1763, June.] SPEECH OF MINAVAVANA. 353 



be added, that the Indians of L'Arbre Croche were 

 somewhat less hostile to the English than the 

 neighboring tribes ; for the great influence of tlie 

 priest Jonois seems always to have been exerted 

 on the side of peace. 



The English prisoners looked upon the new- 

 comers as champions and protectors, and conceived 

 hopes from their interference not destined to be 

 fully realized. On the morning after their arrival, 

 the Ojibw^a chiefs invited the principal men of the 

 Ottawas to hold a council with them, in a building 

 within the fort. They placed upon the floor a val- 

 uable present of goods, which were part of the 

 plunder they had taken ; and their great war-chief, 

 Minavavana, who had conducted the attack, rose 

 and addressed the Ottawas. 



Their conduct, he said, had greatly surprised 

 him. They had betrayed the common cause, and 

 opposed the wdll of the Great Spirit, who had de- 

 creed that every Englishman must die. Excepting 

 them, all the Indians had raised the hatchet. Pon- 

 tiac had taken Detroit, and every other fort had 

 also been destroyed. The English were meeting 

 with destruction throughout the whole world, and 

 the King of France was awakened from his sleep. 

 He exhorted them, in conclusion, no longer to 

 espouse the cause of the English, but, like their 

 brethren, to lift the hatchet against them. 



When Minavavana had concluded his speech, the 

 council adjourned until the next day ; a custom 

 common among Indians, in order that the auditors 

 may have time to ponder with due deliberation 



23 



