NOTES ON THE HISTORY, CUSTOMS, AND BELIEFS OF THE MISSISSAGUAS BY A. F. CHAMBERLAIN, B. A. If, Fellow in Modern' Languages in Unwe.j&j'-v College, Toronto [Refrintcdfrom The Journal of American Folk-Lore, July, i888\ CAMBRIDGE PrintcD at rtje HitjersiiDe pre^s 1888 Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox. 149 cold enough yet." An' so it go on; but Brer Rabbit he nebber find de mo'nin' cold enough. Brer Fox he 'gin to git sorter uneasy like, 'cause Brer Rabbit eat a powerful sight, and his cabbage purty near run out. Last, dey come one mighty cold mo'nin'> and Brer Fox he say: "Brer Rabbit, dis here cold enough ? " Den Brer Rab- bit he begin to beg, and say he don't want to die yet ; but Brer Fox say he got to. So den Brer Rabbit he say dat he t'ink it cold enough, and he 'fraid he die a mighty hard death out dar. So Brer Fox he open de pen an' take Brer Rabbit out, an' put him down on de snow, an* den he sot down on de doorstep see him die ; but Brer Rabbit he ain't got no notion dyin' jes' den, so he say : " Oh, you g.-'^at big fool, dis here jes' what I been use to all de days of my life." An' he go off through the bushes lickety split. Brer Fox he feel awful bad, but couldn't help hisself, 'cause de snow so deep he can't run ; so Brer Rabbit he got off scot-free. Gerard Fowke. WASHIiS'GTON, D. C. 1 50 yournal 0/ A tnerican Folk-Lore. NOTES ON THE HISTORY, CUSTOMS, AND BELIEFS OF THE MISSISSAGUA INDIANS. Messisaga Avenue, in the town of Parkdale, Old Fort Missis- satiga, at the mouth of the river Niagara, Mississauga River, in the district of Algoma, and Mississauga Strait, between Cockburn and Manitoulin islands, preserve the name of an Indian tribe who, in the latter half of the eighteenth century, occupied a considerable portion of what is now the province of Ontario, and whose descend- ants still exist at the Mississagua settlement of the New Credit, and on the reservations at Alnwick (since 1830), Rice Lake (since 18 18), Chemong Lake (since 1829), and Scugog Lake (since 1842). In the "Jesuit Relations" for the years 1670-71 are mentioned the Mississagiih, who dwelt on the river Missisauga, and were then distinguished from other branches of the Algonkin stock on the north shore of Lake Huron. Subsequently they appear to have gradually moved eastward and southward, and to have extended themselves over a great part of Upper Canada. With regard to the relations between the Missisaguas and Iro- quois, the Rev. Allen Salt, of Parry Island, a member of the Mis- sisagua tribe of Alnwick, makes the following statement : — The Indian way of pronouncing the word {missisaga) is viinzeza- gee (plural, minzczagecg), and signifies, in the plural, persons who inhabit the country where there are many mouths of rivers, as the Trent, Moira, Shannon, Napanee, Kingston River, and Gananoque. The Missisagas are regarded as descendants of the Ojebways, who in 1759 conquered the Iroquois, after a long war of a hundred years. According to tradition, the Ojebways of Lake Superior came in bark canoes to Georgia Bay, and destroyed the Iroquois, as the latter had done the Hurons. At the same time the Northern Ojebways followed the course of the rivers running southerly, de- stroying their enemies. The Mohawks, who were at Cataraqui, escaped to the other side of Lake Ontario, but in course of years returned, asked for peace, and obtained a tract of land extending from the Shannon River to the Napanee, and some distance back of the bay (as far as the report of a gun can be heard), where they are now living. The Iroquois on the south shore of Lake Ontario also asked the Missisagas of the north shore for a tract of land, and obtained that on the Grand River, where they are now established. When the Credit chiefs, Missisagas, were on their way to the west to see the land reserved, they stopped at the Grand River. The Six Nation chiefs asked them : " Where are you going } " "We are going west to look for a better land for our people." The Notes on the Missistxgua Indians. 151 reply was : " Ycu need not go farther. We remember the time when we did the same, and you gave us this land. We also give you a portion of this land." There the Credit Missisagas are now living. Such is the account of Mr. Salt, who adds that the tradi- tions he heard as a boy are the same as those told by the Ojebways of Georgian Bay, Lake Superior, and Rainy Lake. Travellers of^the present century agree that the Missisaguas, prior to their conversion, were drunken, worthless, and lazy savages, wan- dering, half-starved, and even at times forced to subsist on bark. But the missionary {makahtawek, the black-coat man) came among them, told them of the love of God {kezhemuncdoo), and endeavored to benefit them temporarily as well as spiritually. Instead of the rude camping-station by the river-side, reeking with filth, were seen tidy wigwams of bark and the first signs of a settled life. In 1824 the first Indian church (Methodist) rose on the banks of the Credit. In 1850, all the Missisaguas, 'vith individual exceptions, were reckoned as converted. That this has been to their infinite benefit is beyond doubt. They have almost entirely given up their passion for whiskey {scoittiwabo) ; their dress, their dwellings, their mode of life, have greatly improved, and they may well exclaim, as did the Indians of Rice Lake years ago : " kezhainunedo meqiiaichsah wawaneh zvccn- ta/ima kooyong mahmin ketekctoomenun ; 'wetookahwcsheno7n sah cheeahgeentenaniong" (O thou great, good spirit, we thank thee for hearing thy words ; help us to hold them fast). In 1847 the Indians of the Credit removed to the Six Nation reservation near the city of Brantford, where they founded the New Credit settlement. These are the most advancea in civilization of the Missisaguas. The returns for 1887 {i. e. up to December, 1886) give the total number cf the Missisaguas as 756 (at the New Credit, 239; Alnwick, 229; Chemong {i. e. Canoe) Lake, 154; Rice Lake, 90; Scugog, 44), showing a slight increase over the numbers of seven years ago. This increase, however, is only apparent, as . the death-rate exceeds the birth-rate ; it is caused by adoptions and admissions by marriage. At the New Credit settlement illegiti- mates have long been excluded from the tribal enumeration, and the Government Report for 1884 states that this reform has lately been adopted by the Six Nations. The number of Indians of pure blood on the Missisagua reservations is said to be greater in proportion to the total number than that of any other Indian tribe in Ontario. Since their conversion, they have abandoned all their idolatrous and many of their innocent practices ; even their legends and stories are to a great extent forgotten, mere fragments only remaining. They have also, especially those of the Credit, been influenced greatly by the Ojebways proper, in whose language their religious 152 Journal of American Folk-Lore. books are compiled. In what respects the Mississagiia differed from the Chippewa is not known exactly. The manuscript vocabulary referred to below is closely related to La Hontan's Old Algonkin, and would lead one to suppose that the Mississagua was a purer form of Algonkin speech than the Chippewa. In the later years of the eighteenth and the early part of the nine- teenth century, the Mississaguas are frequently styled clan or tribe of H?irous, no doubt owing to their alliance with the Six Nations in 1746. Thus a manuscript French-Indian vocabulary (for a copy of which I am indebted to Mr. James Bain, jr., the obliging chief of the Toronto Public Library), collected about 1800-5, from the In- dians in the neighborhood of York (most probably Mississaguas), thus enumerates the " totaims or tribes of the Huron savages : " Niguic couasquidzi, Otter tribe ; Passinassi, Crane tribe ; Atayita- ganii, Caribou tribe ; Oiipapinassi, Pike tribe ; Oicasce souanau^ Birch-bark tribe ; Missigomidzi, White Oak tribe ; Mississague, Eagle tribe. By travellers the Mississaguas are frequently cited as the Eagle tribe of the Chippewa nation. The Rev. Peter Jones says : " The clan or tribe with whom I have been brought up is called Messissauga, which signifies the Eagle tribe ; their ensign or toodaim being that of the eagle." He cites the other tribes of the Ojebways as Reindeer, Otter, Bear, Buffalo, Beaver, Catfish, Pike, Birch-bark, White Oak, Bear's Liver, etc. Not all the Indians on the Mississagua reservations belong to the Eagle tribe, there having been admissions from Chippewa clans, and even Mohawks. At Aln- wick, in 1885, three strangers were admitted by vote ; in 1887, three ; at the New Credit settlement, in 1885-86, eight were admitted by marriage. Amongst the Mississaguas of the Credit, the favorite family and personal names appear to have been Eagle, Otter, Crane, Pike, Bear, Wild Goose, Reindeer, Catfish, Beaver, Birch-bark ; with those at Grape Island, Pigeon, Beaver, Deer, Skunk, Bird, Snake; at Scugog Lake, Goose, Pigeon, Magpie. Names were given to children either from some being or object of nature, or from some c .aracteristic of birth or of personal appear- ance. In early times a feast was held, at which the young Indian was named and committed to the care of some guardian spirit. The Rev. Peter Jones was thus named Kahkewaqiionaby (sacred waving feathers), and placed under the protection of the thunder-god. He was given a war-club and a bunch of eagle feathers, symbolic of the might and swiftness of the eagle-god of thunder. When these were lost, the power of which they were the symbol was thought to depart from the possessor. He was also given a little model of a canoe, betokening success in hunting. At the naming of the Rev. Peter Jones, his maternal grandfather, Wabuno (the morning light), Notes on the Mississagua Indians, 1 53 officiated ; the name was inherited from the Eagle tribe, to which the mother belonged. The Indian name of Joseph Sawyer, who in 1830 succeeded Ajatanct as chief of the Credit tribe, was Nalnvah- jekcshegwaby (the sky that slopes) ; that of David Sawyer, his son and successor, was Kezhigkowmene (the man of the sky). Besides these two, the chief men of the Credit band in 1837 were : Manoo- flooding (the pleasant wind), Pipoonakba (ruler of the winter), Sas- wayahscga (the scattering light), Mahyahwegezehigwaby (the upright sky), Oominewahjeween (the pleasant stream), KanahwaJibahnind (he who is looked upon), AhghawahnaJiqiiahdwaby (the cloud that rolls beyond), Naningahseya (the sparkling light), Kahwahqiiayah' sega (the brightly shining sun), Pahoonibwawinndimg (the approach- ing roaring thunder), Pamegahwayahsing (he who is blown down). With the Mississaguas it was usual to keep alive the memory of the dead by conferring his name on some one else, or adopting some one of the same name. The Rev. Peter Jones was named after his mother's brother, who had died at the age of seven, and when nine years old was given away to an Indian chief who had lost a son of the same name, and was adopted by him. When, in 1826, the In- dians of the Credit wished to adopt the Rev. Dr. Ryerson into their tribe, the chief thus addressed him : " Brother, as we are brothers, we will give you a name. My departed brother was named Chechock ; thou shalt be called Cheehock " (the bird on the wing). When, in 1882, the Indians of the New Credit settlement received into their tribe the white wife of their chief. Dr. P. E. Jones, she was adopted under the name of Wabanoogua (lady of the morning). The mother of Rev. Peter Jones was named Tahbenah- neequay ; his maternal grandmother, Puhgashkish ; his son, Wawe- yakahmegoo (the round world). Upon Mrs. Moodie the Indians of Chemong Lake bestowed the name of Nonocosiqui (the humming- bird) ; her little son was called Annonk (star), and her daughter Nogesigook (the northern light). White settlers were nicknamed from their personal appearance : Muckakee (bull-frog), Segoskee (rising sun), Metig (a stick), Choojas (ugly nose), Sachabo (cross- eyed). With the Mississaguas, before their conversion, polygamy was allowed. A chief had as many wives as he could support. At the same time a surprising lack of chastity characterized the female pop- ulation. Mrs. Moodie records this of the Indians of Chemong Lake. Sometimes the husband inflicted terrible punishment on the offend- ing women ; but more often the men winked at the offences of their wives, and even shared with them the price of their shame. Some- thing similar appears to have existed among the Bay of Quints Indians. Weld has recorded even a worse state of affairs as exist- 1 54 Journal of A merican Folk-Lore, ing in 1796 amongst the Chippewas at Maiden. Christianity has greatly bettered the state of affairs, and few instances have occurred of late years ; but even as recently as 1855 Dr. Hodder stated that abortion was frequently practised amongst the Rice Lake Indians. The Mississaguas were preeminently a hunting and a fishing tribe. The valleys of the Credit or Mahzcnahcgasecbee {i. e., the river where credit ir given ; it was a meeting-place for the Indians and the traders, and the latter advanced to the formei goods ? year ahead, trusting to their honesty for the next season's furs ; hence the name), the Thame s {AshkaiinahsccbeCy Horn Ri /er), the Otonabee (mouth-water), the Moira {Saganashcocon), with the scries of inland lakes between Lake Simcoe and the Bay of Qainte formed their chief hunting and fishing grounds. Muskoka district, river, and lake commemorate the name of a Mississagua chief, as does Stoco Lake in the valley of the Moira. Lake Erie {Wahbcshkegonkeche' game, the white water lake) they visited for the sake ot its fish, strayed down the Thames to Lake St. Clair ( Walnvehyahtahnoohng, the round lake), and occasionally travelled into New York State, leaving their offerings of tobacco beside the cataract of Niagara {Kahkajewang, the waterfalls). The Indians at Rice Lake used to shoot by night (in canoes with torches) the deei {wawasque) that came to feed on the rice-beds. They also hunted the deer with hounds obtained from the settlers. The Indians of Cheniong Lake were accustomed to " bark " squirrels {atvhiiamon) ; i. c, to make the bullet strike the tree just under the animal, so that the splinters of bark killed it without in- juring fur or flesh. The muskrat {ozasgud), beaver {amic), and other animals they caught by setting traps. The usual method of capturing the salmon {azaoiiamec) was by spsaring, and in the use of the fish-spear the Mississaguas were exceedingly skilful. Other kinds of fish also were taken by the spear, both by day and night. The mouth of thci river Credit was a celebrated place f'^r spearing salmon, and on its banks the Indians annually camped for that purpose. In the winter the Indians of Rice and Mud (or Chemong) lakes obtained fish in the following manner : With his tomahawk the Indian cut a hole in the ice, threw a blanket over him, and stood or knelt for hours beside the hole. In one hand he held his fish-spear, in the other a string, to which was attached a decoy-fish of wood, serving to attract the prey. Their skill in this sort of fishing was remarkable, two hundred pounds of fish being frequently the reward of a day's labor. ,--_...-.. --.^.-. -^ ; With the Rice Lake Indians a common device in duck-shooting was to pile up green brushwood in a canoe, so that it resembled a Notes on the Missis sagua Indians. 155 floatins: tree or small island. Hidden behind this leafv screen, the hunter was enabled to approach much closer to his prey than was usually the case. At Mud Lake, each family had its own hereditary hunting-ground, and trespass upon it was highly resented. At the beginning of the winter season the women retired to the village, where they remained until the maple-sugar season in the spring, while their husbands traversed the forest to the hunting-grounds of the tribe, to returif laden with the winter's spoils. A chief article of food of the Mississaguas was the wild rice {monomin). From the abundance of this plant in its waters. Rice Lake has received its name. It was also plentiful along the western shores of Lake Ontario and the Bay of Quints. The time for gathering the rice is in September. The method fol- lowed at Rice Lake was this : The squaws, who are the harvesters, paddle out to the rice-beds, and with their paddles, or with sticks suited to the purpose, they pull the heads down into the canoe, and strike them, so that the ripe grain falls to the bottom. Re- turning to the shore, they stick into the ground pine or cedar branches, so as to form a square inclosure. Within this they drive in forked sticks, upon which cross-pieces are laid, and upon these latter mats of bass-wood or cedar-bark are placed. Under this framework a fire is then lit, and the hedge of green branches serves to keep in the heat. The rice is spread upon the mats, and kept turned about with the paddle until dried. It is then shaken m large open baskets and the husks are removed. When it is desired to parch it, the rice is placed ivi pots over a slow fire until the grain bursts and shows the white, mealy centre. Without further prepara- tion it is often used by hunters and fishermen when out on expedi- tions. But more frequently it is made into soups and stews. Another method of preparing the raw rice was this : After it was gatnered, a hole was dug in the ground, in which a deerskin was placed, and upon this the rice was poured. Boys were then set to trample it with their feet, after which it was winnowed and stored up for future use. Another common occupaiion of the squaws was the preparation of maple-sugar. With the Indians of Chemong Lake, each family had its own sugar-bush. When the season opened the squaws went to the woods, erected camps, gathered firewood, and prepared the troughs and other necessary articles. After borrowing as many kettles as they could obtain, and arranging the fire, they made incisions in each tree with the tomahawk, inserted the tube, and placed the trough. The younger squaws were employed to fetch the sap to the fire, where the older women kept up the proper heat, and saw that the stuff was kept stirred and properly cooled off. It 1 56 journal of American Folk-Lore. was then broken up and placed in birch-bark baskets and offered for sale. These boxes of birch-bark the Rice Lake Indians call nicw- kowks, and they are said to impart a peculiar taste to the sugar. The Mississaguas of the Bay of Quint6 also made sugar in the spring, and sold it to the settlers in small bass-wood bags. Their manufactures consist of their birch-bark canoes, elegantly carved paddles of cherry-wood (at Rice Lake), and an infinite variety 'bf useful and ornamental objects in birch-bark : baskets, boxes, trays, bags, models of canoes, etc. These they ornament most skilfully with beads and porcupine-quill work, stained with various dyes. Of the inner bark of the pine and basswood they made beautiful mats ; they also employed this substance in lieu of cord and rope. The Indians of Rice Lake were acquainted with many vegetable dyes, which they used for staining their fancy birch-bark and porcupine-quill work. For this purpose they used the juice of the Indian strawberry and of the sanguinaria. By boiling the bark of the swamp alder in water, the Mud Lake Indians obtained a good red dye, and a rich yellow one was procured from the root of the black briony. Like all Indians, the Mississaguas were acquainted with Nature's remedies. The Indians of Rice Lake were for many years cele- brated for their skill in the modical art; and in i860, when the Rev. Peter Jones was dying, some of the Indians of the New Credit were eager to send for the noted Indian doctor at Rice Lake. As late as 1881, there was among the Chemong Lake tribe an old Indian who enjoyed considerable reputation as a doctor. At Rice Lake, a juice obtained from the sanguinaria, or bloodroot, was used as a remedy for rheumatism and cutaneous diseases. At Chemong Lake, great medicinal virtue w.^*? attributed to the cranberry; it was administered raw when treating for dysentery ; and a cranberry poultice was applied to relieve wounds, inflammations, tumors, etc. For the latter purpose they also used poultices made from the inner bark of the bass-wood and the slippery-elm. The inner bark of the black briony was utilized to obtain a salve for sores and tumors. They roasted and ground to powder the inner bark of the sumach, administering it between the hot and cold fits as a cure for ague. Whiskey, into which had been scraped a whitish powder from a pine- tree fungus, was given as a remedy for colic and stomachic pains. When indisposed, the Indians of the Credit, in the early years of the present century, used to resort to the long peninsula (now an island) forming the harbor of York (Toronto), being fully acquainted with the benefits to be derived from its salubrious atmosphere. The principal diseases from which the Mississaguas have suffered in years past (as shown by government returns) are small-pox, scarlet fever, consumption, inflammation of the lungs, and measles. Notes on the Mississagua Indians. 157 The general religious ideas of the Mississaguas are those common to all Algonkins. The Indians of Chemong Lake (and the same remark applies to the other bands) " believed in supernatural appear- ances, in spirits of the earth, the air, lakes, rivers, etc." The spirits of the water were by them considered evil, and they endeavored, before undertaking a journey, to propitiate them by offerings of small portions of bread, meat, tobacco, and gunpowder, which were thrown into the water. The Mississaguas of the Bay of Quintd, before going up the Saganashcocon (Moira) River, on their annual hunting expeditions, thought fit to gain the favor of the spirit by depositing bits of tobacco on the east shore of the river, near its mouth. The Indians of the Credit sacrificed to the spirits of the forest, the river, the lake. When overtaken by storm upon Lake Ontario, they would appease the angry spirit of the waters by the sacrifice of a black dog, around whose neck they tied a stone and cast him into the lake. Remarkable objects of nature attracted their attention and be- came objects of worship ; and beneath lone pine-trees, before gloomy caves, and beside rushing waterfalls, their tobacco offerings were sure to be found. The Chemong Lake Indians regarded Clear Lake, a beautiful expanse of water, free from weeds and river-growths, with superstitious awe. The caverns in the hills around Burlington Bay and the head of Lake Ontario were looked upon by the Mississaguas as the abodes of spirits. One of these, at the foot of a steep precipice, from which the sound of explosions was often heard, was called by them Manito-ah wigivam (the house of the devil). At the foot of a hill near the Credit village was a deep hole in the water. Here, the Indians said, a spirit was often heard to sing and beat his drum. When the white man became a too frequent visitor in the neighborhood, the spirit raised a great flood, and departed down the river into the lake. The Mississaguas of the Credit believed in the existence of fairies, diminutive sprites, to whom they used to offer bits of cloth and the like. The east bank of the Credit, about a mile from its mouth, and the region around Burlington Bay were said to be favored with their presence. They used to paddle a stone canoe, and when pursued would make for a high bank (within which was their home), upon striking which boat and contents disappeared. They were said to be the good genii ' of the huntsman. All the Indians believed in the existence of wcndigocs, or giants. Stony Lake, up the valley of the Otonabee, was reputed amongst the Chemong Lake Indians to be haunted by these beings. With the Mississaguas of the Credit and Bay of Quintd it was the custom to blacken the face and to fast, in order to propitiate some adverse deity. At Chemong Lake the father was 158 Journal of American Folk-Lore. forced to keep a strict fast for three days on the death of a child. Mrs. Moodie has recorded a remarkable instance of this. The eldest daughter of a chief of the band had died of the scarlet fever. On the evening of the second day of his fast he lost another child. He held out until the evening of the fourth day, when, stealing into the woods, he caught a bull-frog and devoured it alive. A member of the tribe noticed his action, and his return to camp was the signal for an uproar, from which he was forced to take refuge in a settler's house. It needed all the influence of the settler, who was very popular with the Indians, to restore harmony between the chief and his people. At Chemong Lake the soul of an Indian who had been drowned was considered accursed. He could not enter the happy hunting- grounds, and his spirit haunted the spot where he met his unlucky fate. His body was buried on some lonely island, far from the rest of his people, and the Indians never passed it without leaving a small portion of food, tobacco, or ammunition to supply the spirit's wants. His children were considered unlucky, and it was difficult for the females to obtain husbands, as a portion of the curse of the father would rest upon them. Peter Jones relates the following of a female relative of his, Wah- bimosay (she who walks in the morning). She had been to Toronto to sell baskets, and returned part of the way by tram, her first expe- rience of railway travel. Upon getting off the train she threw her- self flat upon the ground. When questioned, she replied that she was " waiting for her soul to come." One of the last practices to succumb to the influence of Chris- tianity was that of witchcraft and conjuring. It is related of Nahwah- jckezJicgivaby (Joseph Sawyer), that at one time the tribe considered him under the influence of the evil spirit, and told him that a certain medicine-man had, by his art, deprived him of his soul. They em- ployed a conjuror to restore it. After the usual ceremony, he claimed to be successful, and presented the afflicted man his soul in a cup of whiskey. This the latter drank, and his spirit returned to him again. In the year 1827 an Indian of the Credit was converted from witchcraft, and destroyed his implements; in 1828 a woman who practised witchcraft was among the converts on the Bay of Quint6. Among the feasts of the Mississaguas are mentioned the name feast, the dog feast, the deer, salmon, sturgeon, wild-goose, and sacred bear-oil feast, „^^ ^ _. ., _ .,. .^._,^_^^^^,^ Charlevoix has described the war-dance and the fire-dance as per- formed by the Mississaguas at Cataraqui in 1721. Equipped in gay attire, their faces horribly bedaubed with paint, they sang their war- songs to the sound of the chichikou^ (a gourd filled with pebbles and Notes on the Mississagua Indians. 159 shaken), the universal Algonkin musical instrument. The manner of the fire-dance was this : In the cabin a fire was lit ; near it sat a man beating a drum, another shook the chichikoiii and sang. This continued for two hours of wearisome repetition. Then five or six women appeared, ranged themselves in a line, and danced and sang for a quarter of an hour. Then the fire was put out, and all tbat could be seen was a dancing savage with a coal of fire in his mouth. The noise of the drum and chichikoii^ was kept up, and from time to time the women danced and sang. This performance was said to continue till daylight. Something similar to this enlivened the islands and shores of the Bay of Quintd in the early years of this century, but since their conversion the Indians have long ago for- gotten these things. Their talent for singing has been directed to the camp-meeting and the church, and some of them are said to sing beautifully ; others are good performers upon the flute ; while a short time ago the Salvation Army, with its musical accompani- ments, charmed away some of the members of the Chemong Lake tribe into its ranks. From the manuscript referred to above, I transcribe a few short snatches of song, with the French spelling : — {a) Love Song. Otika tatacouchin iiini mouchin-h^n. (I hope to see thee soon, my love.) (;) H anting Song. Waguiouini M ! waguiouiiii hi ! (He has crooked horns.) {Bis) {c) Song. Manitou ouistoja, ha, ha ! maniiou oidstoja, ha, ha ! (The blacksmith is a demon, yes, yes ! ) {Bis.) {a) Song of the conjuror. Oukaqiiiqua niponmifi, quiticog mani- tou-oii. {Bis.) (The gods say that we shall die one day.) {Bis.) {e) Ya ninqtiicotie qiiionipinan ningiiiscioml (I turn the heavens upside down.) These resemble in some respects those recorded by Schoolcraft. Mr. Salt, of Parry Island, mentions, in a communication above referred to, that he knew an Indian, not now living, who would sit up all night giving the names of the stars and relating the legends about them. Under date of June 18, 1888, 1 received a communication from Mr. John Thackeray, the Indian agent at the Mississagua settlement at Alnwick, from which I quote : " I laid your communication before a general meeting of the Indians here, held on the 4th inst. They state that they have no old songs, stories, or beliefs peculiar to them ; in fact, a great many of the Indians here cannot speak the Indian language." The writer hopes soon to investigate this sub- ject thoroughly. Some little tradition regarding the Natowi (Iroquois and Mo- i6o yournal of American Folk-Lore. hawks), their ancient enemies, still remains. A grass-grown mound en the shore of Rice Lake marks the graves of a Mohawk settle- ment destroyed by the Mississaguas years ago. Near Mill Point, on the Bay of Quint6, and at a point near Burlington Bay, tradition has it that desperate battles took place, as also upon the banks of the Credit and on Mississagua Island in the Bay of Quints. Though the fear of Mohawk invasion has long subsided, the dread of the name still lingers, and less than fifty years ago the villages at Rice, Mud, and Scugog lakes have been known to be temporarily deserted merely from the prevalence of reports that the Mohawks were coming. The same fear of the Iroquois pervaded the village of the Credit Indians, and is said to exist at the present moment amongst the Chippewas of Lakes Huron and Superior. A. F. Chamberlain. Toronto, Ont. / ,' ,'ja >.i