SOLON ROBINSON, 1835 63 



Muskrats are also exceedingly abundant, and afford one 

 of the principal sources of sustenance for the Indians. 

 They eat the flesh and "swap" the skins to the traders 

 for some of the necessaries and some of the imneces- 

 saries of life. It is not to be wondered at that the In- 

 dians dislike to leave a country so well adapted to their 

 wants, and withal so pleasant to reside in. But the 

 Chiefs of the nation seem to take the proper view of the 

 subject. — They say their people cannot live in connec- 

 tion with the whites ; and they are anxious, howmuchso- 

 ever they dislike to leave "their own, their native land," 

 to see every one of their tribe remove West of the Missis- 

 sippi. How long they can live there undisturbed, re- 

 mains to be told. It is my opinion that the people of 

 the next century will talk of the Indians, as "a people 

 that are supposed to have formerly inhabited this conti- 

 nent." The Indians of this section of country have no 

 fixed residence. I spoke of the kind of wigwam they live 

 in, in a former letter. It is a mere temporary camp ; — 

 the same family occupy perhaps a dozen different shops 

 in a year. Some have ponies; others pack all their 

 moveable property upon their shoulders, from one camp- 

 ing place to another. In winter they generally select 

 some romantically sheltered spot near a lake or stream; 

 and in a very short space of time, a few poles, one end 

 stuck in the ground, and the others tied together at top, 

 covered with long marsh grass, furnish the family with 

 as good a residence as they ever need or desire. In 

 summer they reverse the order, camping upon the highest 

 knobs and most airy points of groves ; sometimes, though 

 rarely, planting a "small patch" of corn. In the spring 

 season a great portion of them engage in making sugar. 

 Adjoining the Door Prairie on the north, is a very large 

 body of Sugar tree timber. The Indians have many 

 excellent Sugar Camps there. They are well furnished 

 with large copper and brass kettles, which at the end of 

 the season they bury until wanted again. In the Terri- 

 tory of Michigan, the Ottawa tribe of Indians furnish 



