38S EXPEDITION TO THE 



3000 skin lodges, of which Renville once saw three hun- 

 dred pitched in one place. Their grounds are north of Pem- 

 bina towards the Assiniboin river, and west of Lake Win- 

 nepeek. They are at war with the Blackfeet Indians, and 

 are said to send war parties every year, as far as the Rocky 

 Mountains. They have been fighting the Dacotas ever 

 since their separation ; but there seems to be at present a 

 mutual tendency to a reunion. Their present chief rose by 

 his military achievements ; his name is Minayoka, Knife 

 bearer. 



The cause of the separation of the Assiniboins from their 

 former friends is variously related. The following has ap- 

 peared to us to be the prevalent tradition on this subject. 

 It is said that, about fifty years* ago, a quaiTel arose be- 

 tween two influential families of the Yanktoanans, at the 

 time that they were hunting in the vicinity of Lake Tra- 

 vers. A young man, belonging to one of these families, se- 

 duced the wife of one of the warriors of the other family, 

 and conveyed her to his camp. The injured husband pur- 

 sued them, and, in his attempt to rescue his wife, was him- 

 self slain. His father and two brothers, accompanied by two 

 of his uncles, went to the seducer's camp, with a view to 

 obtain the corpse of their deceased relation. On their way 

 to the camp, they met with a party of the friends of the 

 murderer ; a quarrel ensued, and three out of the five pe- 

 rished, without having succeeded in killing one of their 

 opponents. The distressed parent survived this conflict, 

 and, swearing that he would avenge his losses, he betook 

 himself to a camp of his friends, stated his wrongs, and ob- 



* The separation probably occurred at a much earlier period. Dates 

 are soon forgotten by Indians. Hennepin mentions a nation of the Assini^ 

 polls, who probably are the same. Charlevoix calls thera Assiniboils. 



