OCR Text |
Show 14· APPENDIX TO PART II. " seven months ; and were obliged to eat their horses on theit· re" turn." AcnrcuLTUHE-The Osa~;e raise lnrge quantities of corn, beans and putllpkins, which they manage with the greatest ccouomy, in orclcr to make it last from year to year. All the Agricultu· ral labor is done by women. FAcTon r ~..:s-If the govemmcnt think it expedient to establi~h facto• ics for the grand and little villages, equi-distant from both, which would answer for the grand and little villages. The other establi-;hment should be on the Arkansaw, nea1· the entrnnce of the Verdigrise liver, (as stated by Lt. 'Vilkinson) for the Arkansaw Osage. The Pawnees are a numerous nation of Indians, who reside on the rivers Platte and Kans; they arc divided into three distinct nations, two of them bcin ~ now at war; but their manners, language, customs, and improvements, arc in the same degrre of advanccmeut. On the La Plt\tte, reside the grand Pawnee village, and the Paw· nee lot~ps on one of its branches, '~ith whom the Pawnee Hcpubli· cans are at war. Their language is guttmal, and approaches nearer to the lang ua~c of the Sioux, th<m the ( . sap;e, and their figure tall, slim, and hig·h check bones, clearly indicate their Asiatic origin; but their emigration south, and the ease with which they li\'e on the buff.tlo plains, have probably been the cause or a degeneracy of m"nne1·s, for they arc neither so b1·ave nor honest, as their more northern neighbors. '1'heir g-oYel·nment i!. the same as the Osage, an hereditary aristocracy; the fathe1 handing his dignity of chief· tain down to his son; but their power is extremely limited, not with· standing the long life they have to establi~h th eir authority and iu· Huence . They merely recommend~ and give counsel in the great assemblage of the nation. They arc not so cleanly, n cith e l' do they carry their internal po· licy so fat· as the Osage ; Lut out of the bounds of the village, it appeared to me, that they exceeded them; as I have frequently seen two young soldiers come out to my camp, and instantly dispe rse a hundred persons, (by the strokes of long whips) who were assembled there to trade with my men. In point or Ctlitinltion, they arc about equal to the Osage, nliSing a sufft..;i<'ncy of corn and pumpl-.in-;, to afford a little thi ckrn in ~ to thcir soup cluring the year. APPENDIX TO PART II. 15 Their pumpkin they cut into thin slices, and dry it in the sun, which reduces it to a small size, and not more than a tenth of its original weight. With respect to raising horses, the Pawnees are fa1· superior to the Osage, having vast quantities of excellent horses which they are daily increasing, by their attention to their breeding mares, which they nevet' make uae of; and in addition, ft·equcntly purchase from the Spaniards. Their houses are a perfect circle, (except where the door enters) from whence there is a projection of about 15 feet; the whole being constructed after the following manner, viz: 1st. there is an excavation of a circular form, made in the ground, of ubout 4 feet deep and 60 diameter, where there is a row of posts about 5 feet high, with crotches at the top, set firmly in all round, and horizontal poles from one to the other. There is then a row of posts, forming a circle of about 10 feet width in the diameter of the others, and 10 feet in height; the crotches of those are so dit·ected, that hot·izontal poles are also laid from one to H1e other; long poles arc then laid slanting, perpendicularly from the lower poles over the uppet·, and meeting nearly at the top, leaving only a small aperture for the smoke of the fire to pass out, which is made on the ground in the middle of the lodge. There is then a nundlet· of small poles put up round the circle, so as to form the wall, and wicker work ran through the whole. The roof is then thatched with grass, and earth thrown up against the wall until a l>ank is made to the eves of the thatch ; and that is also covered with earth one or two feet thick, and rendered so tight, as entirely to exclude any storm whatsoever, and make them extremely warm. The cntl'ance is about 6 feet wide, with walls on each side, and roofed like our houses in shape, but of the same materials as the main building. Inside there arc numerous little apartments constructed of wicker work against the wall with small doors; they have a g•·eat appeat·ance of neatness and in them the members of the family sleep and have their· little deposits. Their towns are by no means so much crowded as the Osage, givin~ much more space, but they have the same mode of introducing all theit· horses into the village at night, which makes it extremely crowded. They keep guards with the horses du1ing the day. They are extt'emely addicted to gaming, and have for that purpose a smooth piece of ground cleared out on each side of the village for about 150 yards in length, at which they play the fol· lowing games, viz: one is played by two players at a time, and in the following manner: They have a large hoop of about fout· fee t 1 I |