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Show ' -+10 TRAVELS TIIROUGII UPPER CANADA: wh rc they have attempted to inculcate it, particularly amon.gfl: th ~ Sktwncfc, one o f t 11 C mo {l wa' rl' il·c tribcs to the north of the Olno, th ·y have been expofecl to very imminent d.tnger ;~.. . . T h...: Indians, who yet r ·main ignorant of lhvme r vcbtwn, f..:er~l al-lllOlnL. UI11· VC1· Ja'l l Y t 0 b e, l·l evc in the cxificncc of one fupr. emc, benef1ccnt, all wiCc, and all powerful fpirit, and lik wif~ in th.e ex1(l n~e of fubo ·- dw. ate 1r:p H· -1· rs·, hoth g.o o 1 :·1 .nd b;1J · The former, havtng the g oJ of m. an. - kind ~t heart, they think it ncecllcfs to pay homage to them, and It 1s only to the evil one: ,. of whm1 they. ~~v~ an i~nate dread, tl~a~ he~. p~ty t 11 l·l ' d CVO t.l OllS, 1·1 1 01-licr· to •a vc1·t th~.: tr dl mtcn t on . Svme lhfhn t t11b~.:s, I· t I• S 1r:.1 .1·d , 11 ave pt.l·t :,1H1. s ....... 1110,,gfl: them ' but it docs not a}1pcar that they 11 ave any resn·~•.1 lar forms of worfhip. Each i.n div id ual. repeats a prayer, or xnakcs an ofFering to the evil fpicit, when }us fear and apprchcnfions fug-gcfl: the necefijty of his fo doing. . The belief of a future fiate,. in which they arc to enJOY the f<J.mc p1cafures as they do in this world, hut to be exempted from pain, anJ fi-om the trouble of proc uring food, feems to be very general amongfl: them .. Some of the tribes have much le!s devotion than others; the Shawn fc, a warlike darincr na~ion, have but very little fear of evil fpirit s, and con- o fequently have fcarc cly any religion amongfl: them. None of this na-tion, that I could learn, have ever been con verted to Chrifl:ianity. It is a very fingular and remarl abh.: ci.rcumfrance, that notwithfl:aoding the fl:riking fimilarity which we find in the perfons, manners, cuftoms, di fpo fitio ns, and r~ligion of the di£L ren t tribes of Indians from one end of the continent· of North America to the other, :1. fimibrity fo great • The great JiJiiculty of conv<'rtin,. the lnt: ians to chriliinnity docs not :niCe from tl1L ir :tttachmcnt to their own rcligiou, ''here they have :~ny , fo much ~ s from certain habits wl, ich they fccm to have imbi bed with the ~ cry milk of their mothers. A French mifiionary relates, that he was once e n~eavou1 ing •o convert an Indian, by Jclctibing to him the rc wat•ds that woultl attend the r;ood, anti the dreadful pu nifhmcnt which mull incv;tably aw.tit the wicked, in a future world, when the J ndian, who had fomc time before loll his dear 11: fr.icnd, fucld cnly in•nruptcd him, by afking him, whether he though t his dcparteJ friend was gone to hen vcn or to hel l. I ftn cercl }" trull, an fwcrd the mi!lionary, tl :u he is in heaven. Then I will do ~ - you bid me, added the Indian, and lend a Iober lilc, for 1 fhould like to• go to the plac~: wh re my friend is. Hnd hr,. n thr contrary, been toll that his fricnu was i11 l1cll, allth; t the reverend father could have f:tid to him of lire and brimflonc would lr vc been• of little avail in perfuatling him to have led any ther th an the moll difiohnc life, in hopes of meeting with hi l1i\!11d tu fy mp. thife with him uml<.:r hi~ litO"~nn£, s . ' LANGUAGE 0 F T JT ·' IN D TANS. 4t l 3S hardly to leave a doubt on the mind lut th~t they mult II have had the fcunc ori rin, the languages of the difi'crcnt trib fhould yet he fo materially different. No two tribes fpeak cxa~'lly the fame lnguage; llnd the languages of many of thofe, who live at no great l'i fl:ance afundcr. vary fo much, that they cannot make themfdv-: at all und ·rfl:ood to each other. I was informed that the Chippew:1.y language was by fat· the moll: genera], and that a perfon intim~tely acquaint d with it would fo n be ;,blc to acquire a tolcra lc k11owlcdge of any other h1nguagc fpokcn bctv, ecn the Ohio and L kc upcri01> Some perfon. , who luve mad · he lnd1an langu. ges their ll:u !y, a.ffert, that all the dlff ·rent langL ages fpokcn hy th ufc tribes, with whi h we have any connection, are b 1t d.ialects of three primitive tongue , viz. the Hmon, the Algonquin, and the Sioux ; the two fanner of whi ·h, being well untlerfl:ood, will cnab e a pedon to convt:rfe, at lcafl: fli ghtly, with the Indians or any tribe in Canada or the Unit~:..d States. All the nations that fpcnk a langudgc derived from the Sioux, have, it is f1id, a hiffing pronunciation; thofc who fpeak one derived from the Huron, have a guttmal pronunciation; and fuch as fpcak o.111y one derived from the Algonquin, prol1ounce their words with greater foftnefs and cafe than any of the others. Wh ·thcr this be a j ufi difrinction or not I cannot pretend to determine; I {ball only obf(:r\'e, that all the Indian men I ever met with, as well thofe whofe langu, gc i faid to be derived from the Huron, as thofc who[<! language is clei iveJ from the Algonquin, appear to me to' have very few labial founds in their language, and to pronounce the words from the throat, but not fo much fi·om the upper as the lower part of the throat towards the brcaf1:. A flight d gree of helitation is obfervablc in their fpeech, antl they articulate fecmingly with difficulty, and in a manncr fomewhat fimilar to what a perfon, I 01ould fuppofe, would be apt to do if he had a crreat wei<rht laid n his chefl:, or had received a blow b b on his bre fi or back fo viol nt as to affe his breath. The women, on the contrary, fpcak with the utmofl: cafe, and the language, as pronounced by them, appears a {oft as the Italian. They hav 1 without exception, the moO: delicate harmonious voices I ev r heard, and the mofl: plcaling gentle laugh that it is po.flible to conceive. I have oftentimes 3 G ~ fut |