Keenowind suh.It is we (in.)Neenowind suh.It is we (ex.)Keenowa suh.It is ye, or you.Weenowau suh.It is they.
If the wordaittahbe substituted for suh, a set of adverbial phrases are formed.
Neen aittah,I only.Neen aittah wind,We &c. (ex.)Keen aittah wind,We &c. (in.)Keen aittah,Thou only.Keen aittah wau,You &c.Ween aittah,He or she only.Ween aittah wau,They &c.
In like mannernittumfirst, andishkwaudjlast, give rise to the following arrangement of the pronoun:
Neen nittum,I first.Keen nittum,You or thou first.Ween nittum,He or she first.Keen nittum ewind,We first. (in.)Neen nittum ewind,We first. (ex.)Keen nittum ewau,Ye or you first.Ween nittum ewau,They first.
ISHKWAUDJ.
Neen ishkwaudj,I last.Keen ishkwaudj,Thou last.Ween ishkwandj,He or she last.Keenowind ishkwaudj,We last (in.)Neenowind ishkwaudj,We last (ex.)Keenowau ishkwaudj,Ye or you last.Weenowau ishkwaudj,They last.
The disjunctive forms of the pronoun are also sometimes preserved before verbs and adjectives.
NEEZHIKA. Alone. (an.)
Neen neezhika,I alone.Keen neezhika,Thou alone.Ween neezhika,He or she alone.Keenowind neezhika,We alone (in.)Neenowind neezhika,We alone (ex.)Keenowau neezhika,Ye or you alone.Weenowau neezhika,They alone.
To give these expressions a verbal form, the substantive verb, with its pronominal modifications, must be superadded. For instance, Iamalone, &c., is thus rendered:
Neen neezhika nindyau,I am alone, ᙭ aumin.Keen neezhika keedyau,Thou art alone, ᙭ aum.Ween neezhika Iyau,He or she is alone, &c. ᙭ wug.
In the subjoined examples the noun ow, body, is changed to a verb, bythe permutation of the vowel, changing ow to auw, which last takes the letter d before it, when the pronoun is prefixed.
I am a man,Neen nin dauw.Thou art a man,Keen ke dauw.He is a man,Ween ah weeh.We are men, (in.)Ke dauw we min.We are men, (ex.)Ne dauw we min.Ye are men,Ke dauw min.They are men,Weenowau ah weeh wug.
In the translation of these expressions “man” is used as synonymous with person. If the specific terminine, had been introduced in the original, the meaning thereby conveyed would be, in this particular connexion, I am a man with respect tocourage&c., in opposition to effeminacy. It would not be simply declarative ofcorporeal existence, but of existence in aparticular state or condition.
In the following phrases, the modified forms, or the signs only, of the pronouns are used:
N’ debaindaun,I own it.Ke debaindaun,Thou ownest it.O debaindaun,He or she owns it.N’ debaindaun-in,We own it (ex.)Ke debaindaun-in,We own it (in.)Ke debaindaun-ewau,Ye own it.O debaindaun-ewau,They own it.
These examples are cited as exhibiting the manner in which the prefixed and preformative pronouns are employed, both in their full and contracted forms. To denote possession, nouns specifying the things possessed, are required; and, what would not be anticipated, had not full examples of this species of declension been given in another place, the purposes of distinction are not effected by a simple change of the pronoun, asItomine, &c., but by a subformative inflection of thenoun, which is thus made to have a reflective operation upon the pronoun-speaker. It is believed that sufficient examples of this rule, in all the modifications of inflection, have been given under the head of the substantive. But as the substantives employed to elicit these modifications were exclusivelyspecificin their meaning, it may be proper here, in further illustration of an important principle, to present a generic substantive under their compound forms.
I have selected for this purpose one of the primitives.Ie-aú, is the abstract term for existing matter. It is in the animate form and declarative. Its inanimate correspondent isIE-EÉ. These are two important roots. And they arefound in combination, in a very great number of derivative words. It will be sufficient here, to show their connexion with the pronoun, in the production of a class of terms in very general use.
Animate Forms.
Singular.Plural.Nin dyë aum,Mine.Nin dyë auminaun,Ours. (ex.)Poss.{Ke dyë auminaun,Ours. (in.)Ke dyë aum,Thine.Ke dyë aumewau,Yours.Obj.O dyë aum-un,His or Hers.O dyë aumewaun,Theirs.
{
{
{
Inanimate Forms.
Singular.Plural.Nin dyë eem,Mine.Nin dyë eeminaun,Ours. (ex.)Poss.{Ke dyë eeminaun,Ours. (in.)Ke dyë eem,Thine.Ke dyë eemewau,Yours.Obj.O dyë eem-un,His or Hers.O dyë eemewaun,Theirs.Poss. in.
{
{
{
In these forms the noun is singular throughout. To render it plural, as well as the pronoun, the appropriate general pluralsugandunorigandin, must be superadded. But it must be borne in mind, in making these additions, “that the plural inflection to inanimate nouns (which have no objective case,) forms the objective case to animates, which have no number in the third person,” [p. 30.] The particleun, therefore, which is the appropriate plural for the inanimate nouns in these examples, is only the objective mark of the animate.
The plural of I, isnaun, the plural of thou and he,wau. But as these inflections would not coalesce smoothly with the possessive inflections, the connective vowels i. and e. are prefixed, making the plural of I,inaun, and of thou, &c.ewau.
If we strike from these declensions the rootIE, leaving its animate and inanimate formsAU, andEE, and adding the plural of the noun, we shall then,—taking theanimatedeclension as an instance, have the following formula of the pronominal declensions.
Pron.Sing.Place of the Noun.Possessive inflection.Obj. inflec. to the noun sing.Connect. vowel.Plu inflec. of the pronoun.Obj. inflect. n. plu.Plural of the Noun.Neaum– i –– naun– ig.Keaum– e –– wau– g.OaumunOaum– e –– wau– n
To render this formula of general use, six variations, (five in additionto the above) of the possessive inflection, are required, corresponding to the six classes of substantives, whereby aum would be changed to am, eem, im, öm, and oom, conformably to the examples heretofore given in treating of the substantive. The objective inflection, would also be sometimes changed toeenand sometimes tooan.
Having thus indicated the mode of distinguishing the person, number, relation, and gender—or what is deemed its technical equivalent, the mutation words undergo, not to mark the distinctions ofsex, but the presence or absence ofvitality, I shall now advert to the inflections which the pronouns take fortense, or rather, to form the auxiliary verbs, have, had, shall, will, may, &c. A very curious and important principle, and one, which clearly demonstrates that no part of speech has escaped the transforming genius of the language. Not only are the three great modifications of time accurately marked in the verbal forms of the Chippewas, but by the inflection of the pronoun they are enabled to indicate some of the oblique tenses, and thereby to conjugate their verbs with accuracy and precision.
The particlegeeadded to the first, second, and third persons singular of the present tense, changes them to the perfect past, rendering I, thou, He, I did—have—or had. Thou didst,—hast—or hadst, He, or she did—have, or had. Ifgah, be substituted forgee, the first future tense is formed, and the perfect past added to the first future, forms the conditional future. As the eye may prove an auxiliary in the comprehension of forms, which are not familiar, the following tabular arrangement of them, is presented.
First Person, I.Nin gee,I did—have—had.Nin gah,I shall—will.Nin gah gee,I shall have—will have.Second Person, Thou.Ke gee,Thou didst—hast—hadst.Ke gah,Thou shalt—wilt.Ke gah gee,Thou shall have—wilt have.Third Person, He, or She.O gee,He or she did—has—had.O gah,He or she did—has—had.O gah gee,He or she shall have—will have.
The present and imperfect tense of the potential mood, is formed bydau, and the perfect bygee, suffixed as in other instances.
First Person, I.Nin dau,I may—can, &c.Nin dau gee,I may have—can have, &c.Second Person, Thou.Ke dau,Thou mayst—canst, &c.Ke dau gee,Thou mayst have—canst have, &c.Third Person, He, or She.O dau,He or she may—can, &c.O dau gee,He or she may have—can have, &c.
In conjugating the verbs through the plural persons, the singular terms for the pronoun remain, and they are rendered plural by a retrospective action of the pronominal inflections of the verb. In this manner the pronoun-verb auxiliary, has a general application, and the necessity of double forms is avoided.
The preceding observations are confined to the formative orprefixedpronouns. The inseparable suffixed or subformative are as follows—
Yaun,My.Yun,Thy.Id, or d,His, or hers.Yaung,Our. (ex.)Yung,Our. (in.)Yaig,Your.Waud,Their.
These pronouns are exclusively employed as suffixes,—and as suffixes to the descriptive compound substantives, adjectives and verbs. Both the rule and examples have been stated under the head of the substantive, p. 43. and adjective, p. 81. Their application to the verb will be shown, as we proceed.
2. Relative Pronouns. In a language which provides for the distinctions of person by particles prefixed or suffixed to the verb, it will scarcely be expected, that separate and independent relative pronouns should exist, or if such are to be found, their use, as separate parts of speech, must, it will have been anticipated, be quite limited—limited to simple interrogatory forms of expression, and not applicable to the indicative, or declaratory. Such will be found to be the fact in the language under review; and it will be perceived, from the subjoined examples, that in all instances, requiring the relative pronounwho, other than the simple interrogatory forms, this relation is indicated by the inflections of the verb, or adjective, &c. Nor does there appear to be any declension of the separate pronoun, corresponding towhose, andwhom.
The word Ahwaynain, may be said to be uniformly employed in the sense ofwho, under the limitations we have mentioned. For instance.
Who is there?Ahwaynain e-mah ai-aud?Who spoke?Ahwaynain kau keegœdood?Who told you?Ahwaynain kau ween dumoak?Who are you?Ahwaynain iau we yun?Who sent you?Ahwaynain waynönik?Who is your father?Ahwaynain kös?Who did it?Ahwaynain kau tödung?Whose dog is it?Ahwaynain way dyid?Whose pipe is that?Ahwaynain döpwaugunid en-eu?Whose lodge is it?Ahwaynain way weegewomid?Whom do you seek?Ahwaynain nain dau wau bumud?Whom have you here?Ahwaynain oh omau ai auwaud?
Not the slightest variation is made in these phrases, between who, whose, and whom.
Should we wish to change the interrogative, and to say, he who is there; he who spoke; he who told you, &c., the separable personal pronoun ween (he) must be used in lieu of the relative, and the following forms will be elicited.
Ween, kau unnönik,He (who) sent you.Ween, kau geedood,He (who) spoke.Ween, ai-aud e-mah,He (who) is there.Ween, kau weendumoak,He (who) told you.Ween, kau tö dung,He (who) did it, &c.
If we object that, that in these forms, there is no longer the relative pronounwho, the sense being simply, he sent you, he spoke, &c., it is replied that if it be intended only to say, he sent you, &c., and not hewhosent you, &c., the following forms are used.
Ke gee unnönig.He (sent) you.Ainnözhid,He (sent) me.Ainnönaud,He (sent) him, &c.Iau e-mau,He is there.Ke geedo,He (spoke.)Kegeeweendumaug,He (told) you.Ke to dum,He did it.
We reply, to this answer of the native speaker, that the particlekauprefixed to a verb denotes the past tense,—that in the former series of terms, in which this particle appears, the verbs are in the perfect indicative,—and in the latter, they are in the present indicative, marking the difference only betweensentandsend,spokeandspeak, &c. And that there is absolutely no relative pronoun, in either series of terms. We further observe, that the personal pronoun ween, prefixed to the first set of terms, may be prefixed with equal propriety, to the second set, and that its use or disuse, is perfectly optional with the speaker, as he may wish to give additional energy or emphasis to the expression. To these positions, after reflection, discussion and examination, we receive an assent, and thus the uncertainty is terminated.
We now wish to apply the principle thus elicited to verbs causative, and other compound terms—to the adjective verbs, for instance—and to the other verbal compound expressions, in which the objective and the nominative persons, are incorporated as a part of the verb, and are not prefixes to it. This may be shown in the causative verb,To make Happy.
Mainwaindumëid,He (who) makesmehappy.Mainwaindumëik,He (who) makestheehappy.Mainwaindumëaud,He (who) makeshimhappy.Mainwaindumëinung,He (who) makesushappy. (inclusive.)Mainwaindumëyaug,He (who) makesushappy. (exclusive.)Mainwaindumëinnaig,He (who) makesyeoryouhappy.Mainwaindumëigowaud,He (who) makesthemhappy.
And so the forms might be continued, throughout all the objective persons.—
Mainwaindumëyun,Thou (who) makest me happy, &c.
The basis of these compounds isminno, good, andaindum, the mind. Hence minwaindum, he happy. The adjective in this connexion, cannot be translated “good,” but its effect upon the noun, is to denote that state of the mind, which is at rest with itself. The first change from this simple compound, is to give the adjective a verbal form; and this is effected by a permutation of the vowels of the first syllable—a rule of very extensive application—and by which, in the present instance, the phrasehe happy, is changed tohe makes happy, (mainwaindum.) The next step is to add the suffix personal pronouns, id, ik, aud, &c., rendering the expressions, he makesmehappy, &c. But in adding these increments, the vowel e, is thrown between the adjective-verb, and the pronoun suffixed, making the expression, not mainwaindum-yun, but mainwaindumëyun. Generally the vowel e in this situation, is a connective, or introduced merely for the sake of euphony. And those who maintain that it is here employed as a personal pronoun, and that the relativewho, is implied by the final inflection; overlook the inevitable inference, that if the marked e, stands formein the first phrase, it must stand fortheein the second,hein the third,usin the fourth, &c. As to the meaning and office of the final inflections id, ik, &c.—whatever they may, in an involuted senseimply, it is quite clear, by turning to the list ofsuffixed personal pronounsandanimate plurals, that they mark the persons, I, thou, he, &c., we, ye, they, &c.
Take for example, minwaindumëigowaud. He (who) makes them happy. Of this compound, minwaindum, as before shown, signifieshe makes happy. But as the verb is in the singular number, it implies that butone personis made happy, and the suffixed personal pronounssingular, mark the distinctions betweenme,thee, and he, or him.
Minwaindum-e-ig is the verb plural, and implies that several persons are made happy, and, in like manner, the suffixed personal pronounsplural, mark the distinctions between we, ye, they, &c. For it is a rule of the language, that a strict concordance must exist between the number of the verb, and the number of the pronoun. The termination of the verb consequently always indicates, whether there be one or many objects, to which its energy is directed. And as animate verbs can be applied only to animate objects, the numerical inflections of the verb, are understood to mark the number of persons. But this number is indiscriminate, and leaves the sense vague, until the pronominal suffixes are superadded. Those who, therefore, contend for the sense of the relative pronoun “who,” being given in the last mentioned phrase, and all phrases similarly formed, by a succedaneum, contend for something like the following form of translation:—He makes them happy—him! or Him—he (meaning who) makes them happy.
The equivalent for what, isWaygonain.
What do you want?Waygonain wau iauyun?What have you lost?Waygonain kau wonetöyun?What do you look for?Waygonain nain dahwaubundamun?What is this?Waygonain ewinain maundun?What will you have?Waygonain kau iauyun?What detained you?Waygonain kau oon dahme egöyun?What are you making?Waygonain wayzhetöyun?What have you there?Waygonain e-mau iauyun?
The use of this pronoun, like the preceding, appears to be confined to simple interrogative forms. The wordauneen, which sometimes supplies its place, or is used for want of the pronounwhich, is an adverb, and has considerable latitude of meaning. Most commonly it may be considered as the equivalent forhow, in what manner, or at what time.
What do you say?Auneen akeedöyun?What do you call this?Auneen aizheneekaudahmun maundun?(i.)What ails you?Auneen aindeeyun?What is your name?Auneen aizheekauzoyun?Which do you mean; this or that?(an.)Auneen ah-owainud, woh-ow gämau ewidde?Which do you mean; this or that?(in.)Auneen eh-eu ewaidumun oh-oo gãmau ewaidde?Which boy do you mean?Auneen ah-ow-ainud?
By adding to this word, the particlede, it is converted into an adverb of place, and may be renderedwhere.
Where do you dwell?Auneende aindauyun?Where is your son?Auneende ke gwiss?Where did you see him?Auneende ke waubumud?
becomes quite necessary in writing the language. And in the following sentences, the substantive is properly employed after the pronoun.
This dog is very lean,Gitshee bukaukdoozo woh-ow annemoosh.These dogs are very lean,Gitshee bukauddoozowug o-goo annemooshug.Those dogs are fat,Ig-eu annemooshug ween-in-oawug.That dog is fat,Ah-ow annemoosh ween-in-ao.This is a handsome knife,Gagait onishishin maundun mokomahn.These are handsome knives,Gagait wahwinaudj o-noo mokomahnun.Those are bad knives,Monaududön in-euwaidde mokomahnun.Give me that spear,Meezhishin eh-eu ahnitt.Give me those spears,Meezhishin in-eu unnewaidde ahnitteen.That is a fine boy,Gagait kwonaudj ah-ow kweewezains.Those are fine boys,Gagait wahwinaudj ig-euwaidde kweewezainsug.This boy is larger than that,Nahwudj mindiddo woh-ow kweewezains ewaidde dush.That is what I wanted,Meeh-eu wau iauyaumbaun.This is the very thing I wanted,Mee-suh oh-oo wau iauyaumbaun.
In some of these expressions, the pronoun combines with an adjective, as in the compound words, ineuwaidde, and igeuwaidde,those yonder, (in.) andthose yonder(an.) Compounds which exhibit the full pronoun in coalescence with the wordEwaiddeyonder.
Columbus discovered the West Indies Oct. 12, 1492.Americo Vespucio, discovered the coast of South America, 1497.Cabot discovered the North American coast 1497.De Leon discovered Florida 1512.Cortes, enters the city of Mexico, after a siege, Aug. 13, 1521.Verrizani, is said to have entered the bay of New York, 1524.Cartier discovered the St. Lawrence, 1534.Jamestown, in Virginia, is founded, 1608.Acknowledged date of the settlement of Canada, 1608.Hudson discovers the river bearing his name, 1609.The Dutch build a fort near Albany, 1614.The Pilgrims land at Plymouth Dec. 22, 1620.New Amsterdam taken from the Dutch by the Duke of York and Albany and named New York 1664.La Salle discovers the Illinois in upper Louisiana 1678.discovers Lower Louisiana, and is killed 1685.
Columbus discovered the West Indies Oct. 12, 1492.
Americo Vespucio, discovered the coast of South America, 1497.
Cabot discovered the North American coast 1497.
De Leon discovered Florida 1512.
Cortes, enters the city of Mexico, after a siege, Aug. 13, 1521.
Verrizani, is said to have entered the bay of New York, 1524.
Cartier discovered the St. Lawrence, 1534.
Jamestown, in Virginia, is founded, 1608.
Acknowledged date of the settlement of Canada, 1608.
Hudson discovers the river bearing his name, 1609.
The Dutch build a fort near Albany, 1614.
The Pilgrims land at Plymouth Dec. 22, 1620.
New Amsterdam taken from the Dutch by the Duke of York and Albany and named New York 1664.
La Salle discovers the Illinois in upper Louisiana 1678.
discovers Lower Louisiana, and is killed 1685.
Ke-wa-kons, a chief of the straits of St. Mary’s, told me, during an interview, in 1827, that but seven generations of red men had passed away, since the French first appeared on those straits. If we take the date of Cartier’s first visit to the St. Lawrence, as the era of their acquaintance with this nation, A. D. 1534, we should have 56 years as the period of an Indian generation. Should we take, instead of this, the time of La Salle’s first arrival on the upper lakes, 1778, there would, on the contrary, be but a fraction over 22 years for a generation. But neither of these periods, can be truly said to coincide with the probable era of the chief’s historical reminiscences. The first is too early, the last too late. An average of the two, which is required to apply the observation properly, gives 38 years as the Indian generation. This nearly assimilates it to the results among Europeans, leaving 8 years excess. Further data would probably reduce this; but it is a department in which we have so little material, that we must leave it till these be accumulated. It may be supposed that the period of Indian longevity, before the introduction of ardent spirits, was equal, perhaps, a little superior, to that of the European; but it did not exceed it, we think, by 8 years.
Ke-wa-kons, whom I knew very well, was a man of shrewd sense, and respectable powers of observation. He stated, at the same interview, that his tribe, who were of the Odjibwa type of the Algonquins, laid aside their Akeeks, or clay cooking-vessels, atthat time, and adopted in lieu of them, the light brass kettle, which was more portable and permanent. And from that time, their skill in pottery declined, until, in our day, it is entirely lost. It is curious to reflect, that within the brief period of 150 years, a living branch of coarse manufacture among them, has thus been transferred into an object of antiquarian research. This fact, should make historians cautious in assigning very remote periods of antiquity to the monumental evidences of by-gone generations.
It is by such considerations that we get a glimpse of some of the general principles which attended the early periods of discovery and settlement, in all parts of the continent. Adventurers came to find gold, or furs, to amass wealth, get power, or to perform mere exploits. Nobody cared much for the native race, beyond the fact of their being the medium to lead to thesespecified objects. There were none, to record accurately, their arts, and other peculiarities, which now excite intense interest. They died away very fast, whole tribes becoming extinct within a generation or two. The European fabrics, then introduced, were so much superior to their own, that they, at once, discontinued such rude arts as they practised, at least in our northern latitudes. New adventurers followed in the track of Columbus, Amerigo, Cabot, and their compeers and followers, who, in the lapse of time, picked up, from the soil, pieces of coarse pottery, pestles and such like things, and holding them up, said,—“See these!—here are evidences of very great skill, and very high antiquity.”
It is not the intention by any means, to assert, that there were not antiquities of a far higher era, and nobler caste, but merely to impress upon inquirers, the necessity of discriminating the different eras in the chronology of our antiquities. All Indian pottery, north of the capes of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, is of, or preceding the era of the discovery; but there is found in graves, a species of pottery, and vitrified ware, which was introduced, in the early stages of traffic, by Europeans. Of this transition era between the dying away of the Indian arts, and the introduction of the European, are the rude pastes, enamel and glass beads, and short clay pipes of coarse texture, found in Indian cemeteries, but not in the tumuli. In place of these, our ancient Indians used wrought and unwrought sea shells of various species, and pipes carved out of seatites and other soft materials.
Mr. Anderson remarks in his biography of Catharine Brown, that “the Cherokees are said to possess a language, which is more precise and powerful than any into which learning has poured richness of thought, or genius breathed the enchantments of fancy and eloquence.”
David Brown, in one of his letters, in the same volume, terms his people the Tsallakee, of which we must therefore take “Cherokee,” to be a corruption. It is seen by the Cherokee alphabet, that the sound ofrdoes not occur in that language.
FAITH.
When Chusco was converted to Christianity at the mission of Michilinackinac, he had planted a field of potatoes on one of the neighbouring islands in lake Huron. In the fall he went over in his canoe, with his aged wife, to dig them—a labour which the old woman set unceremoniously about, as soon as they got into the field. “Stop!” cried the little old man, who had a small tenor voice and was bent nearly double by age,—“dare you begin to dig, till we have thanked the Lord for their growth.” They then both knelt down in the field, while he lifted up his voice, in his native language, in thanks.
The native tribes who occupy the borders of the great lakes, are very ingenious in converting to the uses of superstition, such masses of loose rock, or boulder stones, as have been fretted by the action of water into shapes resembling the trunks of human bodies, or other organic forms.
There appears, at all times, to have been a ready disposition to turn such masses of rude natural sculpture, so to call them, to an idolatrous use; as well as a most ingenious tact, in aiding the effect of the natural resemblance, by dots or dabs of paint, to denote eyes, and other features, or by rings of red ochre, around their circumference, by way of ornament.
In the following figures, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, some of these masses are represented.
Number 3. was brought to the office of the Indian Agent at Michilimackinac in 1839, and placed among objects of analagous interest to visitors. It consisted of a portion of a vein or mass of gneiss or granite, from which both mica and feldspar were nearly absent, existing only in trace, while the quartzy portion predominated, and had, by its superior hardness, resisted the elemental action. The mode of the formation of such masses is very well known to geologists, resulting, in almost every case, from the unequal degree of hardness of various parts of a mass, submitted to an equal force of attrition, such as is ordinarily given by the upheaving and rolling force of waves on a lake, or ocean beach. To the natives, who are not prone to reason from cause to effect, such productions appear wonderful. All that is past comprehension, or wonderful, is attributed by them to the supernatural agency of spirits. The hunter orwarrior, who is travelling along the coast, and finds one of these self-sculptured stones, is not sure that it is not a direct interposition of his God, or guardian Manito, in his favour. He is habitually a believer in the most subtle forms of mysterious power, which he acknowledges to be often delegated to the native priests, or necromancers. He is not staggered by the most extraordinary stretch of fancy, in the theory of the change or transformation of animate into inanimate objects, and vice versa. All things, “in heaven and earth,” he believes to be subject to this subtle power of metamorphosis. But, whatever be the precise operating cause of the respect he pays to the imitative rolled stones, which he calls Shingaba-wossins, and also by the general phrase of Muz-in-in-a-wun, or images, he is not at liberty to pass them without hazarding something, in his opinion, of his chance of success in life, or the fortune of the enterprize in hand.
If the image be small, it is generally taken with him and secreted in the neighborhood of his lodge. If large and too heavy for this purpose, it is set up on the shore, generally in some obscure nook, where an offering of tobacco, or something else of less value, may be madetoit, or ratherthroughit, to the spirit.
In 1820 one of these stones (No. 2.) was met by an expedition of the government sent north, that year, for the purpose of interior discovery and observation, at the inner Thunder Bay island, in Lake Huron. It was a massy stone, rounded, with a comparatively broad base and entablature but not otherwise remarkable. It was set up, under a tree on the island, which was small, with the wide and clear expanse of the lake in plain view. The island was one of those which were regarded as desert, and was probably but seldom stopped at. It was, indeed, little more than a few acres of boulders and pebbles, accumulated on a limestone reef, and bearing a few stunted trees and shrubs. The water of the lake must, in high storms, have thrown its spray over this imaged stone. It was, in fine, one of those private places which an Indian might be supposed to have selected for his secret worship.
In No. 3. is figured an object of this kind, which was found in 1832, in the final ascent to the source of the Mississippi, on the right cape, in ascending this stream into lac Traverse—at the distance of about 1000 miles above the falls of St. Anthony. I landed at the point to see it, having heard, from my interpreter, that such an object was set up and dedicated to some unknown Manito there. It was a pleasant level point of land shaded with trees, and bearing luxuriant grass and wild shrubbery and flowers. In the middle of this natural parterre the stone was placed, and was overtopped by this growth, and thus concealed by it. A ring of red paint encircled it, at the first narrowed point of its circumference, to give it the resemblance of a human neck; and there were some rude dabs to denote other features. The Indian is not precise in the matter ofproportion, either in his drawing, or in his attempts at statuary. He seizes upon some minute and characteristic trait, which is at once sufficient to denote thespecies, and he is easily satisfied about the rest. Thus a simple cross, with a strait line from shoulder to shoulder, and a dot, or circle above, to serve for a head, is the symbol of the human frame; and without any adjunct of feet, or hands, it could not have been mistaken for any thing else—certainly for any other object in the animal creation.
CHAPTER I.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS.—SYMBOLICAL REPRESENTATIONS AND HIEROGLYPHICS, ONE OF THE EARLIEST OBSERVED TRAITS IN THE CUSTOMS AND ARTS OF THE AMERICAN ABORIGINES; BUT THIS ART NOT SUSPECTED TO HAVE A SYSTEMATIC FORM AMONG THE RUDE HUNTER TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA, UNTIL THE YEAR 1820, WHEN IT WAS DISCOVERED ON THE SOURCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI. THIS INSTANCE GIVEN, WITH A DRAWING; THE HINT PURSUED.
The practice of the North American tribes, of drawing figures and pictures on skins, trees, and various other substances, has been noticed by travellers and writers from the earliest times. Among the more northerly tribes, these figures are often observed on that common substitute for the ancient papyrus, among these nations, the bark of thebetula papyracea, or white birch: a substance possessing a smooth surface, easily impressed, very flexible, and capable of being preserved in rolls. Often these devices are cut, or drawn in colours on the trunks of trees, more rarely on rocks or boulders. According to Colden and Lafitou records of this rude character were formerly to be seen on the blazed surface of trees, along some of the ancient paths and portages leading from the sources of the Atlantic rivers into the interior, or in the valley of the St. Lawrence; but these, after satisfying a transient curiosity, have long since yielded to the general fate of these simple and unenduring monuments. Pictures and symbols of this kind are now to be found only on the unreclaimed borders of the great area west of the Alleghanies and the Lakes, in the wide prairies of the west, or along the Missouri and the upper Mississippi. It is known that such devices were in use, to some extent, at the era of the discovery, among most of the tribes, situated between the latitudes of the capes of Florida, and Hudson’s Bay, although they have been considered as more particularly characteristic of the tribes of the Algonquin type. In a few instances, these pictorial inscriptions have been found to be painted or stained on the faces of rocks, or on loose boulders, and still more rarely, devices were scratched or pecked into the surface, as is found to be the case still at Dighton and Venango. Those who are intenton observations of this kind, will find figures and rude hieroglyphics invariably at the present time, on the grave posts which mark the places of Indian sepulchre at the west and north. The nations who rove over the western prairies, inscribe them on the skins of the buffalo. North of latitude 42°, the bark of the birch, which furnishes at once the material of canoes, tents, boxes, water-dippers, and paper, constitutes the common medium of their exhibition. Tablets of hard wood are confined to such devices as are employed by their priests and prophets, and medicine-men; and these characters uniformly assume a more mystical or sacred import. But the recent discovery, on one of the tributaries of the Susquehanna, of an Indian map, drawn on stone, with intermixed devices, a copy of which appears in the 1st volume of the collections of the Historical Committee of the American Philosophical Society, proves that stone was also employed in that branch of inscription. This discovery was on the area occupied by the Lenapees.
Colden, in his history of the Five Nations,[23]informs us that when, in 1696, the Count de Frontenac marched a well appointed army into the Iroquois country, with artillery and all other means of regular military offence, he found, on the banks of the Onondaga, now called Oswego river, a tree, on the trunk of which the Indians had depicted the French army, and deposited two bundles of cut rushes at its foot, consisting of 1434 pieces—an act of defiance on their part, which was intended to inform their invaders, that they would have to encounter this number of warriors. In speaking in another passage of the general traits of the Five Nations, he mentions the general custom prevalent among the Mohawks going to war, of painting, with red paint, on the trunk of a tree, such symbols, as might serve to denote the object of their expedition. Among the devices was a canoe pointed towards the enemies’ country. On their return, it was their practice to visit the same tree, or precinct, and denote the result: the canoe being, in this case, drawn with its bows in the opposite direction. Lafitou, in his account of the nations of Canada, makes observations on this subject to which we shall more particularly refer hereafter, which denote the general prevalence of the custom in that quarter. Other writers, dating as far back as Smith and de Bre, bear a passing testimony to the existence of this trait among the northern tribes. Few have however done more than notice it, and none are known to have furnished any amount of connected details.
A single element in the system attracted early notice. I allude to the institution of the Totem, which has been well known among the Algonquin tribes from the settlement of Canada. By this device, the early missionaries observed, that the natives marked their division of a tribe into clans, and of a clan into families, and the distinction was thus very clearly preserved. Affinities were denoted and kept up, long after tradition had failed in its testimony. This distinction, which is marked with much of the certainty of heraldic bearings in the feudal system, was seen to mark the arms, the lodge, and the trophies of the chief and warrior. It was likewise employed to give identity to theclanof which he was a member, on his ad-je-da-teg or grave-post. This record went but little farther; a few strokes or geometric devices were drawn on these simple monuments, to denote the number of men he had slain in battle.
It has not been suspected in any notices to which I have had access, that there was a pictorial alphabet, or a series of homophonous figures, in which, by the juxtaposition of symbols representing acts, as well as objects of action, and by the introduction of simple adjunct signs, a series of disjunctive, yet generally connected ideas, were denoted; or that the most prominent incidents of life and death could be recorded so as to be transmitted from one generation to another, as long at least as the monument and the people endured. Above all, it was not anticipated that there should have been found, as will be observed in the subsequent details, a system of symbolic notation for the songs and incantations of the Indian metas and priests, making an appeal to the memory for the preservation of language.
Persons familiar with the state of the western tribes of this continent, particularly in the higher northern latitudes, have long been aware that the songs of the Indian priesthood, and wabenoes, were sung from a kind of pictorial notation, made on bark. It is a fact which has often come to the observation of military officers performing duties on those frontiers, and of persons exercising occasional duties in civil life, who have passed through their territories. But there is no class of persons to whom the fact of such notations being made, is so well known, as the class of Indian traders and interpreters who visit or reside a part of the season at the Indian villages. I have never conversed with any of this latter class of persons to whom the fact of such inscriptions, made in various ways, was not so familiar as in their view to excite no surprise or even demand remark.
My attention was first called to the subject in 1820. In the summer of that year I was on an exploring journey through the lake country. At the mouth of the small river Huron, on the banks of Lake Superior, there was an Indian grave fenced around with saplings, and protected with much care. At its head stood a post, or tabular stick, upon which was drawn the figure of the animal which was the symbol of the clan to which the deceased chief belonged. Strokes of red paint were added to denote, either the number of war parties in which he had been engaged, or the number of scalps which he had actually taken from the enemy. The interpreter who accompanied us, and who was himself tinctured with Indian blood, gave the latter, as the true import of these marks.
On quitting the river St. Louis, which flows into the head of the lake at the Fond du Lac, to cross the summit dividing its waters from those ofthe Mississippi, the way led through heavy and dense woods and swamps and the weather proved dark and rainy, so that, for a couple of days together, we had scarcely a glimpse of the sun.
The party consisted of sixteen persons, with two Indian guides; but the latter, with all their adroitness in threading the maze, were completely at fault for nearly an entire day. At night we lay down on ground elevated but a few inches above the level of the swamp. The next morning as we prepared to leave the camp, a small sheet of birch bark containing devices was observed elevated on the top of a sapling, some 8 or 10 feet high. One end of this pole was thrust firmly into the ground leaning in the direction we were to go. On going up to this object, it was found, with the aid of the interpreter, to be a symbolic record of the circumstances of our crossing this summit, and of the night’s encampment at this spot. Each person was appropriately depicted, distinguishing the soldiers from the officer in command, and the latter from the scavans of the party. The Indians themselves were depicted without hats, this being, as we noticed, the general symbol for a white man or European. The entire record, of which a figure is annexed, accurately symbolized the circumstances, and they were so clearly drawn, according to their conventional rules, that the intelligence would be communicated thereby to any of their people who might chance to travel or wander this way. This was the object of the inscription.