OCR Text |
Show 58 APPENDlX TO PAH.T 1. now ceded to the United States; but they reserved to thcmselrc~ the privilege of hunting and rcsidin~ ~n it as '~sunl. . . . By killing the ecleot·ated Sauk clncf Pont~ac, the ll.hnot';, .C.thokias, Kaskaskias and Piot'ias, kindled u war wtth the alhcclnattOns of Sauks and Heynat·ds, which has b en the cause of the almost cnti•·(. destru ction of the former nations. . The \V inebagos, or Puant s, arc a nation who rcsulc on . the rivers t)uiscousin r~, Of' Roche, Fox and Green llay, in seven vtlla~ es, which are situated as follows viz: l!lt. At the entrance of Green Bay. 2d. End of do. 3d. \Vuckan, on the fox ri\'CL'. 4th. At Lake Puckway. 5th. Portage of the Ouis· cousmg . 6th and 7th. Both on Ho· chc rive r. Those villages are so situated, that the vVincbagos c~n cm~ody the whole force of thcit· nation. at any one point of thcu· ternt~· ry in four days. They hunt on the Ouiscousing, Hock rive'.'' _and b. side of tl•c Mississippi; from the Hock river to the Pra1ne Dei Chicns; on Lake :\1ichigan, lllack river, and the country between Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Superior. From the tradition arnon~st them, and their speaking the same language of the Otos, of ~he Riviere Platte, I am confident in asserting that they :1re a nauon who have emig-rated from .Mexico, to avoid the oppression of the Spaniards; and the time may be fixed at about one and a hal~. centuries past, when they were taken under the protection of the S10ux, to whom they still profess to owe faith, and at Least brotllcrly atten· tion. They have formerly been at war with the nations west of the Mississippi, but appear recently to have laid down the hatc!1ct. They arc reputed brave, but from every cir umstance th eir ne1~h· bot·s distinguish their bravery as the ferocity of a tiger, rathet· than the deliberate resolution of a man. And recently, their conduct has been such as to authorise the remark made by a chief of a neighboring nation, " That a white man never should lay down to sleep, without preca11tion in their villages." The Menomcne or Fols Avoins (as termed by the French) uation, reside in seven villages, situated as follows, viz. 1st. At the rivet· l\1cnomcne, 15 leagues ft·om Green Bay, north side of the lake. 2d. At Gt·cen Bay. 3d. At Little Kakalin. 4th. Portage of K~kalin. 5th. Stinking Lake. 6th. Entrance of a small lake on Fox river; and 7th. J{ehind the Hank of the Dead. Their hunt- APPENDIX TO PART I. 59 ing grounds arc similar to the \Vinebagos ; only, that owing to the vet·y high estim:llion in which they are held, both by Sioux and Chipcways, they at·c frequently permitted to hunt near the Raven river on the Mississippi ; which may be termed the battle g1·ound between those two great nations. The language which they speak is singulm·; for no white man has ever yet been known to acquire it, but this may prol.mbly be aw·ibutcd to their' all understanding the Algonquin, in which they and the \Viuebagos u·ansact all confcl'ences with the whites or· other nations; and the facility with which that lang-nag-e is acquir·ecl, is a furth er re::1son for its prevalence. The Fols Avoins although a small nation, arc respected by all their neighbors fot· their bravery, and independent spirit, and esteemed by the whites as their friends and pt'Olectors. \Vhen in the country, I have hcar·d their chirf assert in council with the Sioux and Chipeways, " That although they were reduced to few in num" bcr, yet they could say, we nevet' were ~laves." As they had always prcfened," that their women and children should die by their ''own hat~ds, to their being led into slavery by thcit· enemies." The boundary of thei1· territory is uncertain. The Sauks, Rcynards, Puants, and Mcnomcnes, all reside (when not at their villages) in lodges in the form of an ellipsis, and ~ome arc from 30 to 40 feet in length, by 14 or J 5 wide, which at·c sufficiently lar~e to shelter 60 people from the storm, or for 20 to reside in. Their covet·ing are rushes plai ted into mats, and carefully tied to the poles. In the centt'C at·c tl•c fires, immediately over which is a small vacancy in the lodge, which, in fait· weathet·, is suflicient to give vent to the smoke ; but in bad weather you must lay down on the ground to prevent being considerably incommoded by it. We next come to that powerful nation the Sioux, the dread of whom is extcncled ovct· all the savage nations, from the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri, to the Raven river on the former, and to the Snake Indians on the latter ; but in those lintits are many nations whom they considel' as allies; on similar footing with the allies of ancient Rome, i. e. humble dependants. llut the Chipe· way natiE>n is an exception who have maintained a long contest with thetn, owing to their country being intel'sected by numel'ous small lakes, water cotu·ses, impenetrable morasses, ancl swamps; and have hitherto bid defiance to all the attacks of their neighbors. It is ne· cessary to divide the Sioux nation into the t!ifl'ct·cnt bands, as distin .. guished amongst themselves, in order to have a corl'ect idea of them. Agreeably to this plan, I shall begin with the .!11ino'lua Kantong, (or Gens De Lac) who extend from the Prairie Des Chicns, to La |