USA > Michigan > A history of the northern peninsula of Michigan and its people, its mining, lumber and agricultural industries, Volume I > Part 7
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Personifications are merely arguments for the types they represent, and the two just mentioned indicated the change from absolute savagery to semi-barbarism. Manabozho was a blending of the two; of the eun- ning and shrewdness of Artotarho, with the wisdom, skill and benevo- lence of Hiawatha.
TRIBAL GOVERNMENT AND SOCIAL CUSTOMS
The Indian form of government was patriarchal and democratic. It consisted principally of a collection of families grouped together as a
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tribe under one governing, but not arbitrary chief. The families form- ing a tribe each had its own distinctive domain, or totem, a symbolic association which, once adopted, was recognized and respected by every possessor of a like symbol. So strong is this recognition that even such enemies as the Sionx and Algonquins said they must be kin, for they had the same totems.
The origin of the totems is given in many legends, of which the fol- lowing is one: "In the days when all was new, the Holder of the Paths of Men, the Sun Father, created from his own person two children who fell to earth for the good of all that lived. These children cut the face of the earth with their magic knife and were borne down upon their magic shield into the caverns where men dwelt. These caverns were very dark and men crowded each other as their numbers increased, and they were very unhappy. At last the children of the Sun Father heeded their supplications and led them out of the cavern, eastward. toward the home of the Sun Father; but, lo! the beasts of prey, powerful and like gods themselves, would have devoured the children of men, so the Two Brothers thought it unwise to permit all of the animals to live, for, said they, 'Alike will the children of men and of beasts multiply, and the children of men are the weaker,' so whenever they came across any animals, whether mountain lion or mole, the brothers struck them with the lightning carried in their magic shield, and instantly the beasts were shriveled into stone. They then said to the stone animals: 'That ye may not be an evil unto men, but that ye may be a great good unto them, have we changed you into roek everlasting. By the magic breath of prey, by the heart that shall endure forever within you, shall ye be made to serve instead of to devour mankind.' These beasts represented by stone fetiches were adopted by men as their guardian spirits, each fam- ily in the old days having one."
Intermarriage carried the totem of one family into another tribe, as the warrior followed the clan of his wife and became a member of the family into which he married. The warrior's totem was never changed, merely added to the other; his name might be changed, however, for any act of nnusnal prowess or skill.
Another legend concerning totems is, that many ages ago the "Grand Mother of Life" brought from her home in the setting sun nine separate forms of animal and plant life; these were the deer race, the bear race, the sand race, the water race, the hare race, the prairie-dog race, the rat- tle-snake race, the tobacco plant race and the reed-grass race. Having lo- cated them, the Grand Mother transformed them into men and each kept as his distinctive totem the race from which he sprung. The totem was as much of a distinguishing mark of the Indian family as the heraldic devices were in Europe of the families who bore them. Painted upon skins or bark, it marked the warrior's lodge in the village; carved upon weapons, tools and ornaments, it denoted their ownership; in picture writing, the figure of a warrior's totem in connection with other figures, showed his place and share in the transaction represented; and at last
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it was carved in inverted order upon his grave post (Ajedatig) to mark his resting place. When one thinks how often the device of the bear or sun appeared among the medieval Europeans of highest rank he is struck by the affinity of spirit, even if the affinity of race is doubtful.
The system of tribal government remained longest with the western Indians. The office of chief was not hereditary, but depended on the personal attributes of the warrior; although preference was given to the son of a chief if he exhibited fitness. No man, lazy in the chase or cow- ardly on the warpath, could raise himself to the post of honor. The Indians had no belief in caste; to them all men were born free and equal, in a social sense, the only inequality being physical disability. Any man of exceptional courage, eloquence, and personal magnetism might become ruling chief. There were subordinate chiefs and a council of the older men, to assist the head chief. The members of this council were called the Ogemas, equivalent to magistrates. Although the chiefs were the exponents of public opinion, and were eloquent in defending the rights or focalizing the views of their people, it was the council which decided weighty matters, especially in settling land questions. Women were never permitted a seat in the council, but some tribes were so far enlightened that women were represented at their sessions by a chief whose duty it was to look after their property interests; for all property descended in the female line, and "the soil belonged as much to the women who tilled it, as to the men who hunted over it." Property might be willed away, but otherwise descended to the children. If a woman married again, it went to the children of her first husband.
The Indians believed private rights accrued to them from the Great Spirit. An old legend says that "Hinun. the Beneficent, made the earth and all it contained for the good of mankind, whatsoever is on the land; whatsoever groweth out of the earth, and all that is in the rivers and waters flowing through the earth, and gave it jointly for all, and every one is entitled to his share."
It was not until contact with the whites had developed their greed that they came to think they could sell the land; it belonged to all.
Though the Indians were much attached to their hunting grounds they held no individual rights in thein. After a raid they did not usually retain possession of an enemy's hunting ground, but returned to their own. The spoils of war, however, belonged to the individual captor. Might constituted right. No restitution of personal property was ever made to a weaker tribe. Though the head chief demanded and received due respect, it was necessary for him to be shrewd and diplomatie in dealing with his fellows, for the love of personal liberty was too strong among them to permit much arrogance; even in the field the war-chief had to use his powers with caution. This desire for absolute personal liberty was a cause of weakness. for, although they learned the strength of union at an early day, they could not hold together long, and this pre- vented concerted action.
There are a few instances where women had become chiefs on ac-
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count of exceptional bravery, but as a general thing the position of women was menial and despised. Though they were absolute rulers of the lodges. and the mother-right in the descent of property was common to most tribes. It does not follow that the warrior considered them his equals; it was only that they might cater to his comfort and relieve him of all tedious care-taking that he permitted such absolute sway over household affairs. War and the chase were the warrior's sole business in life, and he did not wish to be hampered by domestic details.
War was undertaken more often to avenge a murder than for any other reason ; not that murder was considered a crime against moral law, for they had no conception of moral law as the whites understand it, but a crime against the person killed. only. The death of a member of any elan must be caused hy malign influence of some other clan, and blood called for blood before the "mourning could be washed from the faces" of the nearest kin. It was the duty of the nearest relatives to accomplish such vengeance. This did not necessarily involve the whole tribe, thangh it frequently resulted in a general affair.
Women shared this belief and took upon themselves most of the drudgery of life in order that the warrior might always be ready. The wearer of the eagle feather must be a hero, or woman would despise him. How could a hero hoe corn and plant squashes, and still maintain his dignity? To a certain degree the women were compensated, for the warrior would fight till death to protect his wife and children, and many stories are told of warriors who took tedious journeys, or parted with their valned possessions to obtain Inxuries for a sick wife, or neces- saries for their families.
The marriage tie was respected generally, while it lasted, but it was very lax. Polygamy was common ; a man nsnally married the sisters or nearest of kin of his wife in such plural marriages. They all lived together. In many tribes the manner of living was communal, and sey- eral families, usually connected. ocenpied one lodge. In such a lodge the chief matron ruled and apportioned the food and necessities. Crops and stores were held in common, and fish and game were divided equally. The duties of women included the preparing and storing of meat after a chase; the drying of fish, the tanning of skins for clothing, bedding and tepee covering. This art they understood to perfection, and they also knew how to color the skins and other articles, such as willows for baskets, with extracts made from the bark of certain trees, roots or ber- ries. No doubt they knew where to find mineral colorings also. They sewed the skins with thread made from the sinews of deer and other animals, using needles made from fish or other bones; or they laced them with raw-hide thongs, making the perforations with bone awls which they manufactured for that purpose. They cultivated all vegetables known to them, and gathered the wild rice, seeds of plants, wild fruits, and certain kinds of roots for drying. They made a crude sort of clay pottery, and they wove bark fiber into ropes and thrend for nets. They made shuttles, scrapers, knives and other household tools from bone .. "
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though the men sometimes made these articles and wooden bows and trenehers.
Upon the woman fell the work of making the poles for the wigwam, of setting them up and covering them, and of taking them down and packing them upon the dog train travois; for dogs were the beasts of burden with the Indians before horses came to them. The women gath- ered the medicinal herbs, and tended the sick, though in case of cure the priest got the credit. They frequently made the canoes, either of birch bark, or a log burned and dug out and fashioned into shape with the stone axes and chisels that the men were expert in making. Both men and women were skillful in the use of the paddle. Among the tribes where skin boats were used in crossing streams the women made these to transport their children and goods, while the men swam across. or, if possessing horses, crossed with them.
Their method of cooking was ernde and difficult; boiling was fre- quently accomplished by dropping hot stones into the dish containing the food. This method left something to be desired in cleanliness, but white housewives have not scorned to learn from the squaws the art of making succotash and hoe-cake. With all these duties the busy squaws found time to gratify their artistic tastes, as the baskets. blankets, and the bead and porcupine quill embroideries from west to east offer suf- ficient proof.
They trained their children well according to their tenets. Endur- ance was the first lesson an Indian received, and it was the last act of his life. It is true that the tiny pappoose was strapped to a board, but it was tenderly cared for. nevertheless, and the board was made com- fortable with soft deer skin cushions stuffed with moss or sweet-grass. and was ornamented with the finest bead and plaited grass work that the mother could make. In modern times, after the trail of the white man crossed the land, the board cradle was still further enhanced by tinkling pieces of tin. The lullabys sung were as loving, if not as musical, as any white mother knows. When the mother was busy the board was hung on a tree. or stood in the corner of the tepee. Once a day the baby was unstrapped and permitted to roll upon the grass, or a blanket. This continued for about two years. After release from the board the train- ing of the boy and girl differed materially ; the boy equipped with how and arrows and snares, ran wild. He learned to shoot and fish, and snare game, to swim and jump. Boys flew kites, played tag, hide and seek, blind-man's-buff, shinney, ball and many other games. Incident- ally, the girl' learned some of these also and she found time to play with dolls and make clothes for them as other girls do, but when she was five she became a carrier of wood and water and had to practice pack- ing and carrying a bundle upon her back, and her toil never ended till she died. Even when the time eame to be married she could not choose for herself always, but was really sold by her parents. There were ameliorating conditions, however, for the girl received a trosseau such as white girls do; new clothing of skins tanned soft and white and
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fringed, beaded and embroidered; skins for sheets, tanned smooth and whitened with clay ; rolls of skins or bark for lodge covering ; poles and household utensils of all sorts, were in her marriage outfit. Children were seldom whipped, ducking being a common mode of punishment ; but they were given lessons in good breeding that would not come amiss among people claiming more civilization.
The dwellings of the primitive Indians ranged from mud huts to frame houses, the more savage and nomadic the tribe, the less use for a permanent dwelling. The wigwam of poles covered with bark or skins was a common form easily prepared, and after horses came to the In- dians, easily carried. The wikiop was a variation of the wigwam, often of bushes tied together to form the most temporary shelter.
The pipe (opuagun) was the most valued possession of the Indian. Like tobacco (na nimau), it was a sacred gift from the Great Spirit. The ceremony of offering its fumes to Him, as well as to the earth and to the four winds, precedes every serious undertaking. The ancient tribes made the pipes of stone or clay, and these were, some of them, smoked without a stem. No material was considered too fine for the manufacture of pipes, and they were highly ornamented with carvings, mostly in imi- tation of birds, serpents or lizards, and they were often painted or eol- ored. They were a favorite offering to the Manitos, and countless frag- ments of them have been found in the earth mounds and around their sacred stone altars.
UTENSILS, WEAPONS AND SPORTS
Among the many stone utensils made by the Indians the axe, (agak- wut) is one of the most common. This is properly a pick, as it is not sharp enough to cut down trees. When trees were needed for canoes, or other purposes, they were burned at the base to fell them, and then they were carefully burned to coal on one side, if required for a canoe, and the coal was picked out with these stone axes. A handle was made by twisting a supple withe around the grove of the stone axe, and it could then be used for splitting wood. Occasionally axes are found with an eye for attaching the same to a helve. They are made of many sizes and adapted to various uses.
The bow and arrow, which were the ordinary weapons, are of such ancient and world-wide use that no authentie date is given for their or- igin. "When or how they came into the hands of the Indians no one knows. The stone arrow heads were of many sizes, and suited to the purposes for which they were required; small ones being made for boys who were encouraged in every way to become skillful archers. The shafts were ornamented with feathers, and the owner's distinctive sign was carved upon them. Occasionally the arrow heads were made of cop- per, and in modern times of iron, often having several barbs on one shaft.
A more prosaic, but nearly as useful an article, was the corn pestle, used by the Indian women for grinding dried cherries and acorns, as well as corn, and by means of which the latter was made into coarse meal so
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that it could be used for soup. These pestles were usually made from a semi-hard rock, and usually weighed five or six pounds each.
A very ancient and formidable weapon is called by Schoolcraft a balista. This was made by sewing a large, round boulder into a fresh skin and attaching a long handle to it. After the skin dried it was painted, and was carried by warriors who plunged it suddenly upon the object to be destroyed; with it a canoe could be sunk.
The stone mace, or tomahawk, was something like the axe, only the points were left sharp for cleaving, and there was always a perforation for a handle.
Stone spears were in common use, and chisles or scrapers for dress- ing skins were likewise made of stone, and were of many sizes.
In some of the games played by the Indians stones of various sizes and shapes were used; and in some parts of the country certain large stones were sacred and were used as altars on which to deposit gifts of tobacco, corn or pipes, to propitiate the Manitos.
The war-club, which was known to most tribes, was usually made of hard wood so carved as to have a heavy ball at one side of the head.
The akeeks, or kettles, were usually made by the women, out of com- mon elay tempered with feldspar, quartz or shells. Vases were also made of such materials, but were usually more finely wrought, and were used for holding the foods deposited upon the graves.
Their medals, amulets, beads, nose and ear drops were often made of shells, as well as of bones. They prized mother-of-pearl very highly, for they invested the sea with mystical powers, and believed the shells to have some of that power.
Their wampum belts, or strings, which took the place of coin, were made of shells. After the white people came among the Indians this wampum acquired a fixed value which varied with the color; purple being the highest, and white, the lowest in value. The wampum belt was passed as a guaranty of good faith in making treaties and in other dealings.
Among northern tribes who lived mostly on fish, a tool for breaking ice was necessary. This was made of a prong from the antlers of a deer or elk, and bound firmly to a long handle.
Beads, bracelets and medals, as well as knives, spears and arrow points, were made from copper, a metal more prized than gold or silver. Iron seems never to have been known among the ancient Indians. The admiration for copper, which was widespread, and the desire of inland tribes for salt and sea shells, led to a commerce between far distant tribes, of no mean proportions. The old trails through Michigan, to the copper country, traces of which still exist, are silent witnesses of this ancient custom of exchanging commodities.
The early Indians were fond of athletic sports. The ring game was a very common amusement. Most tribes played some form of it; details differed, but it was essentially the same everywhere. It was played with a ring of rawhide, usually wound with rawhide thongs to make it stiff.
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and it was ornamented with beads and little tags, each of the latter of which had some significance. The players, usually in pairs, each had a straight, slender, pointed stick about five feet long, which they threw at the ring as it rolled along the ground, the object being to thrust the stick through the ring; the players keeping pace with it if possible. Among some tribes cross bars and hooks were lashed to the thrusting pole to complicate the game. The relation of the ring to certain parts of the pole determined the points scored by the owner of the pole. If a player succeeded in getting his pole through the ring he won a feat seldom accomplished. In case of a dispute an umpire was chosen from the spectators, and his decision was accepted without argument; a point which might be commended to white players of modern games.
Another well known game is baggettaway, or la-crosse, named from the long-handled net, or racquet, with which the ball is thrown. This racquet consists of a small bag made of thongs of rawhide woven into a net and bound to a handle. The players are in two parties and the object is to send the ball to the opposite side, a goal having been located. Two forms of this game are played with these instruments. Sometimes the racquet is merely a ring in the end of a stick, just large enough to hold the ball and throw it. Gambling, which is a passion with Indians, is associated with all these games. A warrior will stake his blankets, ornaments, wife, and even his horses, on the outcome of a game at times. The women gambled too; mostly with a sort of dice game, played with five plum stones. These were blackened and marked with various fig- ures, and were tossed in a small basket; the figures uppermost when they fell indicating the score. In some tribes small pebbles took the place of the plum stones.
With the Indians music formed a part of all ceremonies, but it was not of a sort that would mean harmony to white ears, though it meant much to them. In their chants they pictured all the human emotions, of love, anger, fear, hate and hope of life eternal, as well as the pride of victory and the despair of defeat. These chants are preserved on bark scrolls, not in the form of musical notes, but with symbolic figures of birds or beasts which typify human emotions or qualities. The musical instruments of rattle and drum are discordant, but the reed flageolet is capable of sweet, though melancholy notes.
Dancing was not merely an amusement with the Indians, though when the hunt was over and food was plenty they were fond of social gatherings in which both sexes took part. They dressed themselves in their finest robes, smeared their faces with fresh paint, preferably red. and spent their long evenings in feasting and dancing. For special dances, which were mostly performed by men, no clothing was worn but the breach-clout and moccasins, though their bodies were carefully painted, white elay being a favorite coloring for arms and legs, while the face and body were painted red, or occasionally green or yellow, and sometimes with a division of color lengthwise of the body.
One dance was of a commercial nature in which members of tribes
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which excelled in the manufacture of certain articles, such as war-shirts, or arrow heads, exhibited these and invited inspection. These primitive commercial travelers went from one tribe to another and were treated as honored guests; the dance being given to advertise their goods was usually peculiar to the tribes they came from.
The war dance was merely the ceremony of enlistment; the warriors being always volunteers. The chief merely invited them to a dance but he could not command them to fight. During the ceremony each warrior struck the war-post to signify his willingness to follow the chief on the warpath.
The scalp dance, which followed a foray, was ceremonial and super- stitious. Every scalp taken gave the owner control over the spirit-life of the enemy. This accounts in a measure for the method of fighting by surprises and ambuscade. It was a disgrace to allow a scalp to fall into the enemy's hands. The chiefs exercised great care over their warriors. and every method was used to kill and to avoid being killed.
The medicine dance was strictly religious, though, as with most primitive races, the Indians ineluded with it the art of healing.
MAGIC ARTS AND SECRET INSTITUTIONS
Two of the ancient institutions were known as Medawin and Jeesu- kawin. The Medawin is the art of magic. Men who professed this formed themselves into bands or societies. There were two classes of magicians; the Medas, who relied upon magic alone, which was fur- nished by their sacred medicine bags, and the Muske-ke-win-i-nee, who administered both dry and liquid medicines and practiced a very crude and limited surgery. The latter was a physician, and was considered inferior to the Meda.
The Jeesukawin was the art of prophesy, and differed from the Medawin in that the priests or Jossakeeds were not banded together but practiced their arts as solitary individuals. The Jossakeed predicts events; the Meda seeks to propitiate them. The Jossakeed addresses himself directly to the Great Spirit (the Great Bad Spirit is to be un- derstood, unless the word Gitche is prefixed). Like the Meda, he uses a medicine sack, as their methods are similar. The drum is used for both, but the rattle is confined to the Meda and Wabeno. The choruses and chants of the Jossakeed are peculiar to his office.
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