Adventures of the Ojibbeway and Ioway Indians in England, France, and Belgium; Vol. 1 (of 2): being Notes of Eight Years' Travels and Residence in Europe with his North American Indian CollectionCatlin, George
History
Adventures of the Ojibbeway and Ioway Indians in England, France, and Belgium; Vol. 1 (of 2): being Notes of Eight Years' Travels and Residence in Europe with his North American Indian Collection
Catlin, George
England -- Description and travel; France -- Description and travel; Indians of North America
curious to relate, when the amusements were finished, and the audience
nearly withdrawn, and the "jolly fat dame" was strolling about the
room, she met her two maids, to whom she had given their shillings,
and told them to "go and see the Indians." These two buxom young girls
had been in the midst of the crowd, and, both of them having met with
the accident I have mentioned above, the good-natured fat lady glowed
into a roar of laughter as she vociferated, "Why, girls, you husseys,
you have been kissing those Indians! Bless me, what a pretty figure you
cut! why, your faces are all covered with red paint!" "And _your_ face,
mistress! Look here! all one side of your face, and on your neck! Oh,
look at your beautiful new lace!" And _it was even so_; but _how_ it
happened, or where, or in what part of the excitement, or by whom, is
yet to be learned.
Leaving these excitements for a while, which were now become of nightly
occurrence, we come to one of a different character and of curious
interest. It is impossible for me to recollect the day, but it was
about this time, the old chief related to Mr. Rankin a dream which he
had had the night before, which made it incumbent upon them to make a
feast, and of course necessary for Mr. Rankin and myself to furnish all
the requisite materials for it.
In his dream (or "vision," as he seemed disposed to call it) he said
the Great Spirit appeared to him, and told him that he had kept his
eye upon them, and guarded and protected them across the great ocean,
according to their prayers, which he had heard; that he had watched
them so far in this country; that they had been successful in seeing
their Great Mother the Queen, and that they were now all happy and
doing well. But in order to insure a continuance of these blessings,
and to make their voyage back across the ocean pleasant and safe,
it now became necessary that they should show their thankfulness to
the Great Spirit in giving their great annual Feast of Thanksgiving,
which is customary in their country at the season when their maize is
gathered and their dried meat is laid in and secured for their winter's
food.
This injunction, he said, was laid upon him thus, and he could not from
any cause whatever neglect to attend to it; if he did, he should feel
assured of meeting the displeasure of the Great Spirit, and they should
all feel at once distressed about the uncertainty of their lives on
their way back. This Feast of Thanksgiving must be given the next day,
and they should wish us to procure for them a whole goat, or a sheep,
and said that it must be a _male_, and that they would require a place
large enough to cook it without breaking a bone in its body, according
to the custom of their country.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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