mgt.*'—mmnitm^fanwtaMdnm NEW-YdRR; HARPER & BROTHER 8,< MO. 62^ 0UV'r>8TR-. I .« G-xcellency (iov. iCicm, * in ^" ,^""»"' "endr cks, Henry R. ticliMcraft ' Eiq.! Mich.l """• *'"'**« *'' ^""f A!on7o Potter, D D N^ilf v *!'" fl'i^ectora: John Knox, U D , • ^"^•^°r''| •^"«'"«« iVf'AuIey. D.D . New-York Jacob Jane way, iVd , « fc"'"'"' '- "^^l*'. D.D.. - Rev. John A. Vauahan « d "'"J"* '^'-'«'"« D.D., Rev. Gorham U. Abbott. " fc" ^T'^.^ '''^"''' "'■" " •- " •• • ' Kt«'. John Prondflt [*rof Benj. Sillimati. LL.D., Hon. Samuel Jones, ' Hon. Myndert Van Schaick, Hon. He nan Lincoln, Bradford Sumner, Esq.. ^avid Grahan;, Esq.. Timothy R. Green, Ksu. Georges. Robbins, Esq., Cornelius Baker, ^:(^q^ ' John Griscom, LL d! ' Hon.Benj. F. Hutler. LL.D. «• Hon. Samuel T. Armstrong, Miss { on. Samuel Hubbard. f,L b " PeTi f :'^'" ^ergeant, Pennsylvania. v I .; Sniy vesant, Esq , N V Hugh Maxwell, E=.q, ^' "« ' Charles Butler, Esq., 4, Hiram Ketchnm, lOsq.. r.Y i< ., B(Minn. New- York unlap, Me Me Vt. Conn. Penn Del. D.C. N C. Geo Miss. Ark. ^y Iiid. Mo D., few-York, t< i< M M •) Conn N.Y. t, " Mans. ti N. y it u ?:.Y it u f( ylvania. r-York ity," 81., « il « t( u THE AMERICAN SCHOOL LIBRARY. The So-riety for the Difllision of Useful ICnn«,i«^ couniry the con.mencenie... oftheirl. "arv fm- -.^^l'"/'"*"*"* '« ">• brace, when eo,„,,let«d. n few huridVed Sm."« ^^'^'^'^''^V*''^ '» «""- w..h special refereiice to .he wa.rofrhrvmh of „?.'/"" "'"^ *'»'"»"»«» neliKle in (he ran«e of ns suhjects works h? h^ ■"' •^'""'"•y- H will k.iowle.|.re most iniereH.iMjf a, d usen?l in he^rlY'K"1 ^«l!««'"ents of iiiPltidir.K history, voyages and Ira vhI hinl!/^'" ^"''^ "' '^'^ I'«o|'le, physical, inlelle(^ual.',ncU, and H ical SS'h^^^^^ ''"''"^>' '»><» .he'fc:;:riThe";:^;SeM^^^ "»>"..«, .n sever,, of have induced them to\Ce the JrSt SelecHol.T'' """ •*'^'' '''»'™^y. tions to ineei the in.mediHie w« roTour LchJJL'^\^«'^r''"« '"^'^"'-•n- fast as possible, to co.npleto the p an an o.m,.r?^' ^J" " '*"^y «« «>". «« «.|ec.us. They Will regard, in iC Ixe "ur^V 11 !hL^';'Jf ''*'*^^^ "^"^ tastes circiunstances, aiMlcapacines of rSs' '^'^'*'" "««»' tensively the public approbation in th^, tSt?v ,„^ l^'^o ^^''^'^ed ex- oom|ne..cetnentofthe8eries,toheexlndPd frn^^'' '" Europe, as the s^iall comprise a well-selec ed a/id comnr..S "•'"'"ri" ^""«' ""«*' '« Knowledge, wort'.y of a place n every sSrT"'^*''^'""^' "'' U***^' Il wil be the erealest car« ofihlnL *"'""*"">"'" "four country. Taded and chara?Sd b^a /p r ^?f'S7i'Sn'''*' "?? ^""'« ^ P«'- refine and elevate the moral chaSr of onrnaUo.r''^"^ '*""''"*^ "» HISTORY. A View of Ancient and Modern E?ypt. By Rev M. Russell, LL. I). »»alesime, «,r the Holy Land. From the Burliest Period lo the Present Imie, By IJev. M. Itussell. LL.D. History of t'hivaJry and the Cru- sades. L'y O P. R. James " I VOYAGES AND TRAVELSL Modern. By Andrew Crichton 2 vi)l8. Engraviriffs, &c. The Chinese. A general Description of the Empire of China and its Inhabitants Cy joh„ p^ncis A^?" '^' ^^•^- W*'»« Engravings. American History. By the Author Wi.h ?*""*'.' ''"P"'" I-essons. With Engravings. 3 vols ■American Revoiuiion Thatcher. Esq. History of New-York Dunlap. History of Virginia. Ptiilip. An Historical Account of the Plr. c«,nna^vjg«tio«ofti,eGlLbe' ^l^. ^nireln'A'i-°**'°.^'''y»"'' ^'l'«n. Affes to ,h'% P'«'"«he Earliest pf«r! ° "'*. P'"e«em Time, fly En- {Jiffessor Jameson, and Jamei Modern. By Andrew Crichton. gators. Portraits. *'"^'y ^"^I Portraits. BIOGRAPHY. ^ J''''?,.®f Washington. By J ir Pauldmg.Esq. In 2 vols.^ Wiui Engravings "" By B. B. The Life and Actions of Alexander ByWilUam !.^''m?.^^,«3;th;Hev.J.Wi,r By UacIeF S V j t"""™*"" ^''" »«•,. !i U M The LIfc or Oliver Cromwell. By, the Rev. M. Russell, LL.D. s voIm. Portrait. *' tJvos orr«lehr.ned Travellers. Rv James Auxiisiiih 8i .lohn. 3 voU' •reigns. «> Mrs. .lamesoii. 3 vols NATURAL mSTORT. i, .c.,v«.. ^iJr'" ^""'« '" '»•« Ohservarion TwL?/*'"?'""^'"' "•« 'ntelleciual ofNarure; or, Hinrn of In.lu e- Tr.nh''"u'^ '?" Inve«.i„a,i„n of n.«... .„...„ c, "« ^ Letters of Euler on fjffferent Sub- jects of Natural Philosophy. Ad dressed to a German Princess, MrsCELLANEora. '"? m'^""'"' ^""'« Sketches of Peril, Of ,h. s,, ."i,™5"»J The Poor Slch Man and the Rich Poor Man. By Miss C. M. sSg" ''Mar^TS'" ''"^°^'''^- By '^HoSd.'"' » "•"'"»■ ByMn, '^!tear"'"it n^'^y™"""* *h0 Polar oeas, By Uncle Philip. » ChaHLKH BitTLKR. GoRHAti D. Abbott, &c'y a. S. D. U.K ^^^"^' Seeretarg, nonter. With of Euler, bv mr n>id Additionnl IriMcom, j.L.I>. r o( ifcieniiAi SCIENCB. th« Intelieeiual nveHditnrion of Abemromblflk h Quemloiiflw TRES, . Montgomery. :ors. Sketphen of f»i«. niid Char- knwrican Na- liatcher, Esq. IVJIIgg. njr Authentic Ktible aiMl Af- >on the Deep. nd the Rich I C. M. Sedg overed. By • By Mra * the Polar Ip. [The publishers respectfully and with conlidenco solicit the mvour and attention of the public in behalf of this first attempt to render an account of the character of the American Indians attractive to the minds of youthful readers : Uiey believf- that it will be found to unite the interest of truth with the charm of hction, and please the fancy while it stores the mind with valuable knowledge respecting a race of men whose origin, character, and actions have always proved a lertiie and favourite theme for speculation and inquiry, although perhaps there is no subject of historical research that has given rise to so much of misstatement and exaggeration. The publishers do not present this work as even a sketch of the history of the aborigines, but simply as an outline of their peculiar character and habL, lilustrated with numerous anecdotes, of which it may be proper to remark, that none have been adopted in this work but such as were established and au- thenticated beyond the possibility of doubt or con- tradiction. The materials of these volumes were collected by he author while engaged in the preparation of his larger work, the "Indian Lives," and the exten- sive popularity of that collection affords to the pub- lishers ground for the belief, that the contents of the thd^^^^^^^^^ ^'" P^^^^ '^^^'y --^Pt-ble to NetV'Yor^, April, 1833.] t I Mi ? (D) ISr©- IP AT ®IT(B A^ BypexTmsswufroinNeagle's origmal portrait ia Oodmani iJolural Hiatoiyr 11 i ^i^S^ TMAIT0. VOL, 3' -Bwifal. HjHrttfu ft-MT,'..,'.- 11 a a 3, I 11 H fl j i ! ': ij i M "'^ ^Bwu i-AT.iiiwa:s A, ■j't ■»r^'mi^i..i,it<^MeHfti'-!> '>ri^.aBl pora-iut >« ^>o<}»u aii ifetms . Hintoij- as!ii>i^^ T[a<^' BIT "^ ^^^^^^^'^%^^ <3^Q^. TOX. I. vay^. ■jffo & jr. JHCAiRipiBTa P.nJltt^^ harper's Sttrtotyj^ EdUum. INDIAN TRAITS: BEING SKETCHES OF THE HANKERS, CUSTOMS. AND CHABACTEE OP THE NORTH AMERICAN NATIVES. Br B. B. THATCHER, «»•« or ..„„, „ ™, ,^ ; IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. NEW- YORK : PUBLISHED BV HAnnnn " ^^ HARPER & BROTHERS, XO. 82 CtlFF-iTRUT 1839. :i I Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1833, I By Harpfr & Brothers, lu the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New-York. CONTENTS ov THE PIBST VOLUME. CHAPTER I. Gbneral Comment on the past and present Condition of ^e Indians-The Tribes of M Je, Ne^^-H^X^ Massachusetts, Comiecticut, and other Pa^s ofX A^ WCoast-TheirResourcesinthenat^p;^^^^^^ its Adoption .''^t^®^;^^ Considerations which led to * • • CHAPTER 11. I Personal Characteristics of the Indians— ^sf,* [ Plexion-Hair~Features-BeaS~Sr"i-?'^""^^°»* -Comparison of the MaVf nT v f^"'*'^' ^^ ««' Acuteness of the Senl«lA */"^^Constitution^ FootstepsJnfrralV^^^^^ ^ !-^ Stoiyof Old Scranv— «!fn«, rTT ®^ ^^ Indjan*^ by ^e Seneca^-S7a ;r' r?'^"'^ "^^'^ ''^^' Pi«ka»^-Of « ^1---°^-^ '''*'' Wanior^Oi -A - .«oaexu laoiaii Kunner • - . 9 22 ^ CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. Ancient Dress of the Atlantic and other Indians-At the '^ North and the South-In Summer and Winter-For Male and Female-Modem Style of Dress-Decoration --Greasmg-Pau.ting-Tattooing-Anecdotes of Indian Vanity and Skill in Matters of Decoration-Anecdote of a celebrated Delaware Warrior - ^"^caote of " • • 43 CHAPTER IV. ^ -Mc^f nt^'lr "' '^/ '"''^"^' ^'^'''^^ ^"d Southern -Mode of building, and habit of moving-Modern Lodges and Wigwams-Household Fumiture described-Va nous Kinds of Food-Hominy-Barbacuing-Anecdolrj of Indian Cookeiy-The White-fish of the L^s~M^l ' of taking it-Sahnon-Catching Fish beyond the Rociy Mountains-Indian Notions of Delicacy'and ^J^l —Canmbahsm— Anecdotes . . . -^^'"^ess CHAPTER V. Account of the State of Manufactures and other Arts amon^ thelndian^TheirWeaponsofWar-Theirlt^^^^^^^^^ of Navigation-The log and the bark Canoe, ofTJen and modern Times, and Mode of building each--cLaS LandofTrees-KindlingFire--AnecdotLofIndianNa^? gation of the Northern Lakce-Skill of Ind.r W in the U.e of the Paddle-PoeticJ' Cr^L^-Jh: Birch Cano. -The Snow-shoe-The Sledg^T jUe! tmin-Agnculturallmplements-AnecdoteffromMS sue's Travels in the >Vest . . *™mm Jien- - - . 84 CHAPTER VI. ""^^oSihif '/m'''.'"'''"'--^^"^*^ ^« *^«^ Modes of Courtship and Mamage^Customs of different Tribes^ 56 CONTENTS. lians— At the Winter-- For ■—Decoration tes of Indian -Anecdote of nd Southern 'dern Lodges cribed— Va- — Anecdotes akes— Mode i the Rocky i Daintiness Arts among nstruments , of ancient I — Clearing fidian Navi- an Women tiin of the -The Dog. amM'Ken- 84 The Knistenaux— The Chippewas— Account of Mr. Tan- ner's Courtship and Matrimony— Anecdotes of Indian Girls — The Legend of Wawanosh 104 CHAPTER Vn. Domestic Life continued— Divorce or Separation — Polyga- my—Anecdote of a Delaware— Division of Duties be- tween Husband and Wife— Domestic Festivals— Maple- sugar making— Education of Children— Anecdotes of Tanner and the Indians with whom he lived — ^Names of Children ........ va CHAPTER VIIL Modes of t Tribes-* Anecdotes of Indian hunting— Modes of hunting the grizzly Bear of the North-west— Of the black or brown Bear of the North— Of the Beaver— Of the Otter— Of the Porcu- pine — Of the Rattlesnake — Various Superstitions in rela- tion to some of these Animals — Travellers' Anecdotes of Indian hunting ........ ^54 CHAPTER IX. Hunting continued— Mode of hunting the Racoon— Anec- dotes of Deer-hunting in ancient Times— The Deer hunted by the Wolf— Anecdotes of Moose, Reindeer, and Elk-hunting— Practices of the Dog-rib and other Indians of the North — Of the Penobscots and other more south- em Tribes — ^Hunting among the Rocky Mountains - 178 CHAPTER X. Anecdotes of Hunting continued — Modes of hunting the common or Indian Deer— Uses of the Animal to the In- dians— Fire-hunting— The Bison, or Buffalo— Its Uses — Modes of hunting it — Superstitions of the Indians in relation to Hunting in general— Use of Charms— Medi- cine-hunting— Hunting Feasts . , . .199 tUi 8 CONTENTS. fi .. li ! /if ■if CHAPTER XI. Sketches of Indian fishing— Trout snpon-r, • *v r»m L.ke.-F«hmg of .hf wlCS^^r^T •-eep, and ne,.fidu„g of ft, Lu^^^ ^1^70::^ ' ■ • - • -214 CHAPTER Xn. Games and Sports of the Naw p«„i j t ,. Canadians-Of the Lake^ri^'o??. ''''T^''' '^- -Game of Reeds-Of Zt^TrnTB^ '':'''' andotherBaIl-plavinff-"Rnnnh^ll Vt u ^^^^^'"^^ and Racing- Variou! ,,, 7"^^^^^ Labour"-Riding nected with Games ! ^°"^"^""*- Superstitions con- -223 ;: « Ui in the northern -Fishing Ma- ootkas— Crail, rribes— Cane. 3m M'Kenzie, INTRODUCTION. lians— Of the uthem Tribes "— Baggatiwa, our"— Riding rf the Tribes rstitions con- •2S3 CHAPTER I. General comment on the past and present condition of the Indians — ^The tribes of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachu' setts, Connecticut, and other parts of the Atlantic coast — ^Their resources in the natural productions of the country — The Five Nations of New York — The more Southern tribes — Summary view of tlie Indians us they now are, within the territory of the United States — Plan of this volume — Some considerations «vhich led to its adoption. Two centuries ago, the entire surface of this vast American continent was covered with an Indian population. From the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, and from the broad waters of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, the Red Man roamed in his native wilderness, fearless and free as the deer that fled from the sound of his footstep. The smoke of his wigwam rose peacefully from every hill-side and every river- bank of the sunny South. The green woods of the North echoed to the voice of the hunter. Tlifi nrairJpc nf iha Tllin<%ic. o«#4 ♦!,« "wr-.T — i 10 INTRODUCTION. J I !i but so many battle-fields for the warrior of the A few particulars respecting tlie power of the Ind-ansatthe date referred to, wUl p"ce ,W ries of r/-"°"^ ''Sht. Witl,i„ the\ounda- nes of what ,s now called the State of Maine, , noi lar horn the commencement of the ~ee„.h centnry, and but a few years befl the settlement of Plymouth, -eleven thou- sand savages of various tribes. Some of them even long after the whites commenced their se dements n Aat Province (so called,) as^ only to 6,ve them great trouble, but d ^Z frequent and bloody conflict with the reS confe eracies, each of which consistef oTst- Sat':t ""'^^ ""''" °°^ ^''■■^^ S-"--. - the^sll'''' *' .P*^^^^*^^' tribes inhabited Ae «,uthem section of New Hampshire. The 2./ ."' "•"'"^^'^ «««% the shore of ♦hat large and beautiful bay which still be^ ™ warrior of the e power of the will place this 1 the bounda- ate of Maine, 2 been at that cement of the V years before •eleven thou- »ome of ihcm in numbers, iJenced their ailed,) as not but to wage the remote and with the m gland, south iarge Indian sted of sev- Sachem, or 5s inhabited shire. The ^e shore of stiJl bears INTRODUCTION. 11 I their name, and were resident at what are now Salem, Charlestown, Saugus, Lynn, the islands in Boston harbor, and many other places. The PoKANOKETS, that confederacy of I which the celebrated King Philip, (as the iEnglish entided him) afterwards became the nruler, lived in different parts of Plymouth and Barnstable counties in Massachusetts, and Bris- [tol county in Rhode Island; and they were the Joriginal owners of the soil of Plymouth, which ^e Pilgrims, however, on their arrival upon the coast in 1620, found wholly deserted. There *were nine of these Pokanoket tribes. ^ The Narraghansetts covered the whole |of Rhode Island itself, as well as a number of I smaller neighboring islands in and about that f fine body of water which is called Narraghansett I Bay to this time. They could muster not less I than four thousand bowmen for war; and as it I is believed that the bowmen of an Indian tribe I were generally about three out of ten of their * entire population, there must have been at least twelve thousaad of the Narraghansetts in all. There were as many of the Pequots in Con- necticut, besides several other tribes not attach- ed to that powerful confederacy, making the total number of about twpntv tKrx.,oo«j t^j: -j IS ! : ^ INTRODUCTION. ing wuhm Ae limits of that single small state. As late as the year 1633, the tribes living on bring three thousand warriors into the i5eld. Wthm the town of Windsor, (now so called Jere were as many as ten different Indian set- fetnents; and nearly forty years afterwards, n 1670, jnst before Philip's war broke out there were nineteen savages to one English set- tler w,th,„ that territoty. A large bod/of thei Wed m the centre of the township, and there - was at that time a strong Indian fortress a little north of the flat on which the first meeting- house was afterwards erected. At Milford, which the natives called Wopow- ege, and especially at the southern part of that townshtp, Milford Point, they resided in inl mense numbers ; and the shells, and tools of various descriptions, which they strewed over the soil m that vicinity, accumulated in such qnantities that they have never been dug or ploughed through by the whites r en to the present day. This tribe had a ,<■ . v built forffication, with flankers at the mur comers, : about half a mile north of Stratford ferry In ' what ,s now Huntington, there were, in 1633 ohTut three hundred warriors, although they had INTRODUCTION. ;le small state, ribes living on 3r, alone, could nto the field, ow so called,) ent Indian set- fs afterwards, Jr broke out, e English set- body of them jpj and there- Jrtress a little first meeting- lied Wopow- 1 pare of that sided in ini- ind tools of trewed over ted in such •een dug or 5^ en to the '^^tly built •ur comers, ferry. In s, in 1633, ?h they had Id tlien recently lost a large number of men in the I incessant wars which they carried on with the i Mohawks, and with other savages of New York as well as Connecticut. In explanation of this extraordinary degree of populousness in the section last described, it should be observed, in passing, that perhaps no part of the American continent was better adapted to the manner of living adopted by the Indians, or more capable of supporting a numer- ous savage population in comparative comfort v,and ease. f The great fertility of the soil, especially on the banks of the rivers, no less than the healthi- ness of the climate, attracted them in large numbers to this part of New England. The earth produced, spontaneously, a vast variety of wild fruits. In the groves were walnuts, chest- nuts, butter-nuts, hazel-nuts and acorns. Wild cherries, currants and plums, were natural pro- ductions. Grapes grew in abundance on the low lands, by the borders of brooks and rivers. The fields were full of delicious strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, whortleberries, bill- berries, blueberries, mulberries, cranberries; and not to mention those vegetable productions m which were valuable to tbfi TnHJnno fi --— — — — — ..i^^^^^f^ ^^ u liii *|i ' ll Hi 14 INTRODTTCTIOW. for medichie, ground-nuts, wJld pease and leeks, plantain, radish, antichokes, and many other nutritive roots and herbs might be gathered in every direction. ^■or was the country less productive of wild animals, the chase and spoils of which furnished at once the amusement and the wealth of the tawny hunter. In the woods there were plenty of deer, moose, bears, turkeys, herons, par- tridges andquails. Of pigeons, there were such incredible numbers when the English first began to settle in Connecticut, as to fill them with amazement. Such extensive flocks would be seen, at certain seasons, flying for some hours in the morning, as absolutely to darken the sun. An old historian says,— « It passeth credit, if but the truth were written.' The finest furs were taken from the otter, the beaver, the black, gray and red fox, the racoon, mink, musk-rat and other animals o^ the same class. The wolf and wild-cat were so numerous here, as well as in other parts of New England, after the English settlements commenced, as to prove exceedingly trouble- some to the farmers. « .- ^x ^,coc uiicurnsiances m the situation of the Coimeeticut natives, let it be added, that INTRODUCTION. 15 ase and leeks, many other e gathered in ictive of wild lich furnished wealth of the B were plenty herons, par- re were such sh first began 1 them with cs would be ' some hours ken the sun. h credit, if ti the otter, 3d fox, the limals of the at were so er parts of settlements %\y trouble- le situation added, that they found the most delightful haunts for their humble but favorite navigation in the innumera- We bays, creeks > rivers and ponds of the interior and the coast ; that these beautiful bodies of water swarmed with an exhaustless abundance of wild geese, ducks, wigeons, sheldrapes, broad- bills, teal, and other fine water-fowl; and finally, that almost every excellent species of fish and shell-fish which the savage appetite might riot upon, — ^not the least esteemed of which was the salmon, — ^rewarded the shghtest labor of the indolent native with an ample store of pala- table and wholesome food. ; The remarks we have made upon the natural advantages of Connecticut, as a residence for the Indians, apply, in many respects, to all the Mid- dle and Southern States, as they are now called, along the Atlantic Coast, and to an immense interior territory beside. Hence there was found in Pennsylvania, New-Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, by the first colonists from Eu- rope, a dense Indian population, living, for the most part, on the shores of the large bays and beautiful rivers of that section of the country, in all the luxury of wild abundance. The Mohawks and four other tribes of New York, constituting the celebrated confederacy 16 INTRODUCTION. iiiii m |;1 entitled the Five Nations, had arrived to such a degree of power by their numbers and their political and warlike qualities, as at length to hold all the other tribes from Canada to Vir- ginia in perpetual dread of their inroads. A Mohawk warrior, it is said, could not appear for a moment on the hills of Connecticut, but the villages of that populous district would be instamly filled with confusion and uproar; and the boldest warrior oftentimes did not hesitate to seek safety in breathless flight. All the tribes which resided along the banks of the St. Law- rence and the Northern Lakes, stood in fear of the Five Nations. They once conquered even the Virginian Indians, west of the Allegha- nies; and they warred against the Cherokees Catawbas, and other formidable nations of the far South. In Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia, were still other tribes, and some of them even more populous than any yet described. Eastern Virgima was so thickly populated when the first settlement was made at Jamestown by the Eng- lish, that within sixty miles of that place there were five thousand savages, of whom one thou- sand anrJ fit7o 1^.,^^^ I . _^ ,„^ ..«iiuicu were warriors. The Creeks in Georgia, and the Yamassees in Caro- m INTRODUCTION. 17 ived to such srsand their at length to ida to Vir- nroads. A not appear ecticut, but t would be proar; and t hesitate to the tribes 3 St. Law- i in fear of uered even i Allegha- ^herokees, 3ns of the rgia, were ven more Eastern in the first the Eng- lace there one thou- rs. The in Caro- lina, also mustered a large fighting forco. The Cherokees originally occupied for their hunting- grounds, and defended by their arms, more than thirty-six millions of acres, including either the whole or a greater part of several of what are now Southern and Western States. So late as only a century since, (when the first settlements were made in Georgia,) they could bring six thousand bowmen into the field; and they had quite a number of tolerably well built and strong- ly fortified towns. Such, two centuries ago, was the condition i of the Indian population along the Atlantic shore. They were, indeed, often at war with each other, and with the savages of the West; and they were sometimes exposed to the ravages of pestilence. But generally they lived in cir- cumstances of health, security and ease. The woods and the waters supplied them with their abundant livehhood, almost without eflbrt. The hunter's game was all around him, and above him, in the streams, forests and skies of his native land. And, above all, he was not only hardy, patient and brave, able to encounter the elements, and fearless to meet his foe in the n*?ld of batde; but he was a free man. The mountain eagle that screamed over the slow- 18 INTRODUCTION. hi m n soanng smoke of his wigwam, was not freer than him who dwelt beneath that humble roof. And now let w briefly consider the condition 01 this same people at the present day. The same people, we say; but in too many instances are they as different as adverse circumstances could render them. In many others, they have been driven back before the advance of civilized population into the far-off wilds of the remote West and the frozen North. In others still, they have ceased to be known as a people al - all; and their very name itself has nearly passed from the memory of the white men. We find the cellars of their wigwams in our old pastures moss-grown and yawning. We decipher the|r rude inscriptions on the rocks of ^o'tlr*' ,7^ '■"'"''■'' P'-'^Sh, perhaps, turns up the mouldering relics of their ancient dead,- That remnant of a martial brow, S«'°,"'*'^""'" "'« "ighty heart,' That .tronj arm-Ah ! 'f.^ ,4^„ga,L my,:* ticut tf"? '°\"'' ^"''"'^''' *« Connec- ticut, the Susquehannah, the Potomac, the ♦Bn^nt. And well might the poet add — ^^^^^^^^ ' «^^-afcrf£|i«-..pa«. The ««,>„■! ;:;'"" =^"'^ ^peaK or where A lie awful likeness was impressed! mL INTRODUCTION. 19 as not freer humble roof, the condition day. The my instances rcunistances •s, they have 3 of civilized the remote others still, a people at - sarly passed ams in our ning. We he rocks of fhaps, turns 5nt dead, — low:* e Connec- >mac, the md Ohio, spare. ,<■ e the great « Father of the Western Waters,'— all the noblest rivers of the country bear to tl.is hour the titles given them by the primeval lords of the land. The bright waves of Mas- sachusetts Bay, and the currents of the broad Chesapeake, " Still roll as they rolled that day, — " But the Red Men, where are they? In the whole compass of the immense terri- tory belonging to the United States, extending from one side of the continent to the other, there are computed to be about 300,000 remain- ing of at least two millions who inhabited the same region at the date of the settlement of Jamestown and Plymouth, and for unknown centuries before. The following are the names and supposed numbers of the principal tribes which make up this total amount, as they were carefully computed a few years since: — Choctaws, 20,000 Assineboins, 8,000 20,000 Potawatamies, 5,500 20,000 Winnebagoes, 6,800 15,000 Sacs, 6,800 15,000 Osages, 5,000 15,000 Menominies, 4,200 15,000 Crows, 4,500 12,000 Arripahas, 4,000 Snakes, Creeks, Cherokees, Black Feet, Chippewas, Sioux, Pawnees, 30 i •':« INTRODUCTION', Semwoles, 4,000 Ottawas, 4,000 Chickasaws, 3,600 Algonquins, 3 000 wT\u T, ^'°°^ 36 small tribes, 41,600 West ofAeRocIcy Mountains, ' 80,000 In Vermont, New Hampshire, and several other States, none are left. In all Maine, Mas- sachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and V.rg.n.a together, there are less (han 2,500. The celebrated Five Nations of New Yo^k are reduced to about the same number. Even of Aose who are left, a large proportion are not only so much debased by the force of circum- Sr ^?"' "■" "PP- ''-after) as tX Jttle moral resemblance to their brave and har- dy ancestors; but they are in many instances acU,aUybuthalf-breed,or less than Jf,-thTr! suh of an abandoned intercourse between their degraded savage parents and the basest ofle whues who live aro,„d and among them. Such were the American Indians in the days of the,r prosperity, and such are they now. I js th,s extraordinary but unfortunate people to the description of whose manners, customs, in- ^.11 be^hiefly devoted. The sad ffct thaf;: SorS '''Senerated and disappeared in the deplorable mamier we have Just shown,-and •f INTRODUCTION. ^1 4,000 h 3,000 bes,41,600 80,000 and several faine, Mas- cticut and ban 2,500. w York are Even of >n are not 3f circum- as to bear e and har- instances r? — the re- ^een their 5st of the 3m. the days now. It >eople to toms, in- chapters ■ that the d in the n, — and |yet more, the fact that the scanty remnants of their f tribes which still linger on the frontiers are be- t coming fewer and feebler from day to day — ought by no means to make them an object of indiiferent or contemptuous regard. On the contrary, they should add to the interest, as they will undoubtedly add to the value, of all tlie faithful information which can be collected f concerning them. The time will come but too V soon, we fear, when the history of the Indians will be the history of a people of which no living specimen shall exist upon the earth; — too soon will the places that now know them know them never again. Their council-fires will have gone out upon the green hills of the South. f Their canoes shall plough no more the bosom of the Northern Lakes. Even the prairies and ^ mountains of the far West will cease to be their ^ refuge from the rushing' march of civilization. Their forests will be felled: their game will dis- appear: and then, — if indeed no portion of them can be rescued by benevolence from the grave of heathenism, — if no blessed ray of the P knowledge of man or the saving truth of Hea- 2 ven shall lighten the gloom of the wilderness, — hen will the last Indian stand upon the verge f the Pacific seas, and his sun will have gone iown forever. 22 PERSONAL TRAITS. i; im CHAPTER II. Flee.nM,and hardihood of A,TS = "« f""""!*- yo»nS a,ioWw Warrio Jp T^'^at ^'"T"-^' Indian runner. i-"karet~ Jf a modern spell of th°"n-"^ ?'«''.''" '^'^^ fr«q"ently speak of the Indians m a past tense.-as if they indeed the fact, as we have already stated in ITel" ?rt "??i°"«y °f 'hose whoi" J^hvedw„h,nthe«mitsofthe United States. A^d these also were the Indians, who, of the whderace,havebeenbestknow„'tothe'wls aescnption of the race. It will also be a dp :^f":bH''^r'"^--s-'"h!:;att state,— which could not be said gonerallv of those feeble and degraded tribes, a^d ! 2^ tnbes, that are still to be seen oil the f"ll "' «« country, or in the midst of our';;hU; .* i!i PERSONAL TRAITS. ss 51ANS— Stature— eculiaritlesofgait istitution— Acute- acing footsteps — oryofOIdScrany e Senecas— Of a T~ 'Jf a modern 1 frequently , — as if they '• Such is y stated, in who former- ited States, ivho, of the the whites. i mode of it accurate 3 be a de- his native JneralJy of i parts of 2 fronti*»ro — — — -— »v^au our white population, and with which alone we of the present day are chiefly acquainted. As for those more distant and less degenerat- ed savages, who reside in the neighborhood of the Rocky Mountains, and in other sections of the Continent where they have learned litde of the white man but perhaps his name, the descrip- tion we shall give of the Atlantic Indians as they were, will very nearly apply to them as they are. So far, however, as there may appear to be any traits of an important difference between the two classes, whether in matters of customs, con- dition, or character, we shall take occasion hereafter carefully to point them out, on the authority of faithful and intelligent travellers. The Indians are very generally of either the middling or largest stature of the English, al- though not only individuals but whole tribes *, -! met with who fall rather below the '^ight of the whites. The Shawanees avt' and J- cdwares recently residing in Ohio, and the savages of the Northern Lakes and the Upper Mississippi are among this class. On the other hand, most of those who live in the middle regions of the Missouri, including the warlike ougT^,?, oixu iiiu i-fiwu-a. yji. x^ai^v^lalis, iXSKi uuiic tall, as well as finely proportioned in other re- 24 PERSONAL THAITS. I 5' m ■i :l spects. There is perhaps no Indian, or indeed white man, on the continent, who appears to better advantage than an Osage, mounted on his war-horse. The New England and other Atlantic Indians were almost universally large, straight and well- proportioned, with limbs which might serve as a model for the sculptor of the human frame in marble. An instance of natural deformity was so rarely to be met with, that most of the old histonans declare they never saw an Indian ' dwarfish, crooked, or bandy-legged.* The cor- pulence of some of the whites was so strange to them as to be a subject of derision. We have never heard, in modern times, of more than two or three corpulent Indians. Their complexion, which is one of their most obvious characteristics, is commonly described as coi);)er-colored. That term does not, how- ever, convey an exact idea of the fact. The children, when born, are nearly as light as those of the English. The skin gradually grows harder and darker, until at a mature age it is not far from the color of well-smoked bacon. How ["^chd i^result is owing to their habit o f greas- of*the" Indian'^'' °""*^''"' aaubsequent chapter on the diseaaet L PERSONAL TRAITS. 15 iian, or indeed 10 appears to nounted on his tlantic Indians light and well- night serve as iman frame in deformity was St of the old w an Indian' .* The Cor- as so strange 3rision. We nes, of more IS. of their most ily described es not, how- e fact. The light as those ually grows 5 age it is not icon. How bit of greas- on the diseaset I ing the face, their exposure to the sun, and the smoke which never fails to abound in their wigwams, it would be di/Bcuh to determine. There are some Indians at the present day, chiefly of the most southern tribes, very nearly as black as an ordinary negro, although the eye of one who is familiar mtli the two races, will easily distinguish a shade of difference between the complexions of those who in this particular resemble each other most. The hair of the American savages, still more .decidedly than their color, distinguishes them from all other people. It is uniformly, in each of the sexes, black, until changed by age, when it not unfrequently becomes gray, like the hair of the whites. It is often described also as lanky — in reference to a peculiar appearance which it is easier to remember, after once seeing it, than to describe. It hangs in knots, which look as though greased, as indeed they generally are. It is much finer than the hair of a horse's mane, but in other respects resembles it. The forehead is broad, and almost invariably retreating in some degree; the nose prominent, and in the male Indian, commonly aquiline; the nostrils at the base remarkably expanded; the lips intermediate between the thinness |f the 3 IH # 26 PRRflONAL TRAIT8. whites and the thickness of the negroes. The cheek bones are high and strongly marked, making the face, in a line below the eyes, un- commonly wide. The eyes are black with very rare exceptions; but of a shade of blackness more like what we call such in the black eye of an Italian or a Spaniard, than in that of the Indian. It has been said, that the American savages are naturally beardless, and without hair on the bodies; but jhis undoubtedly is a mistake. A.-ef are aliuost universally in the habit of '■A.m egroes. The ngly marked, the eyes, un- lack with very *s PERSONAL TRAITS. 27 V of blackness ^e black eye n that of the •lean savages It hair on the a mistake. le habit of plucking out the beard with a kind of tweezers made for the purpose. Before the Europeans came among them, this apparatus was simply a pair of muscle-shells, sharpened on a gritty stone, and made to operate tolerably well in the fashion of a pair of pincers. In modern times they frequently use wire. Tweezers are made of this, and often carried about with them in their tobacco-pouch, to be used as necessity or leisure may suggest. . They perform the opera- tion in a very quick manner, much like a cook's j)lucking of a fowl; and the oftener they pluck but the hair, the finer it grows afterwards, so |that at last there appears scarcely any. The easons of this custom are stated differently by themselves, as well as by travellers; but no doubt the chief object in view is to have a clean skin to paint on when they dress them- I selves for festivals and for war. Most of them ^ also consider it unmanly to wear hair ; and some of them go so far as to say it would liken them too much to hogs. f In the gait of the Indians there is something so peculiar as to enable a person who is in the 1 habit of seeing them to distinguish one of them, I at a considerable distance, from a white man. The legs, both of the male and female, have a ■:m 28 ill lii i! |!||li ! PERSONAL TRAITS. remarkable curve, still more obvious than that of the negro. In walking they scarcely ever fail to place one foot in a right line before the other, and seldom turn their toes aside from that line; and in this way they readily distin- guish the track of their own people from that of the whites. They walk, too, the one di- rectly behind the other, in what is called * In- dianfih.^ Mr. Flint says, in his Geography and History of the Western States, <' We have frequently seen the husband and wife, the mother and daughter, the father and son, and even two equal aged young men, walking to- gether apparently engaged in earnest conversa- tion; but never advancing abreast.'' Some writers have asserted, that the frailer form of the female sex, in whatever country, is owing, not to a difference of organization, but to their being less exposed to the elements and to hardship and rough exercise than the male. The case of the Indians does not confirm this theory. The squaw, (as the women among them are commonly called,) as we shall show hereafter, is the drudge and slave of the men; and yet she has a delicacy of limb, and espe- cially a slenderness of hand and foot, as distin- guisnea irom the brawny form of the male, % US than that carcely ever 3 before the aside from Jadily distin- e from that the one di- called */»- Geography "We have wife, the id son, and walking to- t conversa- the frailer country, is zation, but sments and the male. )nfirm this en among hall show the men; and espe- as distin- ihe male) PERSONAL TRAITS. 29 even more strongly marked than among Euro- peans. The face is broad and oval; the nose flattened, scarcely ever aquiline, and for the most part resembling that of the negro. They have a greater uniformity in this respect than the male. [See cut on p. 26.] Owing partly to his organization, doubtless, as well as to his mode of living from his child- hood up, the senses of the Indian are extremely acute. It is related, in modern times, that a hunter, belonging to one of the western tribes, on his return home to his hut one day, discovered that his venison, which had been hung up to dry, had been stolen. After taking observations upon the spot, he set off in pursuit of the thief, whom he tracked through the woods. Having gone a little distance, he met some persons of whom he inquired, if they had seen a little old white man, with a short gun, accompanied by a small dog with a short tail 9 They replied in the affirmative ; and upon the Indian assuring them that the man thus described had stolen his venison, they desired to be informed how he was able to give such a minute description of a person he had not seen? The Indian replied thus: — ng out his toes when he walks, which an In- dian never does. His gun I know to be short, by d,e mark the muzzle made in rubbing the bark of the tree on which it leaned; that his dog IS small, I know by his tracks; and that he has a short tail, I discovered by the mark it made m the dust where he was sitting at the time his master was taking down the meat.' vve shall have occasion to observe hereafter, how serviceable this keenness of the senses be- comes to the Indian in time of war, as well as The In ""'"f "S "-"'' ^™'™S '" *e woods. The old French writer, Charlevoix, who had teTo?t °PP°T"''' "'■ ''"''^'"S *« -harac- er of the Canadian and other tribes, says,- This people have a wonderful talent, I might ay an instinct, to know if any person has pa! s- ed through any place. On the shortest grass on the hardest ground, even upon stones,'tW discover some traces; and by the way clieV are turned, by the shape of the fe.t. I.^! T mamier in which they are separated from each ■i ^v /$)/ * M PERSONAL TRAITS. 31 •m the height I : that he is an teps, which I in the woods: f by his tum- which an In- w to be short, 3 rubbing the ned; that his 3ks; and that J the mark it sitting at the he meat.' ve hereafter, le senses be- ', as well as 1 the woods. ix, who had the charac- es, says, — 3nt, I might )n has pass- rtest grass, tones, they ay tliey are -# c\v "J U-IC from each ^ other, they even distinguish, as they say, the ^ footsteps of difierent nations, and those of men i from those of women. I thought a long time,' adds this faithful historian, 'that there was some exaggeration in this matter; but the re- ports of those who have lived among the sava- ges are so unanimous, that I see no room to doubt of their sincerity.' The Indians are much more remarkable for fleetness than for strength. Their frames and limbs are never unwieldy in their size; and they are accustomed from early life to a great deal of free and healthy exercise of all kinds in the open air, and particularly to hunting and run- ning races. There is an old book, written a century and a half since by the celebrated Rev. Roger Williams, of Rhode Island, (and the first .setderof Providence in that State,) in which he states, as from his own observation, that the legs of the Indian (New England) children are in infancy < stretcht and bound up in a strange way on their cradle backward, as also anointed.' He then adds that he had known them sometimes to run between eighty and one hundred miles in a long summer's day, and back __, — ..^ „^^ sainx^ iuuie in 'WO aays. ' And commonly in the summer they delight to goe 32 PERSONAL TRAITS. 0. Without shoes, though they have them hanging at their backs. They are so exquisitely skilled in all the travelling of the countrey (by reason of their hunting) that I have often been guided twentie, thirtie, yea, sometimes fortie miles through the woods, a streight course, out of any path.' An Indian thinks but little of tra- velling in this manner through the woods, a week in succession, with perhaps no clothing but a blanket, and no food but a pouch of parch- ed corn at his girdle, a small quantity of which he eats once in twentj^-four hours. Two or three historical anecdotes, will serve to confirm what has been said of the fleemess and activity of the Indians, as well as some other qualities of which more will be said here- after. During the last century, and before the Rev-' olutionary War, a party of warriors of one of the most powerful tribes of the South, made prisoner of a fighter belonging to a neighboring nation with which they had long been engaged in active hostilities. The captive was famous for his achievements, and was well known to his enemies by the tide of ' Old Scrany.' They . *^" ^'^ t^ituicu uy ure. fseinff tied to a pile of fagots, and the flames kindled. m PERSONAL TRAITS. 93 em hanging at tely skilled in Y (by reason been guided fortie miles >urse, out of t little of tra- he woods, a i no clothing uch of parch- tity of which es, will serve the fleemess ^ell as some 36 said here- )re the Rev-- rs of one of Jouth, made neighboring n engaged in 3 famous for nown to his ^Y.' They ire. Being ties kindled. he endured it for a long time without moving a , : muscle, or uttering any sort of complaint. He I even challenged his exuldng foes, who were f spectators of his anguish, to try him still more severely. Finally he told them, they made such miserable business of it in their attempts to torment him, that, out of compassion for their ignorance, he would teach them how to *^anage it better, if they would but untie him :and hand him a hot gun-barrel which lay glow- ing in the fire at his side. V The proposal was so extraordinary as to ex- cite the curiosity of his enemies, and they granted his request so far as to unloose him. iThen suddenly seizing the gun-barrel, and brandishing it furiously from side to side, he forced his way through the astonished multitude, leaped down a steep and high bank into the branch of a river which ran beneath, dived ; through it, ran over a small island, and passed the other branch; and although numbers of his li disappointed enemies were in eager pursuit, and a shower of bullets fell all around him, he I succeeded in gaining a bramble-swamp, where I he concealed himself until the danger was near- I ly over. He reached his own country, naked and bruised, as well as scorched: but he lived S4 PERSONAL TRAITS. ifl III m many years afterwards, and was none the less 'Old Scrany'— a terrible thorn in the side of his enemies,— than he had been for twenty or thirty years before. The Senecas of >: -c Yoik, and the Cataw- bas, a powerful so .1 tribe, were at war with each other early in the last century. A scalping.party of the former, having travelled several days' journey through the woods to- wards the territories of the latter, discovered a solitary Catawba, hunting, and clothed only in a light summer-dress proper for that amusement. ' They had already intercepted his running to- wards home, and he therefore sprang ofF for a large hollow rock, four or five miles distant, in the hope of secreting himself under its shelter. He was so swift, and so skilful in the use of tJie gun which he carried with him, that he shot down seven of his pursuers in the running fight, before they were able to sui ound and take him! They carried him captive to their own coun- ty in melancholy triumph; but, although he had filled them with shame and grief for the loss of so many of their comrades, they admired his courage and prowess still more than they hated him for the havoc he had made among the Sen- y ,..r^ x^Lruxu liui prevent nis Deing m •u... '-'^"mha>^'3iKQi*f^ PERSONAL TRAITS. 35 treated according to the customs of the nation. As they advanced homeward, the women and children at the different villages which they passed through, came out to exult over and beat him. At last, having reached his destination, he was condemned, by a council of the Seneca warriors, to die by the torture of fire. But the captive was not yet disheartened. He had travelled a long and wearisome route, scantily fed, lying at night on the naked ground, exposed to the changes of the weather, and with his arms and legs extended in a pair of rough wooden stocks; but his spirits were still light, his limbs supple and firm, and his eye as keen as the eagle's. The place of torture was chosen, as it frequently was in similar cases, up- on the bank of a river. At the appointed hour, a multitude of the Senecas led him out to be sacrificed. But they were heedless, and in high glee, and they suffered their prisoner to walk unpinioned. All at once, he collected his whole strength, dashed down those of his ene- mies who were nearest about him, sprang away to the edge of the water, plunged in, and swam rapidly underneath, — only rising to take breathi until he gained the opposite shore, He now mounted the steep and rocky bank. 9% PERSONA!. TRAITf Several of the Senecas were already in the water, and others were nmning in various direc- tions, to surround or overtake him. Their bul- lets, too, began to whiz in the air over his head, and to strike the ledges beneath his feet. Still, he could not bear to leave his enemies without some testimony of his scorn and defiance. He stopped, to make very deliberately the most I contemptuous gestures, in their sight, which his mgenuity could suggest; and then raising a shriU war-whoop as a last salute, he commenced his flight into the forest with the furious speed of a tiger escaped from his cage. He continued his course in such a manner as to run, by aboui^ midnight of the same day, as far as his eager pursuers were two days in following. He then lay stiH, concealed under logs and bushes, until five of the enemy came up, kindled their fire not far from the spot where he lay watching them, refreshed themselves with a slight repast, and stretched themselves out on the bare earth to sleep. He now crawled up towards the fire, with a wary step, seized one of their tomahawks, and killed them all on the spot. Stripping off the ir scalps for a trophy,* See, as to thift custom, a i«iihuv«i>an» »\, . .1 of thelttdiang. '"""'^ -»-t^«. wn lae war» PERSONAL TRAITS. 37 ready in the '^arious direc- Their bul- )ver his head, 5 feet. Still, mies without jfiance. He ly the most ht, which his en raising a commenced urious speed a manner as leday, as far In following. &r logs and up, kindled tiere he lay ves with a Ives out on crawled up seized one » all on the a trophy,* t on the war* lie clothed himself with articles of their dress, took the best of their guns, with as much ammu- nition and provision as he could well carry in a running march, and started off afresh with a light heart. Finding himself at length clear of his pursuers, he made his way through the woods, as if by instinct, to the very spot where he had shot down the seven Senecas. He digged them up from their fresh-made graves, scalped* them, burned their bodies to ashes, and completed his journey homeward in triumph. A party of the Senecas soon afterwards vdiscovered the man- gled bodies of their five countrymen tomahawk- ed by the young Catawba. The pursuit was then abandoned as hopeless. They returned home; a war-council was called; and the Sene- cas determined that a man who could do such things as this Catawba had done, naked and wounded, ' must surely be beyond the reach of the Senecas. And it was of no use to fire mus- kets at such a person, if they could overtake him. He was a wizzard !' A shorter story may be told to the same effect, re lating to a Chickasaw, When this for- ' ■ ■ ■■ ■> t* See note on page 36.] 4 88 PERSONAL TRAITS. midable nation, (who inhabited a wide and fer- tile territory between the upper branches of the m Yazoo river, in the State of Mississippi,) were I at war a long time since with the Creeks, orf Muskogees, (who lived, as they still do, a little I taher eastward) one of the young Chickasawsl set off alone into the territory of the Creeks f with the view of revenging the death of a near relation slain in the war. He traversed the thickest and most unfrequented parts of the wil- derness, until he arrived opposite to a consid^ erable town of the Creeks, called Koosah. It , was situated high on the eastern side of a rapid I river, abouc two hundred and fifty yards broad I which empties into the Gulf of Mexico. ^ Here he concealed himself under cover ot rhe top of a fallen pine-tree, in view of a shallow part of the river, where the Creeks were now and then to be s3en crossing over in their light and swift canoes. All his store of provisions consisted of a small quantity of dried vpn-son- but satisfied with this scanty fare, he waited with pc vent watchfulness nearly three whole days and nights. At length, about an hour be- lore sunset, he saw a man, a woman, and a drl, crossing within an easy gunshot. H. «ho^ down the m&n, rushed out and tomahawked the PERSONAL TRAITS. 33 i wide and fer- •ranches of the lissi'ppi,) were le Creeks, or 5till do, a h'ttie ig Chickasaws f the Creeks, 3ath of a near traversed the irts of the wil- ■ to a consid' Koosah. It ide of a rapid yards broad, lexico. ler cover ot V of a shallow cs were now in their light f provisions led venison; ;, he waited three whole an hour be- I, and a girl, H( ihnt Other two, and scalped them all in full view of tlie town. As a farther bravado, je even shook the scalps exultingiy over his head; and then, sounding the terrible death-whoop of a vs^arrior, he betook himself to a speedy flight, with about a dozen of the Creeks close behind him. At the distance of seven miles, ho entered a great ridge of the Apalachian Mountains. About an hour before day^ he had run seventy miles of that hilly and rugged tract. He now refreshed himself by sleeping two hours in a sitting post-ire, with liis gun in his hand, leaning his back against a tree: and then renewed his journey with increased celerity. Having, when he started, thrown away his venison, to lighten himself, he was obliged to sustain nature with such roots and nuts as his sharp eyes, with a running glance, directed him to snatch up in his course. Thus he ran the whole distance to his own country, reaching home about eleven o'clock of the third day, — so that he was only two nights and one day and a half in going ovi^r wiiat is computed to be three hundred miles. The historian who furnislies the anecdote, states that he repeatedly travelled that route on horse- \t% ^ ^^ ^^. ihawked the M journey »^«v/xi, wwi i.i\jv^i iuauc II less iiidu. u iive-aays A.X 40 PERSONAL TRAITS. M |i An anecdote somewhat similar to tliis, is told of PisKARET, a celebrated northern Indian, who lived about two centuries ago. He was a chieftain, of the tribe of Adirondacks, who re- sided on the banks of the great river St. Law- rence. They were almost continually at war with the Five Nations of New York, who then hved, as the remnant of them still do, in the northern section of that State. Being deter- mined to distinguish himself, and to encourage his countrymen in the contest, Piskarct boldly set out, alone, for the country of the Five Nations, (with which he was well acquainted,) about that period of the spring when the snow was beginning to melt. Accustomed, as an Indian must be, to all emergencies of travelling as well as warfare, he took the precaution of putting the hinder part of his snow-shoes for- ward, so that if his footsteps should happen to be observed by his vigilant enemy, it might be supposed he was gone the contrary way. For further security he went along the ridges and high grounds, where the snow was melted, that his track might be lost. On coming near one of the villages of the Five Nations, he concealed himself until night, and tlien entered a cabin, while the inmates PERSONAL TRAITS. 41 were fast asleep, murdered the whole family, and carried the scalps to his lurking-place. The next day, the people of the village sought for the murderer, but in vain. He came out again at midnight, and repeated his deed of blood. The third night, a watch was kept in every house, and Piskaret was compelled to exercise more caution. But his purpose was not abandoned. He bundled up the scalps he had already taken, to carry home with him as a proof of his victory, and then stole warily from house to house, until he at last discovered an Indian nodding at his post. This man he des- patched at a blow, but that blow alarmed the neighborhood, and he was forced immediately to fly for his hfe. Being, however, the fleetest Indian then alive, he was under no apprehen- sion of danger from the chase. He sufl'ered his pursuers to approach him from time to time, and then suddenly darted away from them, hoping in this manner to discourage as well as escape them. When the evening came on, he hid himself, and his enemies stopped to rest. Feeling no danger from a single enemy, and he a fugitive, they even indulged themselves in sleep. Piskaret, who watched every move- ment, turned about, knocked every man of them 4* 42 11 h'il Ml •«i; JERSONAI. TRAITS. on the head, added their scalps to his bundle, and leisurely resumed his way home.* As one more instance in point, we may men- tion the well-known fact that, during the recent campaign conducted by General Atkinson against the Indians of the upper Mississippi, intelligence of some importance was in one instance brought in to the American camp by a friendly Indian who ran, for that purpose, more than one hundred miles in the course of twenty- lour hours. Of the fortitude of the American savage in enduring pain and torture, we may have occa- sion to speak again in describing their moral character; for although much of his astonishing endurance may be owing to hardihood of tlie trarae, still more must be attributed to a stern and inflexible resolution of mind. THE IHDIASS, Nos. 4S and 46„f dB FA«.ly LlBRiB,. DRESS. 43 CHAPTER HI. Ancient Dress of the Atlantic and other Indians— At the North and the South— In summer and winter— For male and female— Modernstyleofdress— Decoration— Greasing- Painting— Tattooing— Anecdotes of Indian vanity and skill in mattersof decoration— Anecdote of a celebrated Delaware Warrior. Previous to the arrival of the Europeans in this country, the clothing of the Indians, in all the northerly sections of the continent, was the skins of wild beasts. The women dressed themselves with more regard to modesty than the men. They wore a coat of skins, girt about the loins, and reaching down nearly to the knees; and this they never put off in com- pany. If the husband took the liberty to sell or gamble away the beaver petticoat of his squaw, she nevertheless refused to part with it until another of some sort was provided. In the summer, their skin blanket, or mande, hung loosely about them, and was often thrown aside; in winter it was wrapped closely around the waist. The old men, in the severe seasons, also wore a kind of trowsers, made of skins, and fastened to tiieir girdles. They wore (as the:^ 44 DRESS. f ^■i! ^^^^^B '' ' i ■ j Hi Still do,) shoes without heels, which they railed mocassins. These were generally made of moose-hide or buck-skin. They were shaped entirely to the foot, gathered at the toes and round the ankles, and made fast with strings. Roger Williams says of this article, that ' be- ing excellently tanned by them, it is excellent for to travell in wet and snow; for it is so well tempered with oyle, that the water cleane wrings out; and being hanged up in their chimney, they presently drie without hurt, as myselfe hath often proved.' The same writer states, that when the New England Indians were first induced to put on English clothes, they felt so litde at ease in them, that in case of a sudden shower coming up, they would strip them off as fast as possible. They preferred wetting their own bodies, and keeping their clothes dry. Though they wore these garments, too, while among the Enghsh, because they were presents from the latter* they always took them off the moment they returned to their own wigwams. The Virginian and other Southern Indians attired themselves much in the same manner with those of the North, excepting that, the Cximate being less severe, their dress was adapt- DECORATION. 45 ey railed made of ! shaped toes and strings, lat ' be- ixcellent so well e wrings 3y, they Ife hath be New put on ease in coming ossible. es, and y wore ^nglish, latter, It they fndians nanner It, the adapt- H 1 • i ^^ f Wt\i p. 1, kII r ' ^ 1 ' w m P' VI 46 DRESS. ed to it accordingly. In summer tliey used very lutle elotl^ing of any sort. [See /45 In modern times, fur and skins are not so »uch worn as formerly, but enough to sW sufficemly how they used to be faloned by savage mgenuity into very comfortable and somefmes very handsome apparel. They can make u" 7 f ' T" ' ''"«''^°'^' ^ ^ " make u yuue soft and pliant; and a good one wm serve a man several years without' wear'g better Th "^ ""T" "'"'^^'^ ^« '^^ setting the hair or fur aU in one way, so as to luns off mstead of penetrating. In cold weather they are worn wid, the fur insMe Pormerb^ the hair or fur was shaved off from ^se shns which the Indians used todres" with the large r,b-bones of the elk or buffalo Even now, the Western Indians say they c^ clean a skin as well with a well-prepareT rl bone as with an English knife. also'^mar"nr'rS'' ''^^'''' °' '"»''«=' ^«^« wild Tt "''"■'' S""^'*^'^ 'hose of the wild turkey or goose. This was done chiefly by the women, xvhr, „,wu . '™°^ ' ' ■'"" 6»«ai pauence and DECORATION". 47 care, interwove the feathers together in a mo^t curious manner, with a thread made of the bark of the wild hemp and nettle. The same kind of workmanship is to be seen in the hands with which the modern Indians often pack up and cany their bags and other burdens. The present dress of most of the tribes known to the white people, is of articles of their manufacture. A figured cotton shirt is a common garment of the men; a cloth petticoat lor the women. Blankets are worn by both sexes and all ages. Leggins, of blue, green or red cloth, are in ordinary use; and are generally more or less ornamented, as well as tied with a garter of colored worsted below the knee The small apron, in front, is also ornamented around the edges. Additional to these articles, the males carry a knife in a scabbard confined to the string or narrow belt which girds the waist: also a pipe, and a skin tobacco-pouch, contaming, beside tobacco and smoking weed, a fire-steel, flint, and some kind of tinder. There is less uniformity in the head-dress, as there was also in ancient times, than in any other part of the personal decoration. Some- * times the head is ornamented with n hor.A ^f skms, dressed with the /eft or hair on, surmount- 48 If,, fist f 'I . ,' S 1 lir DECORATION. ed with feathers; bnt in many cases no such article IS used. The ornamental part of the dress is and has been equally various, -depending not so much on the rank or business of the wearer, as upon h.s ambmon to wear and his ability to procure. When the hazr ,s kept long, as is often the case, It IS trequently braided, and decked with silver broaches At other times, it is cut in various whtmstca and fantastic forms, and perhaps stuck with long feathers. ,n,irru *' "''"' ' '""'^'"'^ °f beads or smdl shells IS suspended; or a silver crescent. t^utf' "u^ '^"^'-'^^ds, and broaches or buckles for the garters, are common. So, in and brass th.mbles fixed round the ankles, which make a tinkling noise as tl.ey walk, J To Z1J° r, *' ""'"'"" "^ ^P''«="°>-s to the finery of the wearer. The petticoat of the squaw ,s frequently decorated with abundance of ribands of gaudy colors. The leggins are .urnished ,n the same style with flant orna- mental work; and the mocassins, especially of women, are very neatly embroidered with por- cupme-qudls, beautifully stained with brilliant ntroa ^ai-nngs, ol some metal, are in gener- iL DECORATIOPr. 49 ses no such al use. Formerly, these were made of bone, sea-shells and stone; and pendants were also worn in the nose, which is not now a common practice. They were carved rudely in the shape of birds, beasts, and fishes, according to the taste and mechanical skill of the person who wore them. Painting, as well as greasing, has always been a favorite custom, and as a preparation for this we have noticed the practice of plucking out the hair of the face and body. This mixture of grease or oil and paints, might indeed be con- sidered as much a part of the Indian's dress as of his ornament; for it generally formed a per- manent coat of thick varnish over the whole skin. No doubt a principal object of it was to defend the body from moisture and cold, and from numerous tribes of insects which swarm m a summer forest. It also served to pre- serve the strength of the warrior and hunter, by checking the profuse perspiration to which they were subject in the campaign and the chase. For all sorts of dances and festivals, the In- dians of both sexes take particular pains to lay on the red-ochre, vermillion, or whatever else the paint may be, in quantities and m.Qdes suit- ed to the occasion. The Chiefs (or Sachems) 6 pi m 1 1 do DECORATIOir. of Je New England tribes performed this part of the>r toilet .„ such a manner, that, added to a mantfe of moose or deer-skin, painted and em„ro.dered wid, white shells or beads, a neck- lace of fish-bones, and a large wild-cat or bear skin with the jaws and ears left entire, hanging over the shoulders and dangling doJn to &! knees ,t gave them truly a most ferocious and fi-ghtful appearance. This art was the more cd.,vated, because those warriors who made Jemselves look most terrific, especially for a war-dance* or a scalping-party, were admired by all spectators as the best men. ,.;.?"" "f-^f '''""'"°" ""^'"-nsof decorauon, st.ll practised, remains to be described. This IS the practice sometimes called mtooingA It consists in making incisions, with some pointed mstrument, mto the skin, and then fiUing them w.d. some black, blue or other permanent dye or ink, m such a manner as to make images that lastea dnrmg life. The figures of moose, deer bears, otters, wolves, hawks, or whatever ob- ject might strike a man's fancy agreeably, was thus imprmted on his face or limbs. In mod- !!l!:!:ifflj;;;;powd er is often used, instea'd of *Sm a »ub«q„e„, chapter on Man da„ci„. ~ -,.,^„, „^^^„ ^, \irginian Indians, armed. DECORATION. 51 a liquid substance, to color the outline. Some tribes have one figure in common, which they call their totem, and by which Lhey may always be known. The Indians have perhaps as much vanity in respect to their dress and decoration as any other people in the world. Of the Western tribes of the present day, an accurate observer re- marks, that from the time the squaw often oc- cupies in clubbing her hair behind, arranging her calico jacket, (a common garment in that quarter,) and painting her round cheeks with glaring circles of Vermillion, he infers that per- sonal ornament occupies as much of her thoughts as of most fashionable women in civilized so- ciety. A young Indian warrior is notoriously the most thorough-going beau in the world. He wiU employ himself with his paints and his pocket-glass for hours, laying on his colors, ar- ranging his hair, and, gazing at his reflection in the mirror, from time to time, with very obvious satisfaction.* The Western warriors, in full dress, as for a great dance, wear two or three clasps of silver about tlieir arms, generally jewels in their ears, •Flint's Geography and History. 52 DECORATION and often in the nose. In fact, it is as common among these tribes to see a thin circular piece of silver, of the size of a dollar, hanging an inch or two from the nose, as it was among the an- cient Indians to see a piece of carved bone or stone in the same situation. Then the painted porcupme-quills are twisted in the hair. Tails of animals swing from the ears behind. A neck- lace of bears' or alligators' teeth, or claws of the eagle, or red beads--or, if nothing better can bo had, perhaps a string of red thom-plums —hangs from the neck. The brass bells, al- ready mentioned, are laid thick on the lower part of the dress. Add to all this finery, an American hat, and a soldier's blue coat faced with red, and your modern Indian dandy, step- ping firmly on the ground to give his tinklers a lair chance to sound together, apparently re- gards his attractions with as much complacency as the human bosom can be supposed to feel.* A Moravian clergyman who travelled as a missionary, during the last century, among the Indians m Pennsylvania, Ohio, and other States, gives an account of a visit which he made to ona^his savage acquaintances at his own Flint's Geography and History. DECORATION. 63 as common cular piece ing an inch >ng the an- d bone or he painted Lir. Tails A neck- ' claws of ing better orn-plums bells, al- the lower Snery, an oat faced idy^ step- tinklers a ently re- iplacency to feel.* led as a nong the r States, made to his own wigwam. He found him engaged in plucking out his beard, preparatory to painting himself for a danre which was to take place the ensuing evening. The missionary, not liking to intrude on the gentleman under these circumstances, went home to his lodgings in the same village. He had not been there long, when the Indian, having finished his head-dress, came < to see him,' as he said, though more probably to be seen. To his utter astonishment, the mission- ary saw three different expressions, or counte- nances, on his friend's face. By great ingenui- ty and judgment in laying on and shading the different colors, he had made his nose ap- pear, to a person standing direcdy in front of him, as if it were very long and narrow, with a round knob at the end, much resembling the upper part of a pair of tongs. On one cheek there was a red round spot, about the size of an apple; and the other was painted in the same manner with black. The eye-lids, both the upper and lower ones, had the appearance of being twisted altogether out of place by the coloring. Again, the matter was so arranged, that when the spectator took a side-view of him, his nose 1 •!! ^'j^^vsviii.vu uic ij^uii ui iui eagle J wiin uie ovu 6* 54 DECORATION. rounded and brought ,o a point precisely a, those b.rds have it, .hough the mouth was .ome^ whatopen. Theeyewasastonishingiywelldon. On look,ng at tie other side, theLe nosi now turned to the snout of a pike, with the mouj so open that the teeth could n'ot be seen I he fellow seemed much pleased with his own workmanship, and having his small lo kin^! gl« h.m, gazed at it with great exultation' How do you hke it?'_at length he said i» he had done the work on a piece of board Wko, any thing else, he shoufd like it vS well. < And why no, as it hV added the sav- r^hTse cXl'l^wlrr'^T^^""'^' T..;il n • , ^" • "^^ the reply, < I W'll call agam, then, tomorrow morning, before you leave the village.' He did so; and wtn he came back, he had washed hims'elf perfecl^ Clean. Ihus was a whole day devoted to pre- paring for an evening's frolic* The same writer describes the appearance :^of'Hfhr""'^""°^'°^'''^«^^^^^^^ fice and body, where he had been severely •Heckeweld«'.Hi«,ricdaoc<.uatoftl»InHi.„»..:... DECORATION'. •recisely as was some- welJdone. !ame nose with the )t be seen, i with his II looking- Jxultation. 1 lie said 3red, that of board, e it very the sav- re, under eply, earance elaware s on his everely 55 wounded by the arrows of his enemies; and this gave him a not very amiable aspect. But, what was worse, whether from a disposition to make his person still more striking, or a determination to make known his history, he had tattooed him- self all over, so that not one unmarked spot was to be seen from head to foot. On his whole face, neck, shoulders, arms, thighs and legs, as well as on his breast and back, were represented scenes of the various engagements and adven- tures he had been in; in short, his skin furnish- ed, in these figures and symbols, the whole history of the man. In tWs instance, the tattooing was executed in the following manner. A quantity of wild poplar bark being in readiness, burnt and reduc- ed to powder, the various figures were marked out in the skin with a small stick, rather larger than a common match, with several fine needles fastened at the end. These drawing blood, a coat of the powder was laid on, and left to dry. This operation, before the whites came to this country, was performed with sharp flint-stones, or the small teeth of a fish. stuvits. 56 HABITATIONS CHAPTER IV. Ancient Habitations of the Indians-Northern and Southern -Mode of building, and habit of moving-Modern lodgeg and w.gwams-Household furniture described-Various kmd. of FOOD-Hominy-Barbacuing-Anecdotes of Indian cookery-lhe white-fish of the Lakes-Mode of takina it -^almon-Catching fish beyond the Rocky Mountains- Indian notions of delicacy and daintiness-Cannibalism- Anecdotes. Ilii ^The habitations of the American Indians, under various names, have always been much R HABITATIONS. 57 of taking it Mountains— eumiba]ism— > IndiaAs, n much alike in all parts of the continent. In New England, and generally throughout the country, when the Europeans first arrived, they were mostly constructed, arbour-wise, of small young trees, bent and twisted together. A fire was made in the centre of the house, and there was an opening at the top, intended to let out the smoke. This purpose, however, was not verv thoroughly efl^ected. The wigwam was but a smoky cell at best; and in rainy and windy weather, when the occupant was obliged to cover his chimney-hole in the roof with a mat, or with boughs of trees, to keep out the mois- ture, it was still less agreeable, though tolerably warm and dry. A pkce of entrance, made on one side as a door, was generally left open, but furnished with a hanging mat or piece of bark, which could be easily dropt and fastened over It, in the night-time or in storms. These wigwams were sometimes built of dry poles instead of young trees, so that when a family wished to move, they had only to bundle up their poles, strap them upon their shoulders, and march off to some other part of tne country, where a new habitation could be set up in a few il^Urs. Thev Werp ams, 'and m case of wan, of come, by much COOKERY. 65 boyJing they make a good dish of them: yea, sometimes in plemie of come doe they eat these akornes for a Noveltie.' Chestnuts were preserved in the same way. So were walnuts, which also furnished an oil used m anointing the hair. But as for straw- berries, we are told, ' This Berry is the wonder of all the Fruits growing naturally in theseparts. It IS of itselfe excellent. In some Parts where the Natives have planted, I have many times seeneas many as would fill a good ship within a few miles' compasse.' The Indians used to bruise the strawberry in a mortar and mix it with meal, making a sort of bread. Dried cur- rants, treated in the same way, made about as delicate a dish. The Southern Indians used to bou their corn, ten or twelve hours, into a sort of pudding which they called hominy. The name is commonly applied to a similar dish cooked by the whites in that section to this day. Of the cookery of the Indians an old writer has very properly said,— < It has nothing com- mendable in it, but that it is performed with little trouble; they have no other sauce but a good stomach, which they seldom want.'* Quite a number of palatable dishes beside fi * ii 66 COOKERT. thosv, .nentioned already, were made of tbe In- dmn corn. If n^, ^.j j^y, it was pounded as toe as possible in ihe mortar, kneaded into dough, and made up into flat cakes, which tliey were careful to bake on hot and dean ashes. With thi.s dough they frequemi; n.ixed boiled pumpkms, green or dried, beans, chestnuts, dried venison pounded to a powder, berries, and other things. Sugar, made from the juice of the maple-tree, was in many sections used to sweet- en the rest. Corn, parched, and sometimes ground afterwards, was often taken by the hun- ter on his long chases; and a small quantity sustained him for several days. They had three modes of cooking their flesh and fish. Boiling was effected in vessels of bark or clay, stoutly constructed, by p tting into the water stones heated red-hot for the nur- pose. They broiled on the naked coals; 'and roasted, eidier by covering up with hot ashes and coals, or upon sticks placed at a little distance from the fire and answering the purpose of a spit. The Southern Indians called this barba- cmng; and the name is applied to a similar process in modern times. _ The Western and Northern tribes still con- tinue most of these modes of cookery, more or COOKERY. 91 68 POOD. i « ■^ less, although in many instances they have adopted the use of various cooking utensils, borrowed from the whites, which their ances- tors had no knowledge of. In some sections, they collect, at certain seasons, large quantities of wild rice, growing abundantly around the lakes; and many other kinds of vegetable food, as well as some kinds of fish and wild game, are peculiar to different regions of the country. The Chippewas, Ottawas, and other tribes h'ving in the neighborhood of the great Lakes, subsist almost exclusively, at some seasons, on the white fish. There is perhaps no more de- licious food of the fish kind in the world. It is even better than the trout, and those who live on it for months together continue to relish it at the end of that time as a dainty. It weighs from a pound or two to fifteen pounds. In shape it resembles the shad, found in the rivers of the Atlantic coast; but the head is smaller and more pointed, and the bones larger and less FOOD. ;y have utensils, r ances- ections, lantities jnd the le food, I game, ountry. r tribes Lakes, ons, on ore de- Id. It 36 who relish weighs is. In 69 rivers mailer id less numerous. The meat is as white as the breast of a partridge. It loses some of its flavor by being salted, and in that respect only is a less valuable fish than the shad and salmon. The Indians have a way of curing white-fish by drying in die smoke of their wigwams. In this state they are laid up in large quantities, during the autumn, for the winter's provision. They are generally taken from canoes. Each canoe carries tWo men; one of whom steers with a paddle, and the other has a pole, ten feet in length, furnished with a scoop-net at the end. The steersman manages the boat. The fisherman, at the prow, watches his opportunity to dip his net, and often brings up as many as it can well contain. At the best season and hour for fishing, a person who is skilled in the busi- ness will take five hundred in two hours. "When they are wanted in the winter season, which is often the case, the matter is managed thus. Several holes are made in the ice; each at such a distance from the next, that one may be reached from the other, under the ice, by the end of a pole. A line, of some hundred feet in length, is thus conveyed from hole to hole, till it is extended to the length desired, is ^raw^n out, vvitii one end of tliQ r\rtl 70 FOOD. I 1? 11,1 . :.'.» line, which is fastened to it. It is then drawn back by one of the party; the net is brought under; a Jarge stone is made fast to the sinking line at each end, and let down to the bottom; and the net is spread in the water by sinkers attach- ed to ditferent parts of it. The fish, running against it, entangle their gills among the mesh- es, and are thus detained till they are taken up.* There are said to be certain tribes, resident beyond the Rocky Mountains, on the banks of the rivers flowing into the Pacific Ocean, who subsist altogether upon fish. A celebrated traveller, who explored that region several years smce, gives the following account of the mode ot taking salmon practised in several places. ' With great labor, they formed an embank- ment or weir across the river, for the purpose of placing their fishing machines, which thev disposed both above and below it. I express- ed my wish to visit this extraordinary work but these people are so superstitious, that they would not allow me a nearer examination than I could obtain by viewing it from the bank. Thenver :s about fifty yards in breadth, and by observing a man fish with a dip ping-net. I on FOOD. 71 judged It to be about ten feet deep at the foot of the fall. The weir is a work of great labor, ard contrived with considerable ingenuity It was near four feet above the level of the water, at the time I saw it, and nearly the height of the bank on which I stood to examine it. The stream is stopped nearly two thirds by it; It is constructed by fixing small trees in the bed of the river, m a slanting position (which could be practicable only when the water is much lower than when I saw it) with the thick part down- wards; over these is laid a bed of gravel, on which ,s placed a range of lesser trees, and so on alternately till the work is brought to its proper height. Beneath it the machines are placed, into which the salmon fall when they attempt to leap over. On either side there is a large frame of timber-work, six feet above the level of the upper water, in which passages are left for the salmon leading directly into the machmes, which are taken up at pleasure. At the foot of the fall, dipping-ne- are also success- lully employed.' * These people not only ate no flesh, but for some reason or other regarded every thing of t he meat kind with a siiperstitious fear. One ♦Mackenzie. k ?P ;*, JM'j i p iT^i yo FOOD. It. , of ( ur traveller's party having thrown the bone of a deer into the river, a native, who observed the circumstance, immediately dived and brought It up. Having then consigned it to the flames, he proceeded to wash his hands as if they were polluted. A dog belonging to another native was also severely beaten for gnawing a bone. Salmon were taken in such abundance by tliese people, that, in one place, four heaps were seen lymg before the door of a chief, each of which consisted of three or four himdred. Six- teen women were employed in cleaning and pre- parmg them to be roasted. Some of them re- quested the white men not to fire off their mus- kets, for fear of frightening the fish in the river In another place some women were seen employed m boiling sorrel, and different kinds of berries, with salmon-roes, in large square kettles of cedar wood. This pottage, when it attained a certain consistency, they took out with ladles, and poured it into frames of about twelve inches square and one deep, the bottom being covered with a large leaf, which were then exposed to the sun till their contents became so many dried cakes. The roes that are mixed up with the bitter berries are prepared in the same way. From the quantity of this kind of FOOD. 78 provision, it must be a princioal »rh-M= cr . and probably of traiBc^ The e ^ l/f '' also portable chests of ced^ " 'S t! pack the cakes, as well as th^.v" , , ^ dried and roasted. "" '"'"""'' •'°* red^nTnt^.^'^Shout America, that the red man has always subsisted himself on th. -The forests here. - , 5'^^ and stiller waters, paid Of th "''i° the net and spear Of the red ruler of the shade.* It Should be remarked of the Indians in r^ auon to the subject we have been 61^:^:^ this chapter, that there is a ereat difr! a-ng the various tribes in thel cTo t flT even where meats are eaten. The FivrNa.' K>ns are said to have never been at all scrupu lous in their selection of food Th. rT^ was eat indiscriminately, a::;litho?be2r the flesh of not only the wild-cat, panther fo"' musk-rat and wolf, but also of the horse, Z and many such animals, which the DelawarL Ihaw anees and other Southern tribes, would 7 l" events suffer much from hunger before eal J S^mefflfSfldoj^t hesitate to cut up and bJi i 74 FOOD. I i i; ! their birds and other game, without the least preparation of any kind, except to pluck out has- tily a part of the feathers. Oil and fat, which no white man could endure, are common articles of food. Speaking of the taste of the Delawares of Ohio, the Missionary Heckewelder relates the following anecdote. In the spring of 1773, he was travelling across the woods from the Muskinghum river to the Big Beaver. More than twenty Indians were in company with him. Five of them were old men. The rest were women and children, — all strangers to that part of the country, excepting one only, who under- took to act as guide to the rest of the party. A powerful rain came up while they were upon this journey, and they found themselves hem- med in by two large creeks which were now overflowing their banks. Their provisions were soon exhausted; and every man who had a gun, was called upon to scour the surrounding woods, in search of game. But their exertions were to no purpose. The day passed off, and tho hunters returned to camp at night, — all but a well known Chief, whose name was Popun- HANK,— bringing nothing with them but a sin gle wild-cat. (»'Jf H FOOD. be least out has- , which articles ares of ites the 773, he im the More th him. )t were tiat part under- 5 party, 'e upon s hem- re now (visions bo had lunding ertions ff, and all but *OPUN- a sin 75 Indians are never discouraged; or at least, never confess that they are. One of the old men gravely pronounced the wild-cat ^good^ very good! ' and it was immediately ordered to be put on a wooden spit, and roasted by the women for supper. While this was going on, the old Indian endeavored to keep up the spirits of the party by jesting about the fine country they were now in, where such choice food was to be had; to all which some other one of the old men would reply— ^ all true ! very true! '— and thus the evening wore away. At length, about nine o'clock, the cook came to tell them that the meat was done, and they might commence eating it. The Missionary, who was very hungry, heard the summons with great pleasure; but much to his surprise, no- body rose to obey it. The whole night passed away without any one attempting to partake of the wild-cat. In the mon.i^g the women pre- pared a large kettle full of some kind of herb tea, and all the company eagerly went forward lor a share of it; but the wild-cat, thougli well roasted, still lay untouched. One of the old men indeed asserted ..at le thought it as good eating as a bear or a hog, which the white peo- pie liked veiy much; but he seemed not to be h 'I 76 CANNIBALISM. it/ ft L'T''-'u*"'^ ""*" "° movement, himself, towards ejther consuming or carving the wild- Cat* At last Popunhank, who was supposed to be lost, came m, together with the guide, who had ChieVrttt r""''™- H« had found the Chief at the distance of five or six miles from r ""^P' "''""■^ hehadsucceededin killing a fine deer; and this animal they were now dragging a>. The Indians were delighted. They made no boisterofs rejoicing, which Indians never do; but called cun, with one voice,-' Anischi!' Amsch! '-(' We are thankful. ') The wild- cat was now taken by the tail and thrown away It has been said of the Indians generally, and especially of particular tribes more ferodous than the rest, t^iat they ate human flesh; in other words that they are cannibals. This is believ- ed to be unsupported by fact. No doubt the opinion has arisen from the circumstance, that an instance of the kind has now and then been blown to occur. This was under circumstances of extreme suffering from famine, where the hfe of one has been sacrificed, perhaps in a fit CANNIBALISM. ^m Of frenzy, to save that of another. Similar ses have occurred among civilized peop" n a countries; but it by no means .bUows th t all civiJized people are cannibals. Nearly a hundred years ago, there was, in certain parts of this country, a remarkably seve e winter, known for a long time afterwards'as" 1^ hard wmter,' when the ground was covered wi^ liZ iT ""^ '" *^ ^^^^°°- About this mie an Indian woman, of the Delaware tribe I iT'r'"" '"''^"°'''"°°'' '° t^-^el across the Alleghany mountains, to visit some of her relations residing near the west branch of the Susquehannah. What was still worse, she had three children with her. noin?"' '^1 ^^- "''* '"""'' '^■'»<=""y ^e^^hed a pome in the river which is called Chingle- Clamoose, the snow began falling a^ain i„ greater quantities than ever. In fi„t, £ v " compelled to stop, and make herself as "good a camp as she was able. Having very little childien on short allowance, still hoping that the weather would become more moderafe, or the snow so crusted over that they might walk over fte surface of it with ease. Her little store of food was eked out by using the withered 7* L 1. ■: 78 CANNIBALISM. ( ' grass found on the river's edge; and also with certain barks which she boiled, to make them eatable and digestible. But the snow continued falling, till at length it reached the height of six feet, so that even the wretched species of sustenance just men- tioned was no longer to be found. The wolves, too, more ferocious than usual with hunger like her own, hovered thick about her little encamp, ment, both n:, ,nd day; and it required her whole time ana strength to preserve fire enough to prevent her children being frozen to death, while the wolves could only be kept at a dis- tance by throwing out fire-brands among them. Her situation soon became intolerable. Hav- ' g no alternative but that of sacrificing one of i ^ children, she resolved on destroying the youngest, in order to preserve the rest. After much hesitation, she turned away her eyes, and with a trembling hand and a loud cry of despair, gave to one of the innocent little BufFerers a stroke which deprived him of his life. She now thought she had obtained a tempo- rary relief, and that she migl.t be able to sup- port herself and her remaining children until Buch a change should take place in the weather also with ike them at length that even jst men- ! wolves, nger like encamp- ired her e enough 3 death, at a dis- g them. Hav- ; one of ^ing the After r eyes, cry of It little of his tempo- to sup- n until j^eathei I CANNIBALISM. 79 as would enable them to proceed on their journey But the wolves had now go, scent of the slaughtered child, and they became more funous than before, howling continually around the encampment in a most frightful manner She wept, and prayed to the Great Spmt; but st,ll no relief came. Her horrid lood Itself was again exhausted. She had determined, in fine, to sacrifice another child, and her hand was lifted to give -the fatal blow, when she suddenly heard the yell ol two approaching savages, and the mur- derous weapon fell to the ground. They soon came up, furnished with a kind of snow-shoes which enable the Indians to travel with ease ■n the depth of the winter. They immediately made a similar pair for her own use; and taking the children in their arms, set off all together for the place of her destination, which they soon reached in safety. T1.3 spot where this awful event took place was long pointed out by all the Indians in that section of the country as 'the place where human flesh was eaten'-in their own language, The celebrated traveller, Alexander Henry, S'ves a striking description of a scene which liV'l 4" H M ' ;.!
  • n the vicinity of the same -' ce. The young man, being' informed of those -discoveries, and more closely questioned, con- fessed the crime of which he w=« » a P„„„ ,, wiucu ne was accused. *rom the account he now proceeded to give " appeared that the family had consisted of his One of t "".'■',.*"'■ '°" •=''"*«" ""d himself. One of the children was a boy of fifteen years of the chase, all of which he missed, fell into despondence, and persuaded himself that it was he wi I of the Great Spirit that he should per- ish- In this state of mind, he requested his w.fe to kill him. The woman refused to Im said, the nephew, and the other the son of the unhappy man, agreed between themselves to mu der h>m, to prevent, as the informant wished to msmuato, his murdering them. Accom- Phshing their detestable purpose, they devoured IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) {/ ^% 1.0 I.I 2.5 2.2 1^ - lia ill 10 IL25 III! 1.4 1.6 rnuuJglBpinL Sdences Corporation 23 WEST MASN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 372-4503 82 CANNIBALISM. the body; and famine pressing upon them still closer, they successively killed the three young- er children, upon whose flesh they subsisted for some time, and with a part of which the parricides at length set out for the Lake, leaving the woman, who was too feeble to travel, to her fate. On their way, their foul victuals fail- ed; the informant killed his companion; and it was a part of the remains of this last victim that had been discovered at the fire.* So iar are the Indians from regarding the practice of cannibalism with any sort of indul- gence, that owing to tlie prejudice against it, it is a common belief among them that the horrid wretch, who had once made human flesh his food, must suffer the punishment of being never afterwards satisfied with any other. Mr. Henry states, that the young man at Oak Bay appeared to verify this opinion. We are told, that he ate with relish nothing that was given him; but, indifferent to the food prepared, fixed his eyes continually on the children which were in the Indian lodge, and frequently exclaimed, ' How fat they are!'— It was perhaps not un- natural, that after long acquaintance with no ♦ Henry's Travels and Adventures. CANNIBALISM. gg human form but such as was gaunt and pale from want of food, a man's eyes should be almost nveted upon any thing, «here misery had not made such imxjads, and still more upon the bloom and plumpness of childhood; and the exclamation might be the most innocent, and might proceed from an involuntary and uncon- querable sentiment of admiration.— Be this as It may, his behavior was considered, and not less naturally, as marked with the most alarm- •Dg symptoms; and the Indians, apprehensive that he would prey upon their children, resolved on putung him to death. They did this the next day, with a single stroke of an axe, aimed at his head from behind, and of the approach ot which he had not the smallest intimation.* • Henry'a TraTeU and AdventurM. 84 MlNUrACTURES. CHAPTER V. Account of the state of Manufactures and other Arts amonir the IndJans-Their weapons of war-Their instruments of nav,gation-The log and the bark canoe, of ancient and modern times, and mode of building each-Clearing land of trees— Kindling fire-Anecdotes of Indian Navigation of t^ie Northern Lakes-Skill of Indian women in the use of tJie paddle-Poetical description of the birch canoe-The snow.8hoe-The sledge-The dog-train-Agricuhural im- plement^Anecdotes from Mc'Kenzie's Travels in the West. The specimens which have been preserved of the mechanical skiU of the ancient Indians still more than those of a more modern date' abundantly show the natural ingenuity of the race. Since the use of the metals, and various arts exte the reso F no ij made coulc regulj woylc whicli arrow from 1 inches were ] pan, t( fastene The (which made o fashione surface stones. from fot and the The goi except th UAWOTACTUBES. g- arts have been introduced among them ,„ extent b;. the whites, they haSed 11"""' the superiority of the latter ! T, ^ °" resources of their. • T ' ^"^ '*'* °n *e . example, they had ia the firVhen the object was to clear a considerable piece of land of its woods, instead of burning and chopping the trees down one by one, the as 90 OANOC-MAKINO. Indians cut a notch round the trunb, quite Jrough the bark, with their hatchets. That deadened the trees, and as they withered imme- d^ately, the ground might be planted at once. If otherwise, m a course of a year at two, a high wind generally laid them all prostrate. The fire spoken of above was kindled, as in modem times, by rubbing particular kinds of wood vio- SJ^T' ""'^ °"'er,_ge„erally a piece of hard wood agamst one more soft and dry; pine for mstance, against oak. Rotten-wood^;„d d.!; leaves answered the purpose of tinder. Canoes were also made.-chiefly i„ New En6land,-as Aey are by the modem Indians, of bark, particularly that of the birch-tree. The tribes of the Northern Lakes make them wholly of this material, with a little soft wood and pine- gum or boiled pitch, without a nail or a W of n>etal of any kind to confine the parts. The entire ouuide is bark. Where the^dges oft come together at the bottom or along the sides, they are sewed very closely with a sort of vegeu le thread called „<.,„;,_„ade of .SoJ Next to the bark, are pieces of cedar, staven aimfe. These run lengthwise, and are pressed NATIOATION. y. against the bark by mean, of cedar ribs fitted ^U,abo„on, and sides of the canoe, in he; posite direction, and which, at the upper end caUhTl't-T ?\S""-'^'^«' (=" »h« whites ca I «,) to which the baric and ribs are all sewed ««h ^attap. Across the boat are several bar'! wh,chkeep«,n shape, and are also fastened to thegunwale. The seats of those who paddle are alongside of, but below the bars.-^ade of plank or board, a few inches wide, ^d hung used Thrf r°'^'- ''°"'^"' "° -'"^ «« used. The Indian adjusts himself on the bot- tom. They are sometimes thirty feet long, and of course capableofaccommodatingquiteaLy. ^ke a log canoe;* but more frequently they a« are so hght and small as to be veiy easily carried a long distance on a man's head. This makes wh?„ .r''"'"" ^°' *"^^"'"S in the winter, when the streams and lakes are frozen, as well as for navigating shallow or rapid streams, lie bark-canoes, of whatever size, indeed, •See the plate prefixed to this Chapter. 92 NAVTOATrOIT are so fragile as to be easily damaged and de- stroyed by overloading^ or by running against obstacles in the water. The larger ones, used on the Lakes, are made to cak ry a weight of stores, tents and baggage, to the amount of from four to eight thousand pounds; but in this case the bottom is defended by a layer of long poles, which cause the burden to press equally on all points. The paddles are of red-cedar, and very light. The blade is about three inches wide, except the steersman's, behind, which is five inches i One of the crew looks out in front, to prevent running upon rocks. In mounting a rapid current, a stout pole is used instead of the paddle; and those who use it are obliged to stand erect. This makes the navigation ex- ceedingly difficult, and sometimes dangerous, even for those most accustomed to it. Of the whites, perhaps not one out of ten could safely for the first time navigate a small birch canoe, even in smooth water, without oversetting it. An advantage in most of these boats, which should not be forgotten, is, that tlie two ends being generally fashioned and shaped much alike, both answer equally well for the prow or stern, so that there is no necessity of turning them round. When they are so constructed,. NAVIGATION. 93 as to admit of a sail being hoisted, the Indians will accomplish sixty miles with them in a day without it, about half that distance. ' It is but two or three years since a member of the Penobscot tribe, residing at Old Town, in Mame, paddled one of the smallest kind of birch canoes all the way along the Atlantic Coast from the mouth of his own river to the harbor of New York. ' Not only the women, but even the little girls, paddle these canoes with great skill. They sit in the bottom of the boat. The woman at the stern stnkesherpaddle into the water,— reaching well forward, both with her arms and body? Bringing up the handle to a line with her should- er, she turns its edge quick to the current, and mchnes the blade in and out, slow or fast, as the direction of the canoe may require If a wrong direction is given to it, the paddle is turned backward, and the right course instantly regained. In a word, the wild-duck does not float more buoyantly or move more lightly on the waves, to all appearances, than this curious vessel under the management of the women. On reaching the shore, which is always ap- proached cautiously, the whole company rise together from the bottom, and leave it together 94 NAVIGATION. with the same activity. The boat rises like a feaiher; and the last who steps out, takes it by on^. of the bars that cross it about midway, slings it over one shoulder, and walks off with It as if it were a hand-basket. On the whole, no more than justice is done to this remarkable specimen of savage ingenuity, which the whites have never been able to improve upon, or even equal, — in the poetical description of a traveller who has himself had occasion to put its excellent qualities to the test.* In the region of lakes, where the blue waters sleep, Our beautiful fabric was buiit ; Light cedar supported its weight on the deep. And its sides with the sun-beams were gilt. The bright leafy bark of the betula* tree, A flexible sheathing providetJ ; And the fir's thready roots drew the parts to agree, And bound down its high-swelling sides. No compaf<« or gavel was used on the bark. No art but the simplest degree ; But the structure was finished, and trim to remark. And as light as a Sylph's could be. Its rim was with tender young roots woven round. Like a pattern of wicker-vork rare ; And it pressed on :he vruves with as lightsome a bound. As a basket suspended in air. * Mr. Schoolcraft. See Mc'Kenney's Tour to the Lakes, t Betula pspyracae. SNOW-SHOE. 95 And Btill as we floated by rock and by shell, Our bark raised a murmur aloud ; And it danced on tlie waves, as they rose, as they fell. Like a Fay on a bright summer cloud. We said, as we passed o'er tlie liquid expanse, With tlie landscape in smiling array ; How blest should we be, if our lives should advance. Thus smoothly and sweetly away. The Snow- Shoe is another of the ingenious mechanical contrivances of ths Indians, and one without which they would be much at a loss, especially in the Northern regions. They are about three feet long, and a foot wide in the broadest part. Little sticks placed across at five or six inches from each end, serve to strengthen them. A net- work of twisted deer- skin, cut into strips, is fastened to the frame, and to this the foot is confined by means of strings of the same material. The snow-shoe used for travelling over a hilly country, is turn- ed up at the end, and pointed. To walk well upon these long and broad bottoms, requires as much practice as it does to navigate a ea The knees raust be turned a little inward. UUliUC 96 SLEDGE. 'M the legs kept wide asunder; and the strain of he strings .s such, that a white man never puU Jen, on to wear for a day, without suffering what IS called the ' snow-shoe evil.' An In- d.an wdl travel with them forty miles a day, and sometimes more. "^-.-na The sledge is of frequent utility i„ the winter season; and this, too, though of very simp e manufacture, ,s managed with much more skill by an Indian than by a white man. This ear- off ;h-\ f™P'''' '■^'"■°"' '^°"='='= merely of a thin board, a foot wide,-or of two narrow ones, made to answer the same purpose,_six or seven f Hong. The fore-p^ if genera ; wiJituT ?' '"•^ '^^ ^'-^^^ ^' bordered fo binding on baggage. However laden these httle vehicles may be, the owner draws them over the snow-crust, with perfect ease and grea" ?:tin'w]:-';:r°'^^°"^ ''''"'' "'•'X o. skin, which he puts over his breast. They rdt".:L"^^"^-'^''--^^"SthewoundeJ Several of the modem tribes, chiefly resident beyond the Mississippi,_such as thi Os^^' lT"f ^«^™-'— e in the habit of ^on! stant „di„s on horse-back; and the greater pa^t DOG-TRAIN. m m ' h 1=1! 98 DOG-TRAIN. of their hunting, as well as their warfare, is car- ried on in this manner. But in the more northern latitudes the dog-train is equally serviceable, though more used by the whites than the Indians. It is a light frame of wood, covered round with a dressed skin. The part in which the feet go, is lined with furs, and is covered in, like the fore-part of a shoe. The bottom is of plank, about half an inch thick; and some six inches longer than the train, and an inch or two wider. ^ In this carriage a woman may sit quite comfortably, and can take a child in her arms, while her driver, standing on the part of the frame which runs out behind, gives the word to his dogs. These, when well-trained, will trot off forty milos a day, over the snow crust. When to the implements and arts we have now described, we add a scanty cultivation of corn, squashes, beans and pumpkins, on a patch of weedy ground, not at all enclosed, formerly with scarce any other tools than shells;— togeth- er with a few contrivances for hunting and fish- ing,* such as snares made of skins, nets of wild hemp, and hooks of fish-bones;— we have given an almost complete account of Indian mechanics. ' See Chapters on Hunting and Fishing. MANUFACTURES. 99 Mr. Hearne gives, in his Travels, an anec- dote curiously illustrating the ingenuity, (as well as hardihood,) to which even the female savage becomes accustomed by the force of necessity. When he and the Indians in his company were returning South from the Cop- per-Mine River, they found, in the midst of the wilderness, a young Indian woman, inhabiting, alone, a hut of her own construction. She had been captured in war, and had run away from her master, but, winter coming on, found her- self unable to reach her own country. When discovered, she had lived in this solitude near- ly eight months. She was, in the opinion of Hearne, one of the finest Indian women he had ever seen. — Five or six inches of hoop made into a knife, and the iron shank of an arrow- head which served as an awl, were the only implements she possessed; and with these she made snow-shoes and other useful articles. For subsistence she snared partridges, rabbits and squirrels, and had killed two or three bea- vers, and some porcupines. After the few deer-sinews she had brought with her were ex- pended in making snares and sewing her ; ^.)th- ing, she supplied their place with the sinews of rabbits' legs, which she twisted together with 100 MANUFACTURES. great dexterity. Thus occupied, she not only became reconciled to her desolate situation, bu^ tul. n.1 '""' '° T"' ^''''^^ ^y •»=«"fec. turing httJe pieces of personal ornament. Her clojhing was formed of rabbit-skins sewed to ge her; the materials, though rude, being taste- My disposed, so as to make her garb assume a pleasing, though desert-bred appearance. The found her beauty and useful accompUshments occaspd a contest among the InLsT to biVd! J 'r.'^' '°' ' "''■^' ""d &e matter being^decded, she accompanied them in their In regard to the various instruments and machines mentioned in this chapter, to desert all the minute differences in them ^ould be an endless task. We will give, however, a sL l passage from the description, furnished by a feith ul traveller, of one of the remote NorA^ Western tribes who have had no communica- on with any civilized people except occasion- aUy with sailors and fur-traders, perhaps, on the Western shores of the Continent. ^ ' " ""^ Their arms, says our traveller, consist of bows '«>» spike at one end, and serve occasionally as r MANUFACTURES. 101 a spear. Their arrows are well made, barbed, and pointed with iron, flint, stone, or bone; they are feathered, and from two to two and a half feet in length. They have two kinds of spears, both which are double-edged, and of well polished iron : one of them is about twelve inches long, and two wide; the other about half the width, and two thirds of the length; the shafts of the first are eight feet in length, and the latter six. They have also spears, made of bone. Their knives consist of pieces of iron, shaped and handled by themselves. Their axes are something like our adze, and they use them m the same manner as we employ that in- strument. They were, indeed, furnished with iron m a manner, says our traveller, « which most plainly proved to me that their com- munication with tribes, who communicate with the inhabitants of the sea coast, cannot be very difficult, and from their ample provision of iron weapons, the means of procuring it must be of a more distant origin than I had at first con- jectured.' They have snares made of green skin, which they cut to the size of sturgeon twine, and twist a certain number of them together; and though when completed they do not exceed the 9# 102 MANUFACTLRES. thickness of a cod-Ii„e, their strength is suffi- cent to hold a moose deer: lliey are from one and a half to two fathoms in length. Their nets and fishing-lines are made of willow-bark and nettles; those made of the latter being fin« a..d smoother than if made with hempen thread. Then: hooks are small bones, fixed in pieces of wood split for that purpose, and tied round with bne waaape,-the same article elsewhere used m budding birch canoes. Their kettles are also made of wattape, which is so closely wo- ven that they never leak; and they heat water m them, by putting red-hot stones into it. There is one kind of them, made of spruce- bark, which they hang over the fire, but at such a distance as to receive the heat without being withm reach of the blaze,-a veiy tedious opera! Oon. They have various dishes of wood and bark; spoons of horn and wood, and buckets; bags of leather and net-work, and baskets of bark, some of which hold their fishing-tackle, white others are contrived to be carried on the back They have a brown kind of earth in great abundance, with which they rub their clothes, not only for ornament but utility, as it prevents the leather from becoming hard after " ^'^ ^^ «'^ted- They have spruce bark in MAjruPAOTCBKS. 10$ 6 .it plenty, with which they make their ca- noes.* The mode of making these is similar to *at pracsed by the Lake Indians, already The most ingenious of the tribes, in the manufacture of useful furniture and utensils, as m the construction of buildings, were diose who hved farthest South. These were in the habn of making the best bows and arrows, and tlie handsomest stone pipes. They also manu- factured good saddles of a rude kind, and wove a handsome coarse cloth of the wild hemp, as indeed some of the remote Western tribes at the present day do of a kind of oark. JMc»Kenzie. See his 'Voyages from Montreal, through %e Continent of North America.' "«^ougn 104 DOMESTIC LIFE. CHAPTER VI. Domestic Life of the Indians-Variety in their mode, of courtship and marriage-Customs of different tribes— The Knistenaux-The Chippewas-Account of Mr. Tanner's courtship and matrimony-Anecdotes of Indian ijirls- The Lkoend of Wawanosh. There is no custom or ceremony in the domestic life of the Indians, which is practised with more variations than their courtship and . marriage. Among many tribes, the negotiation is carried ^n altogether by the parents of the parties, though not often without their having previously noticed some attachment between the persons for whom they act. The mother of the bride- groom more frequently, in these cases, com- mences the movement by taking a present to the wigwam where the young woman resides, ---such as a leg of venison, or a piece of fat bear s-meat,— never forgetting to mention that her son was the successful hunter of the game In return, if the mother of the bride eleci approves of the match which she now under- stands to be proposed, she prepares a savory dish of victuals, the produce of tlie labor of woman,^perhaps beans, or Indian corn,- talk hi this strain: — ' My Son! you see I have grown old. I am scarce able to make your mocassins, and to dress and preserve your skins. You are now a man, and a hunter. It is right you should have some one who is young and strong, to look after your property, and 108 COURTSHIP. take charge of your wigwam. Wa-ge-tote, who is a good man, will give you his daughter; and in this way, too, you will gain the advan- tage of his friendship a-.il ^irotection. ' From all this, and much more of the same description which die good woman advanced, It plainly appeared that she had talked die matter over with Wa-ge-tote, and perhaps given him to understand that Tanner was well- (hsposed to the match. Indeed, she told the latter, that it would not be possible, now, to break it ofF,--the agreement was made. He however refused his consent, and aldiough the advice of his mother was often afterwards urged upon him, and Wa-ge-tote himself took pains to make himself particularly agreeable (in order to recommend his daughter to Tanner), he still remained unwilling to accede to their wishes. At length, the young woman .found a husband m some other hunter, and Tanner was no longer molested. About a year after this, when he was now twenty-one years old, an old Indian, called O. zhusk-koo-koon (or, the musk-raVs-liver,) came to Tanner's wigwam, bringing with him a young woman, his granddaughter. She was a hand- , ^.r,j ,^.^^ iiiuic man niieen years oi age* COURTSHIP. 109 Tanner himself liked her appearance, but Net- no-kwa was dissatisfied this time. * My Son" —she whispered to him—* This man will never cease to trouble you, if you remain here; and as the girl is by no means fit to become your wife, I advise you to take up your gun, and move off. Make a hunting-camp at some dis- tance, and do not return till they have time to see that you do not fancy the match.' Tanner followed his mother's advise; and 0-zhusk-koo- koon at length relinquished the hope of marry- ing him to his granddaughter. But his adventures in search of a wife,— or rather of a wife in search of him,— did not end here. Soon after he returned from his hunting- cruise, he one day saw a good-looking young woman walking about, and smoking a pipe,— a practice common with both sexes. She no- ticed him from time to time, and at last slowly walked up and asked him to smoke with her. He answered, that he never smoked. < Ah ! '— she replied quickly ,—' you do not wish to touch m/ pipe. That is the reason you will not smoke with me.' This was too much for Tan- ner's gallantry. He really was not fond of smoking, but he took the pipe and whiffed away with great vigor for some minutes. She remain- 10 mm no COURTSHIP. ed a considerable time with him, conversing with him, and Tanner began to be pleased with her. After this they saw each other frequently, and by dint of this better acquaintance the at- tachment became a strong one. Tanner observes, that this was not the mode !n which an acquaintance of the kind usually commenced among the Indians with whom he lived. It happens more frequently that a man marries without any courtship at aU,— the match being agreed upon by the old people, while no objection is made on the part of the young. The name of Tanner's female friend was Mis- kwa-bun-o-kwa, (the < Red Sky of the Morn- ing,'') Their habit of associating together was soon noised about the httle village, and Tanner became the frequent subject of conversation among all the old men and women who were looking out after matches for their daughters. Even O-zhusk-koo-koon concluded to renew his negotiation,— -not indeed for the same young woman whose hand he had offered before, but for another of his granddaughters. He entered the lodge of Tanner one day, leading her by the hand. ' This,' said he to Net-no-kwa, «is the handsomest and best of all my descendants; I come to offer her to your son.' So saying, COURTSHIP. in he left her in the lodge, and went away, without waiting for an answer. ' The young woman was one whom Net-no- kwa had always treated with kindness; and every body in fact considered her the most de- sirable, for a wife, in the whole band. This embarrassed the old lady. She hardly knew what to do or say; but she finally found an op- portunity to hint to Tanner aside,— « My Son! This girl whom 0-zhusk-koo-koon offers you, IS handsome. She is also good. But you must not marry her, for she has a disease which will surely destroy her within a year. You must marry a strong healthy woman. Let us then make the girl a handsome present,— for she de- serves well at our hands,— and send her back to her friends. ' This advice was accepted. They gave the young woman various articles of con- siderable value, and she quietly took the hint and went home. Less than a year afterwards, according to Net-no-kwa's prediction, she died. In the mean time, Mis-kwa-bun-o-kwa and Tanner were becoming more and more intimate. Net-no-kwa observed their conduct, but made no remarks upon it. One night Tanner came home late, from a visit to the young woman, vi-^. ^«x^ liiiv^ ins iuugu, ana inrew iiimseit 1X2 COURTSHIP. '^ down to sleep. A smart rapping on his naked feet waked him in the morning, at the first break of day. He roused himself, and saw Net-no- kwa standing before him, with a stick in her hand. .„„„ TVM my uouu^ULtJi J uou^iiiur, lue chief MARRIAGE. 117 solace of my age, and my choicest gift from the Master of Life. Others have asked of me this boon, who were as young, as active, and as ar- dent as yourself. Some of these persons have had better claims to become my son-in-law. Young man, have you considered well who it is that you would choose for a father-in-law? Have you reflected upon the deeds which have raised me in authority, and made my name known to the enemies of my nation. Where is there a chief who is not proud to be considered the friend of Wawanosh? Where is there a hunter who can bend the bow of Wawanosh? Where is there a warrior who does not wish he may some day be equal in bravery to Wawanosh? Have you not also heard that my fathers came from the far east, decked with plumes and cloth- ed with autL And what, yc, >an, have you to boast, that you should clain. . . aUiance with my wariike line? Have you ever met your enemies on the field of battle? Have you ever brought home a trophy of victory? Have you ever proved your fortitude by suffering protracted pain, en- during continued hunger, or sustaining great fatigue ? Is your name known beyond the hum- ble limits of your native village? Go then, 118 MARRIAGE. young man, and earn a name for yourself. It ■s none but the brave that can ever hope to claim an alliance ivith the house of Wawanosh. Think not my ancient blood shall mingle with the hum- ble mark of the Awausees,* fit totem for fish- ermen. ' The intimidated lover departed; but he re- solved to do a deed that should render him wor- thy of the daughter of Wawanosh, or die in the attempt. He called together several of his young companions and equals in years, and im- pa«ed to them his design of conducting ex. pedition agamst the enemy, and requested their ™nce. Several embraced the proposal im- e" e 2\°^" ""^ ^°°" ''™"S'« '» -q- esce, and before ten suns had set he saw him- self at the head of a formidable party of yol ^arr.ors, al eager, like himself, to distinguish themselves m battle. Each warrior was ar^ed, according to the custom of the period, with a bow and a quiver of arrows, tipped with flint or jasper. He carried a < mushkeemoot' upon his back, provided with p. small quantity of parched and pounded co„., mixed with a little pemmi- can, or pounded meat. He was furnished with a P"ggamaugun,'orwar club^of|^..,..^^ fo^. ♦ A kind of fish. MARRIAGE. 2jg Sfe '"l" ^'t°- '''''■''''■"' '"^ " '"■"d °f 'tone kmfe In add.Uon to this some carried tl:e an- c ent sheemaugun,' or Indian lance, consisting of a smooth pole about one fathom in length, mth a spear of flint firmly tied o,, ,vith sp£ of hard wood, bound down with deer's si'e ws Thus equipped, and each warrior paint.d in a manner to suu his fancy, and ornamented with appropnate fearers, they repaired to the spot appomted for the war-dance. A level grassy plain extended for nearly a ™le from the lodge of Wawanosh towa^Zhe pomt of land called Shogwoimakoong. Lodge! of bark were promiscuously interspersed ofer this green, wuh here and there a cluster of trees or a sohtary pine which had escaped the fury' of tempests for uncounted years. Abeltofyel- ow sand sktrted the lake shore in front, and a taU forest of oaks, pines and poplars, formed the back ground. I„ the centre of this green stood a large shattered pine, with a clear space aro"nd, renowned as the scene of tl.e war-dance M.th ,he.r tall and graceful leader, distinguished by the feathers of the white eagle which he wore on h,s head. A bright fire of pine wood blazed* "'~" ">« S'*^-- He led his men twice or 120 MARRIAGE. I thrice in a circular manner around this fire, with a measured step and solemn chant. Then suddenly halting, the war-hoop was raised, and the dance immediately begun. An old man, sitting at the head of the ring, beat time upon the drum, while several of the warriors shook their sheesheegwuns, and ever and anon made the woods re-echo with their yells. Each warrior chanted alternately the verse of a song, all the rest joining in chorus : Tlie eagles scream on liigh, They whet their forked beaks; Raise-—rai8e the battle cry, 'T is fame our leader seeks. Thus they continued the dance for two days and nights, with short intermissions; when dropping ofF, one by one, from the fire, each sought his several way to the place appointed for the rendezvous on the confines of the enemy's country. Their Jeader was not among the last to depart; but he did not quit the village without bidding a tender adieu to the daughter of Wa- wanosh. He imparted to her his firm determi- nation to perform an act that should establish his name as a warrior, or die in the attempt. He told her of the bitter pangs he had felt at her father's taunts, — and that his soul spurned the imputations of effeminacv and cowardice MARRIAOI, Ml m.pl,ed by h,s language. He declared that he never could be happy, either with or without her, until he had proved to the whole tribe the strength of his heart, which is the Indian telra for courage. He said his dreams had not been so propifous as be could wish; but that he should not cease to invoke the favor of the Great Spirit in his behalf. He repeated h protesiafons of inviolable attachment, which i':27LZt ''''''''-''' ^^^'^^"^-^^ All she ever heard of her lover after this in- terview, was that he bad received an arrow in his breast, after having distinguished himself by the most heroic bravery. The enemy fled, leaving many of their warriors dead on the field. On examining his wound, it was per- ceived to be beyond their power to cure. He languished a short time, and expired in the arms of his friends. Prom that hour no smile was ever seen in the once happy lodge of Wawa- oosh. His daughter pined away by day and by mght. Tears and sighs, sorrow and lam- entation were heard continually. No efforts to amuse were capable of restoring her lost se- renity of mind. Persuasives and reproofs were "" ~"i'"v^«> "■« t-iiipioyea m vain. U 122 MARRIAGE. I I It became her favorite custom to fly to a se- questered spot in the woods, where she would sit under a shady tree, and sing her mournful laments for whole hours together. The follow- ing fragment of one of her songs is yet repeated. < Oh how can I sing the praise of my love! His spirit still lingers around me. The grass that is growing over his bed of earth is yet too low; its sighs cannot be heard upon the wind. Oh he was beautiful! '• Oh he was brave! I must not break the silence of this still re- treat; nor waste the time in song, when his spirit still whispers to mine. I hear it in the sounds of the newly budded leaves. It tells me that he yet lingers near me, and that he loves me the same in death, though the yellow sand lies over him. Whisper, spirit. Whisper to me. I shall sing when the grass will answer to my plaint; when its sighs will respond to my moan. Then my voice shall be heard in his praise. Linger, lover! linger, s Stay, spirit! stay! The spirit of my love will soon leave me. He goes to the land of joyfbl repose, to pre- MARRIAGE. 123 pare my bridal bower. Sorrowing must I wait, until he comes to conduct me there. Hasten, lover; hasten! Come, spirit, come!* • Thus she daily repeated her pensive song. It was not long before a small bird of beautiful plumage flew upon the tree beneath which she usually sat, and with its sweet and artless notes, seemed to respond to her voice. It was a bird of a strange character, such as she had never before seen. It came every day and sang to her, remaining until it became dark. Her fond imagination soon led her to suppose It was the spirit of her lover, and her visits wer« repeated widi greater frequency. She did nothing but sing and fast. Thus she pined away, until that death she had so frequently desired came to her relief. After her decease, the bird was never more seen; and it became a popular opinion that this mysterious bird had flown away with her spirit to the land of bliss. But the bitter tears of remorse fell in the tent of Wawanosh; and he hved many years to re- gret his false pride, and his harsh treatment of the noble youth. Jow7„~HTr a' -u «.crary ia«ie oi x>Ii«s Jane Johnston, of Jolu«ton HaU, Sault Ste. Marie, [an Indian.] Schoolcraft, ' 124 DOMESTIC LIFE ( j I ' i' CHAPTER VII. Domestic Life, continued-Divorce or separation-Polyga- my— Anecdote of a Delaware— Division of duties betw^n husband and wife-Domestic festivals-Maple^ugar making —Education of children-Anecdotes of Tanner and the In- diana with whom he lived— Names of children. Notwithstanding the variety of customs which attends the courtship and matrimony of the Indian tribes, there are sftrpml /^ 1 t»/^ 1 1 *V» C ■f rt ITi .rt J^ J"* DIVORCE. 125 well as to the education of their children in which ,hey very generally agree. ' Divorce is of universal use. In some cases »deed the parties are not understood o be marrted at all, in the Indian sense of the word "nt.1 Aey had hved together several weero; months by way of experiment! -soTaxJe fernofons of that principle esteemed by aJ c.vihzed nations the strongest tie which can bmd together the hands and'hearts of S hu- man race. But, in all cases, the husband is at her husband.-though i, rarely happens Z she dares to take this step without Ws a sen or ts so situated as to do so to advantage. S mar„age-ceremony,_if it can be called such -■s always performed without any vows o; P«.m,ses on either side. It is the unders^d ng, simply, that the parti s live together as feci" ' '=" '° ^° *° ^^" ™"'"'J -«i" It should not be supposed, however, that a satiation often takes place, nor, especMy, an unfeehng desertion of the wife by the husband. — -- vv-uuaxj., sne, laiowiDgmatitisher in- 11* r II ne POLYGAMY. I :li terest to satisfy him, exerts herself proportion- ately, and almost always with success, to be at least useful, if not agreeable. The husband is also under some restraints. It is considered highly dishonorable to forsake a wife upon tri- fling cause; and particularly, if she has already made him the father of a family. Not a little inconvenience, and perhaps injury, will be en- dured by either party, before resorting to the rite of divorce. When that event does take place, the children are commonly permitted to choose which of the parents they will continue to live with. There are very few exceptions to the preva- lence of this custom of free separation. Char- levoix mentions one in his account of the an- cient Miamies, — among whom, he says, if a wife ran away from her husband, he had a right to cut off her nose, in satisfaction of his wounded honor! The majority of tribes allow him to punish her very severely for those irreg- ularities which it is in her power to commit without deserting his wigwam. The liberty of marrying any number of wives, according to fancy, and ability to main- tain them, is universal, and always has been. This circumstance also tends to make tho POLYGAMY. 127 woman dependent on the husband, and desirous to please him; for she is weU aware that he can always provide himself with a substitute for her own services. He will not, perhaps, even take the trouble to give her notice of his discontent; but, without saying a word, will take his gun, and move off to some other part of the coun- try. This IS often his practice, for a week or two, when she has said or done something to offend him, which he will not deign to mention, iiut m these cases, he very seldom fails to re- turn sooner or later,-especially if he has chil- dren at home. The wife, on the other hand, as rarely fails to be, subsequently, more care- ful than ever to satisfy him. Among some tribes there is a distinction of rank observed among the wives, according to the time of their marriage, and other circumstances; but it is more common for them to treat each other as equals and to live in tolerable harmony and comfort together in the same lodge. In reference to some of the customs just mentioned, an aged Indian once said to Mr. Heckewelder, that his countrymen not only had a much easier way of getting a wife than the white people, but were much more sure of a good one. ' For.' «flirl h^ ;« u:^ i,— i t^ 1S8 DOMESTIC LAfiOftS. i r1 lish, — ' White man court, — court,— may be one whole year, — may be two year before he marry! well! — may be he then got very good wife — ^but — may be not! — may be very cross! — Well now, suppose cross! scold so soon as ge ^ ; 3 in the morning! scold all day! scold un. sleep! — all one; he must keep him!* White peo- ple have law forbidding throwing away wife, be he ever so cross! must keep him always! Well! how does Indian do? — Indian, when he see industrious Squaw, which he like, he go to him, place his two fore-fingers close aside each other, make two look like one — look Squaw in the face — see him smile — which all one he say, Yes! so he take him home — no danger he be cross! no! no! Squaw know too well what In- dian do if he cross! — throw him away and take another! Squaw love to eat meat! no husband! no meat! Squaw do every thing to please h ^s- band! he do the same to please Squaw! live happy!' The division of the labor of domestic life is another point of very general agreement among the tribes. In the outset, the husband com- monly provides a house to live in; a canoe, * The pronouns in the Indian language have no feminine gender. DOMESTIC tABORS. 129 axes, hoes and other rude implements of agri- culture; and an assortment, greater or less of d.hes, bowls, and other vessels neces aj'fo house-keepmg. The woman perhaps 7as a kettle or two, and some other shnilar articles of wigwam furniture. ban^dTJ*"' '7'V^t S'""' ''"'5^ °f *e hus- ba^d s to supply the family with sufficient food and clothmg-whether by trappmg, fishin/or huntrng a^large which i/m„cWmt?;J Zr 7« ^' S"*"^ ''^ "•'""dam or scarce, ft^T f !^' "''''" ^= "'swam often depend season,_on the success of his efforts. Nei ther river nor swamp, whether shallow or deep frozen or free from ice, must be an obstacleTo h^, pursmt of the fleet moose or the feroto tiir„rH "''"^ '""''"''' ^^ ««kes more than ordmary pains to please his young wife and convmce her of his ability ,o LpL W ;n good style. He rise, at break of Tay aLd tmverses the forest with his gun in hand te he may return wid, a wild tn4y or a deer for - early breakfast. This he throws do^ on *!' r,°.^^ !^'Swam, and his duties are dis- 130 DOMESTIC LABORS. 11 The women of course have charge of the wigwam itself, where, however, their labor is trifling. There is no scrubbing of the house to be done. Not much is to be washed, and that not often. Nothing requires attention, in the way of cookery, but a single pot or kettle, or perhaps the grinding of a small quantity of com in r mortar, and baking a cake in the hot ashes. But in addition to these duties, she always takes upon herself the drudgery of the field, which consists chiefly in a little hoeing, sowing and reaping, and occupies her more or less during about six weeks of the year. In the more southern climates of the continent, this business is not unfrequently made an occasion for a female party and frolic, — somewhat after the fashion of a husking or quilting, as practis- ed among the whites in certain parts of the United States. The labor is thus quickly and easily performed. When it is over, a rude feast is furnished by the person or family for whom the work has been done, — ^which the husband has taken care beforehand to provide from the woods. After the harvest is gather- ed, of whatever description it may be, the women have little to do, but get fire-wood and MAPLK-S0OAR MAKIKO. Jgj prepare the d% victuals, until perhaps late i„ the winter, or early in the spring • At the latter season, in many sections of fJ,» mapWe tT f '"'^'"S sugar from the ^y some of J '"'•'"""=^ '^ "« °"'y ""'de fiy some of them, very rich, and as white as Havanna sugar, but is extensively used as ^ pnncpal article of food. Henry'^^ays that he often knew the Lake Indians 'to grow fa ' on ".aple-sugar alone. The following is the de" bvT°" °\!^' '""•'^ °f ^anufaLre give„ by that traveller from his own observatioL^ A certam part of the maple-woods having been chosen, and which was distant about 2 mdes from the fort, a house, twenty feet 1^ reception of eight persons, and their baggace It was open at top, and had a door at each end" and a foe-place in the middle, running thfwhot bark of white-birch trees, with which to make vessels to catch the wine or sap. The iZ 1 introduced into thp wn-.^j rnu. i , .x„„x*„. iue oaj.|j vesseis I ;.' m ii'-> fM-i'1 •ili 132 MAPLE-SUOAR MAKINO. I H . i if 5 1*1 ? were placed under the ducts; and, as they filled, the liquor was taken out in buckets and conveyed into reservoirs or vats of moose- skin, each vat containing a hundred gallons. From these they supplied the boilers, of which they had twelve, of from twelve to twenty gal Ions each, with fires constandy under them, day and night. While the women collected the sap, boiled it, and completed the sugar, the men were not less busy in cutting wood, making fires, and in hunting and fishing for a general supply of food. The earlier part of the spring is that best adapted to making maple-sugar. The sap runs only in the day: and it will not run, unless there has been >i frost the night before. When, in the morb^ng, there is a clear sun, and the night has leit ice of the thickness of a dollar, the greatest quanity is produced. On the twenty-fifth of April, the labor end- ed, Henry returned to the fort, carrying with him, as he found by the scales, sixteen hundred weight of sugar, ke had, besides, thirty-six gallons of sirup; although during his stay in the woods, the party had consumed three hundred weight.* ^ * Travels and Adventures. FEMALE DRUDGERY, 133 ^ Mr. Mc'Kenney mentions three families liv- ing at Sault de St. Marie, who were in the habit of mailing together about four tons of sugar durmg the season, in that vicinity. When con- siderable pains are taken to make it saleable and ornamental, as virell as palatable, it is manu- factured into what are called mococks. A mocock is a little receptacle of a basket form, and oval, though without a handle, made of birch bark, with a top sewed on with wattap, \the fine roots of the red cedar, split.) The smaller ones aro ornamented with porcuomes* quills, died red, yellow, and green. These ornamented mococks hold from two to a dozen table spoonfuls of sugar, and are made for presents, or for s?le, to the curious. The larger ones, also of birch bark, are not orna- mented, and contain from ten to thirty pounds of sugar. This is an article of exchange with those who make it. They give it for labor, for goods, &c., and generally at about ten cents per pound.* The women frequently have another duty to perform in the event of travelling on a journey, Of to hunting^camps with their husbands. In some sections, and at some seasons, horses are 1? .94 FEMALE DRUDQERT. used; and in others, dog- trains; but in the ab- sence of both, the baggage, done up in packs, IS invariably carried by the women. It per- haps consists of a blanket; a dressed deer-skin for making mocassins; and a few articles of food and furniture, such as a ketde, a bowl, spoons and a litde bread and salt. A common prac^ce is to suspend this burden by a strap or band which passes round the forehead. The women never complain of such drudgery; they know too well that, after wounding a deer, the hunter may be obliged to pursue it for several miles, and that he ought not therefore to be encumbered with a load upon his shoul- ders. The hunting-camp once set up, she makes herself and her husband as much at home in it as though they had no intention of quitting it finally at the end of a fortnight, and perhaps much sooner. He engages immediately in the chase. She employs herself in drying the meat he brings in, to preserve it, — putting up the tallow, — collecting roots for dyeing or food, — and gathering wild hemp, to be woven into carrying-bands, bags, and strings. * Speaking of the Delawares, and other %r dians of Ohio and the Middle States, Mr. Heckewelder, who lived many years among -■^■'- J'^MALE DRUDOBRr. 135 ihem, observes, — < Therp i*« ««*k* I J- 1 . iiiere is nothins in an Ind.an's house or family without its p^artLla^ own n Every individual knows whaf belong" 10 h.m, from the horse or cow down to the dog, cat, kitten and little chicken. Parents make presents to their children, and they t .mes ask h>s w,fe or one of his children for . f,^,"*"?*^. W^horsetogoouta-hunting. For a litter of k.ttens or brood of chicken!, there ^re often as many different owners as th re al ierTld "™f ■ '" P"-''-"5 - hen with her brood, one frequently has to deal for it with several chddren.' Thus, while the prilcS of communuy of goods prevails in th'e sutj the rights of property are acknowledged among Ae members of a family. This is' attended With a very good effect; for by this means every l,v.„g creature is properly taken care 7 M h'"™""' ' u'^*'"^ ^"""S *e children, which becomes a habit with them by the time they are grown up. ' ki„?^ ="7 f«h°r,-speakins of the frequent fandness of the husband to his wife,_says o( the same tribes, that an Indian loves to sTe Ws Wife weU clothed, which is a proof that hel lond of her; at lea.st. it ;. „ ., , , .V ,^ ou cunsiaereu. it 136 DOMESTIC MANNERS. While his wife is bartering the skins and peltry he has taken in his hunt, he will seat himself at some distance, to observe her choice, and how she and the traders agree together. When she finds an article which she thinks will suit or please her husband, she never fails to purchase it for him; she tells him that it is her choice, and he is never dissatisfied.* He further states that, v/hen the wife is sick, the husband will frequently undertake a long journey for the purpose of procuring her some trifling article of nourishment which either he or she fancies may be of some benefit. A Delaware, in one instance, went forty or fifty miles for a mess of cranberries. In the year 1762, there was a scarcity of food at one season among many tribes, which finally resulted in a severe famine. During its preva- lence, a sick woman expressed a great desire for a mess of Indian com. Her husband, learn- ing that an English trader, at a place called Lower Sandusky, had a small quantity in his pc 3session, set oflfon horseback in that direction. The distance was a hundred miles. Having reached his destination, he gave his horse in ex- change for a hat-full of com; and this, with his ^ Historical Account, p* i4S« DOMESTIC MANNERS. jgy saddle he brought home all the way on foot. sm.lar daint.es; and this, in case of her serious sickness, he seldom hesitates to do On the return of an Indian from a joumev or long absence, he will, on entering .hi h^ anLr T "^f '^ ^^'""^ ^'^ ^'^ ^^ arorn',^ T'"-."'*' ''^^"5 cast his eyes around he w,ll mquire whether all the children are we . This being answered in the affirmative he reid.es, ' I am glad!' which for the preslnl nor i: rT'"" *^'P^^- between rm nor does he relate any thing at this present time Ja oceu„ed on his journey, but holds himself « readmess to partake of the nourishment which his w.fe ,s prepar.ng for him. After a while w en the men of the village have assembll ' i lus house, h.s wife, with the rest, hears h.-s story at full length.* «, uears h.s Of the domestic treatment of aeed nennl« among the Indians, it is sufficient at^LenMo observe, that the tribes differ much ZIZX mhermth.spardcular,^s do individuals intSe 138 DOMESTIC MANNERS. many instances, their respect for the old amounts to a degree of veneration and tenderness which would do no discredit to the most enlightened people; in others, they are too much in the habit of neglecting them. Their civility to each other, in ordinary in- tercourse, and especially in the entertainment of strangers, is equally commendable. This frequently escapes the observation of travellers, from a want of familiarity with their language, as well .as their manners and customs. ' In more than a hundred instances,' — Mr. Hecke- welder says, — * I have with astonishment and delight witoessed the attention paid to a person entering the house of another, where, in the first instance, he is desired to seat himself, with ihe words, * sit down my friend!' if he is a stranger, or no relation; but if a relation, the proper title is added. A person is never left standing; there are seats for all; and if a dozen should follow each other in succession, all are provided with seats, and the stranger, if a white person, with the best. The tobacco-pouch next is handed round; it is the first treac, as with us a glass of wine or cider. Without a single word passing between the man and his wife, she will go about preparing some victuals to yi BCUCATIOW. 139 for the company, and having s^w^AtU^ • • wiJl retire to a nei^k^oj^^^t^^^^^^^^^ family of the vklt \^Uh u- u / ''^^'^'^ ^^® honored Sh J n ^'' ^"^^^"^ ^'^ Honored. She never grumbles on account nf vytiat she had cooked for her own family,_con ^Wdren which should apply ,o any consS ble number of tribes h;/u "'^^ ^""^'^era- true that tV,» ' "'°«'«''er, generally ishlnt R P"'"'' "'" ""'^ °^ "o bodily pu,; ishment. Beating with a stick, especially is a ^Z:S^ *^^^"^^^ ad^ptCiX cases of violent passion, by no means frequent course m respect to a person over whom thev had no right of control. ""« mey latet to"fh'Tf- "^T ''''^ '^"S which re- lates to the duties of a warrior and a hunter from the example of his elders, and from E conversauons with each otlier. Sometimes however, his parents or other friends t^e p"S Z\[ " f"' """'"P'^ '■» *« <=h«=e> and to teach him the mvstPrJo.. „<• .i... ..,. . .' . — ^ — „.^u „, ijjm iaoonous and ns i ijii'.'! 140 EDUCATION. hazardous pursuit. Mr. Tanner, in his Narra- tive, furnishes an amusing account of his own experience in this department. At an age when he began to feel something of the common ambition to be a great hunter, he accompanied a party of Ottawas on a winter journey to the Strait between Lake Huron and Michigan. On the*- return, by water, contrary winds detained them at a point of land running out into one of those Lakes, called Me-nau-ko- king; aijd here they encamped. Pigeons were found in great numbers in the woods round about; and the young Indians, as well as sev- eral white traders who were in company, busied themselves in shooting them. At this time Tanner had not only never killed any game, but never discharged a gun. His Indian mother, Net-no-kwa, however, having in her possession, a keg of powder which she had purchased at Mackinac, — and his father, Taw-ga-we-ninne, an old horseman's pistol, — the little fellow ven- tured to ask permission to try his luck among the other boys. The request was seconded by Net-no-kwa, who always treated him with kindness. ' It is time indeed,' she said, < that our son should be- gin learning to be a hunter.' Taw-ga-we-ninne EDUCATIOW, 141 loaded the p.stol and put it into Tanner's hand: •- Go, my Son!'-he observed-^ and if you k.ll any thmg w.th this, you shall immediately have a gun of your own, and learn to hunt. ' Tanner was delighted with this unexpected W and he set off for the woods, with all pos- sible djhgence, carrying his heavy horse-pistol in h.s hand. He had gone but a short distance from the camp, when he met with pigeons, and some of them alighted on the bushes very near him. He resolutely cocked his pistol, and raised it to his face, where the breech came al- most in contact with his nose. Having brought the sight to bear on the pigeon at which he aim- ed, he pulled the trigger, and was at the next instant sensible of a humming noise, like that of a stone sent swiftly through the air. He looked around, and found the pistol at the distance of some paces behind him; the pigeon lay under the tree on which it had been sitting. His face was much bruised, and covered with blood: but he ran home in high spirits, carrying his game m his hand. His face was speedily bound up; his pistol exchanged for a fowling-piece- and being then provided with a powder-horn and some shot, he was allowed to go out a^rain alter birds. One of the young Indians went ( ite «»•»■<»» 142 EDUCATION. f *l with him, to observe his manner of shooting. He killed three more pigeons in the course of the day, and did not discharge his gun once without killing. ' From this time,' says Tan- ner, * I began to be treated with more consid- eration, and was allowed to hunt often, that I might become expert.' Such is the Indian system of drilling a young hunter. During the winter succeed bg this earliest ad- venture of Tanner, he was sent to make traps for martens. The first morning he went out early, and spent the whole day. He returned late at night, having made only three traps, al- though a good hunter would have made twenty- five or thirty. The next morning he visited his three traps, and found but one marten. Thus he continued to do for several days, but his want of success and his awkwardness ex- posed him to the ridicule of the young men. At length his father began to pity him. ' Come, my son,' he said to him one day, ' I must go and help you to make traps.' They went into the woods together, and the whole day was spent in making a large number of traps. These were given to Tanner, and the little fellow was then able to take as many martens as any boy in the band. His companions, indeed, did not EDUCATION. 143 forget to tell him, now and then, of the assis- tance be received from his father; but tnis he cared httle for, since he soon became so expert and successful in hunting and trapping, that he was no longer called upon by his mother at home, as he bad been, to do the drudgery of a woman about the lodge. Still, he had something to learn. The next wmter after this, when he was now about four- teen years of age, his father having meanwhile ^eceased, it became his duty to provide food for his mother. He set beaver-traps on the banks of one of those creeks frequented constant- ly by that cunning animal, in the neighborhood of Red-Kiver, where the Assineboin Indians reside. In his three first traps he found two beavers. Not yet knowing how to take them out ahve, he carried home beavers, traps and aU upon his shoulders, one at a time. His In- dian mother was higlily gratified with his suc- cess; and she now took part with him, on all occasions, agaiast all who were disposed to an- noy him. When they had remained about three months in this place, the game seemed to be exhausted, and It was proposed to move off farther to the XNorth. The day for mov'wir umo p-^^^ . 144 EDUCATION. but before it arrived the necessities of the par- ty to which Tanner and his mother were at- tached, became extreme, and they suffered no little distress from absolute hunger. In this emergency the young hunter undertook to find and kill a bear, which he had never before done. He set off into the woods, alone, taking his gun in his hand, and observing all the precau- tions which he had noticed in the elder hun- ters. At length he found a tract of land which had the appearance of having been once cov- ered with a pond. It was a small, round, open place in the woods, now grown up with grass and bushes. As he was crossing it through the snow, he suddenly fell several feet into a cavity, the nature of which he was not able to guess. He crawled out hastily; and it occur- ed to him, at this moment, that it might be one of those winter-retreats for the bear of which he had heard much said among the hunters. He looked back into the hole which his legs had made, and saw the head of a bear lying close at the bottom of it. He placed the muz- zle of his gun nearly between the eyes of the animal, and discharged it. As soon as the smoke cleared away, he eagerly ascertained, by feelinar with a stick, that the hear was dead. Education. j^ ho"L"r. '"'""r^' '° '•'^e him from his nole by the ears; but not finding his strenirth mck he had just traveUed. As he approthed he camp, an old squa^ began to ridKh^ 'Have you kUled a bear,- she asked, it y^u come back so soon, and walk so fas ?' C ZlTf:i't'^f'~'»'^-^oes shew that I have killed a bear? '-but he said nothing! and passed on till he entered his mo,h5 after a fruitless chase. Presently, seeing her m1 t'!^'''^ "Pto her and whispered,!- Mother, I have killed a bear! '_< What do vou SdTr".f ^^"-^-Serly. f. 147 pur of l„s exertions. He soon finds, that success as a hunter will make him respected by h.s tnbc, while ignorance or awkwardness sub^ jea hnn to mtolerable ridicule. He listens 10 every thing that is said of hunting and trap- p-ng at home, and eagerly goes abroad with the ■t L J! r'T T' P'''^^ '■°^ '''•"^^"■- Thus « takes him but few years to acquire a consid- erable degree of experience; and his reputation always corresponds to his merit. The same feeling just mentioned is appealed branches ofan Indian education. It is true, to a great extent, of numerous tribes, as Hecice- a fiter::;^ 5 *?'^^"^'' '^^' his Children:. I llTuchlXi::; er"L "'''=''"r""'Soupo^uch'a„' rdj'^ltwl *^/""^^''"''*^^ " "• ims word good operates, as it were by magic and the children immediately V e w«h each other to comply with the wishes of their parent. If a fatlier sees an old de- crepit man or woman pass by, led along by a ch Id, he will draw the attention of hi own " """ "•"'"■ "^' «'l"«l' pays such attention to 148 EDUCATION. the aged! That child, indeed, looks forward to the time when he will himself be old!' or he will say, ' May the great Spirit, who looks upon him, grant this good child a long life! ' In this manner of bringing up children, the parents, adds Heckewelder, are seconded by the whole community. If a child is sent from his father's dwelling to carry a dish of victuals to an aged person, all in the house will join in call- ing him a good child. They will ask whose child he is, and on being told, will exclaim: * What! has the Tortoise^ or the Little Bear (as the father's name may be) so excellent a child?' If a child is seen passing through the streets lead- ing an old decrepit person, the villagers will, in his hearing, and to encourage all the other chil- dren who may be present to take example from him, call on one another to look on and see what a good child that must be. And so, in most in- stances, this method is resorted to for the pur- pose of instructing children in things that are good, proper, or honorable in themselves; while, on the other hand, when a child has committed a had act, the parent will say to him: * 0! how grieved I am that my child has done this had act! I hope he will never do so again.' This iS gencfaiiy cuoctuaj, particularly n saiu in in© MANAGEMENT OP CHILDREN. 149 IS* ,l^0 150 MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN. s; li presence of others. The whole of the Indian plan of education tends to elevate rather than depress the mind, and by that means to make determined hunters and fearless warriors. The engraving represents the manner in which the Indian women of Virginia, and other parts of the Atlantic coast, were accustomed to carry their children in travelling; as also the mode of confining them to a kind of broad frame which answered the purpose of a cradle. Wool, fur, or some other soft material was al- ways put between the child and the board. In this posture it was sometimes kept several months, until the bones began to harden, the joints to knit, and the limbs to grow strong. Of course, it could either be laid flat on its back, set leaning on one end against a wall, or hung up to a tree or peg by a strap fastened to one extremity for that purpose. It will be seen, that the manner of carrying the child in summer compelled him to exercise his limbs in holding on. Something very nearly correspond- ing to all the customs indicated here, is com mon at this day among the Indians of the re- mote North and West. The sketch prefixed to this chapter represents a modern Chippewa woman, carrying her child in the winter season. NAMES OP CHILDREN. Igl The names of Indian children are in general g'ven to them after animals of various kindT and ,.en fishes and reptiles. Thus they are Battle-snake, Black-snake, &c. They give other descriptive titles, from the personal quali- ues of te child, or from mere fancy and caprice. happemng of extraordinary events. Thusagreat warrior, who had been impatiently waiting' fo day-hght to engage the enemy, was afterwards called Came day-Kght, or Make daylight ap. pear So one who had come in with a heavy load of turkeys on his back, was called The Car- ner of Turkeys; and another whose shoes were generally torn or patched, was called Bad-Shoes All those names are generally expressed in one single word, m compounding which the Indians are very ingenious. Thus, the name they had for the place where Philadelphia now stands, and which they have preserved notwithstanding the great change which has taken place, is Kuequenaku* which means. The grove of the long pine-trees, f 'According totlie M i t Heckewelder. '« »T=rfc,i/vf* 152 NAMES OP CHILDREN. II If In regard to titles, it may be observed in this connexion, that the Indians have proper names, not only for all towns, villages, mountains, val- leys, rivers, and streams, but for all remarkable spots, as, for instance, those which are particu- larly infested with gnats or musquitoes, where snakes have their dens, &c. Those names al- ways contain an allusion to such particular cir- cumstance, so that foreigners, even though ac- quainted with their language, will often be at a loss to understand their discourse. To strangers, white men for example, they will give names derived from some remarkable quality which they have observed in them, or from some circumstance which remarkably strikes them. When they were told the mean- ing of the name of William Penn, they trans- lated it into their own language by Miquon, which means a feather or quill. The Iroquois called him Onas^ which in their idiom means the same thing. The first name given by the Indians to the Europeans w^ho landed in Virginia was Wapsid Lenape (white people;) when, however, they afterwards began to commit murders on the red men, whom they pierced with swords, they gave to the Virginians the name JSIechanschicau^ NAMES OP CHILDREN. 163 (long-knives,) to distinguish them from others of the same color. In New England, they at first endeavored to imitate the sound of the national name of the English, which they pronounced Yengees; and hence the origin of the common word Yankee, now generally applied to the people of this sec- tion in every other part of the United States, i I, A rj 154 HUNTING. CHAPTER VIII. Anecdote, of Indian H„»Ti»o-M„de, of hunting thegraxiy Wr of the NonK-We,.-Of the biack or brown^bea/of U,e Oft beaver-Of the o,ler-Of U,e porc„„i„e- 2L1 f .1 ""'^'"•'™" superstition, in relation to Ztlngf ^»'-'— Travellers' anecdotes of Indian The Indians train themselves to huntme from their earliest youth; and it is an exercise which IS esteemed no less honorable, than it is necessary to their subsistence. A cunniiig and courageous hunter stands second, in the opinion ol his countrymen, only to a distinguished warrior. ° Hunting. The Indian 156 is generally indolent; but in hu .„g >n war, he becomes active 'and Jig" lant. The white man can scarcely credit tL accounts given by travellers of the'^^e itl a„d certamty with which the savage follows he scarcely discernible footsteps of I wild bit „ Ae forest, or of the shrewdness with which he contrives to kill or capture, after overtaking the object of his chase. «"aKing xvhf ■"■ /'^•=''««;«W« speaks of a white man who unfortunate y, at his camn in » A. i • i. ibnt o„ I J- J P " ^ °^* night, shot an Indian dog, mistaking it for a wolf w .ch had the night before entered the enclpl ment and eaten up all the meat. The dog mortally wounded, having returned to the Indian camp at the distance of a mile, caused much gnef and uneasiness to the owner,-the more so as he suspected the act had been committed irom malice towards the Indians. He was ordered to inquire into the matter; and th^ white man, being brought before him, candidly confessed that he had killed the dog, believing ' n to be a wolf. The Indian asked him whethef he could not discern the different between the steps or trampling of a wolf and that of a log, let the night be ever so dark.' The white answered in the negative, and -»id hp '-y--j i » *% 156 GRIZZLY BEAR. no man alive could do that ; on which the whole company burst out into laughter at the ignorance of the whites, and their want of skill in so plain and common a matter, and the delinquent was freely forgiven. The modes of Indian hunting are as various •IS the wit of man could devise. When the hunter pursues his game, (instead of trapping it,) the more common practice is for each man to go by himself, his object being simply his own sustenance, and the support of his family. Hunting-parties are however formed, either for the sake of occasional amusement, as among the whites; — or when the sufferings of a band from hunger become so desperate that a despe- rate effort must be made for relief; — or lastly, when the game in view is of such a character, in respect to its ferocity or numbers, that a party can accomplish much more, proportion- ately, in pursuit of it, than a single adventurer. The grizzly bear* of the North- West belongs to the class last named. This animal is so powerful and so fierce, that for one man to attack him would be considered an act of mad- ness. As he roams at large, indeed, the Indian seldom has the ha rdihood to pursue him v/ith ♦ See cut prefixed to this chapter. lich the ' at the of skill ind the various len the 'apping ih man ply his family, her for among a hand despe- lastly, Tacter, that a ortion- iturer. >elongs is so lan to • mad- Indian 1 v/ith BEAR-HUNTING. j^^ A cons.derabIe party i. eoUeCed, and eSd wait <^, 1 the enemy again ventures to look forth , So also the common black bear of the Nnr,h .s often hunted by a party, who, haWng aS at the place where he is supposed to coTced h.msel orm themselves intfa circle actrt •ng to the,r number; and moving onward en- deavor, as they advance towards' he Zi "o d-scover the retreat of their prey. Thus tf ;b^^ he .n the intermediate space, 'tbey are su^e^f takes to flight on seemg either a man or a do/ but .s fnghtfully ferocious in attack, or afte being wounded. ' '®' Tanner once killed an old she-bear which :::rf:\ ^^''^^^ »•« was in an o"he72 spects, hke the common black bear. She had four cubs; one white, like herself, with red old one being quite * tame, 14 as he i V n "iSf 'I I m 411 cava sa ya, 158 BteAR-HUNTINO. he killed her without difficulty. He shot two of the cubs also in the hole, while the other two made their escape into a tree. The next day he chased a black bear into a low poplar-tree. Having a poor gun, he shot at her fifteen times ineffectually, and was finally obliged to climb into the tree, and place the muzzle close to the animal's head, before he could bring her down. Soon afterwards, he started, at the same moment, an elk and three young bears, the latter running into a tree. He shot at the young bears, and two of them fell. Supposing they might be only wounded, he ran forward to despatch them, when, as he had nearly reached the root of the tree, out rushed the old she-bear, jumping along in the opposite direction. She caught up the cub which had fallen neare*?^ to her, and raising it with her paw, — while she stood on her hind feet holding it as a woman holds a child, — she looked at it for a moment, and c,melled the ball- hole in its breast. Finding it dead, she dashed it down, and leaped forward towards Tanner, gnashing her teeth, and walking so erect, that her head was as high as his. All this was so sudden that he had scarcely reloaded his gun, although a well-bred hunter, after discharging bear-hontino. 159 his piece, thmks of nothing else till he has reloaded n. It „„, loaded, however; and hav >ngjust time ,o raise and discharge t a'^ he a .mal came within reach of the'muzzle, L laid her prostrate at his feet. With this same gun, he killed, i„ the course of a month, twenty-four bears, besides ten i»oose and other small game. One Lht when he had made his cam? under a grove of ' T\ H "' ''°f '■" "'^ '»''^^' °f - -de plain his Indian mother either dreamed of a bea; ftat she did so, for the sake of encouraging Tanner. She told him such a story, af^! events; and very likelv <:h« i.„j ^ tparn^ „<■ u y "^ "^d seen some trace, of such an animal, which she did not for him the next morning, and found him in his for the "^f '''''"/ -dthen waiting a momen for the smoke to clear away, rather rashly, as he saw him lying flat at the bottom, he wen down head-foremos, to drag him out. AsTs the light, he did not perceive that the animal was alive, until he laid his hand on him. The re7e""i:i!!'^_=''-^--''«him. He fast as possiuie, while, ail the way, .V ''' 1 » kM »l M m '!'■) 1 H i. ■ ■■ f !^ M 160 BEAR-HVNTINO the creature was sn?»pping his teeth so near him that he felj iii:.7 breath warm on his face. Tanner caught his gun up as he leaped from the mouth of the den; and as soon as he thought he had gained distance enough, he fired behind him, broke the bear's jaw^ mju then soon suc- ceeded in killing him. After this adventure, he was extremely cautious, — as a practised Indian hunter always is, — about crawling into bears' holes, while the animals were still alive. The dog was of great service to Tanner, as to the Indians he generally is, in hunting this powerful animal . In one of his rencounters with a stout bear, he had three dogs with him; the youngest and smallest of which, having rather more valor than discretion, passed Tanner and the other dogs, and immediately assailed the ene- my's head without ceremony. The enraged bear almost instantly killed him, caught him up in his mouth, and carried him more than a mile, before he was himself overtaken and shot down. The Nootkas of the North- West coast have the following singular mode of entrapping the bear. On the edge of a small stream of water in the mountains, which the salmon ascend, and near the spot where the bear is accustomed to watch for them, which is known by its track, a I BEAR-HUNTING. 161 SO near lis face, ed from thought behind )on suc- i^enture, ractised ing into II alive, nner, as ing this ers with im; the ; rather ner and the ene- enraged him up a mile, tdown. 3t have Ing the f water id, and nfied to track, a trap or box about the height of a man's head is bu.lt of posts and planks, with a flat top, on wh.ch are laid a number of I.rgs stones or rocks. 1 Jie top and sides are then carefully covered with turf, so as to resemble a little mound, and whcJly to exclude the light, a narrow entrance of the height of the building only being left, just sufljcent to admit the head and shoulders of the beast. On the inside, to a large plank tliat covers the top, is suspended by a strong ,cord a salmon, the plank being left loose so dmt a forcible pull will bring it down. On coming to us usual haunt, the bear enters the trap, and m endeavoring to pull away the fish, bring, down the whole covering with its load of stones upomts head, and is almost always crushed to death on the spot, or so wounded as to be un- able to escape.* This beat is at no time insignificant game, but among some tribes there is a peculiar pride lelt, even to this day, in killing him. This is supposed to arise from an ancient tradition which these tribes ^reserve of a very formida- ble kind of bear, called the naked bear, which they say once existed, but was at length entirely exterminated b y their ancestors. Mr. Hecke- ♦Jewett's Narrative. "* 14* t i ■')''J i!l Jl ;l 162 BEAR-HUNTING. welder relates, that a Delaware hunter once shot a huge bear and broke its back-bone. The animal fell, and set up a most plaintive cry, something like that of the panther when he ia hungry. The hunter, instead of giving hin\ another shot, stood up close to him, and address-, ed him in these words: ' Hark ye! bear; you are a coward, and no warrior, as you pretend to be. Were you a warrior, you would show it by your firmness, and not cry and whimper like an old woman. You know, bear, that our tribes are at war with each other, and that yours was the aggressor.* You have found the Indians too powerful for you, and you have gone sneak- ing about in the woods, stealing their hogs; per- haps at this very time you have hog's flesh in your den. Had you conquered me, I would have borne it with courage, and died like a brave warrior; but you, bear, sit here and cry, and disgrace your tribe by your cowardly conduct.* Heckewelder heard the delivery of this curious invective. When the hunter had despatched the * Probably alluding to a tradition which the Indians have of a very ferocious kind of bear, called the naked bear, which they say once existed, but was totally destroyed by their ancestors. The last was killed in the State of New York, at a place they called Hooaink, which means the Baain, or more properly the Kettle, ter once s. The ive cry, en he ia ing him address-i jar; yoq etend to show it nper like ur tribes )urs was Indians e sneak- 5s; per- flesh in [ would ! a brave ny, and 3nduct.* curious jhed the us have of vhich they ancestors, place they operly the BEAR-HUNTINO. jg3 bear, he asked him how he thought that poor rrn Ti** l""'^""'"'' ^hat he said to it? Oh! sa.d he m answer, ' the bear understood me very well; d.d you not observe how asham- ed he looked while I was upbraiding him?' At another time the same gentleman wimessed a similar scene between the falls of the Ohio Z TJ",r ^'"''^''' ^ y°""S ^hite man, named miham Wells,* who had been when a boy taken prisoner by a tribe of the Wabash tiT^ I "u""" ^^ ""' '"■""S''' "P- «»d had mbibed all the.r notions, had so wounded a large bear that he could not move from the spot; and the animal cried as piteously as the one we have just mentioned. The young man went up to h.m, and with seemingly great earnestness, addressed him in the Wabash language, no,; and then g.ving h.m a slight stroke on the nose with h.s ram-rod. He was asked, when he had done, what he had been saying to the bear.' ' I have, said he, 'upbraided him for acting the partof a coward; I told him that he knew the fortune of war, that one or the other of us must liave fallen; that it was his fate to be conquered, • The .ame whom Mr. de Vohey ,p«,k, of i„ his exoelle« I, t 'I m 164 BEAR-HUNTING. w. Iff > =1 ! i i! ; ; J ( I and he ought to die like a man, like a hero, and not like an old woman; that if the case had been reversed, and I had failed into the power of my enemy, I would not have disgraced my nation as he did, but would have died with firmness and courage, as becomes a true warrior. '=* The traveller, Henry, gives a curious anec- dote of a bear-hunt in which he took part with some Chippewas. He, and the party to which he belonged, had encamped in the woods, for the purpose of hunting. While here, in the course of the month of January, he happened to observe that the trunk of a very large pine- tree was much torn by the claws of a bear, made both in going up and down. On further exami- nation, he saw that there was a large opening, in the upper part, near which the smaller branches were broken. From these marks, and from the additional circumstance, that there were no tracks on the snow, there was reason to bel'eve that a bear lay concealed in the tree. On returning to the lodge, he communicated his discovery; and it was agreed that all the family should go together, in the morning, to assist in cutting down the tree, the girth of which was not less than twenty feet. The women, ♦ Historical Account. lijil lero, and bad been 3r of my 7 nation firmness • IS anec- art ivith o which ods, for in the ippened ^e pine- r, made • exami- ning, in ranches id from vere no bel'eve inicated all the ling, to f which vomen, BEAR-HUNTING. 165 at first opposed the undertaking, because the axes, being only of a pound and a half weight were not well adapted to so heavy a labor; but the hope of finding a large bear, and obtaining from ns fat a great quantity of oil, an article at the time much wanted, at length prevailed * In the morning,' adds Henry, ^we surround- ed the tree, both men and women, as many at a time as could conveniently work at it; and here wa toiled, like beavers, till the sun went down. ' Ihis day's work carried us about half way through the trunk; and the next morning we renewed the attack, continuing it till about two o clock, m the afternoon, when the tree fell to the ground. For a few minutes, every thin# remained quist, and I feared that all our expec- tations were disappointed; but, as I advanced to the opening, there came out, to the great satisfaction of all our party, a bear of extraordi- nary size, which, before she had proceeded many yards, I shot. The bear being dead, a" my assistants ap- proached, and all, but more particularly my old mother, (as i was wont to call her,) 'took his head in their Lands, stroking and kissing it sev- eral times; begging a thousand pardons for taking away her life; calling her their relation 4 ' '/! , I '■» , i '1^ I ! „■- I ':' III If-' V: ill 11 SI ii" m 166 BEAR-HUNTING. 1 TO: i 11^ and grand-mother; and requesting her not to lay the fault upon them, since it was truly an Englishman that had put her to death. This ceremony was not of long duration; and if it was I that killed their grand-mother, they were not themselv^es hehind-hand in what re- mained to be performed. The skin being taken off, we found the fat in several places six inches deep. This, being divided into two parts, load- ed two persons; and the flesh-parts were as much as four persons could carry. In all, the carcass must have exceeded five hundred weight. As soon as we reached the lodge, the bear's head was adorned with all the trinkets in the possession of the family, such as silver arm- bands and waist-bands, and belts of wampum; and then laid upon a scaffold, set up for its re- ception, within the lodge. Near the nose, was placed a large quantity of tobacco. The next morning no sooner appeared, than preparations were made for a feast to the manes. The lodge was cleaned and swept; and the head of the bear lifted up, and a new stroud blanket, which had never been used before, spread under it. The pipes were now lit; and Wawatam blew tobacco-smoke into the nostrils of the bear, ed her. I endeavored to persuade my bene- factorand^ friendly adviser, tha. she nolong^ had any hfe, and assured him that I was unL na apprehension from her displeasur ; bm the first proposition obtained no credit, and the second gave but litde satisfaction. commen?'!' ""^ ''^^^'/-"S ^^ady, Wawatam commenced a speech, resembling, i„ many Amgs, h,s address to the manes of lis reS and departed companions; but, having this pe- cuhanty that he here deplored the 'necessity jnends. He represented, however, that the misfortune was unavoidable, since without doing so, they could by no means subsist. The speech ended, we all ate heartily of the bear's flesh; and even the head itself, after remaining Aj-ee days on the scaffold, was put into the Mr. Henry observes, that it is only the fe- male bear that makes her winter lodging in the upper parts of trees, a practice by which her young are secured from the attacks of wolves !!!l2*!LJI!Hfmls^ Jhe^^ in the • Travels and Adventures. 1764. ' , ! <'.n r 1*= .! 5 li t68 BEAR-HUNTINO. winter-season; and remains in her lodge till the cubs have gained some strength. The male always lodges in the ground, under the roots of trees. He chooses this habitation as soon at the snow falls, and remains there till it has disappeared. The Indians remark, that the bear comes out in the spring with the same fat which he carried in, in the autumn; but, after exercise of only a few days, becomes lean. Excepting for a short part of the season, the male lives constantlj^ aloncc The fat of Henry's bear was melted down, and the oil filled six porcupine-skins.* A part of the meat was cut into strips, and tire-dried, after which it was put into the vessels containing the oil, where it remained in perfect preservation until the middle of summer. At the present day there is not much regard paid by the Indians to that idea of relationship with some of the wild animah to which both Heckewelder and Henry refer. Not many of them take pains even to apologize for killing their old friend, the bear. The same is true as to the rabit and the tortoise. Henry found that the Indians, for some *See 8omc account of thifi ^oimal at the closd of chapter. this 3 till the :!, under ibitation here till rk, that lie same n; but, tes Iean< son, the iwn, and part of ed, after ning the ervation 1 regard tionship ch both iiany of r killing 1 true as r some >e of this SNAKE-HUNTING. jgg Reason, paid great respect to the r.nl. . (whom thev raU^A *u • cattle-snake, across tht pt^h^'il/ ^^^^^ ""'^"^''^''^ '^'"S Indian imld; tllXC ^f " ''"• '''' said he, the mdeJZ ^ ^°'"S ^o; for, Indians and Tj^ft " S^"''^'"'"''- '° ^he "s> and to giJe u „odce f"" '""'^'^' '°S"^"^ , "X his ratti ^hi h The :L7:1? '""''' tell us " look about I" AJ , ^^ "'^''^ «<> were to kill one of L u^' "^'^"^ ^'' '^ *« W it, and theloe";al;:f ^^^ •"°""^^°°" ""d bite us. I observed To K t '"' "P°" "^ people were not afrad Inbi^f \*' "'^"^ all the rattle-snakes that .1 ^ ^^ '^'"''' this he inquired whetheV!^ '"^^ ^"*- «» been bitten'b, those a ^^^J,'''^^, "^ ''^d answered in the affir"aTv ' '5 '^""^ ' then;" replied he, "you Lve to n ^°"'^"'' selves for that' vou d^ ? ""^ ^''"'- war asainst thL . " ""''' ''^ "J^claring "Sdinst ttiem, and you will finH ,h^^ ■ ° country, where they will nn <• > '" ^""'^ quent incursions T: "! / '° T^"' ''" enemy; take c-r^ - , ''^'"^ dangerous in olr country LVl^;,r ™''"^ *"- ^ ^'^'^y "^^ their grandchildren 15 i'ti i :' V ' ''n •« ' ;t I'll/ § 170 SNAKE-HUNTlNO. U (. lllf are on good terms, and neither will hurt the other." This superstition also extended to the North- ern Indians. Henry relates that, on one occa- sion, when he v/as gathering wood for a fire, while the Indians in company with him were setting up a camp, he heard an unusual sound. As it presently ceased, and he saw nothing which could give rise to it, he continued his employment, until, advancing farther into the bushes, he was startled by a repetition of the same noise. He imagined that it came from over his head, but saw nothing in that direction. He then cast his eyes about him on the ground, and soon discovered a rattle-snake, not more than two feet distant from his own naked legs, — coiled, and with its head raised in a threatening attitude considerably above its body. Had he advanced another step before his discovery, he must have trodden upon the reptile* He instantly ran back to procure a gun from his canoe, but the Indians now observing what he was doing, inquired the occasion. He told them, and they begged him to desist. At the same time they followed him to the spot, with their pipes and tobacco-pouches in their hands, and the snake was found there, still coiled. !!!i Sx\AKE-HU\TlNG. lurt the North- e occa- a fire, n were sound, nothing ued his nto the of the ne from rection. ground, )t more legs,— iatening 3ad he ery, he m from g what le told At the )t, with hands, coiled. 171 They surrounded it, and addressed it by turns callmg it their ' Grand- Father;' but yet keep- ing at a prudent distance. • Having meanwhile filled then- pipes, each one now blew his smoke towards the snake, which, as Henry thought, really seemed to be pleased with the attention. After receiving this savory incense for nearly half an hour, it stretched itself along the ground, four or five feet, and moved slowly away.' The Indians followed it, still calling it Grand- Father, and beseeching it to take care of their families during their absence. One of the chiefs added a petition, that the snake would take no notice of the insult which had been offered him by the Englishman, who would even have put him to death, but for the mterference of the Indians, to whom it was hoped he would impute no part of the offence. They further requested, that he would remain, and inhabit their country, and not return among the English; that is, go eastward. The traveller's party having embarked on the lake the same evening in their canoes, and being encountered by high winds, were much alarmed. From prayers, the Indians now pro- ceeded to sacrifices, both alike offered to the god-rattlesnake, or manito-kinibic. One of ■ ft 1"'^ k\ ;<■; '...■■ ;'* .J ¥ li 172 BEAVER-HUNTINO. Hi,!. the chiefs took a dog, and after tying its fore legs together, threw it overboard, at the same tinrie calling on the snake to preserve them from being drowned, and desiring him to satisfy his hunger with the carcass of the dog. The snake was unpropitious, and the wind increased. Another chief sacrificed another dog, with the addition of some tobacco. In the prayer which accompanied t' ^e gifts, he besought the snake, as before, not avenge upon the Indians the insult which he had received from Henry, in the conception of a design to put him to death. He assured the snake, Henry was absolutely an Englishman, and of kin neither to him nor to them. The traveller had some apprehension, . m hints dropped by several of the company, th. they would sacrifice his own life to ap. pease the rattle-snake; but fortunately the storm finally abated, and they reached an island in safety. That kind of hunting and trapping of which the beaver is the object, is perhaps of all other kinds, the most extensively profitable to the Indians, since in exchange for its fur many of them and particularly the Northern tribes procure the most indispensable stores from the whites. All the winter, from November to April, these BEAVER-HUNTING. 173 animals may be found in the places which they commonly frequent; and at this season, the fur, so much esteemed by all civilized nations, i its greatest perfection. IS m flit They are never taken witiiout extreme cau- tion on the part of the hunter. The eyes of the beaver are remarkably quick and keen, and his hearing equally acute; and their houses being always built close to the side of a river, creek, or lake, or to dams of their own curious con' struction, upon the slightest alarm they hasten to the deepest part of the water, and dive immediately to the bottom. What makes it worse for the pursuer, each one, as he does this, makes a great noise by beating the water with his tail, which serves, it would seem, to put all his companions on their guard. 15* 11 I If ■Mi( 11- inn 174 BEAVER-HUNTINO. I 3f<1 They are, however, taken in snare*. They usually lay up a store of provisions, sufficient to subsist them during the winter, but from time to time make excursions into the woods round about their dams, to procure farther sup- plies. The hunters, knowing this practice, place in their path a rudely-constructed trap, baited with small pieces of bark, or young shoots of trees. These the beaver has no sooner laid hold of, than a large log of wood falls upon him, and cripples him, when his enemies soon appear and complete the victory. At other times, when the ice on the rivers and lakes is about half a foot thick, the hunter makes an opening through it with his hatchet. To this the beavers will soon hasten, on being disturbed at their houses, for a supply of fresh air. As their breath occasions considerable motion in the water, the hunter has sufficient notice of their approach; and measures are easily taken for knocking them on the head the moment they appear above the surface. When the beavers' houses happen to be near a rivulet, they are more easily destroyed. The hunter cuts holes in the ice, and spreads a strong net under it. He then breaks down the cabins of the animal, who never fails to make They lufficient ut from • 5 woods her sup- )ractice, 3d trap, ' young has no »f wood ben his victory. 3 rivers hunter latchet. n being )f fresh derable efficient "es are sad the be near The •eads a wn the » make OTTER-HUNTING. 115 his escape to the deepest part, where he is entangl-d m the net and taken. There has been a time when the beaver also, was an object )f veneration. The Indians would not suffer dogs to touch their bones, for fear the sjjirits of the animals, exasperated by the msult, should render the next hunting-season unsuccssful. hv'^h^T\'' T^'' '"™'' much esteemed by the Northern Indians for its fur. It is both hunted and ,,pp3,. Its strongest pecJiaX dity of the porcupine is no less pro- verbial with hunters than the hardihood of the animal last named. fhX^'t ^l '' '''*'"S' '" *" night-time, along the bank o( a nver, the hunter who passes by him with his canoe, sometimes raises some of the animal's food on the end of his paddle and holds It to his nose, without his ever perceivine the presence of a man. The porcupine has no protection but his quills. These indeed answer such a purpose that dogs can very seldom be induced to attack him; and when they do so they are likely to feel much the worse for it a long time '\.0 i! li 178 RACOON-HUNTING. CHAPTER IX. Hunting continued — Mode of hunting the racoon — Anecdotes of deer-hunting in ancient times — The deer hunted by the wolf— Anecdotes of moose, rein-deer, and elk-hunting — Practises of the Dog-Rib and other Indians of the North -—Of the Penobscots and other more Southern tribes — Hunt- ing among the Rocky Mountains. The racoon is also much hunted by the In- dians for its fur. This animal, we are told by Henry, goes abroad in the evening; and that traveller was accustomed to hunt for him at that time. The dog is of great service in this case. The moment he falls on the fresh track of a racoon, he gives notice by a cry, and im- mediately commences a vigorous chase, his noise enabling his master to follow him. The racoon, travelling rather slowly, is soon over* li 91)1 DEER-HUNTINO. 179 I— Anecdotes lilted by the Ik-hunting — >f the North •ibes — Hunt- y the In- 8 told by and that * him at ;e in this 3sh track and im- lase, his 1. The m over* teken, and resorts to a tree, where he is shot. X he track we have spoken of is easily discern- ed on the snow. During the winter, the rac- oon rarely leaves his habitation, and has only to be traced to it, in order to be killed. It wiU bve weeks at this season without food, and sev eral lu-e sometimes found in the hoUow of one tree, lying upon each other nearly in a torpid In ancient times various species of that beaufful animal, the deer abounded in aU parts of North America. The Indians of New England used to take them in traps as well as hunt them. Roger WiUiams says,—' When a Deere is caught by the leg in a Trap, some- toes there it lies by a day together before the Indian comes, and so falb a prey to the ranging Wolfe, who seizeth upon him and robs the In- dian of neere half his prey. And if the Indian come not the sooner, bee makes a second gree- die Meele, and leaves him nothing but the bones and the tome Skin, especially if he call some 01 his greedie companions to his bloodie Ban- quet.' But the wolf has his ev'd day, too. For, 'upon this, the Indian makes a falling trap. * Henry. 100 MOOSE-HUNTING. With a great weight of stones, and sometimes Knocks the Wolfe on the head with a gaineful revenge, especially if it be a blacke Wolfe, Whose Skins they greatly prize. ' Mr. Williams tells another story of a wolf running down a deer, till he at length tired him out at the end of ten miles, seized upon him, and killed him. As he was making a comfortable meal on the poor animal, two large ferocious English swine which were running loose in the woods, camj up. ■■ They boldly assaulted the wolf, and fairly drove him from the field; and then leisurely re- ft-eshed themselves with the relics of the sa- vory game which they owed to his industry and science in banting. Of all the .species of deer which belong to this continent, the Indian hunters consider the moose the shyest, and most difficult to take or kill. Their sense of hearing ar ^ the keenness 01 their smell are both extraordinary; and these render it almost impossible to approach them under ordinary circumstances. The Indians attempt it by creeping among the trees and bushes, always keeping to leeward of the ani- imal, so as to give him no advantage. In the most violent storm, when the wind, the thun- der, and the crash of falling trees, fill the forest MOOSa-HUWTlNO. jgj r^t J buTth *' T ■■' "^* '"■^ '■-' - hand, S hear " t *V'"'^'«'' '''^ «'»''' *« ">oose will dear It. He ceases browsine raiw, k nostrils and snuffi the breeze, vt tScourt' of an hour perhaps, the man neiAer ~ ^^tire.^:XeV2:2-' n-ng « thia manner his kool, which (5£w press the ground, and dose together as ,hZ rhSt:l''^?"t^'-^'^^-^:? De neard at a considerable distance.* JI!!!:;;^';^^';;^^^ to* ten- 16 %^ 182 MOOSE-HUITTINO. der-footed and short-breathed, the hunter is obliged to practise all his ingenuity, and to de- pend much upon favorable accidents, at the best. Sometimes he is lucky enough to find the object of his pursuit entangled, by his lofty and branching antlers, in the thick vines or un- derbrush of the woods. Sometimes they are killed in the act of crossing a stream, or in swimming from the shore to an island. The traveller, Hearne, says, that when pursued in thife manner, they are the most inoffensive of all animals; they make no resistance, and the young ones are so simple, that an Indian will paddle his canoe up to one of them, and take him by the ears without opposition; — « the poor harmless animal, seeming, at the same time, as contented alongside the canoe as if swimming by the side of its dam, and looking up into our faces with the same fearless innocence that a house-lamb would.' The same writer gives some instances of their being entirely tamed. He says, that in 1777, an Indian had two young ones so tame, that when, on his passage up and down one of the northern rivers in a canoe, they both fol- lowed him along the bank like a span of dogs. When he landed, they came about him, and MOOSE-HUNTINO. 183 fondled on him and the other Indians as quietly as a lamb, and never offered to stray from the camp. It is in summer-time that the moose is loolced tor by the hunter in the neighborhood of ponds and streams. They resort much at that season to low and swampy grounds, that, in wading through them, they may be relieved from the annoyance of insects. They are also seen wadmg out from the shores, for the purpose of feeding on water-plants which rise to the surface of the water. The hunter knows that they regu- lar^y frequent the same place in order to drink, and he avails himself of that circumstance to lie m wait and despatch them. As many as eight or ten pairs of horns have been picked up together at their drmking-places.* But even when the moose is surprised in the water,— which the Indians consider a great point gained,_they do not always succeed in overtaking or killing him. He has, or at least IS thought to have, the power of remaining un- der water for a long time. Tanner teUs a story of two Indians, (considered honest men as well as good Hunters,) who, on one occasion, after a long day's hunt, came hpme with the followi ng * GodinaQ, 184 MOOSB-HUNTINO. Statement. They said they had chased a moose nto a small pond. They saw him reach about the middle of it, and he then disappeared. Choosing positions from which they could ob- serve every point in the circumference of the pond, they began smoking, and so waited pa- tiendy until near evening. During all this time they could perceive no motion of the water, nor any thing else which indicated the situation of the moose. Discouraged at length, they abandoned the hope of taking him, and returned Homeward. Presently after came along a soli- tary hunter, with a load of game on his shoulders. He reported, that having followed the track of a moose for some distance, he finally traced it to the pond above mentioned; but having also observed the tracks of two men, made at die same time with those of the animal, he conclud- ed that they must have killed it. Nevertheless, approaching very cautiously to the margin of the pond, he sat down to rest. Presently, he saw the moose rise slowly in the centre of the pond, which was not very deep, and wade towards the shore where he was sitting; when he came sufficiently near, he shot him in the water.— No doubt the animal in this case found some means of breathing at tiie surface of the water. M008B-HUNTINO, 185 During the winter the moose, in families of fifteen or twenty, seek the depths of the foresi for shelter and food. Such a herd will range throughout an extent of about five hundred acres browsing upon tree-mosses, or the tender branches of saplings, especially of the kind call- ed moose-wood. The Indians name a part of the forest thus occupied a moose-yard. In some latitudes, this animal is generally hunted m the month of March. The snow is then deep, and sufficiently crusted with ice to bear the weight of a dog, although not that of a heavier animal. Five or six hMnters, carrying with them food for as many days, and the neces- sary materials for setting up a camp at night-fall, set out m search of a moose-yard. When they have discovered one, they collect their dogs, and encamp for the night, in order to be ready to commence the chase at an early hour, before the sun softens the crust upon the snow. At day-break the dogs are set on, and the hunters, wearing large snow-shoes, following as closely as possible. As soon as the dogs approach a moose, they assail him on all sides, and force hira to attempt his escape by flight. He does not, however, proceed very far, before the snow^rust, through which he breaks at every 16* 7 186 M008K-HUNTINO. I J! 1 Step, cuts his legs so severely, that the poor animal is obliged to give up the hope of avoid** .ng his pursuers. He stands at bay, flourishes nis hend furiously, and endearvors to defend nimself against the dogs by striking at them with nis fore feet. By this time the hunters come up, and a ball from a rifle puts a speedy end to the contest.* Moose are occasionally taken in this manner, at the present day, by the Penobscots and other Indians as far south as the central sections of the State of Maine. They were once numer- ous throughout New England. In Nova Scotia, the Isle of Breton, the territory round Hudson's Day, and other tracts in the same latitude, they are still found in considerable numbers. The flesh of the animal is excellent food, and the tongue and a certain part of the nose are ac- counted a rare treat. The flavor is doubtless owing partly to the food of the moose, which consists mostly of buds, mosses, aquatic plants, and tender leaves and twigs. The horns, which are sometimes nearly three feet in length,! and of the weight of fifty pounds, are wrought into spoons, scoops, heads for weapons of war, and other implements of common use. The skin is • Qodman and Charlevoix. f S«« Frontiapieca, Vol. IL nElN-DEER-HUNTlNG. 187 used for clothing and tent-covers, ft is prepar- ed, like the skin of the common deer, which is still more valuable, by stripping off first the hair and fleshy matter, and then rubbing it for a long time with a lather made of the brains of the animal, until it becomes soft, spongy and flexible. Those of the white people who wear gloves, know, quite as well as the Indians, the value of this useful preparation. The North American Indians have never profited by the docility of the rein-deer, (in Canada and Maine called the Caribou,) as the Laplanders and other northern nations have, to aid them as a beast of burden— the deer-sledge being a thing unknown upon our continent. ^ir^ii 1 ' !'\-* u «f^» 188 REIN-DEER-HUNTING. They, however, hunt the animal to a\oiy con- siderable extent, in the higher latitudes of Brit- ish America, as well for its flesh as its hide«nd horns. Its ordinary weight is about one hun- dred and fifty pounds; and as a herd, migrating northward or southward at the different seasons, sometimes numbers more than one thousand, the pursuit of them is an object of more than usual importance. The hunter is, in the first place, familiar with their seasons of travelling. He knows that their great movement northward commonly be- gins towards the end of April, when the snow first melts from the sides of the hl!ls; and that they are found on the bank of the great Copper- Mine River, for instance, early in May, when a good deal of the ground is clear of snow. They linger in the neighborhood of the sea coast through the summer, sometimes as late as October, and then commance a return-joumey for their winter retreats in the southern woods. The Indians have also remarked, that there are certain places which they invariably visit in the course of these migrations to and from the coast; as also that tliey never fail to travel against the wind. Mr. Heame furnishes the followinjr nnnoimf IS 5iy cou- of Brit- lide «nd ne hun- ligrating jeasons, ousand, re than iar with vs that nly be- B snow nd that 'Opper- , when snow, he sea late as oumey voods» ire are in the coast; )st the REIN-DBER-HUNTINO. 189 Of the modes of surprising this cunning animal whjch are adopted by the Indian hunters of the higher latitudes. * When they design to impound a deer,' he says < they look out for one of the paths in which a number of them have trod, and which ^observed to be still frequented by them, ^hen these paths cross a lake, a wide river, or . a barren plain, they are found to be much the best for the purpose; and if the path run through a cluster of woods, capable of a/Fording materials for building the pound, it adds consid- erably to the commodiousness of the situation. The pound is built by making a strong fence ot brushy trees, without observing any degree of regularity, and the work is continued to any extent, according to the pleasure of the builders. 1 have seen some that were not less than a mile round, and am informed that there are others still more extensive. The door or entrance of the pound is not larger than a common gate, and the inside is so crowded with small counter hedges as veiy much to fe- semble a maze, in every opening of which they set a snare made with thongs of parchment, deer-skms, &c. twistpH tncr«tKo.. ,„u:^u _.-. amazingly strong. One end of the snare is til 190 REIN-DEER-BUNTINO. usually made fast to a growing pole; but if no one of sufficient size can be found near the place where the snare is set, a loose pole is substituted, which is always of such size and length, that a deer cannot drag it far before it gets entangled among the other woods, which are all left standing, except what is found necessary for making the fence, hedges, &c. * The pound being thus prepared, a row of small brushwood is stuck up in the snow on each side the door or entrance, and these hedge-rows are continued along the open part of the lake, river or plain, where neither stick nor stump besides is to be seen. These poles or brushwood are generally placed at the dis- tance of fifteen or twenty yards from each other, and ranged in such a manner as to form two sides of a long acute angle, growing grad- ually wider in proportion to the dimensions of the pound, which is sometimes not less than two or three miles, while the deer-path is exactly along the middle, between the two row^s of brushwood. « Indians employed on this service always pitch their tent on or near to an eminence that affords a commanding prospect of the path any leadins^ tn n r»/Mir.ri. «»,^ ~.i — Q — ^ j^vvtiiu, awu wiitfii luey \A» nrtA ng wuh bows and arrows those which remain loose m the pound.' Captain Franklin, i„ his ' Narrative of a Journey to the shore of the Polar Sea,' relates, in addition to these particulars, that the herds of deer are attended in their migrations by bands of wolves, which destroy a great many of them. The Copper Indians kill the deer in summ«. wito a gun; or else, taking advantage of a favor" s* <■ Il 192 BEIN-DEER-HUNTinO. able disposition of the ground, they enclose a herd upon a neck of land, and drive them into a lake, where they fall an easy prey. At some seasons they take them with snares, which are simple nooses formed in a rope made of twisted sinew. These are placed in the aperture of a slight hedge, constructed of the branches of trees, — and so composed as to form several winding compartments, in which the deer, once entered, finds himself confined. He is led into the entrance by two converging rows of poles. The hunter, too, lying in ambush, stabs some of them, and shoots others as they pass in; and in the end, not unfrequently secures them all in his enclosure. The Copper Indians find that a white dress attracts them, most readily; and, they often succeed in bringing them within gun- shot by kneeling and swinging the gun from side to side, in imitation of the motions of a deer's horns when he is in the act of rubbing his head against a stone. The Dog-Rib tribe have a still simpler mode of killing this animal. The hunters go in pairs, — ^the foremost man carrying in one hand the skin of a deer's head, and in the other a small bundle of twigs, against which he occasionally rubs the bonis, imitating the gestures peculiar ■ REIN-OSER-HUNTINO. 193 to ihe animal. His comrade follows, treading exactly m his footsteps, and holding the guns of both m a horizontal position, so that the muzzles project under the arms of him who carries the head. Both hunters have a fillet of white skin round their foreheads, and the foremost has a strip of the same kind round his wrists. They approach the herd by de- grees,— raising their legs very slowly, but set- ting them down rather suddenly, after the manner of a deer; and the two always taking care to lift their right or left feet at the same moment. If any of the herd leave off feeding 10 gaze at them, they instantly stop, and the disguised head begins to play its part by licking its shoulders, and performing other movements proper to complete the deception. Thus the hunters reach the very centre of the herd without exciting suspicion. Here they have an oppor- tunity to single out the fattest. The hindmost man of the pair then pushes forward his com- rade's gun; the head is dropped; and they both fire nearly at the same instant. The herd scampers off; the hunters trot after them; in a short time the p. , • animals halt, to ascertain the cause of their error; their foes stop also, and having akeady loaded as they ran, meet 17 I i ii 194 tLK-HUNTING. the herd with a second discharge. The deer/ completely staggered, now push to and fro in the utmost confusion, and sometimes a great Dart of them are thus destroyed in the space of a few hundred yards.* The elk is a highly valued species of the deer, still occasionally seen so near the Atlan- tic coast as the settled sections of Pennsylvania. But the number is small there; and it is only in the wilds of the West and North- West, to about the 50th degree of north latitude, that consid- erable herds are found. The great forests are their favorite haunts, where are plenty of buds and tender twigs; or those wide prairies and * Franklia^s Narrative. ELK-HUNTING. 195 plains, where man is seldom met with, but na- ^re is bountiful in her supplies of verdant food. ihe hide is used by the Indians for a great va- nety of domestic articles. The flesh is ex- cellent food; even the horns, in their soft state, early in spring, are esteemed a delicacy; while the harder portions are made into bows of the best kind. Several such weapons are to be seen in the coUection of Indian implements be- longing to the Philadelphia Museum. The elk is a large, stately animal. The towering antlers of the male are several feet in length. The head is beautifully formed, taper- ing to a narrow point; the ears large, and rapid- ly moveable; the eyes full and dark; the body finely proportioned; the limbs small and delicate, but strong and agile; the neck slender and graceful. The animal is both shy and swift. The moment he perceives the approach of the hunter, he ceases to feed; his head is erected; his ears move rapidly in various directions, and his eye glistens and rolls. At length he catches a glimpse of his wary enemy, lurking among the bushes at a distance. He bounds along, a (ew paces only, as if trying his strength ^- flight. He stops to turn half round, and 5 agaia at his pursuer. Then throwing back for '. rifi- 196 BLK-HUNTING. m II his branching horns upon his neck, and project- ing his taper nose forward, he springs onward at a rate which soon leaves the hunter far in the back-ground. And yet the Indians will even run down an elk. Not only does Charlevoix state this facf of the Canadian tribes, but Tanner and otherr say the same of the modern tribes of the West On one occasion, in the commencement of winter, when the snow was yet but a foot deep in the woods, Tanner says, — ' We found a herd of elks, and chasing them one day., over^ took and killed four of them.^ It seems that the elks, being frightened, outstrip the hunter? at first by many miles; but the latter, following at a steady pace along their path, at length come in sight of them. They then make a fresh effort, and are no more seen for an hour or two. But the intervals at which the Indians have them in sight, grow more and more fre- quent, and longer and longer, until they finally cease to lose sight of them at all. The elks are now so much fatigued, that they can only move in a slow trot. At last they can but walk. By this time the strength of the Indians is indeed somewhat exhausted, but they are commonly able to come up, and fire into the BLK-HUNTmO. 197 rear of the herd. The discharge of a gun quickens their motions once more, and it is only a very active and resolute hunter who wiU come up after this, so as to do execution, un- less the snow is quite deep. If that be the case, the game is more easily taken, for the elk does not hft his feet well from the ground in ninmng. Tanner states, that there are some men among the tribes, though not many, who can run down the elk even on a smooth prairie, when there is neither snow nor ice. In a closer contest, there is sometimes dan- ger to be apprehended from the fury of this animal, when wounded. Some of our western travellers mention a herd of twenty or thirty- elk being seen at no great distance from their party, standing in the water, or lying upon the sand-beach near it. One of the finest bucks (males) was singled out by a hunter, who fired upon hrm. The whole herd plunged into the thicket, and disappeared. Confident that the shot had been fatal, several of the party pursued them into the woods. The wounded animal was soon overtaken. Finding his pursuers close upon him, he turned furiously upon the foremost, who saved himself only by springing into a thicket. This was impassable to the 17* 198 ELK-BUnTINO. elk; and the violent efforts of the animal had no effect but to entangle his branching horns among the tough thick vines, where he was held fast and blindfolded until the hunters wcra able to despatch him with knives and bullets,* ^— — — — ■— ■ .1 ■■■■ I... ■ -.1 I ■■■ .1 .11 . ,j *Long*8 Expedition to the Rocky Mountains. DEER-HUNTING. 199 CHAPTER X. Anecdotes of Hunting, continued-Modes of hunting the common, or Indian deer~U.es of tl.e animal to the Indians --F.re-liunt.ng-Tl.e bison or buffkloe-Its uses-Modes of hunting it-Supeistitions of the Indians in relation to hunt- •ing in general-Use of charms-Medicine-hunting-Hunt- ing-feasts. ^ There is still another species of the Ameri- -can deer, not yet mentioned, but the most ex- tensively spread over the continent, and the most commonly hunted, of all. This is the * common deer,' so called; and otherwise term, ed the fallow, the Virginian, and the Indian ome distance upon the water, in the evening. In the bow of each boat is placed a brilliant torch-light, made of wax separated from wild honey, and poured into the hollow stem of a kind of cane, — a strip of cotton-cloth serving the purpose of a wick. Two or three of these canes together form a dazzling and beautiful light. The simple deer, seeking the waters: edge to allay his thirst, and to eat his favorite moss, gazes at the moving splendor, until it gradually approaches within shooting-distance, when he soon pays the for- feit of his unwary curiosity.* There are numerous animals, not yet named, such as the wolf, fox, and wild-cat, which are • ■ — . — . * Schoolcraft, BUFPALO-HUNTINO. 203 frequently met w«h, and killed or trapped, by the Indians; but these are not generally «ade the express object of a hunt, and no p^tiTute system, therefore, is adopted in regard'to thet! But there .s one powerful and well known ani- mal, without some description of which no ac count of Indian sports or occupations could be considered any thing like complete. The bison or buffalo,* i, too well known throughout a large part of the North American continent, not to be familiarly distinguished from all other animals, by his long, shaggy, coarse beard descending to tlie knee, and cS ly curled and matted over the forehead; his un- commonly tiiick neck, and large and ponderous head, the oblong hump on the shoulders, dimin- jshmg m height as it recedes; the very thick, black, tapering horns; and the small, dark and bri hant eye. In general, the frame of the ani- raal may be called huge and shapeless. His gait IS awkward and heavy, although his great strength enables him to run with considerable speed over plains in summer, and in winter to plunge expeditiously through the snow. Tanner states that the buffalo is swifter than the elk. _The3km, fur and hid eofthis animal, as well * See FrontiepieceT" """^ - 'M 204 BUFFALO-HUNTING. as his flesh, make him an object of pursuit by all the savage tribes who live in those regions where he is found. This includes a vast tract of western wilderness, reaching, in some points^ as fa • north as the 60th degree of latitude, south nearly to the latitude of the Gulf of Mexico> and west to the Pacific Ocean. The flesh is coarser than that of the domes- tic ox, but in other respects not much inferior. The hump is famed for its delicacy and sweet- ness. The Indians cut out this part separately for a meal. Wrapping it up closely in skin stripped of its fur, they place it in a hole dug in the earth for its reception, which has been heated by a strong fire in and over it for several hours previous. It is covered with cinders and earth about a foot deep, and a strong fire made over it; and by the fallowing day it is fit for use. The tongues and marrow-bones are also esteemed delicacies , The flesh is often preserved a long time by being cut into thin slices, and dried in the open air, which in the North- West is called by white people jerking. Pemmican is this dried flesh, pounded into powder, cleaned, and melted down with about one third of its weight of the bufialo taUow. BUFFALO-HDNTIWG. 305 The difficulty of hunting these animals, in- dependemly of their speed and ferocity, may be estimated by an anecdote of their extreme keenness of smell. It is related, in the Ex! pedition of Long, that on one occasion «hen the exploring party were riding through a drearv country, enlivened only by v°ast Jdtudes^ stragghng buffaloes, as the wind was blowing fK.m the south, the scent of the party was waft! toough a distance of eight or ten miles its pro- gress could be distinctly traced by the conster^ nation It produced among the herds in all quar- ters^ The moment the tainted breeze reache* them,_so shy were they of strangers,-they began running as violently as if closely pursued by mounted hunters. This singular sc'ene c n- tinued for the space of some hours. These immense herds, sometimes five and even ten thousand together, wander over the wide plains of the West, in search of food' usually led on, like the deer, by a male of ex- traordinary size and courage. While feeding, Jey are scattered loosely to a great distance when travelling, they form an immense solid column, bearing down all obstacles in its wav -^^ x.vGa uhccks ifle march; they plunge through 18 ■f " !i, ■, - f s 206 BUPFALO-HUNTINO. it in the same order with which they traverse the plains. It is evident, that in case of a procession of this kind, pursued by the hunters, it would be in vain for the foreinost to attempt turning back, or even moving aside from a nearly straight line of advance. Of this circumstance the Indians cunningly avail themselves, in such a manner as sometimes to force an entire herd over the brink of a precipice, upon a rocky surface some hundred feet below. When they determine to destroy bison in this way, — which is not very frequently, — one of their swiftest-footed and most active young men is selected, who is disguised in a bison skin, having the head, ears, and horns adjusted on his own head, so as to make the deception very complete; and thus accoutred, he stations him- self between the bison herd and some of the precipices, that often extend for several miles along the rivers. The Indians surround the herd as nearly as possible, when, at a given signal, they show themselves and rush forward with loud yells. The animals being alarmed, and seeing no way open but in the direction of the disguised Indian, run towards him, and he, taking to flight, dashes on to the precipice, BUFFALO-HUNTING. 207 Tvhere he suddenly secures himself in some previously ascertained crevice. The leaders of the herd arrive at the brink—there is no possibility of retreat, no chance of escape; the foremost may for an instant shrink with terror, but the crowd behind, who are terrified by the approaching hunters, rush forward, and the ag- gregated force hurls them successively into the gulf, where certain death awaits them.* For a considerable time after an event like this, the wolves and vultures feast and fatten on tlie decaying remains, to such a degree of stu- pid tameness, as to suffer themselves to be knock- ed down by the Indians, with sticks, in the act of eating. Much the more common, and better way of killing bison, is to attack them on horseback. The Indians, mounted, and well armed with bows and arrows, encircle the herd, and gradually drive them into a situation favorable to the em- ployment of the horse. They then ride in and single out one, generally a female, and following her as closely as possible, wound her with ar- rows until tlie mortal blow is given, when they go in pursuit of others until their quivers are exhausted. (.:i* Godman. see Frontispiece Vol. II. 208 BUPPALO-HUNTING. Tanner gives an animated sketch of an en- gagement between an Indian party to which he belonged, and an immense herd of buffaloes. They were so numerous and so noisy, that when the party lay down on the ground to sleep, the night before finding them, they heard their trampling, roaring, and butting of horns at a distance, as they supposed, of near twenty miles. Starting early in the morning, they rode sofne hours before coming in sight of them. At the distance of ten miles, they appeared like a black line drawn along the edge of the sky, or a low shore seen across a lake. The hunters very courageously rode directly towards the herd. > that kind of small smooth shells, of different '\ I S26 GAMES. colors, called by the Northern Indians wampum^ or wampumpeague, and used as well for a coin, as for ornamenting the dress, and other pur- poses. This game, too, is described by Charlevoix as played among the Canadian tribes. He calls ii the ' game of the dish.' He saw it played by two persons. Each of them had six or eight little bones, of about the size and shape of apricot-stones, each bone being fur- nished with siy unequal sides, and the two principal of which were painted, one black, and the other yellow. They made them jump up by striking the ground, or the table, with a round and hollow dish, which contained the bones, and which they twirled round first, mak- ing it serve the purpose of a dice-brx. When they had no dish, they threw them into the air with their hands. If in falling, they turned up all one color, he who threw tliem won five, and the whole game was forty. Five bones of one color won but one, the first time; the sec- ond time, they gave the player his game. A less number gave him nothing. The winner continued playing; the loser gave place to another appointed by his party. ' Thp nlavprs! nnnpnr like ''^**on^»* nnccpccofl. GAMES. 227 and the spectators are not more calm. They all make a thousand contortions, talk to the bones, load the spints of the adverse party with imprecations; and the whole village echoes with howlings. If all this does not recover their luck, the losers may put off the party till the next day: it costs them only a small treat to the company. Then they prepare to return to the engagement. Each invokes his Geniusy and throws some tobacco in the fire to his honor. They ask him, above all things, for lucky dreams. As soon as the da^ appears, they go again to play; but if the losers fancy that the goods in their cabins made them unlucky, the first thing they do is to change them all. The great parties commonly last five or six days, and often continue all night. In the meantime, all the persons present, concerned in the game, are m an agitation which deprives them of reason.'* Some quarrelling and fighting frequently ensued. A thn-d New England game mentioned by Mr. Williams, is called by him fooi-ball It was played only in summer time,- -frequently town figainst town,— and the place chosen was some broad sandy shore, free from stones; or perhaps som e smooth lev el plain. * Charlevoix. 2S8 GAMES. A species of ball-playing has been in vogue throughout the continent, wliich is called by the Chippevvas, Ottawas, and other Indians of the Lakes, baggatiwa. It is played by them with a bat and ball, corresponding to those used in the English game cricket. The bat is about four feet long, curved, and terminating in a sort of racket, shaped suitably for striking the ball. Two posts are planted in the ground, at a considerable distance from each other, — perliaps a mile. Each party has its post, and the game consists in throwing the ball up to the adversary's post. The ball, at the beginning, is placed in the middle of the course, and each party endeavors as well to throw the ball out of the direction of its own post, as into that of the adversary's. It was under the pretext of playing this violent and noisy game, that a combination of Indians hostile to the English, in 1763, succeeded in taking the fortress and massacring the incautious garrison of Michili- mackinac. They played immediately before the walls, and the soldiers were politely invit- ed to witness the sport. They did so: but, in the midst of it, the Indians suddenly and very cunningly took advantage of a moment of great excitement and busde, to rush into the GAMES. 229 gates and take possession of the fortress. Near- ly one hundred English soldiers were butchered on the spot.* Charlevoix saw a game of this description played among the Miamies, more than a hun- dred years since, which he calls the ' Game of the Bat.' < Their business is to strike the ball to the foot of the adverse party, vntlwut letting it fall to the ground, and uithout touching it vfith the hand,-^for in either of these cases they lose the game, unless he that makes the fault, repairs it by sinking tJu ball at one blow to the foot, which is often impossible. These savages are so dexterous at catching the ball with their bats, that sometimes one game will last for days together.'— This ancient game is evidently dangerous to life and limb. There was another among the Miamies, much like it, but less hazardous. The Southern Indians have been much ad- dicted to ball-playing. 'Theball,'— says Adair, speaking of the Choctaws and Cherokees,— ' is made of a piece of scraped deer-skin, moistened, stuffed hard with deer's hair, and strongly sewed with deer's sinews. The ball- sticks are about two feet long, the lower end • K I »»»^ .f .1 t_j: iTvo vi uic xiiUiiUiSj VOi. ilm 20 230 GAMES. .somewhat resembling the palm of a hand, and which are worked with deer-skin thongs. Be- tween these they catch the ball, and throw it a great distance, when not prevented by some of the opposite party, who fly to intercept them. The goal is about five hundred yards in length. At each end of it they fix two long bending poles into the ground, three yards apart below, but standing a considerable way out- Wards. The party that throws the ball over these, counts one; but if it be thrown under- neath, it is cast back, and played for as usual. The gamesters are equal in number on each side; and at the beginning of every course of ball, they throw it up high in the centre of the ground, and in a direct line between the goals When the crowd of players prevents the one who caught the ball from throwing it off with a long direction, he commonly sends it the right course by an artful sharp twirl. They are so exceedingly expert in this exercise, that, between the goals, the ball is mostly kept flying the different ways, by the force of the playing sticks, without falling to the ground, for they are not allowed to catch it with their hands. It is surprising to see how swiftly they fly, when closely chased by a nimble-footed GAMES. 231 pursuer. When they are intercepted by one of the opposite party, his fear of being cut off [struck] by the ball-sticks, commonly gives them an opportunity of throwing it perhaps a hundred yards; but the antagonist does some- times run up close behind, and dash down the baU.' It might be supposed that this violent sport would be attended with some blood-shedding and bone-breaking, and that the parties would become enraged with each other. It was how- ever very uncommon to witness any thing like spitefulness in the game. Only once Mr. Adair saw legs and arms broken, by some of the play- ers hurling down their opponents, when upon descending and slippery ground, and running at full speed. In this instance there was a family dispute of ancient standing, between the play- ers, and the wager at stake was all they were worth. The Choctaws, in particular, have formerly been addicted to gambling to great excess. Frequently, they would stake not only all the property in their possession, but as much more as their credit would procure for them. The Southern Indians were not less diligent than the Northern in their endeavors to propi- S93 GAMES. tiate the favor of their gods. The Choctaws were less religious than the neighboring tribes; but even they, previous to any great ball-playing, fasted and kept awake all night, while their female relations spent the same time in dancing out of doors. In the morning, each party turned out to the ball-ground, in a long row, painted white, and whooping (we are told,) ' as if Pluto's prisoners were all broke loose.' At the close of this grand shouting, the leader began a religious invocation, by crying yah^ short — ^then yo, long, and on a low key like the leader; — and thus they went on with their chanting. The activity with which they play- ed this severe game, is the more remarkable, since it was never played but in mid-summer time, — as Mr. Williams says was the custom respecting foot-ball in New England. There was another ancient sport among the southern warriors, which bore some resem- blance to what is called by the whites quoit- pitching, but which might with more propriety, as Mr. Adair says, be termed ^running hard labor. ^ For playing this game, a square piec« of ground was kept well cleaned, in the centre of the village; and fine sand was carefully strown OAMEB. 333 over it, when requisite, to give a swifter motion to whatever passed along the surface. Only- one or two on a side, played at one time. Each of these had a flat stone, about a foot and a half in circumference, and an inch or two thick; and also a pole some eight feet long, smooth, and tapering at each end,--but the points flat. They set off abreast of each other, at six yards from the end of the play-ground. Then one of them hurled the stone on its edge, in as direct a line forward as possible, a con- siderable distance towards the middle of the other end of the squai-e. After running a few yards, each one darted his pole, (anointed with bear's oil) widi such a force as he judged most likely, considering the motion of the stone, to bring the end down close to the stone. If this should be the case, the successful player counted two in the game; and in proportion to the near- ness of the poles to the mark, one was counted, — unless, by measurement, both were found to be at an equal distance. Thus the players would keep running the greater part of the day, under the violent heat of the sun. They staked their silver ornaments; their nose, finger, and ear-rings; their breast, arm, and wrist-plates; 20* i III 334 GAMES. and even most of their wearing apparel. The ftones, used in this laborious sport, were very carefully made smooth by rubbing against rocks; and once properly fashioned, they were preserv- ed, among the common property of the town or tribe, from one generation to another. .:{' CND or VOL. I ery arv-