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Show l (i JOUllNAL 0 1-' A VO YAC:I~ '' and there to shew his young men the r espect due to " their new Jatbcr : That, when at St. Louis in the " ~ pring, his father had told him, that if he looked down " the river, he would sec one of his young warriors com~ c' ing up. l-Ie now found it true, and he was happy to sec " n1e, who knew the Great Spirit was the father of all; " both the white ancl the red people; and if one died, the " other could not live long. That he had never been at " war with their new f ather, and hoped, always to pre .. " s .... rve, the same good understanding that now existed. " That he now presented me with a pipe, to shew to the " upper bands, a token of our good understanding; and '' that they might sec his work, and imitate his conduct. ~' That he had gone to St. Louis, on a shameful visit, to " carry a murJercr ; but, that we had given the man hi~ " life, and he thanked us for it. That he had provided " something to cat, but he supposed I could not cat it, " and if not, to give it to my young men." I r eplied: ~' that, although I had told him at the prairie, my busi" ness up the :Mississippi, I would again relate it to him. " I then mentioned th~ difFerent obj ect ~> I had in vi w ; " with regard to the savages, who had fallen unJer our " protection, by our late purchase from the Spaniards. " The different posts to be cstabli:,hed. The objects o£ " these posts as related to them ; supplying them with " necessaries; having officers and agents of government " ncar them, to attend to their business ; and above all, 4 ' to endeavor to make peace with between the Sioux and " Sauteurs. That it was possible on my return I should " bring some of the Sauteurs down with me, and take " with me some of the Sioux chiefs to St. Louis; there " to settle the long and bloody war, which had existed be# " tween the two nations. That I accepted his pipe with j; ' pleasure, as the gift of a great man, 1!: and a brother. ·• He iJ th: chief of four l.nnd•, TO THE SOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 17 " That it should be used as he desired.'' I then eat of the dinner he had provided. It was very grateful. It was wild rye and venison, of which I sent four bowls to my men. I afterwards went to a dance, the performance of which, was attended with many curio us n1anceuvres. Men and women danced indiscriminately. They were all dressed in the gayest manner ; each had in their hand, a small skin of some description, and would frequently run up, point their skin, and give a pufF with their breath; when the person blown at, whether man or woman, would fall, and appear to be almost lifeless, or in g reat agony ; but · would r ecover slowly, rise, and join in the dance. This they called their great medicine ; or as I understood the word, dance of r eligion. The Indians bcJieving , that they actually puffed son1ething into each others bodies, which occasioned the falling, &c. It is not every p erson who is admitted ; persons wishing to join them, Inust first make valuable presents to the society, to the amount of 1-0 or 50 dollars, give a feast, and then are admitted with great cer~mony. Mr. Frazer informed me, that he was once in the lodge with some young men, who did not belong to the club ; when one of the dancers caine in, they immediately threw their blankets over him, and forced him out of the lodge : he laughed, and the young Indians called him a fool, and said " he did not know what the dancer might blow into his body." I r eturned to my boat; sent for the chief and presented him with two carrots of tobacco, four k nives, half a pound of vermillion, and one quart of salt. Mr. Frazer asked liberty to present them some rum ; we made thezn up a keg between us, of 8 gallons. • Mr. Frazer informed the chief, that he dare not give them any without my permission. The ~hief thanked me for all n1y presents, and said " they • T wn gullons o! whi 1key. c |
