o Vol. 2, pp. 13, 16, 17, 102, 103, and 119.
| one] | SAVAGE ALLIES OF NEW FRANCE |
321 |
wounded Frenchman began to recover consciousness. He calmed the Sakis, who were greatly enraged; but the savage who had maltreated him was compelled to abandon the village. These same Frenchmen's lives were in danger on still another occasion. One of them, who was amusing himself with some arrows, told a Saki who was bathing at the water's edge to ward off the shaft that he was going to let fly at him. The savage, who held a small piece of cloth, told him to shoot; but he was not adroit enough to avoid the arrow, which wounded him in the shoulder. He immediately called out that the Frenchman had slain him; but another Frenchman hastened to the savage, made him enter his cabin, and drew out the arrow. He was pacified by giving him a knife, a little vermilion to paint his face, and a piece of tobacco. This present was effectual; for when, at the Saki's cry, several of his comrades came, ready to avenge him on the spot, the wounded man cried, "What are you about? I am healed. Metaminens" (which means "little Indian corn"-this name they had given to the Frenchman, who was Perot himself) "has tied my hands by this ointment which you see upon my wound, and I have no more anger," at the same time showing the present that Perot had given him. This presence of mind checked the disturbance that was about to arise.
The Miamis, the Maskoutechs, the Kikabous, and fifteen cabins of Islinois came
toward the bay in the following summer, and made their clearings thirty miles
away, beside the Outagamis, toward the south. These peoples, for whom the Iroquois
were looking, had gone southward along the Mississippi after the combat which
I have mentioned.216 Before that flight, they had seen
__________
216Apparently a reference to the overthrow of the Winnebago by the Illinois, described in chapter vii. - ED.
| one] | SAVAGE ALLIES OF NEW FRANCE |
365 |
la Salle in his voyage of discovery-who, not daring to remain on the war-path of the Islinois, had retired to the bay, in order to hunt beavers there. The great chief of the Miamis, when he knew that Perrot was only three-quarters of a league from his village, came to meet him, in order to invite him to rest in his cabin. This chief told Perrot, in the midst of a feast which he made for him, that his tribe desired to settle near the Frenchman's fire, and begged him to point out to them its location. Perrot told him that he was going to establish himself on the upper Missisipi, this side of the Nadouaissious, where he would serve as a barrier to them, because he knew that they had hostilities with that people. He made presents to the Miamis, the Maskoutechs, and the Kikabouks, of twelve brasses of tobacco, and gave them some kettles. By this present he informed them that they could feel sure that those peoples would not commit any act of hostility, but that they must be cautious hereafter about raising the club against them; that they ought to fasten their hatchets to the sun, because, if they made the least hostile attack on the others, the Nadouaissious would unquestionably believe that the Miamis had settled so near to them only to render easy to their enemies the means of ruining and destroying them; that, as for the rest, if any of the Miamis wished to come to light their fire near him, he would always receive them with great pleasure. In presenting to them the two kettles, he told them that Onontio had abandoned the Islinois to the Iroquois, who would pass by way of Chigagon; and that, if the Miamis went hunting, they should do so along the Missisipi farther down, in order to avoid falling into the hands of the Iroquois.
These Frenchmen again embarked with the Sokokis, and, having arrived at the portage which must be made
370 |
LA POTHERIE |
[Vol. |
some buffalo-skin, and three Ayoës stood behind him who held his body; meanwhile other persons sang, holding calumets in their hands, and keeping these in motion to the cadence of their songs. The man who held Perrot in his arms also performed in the same manner, and they spent a great part of the night in singing the calumet. They also told him that they were going to pass the rest of the winter in hunting beaver, hoping to go in the spring to visit him at his fort; and at the same time they chose him, by the calumet which they left with him, for the chief of all the tribe. The Frenchmen returned to their fort, where they found a Maskoutech and a Kikabouc, who informed them that the people of their villages had followed them; and that they were at a place eighteen leagues above there, on the bank of the river. They reported that some Frenchmen had invited the Miamis to settle at Chigagon, to which place they had gone despite the warning that had been given them, that the Iroquois were to go thither in order to descend thence against the Islinois; but that, as for their people, they had considered it more expedient to come to look for Perrot and his men, entreating the Frenchmen to direct them in what place they should light their fires. Two days later, Perrot set out with them, and the people were full of joy at seeing him; he lodged at the house of Kikirinous, the chief of the Maskoutechs, who feasted him on a large bear which the chief had caused to be boiled whole. This chief asked from him the possession of a river which watered a beautiful region that lay not far from the place where they were; and at the same time he asked for protection for all the families of their tribes, and that the Nadoüaissioux might be kept from annoying them. [He said that] they were making a peace with the latter, the petitioner himself being its
Some time afterward, three men were seen, running in great haste, and uttering the cries for the dead. As they approached the fort, they were heard to say that all the Miamis were dead; that the Iroquois had defeated them at Chigagon, to which place they had been summoned [by] some Frenchmen; and that those who were left intended to take revenge on the latter. They were brought into the fort, and pipes were given them to smoke; and gradually they regained their senses. After they had eaten a good meal, and had painted themselves with vermilion, they were questioned in regard to all the details of this news; now see in what manner the youngest of them spoke in addressing Perrot.
"When thou didst make a present this autumn to Apichagan, the chief of the Miamis, he himself set out the next day to notify all the Miamis and our people of what thou hadst told him; and he made them consent to follow thee, after he had secured the promise of all the men. Two Frenchmen had sent presents to the Miamis, to tell them that Onontio wished them to settle at Chekagou. Apichagan opposed this, and said that his people had already been slain at the river of Saint Joseph, when Monsieur de la Salle made them settle there. The Frenchmen have been the cause of the death of those whom thou lovest as thy own children; whom thou didst not induce to come to thy house, and whom thou didst warn only not to trouble themselves carrying
16 |
LA POTHERIE |
[Vol. |
they spared them out of consideration for the Frenchmen, to whom they were indebted for life. The defeat of the Miamis at Chigagon was an event to be keenly felt by all the peoples of those quarters; and messengers were sent to the bay to ascertain the particulars of it, and to get some news of the colony. The Frenchmen reported that what had been said about it was true, and that a hundred savages-Miamis, Maskoutechs, Pouteoüatemis, and Outagamis-had pursued the Iroquois, hatchet in hand, with so much fury that they had slain a hundred of the enemy, recaptured half of their own people, and put to rout the Iroquois, who even would have been destroyed if the victors had continued to pursue them. The messengers said that the Miamis were at the bay, and that they had very badly treated Father Alloüet, a Jesuit, who had prompted their going to Chigagon, as they imputed to him the loss of their people.
Monsieur the Marquis de Denonville, who was at that time the governor-general, desired to avenge these people, in order to remove the opinion that they entertained that we had the design of sacrificing them to the Iroquois. He sent orders to the French commandant who was among the Outaoüaks to call all the tribes together and get them to join his army which was at Niagara, to the end that all might go against the Tsonnontouans.
The commandant of the west was also ordered to enlist the tribes who were in his district, mainly the Miamis. That officer, having put his affairs in order, made known to some Frenchmen whom he left to guard his fort the conduct that they were to observe during his absence, and proceeded to the [Miami] village that was down the Missisipi, in order to induce them to take up arms against the Iroquois; he traveled sixty leagues on the plains, without other guide than the fires and the
| two] | SAVAGE ALLIES OF NEW FRANCE |
17 |
clouds of smoke that he saw. When he arrived among the Miamis he offered to them the club in behalf of Onontio, with several presents, and said to them: "The cries of your dead have been heard by your father Onontio, who, desiring to take pity on you, has resolved to sacrifice his young men in order to destroy the man-eater who has devoured you. He sends you his club, and tells you to smite unweariedly him who has snatched away your children. They pitch their tents outside of his kettle, crying to you, 'Avenge us! avenge us!' He must disgorge and vomit by force your flesh which is in his stomach, which he will not be able to digest-Onontio will not allow him leisure for that. If your children have been his dogs and slaves, his women must in their turn become ours." All the Miamis accepted the club,1 and assured him that, since their father intended to assist them, they all would die for his interests.
This Frenchman, returning to his fort, perceived on the way so much smoke that
he believed it was [made by] an army of our allies who were marching against
the Nadoüaissioux, who might while passing carry away his men; and that constrained
him to travel by longer stages. Fortunately he met a Maskoutech chief, who,
not having found him at the fort, had come to meet him, in order to inform him
that the Outagamis, the Kika-
__________
1"Every tribe in America used clubs, but after the adoption of more effectual weapons, as the bow and lance, clubs became in many cases merely a part of the costume, or were relegated to ceremonial, domestic, and special functions. There was great variety in the forms of this weapon or instrument. Most clubs were designed for warfare." The Siouan tribes, and some of the Plains tribes, used the club with a fixed stone head; the northern Sioux, the Sauk, Fox, and some other Algonquian tribes, a musket-shaped club; while a flat, curved club with a knobbed head (French, casse-tête) was used by some Sioux, and by the Chippewa, Menominee, and other timber Algonquians. "Clubs of this type are often set with spikes, lancee-heads, knife-blades, or the like, and the elk-horn with sharpened prongs belongs to this class.''-WALTER HOUGH, in Handbook Amer. Indians.
102 |
LA POTHERIE |
[Vol. |
had conducted some Nadouaissioux to them to arrange for peace; they were much encumbered with their prisoners, and they were not ignorant that their proceedings had been contrary to the law of nations. The Nadouaissioux did not think it best to expose their deputies, alone [to danger], and to the number of thirty they set out for the Miami village; and they spent some time on the bank of the Missisipi, at a French post opposite the lead mine. Notice was given to the Miamis of the arrival of envoys from the Nadouaissioux, and forty of them set out to join the latter. The conference that took place between these two tribes was occupied with offers of service from one, and lamentations on the part of the other. The Nadouaissioux (according to their custom) poured many tears on the heads of the Miamis, who made them a present of a young girl and a little boy whom they had rescued from the hands of the Maskoutechs. They covered the dead of the Nadouaissioux by giving them eight kettles, assuring them of their friendship, and made the chiefs smoke-promising them that they would obtain as many as they could of their [captive] women and children. They held secret conferences (unknown to the French) during one night, and the Miamis swore the entire destruction of the Maskoutechs. Our people sent word to a village of Miamis, established on the other side of the Missisipi, that we had something to communicate to them from Onontio; and they came, to the number of twenty-five. They were told that in the post where they were settled they were of no use for supporting Onontio in the Iroquois War; that they would obtain no more supplies for war unless they turned the war-club against the Iroquois; and that they ought to fear that the Nadouaissioux would fall upon them when that people should go to
| two] | SAVAGE ALLIES OF NEW FRANCE |
103 |
take vengeance for their dead upon the Maskoutechs. They promised to locate their fires at Maramek. They would have done so at the Saint Joseph River, at the solicitation of the chief of that district; but his refusal to furnish them gunpowder and balls gave them too unfavorable an opinion of his avarice to attract them to a union with him. The Maskoutechs got wind of the meeting between the Nadouaissioux and the Miamis that was brought about by Perrot; and they imagined that this could only be the result of his remembering the injuries that they had done him. [Accordingly] they immediately swore his ruin, and flattered themselves that, by plundering all the property of Perrot and the Frenchmen who were with him, they would have the means for taking flight more easily to the Iroquois country if they had to give way under the power of the [other] tribes. One night they tried to take him by surprise, but some dogs-who have a very strong antipathy for the savages, who commonly eat them-caused them to be discovered; and this obliged Perrot to put himself in an attitude of defense. The Maskoutechs, whose attack had miscarried, retreated without making any further effort; and their fear lest the French and the Miamis might form a league with the Nadouaissioux against them induced them to send one of their chiefs to Maramek, to sound the Miamis adroitly. He there encountered Perrot, with whom he had a private conversation. The savage is ordinarily politic and very pliant in behavior; this man said to Perrot with a smile, "Thou rememberest what I did to thee; thou art seeking to revenge thyself," and told him that he was sure that the tribes felt much resentment against the Nadouaissioux, who knew well that they were surrounded on all sides by their enemies; but that what was causing the Mas-
| two] | SAVAGE ALLIES OF NEW FRANCE |
119 |
giving them proofs of the interest which he took in the matters which concerned
their tribe, he had engaged the Outagamis and Kikabous who were following him
to take up arms to avenge the Miami dead against the Nadouaissioux. These words
turned aside the evil design which they had formed against him, and they regaled
him. At the same time there arrived a young man, who brought the news that the
Frenchmen who were living in the Nadouaissioux country were at the portage.
The chief assigned fifty women to transport their bales of peltries; but the
young men, who had received a private order to plunder these, carried off everything
that they could into the woods, and hid themselves there. The chief, being informed
of this act, pretended to make a great commotion in the village, to the end
that they should bring back what had been stolen; but there was one of the people
who objected that this pillage had been made with the chief's consent, since
he had even ordered them to kill the French; and very few of the peltries were
brought back. A great tumult arose among the chiefs, who quarreled together,
some taking the side of the French, and others that of the tribe. In that place
were three different tribes: the Pepikokis, the Mangakokis, and the Peouanguichias35
(who had conspired against the French). One of their chiefs said that he knew
how to plunder merchandise and slay men,
__________
35The Piankashaw were formerly a subtribe of the Miami, but later a separate people. La Salle induced some of them to come to his fort in Illinois; Cadillac mentions them (1695) as being "west of the Miami village on St. Joseph's River, Mich., with the Mascoutens, Kickapoo, and other tribes;" and a little later they had a village on Kankakee River. Their ancient village was on the Wabash, at the junction of the Vermillion; later they formed another village, at the present site of Vincennes, Ind. In the beginning of the nineteenth century they and the Wea began to remove to Missouri, and in 1832 both tribes sold their lands to the government and went to a reservation in Kansas, in 1867 again removing to Oklahoma with the Peoria (with whom they had united about 1854). "The Piankashaw probably never numbered