very same tribe, under the name of Weas, and;
Piankashaws, as we ll as Miamies. Mr. Wells,
who married the sister of the celebrated Miami
chief Iiittle.Turtle, is understood, to have been
conspicuous in this separation, and; tndrganiza-
tion of the tribe, whose pecuniary interests 'with
the government have, ever since* § been kept
separate,'
Mississagies.*—This tribe derive their name from
their former residence on the waters of a , river,
which enters the north shores of Lake Huron,
between Point Tessalon and La Cloche,- The
term is a purely geographical one, and mentis,
literally, the big . m o u th a characteristic Tea.-
ture of the said river. So little do the names
of tribes often furnish to denote the lineage of the
people. The Mississagies are of the Algonquin
stock, and near akin, indeed, to one ;o f: the
original tribes of this stock of the Erench erU,
namely, the Nepissings. The Tatter, like the
former, affords no clue to lineage at all. It denotes
the idea of people of the Mater.
Chippeums.—This widely scattered andnume*
rous people, the Odjibwas of the north, and the
Saulteur of the French, are of the true Algonquin
type and language. They appear to
have come into contact first with the Iroquois, in
their lake position, by the shelter they afforded to
the flying Wyandots. The principal event they
refe*to, in their traditions of that period, is the
decisive defeat which they gave to a large war
party of Iroquois, at Point Iroquois, at the outlet
Lake Superior. , That the Iroquois warriors
should hate extended their war parties to this
remote point, as well as the extreme points of
their inroads and forays onthe Illinois, the Miami,
The Ohio, as well as % country of the Chero-
kees andrCatabas, the bay of Chesapeake, the
coasts of the Atlantic: jiortff to-New England,
and the river and gulf ©fSt Lawrence, is at
once a proof o fth e extraordinary power and
.vigor indomitable?, race, i Nor could we,
indeed, follow historically the track of these war
Jaaxties, without extending t h ^ hasty notesinto
a^istorÿ, and embracing, every North American
tribe of any consequence. > ,
^ The Odjiliwas have some, traditions of the
deluge, and affirm that the^ came from the east.
They had an institution of fire-worship, and regarded
The sun as The .symbol of the Great Spirit.
They have many imaginative tales , of giants,
dwarfs and spirits, and also of witches, necromancers
and sorcerers ?\ and weave up wild stories
of the lives ôf men, with .these - supernatural
influences. ‘.They have a-soft and copious language,
which appears, originally, to have consisted
of a limited stock of generic particles, or
syllables, mostly monosyllables, which have been
compounded and employed, so long, m their
concrete state,, that the Indian speakers cannot
now separate them, orgivethe elementary equivalent
for these original roots; while it is evident
That they, have retained the full meanings o
these ancient stock particles.
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