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.
First Council at Fort Pontchartrain
(Detroit, October 3, 1701)
"Councils held by Lamothe
Cadillac with the Indians" in:
Ministere des Colonies, Canada, Postes des Pays d'en Haut,
Vol. 14, Fol. 79 and in English Translation of Margry,
Vol. 5, pp. 395-398.
pp. 395, 396, 397, 398.
III.
Councils
held by Lamothe Cadillac with
the Indians.
__________
I.
The Outaouas are dissuaded from coming
to Detroit.
The Pouteouatamis go and settle near the
Miamis.
__________
First Council held in Fort Pontchartrain.
|
3rd of October, 1701. |
Otontagan speaks on behalf of all the tribes of the Outaouas.- So great was our desire to see you, who are our Father, that we have forced our way through the winds and waves to do so; surely then we deserve a drink of brandy to comfort us, for our arms are weary and our bodies cold after the rain which has beaten upon them so heavily on our journey.
M. de Lamothe- I am greatly rejoiced, my children, to see you today and still more to see that you are in good health. I thought, Otontagan, that you had lost the remembrance of drinking brandy, for Onontio sent me word that you had done so.
Otontagan.- It is true that we asked Onontio to forbid the Frenchmen of Montreal to sell us any brandy, because we feared it might cause trouble, as the Governor himself thought; but we did not ask him to forbid it for ever. Our young men would (page 396) very much like to drink a little, on their arrival; we have looked forward to doing so, all our journey.
M. de Lamothe.- You must not expect to drink brandy here. None will be brought here, except for me; I shall give some to those who eat at my table, and a few glasses on other occasions. If you attend Divine service, and make a good use of the drink, I will have some sold to you, as to French people. Take courage, Otontagan, and be a true man; forget, all of you, this fatal drink which robs you of your understanding, makes you ill-treat your wives and sets your children weeping.
Otontagan.- My Father, we have a question to put to you: Is it true that you wrote to the Black Robes at Missilimakinak, by the three Iroquois whom you met on Lake St. Clair, when you came with the convoy?
M. de Lamothe.- I did not write to the Jesuit Fathers by the three Iroquois of whom you speak.
Otontagan.- Did you not write by some other means; for we were shown a letter which comes from you?
M. de Lamothe.- I sent a letter to the Jesuits by some Frenchmen, sending them my compliments and endeavouring to obtain some corn through them; but why do you ask me this question?
Otontagan.- Because the Jesuits shewed us a letter from you*, warning us not to come to Detroit, for if we came we should be dead men. When they told us this it maddened us, and since that time we have been like drunken men; it has set us at variance, and has made several resolve to go to the Great River, others to the Sleeping Bear, and others are at the Bay. The letter also (page 397) says that the Sonnontouans are coming here to betray us; and it says that, if the Onnontague come there some time after them, it will be a good sign and will prove that the hearts of all the Iroquois are good. The Hurons will tell you more about this, and you will hear what Father de Carheil told them, at a number of councils.
M. de Lamothe.- I did not write to the Black Robes what you have just told me; on the contrary, I told them in my letter that I was expecting them here, and I hoped that they would come with you, because Onontio sends me word that he has written to them to do so. If what you tell me is true, I can well believe that you are divided in your opinions; and I am very glad to tell you that you did well not to believe what the Jesuits said. You must listen to them when it is a question of prayer and they teach you about the Great Spirit, Who alone made all things and rules all things; for the Black Robes and the Grey Robes are the rulers of religion. I listen to them myself. for they do not lie about that; but, as to other matters, I cannot answer for them. Onontio alone is the ruler of the land; I am one of his arms, I speak to you only by his orders, and I never lie.
Koussikouer, the oldest chief of the Outaouas.- Ouilamek, Chief of the Poutouatamis, who knows you, charged me to tell you that he was going to establish his village near the Miamis, and that next spring he would take his bow and arrows and come to see you; that, if you see that goods are given to him at a reasonable price, he would come there frequently with his young men, otherwise he has now a means of obtaining them.
M. de Lamothe.- Ouilamek will be
welcome; it was I who made him chief. If he wishes to go elsewhere for his
goods, he may do (page 398) as he thinks fit; it
will not disturb my rest.
__________________________
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