wore blankets and subsisted almost exclusively by the chase. But little hunting is done at this day, although deer, bear, and smaller animals are abundant. This tribe has always been friendly to the whites, and their reception of strangers is hospitable. Major Zebulon Montgomery Pike, in his "Expeditions," mentions a meeting in Minnesota with Shawano and his band, who had gone hunting, and after recounting the statements concerning the personal appearance of the people, says: From my own observation, I had sufficient reason to confirm their information as respected the males; for they were all straight and well made, about the middle size; their complexions generally fair for savages, their teeth good, their eyes large and rather languishing; they have a mild but independent expression of countenance, that charms at first sight; in short, they would be considered any where, as handsome men. 2 Charlevoix, after referring to the single village which he found, and remarking that the nation was not numerous, says: "Tis really great pity, they being the finest and handsomest men in all Canada." It is to be regretted that this statement can not now be substantiated. Colonel Charles Whittlesey, in his Recollections of a Tour through Wisconsin in 1832, says of the Menomini: In person they are a thick-set frame, less tall, and in better condition than most Indians, and at least equally indolent. The thief is not so common a character with them as with many other tribes. Their attachment to the United States has not been exceeded by any Indian people.3 Mr Grignon, whose authority regarding the Menomini is beyond question, since he was himself connected with this tribe by blood and was a life-long resident among them, remarks: The Menomonees were less warlike than the Sauks and Foxes; they, at least, did not get embroiled in wars with other Indian nations as much as the other tribes My grandfather remarked, that he regarded the Menomonees as the most peaceful, brave, and faithful of all the tribes who ever served under him. This was a high compliment, but in my opinion richly merited. They have ever proved, as a nation, friendly to the whites; and in the general Indian plot of Pontiac, in 1763, the Menomonees alone kept aloof, and rendered signal services to Lieut. Gorrell and party at Green bay. Of the aggregate population of 1,635, 1,000 are reported as members of the church, services being conducted by the Franciscan fathers; while the two schools accommodate over 300 pupils, who are making satisfactory progress in education. Drunkenness is the most serious evil from which the Indians suffer, though the number of instances of intoxication is not so great as on many reservations more favorably situated for obtaining liquor. Crime is rare among the Menomini; during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1892, only six criminals were convicted by the Indian court. This court, which is a model of its kind, Acet. of Expeds. to the Sources of the Mississippi, Phil'a, 1810, p. 83. 2 Op. cit., vol. ii, p. 61. Recol. of a Tour Through Wis. in 1832; in Coll. Hist. Soc. of Wisconsion for 1854, vol. i, 1855, p. 69. 4 Augustin Grignon, Coll. Hist. Soc. of Wis. for 1856, vol. iii, 1857, p. 265. is composed of Nio'pet, Chickeny (Mä'tshikiněu"), and Ni'aqtawâ'pomi, three worthy representatives of the Menomini, the former being at the same time civil chief of the tribe, while the last named is second chief. During the early part of the present century Indian captives were held as slaves. Augustin Grignon is responsible for the following statement: During the constant wars of the Indians, several of the Wisconsin tribes were in the habit of making captives of the Pawnees, Osages, Missouries, and even of the distant Mandans, and these were consigned to servitude. I know that the Ottawas and Sauks made such captives; but am not certain about the Menomonees, Chippewas, Pottawottamies, Foxes and Winnebagoes. The Menomonees, with a few individual exceptions, did not engage in these distant forays. The Menomonees, and probably other tribes, had Pawnee slaves, which they obtained by purchase of the Ottawas, Sauks and others who captured them; but I never knew the Menomonees to have any by capture, and but a few by purchase. For convenience sake, I suppose, they were all denominated Pawnees, when some of them were certainly of other Missouri tribes, as I have already mentioned, for I have known three Osages, two Missouries, and one Mandan among these Indian slaves. Of the fourteen whom I have personally known, six were males and eight females, and the most of them were captured while young. I have no recollection as to the pecuniary value of these slaves or servants, but I have known two females sold, at different times, each for one hundred dollars. Speaking of the treatment of slaves by their owners, Mr Grignon continues: 2 When these Pawnee slaves had Indian masters, they were generally treated with great severity. . . . A female slave owned by a Menomonee woman, while sick, was directed by her unfeeling mistress to take off her over-dress, and she then deliberately stabbed and killed her; and this withoût a cause or provocation, and not in the least attributable to liquor. It should also be mentioned, on the other hand, that Mas-caw, a Pawnee among the Menomonees, was not treated or regarded as a slave, and married a chief's daughter, and lived with them till his death, and has now a gray-headed son living at Lake Shawanaw. It has already been stated that Osh'kosh, fifty years ago, publicly asserted that his family was without doubt the only one of pure Menomini blood. From an examination of the genealogies of many of the old men, this statement does not seem at all incredible, and it may be questioned if at this day there remains a single individual free from the taint of foreign blood, either white or Indian. Concerning this Dr Morse makes the following statement: Judge Reaume, an Indian Trader, who has resided at Green Bay thirty years, said to me "The Menomonees, in great part, are of mixed blood, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawattamies, Sacs, and Foxes, with whom they intermarry. There is an intimate intercourse between all these tribes, who have a common language, (the Chippewa), which they all understand, and many of them hunt together in the interior of the N. W. territory, on the headwaters of the Fox and Ouisconsin rivers."3 The better informed men of the tribe at the present time are aware of the intermixture of blood, and marriages are frequently formed with 1 Seventy-two years' Recol. of Wis.; in Coll. Hist. Soc. of Wis. for 1856, vol. iii, 1857, p. 256. 3 Report to Secretary of War, New Haven, 1822, pp. 57, 58. Ojibwa, Potawatomi, and other Indian tribes, as well as with whites. This may be one of the reasons for the imperfect grammatic structure of the language as well as for its rather limited vocabulary. Reverend Alfred Brunson,' in his account of the early history of Wisconsin, refers to this tribe as follows: The Menomonees were the next tribe, in point of importance, though of prior date to some others, among the first Aboriginal occupants of what is now the State of Wisconsin. They were of the Algonquin race, but appear to have quarreled with, or rebelled against the national authorities of the Chippewas, and were probably driven from Canada on account of it, and took shelter with other straggling and adventurous bands on the common battle-field between the Algic and Dahkota races, in the vicinity of Green Bay. Charlevoix visited Green bay in 1721, and after relating his experience in navigating down the western shore, says: We found ourselves abreast of a little island, which lies near the western side of the bay, and which concealed from our view, the mouth of a river, on which stands the village of the Malhomines Indians, called by our French Folles Avoines or Wild Oat Indians, probably from their living chiefly on this sort of grain. The whole nation consists only of this village, and that too not very numerous. 'Tis really great pity, they being the finest and handsomest men in all Canada. They are even of a larger stature than the Poutewatamies. I have been assured that they had the same original and nearly the same languages with the Noquets, and the Indians at the Falls. But they add that they have likewise a language peculiar to themselves, which they never communicate. I have also been told several stories of them, as of a serpent which visits their village every year and is received with much ceremony, which makes me believe them a little addicted to witchcraft. 2 The Noquets are also mentioned by Charlevoix as not a numerous nation, living on a bay or gulf of the Noquets. They originally "came from the coasts of Lake Superior, and of which there remain only a few scattered families, who have no fixed residence." ANTIQUITIES Mounds are reported as very numerous throughout the area embraced within the boundaries of the Menomini reservation, but thus far no special examination of them has been made. The mounds are most numerous along the lake shores, especially north and northeast of Keshena, though but few relics have as yet been unearthed. Major Thomas II. Savage, the present Indian agent, informed me that he had opened several mounds, about 8 miles east of the agency, and had found human remains, as well as a few copper spearheads, one of which is illustrated in figure 1. The specimen is quite neatly made, and appears originally to have been sharpened along the edges, as the cutting edge is still in very good condition. The greater number of these mounds appear to be entirely barren. One group, situated between 7 and 8 miles north-northeast of Keshena, is represented in plate II. They are situated about 400 yards west of Coll. Hist. Soc. of Wisconsin, vol. iv, 1859, pp. 242 243. 'Journal of a Voyage to North America, London, 1781, vol. ii, p. 61. |