THE OHIO VALLEY-GREAT LAKES ETHNOHISTORY
ARCHIVES: THE MIAMI COLLECTION
It is noted that the following work from the Miami Archives should be read and
considered within the historical context in which it was composed and printed.
The opinions expressed and the language used do not reflect the opinions or
standards of the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, but are, rather,
indicative of thought in that historical moment during which the document was
published.
Official Account of the Enterprise
of
Cavelier de la Salle from 1679 to 1681
[Zenobius Membré?]
In: English Translation of Margry,
vol. 1, pp. 472-586.
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page 577 was going to make serene and the sun brighter than
its wont.
The third present was a piece of red stuff, to cover the ground, that they might no longer see the blood of their brethern, and to show them by this colour, with which they are accustomed to paint their faces at their festivals, that in future they would always live in pleasure and joy.
The fourth present consisted of twenty cloaks (capots),- garments which are worn by Frenchmen and Indians alike. He told them that he gave them these cloaks to clothe their dead,- not that he believed, as they did, that they have need of them, but to show the friendship which he had borne them and the concern he felt at their loss.
His fifth present was fifty hatchets to use for setting up a grand tomb for their deceased relatives.
The sixth consisted of necklaces, bracelets and leg ornaments of porcelain and glass beads, some red paint, rings and small bells to adorn these Indians, who have no finer ornaments than these, during the feasts which they were holding for the dead men.
The seventh was thirty sword-blades which he set up around the former presents, saying that he was making, a palisade of iron so that in future the bodies of their deceased kinsmen should receive no injury,
The Sieur de La Salle made use of these first presents in this manner in order to gain the good-will of the Miamis; for nothing touches the minds of all these savages more than consideration shown for their dead, and nothing excites them to vengeance more strongly than outrages upon them. Then he went on in these words:
page 578
My brothers, we have paid our homage to the dead, they will be satisfied; and
they require nothing more of us now except that we leave them in peace, that we
wipe away our tears, and apply ourselves to taking care of their offspring, who
stand in their place here.- But I intend to do more, I will bring them to life
again. Every day you miss Ouabicolcata, the most important of your leaders.- Do
not think that he is dead; I have his mind and his spirit in my body, I make
his name live again, I am another Ouabicolcata, I take upon me the same care of
his family that he had during his life; and in order that everyone may know it,
I declare that I am not called Okimas (the name which the Indians gave him). I
am called Ouabicolcata; he is not dead, he still lives, and his family will not
want for anything again, since his spirit is in the body of a Frenchmen who can
supply his relatives with all things necessary in abundance". At the same
time he made an eighth present, of a piece of red cloth. This allegory, as bold
as it was novel, and yet in the closest conformity with the genius of these
tribes, who hold nothing dearer than the memory of their dead, was received
with extraordinary tokens of joy and applause, which compelled him to pause in
his speech for some time.
Then he had the ninth present brought in, which consisted of three large kettles, saying that as the dead man had been brought to life he must give vent to his joy by a great feast, and that he gave these kettles for preparing it. The tenth and eleventh presents were forty cloaks, forty shirts and forty blankets, for men, women and children, and a box full of knives, hatchets and other goods which they value most, saying that, as page 579 he came from the other world and wished to take care of his relatives, he had brought them all that they might be most in need of in order to show them from this example that, as long as they were willing to be guided by his Counsels, they should want for nothing.
The twelfth present consisted of six guns. In giving them, he said. "Here is a matter of great importance which I have to propose to you. He who is the master of life and of this earth is a very great Chief. He is powerful, and is feared by everyone; he loves peace, and wishes us to listen to his words, which aim only at our preservation and our greater prosperity. It is the King of France, the greatest of all the rulers of the further shore. His kindness extends even to your dead; and his subjects have come here to raise them up again; but he wishes to preserve them; his will is that you should obey his laws, and should not enter upon any war without the permission of Onontio, who is in command at Quebec in his name, and loves all the tribes equally because that is the King's will. You must therefore live in peace with all your neighbours, especially with the Illinois. You have had differences between you, but you have been sufficiently avenged by their defeat. They wish to make peace, although they are still strong enough to harm you; be content with the glory of having made them ask you for peace. You are concerned in preserving them; for, if they were destroyed, the Iroquois would not fail to reopen the old quarrels which they have had with you. Yet do not attack them, for my sake. I am resolved to obey the laws of this great ruler, to whom I am indebted for having been raised to life again, whose protection will keep us safe in com-
page 581
Heavens, the Sun and the King, whom they called the master of the earth and of
life, to thank them for letting them see their relatives again whom they had
believed to be dead.
When the dances were over, Ouabibichagan offered a present of ten robes of beaver skin which he explained in this manner, addressing himself to the Sieur de La Salle: "My brother Ouabicolcata, never have we seen the dead revived. He who has given you back your life must be a great Spirit, since he has restored it at the same time to all your relatives. By this wondrous deed he has made the heavens more beautiful, the sun more brilliant and the earth greener.
In giving you life, he gave you also clothes for all your brothers, who had been wont to be naked. Thus we have all gained by losing you, since your death has induced this great chief to take pity upon us. We are ashamed that we have nothing to offer him when he has done so much for us. But you, Ouabicolcata, who know our poverty, will excuse us, because you are our brother and it is on your account that we are poor, for it was in order to get back your bones that we gave the Iroquois this winter more than three thousand beaver skins. We offer you all we have left until the Spring, when we shall be able to give you greater proofs of our gratitude, and to make you master of all the beavers in our rivers in the name of that great King."
The second present was also ten robes of beaver skin. "Here is something," the speaker continued, "to put upon the mat of our brother Ouabicolcata. He is not dead; for a whole year we shall revel in the joy we now feel at seeing him again. This thought will pleasantly fill our minds while we are hunting. We are page 582 under the protection, Ouabicolcata, of the Spirit which has raised you up again; and we beg you, since you come from him, to explain to him the meaning of these robes by which we recognize him as the master of our land. That land will, in the future, be dearer to us, and the fear of our enemies will never more compel us to abandon it, since, if they should put us to death, your King has the power to give us back our lives."
The third present consisted of ten robes of beaver skin, which Ouabibichagan accompanied by these words: "We have resolved to obey the voice of that great Spirit. We lay down our arms, we break our arrows, we hide our tomahawks in the very depths of the earth. The Illinois is our brother since he acknowledges the King of France, our master and our father at the same time, for he has brought our brothers to life again. But we beg this great Spirit to give his mind to our brother the Illinois. He has been used to devour the Miamis, and he will continue to kill them if the great King does not prevent him."
The fourth present, also of ten robes of beaver skin, was intended to show the delight of the Miamis.
"We cannot make known to you," said the spokesman to the Sieur de La Salle, "all our joy. We are so filled with delight at seeing you that we cannot speak. We will open our minds to you further after we have feasted our eyes upon the sight of you. We cannot say anything now except- how good it is, how very good, that you are not dead. We thank you, O most great chief, for having brought our brother Ouabicolcata to life again; how good that is! We will shout our thanks so loudly that you will hear us from the place where you dwell. We have page 583 made you master of our beavers and of our land. We make you master also of our minds and of our bodies which owe their life to you and the clothes with which we are covered. You have given us back our brothers, but they will always belong to you for they have no life in them but that which you have given them."
The fifth present of ten robes of beaver skin, he accompanied by these words: "I am not surprised that my kinsmen from New England wish to live with you, and have become of one mind with you; we should have done the same long ago, if we had known what happiness is to be found in belonging to that great chief. We will ever receive as our brothers all who come from him, and especially these who are our kinsmen revived, who shall occupy among us the place of our relatives slain by the Iroquois."
In making the last present, which also consists of ten robes of beaver skin, he spoke thus: "Have no regard, brother, to the number of the presents we give to you; they are all that is left to us. The Iroquois have taken everything from us; but in the Spring, we shall be able to give you greater tokens of our friendship and our gratitude; and meanwhile we offer you our hearts,"
When the speech was finished, they passed the rest of the day in dances and feasts, at which the Sieur de La Salle was obliged to be present, for the festival was held solely on his account. These Indians have the same customs as the Illinois and conduct themselves in the same manner. They have several wives, like the Nadouessious and most of the tribes of the West. The Sieur de La Salle saw among them two Indians who had been baptised, who had three wives each, all three sisters; and it has been found by experience that it is almost impossible that they should
page 585
Forest who, contrary to his orders, but thinking he was doing right, had
stopped at Fort Frontenac for some other business, which had not been intrusted
to him, without considering the consequences of this delay.
This disappointment caused great annoyance to the Sieur de La Salle, who was obliged to go to Fort Frontenac, to which he proceeded by the Lake Taronto route. He found the Sieur de Tonty there in perfect health, and letters from the Comte de Frontenac, who wrote to him to go down to Montreal, where he would also repair in order to converse with him. Nevertheless he did not meet him there, which caused him to lose a great deal of time to no purpose.
As soon as he got back to Fort Frontenac he made preparations for his journey. He arrived at Teyoyagon at the beginning of August, and spent a fortnight there in getting all his baggage conveyed to the shore of Lake Taronto, on which he embarked at the end of the same month,- August of last year, 1681.
At the end of this year, 1682, we shall hear the success of his exploration, which he had determined to complete last Spring at the latest, or to perish in the attempt. So many hindrances and mishaps, which always occurred in his absence, made him resolve never again to trust to anyone, but to remain personally in charge of all his men, all his baggage and his whole enterprise, of which he was hoping for a favourable termination. He took with him the Sieur de Tonty, and thirty good Frenchmen, who are more than sufficient, even if all these whom he left with the Miamis should fail him, for he can count on more than a hundred picked Indians from the Chaouanon tribe page 586 and the tribes from New England who perfectly understand the use of runs, without mentioning Miamis and Illinois of whom he would have a large number to follow him, if he had need of them.
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