WAWNAHTON,* a bold and fearless chief, of the tribe of Yankton, (whose name, translated, is "he who charges the enemy,") was considerably noted in the last war with Canada. "He had," says my author, "killed seven enemies in battle with his own hand, as the seven war-eagle plumes in his hair testified, and received nine wounds, as was shown by an equal number of little sticks arranged in his coal-black hair, and painted in a manner that told an Indian eye whether they were inflicted by a bullet, knife or tomahawk, and by whom. At the attack on Fort Sandusky, in the late war, he received a bullet and three buck shot in his breast, which glanced on the bone, and passing round under the skin, came out at his back." This, and other extraordinary escapes, he made use of, like the famous Tuspaquin, two ages before, to render himself of greater importance among his nation. At this time he was supposed to be about 30 years of age, of a noble and elegant appearance, and is still believed to be living. Major Long's company considered Wanahton a very interesting man, whose acquaintance they cultivated with success in the neighborhood of Lake Traverse. They describe him as upwards of six feet high, and possessing a countenance that would be considered handsome in any country. He prepared a feast for the party, as soon as he knew they were coming to his village. "When speaking of the Dacotas, we purposely postponed mentioning the frequent vows which they make, and their strict adherence to them, because one of the best evidences which we have collected on this point connects itself with the character of Wanotan, and may give a favorable idea of his extreme fortitude in enduring pain. In the summer of 1822, he undertook a journey, from which, apprehending much danger on the part of the Chippewas, he made a vow to the sun, that, if he returned safe, he would abstain from all food or drink for the space of four successive days and nights, and that he would distribute among his people all the property which he possessed, including all his lodges, horses, dogs, &c. On his return, which happened without accident, he celebrated the dance of the sun; this consisted in making three cuts through his skin, one on his breast, and one on each of his arms. The skin was cut in the manner of a loop, so as to permit a rope to pass between the flesh and the strip of skin which was thus divided from the body. The ropes being passed through, their ends were secured to a tall vertical pole, planted at about 40 yards from his lodge. He then began to dance round this pole, at the commencement of this fast, frequently swinging himself in the air, so as to be supported merely by the cords which were secured to the strips of skin separated from his arms and breast. He continued this exercise with few intermissions during the whole of his fast, until the fourth day about 10 o'clock, A. M., when the strip of skin from his breast gave way; notwithstanding which he interrupted not the dance, although supported merely by his arms. At noon the strip from his left arm snapped off: his uncle then thought that he had suffered enough," and with his knife cut the last loop of skin, and Wanotan fell down in a swoon, where he lay the rest of the day, exposed to the scorching rays of the sun. After this he gave away all his property, and with his two squaws deserted his lodge. To such monstrous follies does superstition drive her votaries! In Tanner's Narrative, there is an interesting account of an expedition of an uncle of Wawnahton, at the head of 200 Sioux, against the Ojibbewas. Wawnahton was himself of the party, but he had not then become so distinguished as he was afterwards. They fell upon a small band of Crees and Assinneboins, and after a fight of near a whole day, killed all the Ojibbewas but one, the Little-clam, two women and one child, about 20 in number. This happened not far from Pembina. § In 1822, he very much alarmed that post, by murdering some Assinneboins in its neighborhood. || BLACK-THUNDER, or Mackkatananamakee, was styled the celebrated patriarch of the Fox tribe. He made himself remembered by many from an * Wanotan, in Long's Expe 1. to St. Peters, i. 448. + Yanktoan, (Long, ib. 404,) which signifies descended from the fern leaves, Farts published by W. J. Snelling, Esq. It is said by Keating, in Long's Exped. i. 418, that he was about 28 years of age. This was in 1823. Tanner's Narrative, 138. West's Red River Colony, 84. 136 BLACK-THUNDER —ONGPATONGA. [BOOK V. excellent spe.ch which he made to the American commissioners, who had assembled many chiefs at a place called the Portage, July, 1815, to hold a talk with them upon the state of their affairs; particularly as it was believed by the Americans that the Indians meditated hostilities. An American commissioner opened the talk, and unbecomingly accused the Indians of breach of former treaties. The first chief that answered, spoke with a tremulous voice, and evidently betrayed guilt, or perhaps fear. Not so with the upright chief Black-thunder. He felt equally indignant at the charge of the white man, and the unmanly cringing of the chief who had just spoken. He began: 66 My father, restrain your feelings, and hear calmly what I shall say. I shall say it plainly. I shall not speak with fear and trembling. I have never injured you, and innocence can feel no fear. I turn to you all, red-skins and white-skins-where is the man who will appear as my accuser? Father, I understand not clearly how things are working. I have just been set at liberty. Am I again to be plunged into bondage? Frowns are all around me; but I am incapable of change. You, perhaps, may be ignorant of what I tell you; but it is a truth, which I call heaven and earth to witness. It is a fact which can easily be proved, that I have been assailed in almost every possible way that pride, fear, feeling, or interest, could touch me—that I have been pushed to the last to raise the tomahawk against you; but all in vain. I never could be made to feel that you were my enemy. If this be the conduct of an enemy, I shall never be your friend. You are acquainted with my removal above Prairie des Chiens.* I went, and formed a settlement, and called my warriors around me. We took counsel, and from that counsel we never have departed. We smoked, and resolved to make common cause with the U. States. I sent you the pipe-it resembled this-and I sent it by the Missouri, that the Indians of the Mississippi might not know what we were doing. You received it. I then told you that your friends should be my friendsthat your enemies should be my enemies-and that I only awaited your signal to make war. If this be the conduct of an enemy, I shall never be your friend.— Why do I tell you this? Because it is a truth, and a melancholy truth, that the good things which men do are often buried in the ground, while their evil deeds are stripped naked, and exposed to the world. †-When I came here, I came to you in friendship. I little thought I should have had to defend myself. I have no defence to make. If I were guilty, I should have come prepared; but I have ever held you by the hand, and I am come without excuses. If I had fought against you, I would have told you so: but I have nothing now to say here in your councils, except to repeat what I said before to my great father, the president of your nation. You heard it, and no doubt remember it. It was simply this. My lands can never be surrendered; I was cheated, and basely cheated, in the contract; I will not surrender my country but with my life. Again I call heaven and earth to witness, and I smoke this pipe in evidence of my sincerity. If you are sincere, you will receive it from me. My only desire is, that we should smoke it togetherthat I should grasp your sacred hand, and I claim for myself and my tribe the protection of your country. When this pipe touches your lip, may it operate as a blessing upon all my tribe.-May the smoke rise like a cloud, and carry away with it all the animosities which have arisen between us." ↑ The issue of this council was amicable, and, on the 14 Sept. following, Black-thunder met commissioners at St. Louis, and executed a treaty of peace. ONGPATONGA, § or, as he was usually called, Big-elk, was chief of the Mahas, or Omawhaws, whose residence, in 1811, was upon the Missouri. || Mr. *The upper military post upon the Mississippi, in 1818. t "This passage forcibly reminds us of that in Shakespeare:" Philadelphia Lit. Gazette. Ongue-pon-we, in Iroquois, was " men surpassing all others." Hist. Five Nations. "The O'Mahas, in number 2250, not long ago, abandoned their old village on the south Brackenridge visited his town on the 19 May of that year, in his voyage up that river. His "village is situated about three miles from the river, and contains about 3000 souls, and is 836 miles from its mouth."* We shall give here, as an introduction to him, the oration he made over the grave of Blackbuffalo, a Sioux chief of the Teton tribe, who died on the night of the 14 July, 1811, at "Portage des Sioux," and of whom Mr. Brackenridge remarks:+ "The Black-buffalo was the Sioux chief with whom we had the conference at the great bend; and, from his appearance and mild deportment, I was induced to form a high opinion of him." After being interred with honors of war, Ongpatonga spoke to those assembled as follows:-"Do not grieve. Misfortunes will happen to the wisest and best men. Death will come, and always comes out of season. It is the command of the Great Spirit, and all nations and people must obey. What is passed, and cannot be prevented, should not be grieved for. Be not discouraged or displeased then, that in visiting your father here, [the American commissioner,] you have lost your chief. A misfortune of this kind may never again befall you, but this would have attended you perhaps at your own village. Five times have I visited this land, and never returned with sorrow or pain. Misfortunes do not flourish particularly in our path. They grow every where. What a misfortune for me, that I could not have died this day, instead of the chief that lies before us. The trifling loss my nation would have sustained in my death, would have been doubly paid for by the honors of my burial. They would have wiped off every thing like regret. Instead of being covered with a cloud of sorrow, my warriors would have felt the sunshine of joy in their hearts. To me it would have been a most glorious occurrence. Hereafter, when I die at home, instead of a noble grave and a grand procession, the rolling music and the thundering cannon, with a flag waving at my head, I shall be wrapped in a robe, (an old robe perhaps,) and hoisted on a slender scaffold to the whistling winds,§ soon to be blown down to the earth; my flesh to be devoured by the wolves, and my bones rattled on the plain by the wild beasts. Chief of the soldiers, [addressing Col. Miller,] your labors have not been in vain. Your attention shall not be forgotten. My nation shall know the respect that is paid over the dead. When I return, I will echo the sound of your guns." Dr. Morse saw Ongpatonga at Washington in the winter of 1821, and discoursed with him and Iskkatappa, chief of the republican Paunees, " on the subject of their civilization, and sending instructors among them for that purpose." The doctor has printed the conversation, and we are sorry to acknowledge that, on reading it, Big-elk suffers in our estimation; but his age must be his excuse. When he was asked who made the red and white people, he answered, "The same Being who made the white people, made the red people; but the white are better than the red people." This acknowledgment is too degrading, and does not comport with the general character of the American Indians. It is not, however, very surprising that such an expression should escape an individual surrounded, as was Ongpatonga, by magnificence, luxury, and attention from the great. Big-elk was a party to several treaties made between his nation and the United States, previous to his visit to Washington in 1821. PETALESHAROO was not a chief, but a brave of the tribe of the Paunees. (A brave is a warrior who has distinguished himself in battle, and is next in importance to a chief.) He was the son of Letelesha, a famous chief, commonly called the Knife-chief, or Old-knife. When Major Long and his company travelled across the continent, in 1819 and 20, they became acquainted with Petalesharoo. From several persons who were in Long's side of the Missouri, and now dwell on the Elk-horn River, due west from their old village, 80 miles west-north-west from Council Bluffs." Morse's Indian Report, 251. * Brackenridge, ut sup. 91. Governor Edwards or Colonel Miller. Jour. up the Missouri, 240. It is a custom to expose the dead upon a scaffold among some of the tribes of the west. See Brackenridge, Jour., 186.; Pike's Expedition; Long's do. The engraving at the commencement of Book II. illustrates this passage. |