Oats,[1] kill their wives and children before they go to battle, that in case of a defeat the enemy shall not have any prisoners of their nation.
The Poes, beginning to feel the effects of the rum, examined the cords, which were made of the bark of the willow-tree, and ordered some wood to be put round the stump, to be ready when they should find themselves disposed to burn him. Soon after they untied him, and brought him to the war-kettle to make his death-feast; which consisted of dog, tyger-cat, and bear's grease, mixed with wild oats, of which he was compelled to eat. Mr. Ramsay, knowing the nature of Indians, complied with seeming cheerfulness, and said he was satisfied. He was taken back to the intended place of execution, and tied again to the stump, from which, with great composure, he desired permission to make his speech before he changed his climate, which being granted, he immediately spoke to them to the following effect:
"It is true the Master of Life has sent me here to those
Indians whose hearts are full of poisoned blood, and as
they mean me to change my climate, I shall go with
courage to a better trading ground, where I shall find
good Indians. They have always known me to have had
pity on them, their wives, and children, since I have been
————
- ↑ The Menominee Indians were called Folles-Avoines by the French, a
name by which the latter designated both the grain (zizania aquatica), and
this tribe of Indians whom they first found using it. They are Algonquian in
language, and were originally encountered by Nicolet (1634) on the shores of
Green Bay. This remained their habitat until they were removed to their
present reservation in Shawano County, Wisconsin. For history of this tribe,
see Wisconsin Historical Collections (especially vols. xvi and xvii); Hoffman,
"Menomini Indians," U. S. Bureau of Ethnology Report, 1892-93; Jenks,
'Wild Rice Gatherers of the Upper Lakes," ibid., 1897-98.
No mention of such a barbarous custom as this is made by other writers. Long may have been misinformed.―Ed.
