The Second Chief,
Who Affected Intoxication, Then Said That We Should Not Go On;
That They Had Not Received Presents
Enough from us.
Captain Clark told him that he would not be prevented from going on;
that we were not
Squaws, but warriors; that we were sent
by our great father, who could in a moment exterminate them.
The chief replied that he too had warriors, and was proceeding
to offer personal violence to Captain Clark, who immediately drew
his sword, and made a signal to the boat to prepare for action.
The Indians, who surrounded him, drew their arrows from
their quivers, and were bending their bows, when the swivel
in the boat was instantly pointed towards them, and twelve
of our most determined men jumped into the pirogue and joined
Captain Clark. This movement made an impression on them,
for the grand chief ordered the young men away from the pirogue,
and they withdrew and held a short council with the warriors.
Being unwilling to irritate them, Captain Clark then went forward,
and offered his hand to the first and second chiefs, who refused
to take it. He then turned from them and got into the pirogue;
but he had not got more than ten paces, when both the chiefs and two
of the warriors waded in after him, and he brought them on board.
We then proceeded on for a mile, and anchored off a willow
island, which, from the circumstances which had just occurred,
we called Bad-humored Island."
The policy of firmness and gentleness, which Lewis and Clark always pursued
when treating with the Indians, had its good results at this time.
What might have been a bloody encounter was averted, and next day the Indians
contritely came into camp and asked that their squaws and children might
see the white men and their boats, which would be to them a novel sight.
This was agreed to, and after the expedition had sailed up the river
and had been duly admired by a great crowd of men, women, and children,
the Tetons invited the white men to a dance. The journal adds: -
"Captains Lewis and Clark, who went on shore one after the other, were met
on landing by ten well-dressed young men, who took them up in a robe
highly decorated and carried them to a large council-house, where they
were placed on a dressed buffalo-skin by the side of the grand chief.
The hall or council-room was in the shape of three-quarters of a circle,
covered at the top and sides with skins well dressed and sewed together.
Under this shelter sat about seventy men, forming a circle round the chief,
before whom were placed a Spanish flag and the one we had given
them yesterday. This left a vacant circle of about six feet diameter,
in which the pipe of peace was raised on two forked sticks, about six or eight
inches from the ground, and under it the down of the swan was scattered.
A large fire, in which they were cooking provisions, stood near, and in
the centre about four hundred pounds of buffalo meat as a present for us.
As soon as we were seated, an old man got up, and after approving
what we had done, begged us take pity on their unfortunate situation.
To this we replied with assurances of protection. After he had ceased,
the great chief rose and delivered a harangue to the same effect; then with
great solemnity he took some of the most delicate parts of the dog which
was cooked for the festival, and held it to the flag by way of sacrifice;
this done, he held up the pipe of peace, and first pointed it toward
the heavens, then to the four quarters of the globe, then to the earth,
made a short speech, lighted the pipe, and presented it to us.
We smoked, and he again harangued his people, after which the repast was
served up to us. It consisted of the dog which they had just been cooking,
this being a great dish among the Sioux, and used on all festivals;
to this were added pemitigon, a dish made of buffalo meat, dried or jerked,
and then pounded and mixed raw with grease and a kind of ground potato,
dressed like the preparation of Indian corn called hominy, to which it
is little inferior. Of all these luxuries, which were placed before us
in platters with horn spoons, we took the pemitigon and the potato,
which we found good, but we could as yet partake but sparingly of the dog."
The "pemitigon" mentioned here is better known as pemmican,
a sort of dried meat, which may be eaten as prepared,
or pounded fine and cooked with other articles of food.
This festival concluded with a grand dance, which at midnight
wound up the affair.
As the description of these Tetons, given by Lewis and Clark, will give
the reader a good idea of the manners, customs, and personal appearance
of most of the Sioux nation, we will copy the journal in full.
It is as follows:
"The tribe which we this day saw are a part of the great Sioux nation,
and are known by the name of the Teton Okandandas: they are about
two hundred men in number, and their chief residence is on both sides
of the Missouri, between the Chayenne and Teton Rivers. In their
persons they are rather ugly and ill-made, their legs and arms being
too small, their cheek-bones high, and their eyes projecting.
The females, with the same character of form, are more handsome;
and both sexes appear cheerful and sprightly; but in our intercourse
with them we discovered that they were cunning and vicious.
"The men shave the hair off their heads, except a small tuft
on the top, which they suffer to grow, and wear in plaits over
the shoulders; to this they seem much attached, as the loss
of it is the usual sacrifice at the death of near relations.
In full dress, the men of consideration wear a hawk's feather,
or calumet feather worked with porcupine quills, and fastened
to the top of the head, from which it falls back.
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