SOURCE OP ST. Peter's river. 109 



had always existed in the neighbourhood of Lake Michi- 

 gan. That the first man and woman had been made by 

 the Great Spirit. God sowed the seed and the men sprung 

 up. When called upon to explain what he meant by this, 

 he gave to understand that he had used the language in a 

 figurative point of view, and as a parable. Their tradition 

 at first mentioned but one original couple, the parents of 

 the red people, from whom they believed themselves to 

 have descended. But when they became acquainted with 

 the different races of men, they supposed a couple of white, 

 and another of black, had likewise been created by the Great 

 Spirit, and that these had given rise to the white and black 

 people whom they had since seen, but he had not troubled 

 himself much with thinking on this subject. Soon after 

 the white men came among them, they were told that, far to 

 the setting sun, there was a race of people whose features 

 and complexion resembled theirs. This had led them to 

 think upon and discuss this matter frequently among them- 

 selves ; they had often enquired from other nations whence 

 they came, but they found strong reasons to adhere to 

 their old traditions, that the land on which they now 

 resided was that upon which the Great Spirit had first 

 placed them. Metea has always been of the opinion that 

 there is but one God, who is a Supreme Being, but that he 

 has made a Spirit or God to be under him, whose spe- 

 cial duty it is to take charge of the Indians. This he 

 thought to be the common opinion of all Indians whom 

 he knew. This inferior Deity stood to the Supreme Being 

 in the same relation that the red man stands to the white. 

 The existence of a Bad Spirit is considered as proved by 

 the circumstance of there being bad men, for a Good Spi- 

 rit could not have made any thing that was evil. 



When questioned as to his opinion of a future life, and 



