“‘_Nicolas Perrot, commandant pour le roi au poste des Nadouesioux ... declarons a tous qu’il appartiendra etre venus a la baye des Puants et au lac des Outagamis, rivieres des dits Outagamis et Maskoutins, riviere de l’Ouiskonche et celle de Mississippi, nous etre transportes au pays des Nadouesioux, sur le bord de la riviere de Sainte Croix, a l’entree de la riviere de Saint Pierre, sur laquelle etaient les Mantantons, et, plus haut dans les terres, au nord-est du Mississippi, jusqu aux Menchokatouches, chez lesquels habitent la plus grande partie des Songeskitoux et autres Nadouesioux qui sont au nord-est du Mississippi, pour et au nom du Roy, prendre possession des terres et rivieres ou les dites nations habitent, et desquelles elles sont proprietaires ... fait au poste Saint-Antoine le dit jour et an que dessus_’”—[le 8 Mai 1689.] See Neills’ History of Minnesota, pages 143 to 145, for _translation_ of this “deed” in full. DAKOTA SUPERSTITIONS. By G. H. Pond, of Bloomington. BLOOMINGTON, December 14, 1866. Rev. JOHN MATTOCKS—_Dear Sir_:—I have deferred complying with your request to prepare a paper for the Historical Society till now, only because I have never found the leisure necessary to do it. Even now I have been obliged to let every thing else go except what was absolutely necessary to be done in order to attend to it. The press of to-day contains a notice of your meeting last Monday. I suppose, therefore, that I am too late, but will forward to you what I have prepared. If it is not acceptable please return it to me. The “superstitions” to which the paper relates, it may seem to some, are too absurd to be the religion of men, however degraded, but they have been obtained from the Indians themselves, and I have never discovered that they had anything better, but have discovered much that is worse. I presume that no one will be disposed to say that it is my own invention, for that would be giving me credit for more imaginative and creative genius than I ever claimed. Such as it is I send it, and shall be satisfied if the society accepts it or returns it to me. The sack I send you will find explained under the head “_Medicine-man a DOCTOR_.” It is not the medicine sack of the medicine dancer. In haste, yours, &c., G. H. POND. The Dakota Indians are the tribes who are generally known by the name of Sioux, a name given them by early French explorers. Of the Dakota there are several—seven—grand divisions who are, by their orators, sometimes spoken of as “SEVEN FIRES.” These again were divided into a great number of smaller tribes or clans, each having its little chief, who was simply the most influential individual in the clan, which was composed chiefly of blood relations.