Old Mackinaw; Or, The Fortress of the Lakes and its SurroundingsStrickland, W. P. (William Peter)
History
Old Mackinaw; Or, The Fortress of the Lakes and its Surroundings
Strickland, W. P. (William Peter)
Great Lakes (North America); Mackinac Island (Mich. : Island) -- History; Michigan -- History
Traditional history informs us that away back in a remote period of
time, the Ottawas and the Ojibwas took up their journey from the Great
Salt Lake towards the setting sun. These tribes were never stationary,
but were constantly roving about. They were compared by the
neighboring tribes to Paw-pau-ke-wis, a name given by the Indians to
the light-drifting snow, which blows over the frozen ground in the
month of March, now whirling and eddying into gigantic and anon into
diminutive drifts. Paw-pau-ke-wis signifies running away. The name was
given to a noted Indian chief, fully equal in bravery and daring to
Hiawatha, Plu-re-busta, or Man-a-bosho.
The Ottawas and Ojibwas dwelt for a time on the Manitoulin Island in
Lake Huron. While the tribes dwelt here, two distinguished Indian
youths, by the name of San-ge-man and Kau-be-man, remarkable for their
sprightliness, attracted the attention of their particular tribes.
Both were the youngest children of their respective families. It was
the custom of the Indians to send their boys, when young, to some
retired place a short distance from their village, where they were to
fast until the manitoes or spirits of the invisible world should
appear to them. Temporary lodges were constructed for their
accommodation. Those who could not endure the fast enjoined upon them
by the Metais or Medicine-men, never rose to any eminence, but were to
remain in obscurity. Comparatively few were able to bear the ordeal;
but to all who waited the appointed time, and endured the fast, the
spiritual guardian appeared and took the direction and control of
their subsequent lives. San-ge-man in his first trial fasted seven
days, and on the next he tasted food, having been reduced to extreme
debility by his long abstinence, during which his mind became
exceedingly elevated. In this exaltation his spiritual guide appeared
to him. He was the spirit of the serpent who rules in the centre of
the earth, and under the dark and mighty waters. This spirit revealed
to him his future destiny, and promised him his guardianship through
life. San-ge-man grew up and became remarkably strong and powerful.
From his brave and reckless daring he was both an object of love and
fear to the Ottawas.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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