372 ETHNOLOGY'. 



scouts here liimg herself to the ridge-pole of her tent just because her 

 husbaud told her she should not make a visit which she wished to do. 



Under the provisions of General Order No. 27, Headquarters Depart- 

 ment of Dakota, St. Paul, Minnesota, dated May 11), 18G7, friendly 

 Indians have been enlisted as scouts and guides, since which time fifteen 

 of them have been on duty at this post in that capacity. Those here 

 are all full-blooded Indians of the Sisseton band of Dakotas. They are 

 ambitious and zealous in the perforinance of their duties, and take a 

 pride in keeping" their clothes, bedding, equipments, arms, and horses 

 neat and in good order, and I believe this is the testimony which all 

 their commanders will give; and it shows that they can be made valu- 

 able auxiliaries in prosecuting warfare against Indian tribes "avowedly 

 and obstinately hostile." Those on duty here show no repugnance or 

 even disinclination to work, and the scouts have taken their regular 

 tour of "police duty" with the rest of the enlisted men, and have shamed 

 them by their willingness to do this duty. 



One of the scouts here is tattooed with a "totem" of an open right 

 hand, back to the front, placed vertically in the center of the forehead. 

 This is the onlj- instance which has come under my observation of any 

 tribal or family mark or "totem" among them. 



The Chippewas occupy the country east of the Eed River of the North, 

 in Minnesota, about the lakes forming the source of the Mississippi 

 Eiver and Eed Lake farther north. Though they are occasional visitors 

 to the post, they are situated too far away to be described as Indians 

 about the post. 



The valley of the Eed Eiver of the aSTorth on both sides is the peculiar 

 habitat of half-bloods, (Bois Brules, or Couriers des Bois,) a mixture of 

 the blood of the lawless white traders (who until recent times were the 

 only white people in the country) and Indian women. These half-bloods, 

 the result of this mixture, are tall, well formed and hardy, with dark 

 eyes and swarthy skin, and black, straight hair, though occasionally one 

 is seen with the hair curly. The general shape of the head and face is 

 much like the Indians, Their vernacular is a lyatois of the French, 

 though they usually speak the language of both parepts. They are 

 natural-born hunters and trappers, scouts, guides, and interpreters, and 

 are a valuable link of communication between the tax-paying citizen 

 and the untamed red man. These people have no "local habitation;" 

 like their half-brothers, the Indians, they live in tents of tanned bufialo 

 hide, which they move whenever and wherever inclination or the pursuit 

 of game may lead them. They have the same freedom from moral and 

 social restraint as the Indian. Thej' eat anything and everything, even 

 the flesh of dogs and wolves poisoned with strichniue, and think a foetal 

 calf of cow or buffalo unc honnc houclw; they wallow in dirt and vermin, 

 and are remarkably healthy and tenacious of life. Their severe, laborious 

 lives probably prevent them from being very prolific, but it also acts to 

 make them healthy and long-lived. Even syphilitic diseases, which (with 



