upon the lands they have ceded. By treaty provisions, the term of their stay was left optional with the President; and not till last spring was a mandate for their removal given by the Chief Magistrate of the country. Beside the body of five thousand who receive annuities under treaties at St. Peter's, La Pointe, and Fond du Lac, a division of one thousand, known as the Pillager Chippewas, residing in Minnesota, receive a stated amount of goods under the treaty of Leech lake in 1847, wherein they sold the lands which have been set apart for the Menomonies. remaining body of two thousand residing in this Territory receive neither annuities nor presents.

The

The Chippewas are a well-marked type and leading tribe of the Algonquin stock. They call themselves Ojibwaig—the plural of Ojibway, from Ojibwah, "puckered" or "drawn up." According to an eminent writer, this name "denotes a peculiarity in their voice or manner of utterance." But, as there is no discernible "pucker" in their voice, or 'mode of speaking their really musical language, a more natural genesis of the word could probably be derived from a circumstance in their past history. Upwards of two centuries ago, they were driven by the Iroquois or Six Nations of New York into the straits of Mackinaw, where Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior are "puckered" into a small channel, or narrow compass. Prior to this event, there is nothing in their traditions, or in the writings of early travellers, to indicate that they were known by the name of Ojibwaig. When interrogated upon the subject, some of their old men affirm that they are named after the Ojibway moccasin, a peculiarly-made article, "puckered into a seam the whole length of the foot."

The history of this tribe, prior to eight generations ago, is collected entirely from oral traditions, which savor of the marvellous or supernatural, and from which but vague and unsatisfactory deductions can be drawn. From these traditions, however, we learn that they once were familiar with the salt ocean, that they lived on a large river, again on a great lake, where they exterminated a tribe they call the Mendua, and last in a large centre town on an island in the bay of Shag-uh-waum-ik-ong, on Lake Superior, or Kecche Gumme. The old men of the tribe agree in saying that to this spot their ancestors first came, about eight generations or two hundred and forty years ago, estimating an Indian generation at thirty years. They were driven from the east by powerful tribes, whom they donominate Nodswaig, meaning "adders." These were the Iroquois or Six Nations of New York and Canada, who, coming first in contact with whites, became first armed with their deadly weapons, giving them great advantage over more western and remote tribes, who still wielded the primitive weapon of bow and arrow. Driven westwardly upon Lake Superior, the Ojibwas came in collision with the Ab-boin-ee Sioux, "Roasters," and the O-dug-aumeeg, "Opposite-side people," or Foxes. These two tribes became their inveterate enemies, and for a long time hemmed them in upon the island of La Pointe, where they subsisted mainly by fishing and agriculture. From this period, they relate their own history with considerable accuracy. Their village and cultivated grounds occupied a space upon the island about three miles long and two broad. Here they cherished a perpetual fire, as a symbol of their nationality, and in their civil polity maintained a certain system-very much confused and tinged, however, with their religious and medicinal beliefs. The A-auh-wauh or Loon totem family constituted the royal line; and the

Mukwah or Bear family led them to war, and protected them from the inroads of their enemies. The rites of Me da we-win, or their mode of worshipping the Great Spirit and the lesser spirits which fill earth, sky, and waters, were in those days practised in their purest and most original form. Upon the island was erected a large wigwam, called the Meda-we gaun, in which the holier rites of their religion were practised. The building, though probably rude in structure and perishable in materials, was yet the temple of a powerful tribe, and, in their religious phraseology, the island is still known by the name of Me-da-we-gaun.

The Ojibwas were for a time so harassed by the Sioux and Foxes that they were not even safe from attack upon the island of La Pointe, though situate some miles from the main shore of the lake. Twice their enemies found opportunity to land among them in the night and carry off prisoners and scalps. It was not until the earlier French traders had supplied them in a measure with fire arms that they became formidable to their enemies. From this era, now about two centuries ago, can be dated the disposal of the Chippewas from their island home, and the expansion of their bands along the shore of the lake, and over the country in the interior. In a severe engagement on Point Shag-ah waum-ik ong, they killed over one hundred Sioux warriors; and, in a lake fight near the mouth of Montreal river, they killed and drowned upwards of three hundred Foxes, who had intruded upon their island in the night and taken prisoners. In a concentrated effort, they destroyed, with one war party, six villages of Foxes, scattered along the Chippewa river. About eighty years ago, the Foxes made their last stand against them at the Falls of St. Croix. The Chippewas, led by their war chief Waub-o-jeeg, were victorious, and from that time the Foxes finally retired from the country. Gaining possession of the head-waters of the Mississippi, it became an easy matter for the Chippewas to descend in their enemies' country. Within two centuries they have occupied by conquest a tract of country extending west from Lake Superior to the Mississippi, and south from Red river of the North and Selkirk's settlement to Lake Michigan. Diverted by the tempting resources and lured by the varied seductions of so extended a region, they have become separated into several divisions, of which a brief sketch will here be given.

Lake Superior Chippewas.-This body number about thirteen hundred, and are known as the Ke-che-gumme-win-in-e-wug, or Great lake men. The principal villages are Ance, Keweenaw, Ontonagon, La Pointe, Fond du Lac, and Grand Portage, on the lake shore. They subsist mainly on the excellent fish with which the lake abounds. Since 1842 they have received the services of four blacksmiths, three farmers, and two carpentersembracing, with the exception of one blacksmith and one farmer, all the laborers allowed the entire quota of bands who were parties to the treaties of 1837 and 1842. In consequence of this help, among this division, flattering progress has been made.

The Auce band, numbering three hundred, have become comparatively civilized. They dwell in houses, assume the costume of the whites, and are essentially agriculturists. Their chief and some of the principal men have been admitted to the rights of citizenship in the State of Michigan. The La Pointe band number about four hundred. Among them are many who are partially civilized, and, beside dwelling in houses and owning cattle, are devout members either of Catholic or Protestant churches.

Among the elder chiefs and head-men, however, are others still attached to primitive customs. The religion of their fathers is engraved upon the hearts of these, and guides their daily habits of life. The improvement of this band for the past ten years has been gradual and sure. They own a large farm on Bad river, from which they raise corn and potatoes sufficient for their own consumption, and not unfrequently a surplus for sale. They also manufacture large quantities of maple sugar, which they sell to their traders, and catch and salt fish, for which they find a ready market. The Fond du Lac band, who reside upon unceded lands in Minnesota, number about four hundred. They are much less advanced in the arts of civilization than the two bands last mentioned, and depend for subsistence upon the scanty and precarious supplies furnished by the chase. One cause of this is the absence of good soil in the vicinity of their present location.

The Ontonagon and Grand Portage bands number a little over one hundred each.

These lake-shore Chippewas have an inexhaustible resource in the fish which plentifully abound in the waters of the lake. They are naturally well disposed towards the whites, docile, and harmless. Owing to their distance from the Sioux, they have not, for the past half century, joined the war parties of their more western brethren.

Wisconsin and Chippewa river division.-This fragment of the tribe number about eighteen hundred, and are known as the Be ton-auk-anub-yig, or "Those that live along the woods." Their principal villages are at Lac du Flambeau, Vieux Desert, Pelican lake, Lac Contereiville, Pukwaawun, Lac Shatae, and Mon-o nimik-au lake-all in the State of Wisconsin, except Vieux Desert, which lies in Michigan. Most of these villages are located upon lakes which form the heads of the Wisconsin and Chippewa rivers. These lakes are remote from the white settlements on Lake Superior and the Mississippi, and are surrounded by dense and trackless forests and swamps. At these villages a few families plant potatoes and corn, but not enough for consumption during the winter. The wild rice which abounds in the vicinity forms the main staple of subsistence. Though numerically composing almost a moiety of the bands parties to the treaties at St. Peter's and La Pointe, they have received little, if any, aid from the different funds provided by government. This neglect has probably arisen from their remoteness from the agency at La Pointe. Seldom do over one third of this people appear to draw the annuities to which they are entitled for the sale of every inch of their extensive territory. After their rice is gathered in the fall, they descend the Wisconsin, Manedouish, and Chippewa rivers, to hunt the deer and large game which there abound. During the entire winter they sojourn in this region, coming in contact with the white population attracted thither by the pineries. Enticed among the lumbermen by attachment to ardent spirits, many families, especially on the Wisconsin, remain the year round. These have become demoralized and miserable, forming a perfect nuisance to the whites, who are fast occupying the country.

The bands residing upon the Chippewa and its tributaries are less degenerate and more manly. As far back as their oldest men can remember, they have warred with the Sioux. Forming, with the St. Croix, Mississippi, and Pillager divisions, the vanguard of their nation in its Westward advance, they have stood the brunt of war, and been fearfully

mischievous in these wretched border frays. With this people no serious difficulty has yet occurred. They are peaceably disposed to the whites, but much attached to the country they have sold.

The Wisconsin Chippewas are physically larger and stronger than their more northern brethren.

The St. Croix division. This portion of the tribe reside upon the St. Croix river, on lands, lying partly in Wisconsin and partly in Minnesota, ceded in 1837 by the treaty of St. Peter's. They number about eight hundred, and have their villages at Upper St. Croix lake, Num a quag-um, Po-ka go-mon, Yellow, and Rice lakes, and on Snake river. They are known among the tribe as the Mun o-min ik a she-ug, or "Rice Makers." The country they occupy abounds in wild rice, and formerly these bands were noted for gathering large quantities of it. Since the sale of their country, they have become the most miserable and degenerate of their tribe. Living altogether among the pineries, which of late years have been so much resorted to by the whites, their deterioration, through the agency of intoxicating drinks, has been rapid, and almost without parallel. Murders among themselves have become of frequent occurrence; and quarrels arising in drunken brawls have caused feuds between families which have grown so serious that small war parties have been fitted out against one another. During the past few years, a number of whites have also been murdered, and a most aggravating case of homicide occurred the past summer.

This state of things calls for prompt action from government. Living but a short distance from their own lands about Mille Lac, they should,with out delay, be removed thither; though, after removal, it would probably require a force to keep them within bounds. The residue of the tribe labor under the belief that the bad conduct of the "Rice Makers" has accelerated the mandate of the President for their removal from the ceded lands; hence the St. Croix bands are obnoxious to their brethren, and no measure, even of forcible removal, would excite for them sympathy. For their own good, as well as for the safety of the white population who are exposed to their depredations, their immediate removal should be enforced. To carry this object into effect, it will be necessary to settle their bloody family feuds. At present, they fear one another much more than they fear any common enemy, and they will not coalesce until their implacable resentments are appeased. It is proper to mention, the St. Croix lake band, numbering over one hundred, have kept aloof from the white settlements, fearing to be implicated in the acts of their brethren, and have even gradually removed towards Lake Superior. The chief of the Snake river band, Nodin, and a principal man, Mun-o-ninik ash-an, have migrated this summer to Mille Lac, and located within their own lines, and are inducing as many as possible of their bands to follow their example.

Mississippi Chippewas.-These bands are known as the Ke che se bewin-o-wing, or "Great river men.” They dwell in Minnesota, on lands of which they still hold the possessory interest. Their numbers amount to eleven hundred; and their principal villages are at Sandy lake, Mille Lac, Rabbit river, and Gull lake. According to accounts of their old men, little over a century has elapsed since a large party of Chippewa warriors, led by their war chief Bi-ans-wah, sallied from the shores of Lake Superior, and conquered a Sioux village, at that period, located at Sandy lake.

Here they made a stand; and at this lake for many years flourished their metropolitan village. From this spot marched the war parties which drove the Sioux from Leech, Winnepeg, Red, and the Mille lakes. Their hostile incursions even extended to the Minnesota river, and their hunts to Red river on the west, and Rum river on the south. Throughout this entire region, death has held its carnival, and the bones of Sioux and Chippewa alike whiten its soil. Twice within a century have the Mississippi Chippewas been nearly exterminated by their enemies, but, receiving ac. cessions from Lake Superior, they have held their footing tenacious to the last. Their own country becoming devoid of game, necessity has been the goad which has impelled them still westward, and they now roam over the whole country north and east of the St. Peter's. The feud between them and the Sioux has continued with brief intervals to the present time, and has infused into them a warlike spirit. The eagle plume, denoting the death of an enemy in battle, is with them the highest badge of distinction.

After the treaty at St. Peter's, in 1837, the Mississippi Chippewas received their first payment of annuities at Lake St. Croix. But on their return, through the folly of the Pillagers, they incurred the displeasure of the Sioux, who fell upon them in force, at night, and massacred over a hundred, inostly women and children. The Mille Lac band were almost cut off to a man. This occurrence changed the locality of their payment to La Pointe, and to receive their annuities the members of this division were yearly obliged to traverse hundreds of miles. The sub-agency, also, which had been located at Crow Wing, was from this time discontinued, and, as a natural sequence, the vigilant supervision of government over them much deranged.

In this state they continued up to the convention at Fond du Lac in 1847, wherein they sold to the United States the country at present occupied by the Winnebagoes. They also in this treaty stipulated for an agent to reside among them, and for the payment of their share of annuities upon the Mississippi. A farmer and blacksmith have been allowed them, and for two years back they have of their own accord reserved from their annuities one thousand dollars per annum for an agricultural fund. A farin last year was located at Gull lake, in a tract covered with a heavy growth of maple timber; and the lower bands of this division, who had been accustomed to rove over ceded territory and Sioux lands, have been induced to move to Gull lake, and commence farming. They have become Convinced of the necessity of agriculture; and many families, who hereto. fore had never planted a potato or a grain of corn, have now little patches of cultivated ground, from which they raise almost enough for their winter support. During planting time last spring, they procured liquor from eeded lands below Fort Gaines; and, on account of a sudden inroad of the Sioux, which resulted in the death of a favorite son of one of their chiefs, the war fever raged fiercely, causing them to neglect farming operations. Notwithstanding these disadvantages, over one thousand bushels of potatoes have been raised this season at Gull lake, and a respectable quantity of corn, turnips, and pumpkins. There are five chiefs residing here with their bands. The advantages attached to the location are not ficient to accommodate them all, and another farm should be opened in Le spring either on Long or White Fish lake.

The Mille Lac band number about three hundred. Being removed