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
The War-chief then rose upon his feet, and, drawing his large knife
from his belt, plunged the thumb and fore finger of his left hand
into the sockets of the sheep's eyes, by which he raised the head as
he severed it from the body with his knife, and held it as high as he
could reach. At this moment he returned his knife to its scabbard,
and, seizing the _she-shee-quoin_ (or rattle) in his right hand, he
commenced to sing a most eccentric song as he shook his rattle in one
hand and brandished the sheep's head in the other, and danced quite
round the circle between the feast and the guests, going so slow as to
require some eight or ten minutes to get round. Having got round to his
seat, he gave a frightful yell, and, raising the sheep's head to his
mouth, bit off a piece of it, and again danced until he had swallowed
it. He then laid the head and the rattle at the feet of another, who
sprang upon his feet, and, taking the sheep's head and the rattle,
performed the same manoeuvre, and so did a second and a third, and so
on until each male of the party had performed his part. After this, the
flesh was carved from the bones by the War-chief, and placed before us,
of which we all partook. Parts of it were also carried to the women,
and after a little time the greater part of the flesh of the carcase
had disappeared.
It is worthy of remark, also, that at this strange feast there was
nothing offered but the flesh of the sheep; but which was cooked in a
manner that would have pleased the taste of an epicure.
When the eating was done, the war-chief took the rattle in his hand,
and, lightly shaking it as a sort of accompaniment, took at least a
quarter of an hour to repeat a long prayer, or return of thanks, to
the Great Spirit, which was spoken (or rather _sung_ than _spoken_)
in a very remarkable and rapid manner. After this the pipe was lit,
and, having been some three or four times passed around, the feast was
finished, and we took leave.
I leave this strange affair (having described it as nearly as I
possibly could) for the comments of the curious, who may have more
time than I can justly devote to it at this moment, barely observing
that the old chief, after this, seemed quite contented and happy that
he had acted in conformity to the sacred injunction of the Great
Spirit, and strictly adhered, though in a foreign country, to one of
the established and indispensable customs of his race; for which, and
for another cogent reason (that "his lips were getting very dry after
eating so much"), he thought we would be willing (as of course we were)
to let Daniel go for a jug of _chickabobboo_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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