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Show -+I 2 TRAVELg THROUGH UPPER CANADA-~ iil.t amongfl: a group of them for :111 honr or two together, .'~crely for tht. p I cawr re o f 1·11 1: en. t·n t.,, to their conv di<1 tiou , on accmmt of 1ts womkrful Jo(rnef' and delicacv. Tl1<.: Indians, otl1 men and women, fpcak with great deliberation, and ,never apps..:nr to he at a lofs for words to cxpref'l their fc n~im~nt s .. The native mufic of the Inoia.ns is very rude and mddfcrent, and ('tptally devoid of mdody and variety. Their famous w~r fon~ is no\ hin o· better than an infipio recitative. Singing and dancmg w1th then 2"0 h~md in hand; and when a large number of thct , colleCted togcthu·, 'join in the one fong, the few wild notes of which it confift , mingled with tl~ found of th~ir pipes. and drums, fometimes produce, when hear :-1t a diJbncc, a ple:-tfing ef}C\..'1: o.n the ear; b~t it is then and then 01Jly that their mufic is toJcrable. Th firll: night of our arriv:tl at M.1lden, ju11: :ts we were retiring to refl, near midnight, we were moJ1 agreeably entertained in this manner with the found of their mu.fic on the iiland of Bois Blanc. Eager to hear more of it, and to be witnefs to their dan ing, we procur d a boa t, and immediately croncd th.e river to the fpot wh re they were afrembkd. Three elderly men, feated under a tree, were the principal mu 1 ians. One of thefe beat a [mall drum, formed of a piece ofa h How tree covered "Yith a :fkin, and the two oth r marked time eq,ually with the drum, with rattk"S .formed of dried fquafhes or gourds filled vv.ith peafe. At the f.1mc time thefe men fung, indeed. they were the leaders of the fong, which the dancers joined in. The. d. nccrs confifl:ed folcly of a party of fqua.ws, to the number of twenty or thereabouts, who, £landing in a circle, with their fac ·s inwards and th~ir hands folded round each other's necks, moved, thus linked to .. gether, fideways, with clofe fhort ll:eps, round a fmall" fire. T 1c men. and women never dance together, unlefi indeed a pretty fquaw be introduced by fome young fellow into one of the men's. dances, which i cone .fidercd as a very great mar-k of fi1vour. This is of a piece with the general cooliuct of the Indians, who look upon the women in a totally different light from. what we do in Ell rope, and condemn them a$ Daves to .do all the drudgery. I have fecn a young chief with no lefs than three women atte~dant on him to run after h~ arrows, when he was amufing himfel£ 1 N D I A N D A N C E S. 4 13 himfclf with G1ooting fquirrel s ; I have alCo fecn InJiam, whc:n mo\lino· f0r a few miles fi·om one place to another, mount their h ort~· s :111 tl ctnte~ away at their cafe, whi111: their women were left not only to walk, but to L~r ry very heavy 1 aJs on their b.H.:ks after th em. After the women had Janced for a rime, a larger fire was kindled, and the men affembkd from diO-crent pans of the iOand, to the number of fifty o~· fixty, to ::unufe themidves in their turn. There was little more variety in th ir dancing than in that of the women. They firll walkeJ round the fire in a larg circle, 1 fd y, one after another, marking 6mc with !hart 11:cps t the mufic; the bell: dancer WJS put at their hea ,. and gave the .fiep; he was alfo the principal finger in the circle. After having made one round, the il:cp was altered to a wider one, and they hegan to .fiamp with great vehem ' nce upon the ground; ani every third or fourth round, making little leaps off th ground with both feet, th ~v J turned their faces to the fire and bowed th~ir heads, at the .lame ri 111c going on fideways. At lafl:, having made a· dozen or two rounds, towards the.: end of which each one of them had begun to .fiamp on the groun.d with. incon ivablc fllry, but more particubrly the principal d::~ncer, they all gave a loud 01out at once, and the dance ended. In two or three minutes another d:mce was begun, which ended as foon, and nearly in the fame W;ly as the other. There was but littl difference in the fignres of any of th~..:m, and th only material diffe rence in the fong wa , that in fome of them the dancer~, infi:cad of Iinging the whole of the air, came in fimply with refpon(e · to the airs fung by the old men. They beckoned to us to join them in their d.wcc, which we immediately did, as it was likely to plea[~; them, and we remained on the iiland with them till two or three o'clock in the morning. There is fomething inconceivably terrible in the fight of a number of Indians dancing thus round a fire in the depths of thick woods, and the loud !bricks. at the end of every dance adds greatly to the horror wJ1ich their firll appearance infpi.rcs. Scarcely a night palfed over but what there were dances, fimilar to, thofc I have defcribed, on the ifland. They never think. of dancing till the night is coniiderably advanced, and they keep it up till daybreak. In~ |