﻿A RESIDENCE AMONG THE INDIANS. 317 



The Father above thought fit to give 



To the white man corn and wine ; 

 There are golden fields, where they may live, 



But the forest shades are mine. 



The eagle hath its place of rest, 



The wild horse where to dwell ; 

 And the Spirit that gave the bird its nest, 



Made me a home as well. 

 Then back, go back from the red man's track, 



For the hunter's eyes grow dim, 

 To find that the white man wrongs the one 



Who never did harm to him. 



How long I should have lingered on that lovely spot 1 cannot tell. 

 I was suddenly awakened from my reverie by the renewed yells of 

 the Indians, and, casting my eyes towards the village, I observed that 

 the greater part of them were gathered together in a circle, in the 

 open space, which is surrounded by their wigwams, apparently 

 awaiting some game, or ceremony, about to be performed. I im- 

 mediately started for the spot, and, upon arriving there, I learned 

 the cause of the uproar. A party of Blackfoot Indians had just 

 returned from a buffalo hunt, bringing in the mangled and bleeding 

 body of one of their number, who, in a desperate charge upon a 

 large herd of buffaloes, had been thrown from his horse, and trodden 

 down by the infuriated animals, and so dreadfully wounded that he 

 was just breathing his last. Although it appeared absolutely im- 

 possible for the poor fellow to survive but a very short time, yet I 

 found that a "medicineman"" was about to perform his mysteries 

 over the dying man, as a last resort, in the vain hope of saving his 

 life. 



Perhaps I ought to inform my readers, before relating this singn- 

 lar ceremony, what a medicine man is, and also the origin of the 

 word. Medicine, in all the Indian country, means mystery. Any- 

 thing, or any operation, which an Indian is unable to understand, is 

 always called " medicine" or mysterious. Most of the fur and other 

 traders are French, and in their language a doctor is called a "mede- 

 cin." Now the Indian doctors, of which there are a great many, 

 pretend to be magicians, or mysterious people; hence they are called 



