220 EXPEDITION TO THE 



sake all his former ties ; he settles in the nation that adopts 

 him, forfeits all allegiance to his native tribe, and contracts 

 new obligations. It is his duty, in case of hostilities, to side 

 with his new friends against his old ones ; it becomes even 

 proper for him to do all in his power to promote the views 

 of his adopted nation, by killing as many of their enemies 

 as he can ; he may even, (and it is his duty to do it,) kill his 

 own father, and, as our guide added, " nay even his grand- 

 father." In so doing he is not thought to violate any of 

 the obligations of nature, for his adoption has altogether 

 cancelled his former bonds. The expression of Wenne- 

 bea, " nay even his grandfather/' cannot surprise those 

 who have visited the Sauks, or studied to make themselves 

 acquainted with their peculiarities, as one of their most 

 striking precepts is that the more distant, in the ascending 

 line, a parent is, the more is he entitled to respect and af- 

 fection ; hence the killing of a grandfather would, under 

 common circumstances, be considered as far more atrocious 

 than the murder of a father. 



To this high opinion of the duties incumbent upon 

 adopted citizens, and to the general humanity which in- 

 duces them to spare the lives of their prisoners, we may 

 safely attribute the great accession of numbers which their 

 nation has undergone within the last century. The Sauks 

 have not always resided where they are at present found. 

 Their recollection is that they formerly lived upon Sa- 

 ganaw Bay of Lake Huron, and that about fifty years 

 since they removed, by the way of Greenbay, from the 

 lake shore to their present abode. They seem to consi- 

 der the name of their nation to be connected with that 

 of Saganaw Bay, and probably derived from it. They 

 have no account of any former migration, but entertain the 

 opinion that the Great Spirit created them in that vicinity. 



