OCCASIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF
ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
No. 7
__________________________________________________
BY
C. C. TROWBRIDGE
EDITED BY VERNON KINIETZ
ANN
ARBOR
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PRESS
APRIL, 1938
Trowbridge, C. C.
Meearmeear Traditions
pp. 2-3.
2 |
C. C. TROWBRIDGE |
Genl. Tipton2 to do so. I believe the old man is perfectly
satisfied. I have endeavoured to economise as much as possible, and the whole
of the expenses thus far, to be allowed to the agency, do not exceed ninety
dollars.
A recent visit from Le Gros has enabled me to obtain some further information from him on the several subjects mentioned in the letters from you with which I have been last honored; and I have annexed to my observations upon the Miami language a tabular list of the names, in that dialect, of the surrounding nations, and also a statement exhibiting the affinities of other languages to the Miami. With respect to the latter, I take the liberty to suggest for your consideration, the opinion that according to your scale, the degrees of affinity are graduated, not more by the absolute and original similarity of dialect, than by the opportunities of the respective tribes for conference and association. I mean that this is the case between those tribes which are not connected by the ties of blood. For instance, the Miamies understand perfectly the Kaskaskias, Peorias, Weas & Piankeshaws, because those tribes have all descended from them. And the difference of dialect is scarcely more than between the present Parisian and the Canadian french. They understand the Kickapoos tolerably well, because, although originally of the Shawnee stock (and possessing in common with them and the Sacs, the th as in Teekumthe) they have become incorporated with the Miamies by intermarriages and have greatly assimilated to them in manners and language. They did not understand the Delawares, Shawnees, Ottawas, Potawatamies, Chippeways, Sacs & Osages, until their occupation of hunting, trading, making war and treaties brought them into contact with each other and they acquired by practice, the art of speaking the different languages which possessed many similarities enabling them to catch the words and sounds with facility. And finally, they do not at all comprehend the Iroquois, Wyandot, Wineebaagoa,
2Indian agent at Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Trowbridge, C. C.
Meearmeear Traditions
pp. 2-3.
|
LETTER TO GENERAL CASS |
3 |
Sioux Minoaminee, Creeks, Choctaws or Cherokees- either because their languages
are "radically different", or because they have had little connection
with them.
I am aware that this militates against the grand, the sublime proposition, that all the Indian languages are derived from the same common stock; yet I have deemed it my duty to submit the observations as the substance of the Miami account. When your letters arrived I had closed that part of my report which described the successive migrations of the Miamies, and as nothing is therein said of their having once resided upon Fox river or at Detroit, I will here mention, that upon subsequent enquiry Le Gros told me that a vague and indefinite tradition existed of their once having lived in the north, but supposing it to be an unfounded tale he had forborne to mention it to me. It is possible that much has been lost from the great lapse of time, and it is cause of regret that many of their accounts on this subject want that perspicuity and minuteness of detail which would render them valuable.
They do not know that any of the Miamies have ever lived at Detroit,3 and they disclaim the name Wauweeautonao, given to that place, alledging its origin to have been among the Potawatamies. Kaukaumeeoangee, or Keekaukaumeeoangee, is the Miami name, and means "At the strait." It is compounded of Keekaukaumeekee ("the river between two lakes," from Kitsheekaumee a Lake) and the prepositional termination oangee, "at the".-
I have repeatedly questioned Le Gros about "trees of peace", and particularly since the receipt of your last letters. He says he never heard before that the Indians, in any instance, marked the boundaries of their hunting lands. "Yet, continues he, Awaandeeoanee Tauwaunee (a peace tree) was once planted upon the St. Joseph's, by the Chippeways, Ottawas, Potawatamies and Miamies. It was a white poplar.
3Several households and families of Miamis settled at Detroit in
1703 and incorporated themselves with the Hurons, according to Cadillac in his
"Report of Detroit in 1703," Mich. Pioneer Coll., 33 (1904):
162-63.
Trowbridge, C. C.
Meearmeear Traditions
pp. 7-13.
|
MEEARMEEAR TRADITIONS |
7 |
But still the national mark is the head and neck of the Tshe tsha kwau
or Crane, from which the name given them was originally derived.
They sprung up at St. Joseph's but whether they
have any distinct idea of their creation, or dislike to disclose it, I cannot
determine, as they profess ignorance on the subject. How long they remained
there is unknown but their first removal was to Fort Wayne, where they were
found by the french. The earliest incident in their history which they
recollect is the arrival of the french in the lakes. The Wyandots who then
lived upon Lake Huron, sent word to the Miamies and Potawatamies, that a
strange people had arrived there, whom they feared because they were white and
had long beards, and that they desired the assistance of their brethren to
destroy them. When the Miamies & Potawatamies arrived they found four
vessels loaded with french. The three nations ambuscaded and when the visitors
had disembarked they attacked and destroyed them. A few remained in one of the
vessels who hoisted sail and made their escape. Then the Wyandots told their
allies. "You see brothers that these people tho' they look like them,
cannot be manitoos. They are unlike us, and their design in coming here must
certainly be evil. We have placed the tomahawk in your hands, and you are now
prepared to defend yourself against them. In the mean time if any more should
arrive, we shall probably want your assistance in repelling them."2
They next saw the whites at Detroit when they held a council with them and made
peace.3
___________________________________________________________
ed. Reuben Goldthwaites (Cleveland, Ohio: The Burrows Brothers, 1899), 44:247, who called them the "Oumamik" and the Outitchakouk," the latter being the Atchatchakangouen or "crane people."
2There is no counterpart of this story in the French documents.
3The first Frenchman to report meeting the Miamis was Radisson, who found them westward of Green Bay about 1658. Perrot found them in the same region six or seven years later. The first record of the French meeting the Miamis on the strait between Lakes Huron and Erie was in 1687 when De la Durantaye read a proclamation repeating the claim of France to possession of that country.
Trowbridge, C. C.
Meearmeear Traditions
pp. 7-13.
8 |
C. C. TROWBRIDGE |
They have been at war with the Pawnees, Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Iroquois
(whom they call Senecas) and Osages. They have never been at war with the
Potawatamies, Ottawas, Chippewas, Wyandots or Delawares. To this there are two
exceptions. One after the english took possession of Detroit, when a trader who
resided at Cincinnati became jealous of another who lived at Piqua and
instigated the Miamies to rob him of his merchandise. The english employed the
Chippeways to avenge this insult and they attacked the hunting camps of the
Miamies and took prisoners two women. The Miamies pursued them down the Miami
river to Roche de Bon [Bout?] where they had a battle, and afterwards they made
a peace by advice of the English, having rescued the prisoners.
The other exception was that of a slight difficulty which occurred between them and the Shawnees in consequence of the latter having joined the Cherokees against them. But no serious difficulty took place, and about fifty years ago a peace was made, which has not since been violated. Richardville recollects the time when difficulties were settled, in consequence of one of the war chiefs having spent a winter among the Cherokees (or Kotoawhau), Shawnees and Moshkoas or Creeks, with a view to arrange the preliminaries. A general alliance existed anciently among the northern nations including the Miamies, Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Chippeways & Potawatamies, against the southern tribes, ie the Cherokees, Choctows, Creeks, Chickasaws and also the Iroquois.
Before leaving the St. Josephs a party of two or three hundred Miamies sat out to hunt, as well for game as to know if there were not other nations living in the country, whom they had not seen. They reached an immense prairie now called the grand Kickapoo prairie, on the Wabash, and passing through it they discovered as they thought a herd of Buffaloes. The chief called upon his young men to go and kill some of them, that they might furnish themselves with provisions. Upon descending a little hill one of the party who
Trowbridge, C. C.
Meearmeear Traditions
pp. 7-13.
|
MEEARMEEAR TRADITIONS |
9 |
had remained behind ran forward and suggested to the pursuers that he thot
the Buffaloes which they saw were men. The chief was surprized and immediately dispatched
two young men by a circuitous route, to ascertain whether they were in fact
Buffaloes, or men in disguise. The young men went as they were directed and
upon approaching near, discovered the Indians employed in painting their bodies
with red clay. The messengers returned to the chief and related what they had
seen and the Miamies prepared to attack them. They made an attack but they
found it impossible to kill them, on account of large shields made of Buffaloes
hides, which were carried by their opponents, and covered them from head to
foot, being altogether impenatrable by arrows. These Indians were the Osages.
They frequently threw dust into the air, upon the approach of the Miamies, with
a view to induce the belief that they were in fact Buffaloes, and engaged in
play. During the battle an Osage and a Miamie advanced in front of their
several parties and commenced fighting with their Pukamaugun's or War clubs.
The battle was long contested, but at length the Miami succeeded in killing his
adversary. As soon as this personal combat was terminated two others, an Osage and
a Miami, advanced with spears in their hands and commenced another battle. The
Osage having seven or eight spears in his hands could not make them enter the
flesh of his adversary who had but two and of course a great advantage in this
respect. In this combat, as in the other the Miami was victorious. Then one of
the Osages came forward with a view to address the Miamies, but they could not
understand each other, and by mutual consent, expressed in signs the battle
terminated and the combatants returned to their several homes. They never knew
the Indians to use shields but on the occasion just mentioned.
Since coming to Fort Wayne near which they first built a village after leaving St. Joseph's they have had few wars with the Indians around them. The Cherokees are the only Indians against whom they maintained a war for any time.
Trowbridge, C. C.
Meearmeear Traditions
pp. 7-13.
10 |
C. C. TROWBRIDGE |
They possessed formerly a large number of belts and pipes illustrative of
different events in their history. Two boxes containing these were burnt
accidentally at the time of Harmers defeat, and with them went their early
history and traditions. Before their knowledge of the whites they used belts of
the small bones found in the legs of swans and other large birds, which were
attached by means of a cord composed of the fibres of the wild nettle. These
were made with much labour, and were said to be admirably wrought. They soon
exchanged them however for the wampum and to the loss of the chests alluded to
they attribute their ignorance of their early history.
The settlement on the point, at the confluence of the St. Marys and St. Josephs was formed by a party of brothers called* Mauma waazaukee. The whole nation did not remove at the same time, for their villages were scattered throughout the country, among the northern nations. After they had been at Fort Wayne some time, great accessions were made to their numbers, and at one time the village contained 3000 men. Even at that time it was supposed to be but a small part of the nation. They had a village after this on the Big Miami and another upon White river.
When the first party had left St. Josephs for the Miami they encamped at the Elk's heart. An Elk was killed there and a woman who got possession of the heart hung it upon a tree; another woman stole it, and when the other came to seek her property she lamented the loss so much that the river thence took it name of Elk's Heart.
They were so numerous at St. Joseph's as to make the migration of a part of the tribe necessary. Accordingly one man separated himself from them and went to the Wabash, where he settled himself at a place now called the Weeau prairie, about 20 miles below the mouth of the Tippecanoe, on the southern shore. His name was Wüyoakeetonwau, which has since been changed to Wüyautonoa, the name by which they
*It is said that this is a compound, meaning "the children of the child that cries for its mother."
Trowbridge, C. C.
Meearmeear Traditions
pp. 7-13.
|
MEEARMEEAR TRADITIONS |
11 |
call the Weeaus. (in the plural Wüyautonoakee)- He received his name
because he lived near a whirlpool in the River St. Joseph's, which in the Miami
is called Wüyoakeetonwee.
When the Weeau band had increased considerably, one of them separated himself from them and went to the mouth of the Vermillion river, where he settled down & made a village. This man had no holes or slits in his ears, as was customary at that day, and he was on that account called Piankeshaw- (Püyankeeshau).
Afterwards one of the Piankeshaws descended the Wabash and settled below Vincennes, at a place called by them Tshipkohkeeoangee, (literally "at the root") in consequence of a small shrub which grew there (Vincennes is now known by this name)- This tribe was called Kohkohkee, which we pronounce Kaskaskia.
These are the tribes of Wüyautonoa. The next one who left St. Josephs went to White River, and finding a very clear whitish spring emptying into the river upon his arrival, he gave the river its name Waupeekomeekee (or White Water).
The third migration was made by the father of Le Gros, who went from St. Joseph's to Piqua. When they were encamped there they heard in the night a great rumbling noise, and in the morning discovered a great ravine. They followed it some distance to a lick, in the midst of the prairie, where they found a great stone, and they gave the place the name of Usaanee and the river, Usaanee seepee. There they first met with that tribe of the Shawnees, called Pickaways.-
The fourth migration was by a hunter who descended the Miami to one of the little prairies near Fort Meigs. He made a village there and on the same ground which was occupied by General Waynes Fort or camp deposit, near Roche de Bout,4 erected a fortification, having walls of earth and small pickets. They fortified at this place, thro' fear of the Six nations: And the place is to this day known by the Chippeways &c., by the name of Meearmeear Wüküegon, the Miami fort.
4One mile above Waterville, Ohio, on the Maumee.
Trowbridge, C. C.
Meearmeear Traditions
pp. 7-13.
12 |
C. C. TROWBRIDGE |
From the Rapids a party of about 100 went to Sandusky, where they resided a few
years, but being in dread of the six nations soon returned to the fort. Another
hunter travelled west to the Mississippi and being pleased with the country
prevailed on his friends to accompany him. They settled near the Sacs, but soon
returned to their friends.-
After this the Maumawaazaukee came to the confluence of the Miami & St. Joseph's and settled, as has been mentioned. They were very numerous, but soon lost great numbers by sickness which they could not cure or prevent, having then no knowledge of the art of Bleeding.
Another separated from this last settlement & migrated to the west. He settled on one of the branches of the Mississippi where he found a great many swans, ducks & other water fowl, and from that circumstance the division took the name of Waupungeeoala, or "the place of white birds."- This branch separated & the last division was called Misoaleeaukee or Canoe people, from the circumstance of their always hunting on the water.
There was a village on the head of Tippecanoe river. About seventy or eighty years ago the small pox destroyed all the inhabitants but an old woman and her son, an infant, who came to the Miami. The child was afterwards the chief of the turtle tribe and died not many years ago. He was called "The Grey".-
The Piankeshaws, the Weeaus (in Miami Wüautonoakee) and the Kaskaskias (Mekoateeaukee) are descendants from the Miamies. The two first separated from them at St. Joseph's and the latter, a different tribe originally, and very poor, were discovered on the Wabash, made tributary to the discoverers and finally incorporated with them, but after sometime they separated again & divided. From these came the Peorias. These three nations speak the Miami language, but the latter by having been separated from the parent stock some time have changed their language so that there are now but few Miami words in their language.- They term these tribes their younger brothers and they claim no
Trowbridge, C. C.
Meearmeear Traditions
pp. 7-13.
|
MEEARMEEAR TRADITIONS |
13 |
other actual relatives, but they have many adopted ones, viz, their elder
brothers the Chippeways, their Grand fathers the Delawares, their elders
brothers, the Wyandots, the Ottawuwas their elder brothers, the Potawatamies
the same and the Shawnees brothers. But this arrangement seems by their account
to have been a matter of trifling importance, and in accordance with the
propositions of the several nations at the different councils which have been
held among them.
GOVERNMENT
Their chiefs are hereditary. The course of descent is from the father to the eldest son. If a chief dies without male issue the title descends to the eldest son of his eldest daughter. In case the young chief is in minority at the death of his father or grand father, the administration of his share of the government is committed by him to his Kaupeeau (the Mishinewaa of the Chippeways) if he deems him sufficiently honest and capable, or in the other event to one or more of his brother chiefs.
When the young chief has arrived at an age when he can administer the government the Kaupeeau, or the chief who has charge of the belts and other insignia of power formerly possessed by his predecessor, sends for him and offers them for his acceptance. It is common for the young man to refuse this offer, and then to assemble a party of his young friends and go out to hunt. When a considerable quantity of game has been collected he returns and makes a great feast. He sends for the Kaupeeau and proposes, as he is then better prepared, to accept the proposition before made to him and offers to make a handsome present for his labour and care in instructing him in the duties of a chief and the history connected with the belts, medals &c, which his father left.
The Kaupeeau then makes his arrangements for a grand council of the nation, at which he advertises them of the fact that the young man has assumed the powers and duties of his ancestor. The chief sometimes has a feast on this occasion and at others distributes large quantities of merchandize.
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Dft. Ex. 135.
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