BULL. 30] 



FOXES 



473 



neighbors, they had conceived a liatred 

 of the French because of the aid which 

 the latter gave the Chippewa and others 

 by furnishing firearms, and because they 

 gathered the various tribes for the pur- 

 pose of destroying the Foxes. The 

 proposal to exterminate them was 

 seriouslj^ considered in the French coun- 

 cils, and their destruction would earlier 

 have been attempted but fur the pleas 

 interposed by Nicolas Perrot. Their 

 character is briefly described by Charle- 

 voix (Shea trans., v, 305, 1881) when he 

 says they "infested with their robberies 

 and filled with murders not only the 

 neighborhood of the Bay [Green bay], 

 their natural territory, but almost all the 

 routes communicating with the remote 

 colonial posts, as well as those leading 

 from Canada to Louisiana. Except the 

 Sioux, who often joined them, and the 

 Iroquois, with whom they had formed an 

 alliance, ... all the nations in alliance 

 Avith us suffered greatly from these hos- 

 tilities." It was this tribe that in 1712 

 planned the attack on the fort at Detroit, 

 and but for tlie timely arrival of friendly 

 Indians and the bravery of the French 

 commandant, Buisson, would undoubt- 

 edly have destroyed it. They were 

 almost constantly at war with the Illinois 

 tribes s. of them, and finally succeeded, 

 in conjunction with the Sauk, in driving 

 them from a large part of their country, 

 of which they took possession. From 

 their earliest known history they were 

 almost constantly at Avar with the Chip- 

 pewa dwelling n. of them, but usually 

 without decided success, though often 

 aided by the Sioux. It was by the Chip- 

 pewa, together with the Potawatomi, 

 Menominee, and the French, that their 

 power was finally broken. About 1746, 

 and perhaps for some few years pre- 

 vious, the Foxes lived at the Little 

 Butte des Morts on the w. bank of 

 Fox r., about 37 m. above Green bay. 

 They made it a point, whenever a trader's 

 boat approached, to place a torch upon 

 the bank as a signal for the traders to 

 come ashore and pay the customary trib- 

 ute, which they exacted from all. To 

 refuse was to incur their displeasure, and 

 robl)ery would be the mildest penalty 

 inflicted. Incensed at this exaction, 

 Morand, a leading trader, raised a volun- 

 teer force of French and Indians, and 

 after inflicting severe punishment on the 

 Foxes in two engagements drove them 

 down Wisconsin r. They settled on the 

 N. bank about 20 m. from the mouth. 

 About 1780, in alliance with the Sioux, 

 they attacked the Chippewa at St Croix 

 falls, w^herethe Foxes were almost anni- 

 hilated. The remnant incorporated with 

 the Sauk, and although long officially 

 regarded as one, the two tribes have pre- 

 served their identitv. 



According to Dr William Jones (inf'n, 

 1906 ) the culture of the Foxes is that of 

 the tribes of the eastern woodlands witfi 

 some intrusive streaks from the plains. 

 They were acquainted with wild rice, 

 and raised corn, beans, squashes, and 

 tobacco. They lived in villages in sum- 

 mer, the bark house being the type of 

 the warm-weather dwelling; in winter 

 they scattered and dwelt in oval flag- 

 reed lodges. The social organization is 

 rigid and is based on gentes with mar- 

 riage outside of the gens. The gens and, 

 with some exceptions, the name, followed 

 the father. The Fox gentes are the Bear, 

 Fox, Wolf, Elk, Big Lynx, Buffalo, 

 Swan, Pheasant, Eagle, Sea, Sturgeon, 

 Bass, Thunder, and Bear Potato. The 

 mythology of the Foxes is rich. Beast 

 fable prevails. The deities are many and 

 some have clear definite character. The 

 principal deity is Wisa'kii-', the culture 

 hero. His brother is Kiyapa'tu% or 

 Chipayabosw*, who presides over the 

 spirit world at the setting of the sun. 

 The belief in a cosmic substance called 

 munltoirhv^, or ijiiantovlirln^, is an essen- 

 tial element in their philosophy. Ob- 

 jects, animate or inanimate, imbued 

 with this substance become the recipients 

 of marked adoration. The Foxes prac- 

 tise many ceremonies, the principal one 

 being the feast festival of the gentes. 

 There is probably no other Algonquian 

 community within the limits of the 

 fnited States, unless it be that of the 

 Mexican band of Kickapoo in Oklahoma, 

 where a more primitive state of society 

 exists. 



Besides being warlike, the Foxes were 

 described by neighboring tribes as stingy, 

 avaricious, thieving, passionate, and quar- 

 relsome; their bravery, however, was 

 proverbial. Like most of the tribes of 

 the region of the great lakes they were 

 polygamists. They were familiar with 

 both dug-out and birch-l)ark canoes. 

 Spears and clubs were among their 

 weapons of war. Schoolcraft states that 

 a band of warriors seen by him wore 

 headdresses consisting of red-dyed horse- 

 hair tied in such manner to the scalplock 

 as to present the shape of the decoration 

 of a Roman helmet. The rest of the 

 head was completely shaved and painted. 

 They wore breech-cloths, moccasins, and 

 leggings, and the upper pail of their 

 bodies was painted; often the print of a 

 hand in white clay Avas marked on the 

 back or shoulder. They l:)ore flags of 

 feathers. Their "coat of arms" is de- 

 scribed by Lahontan in heraldic terms: 

 "A meadoAV sinople, crossed by a Avind- 

 ing pale, Avith two foxes' gules at the two 

 extremities of the river, in chief and 

 point" — in other words, as his figure 

 shows, an oblique mark representing a 

 stream, with a fox at each end on oppo- 



