[ 1 ] 104 



to and guarded with the most scrupulous care ; it is therefore more than a 

 charm, having the addition of the element of reverence and worship. 

 The sacrifices of hlankets, &c., are exposed on a tree or in the prairie, 

 till destroyed. In battle, when they feel themselves in great danger, like 

 the warriors of old, they stop, and with outstretched arm, they pray to the 

 Great Spirit, and promise a sacrifice if they have success, and are careful to 

 fulfil their promise. But they have no idea of future reward and punish- 

 ment ; all are to be happy in the other world. They know of no moral 

 relation to God ; his will, as a standard of right and wrong, is never heeded, 

 but like the Greeks and Romans, they pray for his favor in their worst 

 deeds. 



One of the most singular things amongst their customs is the relation 

 held by a man to the parents of his wife ; he never names them, speaks to 

 them, nor looks his mother-in-law in the face, no matter how long they 

 may live together ; he is " ashamed" and thinks he shows them the highest 

 respect by acting so ; he gets the best lodge, and is bound to supply the old 

 people with meat until he has a family. The young couple occupy the large 

 lodge, while the old folks live in the small one behind them, and should 

 they accidentally meet, they hide their faces in some way. All his deal- 

 ings with the old people are through his wife. This treatment of his new 

 parents is the highest test of good breeding among them, and the man is 

 exceedingly ill-bred who violates this custom. The husband never men- 

 tions his wife's name, but in speaking to her uses the word " fcAe," which 

 good interpreters say they cannot translate ; it is not confined to this use, 

 but is addressed also to a man when speaknig to him, in speaking of his 

 wife. If she have children, he speaks of her as this boy's, or this girl's 

 mother, naming the child. The philosophy of this custom does not occur 

 to me, but it is a very important fact, in the attempt to ascertain the ruling 

 principles that make the savage to differ from the white man. What a 

 contrast to the happy circle of friends to which a marriage often mtro- 

 duces a man amongst us. Indians despise the female sex ; say that 

 woman was made only for doing man's drudgery, and for the gratification 

 of his grossest passion ; they say that whites ought not to have women, 

 because they don't know how to use them — thank God we do not, in 

 their sense. How grateful we should feel to the Bible for the great social 

 happiness it has diffused over the world. I think that Bancroft says the 

 Indian language contains no word for the abstract ftither — that he always 

 says my father or your father, &c. My brother says that it is not so in 

 any Indian language that he is acquainted with. 



Wednesday, May 29. — I forgot to mention yesterday, how the ceremony 

 of sending and smoking the pipe was conducted. The different bands of 

 Sioux are not bound to take up arms in defence of one another ; when there- 

 fore, any band finds itself under the necessity of calling in the aid of others, 

 it pays thein, and the negotiation is carried on somewhat in this way : The 

 band wishing aid, collects in solemn council, and the pipe and tobacco are 

 placed in the centre ; having no written language, of course the message 

 must be conveyed verbally, and the messenger who has been chosen is in 

 the council. They all make their speeches in his presence, so that he may 

 know what to repeat ; they then, with solemn ceremony, bind up the 

 tobacco in a piece of skin, tie it in a particular manner, and paint it with 

 blue earth and vermilion. The pipe and tobacco are then put into the 

 hands of the messenger to be borne to the tribe to which he is sent. Having 



