CHAP. xi. ODAHWAH CUSTOMS. 179 



mother, or some other elderly female, to visit the young fasters by daylight. 

 The first thing she did was to make a very thin corn soup, or some kind of 

 broth, after which she went to ask them one by one of their dreams. She 

 congratulated those who had favourable dreams upon their good fortune ; 

 but for those who had unlucky dreams she threw a piece of fur of some 

 animal on the fire, in order to avert the consequences of such ill-omened 

 visions. The longest fast practised among the Indians lasted ten days, 

 during which time it was indispensable that the candidates for the special 

 honours which it secured should neither taste anything nor sleep. They 

 were made to dance every night, and sometimes were put in small cribs 

 suspended from the ground, which were moved sideways, like a cradle, for 

 the purpose of inducing sleep. Those who yielded, and fell asleep, were 

 dismissed forthwith as unworthy. Most frequently all the candidates failed ; 

 but on some rare occasions one or two succeeded in completing the time. 

 Even with these, however, this severe undertaking seems to have exceeded 

 the powers of nature, as those who were successful though regarded ever 

 after with a certain degree of superstitious veneration never fully recovered 

 from the effects of it. Besides fasting, the young people had to abstain from 

 certain kinds of animal food, and from certain parts of animals, for instance, 

 the head, the meat near the bone, and the marrow. They were also strictly 

 prohibited from eating blood until after they were anarried, when they were 

 no longer subject to restraint. Girls were considered marriageable at fifteen, 

 but it was customary for a young man to remain single until he was twenty- 

 five years of age, after which he might take a wife if he liked, or rather if 

 his parents chose. 



'Young girls when fasting rubbed clay on their temples, whilst the young 

 men partially blackened their faces, or occasionally painted them with one 

 or two other colours. This custom can scarcely fail to recall a similar one 

 recognised among the Jews, as the disfiguring of faces on fasting days is 

 distinctly noticed in the New Testament. Like the Jews, also, the Indians 

 regarded several animals as unfit to be eaten ; in fact, they had strong 

 prejudices against their flesh. Among the feathered tribes I may mention 

 the raven, the crow, the blue jay, the owl, and many others ; and amongst 

 quadrupeds the fox, the mink, the wolf, &c. 



' The degrees of relationship extended a great way among the Indians ; 

 and it was prohibited by custom to contract marriage within the forbidden 

 bounds. To give an idea of the operation of this usage, suppose that au 

 Indian A. had a cousin B., the son of A. and the grand-daughter of B. 

 would be placed within the forbidden degrees of kindred, and should marriage 

 take place between the parties, the son of A. would be considered as marry- 

 ing his niece. In the English language, it has often appeared to me, there 

 is a great want of words to express the various degrees of relationship. 

 Instead of using different words, the Englishman says my first, second, third 

 cousin, and so on. In Indian there are appropriate terms to express the 

 different degrees of consanguinity ; even in speaking to, or of, female 

 relatives, the same terms are not used as when speaking of the men.' 



N 2 



