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  Continued Progress of the Ojibways on the Upper Mississippi during the End of the Eighteenth Century As beaver, and the larger animals, such as buffalo, elk, deer, and bear, decreased in the immediate vicinity of Leech and Sandy Lakes, the hardy bands of Ojibways who had taken possession of these beautiful sheets of water,were obliged to search further into the surrounding country for the game which formed the staple of life. It became customary for these two pioneer bands to meet by appointment,every fall of the year,at Gull Lake, or at the confluence of the Crow Wing with the Mississippi; and from thence to move in one collected camp into the more plentifully supplied hunting grounds of the Dakotas. The camp, consisting of between fifty and a hundred light birch bark wigwams,moved by short stages from spot to spot,according to the pleasure of the chiefs, or as game was found to abound in the greatest plenty. This mode of hunting was kept up from the first fall of snow at the commencement of winter, to the month of February, when the bands again separated, and moved back slowly to their respective village sites, to busy themselves with the manufacture of sugar, amidst the thick groves of the valuable maple which was to be found skirting the lakes of which they had taken possession. As a general fact the women only occupied themselves in the sugar bushes,while the men scattered about in small bands,to hunt the furred animals whose pelts at this season of the year were considered to be most valuable. When sugar-making was over and the ice and snow had once more disappeared before the warmth of a spring sun, the scattered wigwams of the different bands would once more collect at their village sites,and the time for recreation,ball-playing,racing,courtship,and war, had once more arrived. If no trader had passed the winter amongst them,many of the hunters would start off in their birch canoes to visit the trading posts on the Great Lakes, to barter their pelts for new supplies of clothing,ammunition,tobacco,and fire-water. If anyone had lately lost relatives,naturally,or at the hands of the Dakotas , now was the proper time to think of revenge; and it is generally at this 185 Schenck bk p i-xxiv 1-318_Layout 1 5/13/11 10:54 AM Page 185 season of the year that war parties of the red men prowled all over the northwestern country,searching to shed each other’s blood. According to invariable custom,the Ojibway mourns for a lost relative of near kin,for the space of one year; but there are two modes by which he can, at any time, wipe the paint of mourning from his face. The first is through the medium of the Meda,or grand medicine,which,to an Indian, is a costly ordeal. The next is to go to war, and either to kill or scalp an enemy, or besmear a relic of the deceased in an enemy’s blood. This custom is one of their grand stimulants to war, and the writer considers it as more fruitful of war parties, than the more commonly believed motive of satiating revenge,or the love of renown. The spring of the year is also the favorite time for the performance of the sacred grand Meda-we rites.The person wishing to become an initiate into the secrets of this religion, which the old men affirm the Great Spirit gave to the red race, prepares himself during the whole winter for the approaching ceremony.He collects and dries choice meats; with the choicest pelts he procures of the traders, articles for sacrifice, and when spring arrives,having chosen his four initiators from the wise old men of his village, he places these articles,with tobacco,at their disposal,and the ceremonies commence. For four nights, the medicine drums of the initiators resound throughout the village, and their songs and prayers are addressed to the master of life.The day that the ceremony is performed,is one of jubilee to the inhabitants of the village. Each one dons the best clothing he or she possesses,and they vie with one another in the paints and ornaments with which they adorn their persons,to appear to the best advantage within the sacred lodge. It is at this season of the year...

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