History, Manners, and Customs of the North American Indians Part 3

_Hunter._ That there is much of evil among Indians is certain; much of ignorance, unrestrained pa.s.sions, cruelty, and revenge: but they have been misrepresented in many things. I had better tell you the names of some of the chiefs of the tribes, or of some of the most remarkable men among them.

_Austin._ Yes; you cannot do better. Tell us the names of all the chiefs, and the warriors, and the conjurors, and all about them.

_Hunter._ The Blackfeet Indians are a very warlike people; _Stu-mick-o-sucks_ was the name of their chief.

_Austin._ Stu-mick-o-sucks! What a name! Is there any meaning in it?

_Hunter._ O yes. It means, "the back fat of the buffalo;" and if you had seen him and _Peh-to-pe-kiss_, "the ribs of the eagle," another chief dressed up in their splendid mantles, buffaloes' horns, ermine tails, and scalp-locks, you would not soon have turned your eyes from them.

_Brian._ Who would ever be called by such a name as that? The back fat of the buffalo!

_Hunter._ The Camanchees are famous on horseback. There is no tribe among the Indians that can come up to them, to my mind, in the management of a horse, and the use of the lance: they are capital hunters. The name of their chief is _Ee-shah-ko-nee_, or "the bow and quiver." I hardly ever saw a larger man among the Indians than _Ta-wah-que-nah_, the second chief in power. Ta-wah-que-nah means "the mountain of rocks," a very fit name for a huge Indian living near the Rocky Mountains. When I saw _Kots-o-ko-ro-ko_, or "the hair of the bull's neck," (who is, if I remember right, the third chief,) he had a gun in his right hand, and his warlike s.h.i.+eld on his left arm.

_Austin._ If I go among the Indians, I shall stay a long time with the Camanchees; and then I shall, perhaps, become one of the most skilful hors.e.m.e.n, and one of the best hunters in the world.

_Brian._ And suppose you get thrown off your horse, or killed in hunting buffaloes, what shall you say to it then?

_Austin._ Oh, very little, if I get killed; but no fear of that. I shall mind what I am about. Tell us who is the head of the Sioux?

_Hunter._ When I was at the upper waters of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, _Ha-won-je-tah_, or "the one horn," was chief; but since then, being out among the buffaloes, a buffalo bull attacked and killed him.

_Basil._ There, Austin! If an Indian chief was killed by a buffalo, what should _you_ do among them? Why they would toss you over their heads like a shuttlec.o.c.k.

_Hunter._ _Wee-ta-ra-sha-ro_, the head chief of the p.a.w.nee Picts, is dead now, I dare say; for he was a very old, as well as a very venerable looking man. Many a buffalo hunt with the Camanchees had he in his day, and many a time did he go forth with them in their war-parties. He had a celebrated brave of the name of _Ah'-sho-cole_, or "rotten foot," and another called _Ah'-re-kah-na-co-chee_, "the mad elk." Indians give the name of _brave_ to a warrior who has distinguished himself by feats of valour, such as admit him to their rank.

_Brian._ I wonder that they should choose such long names. It must be a hard matter to remember them.

_Hunter._ There were many famous men among the Sacs. _Kee-o-kuk_ was the chief. Kee-o-kuk means "the running fox." One of his boldest braves was _Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak_, "the black hawk." The history of this renowned warrior is very curious. It was taken down from his own lips, and has been published. If you should like to listen to the adventures of Black Hawk, I will relate them to you some day, when you have time to hear them, as well as those of young Nik-ka-no-chee, a Seminole.

_Austin._ We will not forget to remind you of your promise. It will be capital to listen to these histories.

_Hunter._ When I saw _Wa-saw-me-saw_, or "the roaring thunder," the youngest son of Black Hawk, he was in captivity. _Nah-se-us-kuk_, "the whirling thunder," his eldest son, was a fine looking man, beautifully formed, with a spirit like that of a lion. There was a war called The Black Hawk war, and Black Hawk was the leader and conductor of it; and one of his most famous warriors was _Wah-pe-kee-suck_, or "white cloud;" he was, however, as often called The Prophet as the White Cloud. _Pam-a-ho_, "the swimmer;" _Wah-pa-ko-las-kak_, "the track of the bear;" and _Pash-ce-pa-ho_, "the little stabbing chief;" were, I think, all three of them warriors of Black Hawk.

_Basil._ The Little Stabbing Chief! He must be a very dangerous fellow to go near, if we may judge by his name: keep away from him, Austin, if you go to the Sacs.

_Austin._ Oh! he would never think of stabbing me. I should behave well to all the tribes, and then I dare say they would all of them behave well to me. You have not said any thing of the Crow Indians.

_Hunter._ I forget who was at the head of the Crows, though I well remember several of the warriors among them. They were tall, well-proportioned, and dressed with a great deal of taste and care.

_Pa-ris-ka-roo-pa_, called "the two crows," had a head of hair that swept the ground after him as he walked along.

_Austin._ What do you think of that, Basil? No doubt the Crows are fine fellows. Please to mention two or three more.

_Hunter._ Let me see; there was _Ee-hee-a-duck-chee-a_, or "he who binds his hair before;" and _Ho-ra-to-ah_, "a warrior;" and _Chah-ee-chopes_, "the four wolves;" the hair of these was as long as that of Pa-ris-ka-roo-pa. Though they were very tall, Ee-hee-a-duck-chee-a being at least six feet high, the hair of each of them reached and rested on the ground.

_Austin._ When I go among the Indians, the Crows shall not be forgotten by me. I shall have plenty to tell you of, Brian, when I come back.

_Brian._ Yes, if you ever do come back; but what with the sea, and the rivers, and the swamps, and the bears, and the buffaloes, you are sure to get killed. You will never tell us about the Crows, or about any thing else.

_Hunter._ There was one of the Crows called The Red Bear, or _Duhk-pits-o-ho-shee_.

_Brian._ Duhk-pitch a--Duck pits--I cannot p.r.o.nounce the word--why that is worse to speak than any.

_Austin._ Hear me p.r.o.nounce it then: _Duhk-pits-o-hoot-shee_. No; that is not quite right, but very near it.

_Basil._ You must not go among the Crows yet, Austin; you cannot talk well enough.

_Hunter._ Oh, there are much harder names among some of the tribes than those I have mentioned; for instance there is _Au-nah-kwet-to-hau-pay-o_, "the one sitting in the clouds;" and _Eh-tohk-pay-she-pee-shah_, "the black moca.s.sin;" and _Kay-ee-qua-da-k.u.m-ee-gish-k.u.m_, "he who tries the ground with his foot;" and _Mah-to-rah-rish-nee-eeh-ee-rah_, "the grizzly bear that runs without fear."

_Brian._ Why these names are as long as from here to yonder. Set to work, Austin! set to work! For, if there are many such names as these among the Indians, you will have enough to do without going to a buffalo hunt.

_Austin._ I never dreamed that there were such names as those in the world.

_Basil._ Ay, you will have enough of them, Austin, if you go abroad.

You will never be able to learn them, do what you will. Give it up, Austin; give it up at once.

Though Brian and Basil were very hard on Austin on their way home, about the long names of the Indians, and the impossibility of his ever being able to learn them by heart, Austin defended himself stoutly.

"Very likely," said he, "after all, they call these long names very short, just as we do; Nat for Nathaniel, Kit for Christopher, and Elic for Alexander."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Wigwams.]

CHAPTER IV.

It was not long before Austin, Brian, and Basil were again listening to the interesting accounts given by their friend, the hunter; and it would have been a difficult point to decide whether the listeners or the narrator derived most pleasure from their occupation. Austin began without delay to speak of the aborigines of North America.

"We want to know," said he, "a little more about what these people were, and when they were first found out."

_Hunter._ When America was first discovered, the inhabitants, though for the most part partaking of one general character, were not without variety. The greater part, as I told you, were, both in hot and cold lat.i.tudes, red men with black hair, and without beards. They, perhaps, might have been divided into four parts: the Mexicans and Peruvians, who were, to a considerable extent, civilized; the Caribs, who inhabited the fertile soil and luxuriant clime of the West Indies; the Esquimaux, who were then just the same people as they are now, living in the same manner by fis.h.i.+ng; and the Red Men, or North American Indians.

_Austin._ Then the Esquimaux are not Red Indians.

_Hunter._ No; they are more like the people who live in Lapland, and in the North of Asia; and for this reason, and because the distance across Behring's Straits is so short, it is thought they came from Asia, and are a part of the same people. The red men are, however, different; and as we agreed that I should tell you about the present race of them, perhaps I may as well proceed.

_Austin._ Yes. Please to tell us first of their wigwams, and their villages, and how they live.

_Brian._ And what they eat, and what clothes they wear.

_Basil._ And how they talk to one another.

_Austin._ Yes; and all about their spears and tomahawks.

_Hunter._ The wigwams of the Indians are of different kinds: some are extremely simple, being formed of high sticks or poles, covered with turf or the bark of trees; while others are very handsome. The Sioux, the Blackfeet, and the Crows, form their wigwams nearly in the same manner; that is, by sewing together the skins of buffaloes, after properly dressing them, and making them into the form of a tent. This covering is then supported by poles. The tent has a hole at the top, to let out the smoke, and to let in the light.

_Austin._ Ay, that is a better way of making a wigwam than covering over sticks with turf.

_Hunter._ The wigwams, or lodges, of the Mandans are round. A circular foundation is dug about two feet deep; timbers six feet high are set up all around it, and on these are placed other long timbers, slanting inwards, and fastened together in the middle, like a tent, leaving s.p.a.ce for light and for the smoke to pa.s.s. This tent-like roof is supported by beams and upright posts, and it is covered over outwardly by willow boughs and a thick coating of earth; then comes the last covering of hard tough clay. The sun bakes this, and long use makes it solid. The outside of a Mandan lodge is almost as useful as the inside; for there the people sit, stand, walk, and take the air. These lodges are forty, fifty, or sixty feet wide.