adopt him as a brother. This the Ojibways would also do. These adopted ties of relationship were most generally contracted by such as had lost relations in the course of their feud, and who, in this manner, sought to fill the void which death had made in the ranks of his dearest friends.
These ties, temporary and slight as they may seem, were much regarded by these people, and it has often happened in the course of their ever renewed warfare, that Ojibway and Dakota has saved the life of an adopted brother in times of trouble, of massacre, and battle; and whenever these ties have been disregarded or grossly violated, the occurrence is told in their lodge tales, in terms to teach the rising generation never to do likewise.
In the course of their history, there are many instances in which these temporary lulls of peace have been suddenly broken by some one or more foolish young men of either tribe, taking advantage of the security in which their former enemy temporarily reposed, and taking the life of some stray hunter. The most important of these instances and those to which the direct consequences have accrued, will be related in the future course of our narrative.
Illustrative of the manner in which these peace lulls were generally broken, and of the strong propensity existing in the Indian character for revenge, I will here introduce a tale which I obtained from the lips of Esh-ke-bug-e-coshe, the chief of the Pillagers:
INDIAN REVENGE.
Esh-ke-bug-e-coshe, the present living chief of the Pillagers[1] relates of his deceased father, whose name was Wa-son-aun-e-qua (signifying, "Yellow Hair"), that he was not a chief by hereditary descent, but that he gained a gradual ascendency over the minds of the fearless Pillagers, through
- ↑ A.D. 1852.
