"Almost the whole of that vast tract of country comprised between the Mississippi, the Red River of Lake Winnipeg, the Saskatchawan, and the Missouri, is loosely occupied by a great nation whose primitive name is Dahcotas, but who are called Sioux by the French, Sues by the English. They are divided into numerous tribes, named Yanktons, Tetons, Assinaboins, &c. These tribes are sometimes at war with one another, but still acknowledge relationship, and are recognized by similarity of language and by tradition."
RELIGION.
"The religion of the Mandans consists in the belief of one Great Spirit presiding over their destinies. This Being must be in the nature of a good genius, since it is associated with the healing art; and the Great Spirit is synonymous with Great Medicine,—a name also applied to every thing they do not comprehend. They also believe in a multiplicity of inferior spirits. Each individual selects for himself the particular object of his devotion, which is termed his Medicine, and is either an invisible being, or more commonly some animal, which thenceforward becomes his protector, or his intercessor with the Great Spirit. To propitiate the Medicine, every attention is lavished, and every personal consideration is sacrificed. 'I was lately owner of seventeen horses,' said a Mandan; 'but I have offered them all up to my Medicine, and am now poor.' He had in reality taken them into the plain, and, turning them loose, committed them to the care of his Medicine, and abandoned them.
"Their belief in a future state is connected with a tradition of their origin. The whole nation, they say, once dwelt in one large village underground. A grape-vine extended its roots down to their habitation; and the earth, being broken round its stem, gave them a view of the light. Some of the more adventurous climbed up the vine, and were delighted with the sight of the earth, which they found covered with buffaloes, and rich with every kind of fruit. Returning with the grapes they had gathered, their countrymen were so pleased with the taste, that the whole nation resolved to leave their dull residence for the upper region. Men, women, and children ascended by means of the vine; but, when about half the nation had reached the surface, a corpulent woman, who was clambering up the vine, broke it with her weight, and, falling, closed up the cavity. Those who had reached the surface, thus excluded from their original seats, cherish the hopes of returning there when they die."
INDIAN MANNERS.
The following extract imparts some traits of Indian manners:—
"Nov. 22.—This morning, the sentinel informed us that an Indian was about to kill his wife near the fort. We went to the house of our interpreter, where we found the parties, and, after forbidding any violence, inquired into the cause of his intending to commit such an atrocity. It appeared that, some days ago, a quarrel had taken place between him and his wife, in consequence of which she had taken refuge in the house where the wives of our interpreter lived. By running away, she forfeited her life, which might be lawfully taken by the husband. He was now come for the purpose of completing his revenge. We gave him a few presents, and tried to persuade him to take his wife home. The grand chief, too, happened to arrive at the same moment, and reproached him with his violence; till at length husband and wife went off together, but by no means in a state of much apparent connubial felicity."
THE WEATHER.
"Dec. 12, 1804.—The thermometer at sunrise was thirty-eight degrees below zero; on the 16th, twenty-two below; on the 17th, forty-five below. On the 19th, it moderated a little. Notwithstanding the cold, we observed the Indians at the village engaged, out in the open air, at a game which resembles billiards. The platform, which answered for a table, was formed with timber, smoothed and joined so as to be as level as the floor of one of our houses. Instead of balls, they had circular disks made of clay-stone, and flat like checkers."
THE ARGALI.