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.
Journal of a Voyage to North America
(Letter XXII, August 16, 1721)
Charlevoix, P. de in: Journal of a Voyage to North
America, vol. 2, London, 1761, pp. 1, 93-105+.
J O U R N A L
OF A
V O Y A G E
T O
N O R T H-A M E R I C A.
Undertaken by ORDER of the
F R E N C H K I N G.
C O N T A I N I N G
The GEOGRAPHICAL Description and Natural
History of that Country, particularly
C A N A D A.
T O G E T H E R W I T H
An Account of the C U S T O M S, C H A R A C T E R S,
R E L I G I O N, M A N N E R S and T R A D I T I O N S
of the original Inhabitants.
In a Series of Letters to the Duchess of LESDIGUIERES.
Translated from the French of P. DE CHARLEVOIX.
V O L. II.
L O N D O N:
Printed for R. and J. DODSLEY, in Pall-Mall.
MDCCLXI.
LETTER XXII.
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Voyage to the River St. Joseph. Observations with |
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respect to the
Rivers which fall into Lake Mi- |
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River St. Joseph, August 16, 1721. |
Madam,
It was eight days yesterday since I arrived at this post, where we have a mission, and where there is a commandant with a small garrison. The commandant's house, which is but a very sorry one, is called the fort, from its being surrounded with an indifferent pallisado, which is pretty near the case in all the rest, except the forts Chambly and Catarocouy, which are real fortresses. There are however in almost every one of them some few cannons or pateraroes, which in case of necessity are sufficient to hinder a surprize and to keep the Indians in respect.
We have here two villages of Indians, one of the Miamis and the other of the Poutewatamies, both of them mostly Christians; but as they have been for a long time without any pastors, the missionary who has lately been sent them, will have no small difficulty in bringing them back to the exercise of their religion. The river of St. Joseph comes from the south-east, and discharges itself into the bottom of lake Michigan, the eastern shore of which is a hundred leagues in length, and which you are obliged to sail along before you come to the entry of this river. You afterward sail up twenty leagues in it before you reach the fort, which navigation requires great precautions; because when the wind is large, that is to say westerly, which frequently prevails here, the waves extend the whole length of the lake. There is also good ground to believe, that the great number of rivers which discharge themselves into the lake on the eastern side, contribute much by the shock of their currents against the waves to render this voyage dangerous: what is certain is, that there are few places in all Canada where there are more shipwrecks. But I return to my journal where I left off.
On the first of August, after having crossed under sail a bay which is thirty leagues in depth, I left on my right les isles de Castor, or Beaver islands, which seam to me very well wooded; and some leagues farther on the left, I perceived on a sandy eminence a kind of grove or thicket, which when you are abreast of it, has the figure of an animal lying down; the French call this the Sleeping, and the Indians the Couching Bear. I advanced twenty leagues this day; and encamped in a little island, which lies in 44 deg. 30 min. north latitude, be-
couching close to the ground, approached me as softly as possible. He was just going to fire, when I likewise began to think I saw somewhat, but without being able to distinguish what it was. As I could not doubt however that this must be some of my people I asked him whether he took me for a bear; he made no answer, and when I came up to him I found him quite speechless, and like a person seized with horror at the thoughts of what he was going to do. His comrades afterwards told me all that had happened.
The river St. Joseph is so commodious for the commerce of all parts of Canada, that it is no wonder it has always been much frequented by the Indians. Besides it waters an extreme fertile country, but this is not what there people esteem it most for. It is even great pity to give them good lands; which they either make no use of at all, or soon run out by sowing maize on them. The Mascoutins had not long since a Settlement on this river, but have returned back to their own country which is said to be still finer than this. The Poutewatamies have occupied successively several Posts here where they still are; their village is on the same side with the fort, a little below it and on a very fine spot of ground: that of the Miamis is on the other side of the river.
These Indians, who have from the earliest times applied themselves more than others to the study of medicine, make great account of the root ginseng, and are persuaded that this plant has the virtue of rendering women fruitful. I do not believe however that it is for this reason they have given it the name of Abesoatchenza which signifies a child; it owes this name at least amongst the Iroquois
Some days afterwards I paid a visit to the chief of the Miamis, who had been beforehand with me; this is a tall handsome man but very much disfigured, being without a nose; I was told that he owed this misfortune to a debauch. As soon as he understood I was coming to visit him, he went and placed himself in the inner part of his cabbin in a sort of alcove, where I found him seated cross-legged in the manner of the orientals. He said scarce any thing to me, and seemed to affect a haughty sort of gravity, which he supported very ill; this is the first Indian chief I have ever seen to observe this ceremony; but I was told that I must repay him in kind, if I would be despised by him.
On this day the Poutewatamies came to play at the game of straws, against the Miamis; the game was played in the cabbin of the chiefs, and in a sort of square over against it. These straws are small rushed of the thickness of a stalk of wheat and two fingers in length. They take up a parcel of these in their hand, which generally consists of two hundred and one, and always of an unequal number. After they have well stirred them, and making a thousand contortions of body and invoking the genii, they divide them, with a kind of awl or sharp bone into parcels of ten: each takes one at a venture, and he to whom the parcel with eleven in it falls gains a certain number of points according to the agreement; sixty or four score make a party.
There are other ways of playing this game, and they would have explained them to me, but I could understand nothing of the matter, except that the number nine gained the whole party. They also (page 103) told me, that there was as much of art as chance in this game, and that the Indians are great cheats at it, as well as at all others; that they are so eager at it, as to spend whole days and nights at it; and that sometimes they do not give over playing till they have stript themselves naked and have nothing more to lose. They have another kind of game, which excites no strong desire of gain. This is for pure diversion only, but is almost always attended with fatal consequences with respect to their morals. At night fall several posts are erected, in a round form, in the middle of some great cabbin; in the midst of all are the instruments, on each post is fixed a packet of down, of which there must be some of every colour. The young people of both sexes promiscuously dance round the posts, the girls having also some down of the colour which they love: from time to time a young man goes out from the rest, and takes from a post some down, of the colour which he knows is agreeable to his mistress, places it upon her head, dances round her, and by a certain signal gives her to understand some place of assignation. The dance ended, the feast begins and lasts the whole day long, in the evening all the company retire, when the girls manage matters with so much address, that in spite of the vigilance of their mothers they reach the place of rendezvous.
The Miamis have also two other games; the first of which is called the game of the cross. This is played with a ball and crooked sticks, ending like a sort of racket. Two posts are erected which serve as limits, and which are distant from each other in proportion to the number of the players. As for instance, if there are fourscore players, (page 104) A the distance between the posts is half a league. The players are divided into two companies who have each their own post, and the business is to toss the ball to that of the opposite party, without suffering it to fall to the ground or without touching it with the hand; for if either happen the party is lost; at least except he who is in the fault can repair it, by driving the ball to the end with one single stroke, which is often impossible. These Indians are so dexterous at catching the ball with their crosses, that sometimes a party lasts several days running.
The second game is pretty much like this, but not so dangerous. Two boundaries are marked out as in the first, and the players occupy all the space which is between the two. He who is to begin tosses a ball up into the air, as nearly perpendicular as possible, to the end he may catch it again with the greater ease, in order to throw it towards the boundary. All the rest stand ready with their hands lifted, and he who catches the ball either performs the same thing, or throws it to some one of his own company, whom he judges more alert and dexterous than himself; for in order to win the party the ball must never be suffered to fall into the hands of any of the adversaries, before it reaches the boundary. The women also play at this game, but this rarely happens; their companies consist of four or five, and the first who lets fall the ball loses the party.
The Poutewatamies have here a chief and an orator, who are persons of worth. The first who is called Piremon is upwards of sixty, very prudent in his conduct, and capable of giving very good advice; the second whose name is Wilamek is (page 105) somewhat younger; this person is a Christian and well instructed, but makes no exercise of his religion. One day as I reproached him for it, he left me abrubtly, went directly to the chapel, and said his prayers with so audible a voice, that we could hear him at the missionary's. You can scarce any where meet with a more sensible man or a better speaker; and besides he is of a very amiable character and sincerely attached to the French. Piremon is no less so, and I heard both of them speak in a council held at the commandant's where they said a great many very fine things to us.
Several Indians of the two nations settled upon this river, are just arrived from the English colonies, whither they had been to sell their furs, and from whence they have brought back in return a great quantity of spirituous liquors. The distribution of it is made in the usual manner; that is to say, a certain number of persons have daily delivered to each of them a quantity sufficient to get drunk with, so that the whole has been drank up in eight days. They began to drink in both villages, as soon as the sun was down, and every night the fields echoed with the most hideous howlings. One would have thought that a gang of devils had broke loose from hell, or that the two towns had been cutting one another's throats. There were two men maimed, one of whom I met, who had broke his arm with a fall; I told him he would certainly take care to keep sober another time: he answered, that what had happened was nothing at all; and that he should very soon be well again, and would fall to drinking as soon as he could get wherewithal.
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