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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 12

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 13

The various structures in an Ojibway village do not appear to have been erected or placed with any degree of order. Certainly this is true of conditions in recent times, and whether any accepted or recognized plan was followed in the past is not known. The small wigwams formed an irregular group on the shore of a lake or the bank of a stream surrounded by the primeval forest.

In the month of May, 1900, a council house which had been erected by the Ojibway some years before stood on a high point of land in the midst of dense woods, about 1 mile north of the outlet of Mille Lac--the beginning of Rum River--and about 200 yards from the lake shore. It was oriented with its sides facing the cardinal points, about 20 feet square, with walls 6 feet in height and the peak of the roof twice that distance above the ground. The heavy frame was covered with large sheets of elm bark, which had evidently been renewed from time to time during the preceding years. No traces of seats remained and grass was again growing on the ground which had served as the floor. This was the scene of the treaty of October 5, 1889, between the Ojibway of Mille Lac and the United States Government. Within a short time this very interesting primitive structure had disappeared and two years later no trace of it remained. Whether this represented an ancient type of building could not be ascertained.

Various objects of primitive forms, made and used by the Ojibway within a generation, are shown in plates 12 and 13.

CREE.

The Cree were closely related to the Ojibway; they spoke the same language, and had many customs in common. As Hayden wrote: "The Cree nation was originally a portion of the Chippewa, as the similarity of language proves; and even now they are so mingled with the latter people as with difficulty to be considered a distinct tribe, further than a slight difference in language and their local position." , p. 235.) Formerly they occupied the forest region to the eastward of the country which they later claimed. There they were probably accustomed to the mat or bark covered structures, similar to those of the neighboring Ojibway, but in more recent times, after having been attracted to the prairies by the buffalo, they followed the customs of the prairie tribes and for the most part made and used the typical conical skin-covered lodge.

After reaching the open country, and becoming more accustomed to the life of roving hunters, they were necessarily less sedentary in their habits than formerly, and their camps probably seldom remained long in any one place. They became scattered over a wide region, and in 1856 it was said: "They number about ten or eleven hundred persons. Like most of the tribes in the Northwest Territory, they are separated into clans or bands, and live in different districts for greater advantages in hunting." Here is given a list of the several bands, with the number of skin lodges claimed by each group, but the "Pis-ka-kau-a-kis, or 'Magpies,' are about thirty lodges; are stationed at Tinder Mountain; live in dirt lodges and log-cabins; cultivate the soil to some extent, and raise considerable quantities of corn and potatoes; hunt buffalo during the winter, and trade also with the Hudson's Bay Company." , p. 237.) The same writer continues : "Besides the foregoing there are about two hundred lodges more who are not formed into bands, but scattered along Lac de L'Isle Croix, and live by hunting reindeer, moose, fish, and wild fowl. They live in skin tents in the summer, but sometimes build log and bark huts in winter, and seldom more than one cabin is found in the same place. These are the poorest of the Crees."

Thus it will be understood how scattered bands of the same tribe often reared and occupied several forms of habitations, influenced by their natural surroundings and requirements. And here are references to the use of the bark-covered lodge, the skin-covered lodge of probably a different shape, the structure covered with earth or sod, and, lastly, the log cabin, by widely dispersed bands of the Cree.

A simple form of temporary shelter was constructed by the Cree and Ojibway to serve during certain ceremonies. This was described about a century ago when recounting the customs of the "Sauteaux and the Crees." It was told that in public feasts "Several chiefs unite in preparing a suitable place, and in collecting sufficient provisions, for the accommodation of a numerous assemblage. To provide a place, poles are fixed obliquely into the ground, enclosing a sufficient space to hold several hundred, and at times, nearly a thousand people. On these poles, skins are laid, at the height of twelve or fifteen feet, thus forming a spacious court, or tent. The provisions consist both of dried and of fresh meat, as it would not be practicable to prepare a sufficient quantity of fresh meat, for such a multitude, which, however, consists only of men. At these feasts, the guests converse only on elevated topics, such as the public interests of the tribe, and the noble exploits of their progenitors, that they may infuse a publick and an heroic spirit, into their young men. Dancing always forms the concluding ceremony, at these festivals; and the women, who are not permitted to enter the place where they are celebrated, dance and sing around them, often keeping time with the music within." , p. 362.) It is to be regretted that these early accounts are often so lacking in detail, and that so much is left to imagination. In this instance the form of the large structure was not mentioned, but it was probably extended, resembling to some degree the Md? lodge of the Ojibway. Among the latter the large ceremonial lodge was covered with mats, sheets of bark, or sometimes with skins or boughs of pine or spruce. Like customs may have prevailed among the Cree.

Proving the wandering, roving disposition of the Cree, and the consequent lack of permanent villages, Maximilian wrote from Fort Union, at the mouth of the Yellowstone, during the latter part of June, 1833: "The Crees live in the same territory as the Assiniboins, that is, between the Saskatschawan, the Assiniboin, and the Missouri. They ramble about in small bands with the others, are poor, have many dogs, which carry their baggage, but only a few horses. They live, like the Assiniboins, in leather tents, follow the herds of buffaloes, of which they sometimes kill great numbers in their parks. The Crees are reckoned at 600 or 800 tents." , pp. 199-200.)

"These people have dogs like those in this country, except that they are somewhat larger, and they load these dogs like beasts of burden, and make saddles for them like our pack saddles, and they fasten them with their leather thongs, and these make their backs sore on the withers like pack animals. When they go hunting, they load these with their necessities, and when they move--for these Indians are not settled in one place, since they travel wherever the cows move, to support themselves--these dogs carry their houses, and they have the sticks of their houses dragging along tied on to the pack-saddles, besides the load which they carry on top, and the load may be, according to the dog, from 35 to 50 pounds." , pp. 510-571.) This description could easily refer to conditions and customs among the tribes three centuries and more later.

Among the many paintings by Paul Kane, now preserved in the Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology, at Toronto, is one bearing the legend: "Cree Indians Travelling." It represents a small party of Indians, some walking, others mounted on horses, with several horse and dog travois. The latter show long poles attached to the sides of the dogs, one end of the poles dragging on the ground, while about midway of their length is a small pack upon which a child is seated. The broken, rolling land of the north is represented with a few clumps of small trees. The picture is one of much beauty and interest, depicting as it does some of the primitive customs of the Cree.

During the summer of 1858 the Hind expedition into the region far west of the Red River encountered many small groups of Cree hunters and also observed the ancient camp sites of the same tribe. They wrote in part: "Immediately on the banks of the Qu'appelle Valley near the 'Round Hill' opposite Moose Jaws Forks, are the remains of ancient encampments, where the Plain Crees, in the day of their power and pride, had erected large skin tents, and strengthened them with rings of stones placed round the base. These circular remains were twenty-five feet in diameter, the stones or boulders being about one foot in circumference. They wore the aspect of great antiquity, being partially covered with soil and grass. When this camp ground was occupied by the Crees, timber no doubt grew in the valley below, or on the prairie and ravines in detached groves, for their permanent camping grounds are always placed near a supply of fuel.

"Making an early start in search of wood, we came suddenly upon four Cree tents, whose inmates were still fast asleep; about three hundred yards west of them we found ten more tents, with over fifty or sixty Indians in all. They were preparing to cross the valley in the direction of the Grand Coteau, following the buffalo. Their provisions for trade, such as dried meat and pemmican, were drawn by dogs, each bag of pemmican being supported upon two long poles, which are shaft, body, and wheels in one. Buffalo Pound Hill Lake, sixteen miles long, begins near Moose Jaws Forks, and on the opposite or south side of this long sheet of water, we saw eighteen tents and a large number of horses. The women in those we visited on our side of the valley and lake, had collected a great quantity of the mesaskatomina berry which they were drying." And not far beyond we "began to find the fresh bones of buffalo very numerous on the ground, and here and there startled a pack of wolves feeding on a carcas which had been deprived of its tongue and hump only by the careless, thriftless Crees. On the high banks of the valley the remains of ancient encampments in the form of rings of stones to hold down the skin tents are everywhere visible, and testify to the former numbers of the Plain Crees.... The largest ancient encampment we saw lies near a shallow lake in the prairie about a mile from the Qu'appelle valley. It is surrounded by a few low sandy and gravelly hills, and is quite screened from observation. It may have been a camping ground for centuries, as some circles of stones are partially covered with grass and embedded in the soil." , I, pp. 338-341.)

This is a simple explanation of the origin of small circles of stones now encountered in different parts of the country, but in other localities, where stones were not obtainable, masses of sod were used for the same purpose, and these in turn may have caused the small earth circles which are now discovered in the lower Mississippi Valley and elsewhere.

CHEYENNE.

As has been remarked by the most observant student of this tribe: "Information as to the region occupied by the Cheyenne in early days is limited and for the most part traditional. Some ethnologists declare that Indian tradition has no historical value, but other students of Indians decline to assent to this dictum. If it is to be accepted, we can know little of the Cheyenne until they are found as nomads following the buffalo over the plains. There is, however, a mass of traditionary data which points back to conditions at a much earlier date quite different from these. In primitive times they occupied permanent earth lodges and raised crops of corn, beans, and squashes, on which they largely depended for subsistence." , p. 359.)

According to tradition, which in part is verified by the accounts of early explorations, the Cheyenne at one time lived in the valley of the Minnesota, whence they gradually moved westward. Thus at least a part of the tribe removed from the edge of the timbered region to the plains, a movement which probably took place during the latter part of the eighteenth century.

While living in the vicinity of the Minnesota the villages and camps of the Cheyenne undoubtedly resembled those of the Sioux of later days; the conical skin-covered lodge, or possibly the mat or bark structure of the timber people, as used by the Ojibway and others. But during the same period it is evident other bands of the tribe lived quite a distance westward, probably on the banks of the Missouri, and there the habitations were the permanent earth lodge, similar to those of the Pawnee, Mandan, and other Missouri Valley tribes. Sioux traditions refer to Cheyenne villages on the banks of the Missouri near Fort Yates, Sioux County, North Dakota. These were visited and described by Dr. Grinnell, during the spring of 1918, who wrote: "The Teton Sioux, now allotted and scattered over the Standing Rock Indian reservation, declare that on the west bank of the Missouri river, not far from Fort Yates, there were formerly two Cheyenne villages.... I visited the two sites. The most northerly one is situated on a bluff above the Missouri river on the south side of Porcupine creek, less than five miles north of Ft. Yates. The village has been partly destroyed by the Missouri river, which has undermined the bank and carried away some of the house rings reported to have been well preserved, but a number remain. Of these a few are still seen as the raised borders of considerable earth lodges, the rings about the central hollow being from twelve to fifteen inches above the surrounding soil, and the hollows noticeably deep. In most cases, however, the situation of the house is indicated merely by a slight hollow and especially by the peculiar character of the grass growing on the house site. The eye recognizes the different vegetation, and as soon as the foot is set on the soil within a house site, the difference is felt between that and the ground immediately without the site. The houses nearest both Porcupine creek and the Missouri river stand on the bank immediately above the water, and it is possible that some of those on the Porcupine have been undermined and carried away by that stream when in flood. This settlement must have been large. It stands on a flat, now bisected by a railroad embankment, slightly sloping toward the river, and the houses stood close together." More than 70 large house sites were counted, "one at least being 60 feet in diameter," and in addition to these were a large number of smaller ones. "On the gently rising land to the west of the Porcupine village the Cheyenne are said to have planted their corn, as also on the flats on the north side of the Porcupine river. The village site now stands on the farm of Yellow Lodge, a Yankton Sioux, who stated that he had always been told by the old people that this was a Cheyenne village and that in plowing he had often turned up pottery from the ground." And in reference to the age of this interesting site: "Sioux tradition declares that the village on the Porcupine river was established about 1733 or a little earlier, perhaps 1730; they fix the date as about one hundred years before the stars fell, 1833. It was a large village and was occupied for fifty years or more and then the people abandoned it and moved over to a point on Grand river twenty miles above its mouth. The date of the removal is given as about the time of a great flood at this point, which, it is said, took place about 1784." This later village existed until about 1840 and appears to have been composed of skin lodges, not the permanent earth structures. Sioux tradition also places the earlier home of the people who erected the village on the Porcupine at some point in the Valley of the Minnesota.

The second of the two sites mentioned stood some 2 miles below Porcupine Creek, and it is the belief of Dr. Grinnell that these were the villages to which Lewis and Clark referred in their journals as having been passed by the expedition on the 15th and 16th of October, 1804. At that time game was abundant and several hunting parties of the Arikara were encountered, and an entry in the journal dated October 15, 1804, reads: "We stopped at three miles on the north a little above a camp of Ricaras who are hunting, where we were visited by about thirty Indians. They came over in their skin canoes, bringing us meat, for which we returned them beads and fishhooks. About a mile higher we found another encampment of Ricaras on the south, consisting of eight lodges: here we again ate and exchanged a few presents. As we went we discerned numbers of other Indians on both sides of the river; and at about nine miles we came to a creek on the south, where we saw many high hills resembling a house with a slanting roof; and a little below the creek an old village of the Sharha or Cheyenne Indians.... At sunset we halted, after coming ten miles over several sandbars and points, above a camp of ten Ricara lodges on the north side." , pp. 108-109.) Such was the nature of the country a little more than a century ago.

Another ancient village site presenting many interesting features stands on the bank of an old bed of the Sheyenne River, near Lisbon, Ransom County, N. Dak. This would have been about midway between the Minnesota River and the village on the Missouri near Porcupine Creek. A plan of this village made a few years ago is now preserved in the Historical Society of North Dakota and was reproduced by Dr. Grinnell in the article cited. It shows a large number--70 or more--earth-lodge sites, varying in size, but closely grouped, and protected by a ditch except on the river side. There is a remarkable similarity between this site and others east of the Mississippi, where structures of a like form evidently stood in the centuries before the coming of Europeans. The ditch may have been accompanied by an embankment, in turn surmounted by palisades. The river served to protect the settlement on the north, the encircling embankment and ditch reaching the bank of the stream both above and below the occupied area.

Unfortunately no sketch or picture of any sort of a Cheyenne earth lodge is known to exist, but the villages just mentioned must necessarily have resembled in appearance those of the Pawnee of a later generation, remarkable photographs of which have been preserved and which are shown in the present work. And as Dr. Grinnell has said in a recent communication when referring to the places long ago occupied by the camps of the Cheyenne: "I have walked about on the sites of these old villages, and the grandmother of a woman of my acquaintance, and probably the father of that woman, lived in earth-lodge houses, presumably very similar to those occupied in my time by the Pawnees and the Mandans. I have never seen one, however, and do not know anyone who has seen one. Many years ago, I might have procured from old Elk River a description of such houses, though he was even then very old and growing feeble. It is too late to lament that now."

The conical skin lodge of the Cheyenne resembled that of other plains tribes, and they must in earlier times, when buffalo were so numerous and easily secured, have been rather large and commodious structures. When Lewis and Clark descended the Missouri, on their return from the far west, they reached on August 21, 1806, an encampment of the Cheyenne on the bank of the Missouri, opposite the upper village of the Arikara, not far below the old Cheyenne village mentioned in the journal of the expedition on October 15, 1804. To quote from the entry made August 21, 1806: "... arrived opposite to the upper Ricara villages. We saluted them with the discharge of four guns, which they answered in the same manner; and on our landing we were met by the greater part of the inhabitants of each village, and also by a band of Chayennes, who were encamped on a hill in the neighbourhood...." After conversing with all concerning the Mandans, "The sun being now very hot, the chief of the Chayennes invited us to his lodge, which was at no great distance from the river. We followed him, and found a very large lodge, made of twenty buffaloe skins, surrounded by eighteen or twenty lodges, nearly equal in size. The rest of the nation are expected to-morrow, and will make the number of one hundred and thirty or fifty lodges, containing from three hundred and fifty to four hundred men, at which the men of the nation may be computed. These Chayennes are a fine looking people, of a large stature, straight limbs, high cheek-bones and noses, and of a complexion similar to that of the Ricaras." , II, pp. 413-414.)

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 14

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 15

The photograph reproduced in plate 14 shows a Cheyenne family group, an interesting example of a travois, and part of a lodge. The latter differs from all described on the preceding pages and evidently resembles those erected by the Pawnee in their temporary camps. This form may have been used in later times in the place of the conical skin lodge, although the latter was not abandoned, but, as among other tribes, the Cheyenne appear to have erected several types of shelters or habitations, governed by the available supply of materials necessary for their construction.

Large lodges, evidently tipis, set up for special purposes by the Cheyenne, are mentioned by Grinnell. In the spring of 1853 the main village of that tribe, so he wrote, stood "at the mouth of Beaver Creek on the South Platte. There a large lodge was set up as a meeting-place for each of the soldier bands. To each such place came the relations of those killed the year before to implore the soldier bands to take pity on them and to help to revenge their injuries." And at this time many presents were given the warriors. , p. 80.)

This was before many of the primitive customs of the tribe had been changed through contact with the whites.

BLACKFOOT CONFEDERACY.

The tribes forming this group are the Siksika, or Blackfeet proper, the Piegan, and the Kainah, or Bloods. Closely allied and associated with these were the Atsina, a branch of the Arapaho, but who later became incorporated with the Assiniboin. These tribes roamed over a wide territory of mountains, plains, and valleys.

Early accounts of the manners and ways of life of the Blackfeet are to be found in the journals kept by traders belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, who penetrated the vast, unknown wilderness southwestward from York Factory during the eighteenth century. Although the records are all too brief and leave much to be desired, nevertheless they are of the greatest interest, referring as they do to the people while yet in a primitive state, with no knowledge of the customs of Europeans.

The first of the journals to be mentioned is that of Anthony Hendry, who left York Factory June 26, 1754. He ascended Hayes River many miles, thence, after crossing numerous lakes and streams and traversing forests and plains, arrived on Monday, October 14, 1754, at a point not far northeastward from the present city of Calgary, Alberta. This was in the country of the Blackfeet, mentioned in the journal as the Archithinue Natives. That same day, so the narrative continues: "Came to 200 tents of Archithinue Natives, pitched in two rows, and an opening in the middle; where we were conducted to the Leader's tent; which was at one end, large enough to contain fifty persons; where he received us seated on a clear Buffalo skin, attended by 20 elderly men. He made signs for me to sit down on his right hand: which I did. Our Leader set on several grand-pipes, and smoked all round, according to their usual custom: not a word was yet spoke on either side. Smoking being over, Buffalo flesh boiled was served round in baskets of a species of bent, and I was presented with 10 Buffalo tongues." The following day he again visited the lodge of the chief, where he received as a gift "a handsome Bow & Arrows," and the journal continues: "I departed and took a view of the camp. Their tents were pitched close to one another in two regular lines, which formed a broad street open at both ends. Their horses are turned out to grass, their legs being fettered: and when wanted, are fastened to lines cut of Buffalo skin, that stretches along & is fastened to stakes drove in the ground. They have hair halters, Buffalo skin pads, & stirrups of the same."

Although Hendry mentioned the encampment to consist of 200 lodges it is quite evident others were in the vicinity, or came soon after his arrival, for three days later, on October 17, he noted in his journal "322 tents of Archithinue Natives unpitched and moved Westward." , pp. 337-340.) They did not have permanent villages, and "never wanted food, as they followed the Buffalo & killed them with the Bows and Arrows. They were unacquainted with the canoe, would not eat fish, and their garments were finely painted with red paint." Such were the Blackfeet about the middle of the eighteenth century.

On June 27, 1772, Matthew Cocking, second factor at York Factory, started on a journey quite similar to that performed by Hendry just eighteen years earlier. He ascended Hayes River, passed north of Lake Winnipeg, and continued in a southwestwardly direction to some point not far north of the South Saskatchewan River in the extreme western part of the present Province of Saskatchewan. When near this position on December 1, 1772, they encamped not far from a "Beast pound," which had probably stood from year to year. That day, so he entered in his journal, "our Archithinue friends came to us and pitched a small distance from us; on one side the pound 21 tents of them, the other seven are pitched another way." And the following day, "the Archithinue Natives repairing the pound, the repair we gave it on our arrival not being sufficient." Two days later "the Archithinue Natives drove into the pound 3 male & one female Buffalo, & brought several considerable droves very near. They set off in the Evening; & drive the Cattle all night. Indeed not only at this Game, but in all their actions they far excell the other Natives. They are all well mounted.... Their Weapons, Bows & Arrows. Several have on Jackets of Moose leather six fold, quilted, & without sleeves." Cocking evidently visited many of the tents, and on December 5 wrote: "Our Archithinue Friends are very Hospitable, continually inviting us to partake of their best fare; generally berries infused in water with fat, very agreeable eating. Their manner of showing respect to strangers is, in holding the pipe while they smoke: this is done three times. Afterwards every person smokes in common; the Women excepted.... The tobacco they use is of their own planting.... These people are much more cleanly in their cloathing, & food, than my companions: Their Victuals are dressed in earthen pots, of their own Manufacturing; much in the same form as Newcastle pots, but without feet: their fire tackling a black stone used as flint, & a kind of Ore as a steel, using tuss balls as tinder, a kind of moss." December 6, 1772: "No success in pounding: the Strangers say the season is past." On December 21 "we were joined by ten tents of Asinepoet Indians," and the following day "by five tents of Nehetheway Indians." The former were Assiniboin and the latter Cree. , pp. 110-112.)

One of the reasons which inspired Cocking to undertake the long journey into the wilderness was the desire to win the Blackfeet away from the French interests, and to persuade them to carry their furs to the posts of the Hudson's Bay Company. Soon the English were successful in their endeavors, and for several generations secured the furs and robes collected by the people of the ever-shifting camps, who followed the buffalo as the vast herds moved from place to place with the changing seasons of the year. Later, traders from another people penetrated the country to the upper waters of the Missouri, and certain of the Blackfeet began trading at the posts erected by these newcomers. The various tribes wandered over a wide region, and 60 years ago it was said:

"The Blood Indians range through the district along Maria, Teton, and Belly Rivers, inclining west and northwest far into the interior. In this section, wood is more abundant, pasturage excellent, and, consequently, buffalo almost always abound there. The Blackfeet inhabit a portion of country farther north than the Bloods, extending to the banks of the Saskatchewan, along which they often reside. They have never altogether abandoned their English friends, and more frequently dispose of their furs to them than to the American traders on the head branches of the Missouri. The Piegans roam through the Rocky Mountains on the south side of Maria River, on both banks of the Missouri.... They also hunt as far down the Missouri as the Mussel-shell River, and up that stream to the borders of the Crow country. The three divisions ... constitute the Blackfoot nation proper, whose name has become notorious for their fierce and deadly struggles with all the neighboring tribes, and in former times struck terror to all white men who travelled in any district from the Saskatchewan to the Yellowstone, and from the Yellowstone to the Columbia.... These bands all live in skin tents, like the rest of the prairie tribes, follow the chase for a subsistence, and in former years were famous for their war excursions against neighboring tribes." , pp. 249-250.)

The region mentioned would have included the central portion of the present State of Montana and northward. Marias River flows into the Missouri just below Fort Benton.

Maximilian, who visited the Blackfeet during the summer of 1833, has left a very concise and interesting account of the appearance of their camps:

A painting of a Piegan camp was made at that time by Bodmer, who accompanied Maximilian, and served as an illustration in the latter's work. It is here reproduced as plate 15. It shows clearly the many skin lodges forming the encampment, the numerous dogs and horses, with some of the Indians wrapped in highly decorated buffalo robes. Some of the lodges are decorated, but the great majority are plain, thus conforming with the description.

Maximilian again wrote while at Fort McKenzie, in August, 1833:

"Having made our arrangements on the first day of our arrival, and viewed the Indian camp, with its many dogs, and old dirty leather tents, we were invited, on the following day, together with Mr Mitchell, to a feast, given by the Blackfoot chief, Mehkskehme-Sukahs . We proceeded to a large circle in the middle of the camp, enclosed with a kind of fence of boughs of trees, which contained part of the tents, and was designed to confine the horses during the night, for the Indians are so addicted to horse stealing that they do not trust each other. The hut of the chief was spacious; we had never before seen so handsome a one; it was full fifteen paces in diameter, and was very clean and tastefully decorated. We took our seats, without ceremony, on buffalo skins, spread out on the left hand of the chief, round the fire, in the centre of the tent, which was enclosed in a circle of stones, and a dead silence prevailed. Our host was a tall, robust man, who at this time had no other clothes than his breechcloth; neither women nor children were visible. A tin dish was set before us, which contained dry grated meat, mixed with sweet berries, which we ate with our fingers, and found very palatable. After we had finished, the chief ate what was left in the dish, and took out of a bag a chief's scarlet uniform, with blue facings and yellow lace, which he had received from the English, six red and black plumes of feathers, a dagger with its sheath, a coloured pocket-handkerchief, and two beaver skins, all of which he laid before Mr Mitchell as a present, who was obliged to accept these things whether he liked or not, thereby laying himself under the obligation of making presents in return, and especially a new uniform. When the chief began to fill his pipe, made of green talc, we rose and retired in silence, and without making any salutations."

As Maximilian had already visited and seen many skin lodges as he ascended the Missouri, his remarks concerning this one which belonged to the Blackfeet chief are most interesting. It was between 40 and 50 feet in diameter, very clean and well decorated, probably a remarkable example.

The circles of earth which indicated the former positions of lodges were noticed by Maximilian, and he again mentioned them while at Fort Union, at the mouth of the Yellowstone, October 16, 1833. He said : "The little prairie fox was so hungry, and, therefore so tame, that it often visited the environs of the fort, and we found these pretty little animals among the circles of turf which were left on the removal of the Indian tents."

Another visit to the Piegan, in the same region, was made just 20 years later, during the month of September, 1853. J. M. Stanley, who accompanied Gov. Stevens as the artist of the expedition, left camp on the banks of Marias River and three days later, September 14, 1853, reached the divide between Milk and Bow Rivers: "From this divide I had a view of the Bull's Head, forming the base of Cypress mountain.... At 1 o'clock I descended to a deep valley, in which flows an affluent of Beaver river. Here was the Piegan camp, of ninety lodges, under their chief Low Horn, one hundred and sixty-three miles north, 20? west, of Fort Benton.

"Little Dog conducted me, with my party, to his lodge, and immediately the chief and braves collected in the 'council Lodge,' to receive my message...." This was conducted with customary formality, and the next day, September 15, "At an early hour a town crier announced the intention of the chief to move camp. The horses were immediately brought in and secured around their respective lodges, and in less than one hour the whole encampment was drawn out in two parallel lines on the plains, forming one of the most picturesque scenes I have ever witnessed.

"Preparation for their transportation is made in the following manner: The poles of the lodges, which are from twenty to thirty-five feet in length, are divided, the small ends being lashed together and secured to the shoulders of the horse, allowing the butt-ends to drag upon the ground on either side; just behind the horse are secured to cross-pieces, to keep the poles in their respective places, and upon which are placed the lodge and domestic furniture. This also serves for the safe transportation of the children and infirm unable to ride on horseback--the lodge being folded so as to allow two or more to ride securely. The horses dragging this burden--often of three hundred pounds are also ridden by the squaws, with a child astride behind, and one in her arms, embracing a favorite young pup.

"Their dogs are also used in transporting their effects in the same manner as the horses, making, with ease, twenty miles a day, dragging forty pounds. In this way this heterogeneous caravan, comprising of a thousand souls, fell into line and trotted quietly until night, while the chiefs and braves rode in front, flank, or rear, ever ready for the chase or defence against a foe.... Like other tribes in this region, the Piegans retain all their primitive customs, adhering with faithful pertinacity to the ceremonies of their forefathers." , pp. 448-449.) At that time the Piegan were estimated to have had 430 lodges, the average number of persons occupying each being 10.

During this brief but interesting journey Stanley made many sketches of the Indians with whom he came in contact, but not one of the drawings is known to exist at the present time. His beautiful painting of a buffalo hunt, shown in plate 2, is one of his five pictures now in the National Museum at Washington.

The valley of the Saskatchewan and southward to the waters of the Missouri was a region frequented by many tribes, rich in game, and one from which the Hudson's Bay Company derived quantities of furs. The Blackfeet, who, as already mentioned, occupied in recent years the country about the headwaters of the Missouri, formerly lived farther north, and about the close of the eighteenth century were encountered near the Saskatchewan, neighbors of the Assiniboin and Cree. About the year 1790 Mackenzie traversed the country, and wrote, regarding the number and distribution of the tribes then claiming that northern region: "At Nepawi, and South-Branch House, about thirty tents of Knisteneaux, or ninety warriors; and sixty tents of Stone-Indians, or Assiniboins, who are their neighbors, and are equal to two hundred men; their hunting ground extends upwards to about Eagle Hills. Next to them are those who trade at Forts George and Augustus, and are about eighty tents or upwards of Knisteneaux: on either side of the river, their number may be two hundred. In the same country are one hundred and forty tents of Stone-Indians; not quite half of them inhabit the West woody country; the others never leave the plains, and their numbers cannot be less than four hundred and fifty men. At the Southern headwaters of the North branch dwells a tribe called Sarsees, consisting of about thirty-five tents, or one hundred and twenty men. Opposite to those Eastward, on the head-waters of the South Branch, are the Picaneaux, to the number of from twelve to fifteen hundred men. Next to them, on the same water, are the Blood-Indians, of the same nation as the last, to the number of about fifty tents, or two hundred and fifty men. From them downwards extend the Black-Feet Indians, of the same nation as the two last tribes; their number may be eight hundred men. Next to them, and who extend to the confluence of the South and North branch, are the Fall, or Big-bellied Indians, who may amount to about six hundred warriors." , p. lxx.) "South-Branch House" of this narrative stood between the north and south branches of the Saskatchewan, near the present town of Dalmeny, in the Province of Saskatchewan. The Picaneaux, who probably possessed from 200 to 300 skin-covered lodges, were the Piegan, the Piekann Indians of Maximilian, whose village as it appeared in 1833 was painted by Bodmer. Likewise the Fall or Big-bellied Indians, whose habitat about the year 1790 was near the junction of the two branches of the Saskatchewan, were the Atsina, the Gros Ventres of the Prairie, and their village or camp in 1790 was probably quite similar to the one visited by Maximilian 43 years later, when it was sketched by Bodmer.

Something of the manners and ways of life of these people may be gathered from another passage in Mackenzie's narrative: "In the fall of the year the natives meet the traders at the forts, where they barter the furs or provisions which they may have procured; then they obtain credit, and proceed to hunt the beavers, and do not return till the beginning of the year; when they are again fitted out in the same manner and come back the latter end of March, or the beginning of April. They are now unwilling to repair to the beaver hunt until the waters are clear of ice, that they may kill them with fire-arms, which the Chepewyans are averse to employ. The major part of the latter return to the barren grounds, and live during the summer with their relations and friends in the enjoyment of that plenty which is derived from numerous herds of deer. But those of that tribe who are most partial to these desarts, cannot remain there in winter, and they are obliged, with the deer, to take shelter in the woods during that rigorous season, when they contrive to kill a few beavers, and send them by young men, to exchange for iron utensils and ammunition." , pp. xc-xci.)

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