These being hid under as many mittens the opposite party is
required to fix on that which is marked. He gives or receives a feather
according as he guesses right or wrong. When the feathers, which are ten
in number, have all passed into one hand a new division is made, but when
one of the parties obtains possession of them thrice he seizes on the
stakes.
The game of Platter is more intricate and is played with the claws of a
bear or some other animal marked with various lines and characters. These
dice which are eight in number and cut flat at their large end are shook
together in a wooden dish, tossed into the air and caught again. The
lines traced on such claws as happen to alight on the platter in an erect
position indicate what number of counters the caster is to receive from
his opponent.
They have however a much more manly amusement termed the Cross although
they do not engage even in it without depositing considerable stakes. An
extensive meadow is chosen for this sport and the articles staked are
tied to a post or deposited in the custody of two old men. The
combatants, being stripped and painted and each provided with a kind of
battledore or racket, in shape resembling the letter P with a handle
about two feet long and a head loosely wrought with network so as to form
a shallow bag, range themselves on different sides. A ball being now
tossed up in the middle each party endeavours to drive it to their
respective goals and much dexterity and agility is displayed in the
contest. When a nimble runner gets the ball in his cross he sets off
towards the goal with the utmost speed and is followed by the rest who
endeavour to jostle him and shake it out; but, if hard pressed, he
discharges it with a jerk, to be forwarded by his own party or bandied
back by their opponents until the victory is decided by its passing the
goal.
Of the religious opinions of the Crees it is difficult to give a correct
account, not only because they show a disinclination to enter upon the
subject but because their ancient traditions are mingled with the
information they have more recently obtained by their intercourse with
Europeans.
None of them ventured to describe the original formation of the world but
they all spoke of a universal deluge caused by an attempt of the fish to
drown Woesackootchacht, a kind of demigod with whom they had quarrelled.
Having constructed a raft he embarked with his family and all kinds of
birds and beasts. After the flood had continued for some time he ordered
several waterfowl to dive to the bottom; they were all drowned but a
muskrat, having been despatched on the same errand, was more successful
and returned with a mouthful of mud out of which Woesackootchacht,
imitating the mode in which the rats construct their houses, formed a new
earth. First a small conical hill of mud appeared above the water; by and
by, its base gradually spreading out, it became an extensive bank which
the rays of the sun at length hardened into firm land. Notwithstanding
the power that Woesackootchacht here displayed his person is held in very
little reverence by the Indians; and in return he seizes every
opportunity of tormenting them. His conduct is far from being moral and
his amours and the disguises he assumes in the prosecution of them are
more various and extraordinary than those of the Grecian Jupiter himself;
but as his adventures are more remarkable for their eccentricity than
their delicacy it is better to pass them over in silence. Before we quit
him however we may remark that he converses with all kinds of birds and
beasts in their own languages, constantly addressing them by the title of
brother but, through an inherent suspicion of his intentions, they are
seldom willing to admit of his claims of relationship. The Indians make
no sacrifices to him, not even to avert his wrath. They pay a kind of
worship however and make offerings to a being whom they term
Kepoochikawn.
This deity is represented sometimes by rude images of the human figure
but more commonly merely by tying the tops of a few willow bushes
together; and the offerings to him consist of everything that is valuable
to an Indian; yet they treat him with considerable familiarity,
interlarding their most solemn speeches with expostulations and threats
of neglect if he fails in complying with their requests. As most of their
petitions are for plenty of food they do not trust entirely to the favour
of Kepoochikawn but endeavour at the same time to propitiate the animal,
an imaginary representative of the whole race of larger quadrupeds that
are objects of the chase.
In the month of May whilst I was at Carlton House the Cree hunter engaged
to attend that post resolved upon dedicating several articles to
Kepoochikawn and, as I had made some inquiries of him respecting their
modes of worship, he gave me an invitation to be present. The ceremony
took place in a sweating-house or, as it may be designated from its more
important use, a temple which was erected for the occasion by the
worshipper's two wives. It was framed of arched willows, interlaced so as
to form a vault capable of containing ten or twelve men ranged closely
side by side, and high enough to admit of their sitting erect. It was
very similar in shape to an oven or the kraal of a Hottentot and was
closely covered with moose-skins except at the east end which was left
open for a door. Near the centre of the building there was a hole in the
ground which contained ten or twelve red-hot stones having a few leaves
of the taccohaymenan, a species of prunus, strewed around them.
