SWANTON] INDIAN TRIBKS OF TriF, T/)\VER MISSTSSTPI'I VAI.l.KV 201 



MM offorill.LC iif a disli of the Itcst HmmI lliry liMvc, whicli is |iliic('(l ill Ihi- door 

 of tbe teuii)le. The old lucu take caiv to carry it away and to niakt.' a yiiod 

 IVast of it with their families. Ihery sinMiij; they make a cleariiii,', whicii tliey 

 name "the held of tht" sjiirit." when all llie men work lo the scuiiid of the 

 tamhour. In the antumn the Indian corn is harvested with mnch ceremony 

 and stored in niafiazinos until the moon of June in the following year, when all 

 the villajie assenihle and invite tlu-ir neighbors to eat it. They do not leave 

 the ground until they hav(> eaten ii all, making great re.ioicing.s the whole time. 

 This is all 1 learned of this nation. The three villages helow have the same 

 customs. 



Let us return to the chief. When I was in his cabin he told me, with a 

 smiling countenance, the pleasure he felt at the arrival of the French. I saw- 

 that one of his wives wori' a pearl necklace. I presented her with 10 yards of 

 blue glass beads in exchange for it. She made some ditiiculty, but the chief 

 having told her to let me have it, she did so. I carried it to M. de la Salle, 

 giving him an account of all that I had seen, and told him that the chief 

 intended to visit him the next da.y, which he did. He would not have done this 

 for savages, but the hope of obtaining some merchandise induced him to act 

 thus. He came the next day, with wooden canoes, to the sound of the tambour 

 and the music of women. The savages of the river use no other boats than 

 these. M. de la Salle received him with nunli politeness, and gave him some 

 presents ; they gave us in return plenty of provisions and some of their robes. 

 The chiefs returned well satistied. We stayed during the day, which was the 

 22d of March." 



Nicolas (le la Salle says : 



They embarked, and 6 leagues farther camped in a cove on the right. The 

 Akansa said that there was a nation there allied to them called Tinsa. In 

 this cove is a little rivulet which communicates with a lake iierhaps a quarter 

 of a league distant. This lake has the shape of a crescent. The village of the 

 Tinsa is on this lake. M de la Salle sent thither three Frenchmen with the 

 Akansa. They were well received. The chief of the village sent twenty 

 canoes with pi'ovisions, such as corn, dried fruits, and salt. There were 

 ;ilso figures of men, bison (hfriifs), stags, alligators (cocodriUcs), and turkeys, 

 made of dough, .with fruits. When asked if the.v had saline waters they 

 motioned toward the setting sun and that it was necessary to go in that direc- 

 tion. When asked whether in descending the river one found salt water they 

 replied by turning the head to indicate that the.v did not know, never having 

 been there. They also indicated that there w'ere evil nations there which would 

 eat the French. Four Loups (JlohegansV) became fi'ightened and remained 

 in this village, and the two Akansa returned home. M de la Salle did not go 

 to the village at all. Many of them had pearls, although small ones, on their 

 necks and ears. M. de Tonti purchased in the neighborhood of a dozen. He 

 also purchased a little slave, who cost him two knives and a small kettle. A 

 village chief made a Loup a present of a slave he had taken in war. The Loup 

 gave him ;i kettle. These were both Coroa.'' 



From the i-elation of La Salle's Voyage by Zenobius Membre, 

 a Recollect priest : 



We parted from them (the Akansa) the next day, ^Nlarch 17, and after five 

 dajs' travel we arrived among other peoi)les, called the Taensa, who dwell 

 upon a little lake near the great river. The Akansa had given us two men to 



" Memoir of the Sieur de la Tonti, French Hist. Coll. La., 61-62, 1846. 

 "Margry, Decouvertes, i, 556, 557, 1875. 



