The American Indians: Their History, Condition and Prospects, from Original Notes and ManuscriptsSchoolcraft, Henry Rowe
History
The American Indians: Their History, Condition and Prospects, from Original Notes and Manuscripts
Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe
Indians of North America
Wabojeeg excelled in both characters; he was equally popular as a civil
ruler and a war chief; and while he administered justice to his people,
he was an expert hunter, and made due and ample provision for his
family. He usually gleaned, in a season, by his traps and carbine, four
packs of mixed furs, the avails of which were ample to provide clothing
for all the members of his lodge circle, as well as to renew his supply
of ammunition and other essential articles.
On one occasion, he had a singular contest with a moose. He had gone
out, one morning early, to set martin traps. He had set about forty, and
was returning to his lodge, when he unexpectedly encountered a large
moose, in his path, which manifested a disposition to attack him. Being
unarmed, and having nothing but a knife and small hatchet, which he had
carried to make his traps, he tried to avoid it. But the animal came
towards him in a furious manner. He took shelter behind a tree, shifting
his position from tree to tree, retreating. At length, as he fled, he
picked up a pole, and quickly untying his moccasin strings, he bound his
knife to the end of the pole. He then placed himself in a favourable
position, behind a tree, and when the moose came up, stabbed him several
times in the throat and breast. At last, the animal, exhausted with the
loss of blood, fell. He then dispatched him, and cut out his tongue to
carry home to his lodge as a trophy of victory. When they went back to
the spot, for the carcass, they found the snow trampled down in a wide
circle, and copiously sprinkled with blood, which gave it the appearance
of a battle-field. It proved to be a male of uncommon size.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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