A Chippeway makes a feast for the dead, a feast called for by dreams, a feast for his "medi cine," or charms, and a boy's feast, held when a youth has killed the first animal. They have fasts also, and by many praises encourage their children to abstain from food for several days. This inures them to what they are sometimes compelled by necessity to endure. The Chippeways are distributed into families rather than into tribes, from the nature of the country where they dwell. Between them and the Sioux there is constant and irreconcileable hatred.

The Chippeways subsist principally on fish and wild rice. The Baptist Missionary Society has been the means of leading many of them into a better kind of life, and of instructing them at the same time in a better creed, and better arts and pursuits. They entertain, like most of the Indians, a belief in a Supreme Being, the "Master of Life," but they have little conception of a moral accountability. Polygamy is common. They have no marriage ceremony. The preliminaries are generally settled by relations of the parties; in the absence of the man, these bring the bride to his hut, where he finds her, and sits down, or walks away, as he would express approbation or dissent. The dead are buried deep, as much as eight feet, while the Sioux barely cover them. The bodies of chiefs are wrapped in blankets or bark, and raised on platforms. For several nights after an interment, fire is placed upon the grave.* The

Chippeways as well as some other tribes have sometimes been cannibals, in the case of enemies, taken or killed in war.

The Kansas and the Pawnee tribes are not much addicted to ardent spirits. They live like all Indians west of the Mississippi, a partially roving life. They have intermarried with the Osages. They do not marry those to whom they are remotely related. Widows mourn a year, clothed during that time in a negligent and ragged dress. At the expiration of this period the husband's brother generally takes the widow as one of his wives. Children are never punished. It is thought to be a good sign when they are wilful and headstrong. "He will make a good warrior," say the parents, "he will not be controlled." In travelling, infants are lashed to a board, as in many tribes. The attachments of paternity are strong among the Kanzas, and young men, who, in childhood, have been coupled out as friends, are little less attached than brothers. The men cut their hair except a small lock on the crown, that if they are vanquished in battle the enemy may have the advantage of the scalp. Many of these Indians are tattooed. In summer they carry fans of turkey feathers. The Kaskaias, Shiennes, &c. have few settled villages, but rove about for subsistence, living in lodges of skins. These are of a conical shape. The Osages live on the Osage River, and pay some attention to agriculture. They are well formed and tall, though they believe that their founder was a snail, who inter

no reply; he then placed his mouth close to her ear, and vociferated, "I am hungry, give me some food." The wife thought she heard a buzzing in her ear, and remarked it to one who sat near her. The enraged husband now summoning all his strength, struck her a blow upon her forehead. She only complained of feeling a shooting pain there, such as is not unfrequent, and raising her hand to her head, remarked, "I feel a slight headache."

Foiled thus in every attempt to make himself known, the warrior chief began to reflect upon what he had heard in his youth, that the spirit was sometimes permitted to leave the body and wander about. He reflected that possibly his body may have remained upon the field of battle, while his spirit only accompanied his returning friends. He determined to return upon their track, although it was four days' journey to the place. He accordingly began his journey immediately. For three days he pursued his way without meeting anything uncommon, but on the fourth towards evening, as he came to the skirts of the battle-field, he saw a fire in the path before him. He walked to one side to avoid stepping into it, but the fire also had moved its position, and was still before him. He then went in another direction, but the mysterious fire still crossed his path, and seemed to bar his entrance to the scene of conflict. In short, whichever way he took, the fire was still before him; no expedient seemed capable of eluding it. "Thou demon," he exclaimed at length, "why dost thou bar my approach to the field of battle? Knowest thou not that I am a spirit also, and that I seek again to enter my body? Or dost thou presume that I shall return without effecting my object? Know that I have never been defeated by the enemies of my nation, and will not be defeated by thee?" So saying, he made a sudden effort and jumped through the flame. In this exertion he awoke from his trance, having lain eight days on the field of battle. He found himself sitting on the ground, with his back supported by a tree, and his bow leaning against his shoulder, having all his warlike dress and implements upon his body, the same as they had been left by his friends. He looked up and beheld a large war eagle sitting in the tree above his head. He immediately recognised this bird to be the same he had dreamt of in his youth, and which he had selected as his guardian spirit, or personal maneto. This bird had carefully

watched his body, and prevented other ravenous birds from devouring it. He got up and stood some time upon his feet; but he found himself weak and much exhausted. The blood upon his wound had staunched itself, and he now bound it up. He possessed the knowledge of such roots as were efficacious for its cure. These he carefully sought in the woods. Some of them he pounded between stones, and applied externally; others he chewed and swallowed. In a short time he found himself so much recovered as to be able to commence his journey; but he suffered greatly from hunger, not being able to see any large animals. With his bow and arrows, however, he killed small birds during the day, which he roasted before the fire at night. In this way he sustained himself until he came to a water that separated his wife and friends from him. He then gave that peculiar whoop which indicates the safe return of an absent friend. The signal was instantly known, and a canoe despatched to bring him across. But while this canoe was absent, conjecture was exhausting itself in designating the unknown person who had given this friendly intimation of his approach. All who had been of the war party had returned, except those who were killed on the field. It might be some neighboring hunter. It might be some deception of their enemies. It was rash to send a canoe without knowing that any of their friends were absent. In the height of this conjecture, the warrior chief was landed amidst the shouts of his friends and relations, who thronged from every lodge to welcome their faithful leader. When the first wild bursts of wonder and joy had subsided, and some degree of quiet was restored in the village, he related to his people the account of his adventures, which has been given. He then concluded his narration by telling them that it is pleasing to the spirit of a deceased person to have a fire built upon his grave for four nights after his interment: that it is four days' journey to the land appointed for the residence of the spirit: that in its journey thither the spirit stood in need of a fire every night at the place of its encampment: and that if the friends kindled this funeral fire upon the place where the body was deposited, the spirit had the benefit of its light and warmth in its sojourning. If they neglected this rite the spirit would itself be subjected to the irksome task of building its own fires at night.

married with a beaver's daughter. These Indians therefore never killed the beaver, till the traders offered for the skins a sum too great for Osage piety.

The remnant of the Six Nations that now exist in the United States, and a few other tribes, live in reservations in New York. They live principally by agriculture, and raise considerable quantities of corn. They are surrounded by white population, and mutual depredations are the consequence. Like the most of the other tribes in the United States, they have some advantages of religious and other instruction without much availing themselves of it. There are faithful resident missionaries. Most of the Six Nations profess Christianity. They are gradually becoming more industrious. Of the other tribes within the limits of the States we have room for no other notice than the brief accounts under the sectional divisions. The Indians along the Missouri are well formed, and many of them have aquiline noses. Among the Omawhaws, the husband who marries the eldest daughter marries all her sisters, and takes them home when they become of age. Children, as in some other tribes, are weaned at about three years of age; and in this the mother is assisted by the ridicule of visiters. Suicides sometimes take place. There is a peculiar custom that the husband holds no communication with his wife's mother or father. They never speak to each other, but all communication is made through other persons. These Indians are divided into bands, to each of which some kind of food is interdicted. To one a swan, to another a bison's head, &c. They take great pleasure in fabulous legends, and seem to believe that at a remote period all animals had speech and went to war, armed with the weapons of men. The next natives up the Missouri, are the Yanktons, Puncahs, and three tribes of Tetons, which are Sioux, or Dahcotahs. The Rickarees were colonies of the Pawnees. They are well formed, and the females are handsome. They are hospitable and generous. The lodges are 30 or 40 feet in length, of a circular or octagonal shape. These Indians are not quarrelsome, though they are well armed with muskets. They cultivate beans, maize, melons, squashes, and a kind of tobacco peculiar to their district. Like all other Indians, they are much given to the use of tobacco, principally in smoking. The Mandans resided higher up the river, but they have lately been exterminated by the ravages of the small pox. Like some of the other tribes, they used to cut off the joints of a finger on the loss of a friend. The Minnetaries are a part of the stock of the Fall Indians. They are called also Grosventres or Bigbellies. They have annually a great "medicine," or religious dance, in which they inflict painful wounds upon themselves. One of them thrust a knife through the muscles of his shoulder, through which he tied the reins of his horse, and thus conducting the thirsty animal to the water, he turned him back without having suffered him to drink, and without raising his own hands. Other means of torture still more severe are practised. The Shoshonees live chiefly in the Rocky Mountains and the plains southward. They

are a tribe of the Snake Indians, and are represented as gentle and cheerful. They were the best of the Indians seen by Lewis and Clarke. Polygamy is common, but the women, as with the Mandans and Rickarees, seem to be held in some respect. This tribe are not well formed. The feet are thick and flat, and the legs crooked. Besides the common articles of dress, they wear a rich tippet of sea-otter skins.

The Blackfoot Indians, living near the Rocky Mountains, are fierce and warlike. They are constantly committing depredations or murders upon their neighbors, who are less efficiently armed than themselves. They are far north, and live in constant warfare with the Flatheads, and other tribes, that reside about the mountains. The cause of contention is the hunting of the buffalo in the plains. The Assiniboins live partly in the British territories, and partly in the possessions of the United States.

With the exception of the Esquimaux, the Indians have the same physical characteristics. The bronze color, straight black hair, high cheek bones, and erect form, are common to all. There is, however, difference of stature and physiognomy. The Osages are very tall, and the Shoshonees are below the middle stature. To a white all Indians may indeed seem alike, bu

a Dahcotah, a Chippeway, a Winnebago, &c. can readily distinguish the tribe by the individual. The Indians in the territories of the United States are divided into several great families. The Algonquin or Chippeway race is widely spread; all the tribes of New England had identity of language and customs with this. The Delaware race, or the Lenni-Lenape, the Knisteneaux or Crees, and the Sacs and Foxes are of the same great family. The Iroquois or Six Nations, Wyandots, &c., form a distinct race. The Sioux or Dahcotah is another great Indian race. Their language is radically different from that of the Algonquin family. The branches of this tribe are the Winnebagoes, Otoes, Ioways, Missouries, Assiniboins, Omawhaws, Kansas, and Osages. The Assiniboins are sometimes called the Stone Indians, and they have but recently seceded from the Dahcotah stock. All these tribes speak dialects of the Dahcotah tongue. The Winnebagoes are very jealous of the whites, and have little intercourse with them. They permit no persons to come among them without understanding their motives. They are remarkably provident, and cultivate corn, potatoes, pumpkins, squashes, and beans. Their number is considerably on the increase.

There are, besides these tribes, others of less note, on this side the Rocky Mountains, but they are not powerful or peculiar. In all there are perhaps several hundred tribes of separate names. The Indian population is decreasing, as the wild animals diminish. The small pox

Indian Warrior.

has at times heretofore, as well as recently, made extensive ravages; and want and exposure carry off many of the natives. They often live in a state of profusion, or of want, dependent on accident for food, and many of them yearly die of famine. In times of scarcity the old and helpless are left to perish. The articles of dress are nearly the same, though there is considerable difference in shape. They consist in moccasins, leggins, trowsers, cloth, or dressed skin, tied around the middle, and a blanket, when it can be had. In winter, furs constitute a part of the dress; and near the trading ports it is of various cloths.

In describing the Indian manners and customs, the nature of the subject precludes minute accuracy. Generally speaking, all the tribes between the Alleghanies and the Rocky Mountains are active and supple, but not so strong as the whites. They live, many of them, in a state of warfare. Questions of war, as all others of general importance, are decided in assemblies of the tribe, which are held with a gravity and deliberation unknown in other political assemblies. The most perfect attention is paid to a member while he is speaking, and a difference of opinion is calmly expressed. The chiefs are generally chosen from their ascendency in war or council. The Indian speeches contain a natural and figurative eloquence that has been much admired. Even their diplomacy is figurative, and at the close of a war, when reconciled, they "bury the hatchet and plant the tree of peace." In their treaties and talks with the agents of the United States, the President is styled, with somewhat too great a license of speech, their "Great Father."

The gravity of the Indians is imperturbable, and they are equally distinguished for taciturnity. They are seldom gay. Men are ashamed to express emotion, but women among them give way, on the loss of friends, to every expression of grief, tearing their hair, &c. Hospitality is ever to be found in huts and tents, and it is one of the most distinguishing traits of the Indians. They carry it, indeed, somewhat further than propriety warrants. It offends them if the stranger refuses to partake of the food they prepare for him. Though the Indians have much hospitality for a stranger, they have little mercy for a captive. Some few are adopted in tribes, but many are tortured, and killed with every device of barbarity. The religion of the tribes generally includes a belief in a Supreme Being, and some notion of another existence hereafter. They believe also in sorcery, and the "medicine or jugglers and pri sts have a consideration little inferior to that of the chiefs. The most general diseases seem to be rheumatic, and they are principally cured by the vapor bath, in which the Indians induge both for health and pleasure. These baths are very small in.

inen "

closures of clay or wickerwork, in which water is poured upon hot stones. Charms and incantations are generally resorted to as means of curing disease. The courtships, marriages, and divorces of the Indians are attended with little ceremony. Divorces are generally at the pleasure of each party, and courtships are mostly managed by friends. The various tribes are governed by their own customs. Murder is generally punished by the friends of the deceased, and adultery by the husband. The Indians have been instructed in many vices by the white traders, who are too often men without character or morals. From them, many get the means of intoxication, which they swallow to the most riotous and beastly excess. They have, in this respect, no command over themselves. In gaming, also, they will adventure to their last earthly possession. Many of the tribes have horses, and those of the north make much use of dogs, which are made to draw, as among the Esquimaux. The United States pay large annuities to various tribes, principally for purchases of land. There are Indian agents at various points, missionaries, schools, and mechanics for the use of the Indians. The aboriginal inhabitants are, however, gradually receding westward; and one of their number has truly said, that when a white man puts down his foot, he never takes it up again.

The Indian languages have not the various forms that are found in the eastern hemisphere; a uniform system seems to pervade them all. The American languages are richer in words, and more regular in their forms, than those of other countries. The most curious part of the Indian language is the process of compounding words. The number of words can thus be increased to any extent. A multitude of ideas are combined by the process; for instance, says Mr. Duponceau, "when a Delaware woman is playing with a little dog or cat, or some other young animal, she will often say to it, Kuligatschis, which I would translate into English,Give me your pretty little paw; or, What a pretty little paw you have! This word is cumpounded thus; k is the inseparable pronoun of the second person, and may be rendered thou or thy, according to the context; uli (pronounced oolee), is part of the word wulit, which signifies handsome, or pretty; it has also other meanings, which need not be here specified; gat is part of the word wichgat, which signifies a leg, or paw; schis (pronounced sheess), is a diminutive termination, and conveys the idea of littleness: thus, in one word, the Indian woman says, thy pretty little paw! and, according to the gesture which she makes, either calls upon it to present its foot, or simply expresses her fondling admiration. In the same manner, pilape (a youth) is formed from pilsit (chaste, innocent) and lenape (a man). It is difficult to find a more elegant combination of ideas, in a single word, of any existing idiom. I do not know of any language, out of this part of the world, in which words are compounded in this manner. The process consists in putting together portions of different words, so as to awaken, at the same time, in the mind of the hearer the various ideas which they separately express. But this is not the only manner in which the American Indians combine their ideas into words.

"In the Cherokee language, fourteen different words are used to express the action of washing: Kutuwo, I am washing myself, as in a river;

Kulestula,

my head;

Takosula,
Tatseyasula,

another person's head;

Takungkala,

my face;

Tatseyungkela,

another's face;

Takuteya,

my hands: another's hands;

Tseyuwa,
Kowela,

I am washing my feet; another's feet;

my clothes; another's clothes;

dishes, etc.; a child;

meat.

"The word old in English has a general sense; but among the Delawares the expression is varied according to the object which it describes, as kikey (old, advanced in years), applied to things animate; chowiey or chowiyey (old by use, wearing), &c.; kikeyilenno (an old man, advanced in years); kikechum (an old one of the brute kind); chowigawan (an old house), from wikwam or wigwam; chomaxen (old shoes), from maxen (moccasins or shoes); they say also, pigihilleu (torn by long use or wearing); logihilleu (fallen to pieces), &c. The same remarks may be made on the word young, &c."

It now remains to describe briefly the Indians of the Rocky Mountains and the country beyond. There are some general characteristics that run through them all. Generally they are not so well formed as the Indians heretofore described, and they study various and successful methods of creating artificial deformity. The people of no civilized country ever studied so much to appear beautiful, as some of these India is to look hideous. One of these practices, which runs through several of the tribes, is that of flattening the head. This is done by a flat piece of bark tied in infancy on the forehead. The forehead, when the