1764.] INDIAN ORACLE. 165 



Marie, when a canoe, filled with warriors, arrived, 

 bringing the message of Sir William Johnson. A 

 council was called ; and the principal messenger, 

 offering a belt of wampum, spoke as follows : " My 

 friends and brothers, I am come with this belt from 

 our great father, Sir William Johnson. He desired 

 me to come to you, as his ambassador, and tell you 

 that he is making a great feast at Fort Niagara ; 

 that his kettles are all ready, and his fires lighted. 

 He invites you to partake of the feast, in common 

 with your friends, the Six Nations, who have all 

 made peace with the English. He advises you to 

 seize this opportunity of doing the same, as you 

 cannot otherwise fail of being destroyed ; for the 

 English are on their march with a great army, 

 which will be joined. by different nations of Indi- 

 ans. In a word, before the fall of the leaf they 

 will be at Michillimackinac, and the Six Nations 

 with them." 



The Ojibwas had been debating whether they 

 should go to Detroit, to the assistance of Pontiac, 

 who had just sent them a message to that effect ; 

 but the speech of Johnson's messenger turned the 

 current of their thoughts. Most of them were in 

 favor of accepting the invitation; but, distrusting 

 mere human wisdom in a crisis so important, they 

 resolved, before taking a decisive step, to invoke 

 the superior intelligence of the Great Turtle, the 

 chief of all the spirits. A huge wigwam was 

 erected, capable of containing the whole popula- 

 tion of the little village. In the centre, a sort of 

 tabernacle was constructed by driving posts into 



