The Oregon missionary, Rev. Mr. Bolduc, related in his journal, that at Akena, one of the Gambia Isles, he saw an old dame, who, having had eight husbands, had eaten three of them, during a time of famine!! I add this last fact to give you a reverse to the above horrible picture.
The Assiniboins have the reputation of being irascible, jealous, and fond of babbling; in consequence of these bad qualities, battles and murders are not unfrequent among them, and of course continual divisions. Every evening I gave them instruction, by means of an interpreter. They appeared docile, though somewhat timorous: for they had frequently been visited {153} by persons who defamed both priests and religion. I rendered all the little services in my power to their invalids, baptized six children and an old man who expired two days after, he was interred with all the funeral ceremonies and prayers of the church.
Cleanliness is a virtue which has no place in the Indian catalogue of domestic or personal duties. The Assiniboins are filthy beyond conception; they surpass all their neighbours in this unenvied qualification. They are devoured by vermin, which they, in turn, consume. A savage, whom I playfully reprehended for his cruelty to these little invertebral insects, answered me: “He bit me first, I have a right to be revenged.” Through complacency, I overcame natural disgust, and assisted at their porcupine feast. I beheld the Indians carve the meat on their leathern shirts, highly polished with grease—filthy, and swarming with vermin, they had disrobed themselves, for the purpose of providing a table-cloth!—They dried their hands in their hair—this is their only towel—and as the porcupine has naturally a strong and offensive odor, one can hardly endure the fragrance of those who feast upon its flesh and besmear themselves with its oil.
{154} A good old woman, whose face was anointed with blood, (the Indians’ mourning weeds,) presented me a wooden platter filled with soup; the horn spoon destined for my use was dirty and covered with grease; she had the complaisance to apply it to the broad side of her tongue, before putting it into my unsavory broth.
If a bit of dried meat, or any other provision is in need of being cleansed, the dainty cook fills her mouth with water and spirts it with her whole force upon the fated object. A certain dish, which is considered a prime delicacy among the Indians, is prepared in a most singular manner, and they are entitled to a patent for the happy faculty of invention. The whole process belongs exclusively to the female department. They commence by rubbing their hands with grease, and collecting in them the blood of the animal, which they boil with water; finally, they fill the kettle with fat and hashed meat. But—hashed with the teeth! Often half a dozen old women are occupied in this mincing operation during hours; mouthful after mouthful is masticated, and thus passes from the mouth into the cauldron, to compose the choice ragout of the Rocky mountains. Add to this, by way of an exquisite desert, an immense dish of crusts, {155} composed of pulverized ants, grass-hoppers and locusts, that have been dried in the sun, and you may then be able to form some idea of Indian luxury.
The American porcupine, the Hystrix dorsata, is called by modern Zoologists, the Prickly Beaver. In fact there is great similarity between the two species in size and form, and both inhabit the same region. The porcupine, like the beaver, has a double peltry or fur; the first is long and soft; the second, is still softer, and greatly resembles down or felt. They both have two long sharp, strong tusks, at the extremity of the jaw-bone. The Flat-heads affirm that the porcupine and beaver are brothers, and relate that anciently they abode together; but that, having frequently been discovered by their enemies, through the indolence, idleness and extreme aversion of the porcupines for the water, the beavers met in council and unanimously agreed upon a separation. The latter availed themselves of a fine day and invited their spiny brethren to accompany them in a long ramble, among the cypress and juniper of the forest. The indolent and heedless porcupines, having copiously regaled themselves with the savory buds of the one, and the tender rind {156} of the other, extended their weary limbs upon the verdant moss, and were soon lost in profound sleep. This was the anticipated moment for the wily beavers to bid a final adieu to their porcupine relatives.
The Assiniboins inhabiting the plains are far more numerous than their mountain brethren. They number about six hundred lodges; they own a greater number of horses, and the men, in general, are more robust, and of a commanding stature. They are more expert in thieving, are greater topers, and are perpetually at war. They hunt the buffalo in the great plains between the Sascatshawin, the Red river, Missouri, and Yellow Stone.[230]
The Crows, Black-feet, Arikaras and Sioux are their most inveterate enemies.—They speak nearly the same language as the Sioux, and have the same origin.
I have the honor to be, with the most profound respect and veneration, monseigneur, your very humble and very obedient servant in Christ Jesus,
P. J. De Smet, S. J.