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CHAPTER 7 Just before reaching her mother’s wigwam, some one called out, “Loda, Loda!” She turned about, exclaiming,“Enaubin! Enaubin!” (Look! Look!) I did so, and saw approaching a tall, middle-aged man of the Ottawa tribe, dressed in native style, leading a large, gray wolf along the trail toward us. Loda, stepping backward, exclaimed, “Negebawn! (My soul!) Kawkee, where did you get tchi mawingawn (that wolf)?” “Down by the Sebe,” he replied.As I stepped to one side, looking the wild animal over, noticing his drooping head and straightened tail, with sneaky eyes upturned, I was about to speak to the stranger, when he said,“As I passed Kawbenaw’s back here, he told me young Chief Pokagon, son of old Chief Pokagon, of the Pottawattamie tribe of the south, had just left his lodge for this place.” He then asked, “Are you the old ogimaw (chief’s) son?” I replied, “I am.” He then asked, “Have you been attending school at Twinsburg, O., with Petoskey and Blackbird, of Traverse Bay?”“I have,” I replied. He then said,“I well knew your father, and have frequently heard those two young men speak of you attending the white man’s school with them, and have had a great desire to see you. Come, go home with me and stay all night.” Turning to Loda, I said, “had I best go?” “Go, of course,” she said, “he is meno Awnishnawby (a good Indian man). He lives in the old Ottawa council-house.” Her answer was sorely disappointing to me, · 148 · Simon Pokagon as I had expected she would urge me to stay all night at her mother’s. I then said to the stranger,“I will go with you; but do not care to walk near the wolf.” Kawkee starting on, I followed at a safe distance in the rear. I said, “If that is a wild wolf, I can not understand how you can or dare lead him.” “When a boy,” he replied, “I went with an old wolf hunter to look after nin dasonagan (his traps); in one we found a large mawingawn (wolf). As we stood looking at the animal, he said, ‘Nkwiwisens (my boy), let me show you the nature of mawingawn.’ He then cut a gad, as long as I am tall; then taking him by the nape of the neck, he gave him a severe whipping, then tied a rope about his neck, and I led him to his lodge as though he were onawm (a dog).” On reaching his wigwam, I saw at a glance that it was an ancient council-house of giant size. Stepping to the door, the stranger said, as he pulled the latch-string, “My people are out in iskigamisagan (the sugar camp); go in and rest while I take care of mawingawn.” Slowly I entered, and closed the door. Silence reigned supreme within the spacious room. Wondering, I stood and gazed; for all about the clay-washed timbered room, as if peering through the walls, hung heads of“mooz,”“meshaywog,”and“wawawshkayshe”(the moose, the elk, and the deer), with antlers broad; while “mawquaw,” “bizhiw,” and “esiban” (the bear, the wildcat, and the lynx), with staring eyes all fixed toward the center of the room, where, floating in mid-air with wings extended wide, appeared “migisi,”“kekkek,” and “kokoko” (the eagle, the osprey, and the owl), watching beneath, where council fires had blazed in former years. Around the sacred altar, standards were stuck, on which at half-mast hung old worn-out and tattered hides, on which were painted animals of different kinds, emblems and totoms of many northern tribes, while from the ceiling swung bunches of “medawin” (corn in the ear), and hammocks large and small, while snowshoes and moccasins hung in pairs on long lines across the room in wedge-shaped rows, graded from infant size up to the full-grown man. It was indeed a novel place, and so reminded me of boyhood days while yet my father lived, I really wished I was a child again.At length Kawkee marched into the room, followed by his wife and children nine, in single file, all standing erect as if by military rule. Looking with pride along the line from “ikwe” (wife) to youngest “abinoji” (child), he said, “This awoshki ogimaw (young chief) is son of old Pokagon, the great Pottawattamie chief who once owned Shegogong (Chicago), the most loyal and bravest man that ever ruled...

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