262 EXPEDITION TO THE 



their nation will unite with Redwing's band, although the 

 principal of the three, a fine looking stout man, thought 

 proper to apologize for this band, saying to us, that the 

 Sioux were hogs and beggars, destitute of food, and ignorant 

 of the duties of hospitality ; but that when we should arrive 

 among the Chippewas, we would be received as strangers 

 should be ; a subsequent experience has by no means satis- 

 fied us of the superiority of the Chippew^as over the Da- 

 cotas. The complexion of these Menomones was lighter 

 than that of any Indians we saw on the journey ; one of 

 them spoke French ; the principal one had abundance of 

 wampum about his neck, together with a necklace of Cow- 

 ries, (Cypraea moneta.) We afterwards learned from the 

 Indian agent at St. Anthony, that this is an eminent war 

 leader, and that, when his party unite with Redwing's, he 

 will be recognised as the principal war chief. This Me- 

 nomone told us, that the tumuli observed back of the vil- 

 lage were artificial, and ancient cemeteries. Tommo, and 

 the Sioux, whom we consulted on the subject, all consi- 

 dered them as natural elevations. As they do not bury 

 their dead, but dispose of them on scafiblds, they seem to 

 be unacquainted with the ancient practice of interring. 



After a very interesting visit to this village, the gentle- 

 men again separated. Major Long's party, being provided 

 with a proportion of the boat's provisions, which were 

 becoming scanty, continued their journey by land that af- 

 ternoon, and reached Fort St. Anthony the next evening 

 without meeting with any accident. The route from the In- 

 dian village was off from the river, it was rolling", less hilly 

 than had been previously travelled ; the tumuli increased in 

 number, exceeding in abundance any that the party had ever 

 seen before, at times upwards of one hundred of them wei'e 

 in view. A stream about thirteen yards wide, which they 



