Three Years on the Plains: Observations of Indians, 1867-1870Tuttle, Edmund B. (Edmund Bostwick)
History
Three Years on the Plains: Observations of Indians, 1867-1870
Tuttle, Edmund B. (Edmund Bostwick)
Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.); Indians of North America; Indians of North America -- Great Plains
The Winnebago Indians migrated from Belvidere, Illinois, on the
Kish-wau-kie River, to Minnesota, and thence to the Omaha reservation,
in Nebraska. At Belvidere, there is a mound on which Big Thunder when
he died was set up, his body supported by posts driven in the ground.
This was done at his dying request, and in accord with his prophecy to
his tribe: "That there was to be a great and terrible fight between the
white and red men. And when the red men were about to be beaten in the
battle, he would come to life again, and rising up with a shout, would
lead his people to victory!" His tribe would visit the spot once a
year, where his body was drying away, and leave tobacco as an offering;
and the white young men would surely go there soon after and stow the
plugs away in their capacious pockets. As the town became settled,
visitors would carry off the bones as mementos of the old chief. After
they were all gone, some wags would place the bones of some dead sheep
for relic-hunters to pick up and carry home as the bones of a noble
chief.
I have seen the stakes, which was all that remained of "Big Thunder"
after he was dried up and blown away.
INDIAN TRADITION--THE DELUGE.
The Oneidas have a tradition about the deluge, which is very singular.
According to their story, an unlimited expanse of water covered the
whole space now occupied by the world we live in.
At this time the whole human family dwelt in a country situated in the
upper regions of the air. Everything needed for comfort and pleasure
was found. The people did not know what death was, nor its attendant,
sickness or disease; and their minds were free from jealousy, hatred,
or revenge.
At length it happened that all of this was changed, and care and
trouble came to them.
A certain youth was seen to withdraw himself from the circle of social
amusements, and he wandered away alone in the groves, as his favorite
resort.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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